Why is my territory in a 2D anime art style?

Chapter 136 A Chance Encounter, Past Events

"Okay!" Sui An nodded, turned around and walked back to his territory. After reaching the door, Sui An suddenly stopped, turned his head and said.

"Thank you, Uncle Ye!"

Ye Tengyang simply waved and walked towards the transport vehicle in the distance, his gaze lingering on the territory for a moment before slowly turning away.

Wang Zhen walked up from the side again and followed Sui An back into the territory.

Sui An suddenly asked softly, "Brother Zhen, how credible do you think what he said is?"

Instead of answering directly, Wang Zhen asked, "Was your parents' treasure bag really just a single crystal?"

Sui An nodded, and Wang Zhen pondered for a moment: "Then this matter has some explanation. The fact that your father's treasure bag was empty does not necessarily mean that Ning Pan took it. He could have taken it, and that third party, Qian Hui, could also have taken it."

"But if Ning Pan really knew in advance that your father's treasure bag was empty, and still prevented others from checking it, then there's a problem."

Sui An understood Wang Zhen's meaning: "So, I need to prove first whether Ning Pan knows or not?"

"right!"

Wang Zhen moved closer and said softly, "You need to test him and see his reaction. If you ask other people to verify this, they are not involved and it's difficult for them to prove it. Only Ning Pan can give you the real information."

"Okay, I understand." Sui An stood in the courtyard, looked up at the sky. He hadn't dreamed of his parents for a long time.

Eight years is enough time for him to gradually forget the detailed appearances of the two people, leaving only their general outlines.

Back then, he simply felt something was amiss. Of the ten people on the expedition, two died, both of whom were his parents, while the others were unharmed. This was utterly unconvincing.

He had no evidence, so he asked Aunt Zhao, but Aunt Zhao wasn't even there at the time.

So he wanted to ask Ye Tengyang, but Ye Tengyang avoided him and hid from him for two years. During those two years, he had to live alone, which was very difficult and tiring, so he gradually let it go.

Unexpectedly, three years later, he came to me and said that there might be another reason for my parents' death.

How ridiculous is fate!

"Seriously, such a thing happened!"

Zhao Fengteng stood up abruptly from her chair, almost in disbelief that Ning Pan would do such a thing.

Ning Pan's reputation within the hunting group has always been evident to everyone, and there has been very little malicious talk directed at him over the years.

"I'm going to ask Ye Tengyang what his true intentions are in doing this!"

"Aunt Zhao!"

Sui An quickly reached out to stop the impatient Zhao Feng. If Zhao Feng was allowed to continue making a scene, things would only become more complicated.

"I'm not saying I'll definitely believe Ye Tengyang right now, but to be honest, he has no grudge against me. He even gave me the purple materials without asking for any money. It's hard to say who he's deliberately trying to harm by bringing this up after eight years."

"Besides, I don't really intend to do anything to Ning Pan. I just want to use you to test the waters. If he really doesn't know, then we'll let it go."

"How can I try something like this!" Zhao Feng stamped her foot, clearly unwilling.

On one side is her deceased best friend, and on the other side is her hunting comrade-in-arms who shared life and death with her. She doesn't want to ruin her relationship because of someone who left the hunting comrade-in-arms many years ago.

"Ye Tengyang has no good intentions!"

"Aunt Zhao, let's not rush, let's sit down first!"

Seeing Zhao Feng's state, Sui An knew that this matter couldn't be rushed. Unfortunately, he had directly driven those people out of the hunting group back then, and their relationship was very bad, so he couldn't rashly go to them.

If we really want to test the waters, then we'll have to ask Aunt Zhao for help.

But with Zhao Feng's attitude, even if they were to try, the results might not only be poor, but it might also alert the enemy.

"This is indeed a difficult situation for you, but I won't force you. We'll figure out a solution later, so don't worry."

It seemed that Sui An's words of comfort had some effect, and Zhao Feng slowly sat down, her emotions gradually calming down.

"Speaking of which, after your territory was put on the bounty that time, Ning Pan made a special trip through your area to see how you were doing. It shows he was still somewhat concerned about you."

"I don't really believe he would do something like this!"

Sui An remembered that he had avoided the Gale Hunting Group when he saw them from afar that day, and hadn't noticed that Ning Pan was also there.

After thinking about it, Sui An decided not to ask Zhao Feng for help for the time being, so as not to put Aunt Zhao in a difficult position.

"Since that's the case, there must be other reasons for this. Let's not try it then, and talk about it later."

Sui An could only put the matter aside for the time being. Such a long-standing matter was not easy to find answers to, let alone in a situation where it was almost impossible to find a third witness.

It's hard to tell if it's real or fake, which is quite frustrating.

Zhao Feng, feeling sullen, got into Wang Zhen's car and headed back to Jiangcheng with Erhu Fang Si and the other two.

After the last Treant Rift ended, Sui An decisively chose to pause the opening of the rift.

Although the intensity of the last fissure was only so-so for Sui An, he didn't need to gamble on whether he could withstand the intensity of the fifth or sixth fissure for the time being. As long as he could make money steadily, he was already moving fast enough.

As agreed, it was Fang Si's turn to leave the territory this time, and as arranged by Sui An, he entered Wang Zhen's caravan.

Sui An is now a major client of Wang Zhen, so it's quite easy for him to arrange for someone to run some side jobs.

Moreover, after discussions between Sui An and several others, Fang Si had already been informed about the secret realm.

Fang Si is now bound to Sui An's territory, which is no less deep than theirs. The secret realm cannot be fully explored by three people, so it is good to let Fang Si join as well.

Putting everything else aside, this dark crystal iron ore is actually very difficult to mine. They are scattered in the rock layer, and the surrounding rocks are extremely hard, perhaps because they are nourished by the mineral. It would be very difficult for ordinary people to mine even one piece, and only professionals with strong physiques can do it.

Even for a physically skilled professional like Wang Hu, digging at level 1 almost left him exhausted.

The three level-four professionals who had previously changed their tools only managed to mine eight or nine thousand catties after half a day of digging. They could sell a cartload for around 4000 source stones. Sui An's previous dividends were also around 400 yuan.

As for the Treant Miners that Sui An was concerned about, even though Sui An had already received the [Abundant Source Energy] enhancement effect, the source energy concentration in his territory was still insufficient for the Treant seeds to germinate. He could only wait for Wang Zhen to obtain the blueprints for special planting land.

However, starting this time, Sui An gave up his share of the mining profits, and the five miners were allowed to distribute the profits according to their work.

After they finish mining, he can buy the ore and have his alchemists process it, making a profit from the price difference.

Today, all five combat professionals went down into the secret realm, and a rough estimate puts the amount of loot at over 13,000 jin (approximately 6,500 kg), which is a considerable sum of money.

So Sui An was a little worried, and this time he asked the four of them to escort the car back together.

The reason these ores were still transported back to the city was mainly because Fang Nian's digestive capacity was extremely limited at the moment. The corpses of the source beasts accumulated from the previous three rifts had already filled two cellars.

Sui An still stored his own cellar for supplies. Seeing that there was too much of the source beast meat, he simply arranged for his brother to dig a large pit and bury an ice cellar, which was then handed over to Fang Nian to handle.

The two cellars previously contained a total of sixty tons of source beast meat. This amount of meat will not be increased before the 19th of this month because Sui An has suspended opening the rift. Fortunately, the last rift was full of treants, otherwise the cellar limit would have to be refreshed again.

This meat is Fang Nian's current task, and it's a task that's basically impossible to complete.

Fang Nian's full source energy can only consume about 1800 jin of bones and flesh. She can only consume full source energy a maximum of four times a day, and then her energy will be insufficient.

Therefore, Fang Nian can only refine about 3.6 tons a day. It will take her twenty days to consume all 100 tons of meat. Moreover, she has to spend about seven hours a day refining it. In addition, there is the time spent moving goods and restoring energy. She has basically started living a 997 life.

Unlimited resources, a massage stage to restore energy and stamina, a dedicated alchemy workshop, meals and accommodation provided, no need to worry about sales channels, and wages paid immediately.

Who says there are no blessings in other worlds!

She has been living like this for twenty-five days since the end of the ice fog tide, to the point that she now feels a bit nauseous at the sight of meat.

Fortunately, her parents now take care of the cooking and even help her with tasks like preparing ingredients.

In fact, Sui An had promised that she could rest, but perhaps spurred by the kidnapping of her parents, she suddenly became ruthless.

Sui An, as the boss, didn't really support this behavior. After all, he was paid by piecework, not by the hour. If he got too tired, wouldn't that cause even more delays?

As soon as the truck started moving, Zhao Feng, sitting in the back of the truck, was still a little dazed, her mind still preoccupied with what Sui An had told her.

Although she kept telling Sui An that she thought highly of Ning Pan and felt that he wouldn't do such a thing.

But Ye Tengyang's words sounded so convincing that she became somewhat suspicious.

Humans are contradictory in this way; once the seed of doubt sprouts, it will automatically give rise to thoughts such as whether he is acting or whether he is really a bad person.

Not long after we started driving, a vehicle suddenly appeared behind us, seemingly coming from the middle of the road.

Fang Si and Erhu were also sitting in the back. They subconsciously glanced at the car that was following them and quickly whispered something.

"They seem to have come from Pinghu, probably a hunting party going to Pinghu on a mission. They seem to be quite strong."

They were hauling a truckload of raw ore, and the resulting aura was hard to conceal. If they encountered someone with overwhelming strength, it was hard to say whether they would be tempted.

This is why the transport team needs to spend so much manpower, and why people are willing to sell their goods to the transport team even with such high commissions, rather than risking transporting them back to Jiangcheng to sell themselves.

"You play the erhu!" Wang Zhen's voice came from behind.

Erhu quickly flipped over to the front of the cart, while Wang Zhen jumped to the back and raised the Ping An Trading Company flag from the truck bed.

Ping An Bank has a strong deterrent effect, and generally no one would dare to take the risk of attacking them for uncertain gains.

Zhao Feng, who was in a daze, suddenly woke up. She squinted and looked at the car that was getting closer and closer, and suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

"He's a member of my tour group, it's not a big problem."

Sure enough, the car behind seemed to have spotted Zhao Feng and sped up, catching up with Wang Zhen's car.

Wang Zhen's truck, including himself and the cargo, weighed over six tons, so naturally it couldn't outrun the unloaded truck behind him.

"Hey, isn't this Zhao Feng?" The familiar, irritating voice rang out again, but Zhao Feng ignored him completely.

Ning Pan glanced at Wang Zhen's truck bed. Although he was several meters away, he could still feel the special energy aura emanating from the truck bed, which clearly contained a lot of energy materials.

Wang Zhen used his energy to activate the flag, and the four characters "Ping An Business" on it shone with golden light. This was Ping An Business's way of being identified, and it was difficult for ordinary people to imitate.

He placed his other hand on his weapon and warned in a cold voice.

"Ping An Commercial Vehicles Line 7, Vehicle No. 526, this is not a vehicle belonging to Ping An Commercial Vehicles. Please do not approach!"

Ning Pan glanced at the flag to confirm his identity, waved towards the front of the car, and the two vehicles moved a little distance apart. He politely replied, "I had no intention of offending Ping An Trading Company. I just saw my comrades from the hunting party and wanted to say hello."

Seeing that Zhao Feng was ignoring him, Qian Hui suddenly spoke up with a laugh: "Zhao Feng, ever since that little brat established his territory, you've been taking leave every ten days. It's not just for this, is it?"

"Don't keep all the opportunities to make money to yourself in that brat's territory! As his father's comrades-in-arms, we'd love to help too!"

"Qian Hui, shut up!"

Ning Pan's voice came from the side. This time, Qian Hui seemed to have become much more obedient. He did not openly talk back, but instead gave the two of them a disdainful sneer.

Ning Pan looked at Qian Hui beside him and said in a deep voice.

"Hunting groups come together for missions; individual opportunities are not within the jurisdiction of hunting groups."

Seeing that he had been lectured again, Qian Hui felt a surge of anger and teased him.

"I know, that's why I'm begging Zhao Feng not to forget about us poor fellow travelers once she becomes rich!"

Seeing Qian Hui's tone, Ning Pan didn't know what to say. Their relationship had become strained ever since they got into a fight last time, and since they were both old members of the group, it was difficult for even him to handle the situation.

Suddenly, Zhao Feng got up, jumped off Wang Zhen's car, and went to the hunting team's car. Qian Hui subconsciously shrank back, but he didn't expect that Zhao Feng wasn't looking for him.

She looked at Ning Pan and asked in a low voice, "Commander Ning, I want to know something: why did Ye Tengyang suddenly leave the hunting team back then?"

"Ye Tengyang?" Ning Pan suddenly frowned. It seemed like he hadn't heard this name mentioned in a long time.

"Why are you suddenly asking about him? Have you seen him recently?"

"Well, I saw him by chance recently, so I wanted to ask him about it." Zhao Feng made up an excuse and did not directly tell Ning Pan about it.

Ning Pan pondered for a moment, seemingly recalling: "At the time, he asked the regimental commander to let him leave. I don't know the specific reasons, but I heard that he seemed to have offended someone and hadn't appeared in Jiangcheng for a long time. Why did he suddenly come back?"

Zhao Feng was somewhat disappointed: "You don't know either?"

"Ye Tengyang~"

Qian Hui, who was standing to the side, suddenly spoke up again, interjecting, "I think I know why he left."

Zhao Feng turned her head in surprise: "You actually knew?"

Ning Pan also seemed somewhat interested and looked at Qian Hui.