Chapter Fifty-Four: You Really Are Foolish

The fat man was taken aback, his face full of confusion. Though his hands and feet were tied and the cold made his nose run, he wasn't stupid. Even if Meng Xiaojiao was a hunter, she wasn't a particularly formidable one. Otherwise, why would she appear so sporadically and question him like this?

"Spirit stone? What do you mean? I'm here on orders from the base to capture Cheng Zhi!"

Meng Xiaojiao tilted her head back, clearly dissatisfied with his answer. Twirling the small knife in her hand, she scraped it along the rope binding the fat man.

"If I say you're stupid, you really are. Think carefully before answering. Why are you here? Do you have other accomplices?"

As the fat man looked toward her, he noticed a shadow moving near the pillar behind her. Perhaps to reassure him, the figure deliberately poked their head out so he could see. When he caught sight of Zhou Yi, the fat man's worried heart settled at once. He deliberately raised his voice.

He grinned, his face full of supplication. "Why don't you believe me? I don't know anything about your stones or whatever. We're just here to find Cheng Zhi. We already lost a team to him. I was only sent ahead to scout things out. Why would I lie and you still refuse to believe me?"

Meng Xiaojiao narrowed her eyes and stepped two paces closer. The fat man shivered uncontrollably from the cold.

"The previous group was the same? They weren't searching for anything in this world?"

The fat man shouted, "Looking for what? Think about it—would they send someone like me if there was something important to find? There are plenty of more capable people in the base. We're just slaves, out of favor and lacking any real ability, so we get sent out to take the risks. But I can tell you, I’m not catching Cheng Zhi. He’s got someone powerful guiding him!"

Meng Xiaojiao sneered, rolling her eyes in disbelief. "If not for the replica I found... In any case, once I've recovered, dealing with you all will be no trouble. Well, you were unlucky to run into me. It's time to say goodbye!"

With that, she flashed a vicious smile, raised her knife, and swung it toward the rope. The fat man screamed and begged for mercy, cursing and shouting as loudly as he could.

Just as the blade was about to cut the rope, a gunshot rang out with a bang. Meng Xiaojiao slowly collapsed to the ground, blood streaming from her forehead. Zhou Yi, holding an iron pipe, stood behind her, breathing heavily.

The fat man panted, glancing at the van below, and winked at Zhou Yi. "Hurry up, boss, it's freezing. In a minute you could sell me as frozen meat."

Zhou Yi didn't rush to untie him. He fashioned a loop from the end of the rope and tossed it toward the fat man's head.

After all, if he simply let him go, he wouldn't be able to hold the fat man—one slip and it wouldn't just be the fat man falling; both of them would be in free fall.

"I'll throw the rope over—try to get your head through the loop, and if you can't, bite it. We need to work together or none of us will get out of here," Zhou Yi said.

The fat man nodded rapidly, grunting. Blood was rushing to his head, his mind was a little muddled, but he knew he had to grit his teeth and endure.

"Alright, go ahead!"

Zhou Yi swung the loop at the end of the rope and hurled it; it smacked the fat man in the face. He opened his mouth to cry out in pain, but when he glanced at the van below, he quickly shut his mouth. A hot stream ran from his nose as he looked back at Zhou Yi.

The second toss flew out—this time, the fat man closed his eyes, not even trying to dodge. Better a few hits than ending up as pulp below.

Suddenly, he felt the loop tighten around his neck. Opening his eyes, he realized Zhou Yi had managed to lasso his head, and fortunately not his throat. He clamped his mouth around one side of the rope.

Zhou Yi wound the other end around himself several times and began to pull back with all his strength. The fat man was simply too heavy, and Zhou Yi's feet kept slipping, but they were out of time. Someone below could come up at any moment. If they didn't get him up now, they would both be finished.

With this thought, Zhou Yi dug in harder, steadily pulling back step by step. As most of the fat man's body returned to the building, Zhou Yi gave the rope a final yank.

He dared not let go all at once but held the rope tightly. Yet the fat man, weighing over two hundred pounds and still hanging, was too much for him. The rope slipped from Zhou Yi's hands, and the fat man tumbled toward the platform.

At that moment, a pair of hands seized the rope. Zhou Yi didn't see clearly—just a blur as someone flipped over, grabbed the fat man's belt, and set him safely on the ground.

Only then did Zhou Yi see it was Sophia. Her fluid movements were no less skilled than those of martial arts masters in the movies.

The fat man scrambled up, shivering as he threw his coat on, his hands numb from cold. Still, he grinned at Sophia.

"Thank goodness you came, Miss Sophia. Otherwise, the two of us would have died here today."

Sophia shot him a glance, then nodded at Zhou Yi. Turning to Meng Xiaojiao, she produced a metal tag and pressed it to the woman's forehead. Meng Xiaojiao convulsed like a fish out of water, clutching her head, then passed out completely.

"It's just a replica you knocked out. She can't escape now, and besides, this particular body is in poor condition. She can barely control it. Otherwise, you two would never have survived today."

The fat man shuddered, pulled his cotton coat tighter, and wiped the blood still trickling from his nose.

"Miss Sophia, there's still the driver downstairs—he works for Meng Xiaojiao. Should we go finish him off?"

He spoke with bravado but immediately squatted down, betraying his nerves. Sophia rolled her eyes at him.

"By the time you noticed, he'd already gone to raise the alarm. I took care of it before coming up here. If you have any energy left, help carry this woman down."

She then looked at Zhou Yi, her gaze dropping to his hands. The fat man might not have noticed, but Sophia did. There was blood on the rope Zhou Yi had been holding. With his strength, pulling the fat man's weight had come at a cost.

"Are your hands alright?" she asked.

Zhou Yi shook his head and glanced at his peeled, raw palms and fingers. They burned painfully, but it was only a surface wound.

Seeing this, the fat man hurried over, deeply moved. To have someone risk their life for you—it made his eyes sting.

"I don't know what to say. Let's get out of here and buy some bandages for your hands, alright?"

Zhou Yi shook his head and motioned toward Meng Xiaojiao with his chin. "Let's get her down quickly. We can't stay here. I'm worried someone will sense Meng Xiaojiao's presence. If that happens, escape will be much harder."

The fat man nodded and hurried to haul Meng Xiaojiao up. He knew Zhou Yi's hands were injured, and even if they weren't, he wouldn't have the strength. As for Sophia, she probably just didn't want to bother.

The three of them hurried downstairs. Zhou Yi glanced at the van below—its doors hung open, and it was empty inside. He wondered what Sophia meant by "took care of it"—did she kill the driver, or something else?

They piled into their rented car. Zhou Yi and Sophia took the back seat, so the fat man, with a helpless sigh, dumped Meng Xiaojiao in the front passenger seat, fired up the engine, and headed for their lodgings.

As he started the car, he glanced in the rearview mirror. "Miss Sophia, this Meng—"

He barely got a word out before Sophia silenced him with a raised hand. She took out the metal tag she'd pressed to Meng Xiaojiao's forehead; its two halves separated, and the upper part began to spin, emitting a faint blue glow.

"It's not safe here. We'll talk after we get away. I can only mask our tracks for about ten minutes. It's best if we find somewhere like an air-raid shelter."

Zhou Yi looked at the fat man. When it came to finding places, the fat man was the expert.

He thought for a moment, then jerked the wheel, making the car swerve in a wide arc. The two in the back grabbed the door handles tightly.

"I don't know about an air-raid shelter—we've only been here a few days—but there's a basement nearby. Not far from here, right by Shanda Medical College."

Sophia frowned slightly. Zhou Yi considered—the only notable building in that area was a hospital, and the rest was all residential. Buildings from this era rarely had basements.

"Where is it?"