The weather was clear the next day, so they continued on their journey.
Once they passed through Tongzhou County ahead, they could reach Shanyang County.
The two of them didn't plan to enter the county town. To the north of Tongzhou County, there's Hetao Village, with a gas station at the east entrance of the village. It could bypass the county town and should be relatively safer.
Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei were unsure if Shu and Chai Xin, going east, would pass through Tongzhou County or Hetao Village, nor could they ascertain if they could gather information about their whereabouts by asking around.
If the two of them had learned from the incident in Yao County, becoming more cautious and stealthy throughout, asking around would be pointless.
"Let's just play it by ear."
When bringing up the matter, Lu Xi'an said, "If we get the chance, we can ask others. If we can't find anything out, then I think there's no need to rush."
"Mm."
Yao Wei nodded while driving.
The river at Hetao Village had long dried up. When they reached the river ditch outside the village, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei could only see a deep ditch overgrown with weeds, with no water in it.
But fortunately, they still had plenty of water from before, so they could hold on for now.
Yao Wei looked at the map and saw that the next river—a big one—was over in Shanyang County. The map said it was a significant tributary of the Luo River, called the Fumang River, with abundant water. It wouldn't be too late to replenish their supplies then.
The two stopped the car at the river ditch and let Gou connect the Resonant Gene Scanner for a look, and then were startled.
The map showed several more red dots—besides the three representing them and the Fungus Stone, there were actually four more.
Fortunately, those four red dots weren't nearby; they were over in Shanyang County.
To be precise—they were all north of Shanyang County.
"It must be Chai Xin and Luo Ping, right?"
Lu Xi'an speculated while looking at the electronic map on the Resonant Gene Scanner, "As for the other two people, they could possibly be teammates that Luo Ping found?"
"Mm."
Yao Wei nodded and said, "Let's hope so."
For now, that's all they could hope for. But if those four red dots weren't related to Luo Ping and Chai Xin, there was nothing they could do. When the ti ca, they could only fight or flee as the situation demanded.
There was a bridge over the river ditch at Hetao Village. Lu Xi'an stepped onto it to test it, feeling the bridge was sowhat shaky. A person could just manage to walk over, but a car would likely cause it to collapse.
They didn't bother taking a detour, so they just carried the car over the river. Once on the other side, Lu Xi'an climbed onto the car roof while Yao Wei drove through the village, only relaxing after seeing no one there.
When they reached the east of the village, they saw a lonely gas station standing outside the village, covered in gray dust, with the sign on the top of the canopy no longer visible.
Lu Xi'an had Gou control a drone to fly into the gas station for a look, and Gou's eyes alerted them, saying there were people inside the station building.
There were three people.
Lu Xi'an guessed that the people in the station building probably wouldn't be as reckless as Fa and his group in Tongzhou County at ngxin City. At least, no one inside was throwing things at the drone at the mont.
—However, Tongzhou County's people were that reckless due to having gained an advantage over Neo-Humans previously.
Before Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei passed through the gas station in Tongzhou County, Fa's group had tricked a Neo-Human into drinking poison, killing one.
With past successful experience, Fa and his group dared to make a move on Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei.
Therefore, traveling in this world still required caution. That Neo-Human, unaware of what model, probably felt powerful and was careless, thus falling into Fa and his group's hands, right?
The lessons of that unknown Neo-Human should be learned too; strangers' things should never be used lightly.
Lu Xi'an held a spoke, already broken into a short pin, in his hand, standing on top of the car, and said towards the direction of the station building, "People inside, raise your hands high and stand outside the gas station.
"We're just refueling and passing through, with no intention of doing anything to you. If you cooperate and listen, we'll leave after refueling without doing anything to you."
Three people soon ca out of the station building, with wrinkled skin, making it hard to determine their age.
The three cooperated fully, raising their hands high and retreating directly outside the gas station.
Lu Xi'an then had Gou check the inside and outside of the gas station before letting Yao Wei drive in to refuel.
Yao Wei drove the car to the pump. Just as she was about to stop, one of the three, who seed to be the oldest, said, "The pumps are broken; to refuel, you have to get it from the tank."
Lu Xi'an turned to ask him, "How do you know?"
There were no cars in sight, and Lu Xi'an glanced at the oil tank. The valve was tightly closed with theft-prevention bolts, looking like it wasn't regularly opened. There was no need for people here to open the tank valve.
The person said, "People co here often for fuel, and there was once a fight over this tank."
Lu Xi'an's brows furrowed, asking, "What kind of people?"
The person said, "Neo-Humans like you, over in Shanyang County."
He said, pointing to the oil tank's valve, "That valve is too heavy for to open. People from elsewhere wanting to refuel also need two or three people to lift it. That Neo-Human was strong but still needed to help him each ti he ca."
"Do you need any help? I've helped open that valve many tis, I know how to do it."
He just pointed it out and then quickly raised his hands to avoid any misunderstanding by Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei.
Lu Xi'an didn't let him help. Naturally, he didn't fully trust this person and told Yao Wei to take Gou over to check the safety of the oil tank, and then he asked the man, "What's the na of that Neo-Human you ntioned, and what car do they drive?"
Yao Wei took Gou and crossed the safety well fence of the oil storage tank to check the valve.
The man glanced at Yao Wei and the chanical dog in her hand, dared not look again, and replied to Lu Xi'an: "I don't know the full na of that Neo-Human, I only know his last na is Luo, and he lets call him Brother Luo."
"He has several cars; sotis he drives a black car here, sotis a white one, and a few big cars, but he rarely drives those."
Lu Xi'an could basically confirm that the person in front of him was talking about Luo Ping. He didn't expect Luo Ping to frequent this fuel station.
This person seed like the guard Luo Ping had stationed here at the fuel station, but Lu Xi'an still couldn't fully trust him.
There had to be sothing wrong with this person; otherwise, Luo Ping would have taken him away long ago. Why leave him here alone?
He didn't even know Luo Ping's full na. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novelꜰire
"So you have been here all along, helping the Brother Luo you ntioned to watch over this fuel station?"
Lu Xi'an asked.
The man said, "I'm here, they are not."
The two won nodded ingratiatingly at Lu Xi'an and smiled. Both were won, but their faces were full of wrinkles; when they smiled, it seed so obsequious that it was extrely uncomfortable to look at.
The man continued, "They originally worked in Tongzhou County, following the local boss there.
"I sotis went to Tongzhou County and often dealt with them, so I got familiar.
"More than twenty days ago, there were ghost rumors in Tongzhou County, causing panic in the city. Even the big boss hid away.
"They didn't dare to stay in the city, so they ca to . I couldn't bear to see them with nowhere to go and let them stay."
Lu Xi'an caught sight of the man's expression when looking at the two won while speaking, and couldn't he see through it?
What nonsense about not being able to bear it? This rascal was just lusting after the two won.
Even though these two won were full of wrinkles and had no good looks, they were still won.
Listening to this guy, it seed as if Tongzhou County was very harmonious. This person lived at a fuel station in a village outside the city and could leisurely visit the city, a completely different scene compared to Yao County.
Therefore, Lu Xi'an still felt there was an issue.
However, he couldn't be bothered to worry about why this person had such a harmonious relationship with the people of Tongzhou County, and was more interested in another question: "What's going on with the ghost rumors in Tongzhou County?"
This "ghost rumor" imdiately reminded him of the vengeful spirits demanding justice in Yao County. Could there be a connection?
Speaking of "ghost rumors," the faces of the two won beside the man changed, showing so fear.
They couldn't say anything, so the man responded: "I heard it was because two people in the county town died and turned into that.
"The two of them hadn't paid enough tribute to the big boss for several days, so their boss killed them.
"As a result, that very night, many things were lost from their boss's place. I heard them say that when the haunting happened, they could only hear sounds but couldn't see anyone, scaring everyone.
"When the ghosts finally retreated, they even sighed, as if this wasn't over."
Lu Xi'an: "..."
The timing and actions matched perfectly, he could basically confirm that the ghost rumors in the city were caused by Chai Xin and Shu.
After what happened in Yao County, they got bolder, using their abilities to camouflage and hide, stealing from soone's base, and ending up being mistaken for ghosts.
But fortunately, it seed Chai Xin and Shu didn't get into any trouble, just took so stuff and left. They left because they attracted attention and felt unsatisfied, sighing as they departed.
Have these two completely realized how effective Neo-Human abilities are against ordinary people?
Lu Xi'an's lips twitched slightly and asked, "And then? Did you hear about any more ghost rumors afterward?"
The man replied, "Nothing afterward, but people in the city were still scared and left. Those two also ca to ."
Lu Xi'an got the information he wanted, so he didn't say much more to the man.
By this ti, Yao Wei had finished having Gou check the oil tank and, after confirming there were no issues, took out an oil drum and an oil pump to refuel.
Upon opening the valve and looking inside, there was so oil but not much. The pump was placed inside, connected to the drum, and refueling began.
The oil pump drew exclamations of surprise from the three. Apparently, even Luo Ping didn't have an oil pump and had to manually scoop oil with a bucket.
After refueling, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei closed the valve, inserted the anti-theft bolt, packed up, and drove away.
Before leaving, Lu Xi'an kindly reminded those three: "Oh right, be careful while staying here, don't use fire. If you must, do it outside."
The man nodded repeatedly, "I know, Brother Luo also ntioned that to ."
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