Chapter 119: Xiaofeng's Greetings

Zhang Xingmin exerted every ounce of his strength to finally restrain the volatile Brother Long.

The two remained hidden in plain sight, listening as the innkeeper and the mysterious figure agreed upon a time and place for their transaction: ten o'clock the following night. It truly is easier to conduct business under the cover of darkness.

When the appointed time finally arrived, Damin and Brother Long were waiting nearby well in advance. To their surprise, the person who appeared was neither the innkeeper nor the mysterious man in black from the previous day. On one side was the inn’s waiter, whom they recognized; on the other side, despite the different clothing, the physique of the individuals looked suspiciously like Wu Jianxue’s guard detail.

Although they could not make out what was being said, their instincts told them it boded ill. They stealthily followed the group. The further they went, the more familiar the route became; indeed, it was the path leading back to the inn where they had once stayed.

Hampered by their current disguises as city patrol officers, they could not follow them inside and were forced to watch helplessly as the others vanished. However, they were not without options. Directly across from the inn was a bar. They found a secluded corner, changed into civilian clothes, slipped into the bar, and made their way to the third floor, directly opposite the room they used to occupy.

As expected, the two parties appeared in their former room, but the same people who had been happily discussing cooperation just moments ago were now locked in a heated conflict. Was it because they had disappeared? They suspected the two-faced innkeeper had sold them out.

Unable to hear the argument, Zhang Xingmin and Yang Dalong could only guess the content of the conversation based on body language. Seeing the men who looked like guards storm out of the inn in a rage, Zhang and Yang hurriedly exited the bar, attempting to follow them to see what their purpose was in purchasing people.

By the time the two reached the street, the guard unit had already reached an intersection and was about to turn right. They hurried to keep pace, but at that exact moment, their communication devices rang.

Having lost their targets, Damin and Brother Long angrily pulled out their devices, intent on seeing who had such poor timing.

Lin Xiaofeng.

Zhang Xingmin looked at the caller ID and answered with irritation.

The video call connected, and Lin Xiaofeng appeared incredibly excited. After days of losing contact, he finally had news, and he was so happy that he failed to notice the foul look on Zhang Xingmin’s face.

"Brother Min! Brother Long! Are you two okay?" As soon as the call connected, Lin Xiaofeng’s piercing voice echoed through the device.

"Great! Wonderful! Just perfect! It would have been even better if you had called a little later!" Zhang Xingmin spoke the truth, but because they had lost their targets, his tone sounded menacing.

"Are you mad because I haven't contacted you for a few days?" Lin Xiaofeng’s voice grew weaker, but then he thought, he hadn't done anything wrong, so why act like a guilty student? He cleared his throat and said confidently, "I’ve been secretly digging into their internal files these past few days. Guess what I found?"

Zhang Xingmin and Yang Dalong were distracted by the loss of their targets and gave a perfunctory grunt, signaling him to continue.

Seeing their expressions, Lin Xiaofeng grew annoyed. "What kind of reaction is that? Can you give me some enthusiasm? I risked my life to get this!"

Since the targets were already lost, Zhang and Yang looked at Lin Xiaofeng’s serious expression, thinking they might as well hear what he had to say—there might be some new breakthrough.

It turned out that ever since Lin Xiaofeng infiltrated the base of the "Young Master" and his faction, although he wasn't part of the core, he had managed to fool most of the people on Ghost Island Base through his faux friendship with Zhao Zeyi, successfully establishing himself as someone of some importance. To put it simply, while others saw him as a VIP whom Zhao Zeyi had gone to great lengths to recruit, in Zhao Zeyi’s eyes, he was merely a pawn to be used for annexing other bases, especially in dealing with Wu Jianxue.

Regardless, Lin Xiaofeng had gained a precious opportunity to access so-called internal files. It didn't matter that he wasn't familiar with the base; the helpful Guoguo always took him wherever he wanted to go. Of course, Guoguo was just bored and wanted company, not because of any orchestrated plan. To Guoguo, this "older brother" Lin Xiaofeng was much better than the others—he wasn't constantly moody or strange, but rather easygoing, sunny, and handsome.

With Zhao Zeyi’s intentional or unintentional indulgence, Lin Xiaofeng learned a great deal of information. Most of it concerned intelligence on other bases, which made for a tense and explosive situation.

Many of the bases did not concern him. He was most familiar with Wu Jianxue, that cunning old fox of an opponent whom he had long been tired of. As it turned out, within the enemy’s factions, there were many who despised Wu Jianxue as well, leading to the exposure of much of his sordid history.

For instance, Wu Jianxue was originally the right-hand man of Zhao Zeyi’s illegitimate father, raised and cultivated by the elder Mr. Zhao himself. However, once he grew powerful, he struck out on his own, sowing discord between the Zhao brothers and profiting from the chaos.

The liberation of the Dahuang Mountain Base was no accident. Even if the authorities hadn't intervened, Wu Jianxue’s rivals were on the verge of joint action; he had simply offended too many people.

Furthermore, after the fall of Dahuang Mountain, Wu Jianxue did not immediately seek refuge in Jinling City but had disappeared for a time. During that period, he had actually gone to the Old City where Damin and Long are now. What he did there remained unknown, but recent files indicated that while he was ostensibly playing the mystic, he was secretly raising some unknown creatures to appease a certain powerful figure.

At the mention of raising monsters, Damin and Brother Long became intrigued. For some reason, they both thought of that strange altar—the one where they had nearly met their end.

Lin Xiaofeng could not provide more detailed data, only a few blurry photos, likely due to the intelligence officer's haste. However, relying on their sharp memories, Damin and Brother Long recognized the place immediately.

If what Lin Xiaofeng said was true, that altar was a collector that required a constant supply of fresh blood.

This meant the enemy was planning further actions.

There would be more disappearances in the Old City, or rather, people would continue to vanish there indefinitely.

This was a critical lead.