The ultimate master in the city

Chapter 11 Asking for Directions

Xiaomishan collapsed, leaving behind a pile of ruins. City residents hurriedly evacuated, and the staff remained tight-lipped about the incident.

Professor Li and his student Zhang Zixin stayed behind and interrogated Zhou Fengchen for three days, but found that he was unwilling to say a word, so they had to give up.

Before leaving, Zhang Zixin left her phone number with Zhou Fengchen, saying, "If you come down the mountain and visit my city, I might consider dating you."

Zhou Fengchen's words infuriated her: "My dad said I can't touch women for the next few years!"

……

A few days after Professor Li and Zhang Zixin left, Zhou Fengchen burned all his belongings, leaving only his father's memorial tablet, a suona (a traditional Chinese wind instrument), and two sets of tattered clothes. He then looked at the address of his biological parents that his father had left behind for a long time, and became excited. Xiaomishan was gone, and he decided to leave this godforsaken place and go down the mountain to find his relatives.

Da Gang drove his beat-up motorcycle into the city to catch a bus. On the way, Zhou Fengchen earnestly asked him how to buy tickets, how to ask for directions, and so on.

Da Gang's jaw almost dropped in surprise. Then he realized that Zhou Fengchen seemed to have never left the mountain since he was a child, so he started rambling on and on.

……

The journey from Gejiaji to Donghai City, where Zhou Fengchen was born, is four to five thousand li, requiring various transfers along the way.

Three days and two nights later, Zhou Fengchen was filled with fear. He realized he didn't know where he had gone, the car he was in seemed wrong, and he had a feeling that he had lost himself.

"I need to go to No. 201, Wuyuan Old Street, Jinzhou District, Donghai City. Is your car able to get there?"

Zhou Fengchen's face turned pale, and he kept asking the bus driver questions.

The driver, looking impatient, said, "How many times have you asked? I already told you, this bus passes through Donghai, but doesn't go into the city. Even if it did go into the city, it wouldn't go to the place you're talking about. I'm just wondering, how did you buy your ticket?"

Zhou Fengchen said blankly, "An auntie outside the station sold it to me."

"Pfft—"

The passengers in half the carriage burst into laughter, and the driver couldn't stop laughing either. "You've been tricked! Judging by your appearance, you must be from the mountains!"

Zhou Fengchen looked himself over. He was wearing faded old clothes and sneakers, which was his best look. He nodded and said, "That's right."

"I give up!" The driver looked in the rearview mirror and asked the two girls sitting together, "Ladies, this friend is going the same way as you. Would it be convenient for you to give him a ride when you get off?"

The two girls were both around twenty years old, very pretty, and dressed fashionably. One was playing on her phone, and the other was listening to music with headphones on. They glanced at Zhou Fengchen and remained silent.

Zhou Fengchen took it to heart, thanked the driver, returned to his seat, and stared intently at the two girls.

The car drove until nightfall, then suddenly stopped at a three-way intersection. The driver called out, "The three of you from Donghai City, this is the only way. Get out."

Two girls hurriedly got off the bus carrying their bags, and Zhou Fengchen followed them.

The bus drove away quickly.

The sky was overcast and the surroundings were dark. Two girls walked ahead, looking wary, while Zhou Fengchen followed behind, wanting to ask questions but not knowing how.

After walking for a while, one of the girls' phones rang. She answered and yelled, "Jiang Hao, how dare you be late! Are you looking for death? Hurry up!"

Not long after hanging up the phone, a sports car pulled up in front, turned a corner, and stopped next to the two girls. The two girls hurriedly got in, and the sports car drove off again.

Zhou Fengchen panicked and took off chasing after him, shouting, "Wait!"

Inside the sports car, the boy named Jiang Hao glanced at the rearview mirror and asked curiously, "Who is this guy? What's he doing following us?"

Chen Siya took off her headphones and said, "They were in the same car, and it seemed they were also going to Donghai City. They said they came from the mountains and didn't know the way. The driver told them to come with us. They looked quite pitiful, but Qiqi said..."

Another girl, Qi Qi, frowned and said, "Who knows what he does? He might be thinking we're easy targets, pretending to be stupid to try and fool us. Jiang Hao, speed up and take a shortcut to shake him off!"

"Just you wait and see!" Jiang Hao stepped on the gas, performed a beautiful drift, and drove off along a side road.

Zhou Fengchen followed the path and chased after it for a while, but had no choice but to give up. He had been traveling for the past few days, changing vehicles frequently, not eating or sleeping well, and his physical strength had dropped significantly. It was too much to compete with a car. This road was straight, so he would ask someone for directions when it got light.

……

The sports car accelerated for more than ten minutes, then a light rain started to fall, and the slippery, dark road forced it to slow down.

The person behind them was out of sight. Jiang Hao, driving, asked with a grin, "Is your business big, Uncle?"

Qi Qi rolled her eyes: "He's so big that he doesn't have time to see his daughter. I was hoping to mooch off Xiao Ya, what a disappointment."

Chen Siya said shyly, "My dad's business is just starting out, he's very busy."

Jiang Hao laughed and said, "I told you not to go. School's starting soon. Playing at Siya's martial arts gym is just as good. Isn't it nice to have so many people playing around?"

"Go to hell!" Qi Qi slapped him, then suddenly blinked and said, "By the way! Siya, that country bumpkin just now seemed to have gone to the vicinity of your house."

Chen Siya said "Oh," but then looked ahead and asked, "Jiang Hao, which road are you taking? It looks so remote."

The road ahead grew narrower and narrower, and the surrounding area was overgrown with weeds, making it quite desolate.

Jiang Hao paused for a moment, then said, "I don't know. I saw on the sign that it leads to the city center."

Qi Qi yelled, "You have no sense of direction!"

As they were talking, a person wearing a straw raincoat suddenly appeared in front of them, carrying a shoulder pole with baskets at both ends filled with something that looked very heavy.

Jiang Hao honked the horn a few times, but the person just walked in the middle of the road, swaying and not showing any intention of moving aside.

The road was too narrow, and the person wouldn't let him pass, so the car couldn't get through at all. Jiang Hao had no choice but to follow behind, honking the horn incessantly.

Qi Qi asked curiously, "What is that person carrying on their journey in the middle of the night? Are they hard of hearing?"

The car was very close to the man at that moment. Jiang Hao leaned forward for a look and said, "Why do I feel like those baskets are full of stones?"

Just then, the person stopped and stood motionless in the middle of the road, not knowing what he was doing, so the car had to stop as well.

Qi Qi and Chen Siya looked around and shuddered, saying, "No, could it be something dirty?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? I'll go ask them."

Jiang Hao boldly pushed open the car door and walked over. When he got there, he casually glanced into the basket and was stunned. He had guessed right; the man had indeed picked out stones.

What... what does this mean? He looked at the person and found that the other person was completely hidden inside the raincoat, and he couldn't see their hands and feet at all. His heart skipped a beat, and he cautiously called out, "Hey!"

The man remained silent.

"You're blocking our way, could you please move aside? We're in a hurry."

Jiang Hao's heart raced. He reached out and gently patted the man's shoulder. Unexpectedly, the raincoat fell off, and three weasels emerged from it, howling as they ran into the surrounding weeds.