Chapter 367: They Must Not Know (Begging for Monthly Tickets)

Tang Shijiang controlled the screws and threw an entire car of grain off the rails, then unloaded all the remaining grain, coal, clothing, medicine, and sundries... off the train.

Once the unloading was done, Brother Tang waved his hand, and two rivets flew over from the locomotive and burrowed into his arms.

Those two rivets were precisely the root cause of the train's loss of control; once the rivets were pulled out, the train began to slow down, and Tang Shijiang and Li Banfeng got off together.

Walking along the road, Li Banfeng studied this elder carefully; from his words and deeds, it was obvious he was the local god of Black Stone Slope.

But unlike other local gods, even when Li Banfeng pushed Jin Jing Qiu Hao's art to its maximum, he could not detect a single trace of ghost fire on him.

This proved he was not an undead; his physical body was still intact.

They arrived at an abandoned factory, and Tang Shijiang fetched a bundle from beside a machine tool.

Opening the bundle, inside were two lunch boxes — one filled with rice, the other with dishes.

Tang Shijiang divided the rice and dishes evenly, gave Li Banfeng a lunch box, and said, "Don't be shy, let's eat together."

Li Banfeng had once worked on a construction site, so he felt an inexplicable fondness for lunch boxes.

There was only one pair of chopsticks; Tang Shijiang gave them to Li Banfeng and found two tree branches for himself, making do as chopsticks.

"Little brother, those bastards from the Outer States are probably going to fight us for a while — we can't show any weakness."

Li Banfeng nodded and said, "As long as Brother Tang doesn't back down, I'll fight them to the end!"

Tang Shijiang laughed and said, "You don't need to worry about that — I've never known how to write the word 'coward' since the day I was born!"

According to Yao Lao's account, Black Stone Slope was originally the territory of the Train Eunuch, who later handed it over to his disciple.

This Brother Tang must be the Train Eunuch's disciple, right?

The two cheerfully finished their meal, and Tang Shijiang gave Li Banfeng a box of screws: "Brother, take these. Even though you're not from my school, these nails are useful — you could even use them as hidden weapons, and they'd work wonderfully."

Li Banfeng actually wasn't short on hidden weapons, but since Brother Tang had given them, he naturally couldn't refuse.

Brother Tang added another word of advice: "Those bastards from the Outer States are so hungry their eyes are turning green — they'll definitely try to rob us by force, and probably pull some dirty tricks too,

If they use force, don't be afraid — Black Stone Slope is a place with guts. When something like this happens, you don't need to get involved, and absolutely must not get involved,

What worries me is those bastards playing dirty. It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, hard to guard against a hidden arrow — you must be extra careful."

……

Tang Shijiang was right — the eyes of everyone in the Garrison Bureau were truly turning green with hunger.

The canned goods were eaten, the biscuits were gone too; they were waiting for this trainload of grain, but the train had an accident and not a single grain made it back.

The next day, Cheng Mingke had just held an important meeting at the Garrison Bureau. He gave a speech in which he mentioned the word "awe" nine times.

He wanted Like Puluozhou to hold the Garrison Bureau in awe, to hold the Garrison Commissioner in awe, and most importantly, to hold him, the Chief Garrison Commissioner, in awe.

During the speech, several people fainted from low blood sugar, which greatly displeased Cheng Mingke.

"We've only been meeting for five hours, and these people can't sit still anymore — this is a textbook problem of willpower and character."

Secretary Tong Lingzhu said, "Commissioner Cheng, quite a few of them haven't eaten much all day — they can't hold up because of physical reasons…"

"Don't give me any of those objective excuses! Look for more causes from the subjective side! Look at the Deputy Garrison Commissioners — has a single one of them fainted?"

Tong Lingzhu was silent for a moment, then raised her head and said to Cheng Mingke, "That's because all the limited food in the Garrison Bureau was given to the Garrison Commissioners — they ate their fill, so naturally they won't faint."

Cheng Mingke stared at Tong Lingzhu in surprise. This pretty and capable secretary had always been highly valued by him, but he hadn't expected her to dare talk back to him today.

Tong Lingzhu had held back for a long time — this newly arrived Garrison Commissioner understood nothing about the situation in Black Stone Slope.

She had just that day learned the details of Cheng Mingke's background: not only did he not understand Black Stone Slope, he didn't even understand Like Puluozhou very well.

This was his first posting in Like Puluozhou, and he was applying Outer State methods to Black Stone Slope.

Cheng Mingke was very tempted to lose his temper — if this were the Outer States, he would have berated this insubordinate secretary until she questioned her entire life.

But today he didn't scold her, because Tong Lingzhu kept staring at him.

When being stared at directly by a subordinate, it was best to keep one's emotions in check — that was the lesson of many years.

He turned around, picked up his teacup, and gazed out the window with his usual composure.

He told Tong Lingzhu to leave; this person could no longer be used, and he'd find a chance to transfer her away.

Worried about having nothing to eat? Worried Black Stone Slope would spin out of control?

Just look at her narrow vision and petty tricks — she's not fit for this job.

And she won't obey orders. No matter how capable a person like that is, no matter how good-looking, she can't be given any important position.

Cheng Mingke immediately gave orders, sending the Garrison Commissioner in charge of logistics, Du Chaohui, to lead people out to buy grain.

The requirement this time was very clear: by whatever means necessary, the grain had to be bought back. He also sent two fifth-layer cultivators along with Du Chaohui.

The attitude was already very clear — Du Chaohui could only choose to buy by force, otherwise he couldn't complete the mission.

But in a place like Black Stone Slope, buying by force was no easy matter.

The rice shop owner called all his伙计, armed them, and confronted Du Chaohui at the shop's entrance.

Whether in cultivation or equipment, the two sides were vastly mismatched — the rice shop people were simply no match for the Garrison Commissioner.

But the rice shop owner showed no fear, and not a single one of his伙计 retreated.

The crowd of onlookers pressed closer, and all eyes turned to the rice shop owner.

The rice shop owner shouted to the crowd: "This little shop has been here for decades, thanks to all of you for your patronage.

Today there's no rice in the shop, yet someone insists on buying rice, forcing me to risk my old life today.

I've lived to this age — even if I fall here today, I've lived long enough. I only ask all of you, old and young, to bear witness, so that if anyone asks in the future, you can at least speak a word of fairness!"

The crowd of onlookers grew larger and larger, and Du Chaohui grew more and more nervous.

His subordinates stepped forward to drive the crowd away, but it was useless — no one paid any heed to their shouting.

Seeing things were about to blow up, there was a cultivator beside Du Chaohui named Chen Yusheng, a fifth-layer Wu Xiu.

This man was clever and could read the situation clearly.

Dispersing the crowd was unrealistic at this point; the most effective move was to immediately take down the central figure of the incident — that is, the rice shop owner.

The strike had to be covert, without the slightest awareness on the target's part.

When you make a move, be decisive — you can't let it turn into a stalemate, or it'll spark a free-for-all, and then things will get serious.

You have to hit hard. Once you've taken him down, you beat the rice-shop owner half to death on the spot, so he can't even cry out, and that震慑s everyone else into silence.

Chen Yusheng crept soundlessly behind the rice-shop owner, his gaze hardening.

Li Banfeng reached out from beside him, grabbed him by the hair, and slammed Chen Yusheng to the ground.

The strike had to be concealed — Chen Yusheng truly hadn't noticed.

The move had to be decisive. Once he had him pinned, Li Banfeng started kicking right away.

Hit hard — on this point Li Banfeng's thinking differed from Chen Yusheng's. What he used was his foot.

The moment Li Banfeng made his move, the rice-shop owner moved too, and the onlookers around them all joined in.

They'd been holding back for a long time.

He kicked Chen Yusheng first. Chen Yusheng tried to struggle up, but Tang Shijiang kicked him back to the ground.

"Brother," Tang Shijiang said in a low voice, "didn't we say this wasn't something for you to handle?"

Li Banfeng kicked him again: "I'm not really getting involved, just watching the show here."

Tang Shijiang kicked once more: "Don't worry, they can settle this themselves."

Those two kicked too hard — after a few kicks, Chen Yusheng was nearly done for.

At the same time, Du Chaohui's side was surrounded and attacked, the situation extremely dire.

Du Chaohui still had a body cultivator beside him, who easily shielded Du Chaohui behind his back: "Let's see which of you dares to come!"

Brother Tang stepped forward and pinned that body cultivator to the ground, then said to Li Banfeng: "Come on."

The two of them kicked the body cultivator while chatting.

"Brother, let's go. I'll handle this."

"I'll listen to you, big brother."

Li Banfeng added two more kicks, then left the rice shop.

……

At dusk, Du Chaohui, bruised and swollen, found Cheng Mingke to report — the grain still hadn't been purchased.

Cheng Mingke set the teacup in his hand on the desk and said to Du Chaohui: "Where are the guards I assigned you?"

"They all suffered heavy injuries and are being treated in the medical office."

"Two fifth-layer cultivators both wounded — there's something going on here. Special people are involved in this matter!

Fu Botai's disappearance is connected to these people. Even if we have to dig three feet into the ground, we have to find them!

Gather every dark-energy user from the Garrison Bureau. Any vice garrison commander not on outside duty will lead a team as well. First go to the rice shop, bring back the rice, and bring back everyone from the rice shop too,

These people are this arrogant — they must have been instructed. Tonight, interrogate them strictly. We must get a result,

Anyone uninvolved who participated in this matter will be charged as an accomplice and sent to the Garrison Bureau as well."

Cheng Mingke issued the order, and Du Chaohui stood beside him, looking utterly bewildered.

Cheng Mingke frowned: "What are you waiting for? Get moving!"

Du Chaohui asked: "Commander Cheng, aren't you going?"

Cheng Mingke glared at Du Chaohui, and Du Chaohui hurried out of the office.

The sun was about to set. Cheng Mingke stood by the window, looking at the view outside, maintaining his usual composure and calm.

He picked up his teacup and took a sip. Tong Lingzhu pushed the door and walked in.

Cheng Mingke frowned slightly. He didn't turn around, but through the reflection in the glass, he saw Tong Lingzhu.

She doesn't even knock — whoever spoiled her into this bad habit?

Cheng Mingke turned, set down his teacup, and prepared to use this chance to give Tong Lingzhu a proper scolding.

Tong Lingzhu said: "The Garrison Commander-in-Chief is here."

The teacup wasn't set down steadily and fell to the floor. Cheng Mingke didn't bother picking it up and hurried out the door to greet the Commander-in-Chief.

Strange — when did the Commander-in-Chief arrive? Why hadn't he received any word before?

Just as he reached the door, the round-figured Garrison Commander-in-Chief Liao Zihui walked in with a friendly smile.

Cheng Mingke hurriedly asked Tong Lingzhu to make tea. Liao Zihui waved his hand: "No need for the trouble. I'll only stay a moment. Little Tong, go attend to your own matters — I have a few words to say to Mingke alone."

Tong Lingzhu left the office. Liao Zihui sat on the sofa and said to Cheng Mingke: "Mingke, you've just come to work in Like Puluozhou — there must be many things you're not used to yet?"

There was meaning behind those words. After all these years of clawing his way up, how could Cheng Mingke not catch it? He hurried to explain: "Chief Liao, right now Black Stone Slope has had a bit of an incident, but I've already handled it in time…"

Liao Zihui nodded. He already knew how Cheng Mingke had handled it, but offered no judgment.

"Mingke, working in Like Puluozhou, you can't be too hasty. I don't know if you've read the papers lately — a lot of rumors are flying around, all linking us with the Jiang Xiang Gang. Some are even linking us with the human traffickers. The impact is very bad."

"These are all false rumors. We've always maintained a clear line with the Jiang Xiang Gang," Cheng Mingke was prepared for this. "The newspaper that spread these false rumors has already been shut down by me."

Liao Zihui was silent for a moment, then asked: "Mingke, you can shut down the newspapers in Black Stone Slope — surely you can't shut down all the newspapers in Like Puluozhou?"

Cheng Mingke chose his words carefully and said to Liao Zihui: "Chief Liao, I believe these unscrupulous papers should be met with strict measures."

Liao Zihui sighed: "You're still too impetuous in how you handle things. How about this — pack your things and come with me to Green Water City. I have some work there I need your help with."

Cheng Mingke was stunned for a moment, then said: "If I leave Black Stone Slope at this time, it doesn't seem appropriate, does it?"

"Mingke, for Black Stone City, we've already arranged other personnel to take over your work."

Cheng Mingke shook his head: "Chief, I can't figure this out. Where exactly have I failed in my duties?"

Liao Zihui smiled: "This decision is also for the sake of your personal safety. Your resume says you're a second-layer dark-energy user, but from what I know, you've only just reached first layer, haven't you?"

Cheng Mingke's expression didn't change. Among garrison commanders, falsifying one's layer wasn't uncommon. He neither admitted nor denied it, and said calmly: "I believe a person's combat ability and capability aren't necessarily connected. I think…"

"You think?" Liao Zihui dropped his smile, and his tone was no longer so gentle.

Cheng Mingke realized he'd misspoken — in front of the Commander-in-Chief, certain words needed to be watched.

Liao Zihui asked: "Do you know how formidable Like Puluozhou is?"

Cheng Mingke deliberated for a moment, then changed his phrasing: "I believe that what they call ferocity is only on the surface; in substance…"

"Enough!" Liao Zihui cut Cheng Mingke off. "It's fine that you don't know how ferocious they are — the key is not to let them know it themselves,

and if you keep making trouble like this, they're about to find out."

PS: In the battle between Lu Chunying and Lu Maoxian, Liao Zihui once appeared and put a stop to that vicious fight.

(End of chapter)