Chapter 287: News

"No, no, I just feel that since you spend your days hunting in the mountains, you shouldn't mistake people for prey when you come out."

Li Baoguo had indeed received some news, and it was from Wang Weiguo; back then, Zhang Ping'an's fourth sister had been surrounded by a few thugs, and in the end, his son had sent them off to the Great Northwest to eat sand.

The older brother of the lead thug from back then, Lu Qi, had returned from out of town; he didn't know where he got the news and was looking to take revenge, though they didn't dare target the Public Security, and they didn't even dare target Zhang Lanhua and the others.

Instead, they were preparing to strike at their family members; you kill my brother, I kill your brother, an eye for an eye.

Of course, this information was provided by informants the Public Security had planted among the thugs, and they weren't certain if they were specifically targeting Zhang Ping'an.

But now, Zhang Ping'an's fourth sister was being escorted to and from work by Wang Zhiguo every day, and they didn't dare be the least bit careless.

"It won't come to that."

Zhang Ping'an's outward behavior now was indeed that he spent most of his time in the mountains, and every time he came out of the mountains, he could bring back prey.

"Ping'an, forget it, I'd better tell you..." Li Baoguo hesitated for a moment, but still said it; he was truly afraid that those people would take revenge on Zhang Ping'an, so he decided to give him a heads-up.

"Is that so? No worries, if they dare to come, I'll skewer them," Zhang Ping'an said, rubbing his chin.

"..."

"In any case, be careful. We haven't been able to track down exactly where they are hiding for the time being."

"Got it, Uncle Li, I've got it covered."

Zhang Ping'an didn't really take it to heart, but he was still worried about the situation of his family; if they were targeting him alone, he wouldn't be afraid, he was just afraid they would pull some dirty tricks.

Because Zhong Laotou had sent people to follow him before, Zhang Ping'an would subconsciously activate his spatial scanning to perceive the outside world whenever he went out; as a result, he didn't see anyone following him, but he did discover quite a few treasures buried underground.

Returning to the Siheyuan, Zhang Ping'an went straight to find Yi Zhonghai.

"Brother Yi, can you make me a few more of those short spears you made for me back then? The previous ones were all used up hunting, and now I only have one left."

"Sure, are five enough? I can bring them to you tomorrow."

"Great, many thanks, Brother Yi."

Zhang Ping'an handed over ten yuan, and Yi Zhonghai took it without hesitation; for the two of them, this was small money, and also money for the consumed materials.

"Heh, it's just a small favor."

The next evening after work, Zhang Ping'an received the short spears provided by Yi Zhonghai; the workmanship was even more exquisite than back then, and the spear tips he made shone with a cold light and were exceptionally sharp.

"Brother Yi, your craftsmanship is definitely top-notch," Zhang Ping'an did not stint on his praise.

"Hahaha, as long as they're useful." The older generation valued craftsmanship the most; if you praised him, how could he not grin from ear to ear?

Although it was just an ordinary short spear, Yi Zhonghai had put some thought into it this time; there were two blood grooves on the short spear, and if placed in his previous life, it would definitely be a controlled weapon.

That night, Zhang Ping'an practiced his throwing skills thoroughly in the space; ever since he had killed someone, Zhang Ping'an had basically not touched the short spears, but the feel was still there, and after throwing them dozens of times, he could hit the bullseye every time.

The century-old trees in the space were all riddled with holes, and several running Wild Boars were also pierced through, while the short spears showed no change at all.

"Not bad, not bad, old-fashioned weapons still need to be crafted by old-timers to be easy to use."

At one o'clock in the morning, Zhang Ping'an slipped into the Black Market; currently, meat and grain were still the main themes of the Black Market, but compared to three or four years ago, the situation was much better.

Zhang Ping'an had wanted to use his old identity to ask Daoba, but thinking of the people behind Daoba, and then suddenly thinking of what Zhong Mingzhu had said—about Zheng Zhiming, the grandson of her grandfather's comrade-in-arms—a chill suddenly shot up his spine.

He hadn't grasped the key point in the morning and had vaguely felt something was wrong; how could someone easily obtain specific information about a case from over ten years ago? The person helping Lu Qi must have a heaven-reaching background, and they specifically didn't target Wang Zhiguo, who had made the arrest, but targeted him instead.

If this was truly the work of the Zheng Family, everything seemed to be explainable now; after all, to Zheng Zhiming, Zhang Ping'an could be considered to have the hatred of a wife-snatcher, and Zhong Mingzhu would rather go abroad to study than marry him, which must have been a significant blow to him.

The more Zhang Ping'an thought about it, the more his scalp tingled. Damn it, Zhong Mingzhu had left him a hidden danger even after she left; clearly, he hadn't done anything, yet he was stuck carrying this pot firmly. Damn, if he had known, he should have just eaten her back then; that way, it wouldn't count as carrying a pot.

Zhang Ping'an turned around, changed into another outfit, and went to other Black Markets; he felt it was better to strike first. There was no shortage of people selling information in the Black Market; as long as the money was enough, they could find out everything about your ancestors up to three generations back.

"Customer, what would you like to know?" Here, they still maintained forms of address similar to the previous dynasty; an elderly man who looked like a front-desk clerk asked.

"An out-of-town thug who entered Sijiucheng in the last year, named Lu Qi; I want all his information. This is the deposit," Zhang Ping'an directly slapped down five Small Yellow Fish.

Here, gold was more popular than paper money; for a big spender like Zhang Ping'an, they didn't even get a few such orders a year.

"Got it, you'll have the news in five days at the latest. This is the Identity Token, please keep it safe."

Zhang Ping'an took the token and put it into the space, then hid in a corner and changed his disguise again; he had originally intended to see how they transmitted information.

Who would have thought that five people in different disguises would come out directly from behind the room: there was a carriage driver type, a scissor grinder, a barber, a shifty-eyed pickpocket, and a woman; this place was likely a gathering place for the dregs of society.

The front-desk old man who had just dealt with Zhang Ping'an naturally didn't dare to be sloppy after receiving a big order; this was a big business worth over two thousand yuan, so he directly mobilized most of the people gathered here.

"It really is: snakes have snake paths, and rats have rat ways." Zhang Ping'an stopped observing and waited quietly for the result in five days.

On New Year's Eve, the Jia Family's four adults and six children were just enough for one table.

"Dad, is Little Uncle still not free this year?"

"Hmm, Youwei still has to stay behind to take care of his Uncle Liu."

Lao Jia could only tell a lie; in his family, only he himself knew that Jia Youwei was no longer in Modu.

However, Zhang Xiaohua had also sensed that something was wrong; Lao Jia's care for his brother Jia Youwei could be described as meticulous, but for the past two years, they had only communicated by phone, and he had never suggested going to Modu to see him. This was obviously wrong, but she didn't say anything at the dinner table.

"Alright, let's eat first."

After the meal and finishing the dumplings, after Lao Jia went into the room to stay up for the New Year, Zhang Xiaohua asked the question in her heart:

"Lao Jia, is everything alright with Youwei?"

"It's fine, don't worry."

"Hmm."

Zhang Xiaohua didn't ask for specifics either; she knew there must be something going on, but as long as the person was fine, that was enough.

In the early morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year, there were pitifully few people in the Black Market, but Zhang Ping'an still arrived as promised, handing over the token and five Small Yellow Fish.

"Customer, this is the information you wanted. A friendly reminder: that group of people is not to be trifled with."

Seeing that Zhang Ping'an had given ten Small Yellow Fish in total, the front-desk old man still said this; after five days of investigation, they had lost five brothers, and although the trade wasn't a loss, they couldn't earn much after compensating the brothers' families.

"Very good, thank you." Zhang Ping'an gave the old man two more Small Yellow Fish for this reminder.

"You are too kind."

Carefully returning home all the way, he opened the paper, and the content inside made Zhang Ping'an gasp.

"They really are a group of fierce bandits."