Chapter 595: Just who is this person?

The train came to a stop.

Chen Yongren picked up his luggage and brought Lin Ke Xin down.

"After sitting on the train for hours, my back feels like it's about to break." Chen Yongren set down his luggage, stretched his waist, took a deep breath, and sighed.

"The air here really is different; I seem to already smell the fragrance of Hejian donkey meat fire bread."

Lin Ke Xin gave Chen Yongren a glance and ignored his exaggerated description.

It's still several dozen kilometers to Hejian from here.

You've got a dog's nose, you can even smell that.

Chen Yongren looked at Lin Ke Xin: "It's not easy to come to Cangzhou; this time we must stay a while longer and sample the local cuisine."

Lin Ke Xin didn't speak, turned her head to look behind; the two guards who had followed from Jinmen were not behind her.

She gave Chen Yongren a thoughtful glance, vaguely guessing something in her heart.

Seeing Lin Ke Xin's little look, Chen Yongren also had no intention to answer, saying: "Let's go."

Just as they were about to leave, Chen Yongren suddenly noticed Yang Dong and Jiangnan also walking out of the carriage.

"Is it them?" Lin Ke Xin whispered.

Chen Yongren was not surprised, after all he had previously heard their thoughts and knew their destination was Cangzhou.

But Yang Dong and the others were quite surprised, never expecting to get off at the same stop as the Japanese who had rescued them.

"Look, it's that Japanese again." Jiangnan beside him said softly to Yang Dong.

But their eyes had already met, impossible to avoid; Yang Dong could only force a smile, nod, and offer a greeting, feeling somewhat wary inside.

On the train they had been rescued from a siege by them, yet the two ended up getting off at the same station.

Isn't this a bit too suspicious?

Sensing their inner wariness, Chen Yongren smiled and nodded, without rashly stepping forward to speak.

After all.

Having rescued them on the train earlier had already left the two feeling uneasy and doubting his motives.

The two groups getting off at the same station again only increased their worry; if he approached now, they'd suspect him of ulterior motives even more.

Since they all got off at Cangzhou Station, they might still meet; perhaps they'll encounter each other in the upcoming assassination of Ma Han Wu.

"Don't worry about them, let's first find a place to stay." Chen Yongren softly told Lin Ke Xin.

Lin Ke Xin responded and followed behind Chen Yongren.

Watching Chen Yongren and company's retreating backs, Jiangnan whispered to Yang Dong: "Isn't this too much of a coincidence?"

"Indeed it's a bit too much of a coincidence." Yang Dong lightly nodded and said to Jiangnan: "For now, let's not worry about them; let's leave the station first."

The two had been lying low in a county town near Cangzhou, waiting to spy on the Japanese's movements, when they suddenly received a secret mission requiring them to rush to Cangzhou for reinforcement.

Having already arrived in Cangzhou, they naturally needed to contact the organization as soon as possible.

After a pause, Yang Dong suddenly felt something strange.

Weren't there four people on the train?

How come only the two of them are here now?

Yang Dong looked around but didn't see the two guards.

Something's off.

But he couldn't think about it too much right now.

The two walked out of the station.

Yang Dong observed the surroundings, saw no sign of Chen Yongren and his guards, then hailed a rickshaw.

Along the way he remained vigilant, occasionally glancing back; seeing no suspicious followers ahead or behind, he had the driver stop at a street.

After paying and getting out, Yang Dong brought Jiangnan for a lap around the street, confirmed no one was tailing him, then slipped into a side alley.

Arriving at a small courtyard gate, he knocked on the door with some strange rhythm.

"Who?"

A voice sounded from inside the courtyard.

"It's us; I heard someone at home is sick, so I came back specially to check." Yang Dong spoke softly to the door, then knocked twice more.

Soon the gate opened; a middle-aged man with a goat beard opened it, glanced left and right down the alley, then said: "Why did you only come now? Hurry inside!"

This man was called Lao Yan, and his real name was unknown.

He was also Yang Dong and Jiangnan's superior; it was Lao Yan who had summoned them to Cangzhou.

Yang Dong and Jiangnan immediately entered the courtyard.

"Why did you only come now? Did you encounter an accident on the way?" Lao Yan asked concernedly.

Yang Dong and Jiangnan exchanged a glance.

"That's right." Yang Dong said.

Lao Yan's expression grew grave as he asked: "What accident? Speak quickly!"

Yang Dong concealed nothing, immediately recounting everything that had happened on the train.

"A Japanese on the train helped you break the siege, then made those two ronin kowtow to apologize, and finally compensated you with over ten silver dollars?" Lao Yan, hearing this, was also somewhat bewildered.

What kind of operation is this.

How come I've never heard of such a thing before?

Yang Dong added: "After rescuing us, he never appeared again, except when we got off the train and ran into him once more."

After a moment, Yang Dong added: "By the way, he said he's from the Yuan Clan."

"Those two ronin who bullied us, upon hearing that, their faces instantly turned fearful—just what is the background of the Yuan Clan?"

"A Japanese noble with deep roots." Lao Yan, well‑versed and knowledgeable, offered a brief explanation, then fell silent.

"Could it be that we were exposed, and those two Japanese deliberately staged an accident to make contact with us?" Jiangnan ventured a guess.

"Impossible, that doesn't make sense." Lao Yan shook his head in denial: "If those two ronin had done it intentionally, they should have tried to make contact with you after rescuing you."

"This is a good opportunity to strike up a conversation; you wouldn't easily refuse."

Yang Dong nodded, but he himself wasn't being approached.

"Even if we give him the benefit of the doubt, even if he worries that this way of contacting would arouse your suspicions." Lao Yan continued: "But what about the second time?"

"You all got out of the car together, yet they still didn't initiate contact; Cangzhou is huge—how could he guarantee he'd run into you again next time?"

Of course.

There is another possibility for this.

The two of them have already run into trouble; what they just said is half true, half false.

But upon further thought, that's also unlikely.

First, there isn't enough time; the two don't look like they've been tortured; moreover, if they really had a problem, someone would have broken in from outside by now.

Yang Dong continued: "After those two guards disappeared, I worried they would tail us, deliberately looping around, but I found no suspicious personnel behind us."

He paused, then pulled out some silver dollars from his pocket, handed them to Lao Yan, and smiled: "This is the money he extorted from those two ronin; it's just right for our operating funds."

Operating behind enemy lines, we're always short of money; ten or so silver dollars may not be much, but they can also greatly improve our lives and let us do more.

"Lao Yan, what mission exactly did you have us come here to accomplish?" Yang Dong asked.

Jiangnan also looked toward Lao Yan with great anticipation.