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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Eighty-Three: The Fraud Hunter and the Underground Dark River
Jiang He did not expect him to come in, instinctively raising the machete. Outside, Jin Bo stepped in quickly, positioning himself between the two.
"He's new here," Jin Bo said, turning back to give Jiang He a look, signaling him not to act impulsively. In fact, Jin Bo had been careless; earlier, Jiang He had clearly mentioned that he was brought here by the Ocean, which was a lackey of Fatty Jin. How could Fatty Three not have seen him before?
Not only was Jin Bo careless, but Fatty Jin also seemed uninterested in probing further. He merely glanced at him with mild curiosity before turning away and ignoring him.
Jiang He had lost count of how many times his emotions had fluctuated today; he felt as if his sweat glands had gone numb. Whether it was shock or fear, he no longer broke out in cold sweats.
"How could she escape? You two big men couldn't keep an eye on a girl?" Jin Bo mocked Fatty Three while busily rummaging through a small medicine box on the bedside table. He took out a cotton swab and dabbed it with iodine to clean Fatty Three's wound, causing him to howl in pain.
"Don't even mention it. That little brat can really put on an act. She started off all meek and obedient, but when we got to Hole Number Three, she suddenly changed her tune." Fatty Jin winced from the pain and quickly snatched a piece of gauze to press against his wound, stopping Jin Bo from disinfecting it again. He shot a suspicious glance at Jiang He standing by the sword rack and continued, "Suddenly she yelled that she saw a mouse. I thought she was scared of it, but she insisted on catching one. So I sent Ocean to catch it, and that little hussy took the chance to slip away."
"Get your act together; you can't even handle such a small matter and still have the nerve to complain." Jin Bo glared at him disdainfully and said, "Were you planning to take advantage of that girl? Otherwise, why would you send Ocean after the mouse?"
Fatty Jin felt exposed and flushed with embarrassment. After sulking for a while, he muttered, "You haven't seen her; she's quite pretty..."
Jiang He remained silent on the side. He could tolerate Fatty Three calling her a little hussy; knowing that Song Yao had escaped gave him some relief. The only thing that surprised him was Jin Bo. This Fatty Three looked older than himself, yet earlier outside he seemed quite close to Uncle Two. Now this seemingly newly adult Jin Bo was scolding him like a grandson. From Fatty Jin's demeanor, it didn't seem like he feared Jin Bo; rather, it appeared that Jin Bo held some authority here and spoke with an air of maturity. Jiang He couldn't help but wonder if this kid just looked young but was actually over forty.
Jin Bo did not ask further questions; he told Fatty Three that he would find that girl and then sent him away.
After the highest commander left, Jin Bo smiled at Jiang He: "De'er, so I don’t have to explain this to Uncle Two later—your girlfriend is quite clever."
Jiang He was puzzled and asked with a blank expression, "What do you mean?"
"She ran away, right? You should go find her. Once you locate her, wait for me at the place where you met me today," Jin Bo said with a twinkle in his eye. "I’ll make sure you two wait there for a night; tomorrow morning I’ll come pick you both up."
"What does that mean?" Jiang He felt a surge of joy inside, thinking that this was quite effortless and would save him a lot of trouble.
"Uncle Two will definitely ask when he comes back tonight. If we bring her back now, Uncle Two will probably be angry. Although Fatty Jin is useless, he is still Uncle Two's cousin, and he got bitten too. Out of fairness and reason, Uncle Two will punish both of you," Jin Bo said as he pulled out a handkerchief from the wardrobe, wrapping up some liquor and a flashlight. He also fished out a vacuum-packed chicken from under the square wooden table, tied up the bundle, and tossed it to Jiang He. "Make do with this tonight; it’ll be fine if you come back tomorrow morning. Uncle Two won’t stay angry overnight."
"This..." Jiang He was truly dumbfounded, holding the small bundle in a mix of laughter and tears.
Jin Bo exclaimed, slapping his forehead in realization. "Don't worry, I'll take care of your sister. What's her name?"
"Uh? Let's call her Little Stream," Jiang He randomly made up a name, thinking to himself that Jin Bo better not go looking after her since there was only one Beret Boy in that cell.
"Interesting! You're Big River, and your sister is Little Stream," Jin Bo said with a bright smile, continuously praising the names, completely different from how he had just glared at Fatty Jin.
"Then I’ll go find her. Thank you so much for this," Jiang He estimated it was time to leave and picked up the bundle, planning to make a quick getaway.
"Alright, go ahead. It's dark in that cave; she shouldn't run too far," Jin Bo said as he inserted a dagger into the bundle's strap and added with a laugh, "A hero saving a damsel in distress; carrying an axe looks so uncool."
Jiang He smiled awkwardly, holding the long sword in his left hand and the bundle in his right. The wind howled coldly by the river; the hero would not return once he slipped away.
Not long after Jiang He left, Fatty Jin once again squeezed into Jin Bo's dwelling, where Jin Bo was lazily lying on the bed, lost in thought.
"Where did that kid go?" Fatty Jin looked around before plopping down onto the table.
"He went down; if you break it, I'll break your legs," Jin Bo sat up and threw a pillow at him.
Fatty Jin sulkily hugged the pillow as he jumped off the table, scratching his nose as he asked, "Did you hear any noise outside?"
"What happened?" Jin Bo shot him a sideways glance and said, "Uncle Two didn't tell me."
"Uncle Two is busy up there; he doesn't have time to talk to you," Fatty Jin replied with a knowing expression, teasing, "Aren't you Uncle Two's right-hand man? Why don't you go help out?"
"Damn, is that for real?" Jin Bo's eyebrows shot up as he grabbed Fatty Three by the collar, his voice sharp. "Who told you that? Didn't you go check the well?"
"Little Hussy ran away from Uncle Two's place. I was going to go in and talk to Uncle Two, but he wasn't there. On my way back, I saw Old Timer and the others heading out with guns," Fatty Three struggled but couldn't break free, so he gave up and let Jin Bo pull him.
"Get to the point! What happened? Why didn't you say anything earlier?" Jin Bo pressed urgently.
"I’m telling you! Old Timer was in a hurry and didn’t explain clearly. It seems like Uncle Two and the others were shot at while checking the well," Fatty Three said cautiously, glancing at Jin Bo. As expected, Jin Bo's face turned pale, his grip tightening on Fatty Three's collar until it creaked. Fatty Three continued, "The guy who did it looked unfamiliar, which is why I held back from telling you."
"You idiot." Jin Bo released Fatty Three, quickly got dressed, and jumped off the mattress. "No wonder there are so few people around today."
"Old Timer told me not to say anything; he was worried about scaring the women and children," Fatty Three shrugged nonchalantly. Seeing Jin Bo fully dressed, he asked deliberately, "Are you going to help?"
"Of course! Do you have a gun? Lend me one."
"I do; just take it yourself."
Jin Bo turned and ran out, while Fatty Three shouted after him, "Take the small one; the big one is a fake!"
A few minutes later, Jin Bo disappeared at the end of Tunnel 4. Across from him, Ocean strolled over with a smile, watching Jin Bo leave. He chuckled, "What a good servant."
"Keep it down," Fatty Three shot him a glare but then grinned widely, rubbing his chubby hands together. "Come on, let's go mess with that little girl."
The two figures, one plump and the other thin, exchanged a lewd grin before shaking their cheeks and departing.
Let’s set aside the Jiang He for now and take a look at what Ming Junwei and Zhuzi have been up to.
The three of them parted ways at the Coal Gangue Pile. Realizing the danger the two women faced, Ming Junwei and Zhuzi didn’t dare to delay any longer. They quickly made their way through the abandoned houses beneath the Coal Gangue Pile and descended into the Coal Mine tunnel.
Neither of them had experience in mining, so they could only rely on their instincts to make some judgments.
The tunnel was small; just five or six meters down the slope was the mine entrance. The brick archway on either side bore the words "Safe Production, Happy Return Home." Inside, it was pitch black, and they couldn’t see their hands in front of their faces.
Without flashlights and with no time to fashion torches, they groped around in the dim light of the entrance but found nothing resembling a mine. It was dark and damp all around, with a relatively flat ground beneath their feet, but they didn’t find any tracks for a hoist. Cautiously, they moved forward a bit further and unexpectedly bumped into a layer of soil.
"Strange," Ming Junwei said as he touched the soil layer in front of him. The texture was loose and soft, not like a wall; it seemed as if someone had piled some sand in the tunnel.
Zhuzi also made some discoveries on his end. He followed the direction of the soil layer deeper inside. Although he couldn’t see much, he could faintly hear some sounds. He quietly called out to Ming Junwei, and together they followed the soil layer further down, noticing that the tunnel grew narrower as they went, with large fallen rocks scattered everywhere.
"Did a mining accident really happen?" Ming Junwei couldn’t help but mutter. Given the situation, it was certain that the mine below must be buried. They had been groping around blindly for quite some time only to find themselves at a dead end. But where did those who abducted Song Yao and Pan Luo come from?
"Listen," Zhuzi nudged him and pulled him back a few steps, stopping in front of a gap between fallen rocks.
The gap wasn’t large enough for a person to pass through sideways, but cool air was whistling out from it, seemingly blowing up from below.
"What do you hear?" Ming Junwei guessed that water must have flooded in from below; this whistling cold wind indicated that the mine had turned into an ocean.
"My ears are filled with wind; I can’t hear clearly, but it sounds like there are zombies moaning," Zhuzi said uncertainly as he grasped onto a protruding rock edge and leaned in to investigate further.
"Be careful," Ming Junwei said, gripping his arm tightly, fearing that one misstep would send him tumbling into the flooded mine below.
The cave echoed with a low, mournful wind, resembling both cries and whimpers. The two spoke in hushed tones, their words barely audible, adding an eerie atmosphere to the Deep Cave.
"Let go; I can get inside," Zhuzi said, pulling back slightly before turning to squeeze through the gap.
Ming Junwei quickly grabbed him again. "Watch your step!"
"I'm fine. I think I saw something; just wait a moment," Zhuzi replied, tossing his gun to Ming Junwei. Taking a deep breath, he slipped into the narrow opening and vanished into the darkness.
Ming Junwei thought it was inappropriate to just wait here, but the gap was only so wide. If something went wrong inside, neither of them would be able to escape.
As he hesitated, a rustling sound came from the gap, and Zhuzi emerged again, urgency in his voice. "Didn’t you say it was flooded down there?"
"Yeah, but is it not?"
"There are Zombies down there!"
Ming Junwei gasped in shock. "That can't be! Did the Zombies attack here and then get buried in a mining accident? But that doesn't make sense; they said the accident happened two years ago."
"I don't know either; just come in and take a look." Zhuzi struggled to express himself, shrinking back again. "It seems like we can go down."
Ming Junwei gritted his teeth, realizing there was no other option. Rather than waiting idly, he might as well take a risk. He wasn't as thin as Zhuzi, who still needed to suck in his stomach to fit through.
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