Rotting Land: Survive

Chapter 629 - 618: Brotherhood (Part 1)

As soon as Wen Quanxin left, the living room regained its calm. Shortly thereafter, Old Zhao returned from the bathroom and saw that only Old Xu and Tang Xiaoquan were left in the living room. He asked, "Everyone's gone, huh? By the way, Old Xu, since we left, has everything been alright at the villa? Did that gang of thugs come to bother you?"

Tang Xiaoquan thought it unlikely that they would come to harass them, otherwise the villa wouldn't have been as lax in its guard as it was today.

However, after Old Zhao finished his question, Old Xu's expression suddenly became serious. He shook the teacup in his hand solemnly and said, "They didn't exactly harass us, but they did come to monitor us."

"Monitor you? How were they monitoring?" Old Zhao was a bit surprised, while Tang Xiaoquan seemed to catch onto something. He uncertainly asked, "Old Xu, do you mean that they parked their car out of our bow and arrow range, utilizing the advantage of distance, and used binoculars and other equipment to spy on our villa?"

"Exactly!" Old Xu nodded with certainty and cast a look of approval at Tang Xiaoquan. "We found them around 12:45 p.m. today. At that time, they were parked about 500 meters away from the villa. Both sides spotted each other through binoculars, and they even provocatively gave us the middle finger, attempting to lure us out for a fight with such a provocative move."

"Heh, it seems their plan definitely failed." Old Zhao was quite confident about that. Seriously, even if everyone in the villa was goaded into losing their patience, as long as Old Lin and Old Xu were there, it was certain there wouldn't be a reckless charge.

Old Xu nodded again, but his expression didn't lighten at all due to their plan's failure. Instead, his face became even more solemn: "However, I'm afraid their visit this time was not just to lure us into action."

"Oh? Old Xu, then what are you worried about?"

Old Xu glanced at Old Zhao and said in a deep voice, "I'm worried that their main purpose this time was to scout our defenses."

Upon hearing this, Tang Xiaoquan and Old Zhao both looked grim.

Indeed, Old Xu's speculation was not without merit. The last time, their group was caught off guard by the well-prepared solid defenses, forcing them into a hasty retreat.

As the saying goes, 'once bitten, twice shy.' They didn't expect that the leader on the other side would turn out to be a bit clever.

If he truly came to the villa to scout the defenses and use the findings to make corresponding countermeasures upon return, the threat to everyone in the villa would be significant.

As the discussion reached this point, Old Xu subconsciously checked the time, noticing it was already past 3:00 p.m. He slapped his forehead and exclaimed, "Oh dear! Look at me, getting caught up discussing things with you two. You must be weary from your journey, and you haven't even had lunch yet. Quick, quick, let's go to the kitchen and bring out the meal that Little Wei prepared for you."

Saying this, Old Xu got up to leave. Noticing this, Tang Xiaoquan quickly stood up and said, "Uncle Zhao, you and Old Xu go ahead and eat. I want to go upstairs and check on Qiangzi."

Old Zhao hesitated for a moment. He also wanted to accompany Tang Xiaoquan upstairs to check the situation, considering that Wang Qiang had suffered a severe blow this time. He was worried whether the latter could withstand such a blow.

However, after careful consideration, Old Zhao decided against going with him.

Because, when it came to understanding Wang Qiang, he believed no one in the villa could surpass Tang Xiaoquan.

After all, Quan is Wang Qiang's longtime friend. Having him there, given their relationship and the former's agile mind, should offer some comfort to Wang Qiang.

"Alright then, Xiao Tang, it's up to you."

"Of course, Uncle Zhao, it's my duty." Tang Xiaoquan waved his hand casually to say goodbye to the two behind him and headed off upstairs on his own.

When Tang Xiaoquan reached the top floor, he happened to run into Wei Yang in the corridor. She was standing at the door of Yang Xue's room. The two were pleasantly surprised and exchanged greetings. Wei Yang was the first to ask, "Xiaoquan, what brings you here?"

Wei Yang's heart was pounding, wondering if he had specifically come upstairs to find her.

Tang Xiaoquan couldn't guess her thoughts and took two steps forward, pointing to the door near the end of the corridor with a smile as he whispered, "Oh, for the same reason as you, to find someone."

Upon hearing this, Wei Yang felt a bit disappointed. It turned out her beloved didn't specifically come looking for her. After nodding blankly, Wei Yang replied, "Yes, I also came to find Yang Xue. I noticed she wasn't in a good mood when she returned, so I wanted to check on her. Wasn't she with you in the car? Do you know if anything happened? Did Qiangzi bully her?"

Seeing Wei Yang frown slightly, Tang Xiaoquan felt somewhat helpless, thinking to himself that if Qiangzi really had the guts to bully her, that would have saved him the trouble of coming to comfort her. "No! Qiangzi would never bully a woman. It's a long story, and I can't really explain it in a sentence or two. When there's some time, I'll discuss it with you in detail."

Earlier, when he was recounting the encounter at the factory to everyone, Wei Yang happened to be absent, and he was really disinclined to retell that farce.

Understanding this, Wei Yang was empathetic, inferring from Tang Xiaoquan's tired demeanor that he probably didn't want to talk about it.

So, she decided not to press the matter further, trusting that when he was ready to talk, he would do so. In the meantime, she'd focus on her original plan.

After making a gesture of knocking, Tang Xiaoquan nodded to signal Wei Yang to proceed.

"Knock, knock, knock!" There was no response from inside.

"Knock, knock, knock!" Still no response.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

"Yang Xue, it's me!"

Yang Xue madly threw off the blanket covering her head, mentally berating Wei Yang as an annoying fly. She thought she had made it quite clear downstairs that she didn't want to be disturbed. How could this woman be so persistent?

"What do you want?" Yang Xue's tone was extremely impatient.

Her loud voice startled both Tang Xiaoquan and Wei Yang outside the door. Hearing her speak rudely to Wei Yang, Tang Xiaoquan felt his temper flare up immediately.

No wonder; after all, Yang Xue had offended two people whom Tang Xiaoquan cherished deeply today.

Wei Yang, too, was taken aback by Yang Xue's sudden, anger-filled shout. Somewhat awkwardly, she replied, "Oh, it's nothing... I just noticed you seemed upset earlier and wanted to see if anything was bothering you."

Nosey, truly never seen someone so nosey: "I'm fine, really well. You can leave now."

Yang Xue's frustration grew, and her attitude deteriorated accordingly.

Despite being told to leave, Wei Yang felt a twinge of disappointment but, after considering it, decided to add, "I've prepared the food. Come down and eat when you have time." (To be continued. If you like this work, you're welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com), your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)