After midnight

Outside the window, the endless sand and camphor trees are rapidly receding. The New Taipei Line was officially put into operation not long ago.

The news came suddenly, and An Yan and his team hurriedly entrusted the sleeping Xiao Su to Wu Ying, packed up briefly, and set off in the night. Now, thin clouds rose from the horizon, and the edge of a city could be vaguely seen in front.

"I heard from Yin that you and Xiao Su happened to be at Beiguan at that time?"

"Yes, there is a restaurant in Beiguan that serves pretty good food. I can take you there later."

Su Ziling remembered that An Yan was talking about that time, when he and Xiao Su followed An Yan into this world again. But that was only two months ago, yet it felt so far away.

"Did you return to the pavilion at that time?"

"Yes, I later returned to Xindu from Sand City. I informed my senior brothers and they sent someone to pick me up."

"That's it." This was the first time Su Ziling heard An Yan mention what happened at that time.

"Su Ziling, the most important thing when you go to Beizhong this time is to protect yourself first."

"You have to protect yourself first, otherwise how can you protect Beizhong Station?" Su Ziling said nonchalantly, with an expression that made An Yan feel at ease.

Beizhong was attacked last night. The only place attacked was the Hanging Window Central Station which was still under construction. It is self-evident who did it and for what purpose. Fortunately, they only attacked the external buildings. The workers were not injured and the machines were intact. An Yan and his team went there this time to ensure the smooth construction of the station until the Beizhong Hanging Window Station was completed and opened to traffic.

An Yan did not make any comment on Su Ziling's bold words, nor would he deliberately say what he really meant. He nodded and checked his watch. Beiguan Station was just around the corner.

One hour and forty-eight minutes, this is the speed of a trip on the New Taipei Line. The speed of the hanging window has been greatly improved.

As soon as the Beiguan Hanging Window Station was completed, a large number of hanging windows were immediately put into use in Beiguan City, so it became much more convenient for them to travel from Beiguan to Beizhong, at least they would no longer waste time in the city.

As for walking from the outside of Beiguan to Beizhong, if it was fast, it would only take three to five hours. In other words, they could have lunch at Beizhong.

"We probably can't have lunch at Beiguan, but the breakfast shop should have it, An Yan, let's go check it out. It's quick to sit by the window anyway."

"Do you remember the place?"

"Of course." Standing out from the hanging window and climbing up to it, Su Ziling raised his hand and wrote the three big words "Between Heaven and Earth".

"It's a good name." An Yan said.

Su Ziling guessed correctly, the breakfast at Tiandijian was also very rich, from porridge to cakes, more than ten kinds of dishes. An Yan ordered the most common ones, millet porridge and steamed buns, while Su Ziling ordered soy milk and fried dough sticks.

"There's a particularly delicious shrimp dish on their menu, but we don't have time today. Let's wait until later, either at noon or in the evening." Su Ziling said while pulling a fried dough stick.

"Okay." An Yan responded and lowered his head to drink the porridge.

When the two of them finished their breakfast and Su Ziling was paying for the meal, the waiter in the store stopped them and said, "Hey, wait a minute, you didn't pay enough."

"How can it not be enough? I counted them." Su Ziling asked puzzledly with a hint of panic.

"Brother Ling, here's mine. I forgot to bring money." He Xiaoxiao's voice came from behind.

"He, why are you here?" Su Ziling asked in surprise. He looked in the direction of He's finger and saw a corner of the table where breakfast had just been finished and egg shells were broken all over it.

"I couldn't bear to eat any eggs, but you ate two." Su Ziling stretched out his hand and gave more money.

After the three of them walked out of the store together, Su Ziling came back to his senses and muttered to An Yan, who had just stood beside him and laughed at him: "Did you always know that He was following us? Why didn't you tell me? And you, what were you doing following us?"

"If I told you, wouldn't I know how long He could follow me? I just didn't expect that He would be exposed in this way."

"Humph, who's following you? I have a mission to accomplish! Aren't you going to Beizhong? I happen to be going there too."

"Really?" Su Ziling was skeptical. "I'll write a letter to ask my brother."

"Stop, Brother Ling." He quickly stretched out his hands to stop him.

Although he didn't know how He knew their schedule, An Yan more or less understood He's feelings when he saw He's evasive eyes, so he advised Su Ziling. "Let him go with you. He won't go back unless you send him home in person. Instead of letting him run around, it's better to keep him by your side."

"Yeah." He stretched out his leg and grabbed An Yan's arm, as if he had found a savior, and nodded vigorously like a chick pecking at rice.

"Let He write a letter to Yin to tell him, write it personally." Anyan said again.

Su Ziling had no choice but to take out the letter and pen from his backpack and give them to He. He took it and ran to the side to write on the wall. He turned his head and looked at them from time to time. After the letter was finished, the three of them took the hanging window and landed at the north gate of Beiguan, when Yin's reply arrived.

The letter was written to Anyan, and it said: Don't worry about the river, let him do whatever he wants.

"What does this mean? Brother Yin is angry with me?" He asked anxiously.

"You were afraid that he would be angry, yet you still dared to sneak out." Su Ziling wanted to scold him again.

An Yan held Su Ziling and explained, "He, Yin means that he allows you to do what you want, but in return, your life safety is also completely your own responsibility."

"I can take responsibility for it myself." He said stubbornly. Knowing that Yin was not angry, He became happy. He took Yin's reply from Anyan and said, "Let's go quickly, we still have a long way to go."

Seeing the child's mood change so quickly, Su Ziling didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So they continued on their way.

When the three of them walked all the way to Beizhong, the clock hand was almost pointing to two o'clock. They arrived later than the scheduled time, so they had dinner outside before reporting to Beizhong Xuanchuang Station. Therefore, when they actually arrived at Beizhong Xuanchuang Station, it was almost three o'clock.

The North Central Hanging Window Station still looks like it's under construction. Its exterior has been roughly completed, but one of its walls is still being repaired. There are large, irregular holes on the wall, and it seems that's where the damage occurred in the raid last night.

They walked around the Hanging Window Station and headed for a temporary house on the side. The house was small and two stories high. It was connected to the North Central Hanging Window Station under construction by an inclined ladder. An Yan showed the pass and appointment letter to the guard, who looked at them again and again before letting the three of them pass.

"Why is the guard staring at you, An Yan?" Su Ziling whispered after they walked a little further inside. "Would someone who comes here with bad intentions come in so politely?"

"They won't, but Brother An Yan is the 'Son of God'. Judging from the guard's attire, he should be a local. It's normal for him to be curious since he has never seen the 'Son of God' before."

Hearing He's casual words, Su Ziling secretly curled his lips.

They arrived at the front of the building. The rooms on the second floor were neatly arranged. They looked like dormitories, where people lived. Compared to the second floor, the first floor looked much stranger. There were only three doors on a whole wall. The middle door was like a factory door, large and wide, and decorated with a high-end electronic lock.

An Yan went to a small door next to him and knocked, and the door opened immediately.

"Xu Xing? Why are you here?" Su Ziling was surprised to see him.

"I'm not here, I think you should be here by now, I just came in 5 minutes ago, I'll boil some hot water for you."

The room was not big. On an ordinary desk was an electric kettle. The water was still bubbling but had not yet boiled.

"Who is this young boy?" Xu Xing asked.

"Little River." Anyan answered for He.

"Whose child did you pick up again?" Xu Xing said casually, and then said: "Please sit down first and talk slowly. According to the current progress, if there are no obstacles, it will take at least three weeks to complete the construction of Beizhong Station. Of course, the same goes for Beicheng."

Xu Xing sat down. At this time, the water happened to boil. Xu Xing stood up and poured water for them. "This is a small reception room. The conditions are not very good."

"It's okay, just continue talking." An Yan took the cup of water and said.

"Okay, once the exterior of the Hanging Window Station is built, the interior will be very fast because it doesn't have a very complicated structure. The difficulty in building the Hanging Window Station lies in debugging. There is no network and no program here, so it can't be easily applied and installed like a pre-developed software. Therefore, your task is not as simple as waiting for the Hanging Window Station to be built for three weeks."

"That is to say, your mission will not be completed until the hanging window is open to traffic. But I don't know when it will be open to traffic."

"I understand." Su Ziling nodded, his expression extremely serious. An Yan didn't look as though he was facing a great enemy, but he was not relaxed either. He didn't care about the river, so he drank a sip of water out of thirst.

Seeing this, Xu Xing said, "How about this, you are tired too, I will take you to where you will be staying to rest for a while. After you have dinner and the workers have all gone off work, I will take you inside to have a look."

"Don't be in a hurry, Xu Xing, I want to know who attacked here yesterday." An Yan spoke.

"do not know."

"You don't know him? Did you see what he looks like? What are his abilities?"

"The ability is simple, it's strength. He's as strong as an ox, otherwise he wouldn't have punched a hole outside with one punch. But he's stupid because he didn't even come to this control room."

"Force? The force of strength? This ability is not explained in detail in the book." Su Ziling asked curiously.

"Because it's not important. Strength is similar to abilities like movement and levitation, in terms of the nature of the abilities themselves. By the way, my ability is levitation."

"float?"

"It's Mr. Li. He's from the North Central Security Bureau. His style is indeed as aggressive as a bull. He should belong to the Song family. His father's business is related to the Song family."

Before Su Ziling could finish being shocked by Xu Xing's ability, He, who had been silent all along, suddenly interrupted, which made Xu Xing look at him.

"If that's the case, then the Song family's people will be here soon or may have already arrived. Xu Xing, take us to where we live."

After An Yan spoke, Xu Xing stood up and led them outside. As they walked, he explained, "The second floor is where the technicians live. I rented the nearest house for you. It's not far in front, just a few hundred meters."

"Are the houses big enough for us to live in?" Su Ziling asked. Maybe if he squeezed in with He, two rooms would be enough.

"Don't worry, come with me."

Xu Xing was right, it was only about three or four hundred meters away.

The vacant land where the hanging window was built is next to a small village. Although it is called vacant land, it is actually just uncultivated land covered with weeds, although most of it has now been turned into concrete.

"Don't underestimate it because it's a small village. Beizhuang is one of the few wealthy areas in Beizhong. Do you see this road ahead? If you keep going, you will reach the central street of Beizhong, which is the main road."

After hearing this, An Yan looked behind him and saw the main entrance of the Hanging Window Center Station which had not yet been completed. In this way, this unobstructed straight road in the future would be amazing. After they entered from the south gate of Beizhong, they walked directly east along the edge of the town and came here, so they had no idea what kind of town the center of Beizhong was.

Xu Xing led them past rows of clean three-story houses, then turned left at the third intersection and walked to the door of the third house. Xu Xing stopped, took out the key and opened the door.

"I finally found this family that was willing to rent it out. They have a small family and they are usually out of town doing business and don't come back very often. All the things are locked up on the first floor, so the second and third floors are quite empty, enough for you to use. There are separate toilets on the second and third floors where you can take a shower, and there is also a separate kitchen in the yard where you can cook. This is quite convenient, but if you find it troublesome, you can also eat in the cafeteria with us."

"Thank you."

"An Yan, why are you so polite to me? Then you guys take a rest. I'm leaving first. I'll take you to dinner and tour at six o'clock. By the way, this key is for you, and I'll keep the other one for you, just in case." Xu Xing said after handing over the key and left in a flash.

After Xu Xing left, An Yan and the others looked around the yard. The yard was very quiet, with only the roses planted in the flowerbed waving in the wind. Xu Xing was right, the first floor was locked, and in addition to the kitchen in the yard, the bungalow opposite was also locked.

The stairs were next to the bungalow, and they went up to the second floor. In addition to the toilet, there were three rooms on the second floor, so they didn't have to live together. So they moved in according to the order: An Yan, Su Ziling, and He. He's room was at the innermost.

As soon as six o'clock arrived, Xu Xing came, and they returned to the Xuanchuang Station together. Opposite the two-story building of the Xuanchuang Station, there was another bungalow. The door of the bungalow was wide open at this moment. A middle-aged, slightly plump woman was wiping six long tabletops, rubbing all the food that had been picked out and had become garbage into the trash can.

"Have you already eaten?"

"Not yet. Because there are so many people, they eat in batches. The construction workers start eating at 5:6, and they can go home to rest after eating. The technicians have to wait until :."

No wonder, Su Ziling thought as he took the disposable lunch box to get the rice.

After finishing his meal, Xu Xing pressed the password and took people to the control room that looked like a warehouse. There were not many technicians in the control room, but at this moment, they were all concentrating on the machines in front of them with serious expressions.

When Xu Xing brought Su Ziling and the others in, no one bothered to look up at them. The room, which was neither too big nor too small, was eerily quiet, with only the tiny sounds of the machines.

"Let's go eat." Xu Xing said.

After hearing what Xu Xing said, they began to relax a little. They slowly packed up their work, made records, and then walked out one by one. After everyone had left, Xu Xing locked the door again.

"Come with me." Xu Xing walked forward, crossed the middle area of ​​the control room and opened another door.

Su Ziling looked at the dark passage behind the door and immediately looked at An Yan. Like him, An Yan didn't know what Xu Xing was doing. If Xu Xing was not showing them these machines, then what was it?

After the door opened, Xu Xing walked steadily in front without looking back.