After midnight

Ah Jiu shrugged his shoulders and continued to circle around the window. He circled for about three minutes, then took a quick glance at the window of his room. Well, it was still dark. He was on duty with his master tonight, but he was cold and thirsty at the moment. The master said he would go back to get him some clothes and hot water, so he was alone at the moment.

He turned around and continued walking in the opposite direction around the unfinished hanging window station for about two minutes. Suddenly, he felt someone rushing past him from behind.

Who?

Jiu turned around immediately, and the light from the flashlight in his hand only caught a corner of the clothes that was disappearing quickly.

He hurriedly ran and turned the flashlight to try to catch up with him, but unfortunately the light shone on the bare wall.

Ah Jiu quickly chased after him. It was already very late at night and everything was dark. The Hanging Window Station was left alone. Ah Jiu chased after the figure and ran into the Hanging Window Station. As soon as he entered, he looked back and forth, up and down, and waved the light in his hand, but still could not find any figure.

Without giving it much thought, he almost immediately ran to the right.

On the right was a long bare road with no hiding place. If he kept holding the light, it was impossible not to see people. So he quickly chased to the left, but there was still no one on the left, so he had to keep running forward.

The station was connected in all directions, and he could only pray that the man did not run to the control room, or that he would find him before the man found the control room. As he ran, Ah Jiu regretted that it would have been great if it was his master who was guarding here.

After turning a corner, Jiu immediately used his flashlight to shine, but when he found the light on the ceiling, he suddenly realized what a big mistake he had made. This light could not help him find the person who broke in, but instead exposed himself.

Jiu immediately turned off the light and calmed his breathing which was too rapid due to running. He listened attentively, but there was no sound. Jiu believed for no reason that if he stopped, the man would also stop and would not be far away from him.

Ah Jiu suppressed his throbbing heartbeat and licked his lips. His already dry mouth and tongue began to burn even hotter. Then, at this moment, an extremely fierce wind with a knife-like edge suddenly rolled up.

It's Master! Ah Jiu immediately used his ability to resist the wind that was whistling from not far away.

The gust of wind was almost immediately blown away, avoiding the direction where Ajiu was and continuing to roll forward.

"Fuck!" Accompanied by a scream, something unknown became entangled with the wind.

Not long after, the wind whistled sharply. Gradually, the wind weakened, and then the space stopped moving again, and then the sound of footsteps could be heard again.

"Master!"

Lin Xuanfeng came around the corner with his hands shining. He threw his coat on Ajiu's head and motioned him to follow him.

Ah Jiu put on his clothes clumsily and followed behind Lin Xuanfeng. Before long, the two of them discovered something unusual. There was some fine sand scattered on the flat ground.

"It's Shangguan Can, but he probably escaped."

Ah Jiu followed Lin Xuanfeng around the entire window station before walking out again and guarding the door. Lin Xuanfeng said with some effort, "No one else has come here again."

This sentence gave Ah Jiu a shock. He ran in without a care in the world, not expecting that there would be an accomplice who would attack him from behind. This was too scary, and he had no idea!

"I'm sorry, Master, I was wrong." Jiu lowered his head in frustration.

Lin Xuanfeng glanced at him sideways and took his hand and walked back. Seeing that they were getting farther and farther away, almost planning to go back to the inn, A Jiuweng said angrily: "Master, don't you need to watch over me tonight?"

"No, he won't come again. But Jiu, you have to know that there is no right or wrong in many cases."

"What do you mean?"

"In many cases, there is no right or wrong in human judgment. So, you didn't do anything wrong just now. You are just too young and don't know what you should do better. You shouldn't just think about where you went wrong now, but you should experience more and then grow up well."

"Is that why Master brought me here?"

"Yes, tonight is a night that can help you grow. Go back, I spilled the water I just brought you, so eat less salty food at night next time."

"understood."

Shangguan Can sneaked back from the window station, not daring to turn on the light. He took off his clothes hastily, fumbled into the bed and fell asleep. He slept all night until dawn, and was awakened by Zhao Yunqi's constant knocking on the door.

After the door opened, he tried to go out as usual, but was blocked by Zhao Yunqi at the door and had to retreat back into the house.

"What's the matter? Isn't it time for breakfast?"

Seeing Zhao Yunqi put his hands behind his back and kick the door shut, Shangguan Can felt a little guilty.

"It's time to have breakfast, but before we eat, I have to ask you, where did you go last night?"

"I didn't go anywhere, just slept."

"truth?"

"Well, I wanted to go to the legendary Hanging Window Station and take a look..."

"Ben wanted to?"

"That's right. I just wanted to take a look, but I got discovered. Lin Xuanfeng is too rude. Also, the kid he brought with him is too perceptive."

"The identity of that child has been revealed. His name is Ajiu. He suddenly appeared in Xindu. He is an old acquaintance of An Yan and later recognized Lin Xuanfeng as his master."

"Oh, why is he related to An Yan again? And what does his sudden appearance mean?"

"I just can't trace him back to his origins. Where is he from, how many people are there in his family, where did he go to school? I can't find any of these."

"So you don't even have a household registration? That's weird."

"I already have my household registration. I've done it before. It was just done not long ago. It's really strange."

Zhao Yunqi continued to question after he finished speaking. "This is not important. I am asking why you went out in the middle of the night and why you did not obey the instructions?"

"Arrangements? Where are the arrangements? It's because there are no arrangements that I'm looking for something to do."

"No arrangements mean that you should not act rashly."

"I know, I'm not talking about you," Shangguan Can said impatiently, "I'm saying that I've been here for three or five days, and there's been no movement from Jiudu."

"Forget it. It's not like I don't understand your personality." Zhao Yunqi was silent for a moment and then said, "Let's eat first."

"Okay, okay, let's eat first. Hey, Yunqi, how did you know I went out?"

"Next time you come back, don't rush to bed. At least wipe your shoes."

Shangguan Can turned his head and saw that it was true. The new shoes he had just changed yesterday were clean during the day, but now they were covered with dust and dirt. Not only did he not hide them, but the toes of his shoes were facing the door, blatantly shining under Zhao Yunqi's eyes. It was obvious where he had gone last night.

After dinner, Zhao Yunqi called Zhang Dong and Shangguan Can to his room. He went straight to the point and asked, "Zhang Dong, can you tell me what you think?"

"I'll follow your instructions." Zhang Dong paused and continued, "But I want it to be over as soon as possible."

Where to go after this? Back to Jiudu. Zhao Yunqi asked vaguely, but Zhang Dong hit the nail on the head. It seemed that everyone was aware of the current situation.

They came to North City late, just one step late. Lu Li had already turned the passive situation into active one.

Laixi Inn is next to Xuanchuang Station, and its location is very convenient. This strange coincidence is not surprising, after all, the land under Laixi Inn and Xuanchuang Station in Beicheng was originally the property of the Lu family, but Zhao Yunqi just found out about this. The young master of the Lu family is in Beicheng, so the Lu family forces in Beicheng have been fully mobilized.

If nothing else, it is reflected in one point: the accommodation problem for the three of them.

It takes more than an hour to walk from the most remote residential area to the Xuanchuang Station. During this period, the road condition is not good.

But there are ways to overcome these. The most difficult thing is that there is no order from Jiudu, let alone action, and even no intelligence. Everything they know now is figured out by themselves, but there are some things they can't figure out no matter how hard they try. For example, the progress of the North City Xuanchuang Station, so Shangguan Can was impatient to visit at night.

After hearing Zhang Dong's answer, Shangguan Can couldn't help but frown again. It's not his fault that he was sensitive. In the past, Zhang Dong's answer would only be the first half.

"What about you? Shangguan Can." Zhao Yunqi continued to ask.

"If you want to end it as soon as possible, you have to take the initiative."

"That's true, but we are in a passive situation right now. Let alone North City, we don't even know who our companions are in North Central, so we naturally can't work together with them to find a solution. In addition, there are many different opinions on the results of preventing Xuan Chuang from building a station. For example, is it considered a success if we only destroy the Xuan Chuang station or take down the people as well? Also, if North City is saved but North Central is lost, can our mission be considered a success?"

Zhao Yunqi's series of questions made Shangguan Can and Zhang Dong even more worried. Yes, it was this insecurity that made people feel trapped in the fog that made waiting even more difficult. They also asked Song Yu, but there was no answer. They wanted to break through the fog but didn't know what to do, how to ensure that nothing would go wrong.

They want to act, but they can't, and they can't not act either.

"Yunqi, since you have decided to make this clear, it means that you already have a plan to deal with it, right?"

"Yes, I have an idea, but I'm not sure whether to do it." Zhao Yunqi looked straight at the two of them, and they looked back at him firmly.

Lu Li and his friends were staying at their own inn, so they naturally had their meals taken care of. But Lu Li still took some time to go shopping, and it wasn't anything special, just some seasonal fresh fruits.

Suddenly, grapes were sold everywhere on the street, and he wanted to buy some for Lin Nuan to try.

The road is not too far. Turn right and walk less than a hundred meters and you will find a fork in the road. Early in the morning, people come out with carts to set up stalls.

The best grapes glowed purple, were crystal clear, and had full grapes. They were tightly arranged in a neat bunch, which made people happy at the sight. Lu Li had already picked apples and bananas, and deliberately put grapes last to pick.

He weighed two strings, thought about it, and asked the buyer to bring a bag and put two more strings in it.

"Brother, you just came to this North City, right?" The seller, who was tanned in the summer, said in a rough voice.

Lu Li raised his eyebrows and continued to wander among the many fruits. It seemed that he wanted to pick some other ones.

"The main reason is that you look unfamiliar to me. I've been staying in this place for many years, and there's an inn right in front of me. But most of the other people staying in the inn are in a hurry, and they don't even think of coming to my stall to buy some fruit to comfort themselves. You see, you bought so much, and the fruit wouldn't fit, so I'm a little curious, because it's obvious that you're not eating it all by yourself."

"You have good eyesight." Lu Li added.

"What kind of vision? It's just life experience." The buyer smiled awkwardly and continued, "Normally, I wouldn't be curious, but there have been rumors recently that it's related to the shopping mall built by Lu's nearby. But besides the shopping mall, there is also an inn nearby. Don't you want to gossip about it? I wonder if you have noticed any unusual people?"

"I don't quite understand what you're saying. We're both staying at the same inn, so why would we care about each other? We're not neighbors."

"Yes, you do have a point." The buyer chuckled and calculated the price for the fruits that Lu Li had chosen, intending to stop there.

"But I'm also very curious about what you've heard, brother."

The shopkeeper immediately became interested when he saw that others were interested, but he waited until he had given the change before saying, "I heard that someone from the Lu family has come, and they are quite famous. You see, this small place hasn't had any big news in many years, aren't you curious?"

The shopkeeper put the change into Lu Li's hand and continued mysteriously, "I also heard that the building behind is not a hotel or a shopping mall but a hanging window. Hanging window, my goodness, doesn't it mix it with Xindu again? Now everyone is rumored that North City is going to change, making people panic."

"Really? Why are you so nervous? Isn't it a good thing to have more convenient transportation?"

"Who cares about that for ordinary people? For example, I go to the orchard in the early morning to pick the fruits I like, and they will find a specialist to deliver them to me. It's not a big deal. Also, once a station is built, won't we have to live in unrest for a while like Beiguan? For ordinary people like us, it doesn't matter who is in charge. We just need to do a good job in business and make a living."

"Brother, how did you know this news? You seem to be well-informed." Lu Li asked quickly before the shopkeeper started to talk nonstop.

"You're still well-informed. I guess the news will spread all over the streets in a little while. Go northwest, there's a street called Beiyang Road or something like that. There's a wall with posters all over it."

"I see. My family is waiting to eat the fruit. Thanks, big brother. I'll leave now."

After Lu Li finished speaking, he returned to the inn with his things, put them at the front desk, and went out again towards the northwest.