Chapter 1043: Irreconcilable Hatred
The Government Hall's aircraft had a cloaking function, and after landing in the woods, it could use this natural barrier to conceal its tracks.
"It's so cramped in the car. I don't think anyone's chasing us anyway. Why don't we just go into the villa?" Dong Yanqiong said.
The Government Hall's vehicles weren't designed for comfort. She was quite seriously injured, and huddling in the tight space was far from pleasant.
They didn't have personal panels, so they could only carry a limited number of items. So far, Dong Yanqiong had only taken two hemostatic pills, and her wounds hadn't even been bandaged.
"The villa is an instance zone. Accidentally entering an instance would cause unnecessary trouble." Xu Huo handed the first-aid kit to Dong Jingxuan and asked him to help.
"I wonder how Brother Qifeng and the others are doing," Dong Yanqiong said, adjusting her position. "Quite a few of our family members went today."
"Don't worry, they're definitely safer than you," Dong Jingxuan said, roughly sprinkling medicine powder on her wound. "Did everyone who was with you die?"
Dong Yanqiong fell silent.
So, they hadn't died.
"They probably went to rescue Dong Qifeng," Wei Yu said. "In a crisis, that's standard procedure for family bodyguards."
The families in Zone 002 had strict bloodline divisions, which was evident from their names. Only the direct male lineage of a family could have two-character names; daughters or distant relatives who depended on the family could only use a single character. This wasn't entirely due to some "backward" ideology, but was related to the genetic inheritance of Zone 002's people.
The big families seemed to do this to ensure enough excellent successors in the direct bloodline. Although on the surface, the families were run by ordinary evolvers, their foundation was still in players. It was just that players cultivated with the full resources of the family generally didn't show up to handle minor family affairs.
Given the current situation, these families might pull out their hidden trump cards.
Now that all communication channels in Snow City were under control, Xu Huo could only find some information from Under Dimension, mostly about outer zone players who had temporarily found safe hiding spots.
He also contacted No. 10, who had left Bai Xueji's villa earlier. Forget about taking advantage of the chaos; this guy had nearly died at the hands of government players and was now lying low.
Based on this information alone, it was clear that the Snow City government had prepared in advance. Whether the Holy Sword Society knew about it was another matter.
Or perhaps both sides knew perfectly well; otherwise, the rumors wouldn't have spread so fast. But with the arrow already on the string, both sides had to grit their teeth and go through with it.
Before long, Chi Minghong arrived, and with her came a young girl.
"Why is she with you?" Xu Huo glanced at Lu Qing. The last time he saw her in Xiaoyang City, she had gone to find the sister she had acknowledged. There was no reason for her to be in Snow City.
Mentioning this perked Chi Minghong up. She said with some admiration, "This little girl is amazing. She hitched a ride into Snow City by herself, and in just a few days, she even managed to get a cleaning job at the Government Hall. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have found these materials so easily."
She tossed a projector to Xu Huo.
After catching it, Xu Huo asked Lu Qing, "Didn't you find your sister?"
Lu Qing's expression was cold. "I can't find her anymore."
Xu Huo looked at Chi Minghong, who shrugged. "I asked her, but she didn't explain clearly. I snuck in to find the materials, and after that, the Government Hall people would definitely have traced it back to her, so I had to forcibly bring her out."
"A cleaner?" Dong Jingxuan sized Lu Qing up. "The Government Hall wouldn't hire someone like you as a cleaner, especially not in such a short time."
Perhaps the contempt in his eyes stung Lu Qing. She clenched her fists and glared at him. "What's wrong with someone like me? I may not be as noble as you Snow City people, but aren't your Snow City people just thinking about sleeping with me the moment you see me?"
"Is everyone in Zone 002 besides Snow City people just garbage and pests in your eyes? Do we dirty the air just by being alive?!"
"Let me tell you, people like you who divide others into different classes are the real garbage and pests! Where did you take Liao Lian? No one has seen her alive or dead! Give me back her body!"
Enraged, Lu Qing charged at Dong Jingxuan, slamming hard into his chest. She grabbed his ear with one hand and bit his neck with her teeth. Even as her teeth were stained red with blood, she didn't let go, her eyes fixed on Dong Yanqiong and the other two who wanted to help.
Dong Jingxuan yelled in pain, pulling her hair with one hand while trying to pry her teeth open with the other, but he couldn't get his fingers in. It wasn't until Wei Yu kicked him, sending both of them to the ground, that they were separated.
"Alright, alright. Taking a bite to vent your anger is enough," Chi Minghong said, holding back Lu Qing, who was still trying to crawl towards Dong Jingxuan.
Dong Jingxuan touched his neck and found it covered in blood. Seemingly intimidated by the hatred and anger the young girl had unleashed, he shrank back before grimacing and saying, "Brother Xu, quick, check if my artery is bitten through."
"You won't die," Xu Huo said flatly.
At that moment, Lu Qing wiped her mouth and laughed. "Your blood and my blood aren't any different. Now that they're mixed together, do you feel dirty too?"
As if reminded by her, Dong Jingxuan pulled a miniature syringe from his belt and injected himself, then looked at Lu Qing with extreme caution. "You better not actually have a disease!"
Lu Qing screamed and charged again. This time, Chi Minghong didn't hold her back, and Xu Huo didn't intervene either. Dong Jingxuan was pinned to the ground and bitten twice more before he finally had to stick his own hand into Lu Qing's mouth to temporarily free himself.
"Go help him," Wei Chengzhang signaled Wei Yu to act, but Wei Yu glanced at Xu Huo first.
Only then did Xu Huo say, "Alright, he's letting you win. You should stop too."
Lu Qing's frantic movements ceased, and tears flowed even before she let go of her bite.
Dong Jingxuan took the chance to push her head away, scrambled to his feet, and ran behind Xu Huo. "Can you make her cry quieter? What if she... attracts people?"
Xu Huo walked over and handed her a handkerchief. "How did you end up looking for someone all the way in Snow City?"
"I made inquiries in Xiaoyang City. Usually, girls from small towns who are sold off, after being abandoned by their buyers, are generally sold as low-grade goods. If they're lucky, an ordinary person buys them; if unlucky, they might fall into the hands of human traffickers. I spent a lot of money to find out she was sold to an underground market. I was going to ask someone to buy her out for me, but she had already been bought. And the buyer wasn't an ordinary person—it was a Snow City person."
"The person who helped me in the underground market told me that players from Snow City would come every once in a while to buy people cheaply. I don't know what they do with them, but with such a large number of people entering Snow City, there must be records. As long as she's still alive, I can find her."
"But after I got into the Government Hall, I found out that there are no such registrations anywhere in Snow City. If she wasn't bought by a big family, then she must be dead!"
(Chapter End)