civilwarnovels Chapter 393 - 378: Two Drunks
Chapter 393 - 378: Two Drunks
At 4:30 PM, the roar of a helicopter once again echoed over Farm 0101.
Gu Xi had the helicopter land directly outside the temporary settlement for the disaster victims in the planting area.
A short while later, she and Qi Xiang disembarked under the watchful eyes of the crowd. Then, along with Wei Heng, Yang Chi, Qin Yi, and the others, they boarded the farm’s shuttle and headed to the office building.
In the conference room, Gu Xi briefed the farm’s management, conveying the key points of a base-wide meeting that had just concluded. She also appointed a new acting farm manager due to Huo Changzhou’s departure.
After concluding the formalities, Gu Xi and Qi Xiang returned to the guesthouse to rest.
The three men followed them and entered Gu Xi’s room.
At 7:00 PM, the group returned to the settlement in the planting area, just as everyone was lining up for dinner. A few of the ability users they were acquainted with noticed Qi Xiang’s absence and nosily asked, "Where’s Miss Qi?"
Their gazes, however, kept darting toward Gu Xi, as if they were expecting something to sprout from her if they stared hard enough.
Gu Xi remained silent. It was Qin Yi who explained with a smile, "Qi Xiang is a bit tired and is still resting. She won’t be joining us for dinner."
No one found this particularly strange. After all, their impression of Qi Xiang was that of a delicate young lady. It was perfectly normal for her to be exhausted and want to rest in bed after a long, tiring day of running around with Gu Xi.
As for Gu Xi, she was a woman of few words. She only ever said more than a few sentences when instructing the ability users. Otherwise, she rarely spoke to anyone, so her silence now didn’t strike anyone as odd.
Gu Xi sat quietly by the fire, slowly nibbling on a sweet potato and a wild vegetable bun. She only occasionally tilted her head to whisper a few words to Wei Heng and Yang Chi beside her. Toward everyone else, she remained as cold and distant as usual.
At 8:30 PM, Qin Yi yawned and looked over at Gu Xi. "Nothing much is happening tonight. How about we head back and get some rest?"
Gu Xi nodded.
After the two of them left, several people hidden within the crowd exchanged a subtle glance under the cover of darkness.
...
「The southern outskirts of City A.」
Twilight fell, and a gentle mountain breeze drifted by. Gu Xi lounged lazily on a high branch of a mutated tree, gazing at the distant estate built halfway up the mountain. ’I have to admit,’ she thought, ’the Gu Family certainly knows how to pick a spot.’
The entire estate was surrounded by mountains, nestled against a slope with a view of the water. It was tastefully laid out with an incredibly open line of sight. Best of all, the only access road was sandwiched between two mountains, making it a perfect strategic location—easy to defend and ideal for launching an attack.
’This is no holiday villa,’ she mused. ’It’s an impregnable fortress.’
Gu Xi raised her wrist and glanced at the time: 8:00 PM.
’It’s time.’
The next moment, a surge of her spiritual power silently spread out, blanketing the entire estate like a vast, invisible net.
The estate was ablaze with lights and filled with the clinking of glasses, a scene of boisterous celebration. ’Anyone who didn’t know better,’ Gu Xi thought, ’would assume this was an era of peace and prosperity.’
For some reason, Gu Xi was reminded of an ancient poem Li Ming had once recited: "While wine and meat rot behind vermilion gates, frozen bones lie on the road outside."
Invisible threads of her spiritual power seeped into every corner of the banquet hall. Gu Xi spotted several familiar faces in the crowd, but strangely, Tang You was not there.
Yet just an hour ago, she had watched him enter the compound with her own eyes.
’Where did he go?’
Gu Xi narrowed her eyes.
The next instant, she dissolved into a wisp of black smoke and vanished.
In an underground safe house on the other side of the mountain where Gu Garden stood, the Liu Family had arranged a private banquet for their most important guests, including Dr. Qi and Tang You.
This safe house, built into the heart of the mountain, was far more than a simple room. It was a veritable underground fortress. Yet, one would never guess it was built inside a mountain; every detail was meticulously designed to mirror Gu Garden on the surface.
Wood Element ability users had even been brought in to plant flowers and grass all around, and the Gu and Liu families had gone so far as to install a small, artificial sun inside the mountain.
It was safe to say that this was the real Gu Garden.
The one on the surface was merely a decoy.
This was Tang You’s first time here, and he couldn’t help but feel nervous. ’It’s obvious,’ he thought, ’that a place like this is only for the Liu Family’s most trusted inner circle. For an outsider like me to be brought here...’
’As the saying goes, the more you know, the faster you die.’
’Now that the Liu Family has shown me this place...’ Tang You cursed them under his breath. ’Those black-hearted scoundrels. They’re trying to force me onto their sinking ship!’
’Thankfully, I got in touch with Miss Gu before I came.’
’As for the rest...’ Being a consummate fence-sitter, Tang You glanced at Dr. Qi, seated diagonally across from him. ’He’s a smart one, too. I’ll just have to play it by ear.’
Dr. Qi noticed his gaze and looked over, elegantly raising his glass of red wine.
Tang You’s heart skipped a beat, and he raised his glass to toast him from across the table.
The room was filled with the trusted confidants of the Liu and Gu families; only the two of them were outsiders.
The fact that these two outsiders were now toasting each other naturally drew the attention of the others present.
Liu Bo glanced at the old man seated at the head of the table, then rose and walked toward the pair, glass in hand.
Thanks to his good-for-nothing cousin-in-name-only, Liu Bo was now in charge of the Liu Family’s intelligence network, and he’d never heard of any prior connection between these two men.
But seeing the way they had just clinked glasses... Liu Bo suddenly had a strange feeling.
His gaze flickered between the two men, and a plan began to form in his mind.
"Mr. Tang, Dr. Qi, what are you two talking about?" Liu Bo asked, casually taking a seat beside them.
"Oh, nothing much," Dr. Qi replied with a perfectly calm expression. "Mr. Tang and I were just remarking on how time spares no one. I remember the first time I came to A City Base..."
Dr. Qi had been to City A more than once, so of course he knew Tang You.
However, according to Liu Bo’s intelligence, Tang You was close with Zhou Jinyu. And because of a certain Mr. Ye, Zhou Jinyu and Dr. Qi had been subtly at odds for years.
Since Tang You was on good terms with Zhou Jinyu, his relationship with Dr. Qi should have been lukewarm at best.
As far as he knew, the two of them had practically no prior relationship.
’And now they’re sitting together, happily drinking and reminiscing about old times?’
Liu Bo sensed that something was off.
"So you two have known each other for all these years..." Liu Bo said, looking at Tang You with feigned displeasure. "Mr. Tang, that’s not very fair of you. We’ve been friends for years, yet you kept this from me..."
Tang You laughed heartily. "Mr. Liu, now you’re just wronging me. When has Dr. Qi ever visited City A without me personally hosting him? How could you possibly not know about our rapport?"
Dr. Qi raised his glass at the opportune moment. "They say a thousand cups are too few when drinking with a dear friend. Come, allow me to toast you both..."
The three of them clinked glasses. Just as Liu Bo was about to speak again, Tang You grabbed the wine bottle himself. "Come on, fill it up! Qi, this cup’s to you."
Liu Bo tried several times to probe for more information, but Dr. Qi and Tang You just kept toasting each other. Soon, both men seemed quite drunk and began to ramble.
In their drunken rambling, they began gossiping about Mrs. Liu’s family background, completely oblivious to their surroundings!
Liu Bo was speechless. ’I can’t believe these two are such gossips.’
’But this must mean they’re truly drunk,’ he concluded. ’Why else would they spout such offensive nonsense right here and now?’
The expression on Mrs. Liu’s face was already quite sour.
Not wanting the scene to become any more unpleasant, Liu Bo had no choice but to order his men to help the two drunks to a guest room to rest.