Chapter 1335: 919 Mr. Jiang’s Will
“Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat…”
In the dense rainforest, a diesel boat sliced through the river’s surface, churning up waves.
By the riverbank.
A burly man enduring the oppressive humidity sprang to attention, standing tall as he shouted loudly, “They’re here! Everyone, look sharp for !”
“Swish.”
A group of dark-skinned n dressed as militia imdiately puffed out their chests and raised their intimidating rifles.
Such a scene, placed in any civilized society, would appear nothing short of surreal.
“Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat…”
The diesel boat docked.
“Mr. Xing, Mr. Xu, welco to Dongba. I am Wei Yi, the General has sent to escort you.”
The burly man leading the ard personnel at the riverbank forced a cheerful and affable smile, in stark contrast to his intimidating deanor.
Despite the local accent,
he spoke pure Mandarin.
The two foreign passengers on the diesel boat disembarked. Compared to these dark-skinned militia mbers, their appearance was undoubtedly much cleaner, much more refined.
“Thank you, Deputy Officer Wei.”
“You’ve heard of ?”
“General Jin has ntioned you, calling you his right-hand man.”
Wei Yi, Deputy Officer Wei, burst out laughing upon hearing this, the hearty kind typical of military n, as he extended his rugged hand more eagerly. “General Jin overstates it. If it weren’t for General Jin taking in, I’d have been dead years ago, and my corpse would likely have been hacked into pieces.”
He spoke of such matters with remarkable nonchalance.
After shaking hands, he gestured, “The General is awaiting you both; please, follow .”
Xing Jie, who had traveled far, nodded.
The group wove through the rainforest.
“Have you two been to Dongba before?”
Wei Yi, broad and sturdy, asked as they walked, displaying none of the sternness or coldness you’d expect from a soldier.
“Four or five years ago,”
answered Xu Kuan. No wonder he seed so composed—he was ntally prepared.
“Oh, that was so ti ago. Back then, I hadn’t joined the General.”
Clearly.
Deputy Officer Wei seed eager to forge a good rapport, but owing to his role, he wasn’t particularly skilled at making conversation and was left grasping at straws.
“Where are you from originally, Deputy Officer Wei?” Xing Jie picked up the topic.
“I was previously in Wabang,”
Wei Yi answered without hesitation, showing no intention to hide anything.
“I ant your ancestry, Deputy Officer Wei.”
“Oh, my ancestors were from Southwest Zhenjiang. My great-grandfather’s generation moved to Myanmar, and we’ve lived here ever since.”
Southwest Zhenjiang and Myanmar obviously belong to different regions entirely.
“Sotis I really want to go back to see my ancestral ho, but…”
Wei Yi shook his head, this muscular and vigorous man uncharacteristically sighing in lancholy.
“If you did return, Deputy Officer Wei, you might have difficulty adapting to life there.”
“Mr. Xing is probably right.”
Wei Yi gave a wry smile, and in his piercingly sharp eyes, a glint as cold as a knife flashed uncontrollably. “People like us, we’re nothing more than beasts in the jungle; we couldn’t possibly adapt to normal society.”
At the edge of the rainforest.
A dark green jeep beca vaguely visible.
“Gentlen, please, get in.”
And so the convoy of jeeps, carrying the two guests and the ard militia, swaggered out of the rainforest into the town. So firearms even protruded from the car windows, yet the street vendors and strolling townsfolk barely reacted, as if they were entirely accustod to such sights.
Xing Jie and Xu Kuan quietly observed the chaotic streets outside.
Whether in their holand of Goryeo or back in Shenzhou, such scenes would be considered utterly unthinkable—or perhaps, under any normal system, such a scenario would be impossible.
Yet in the region they currently found themselves in, normalcy simply didn’t exist—or had never existed to begin with.
“Mr. Xu, has anything changed compared to when you were here before?”
Wei Yi, who was riding in the sa vehicle, asked with a smile.
From the window, Xu Kuan shifted his gaze inward. “When I visited before, the streets weren’t this crowded; that’s thanks to General Jin’s governance.”
Compared to normal society, this place’s developnt was visibly lagging, even impoverished, but at least the faces of the passersby didn’t show panic or fear—there was a rare… calm.
Calm.
It might sound like an insignificant word.
Yet for certain places, for certain people, it represented the most precious state imaginable.
Wei Yi seed very pleased with Xu Kuan’s evaluation, laughing with pride. “You both really are close to General Jin. Mr. Xu, you must have seen what Dongba was like before—it was rife with cri and chaos, perpetually at war, never at peace, so there was no order to speak of. But in recent years, under General Jin’s governance and protection, the people of Dongba have been able to enjoy safety and stability. Out of all the northern regions, only in the territories we control can scenes like these be witnessed.”
Despite this relatively brief speech conveying ample information, neither Xing Jie nor Xu Kuan showed any reaction.
Because they knew this territory all too well.
Amid Wei Yi’s fervent chatter, the jeep continued onward, driving out of the town after passing through it from the rainforest, finally arriving at a small military base tucked within the forest.
Militia carrying weapons patrolled the area vigilantly.
Tents and wooden huts were scattered around, their chimneys giving off thin trails of smoke.
“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The sound of gunfire cracked incessantly.
“That’s our shooting range. If you don’t want to be bullied, you have to be strong yourself. This principle starts from childhood.”
No mistake about it.
On the southeastern side,
the ones training at the shooting range under the supervision of the instructor were, astonishingly, children.
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