It was not until the plane disappeared into the clouds that Lin Chuan turned and left.
"Are you really going to the Golden Triangle?" Silver Fox asked.
"Yes," Lin Chuan nodded.
"Then..." Silver Fox squinted, saying, "you might want to be careful."
"What do you an?" Lin Chuan asked.
"Last ti you turned Wa State upside down in the Golden Triangle, and the Marshal of Wa State absolutely despises you. You need to be careful." Silver Fox looked seriously at Lin Chuan and said, "How about I bring so people and go with you? Otherwise, I won't be able to rest easy."
"No," Lin Chuan shook his head hastily, saying, "Up to now, I still don't know the situation, I need to go to the Golden Triangle to clear up the situation before I can decide my actions. Moreover, if we really need to rescue soone, having too many people might arouse suspicion. That's why the General assigned to go to the Golden Triangle alone without anyone else."
"Then... be careful," Silver Fox earnestly cautioned. "You must co back to safely, do you hear?"
"Certainly," Lin Chuan nodded.
Silver Fox threw herself into Lin Chuan's arms, hugging him tightly. Every parting might be a life-or-death farewell, which was why Silver Fox hated being separated from Lin Chuan. She feared that the next ti they t, it might be in another world.
Since Lin Chuan was on a mission, and to avoid leaking information, he boarded a plane from Kabul to India, then from India he headed to the Golden Triangle.
After a day and night's journey, Lin Chuan arrived in Chiang Rai, Thailand.
Chiang Rai is a key location in the Golden Triangle, where all sorts of people crowd into the area: so for tourism, so for sightseeing, so for shopping, but for so, their purposes are not so innocent.
In Chiang Rai, the most significant product is opium, a specialty of the Golden Triangle and what every power vies for to bolster their economies and seek developnt.
Lin Chuan found a car rental company, deposited one hundred thousand Thai baht, and then rented a Toyota SUV. Having a car made movent convenient; relying on his legs alone would be exhausting.
After renting the car, Lin Chuan planned to head to a village over fifty kiloters away from Chiang Rai City to gather information. The place is called Laiwang, located fifty kiloters north of Chiang Rai, a hub area known only to those who frequent the Golden Triangle. Tourists, even if they know of it, would hardly dare to venture there.
On the surface, Laiwang Village is part of Chiang Rai, but in fact, it is under the control of antigovernnt forces. This area sees massive amounts of illegal transactions annually, and the village's population probably exceeds that of any other town in Thailand.
Fifty kiloters, a drive of an hour and a half. The road was so poor it was nearly cursed aloud. Fortunately, Lin Chuan was aware of the rough roads and had specifically rented an SUV. The SUV perford well, encountering no troubles along the way.
Before even nearing Laiwang Village, they observed antigovernnt forces patrolling the road.
These people watched the passing vehicles with wary eyes, stopping any that seed suspicious for a search. Of course, this 'search' was mostly just a pretext for a bribe, because in Laiwang Village, anything in your vehicle was legal: firearms, ammunition, even various drugs t the regulations.
Lin Chuan smoothly entered Laiwang Village. At the village entrance, over ten ard warriors were standing guard, always vigilant against governnt forces' invasion.
Once inside Laiwang Village, there were not many people on the streets; most were likely in the restaurants eating. Indeed, the streets of Laiwang Village were typically quiet during the day.
The buildings here were rather low, fitting the Thai style. The tallest building was a hotel run by a Chinese, called the Eastern Hotel, with five floors and over a hundred rooms. It was nearly always crowded.
Lin Chuan parked the car in front of Eastern Hotel, where two thickly made-up Thai won were standing.
"Sir, welco," the two said in awkward Chinese.
Lin Chuan ignored them and walked straight inside, then cheerfully said, "I'd like a room."
"We only have one standard room left," the receptionist, a Chinese woman with a height of just over one and a half ters and several pimples on her face, glanced at Lin Chuan and said, "Do you want it?"
"Yes," Lin Chuan nodded.
"Five hundred Thai baht," the Chinese woman spoke up.
Lin Chuan did not bargain, but paid the five hundred Thai baht directly.
A standard room with two beds, the location of the room was good; the window faced the road. Standing by the window, one could see the main road of Laiwang Village clearly, with cars coming and going. Occasionally, one could hear shouting and swearing, and even see people chasing and slashing each other on the street. Of course, gunshots were also occasionally heard.
Lin Chuan was quite satisfied with the location of the room.
It was three o'clock in the afternoon now; the night ti in Laiwang Village was the busiest and also the most dangerous ti. In this godforsaken place, various transactions could happen at any mont. In Laiwang Village, there were several bars with won from different countries flirting inside. As long as the price was right, they would be willing to go back to the hotel with you. Of course, if you were handso enough, or could impress them, they would also be willing to go back to the hotel with you.
Lin Chuan carefully checked every corner of the room to make sure there were no issues, then cautiously hung a thin copper wire on the door and windows, tying a small purple copper bell to it. If anyone pushed the room's door or windows, the little bell would imdiately make a ringing sound.
After finishing all the safety precautions, Lin Chuan then lay down on the bed.
Once lying down, Lin Chuan felt comfortable all over and soon drifted into sleep. Since last night until this morning, he had hardly rested properly, always on the move. Especially flying from India to Chiang Rai, Thailand, Lin Chuan had a mother with a child next to him; the child's crying had made it even harder for Lin Chuan to sleep. Thus, he hadn't rested well throughout the journey.
Having finally a bed to lie on, Lin Chuan couldn't help but stay alert for his safety.
As for why Lin Chuan ca to Laiwang Village, it was because Laiwang Village was one of the more chaotic places in the Golden Triangle. Although this place wasn't under the control of Wa State, it wasn't far from the borders of Wa State; just over a hundred kiloters further north would take one into Wa State's territory. Lin Chuan ca here primarily to find soone. To rescue soone, one must gather intelligence. Laiwang Village had an old man known as Mr. Know-It-All, who had a grasp on every little and big event happening daily in the Golden Triangle.
Many people would find this guy to inquire about various situations and to understand more through him.
Of course, gathering information from Mr. Know-It-All cos with a cost.
But money was not important for Lin Chuan, as long as he could rescue Zhao Zhonghai and the others, any amount of money spent was worth it. What Lin Chuan urgently needed now was intelligence because he didn't even know who had taken Zhao Zhonghai and his group, nor which military unit they belonged to, and he didn't know where they were being held.
Mr. Know-It-All was a very peculiar old man, and to this day, no one knew which country he was from. He was fluent in many languages, understanding English, Hindi, Thai, Chinese… over ten different languages, especially the languages of the countries around the Golden Triangle.
Mr. Know-It-All usually did business at night, with only ten slots available daily. Once exceeded, he would not take on any more. Therefore, many people ca to him with questions, but very few could actually get a slot. Only ten slots per day, and absolutely no advance bookings. Thus, from the afternoon onwards, people would start lining up at Mr. Know-It-All's door, until seven or even eight in the evening, depending on the old man's mood.
Lin Chuan fell asleep the mont he hit the bed, snoring loudly.
When he woke up, it was already six in the afternoon. It wasn't dark yet. However, gusts of mountain wind were already blowing in. Laiwang Village was located in the mountainous areas of northern Thailand, warm in winter and cool in sumr. It was now the end of October, and early autumn had arrived. In this place of eternal spring with no distinct seasons, it was always spring all year round.
Coming out of the Eastern Hotel, Lin Chuan found a place to eat.
In this area, there were cuisines from various countries. Lin Chuan chose a Hong Kong-style tea restaurant. When he entered, many people were already dining. Most of them were n, including so hefty n from the Northeast, ard and with handguns at their belts.
Of course, there were also so smaller southern n, chattering in Cantonese.
Lin Chuan ordered a spicy chicken rice and then found a corner to sit down in.
At the entrance, a few robust northeastern n occasionally glanced at those southern small-statured n. The southerners always responded with mocking smiles to the northeastern n. The friction between both sides seed to have already begun.
Bang!
Suddenly, one of the northeastern robust n grabbed a soup bowl and smashed it hard on the ground, angrily saying, "Damn, you southern monkeys, stop ****ing chattering here in bird language. Believe it or not, I'll end you right now!"
The southern n seed not to be intimidated, with the leading skinny, dark-skinned man smiling and saying, "Brother, we all run in the sa circles, and we're all Chinese, why be like this?"
"Damn it, don't think I don't understand bird language," the northeastern robust man shouted angrily, "You are just covertly cursing us, aren't you?"
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