The two private soldiers who had yet to return only dared to go out on their own after seeing that Yang Xiaojin and the others were fine. Furthermore, they were traveling together, so it could be said that they were fully prepared.
But now, nearly ten minutes had passed, and the two of them had yet to return.
Xu Xianchu stood at the edge of the cave and looked out at the forest. Due to the rain, the sky had already turned completely dark even though it was just past evening.
"Could something have happened to them?" someone asked.
"But there's no movement at all." Someone huddled in a corner of the cave said, "Surely the two of them couldn't have been attacked at the same time without making a sound, right?"
Logically speaking, that was the case. But wasn't this the most frightening thing? Xu Xianchu had instructed the people to travel together, but now that they had formed a group, an accident still happened.
Xu Xianchu said, "Don't think too much about it. It's probably just a delay of ten minutes."
It was quiet in the cave. Although Xu Xianchu was reassuring everyone, the two of them really did not appear again as time passed.
Xu Xianchu said, "Which one of you is willing to come with me to look for them?"
Ren Xiaosu was stunned for a moment. Xu Xianchu was actually willing to brave the unknown dangers and acid rain to enter the forest to look for his subordinates.
But no one in the cave responded to him. Who would be willing to go out and die at a time like this? Several of the private soldiers peed in the innermost part of the cave, filling the entire cave with the stench of urine.
Ren Xiaosu and the others could only sit at the outermost part of the cave, where there was ventilation. Although it was a little cold, at least they did not have to smell the urine.
Xu Xianchu sighed and said, "If you guys don't save the others, don't blame others for not saving you when they're in danger."
Ren Xiaosu did not mind. He did not expect anyone to save him either. Even his ally, Yang Xiaojin, would probably abandon everyone in the face of danger.
It was already good enough that they were not related and did not set each other up.
The sound of the rain outside washed over the entire forest. Ren Xiaosu said to Yang Xiaojin, "I'll keep watch for the first half of the night. You should get some rest first. After this rain, the road tomorrow will be very difficult to traverse. It'll take a lot of energy and stamina. Be careful of those soldiers. They're up to no good. "
Ren Xiaosu had noticed earlier that ever since the two of them snatched the guns, these soldiers would gather together from time to time. This was a hidden danger, but Ren Xiaosu had yet to figure out how to solve it.
"Mm." Yang Xiaojin nodded. She leaned against the stone wall of the cave and closed her eyes to rest. However, Yang Xiaojin's gun was still pointed at everyone, including Ren Xiaosu.
Ren Xiaosu smiled and did not mind. If it were him, he would have done the same.
The team of 11 people had inexplicably become nine people. Ren Xiaosu looked at the remaining soldiers in the cave. Some of them were sitting inside and smoking, and the smell of the cigarette smoke made Ren Xiaosu feel nauseous.
He found it hard to imagine that a soldier in the stronghold would start using such psychotropic drugs to stimulate himself. In that case, just how vulnerable would the stronghold's defenses be?
Was it only Stronghold 113 that was like this, or were most of the other strongholds' private troops like this?
These soldiers had brought quite a lot of cigarettes with them, and Liu Bu had also prepared ten packs for them. However, they had lost most of their cigarettes during their escape. Now, each of them only had half a pack or one pack left, and some of them did not even have a single cigarette left.
This group of people sat inside and smoked, filling the entire cave with smoke. Fortunately, Ren Xiaosu, Yang Xiaojin, and Luo Xinyu were all sitting at the outermost edge of the cave, so the smoke was not that bad.
A soldier said to the others, "Lend me one. I'm out of cigarettes."
"I'm out of cigarettes too. This is my last one." The soldier next to him moved aside. Actually, he still had more than half a pack of cigarettes in his pocket. But there was still so much time left. Who knew when they would be able to get out of here? He did not have enough for himself either.
The soldier who borrowed the cigarettes looked at the others. "Lend me one. I'll return one to you when we get back to the stronghold!"
At this moment, his so-called "addiction" had kicked in. He did not hesitate to make such a heavy promise just to smoke a cigarette. As a matter of fact, cigarettes were not cheap in the stronghold.
"Who knows if we can get back?" Someone mocked, "What are you going to return it with when the time comes? Your life?"
Ren Xiaosu sighed. These soldiers of the private army were really a motley crew. With the fate of two of their teammates still unknown, these people were already starting to fight amongst themselves over the cigarettes.
The soldier who was addicted could only sit in the cave as he could not borrow any cigarettes. Ren Xiaosu observed him carefully. The soldier started shivering and even broke out in a cold sweat.
Although these soldiers smoked better cigarettes than the town's workers, their withdrawal symptoms were also much more intense.
If any danger were to strike at this moment, this addict would probably not even be able to stand up, let alone resist it.
Ren Xiaosu looked at Luo Xinyu, who was still awake. "What … is it like in your stronghold?"
This was actually one of the questions that Ren Xiaosu was most curious about. He had always yearned for life in the stronghold because all the daily necessities produced in town were shipped into the stronghold. The people there did not have to eat cornbread, and they could wash their faces every day. It was even said that they had access to electricity.
Ren Xiaosu and Yan Liuyuan used to think that the stronghold was paradise. But from the looks of it, it was not as wonderful as they had imagined.
Luo Xinyu was very happy to see Ren Xiaosu take the initiative to speak to her. She would have to rely on Ren Xiaosu for a lot of things along the way. She explained in a low voice, "Actually, someone deliberately induced the private troops to be like this. There was once a mutiny in one of the stronghold's private troops, and the other strongholds' overseers gradually developed a rift with the soldiers. The big shots want someone to protect them, but at the same time, they hope that these troops will always be loyal and have no ambition. And these cigarettes are the best way to wear down one's ambition."
Ren Xiaosu asked, "Is it okay to smoke too much of this stuff?"
"Of course it's not." Luo Xinyu said, "Some retired soldiers are like the walking dead in the stronghold …. Some of their wives even ran off with someone else."
"It's really chaotic in your stronghold," Ren Xiaosu lamented.
"That's nothing." Luo Xinyu said, "I've even seen a 60-year-old woman keep a dozen or so gigolos. It's like an old cow preying on young grass!"
Ren Xiaosu was taken aback. "60 years old? Preying on young grass isn't even enough to describe it. "
Luo Xinyu was also taken aback. "Then what is it?"
Ren Xiaosu pondered it and said, "Having a child at an old age?!"
Luo Xinyu was speechless.
Luo Xinyu realized that Ren Xiaosu's train of thought was indeed a little different from other people's. It was no wonder the people in town said he was sick in the head!
He was clearly not sick, yet he was born with a mental disposition. Just how did his train of thought develop?!
At this moment, someone in the cave exclaimed, "What's that! It's wet! "
With that, a group of people ran out of the cave as though they had received a great fright. Ren Xiaosu looked into the cave and was puzzled. There was nothing inside.
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