Chapter 304: Incineration Plant

Chapter 304: Chapter 304: Incineration Plant

The next day, as Bai Mao had instructed, Fang Ye drove Cheng Shian’s luxury car to the incinerator plant.

The incinerator plant was in the suburbs, far from the city.

Fang Ye stopped the car at an intersection. The traffic light ahead was counting down. He gripped the steering wheel numbly, still finding it hard to accept his current situation.

It had all started when he noticed He Su had mysteriously disappeared. He’d wanted to check the villa’s security footage to find out where He Su went, but Gray Rat’s reaction had been completely unreasonable. Not only did Gray Rat lie and say the villa’s cameras weren’t working, he even mocked Fang Ye, asking if he couldn’t handle his bodyguard duties now that he was short one partner.

Ostensibly, Gray Rat was the boss’s cousin, so Fang Ye wouldn’t confront him head-on. But he felt something was off and decided to secretly find the security footage himself. The most likely place to find the recordings was the study, but just as he stepped inside, Xing Guang walked in...

And that was how things had escalated to this.

The red light turned green.

The car in front of him didn’t move. A hand holding a phone stretched out of the window, taking a picture of the traffic light.

Fang Ye stared, confused for a moment. Then he noticed people in several other cars craning their necks, holding up their phones to photograph the traffic light.

’What’s so special about a traffic light?’

He followed their line of sight and saw three sparrows perched shoulder-to-shoulder on the traffic light.

’...No, those aren’t sparrows.’

’They’re Feng Ling’s Human-faced Crows.’

Feng Ling was a public figure, and her Pets had been revealed long ago. The giant spider and the owl were rarely seen, but her Human-faced Crows were a common sight in Qingjiang City. Now that Feng Ling was in Jinnan City, she had likely brought some of them with her.

Feng Ling didn’t have a mystical scouting ability like Xing Guang’s, but her Human-faced Crows could serve as her eyes and ears.

’If I find a way to attract the Human-faced Crows’ attention, will Feng Ling come and rescue me?’

"Heh..."

A soft chuckle sounded from beside him.

Fang Ye whipped his head around.

Bai Mao, sitting in the passenger seat, was watching him with a mocking glint in her eyes.

In an instant, Fang Ye felt as if she had seen right through him. The color drained from his face, and his grip on the steering wheel became bone-tight.

Bai Mao said with a smirk, "Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m just a little curious. Seriously, go on and do whatever you’re planning. I won’t stop you."

She looked as though she was just watching the fun, utterly indifferent to whether Fang Ye lived or died. It was as if no matter what he did, it would just be an amusing story for her to tell later—a brief diversion from her work.

The color slowly returned to Fang Ye’s face. ’What am I even struggling for?’ he thought. ’Even if I manage to alert Feng Ling, the Alien Species will just "log off," switch to a new body, and "log back in." But I only have this one body, this one life.’

’If I die here, I’ll probably vanish without a trace, just like He Su. No one will ever know I was here...’

The line of cars began to move forward.

Fang Ye’s heart sank. He tore his gaze away from the Human-faced Crows and stared straight ahead as he drove through the intersection.

...

The area around the incinerator plant was desolate, surrounded by vast stretches of wasteland.

Bai Mao didn’t have Fang Ye stop. Instead, she told him to keep driving to the next major intersection, then take a different road that looped back toward the city.

"Tonight, you’ll follow this route. Once the job’s done, Xing Guang will give you a reward," Bai Mao said.

Fang Ye shot her a suspicious glance.

"Don’t look at me. I don’t know what the reward is," Bai Mao said nonchalantly. "Xing Guang does whatever he wants. I just have to cooperate. I don’t care about the reasons."

Fang Ye could only fall silent and keep driving.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a refrigerated truck leaving the incinerator plant, heading for the city.

Refrigerated trucks were used for keeping food frozen and fresh. Incinerator plants were used for destroying trash and waste. The sight of the two together made Fang Ye realize something was very wrong.

But Bai Mao’s attitude toward him throughout the drive had been anything but pleasant. He doubted he would get an answer if he asked, so he ultimately chose to stay silent and keep driving forward.

After a long, circuitous drive, they finally returned to the villa.

Only three Alien Species remained on the first floor of the villa. Xing Guang was chatting cheerfully with them. When he saw Bai Mao return with Fang Ye, the smile on his face widened. "A smooth trip?" he asked.

"It was," Bai Mao said. "There was no security near the incinerator plant. The refrigerated truck had just pulled away when we got there. I was worried about finding a driver since you tied up the last one. Gray Rat’s driving is atrocious."

"Excellent," Xing Guang said, turning to Fang Ye with a smile. "Tonight, you’ll be delivering some cargo to the incinerator plant. You don’t need to get out of the car. Just pull over on the side of the road, and they’ll handle the rest."

Xing Guang gestured to the Alien Species beside him.

These particular Alien Species were powerfully built and wore tight athletic tank tops. Each had an eye embedded in their collarbone.

Fang Ye lowered his gaze, not daring to stare.

’He couldn’t figure out what Xing Guang was planning. Gray Rat and Bai Mao both wore high collars that covered their collarbones, so why were these Alien Species deliberately exposing theirs? They had to know Feng Ling was publicly searching for people with these eyes...’

While he was mulling this over, Xing Guang handed him a cell phone.

"This belonged to my former driver. Use it for now. Call me after you drop them off at the incinerator plant. As for your phone..." He smiled. "I’ll be holding on to it for you."

Fang Ye took the phone, remaining silent.

He didn’t dare resist. All he could do was affect an air of passive resistance, pretending he still had a shred of dignity left.

Xing Guang was very satisfied with Fang Ye’s performance. He sat down on the edge of the sofa, poured himself some tea, and said, "Once you’ve handled this matter, I’ll give you a High-level Card."

Fang Ye froze, his head snapping up to look at Xing Guang.

"What’s with that expression?" Xing Guang laughed. "That superstar you admire so much? She also got stronger by cooperating with Alien Species. Otherwise, how do you think she’s able to find Pollution Bodies, enter Mazes, and continuously acquire new Cards?"

Fang Ye couldn’t help but retort, "That’s Feng Ling’s Card Ability. She can control Alien Species."

"You’re so naive," Bai Mao said mockingly. "It’s just a mutually beneficial arrangement. That player at Feng Ling’s side betrayed her own kind. Once we’ve dealt with Feng Ling, we’ll get around to dealing with her, too."

Xing Guang chuckled. "It’s fine, it’s fine. We’ll give him the chance to see for himself... Fang Ye is just an audience member now. It’s more fun to shatter someone’s idealized image of their idol piece by piece."

Fang Ye said nothing.

An absurd thought occurred to him: ’Xing Guang wants to shatter my idealized image of Feng Ling, but looking at it another way, it’s that very image that’s kept me alive until now...’

’Feng Ling, oh Feng Ling. You don’t even know who I am, yet you’ve saved me once again.’

...

...

"ACHOO!!!"

Feng Ling let out an unexpected sneeze.

Ye Zheng, who was standing beside her, immediately frowned. "You’re not catching a cold, are you? Are you really that delicate?"

"I’m not sick. My nose was just itchy," Feng Ling said, rubbing it. She looked over at Li Qing. "Daoist, has the Divination shown anything?"

Beside the tent, Li Qing carefully studied where the beads had landed, then looked at the map in his hand. "Yesterday’s Divination pointed in this direction, and today’s points here... If we draw two intersecting lines, the location should be roughly... here."

He circled an area on the map with his pen. "We should perform another Divination tomorrow, to be safe," he said, his tone uncertain. "If the target has moved, this result may no longer be accurate."

"No problem. I’ll send Little Third over to scout it out first. You keep doing the Divination for the next few days. The more data, the better," Feng Ling said.