Chapter 134: The Locator

Only minutes earlier, Mo Fei had been enthusiastically observing the battlefield from up close when, suddenly, a hard object pressed against his waist, freezing him in place.

"Turn around slowly," the person behind him said in Mandarin, the voice sounding quite familiar.

Mo Fei turned slowly to see a pale, gaunt face.

"Xiao Bai?" Mo Fei was quite surprised to see him here, especially looking so unwell. "What happened to you?"

Xiao Bai was truly living up to his name; he was as pale as a sheet, devoid of any color, yet the gun he held against Mo Fei did not tremble in the slightest.

"It has nothing to do with you," Xiao Bai said, increasing the pressure. "Don't alert anyone else. Drop your gun and come with me."

With a gun barrel pointed at him, Mo Fei had no choice but to comply. He dropped his weapon and followed Xiao Bai, circling away from the main skirmish toward a different direction, leaving the small village behind.

Mo Fei was nursing internal injuries, and Xiao Bai clearly wasn't in good shape either. The two walking wounded made slow progress, and before long, the sound of gunfire from the village ceased. Xiao Bai knew that given the caliber of the bodyguards Mo Fei had with him, they would be tracked down within ten minutes of their disappearance being discovered.

He pressed the muzzle against Mo Fei’s back and pulled him into the thicket along the roadside.

There is a saying that roads do not exist in the world; they are only formed when many people walk the same path. Mo Fei suspected that Xiao Bai intended to blaze a new trail entirely. Moving through the overgrown weeds while carefully erasing their tracks, the guy clearly had mastered the art of anti-reconnaissance.

Both of them coughed as they walked, unable to pick up the pace, yet they trudged on for ten minutes. Mo Fei was entirely unfamiliar with this area, and even if he were, wandering through the tall grass for this long would have left him completely disoriented.

"Friend, where exactly are you taking me?" Mo Fei asked, feeling he could barely go on. "Can we stop for a moment and talk?"

"No stopping," Xiao Bai pressed the gun harder. "Keep walking. Don't stop."

"Fine, fine, we'll keep walking, but can we at least talk?" Mo Fei sighed. "I’m not a camel; don't you find it boring not to chat?"

Xiao Bai clearly didn't, but Mo Fei did.

Bored, Mo Fei plucked at some wild grass along the way. "Xiao Bai, you aren't shot, but you look like you're on death's door, and you show up here—don't tell me Boss Bai punished you and demoted you to cannon fodder?"

Mo Fei took two steps forward and felt the hard object against his back vanish. He looked back to see Xiao Bai standing still, his gun leveled at him with dead, hollow eyes.

"Did I hit the nail on the head?" Mo Fei asked, tapping his chest in pleasant surprise. "Wow, that’s great. Between a handgun and a smart mouth, one of them was bound to strike gold."

Xiao Bai’s finger tightened on the trigger, but Mo Fei raised a hand. "Wait."

He walked two steps toward Xiao Bai, gauged that the distance was sufficient, and smiled. "Aren't you curious what I was doing with my other hand while I was picking grass?"

Mo Fei raised his other hand and gave it a shake. "Ta-da!"

Xiao Bai’s expressionless eyes finally showed a flicker of emotion as he saw the hand grenade in Mo Fei's grip.

"I’ve already pulled the pin. It’s only staying unexploded because I’m holding down the safety lever," Mo Fei said, gesturing to where the pin had been. "If I let go at this distance, we can continue our journey together on the road to the underworld."

He patted Xiao Bai’s arm. "Friend, let’s have a proper chat."

"If you didn't pick me out of that chaos because you were looking for an acquaintance to keep you company on the way down, then you must have another motive," Mo Fei analyzed. "Is there something else you need to do?"

Xiao Bai lowered his gun, looking utterly dejected. "Where’s the pin?"

"Threw it away."

"You!" Xiao Bai genuinely wanted to kill him—he’d wanted to for more than a day or two—but one look at the grenade in Mo Fei’s hand forced him to abandon that tempting thought.

"Go on then," Xiao Bai said, turning to walk in the opposite direction.

Mo Fei wouldn't have it. He grabbed Xiao Bai’s arm and wouldn't let go. "That won't do. You come and go as you please, where does that leave my dignity? You aren't going anywhere."

Xiao Bai’s face twitched. He looked at the gun in his hand, then at Mo Fei, who wouldn't let go of him, and for the first time, he began to wonder who was the kidnapper and who was the hostage.

"Do you want to die with me?" Xiao Bai asked, unable to grasp Mo Fei’s train of thought.

"Not at all," Mo Fei shook his head with complete sincerity. "You don't want to die, and naturally, I don't either. But I’ve already thrown the pin away—if you leave, wouldn't I be in a very awkward position?"

Is that how he calculated things?

Xiao Bai briefly entertained the thought of killing Mo Fei and dying together, but he couldn't afford the delay. "I need to find a way to save someone. Stop holding me back." His face remained stoic, but these were the most earnest words Mo Fei had ever heard him speak.

"Save someone, huh?" Mo Fei mused. "You aren't going to save Boss Bai, are you?"

Xiao Bai’s eyes remained completely unmoved.

"Then it must be to save Li Momo."

This time, Xiao Bai gritted his teeth.

"It really is her," Mo Fei said with great interest, gossiping. "Are you into her?"

"None of your damn business." Xiao Bai aimed the gun at him again. "Let go now, or I’ll drag you down with me."

Before Mo Fei could reply, a gunshot rang out. A large hole instantly appeared in Xiao Bai’s hand; his pistol was knocked away, and blood splattered onto Mo Fei’s face.

"Mo Fei! Are you alright?" Long Si rushed to their side and kicked Xiao Bai, forcing the two apart.

"What could possibly happen to me?" Mo Fei wiped the blood from his face and replied calmly, "I’m just about to be scared to death by you lot."

"I’m the one being scared to death by you!" Long Si raised her fist but, remembering he was injured, couldn't bring herself to strike. "I didn't see you for a few minutes, and you managed to get kidnapped again. Are you a professional hostage?"

She spotted the grenade in Mo Fei’s hand, her expression turning grave. "Did that kid make you hold that?"

"Good question." Mo Fei fished the grenade pin out of his pocket.

Under Xiao Bai’s murderous glare, he didn't even let his hand tremble as he slotted the pin back into place. He handed the grenade to Long Si. "I think next time you should just give me a model. The deterrent effect is much more practical for me."

Mo Fei looked at Long Er, who was walking toward them, his expression still calm. "Did you put a tracker on me?"

"I didn't put it on you." Long Er reached out his hand. "Give me my property back."

He emphasized the words "my" and "back."

Mo Fei’s righteous, arrogant demeanor was instantly extinguished. He sheepishly pulled out the white phosphorus spray and placed it in Long Er’s hand.

Long Er jabbed a knife into the bottom of the spray bottle, pried it open, and revealed a tiny compartment containing nothing but a black chip the size of a fingernail.

"You chose this yourself," Long Er said, pouring the tracker into his palm to show him.

How could he possibly go without any protective measures for a dangerous item?

What an idiot.