The Tianjing People Lead the Team

Over in Tianjing, everyone was at their wit's end.

Several days had passed since Qin Suishou's death.

Progress could not be called zero, but it might as well have been nothing.

They hadn't even figured out who the enemy was.

"Are you kidding me? You bunch of deadweights, can't you step it up a bit?"

Lin Mo lay on the bed, looking helplessly at Dongfang Shuye playing with his computer.

"It's not that we're slacking off. The other side is really careful—they didn't leave a single clue."

It did sound like they were being very cautious.

But Lin Mo shook his head and said, "Don't worry, they'll definitely strike again. It might be soon, or it could be a long time from now."

"And it's not necessarily in Tianjing."

Hearing this, Dongfang Shuye immediately caught on.

He whipped out his phone.

"Hello? This is Dongfang Shuye. Collect all cases of corrosive wounds from across the country—yes, after Captain Qin's death."

After hanging up, Dongfang Shuye looked at Lin Mo.

"How the hell does your brain work?"

Lin Mo casually handed the exercise book on the desk to Dongfang Shuye.

"Figure this out, and I'll tell you how my brain works."

Dongfang Shuye had already looked through that exercise book before.

All he could say was that it was hard to judge.

He recognized the characters and letters, but when they were all together, it looked like some kind of celestial text.

Thump, thump, thump!

A knock came at Lin Mo's door.

Lin Mo glanced at Dongfang Shuye and said nothing.

Dongfang Shuye: "What?!"

Lin Mo still didn't speak, just gestured with his eyes.

"Damn it! I'll get it."

With that, Dongfang Shuye got up and opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, he saw Tong Dong and three burly men from Shandong standing outside.

Tong Dong knew Dongfang Shuye, but the big men behind him were startled when they saw a man open Lin Mo's door.

"Brother Dongfang, you're here too."

"Yeah, just slacking off," Dongfang Shuye said with a helpless shrug.

He stepped aside to let them in.

Tong Dong didn't overthink it and walked straight inside.

"Lin Mo, we've finished our assignments and plan to go see the Badaling Great Wall today. Want to come?"

"That's right—'You're not a real man until you've climbed the Great Wall.' You're Tong Dong's hometown buddy, so you've got to join us," said one of them with thick hair tied in a topknot.

Lin Mo remembered him as Wang Jie, though the other classmates called him Sister Wang.

"No problem. I don't have anything special to do anyway, but we need to inform Teacher Huang in advance."

Lin Mo had no objection to group activities like this.

He and Tong Dong hadn't actually interacted much with the other students from Guangdong, and their relationship was less close than Tong Dong's bond with his three roommates.

"No worries, I already talked to Teacher Huang. He said it's fine as long as we're careful."

Lin Mo nodded. "Alright, let's head out now."

He got off the bed and put on his shoes.

Then he noticed Dongfang Shuye staring at him.

"What? Are you from Tianjing, and you want to come too?"

"You're the guest, so I ought to act as the tour guide," Dongfang Shuye said with a fake smile.

Lin Mo could tell he was actually there to keep an eye on him, whether under orders from Long Tianqi or someone else.

If Dongfang Shuye wanted to tag along, that was fine.

"Suit yourself," Lin Mo said.

Tong Dong, however, asked curiously, "Does Brother Dongfang not have to go to work?"

Before Dongfang Shuye could answer, Lin Mo cut in:

"Work what? He's just a connected slacker. Look—anyone called him while he's been here with me?"

Hearing this, Wang Jie and the other two were secretly shocked.

After all, Shandong was a major province for civil service exams. If someone could be a connected slacker in a state-run training facility, their backing must be rock solid.

But none of them said anything, because they felt Lin Mo seemed even more like someone with connections than Dongfang Shuye.

His tone, his attitude—he was hardly ever seen in the training base's classroom.

Yet Lin Mo had come from Guangdong, not Tianjing.

So in their eyes, Lin Mo was quite mysterious.

The six of them set off.

Huang Jingmin arranged a dedicated car to take them to the Great Wall.

But Lin Mo knew very well that it was actually a vehicle from the Yanhuang Awakening organization.

Still, he said nothing—direct transport was the best.

As a local, Dongfang Shuye didn't actually know that much about the Great Wall.

"I thought we'd have to take the train to Badaling," Wang Jie said, having done some research.

"But since the base has a dedicated car, it takes us straight to the foot of the mountain. That saves a lot of trouble."

"We could also take the 877 bus. I heard it's a direct route."

Lin Mo nodded. "True, but there are some tricks to watch out for."

Hearing this, everyone turned to look at him.

"What do you mean by that?"

Lin Mo thought for a moment and said, "On the 877 bus, there are tour guides who push you to buy cable car tickets. You go up by cable car and come down by cable car—it saves time."

"No way! I have to climb the Great Wall myself. Otherwise, how can I call myself a real man?"

"Yeah, exactly!"

Lin Mo used the word "trick" because the tour guides weren't entirely lying—the cable car did save time and effort.

If everyone only climbed on foot, the cable car operators wouldn't make money.

And tourist revenue would drop.

After thinking it over, it wasn't entirely unreasonable.

"I think that's not so bad, but I've heard there's a fake Great Wall. Brother Dongfang, is that true?" asked a guy named Liu Dongshui.

This was within Dongfang Shuye's knowledge.

"There is something like that, but it's not a fake Great Wall. It's a real section, just managed by local tourism authorities."

Lin Mo added, "It's actually a very short stretch, which is why people call it fake. Unlicensed drivers often take tourists there, and Shui Guan Great Wall kicks back commissions."

Hearing Lin Mo say this, Dongfang Shuye somehow felt a bit embarrassed for his city.

Eventually, the entire Badaling Great Wall tourism area was reorganized and straightened out.

Many of those problems disappeared.

But new schemes popped up later.

Anyway, Lin Mo and the others had arrived directly by car.

They soon reached the entrance of the Badaling Great Wall.

Even after the holidays, there were still crowds on weekdays. As a classic Beijing attraction, the Badaling Great Wall was busy almost every day unless the weather was extreme.

Dongfang Shuye went to buy tickets.

Since Lin Mo and the others were still students, they got a discount, but Dongfang Shuye had to pay full price.

Still, it wasn't expensive.

Just then, Dongfang Shuye's phone rang.

He glanced back at Lin Mo and the others, then said, "Wait here a moment. I need to take this call."