Zuo Lin'an withdrew his gaze, casually picked up the backpack from the floor, and turned to push open the door and step inside.
At the same time, he checked the time.
It was already twenty minutes past eight, which meant he had better capture someone within the next half hour.
He looked around the interior; it was filthy.
But he was in no mood to clean up right now.
According to what Wang Hu had said earlier, the criminals in this settlement lived quite scattered, and it was perfectly normal not to see many of them for long periods.
This had both pros and cons for him.
The pro was that once they took action, they wouldn't be discovered anytime soon.
The con was that finding someone would take more time, and it would be very easy for the target to escape.
Zuo Lin'an stayed inside the house for a moment, not expecting to hear footsteps coming from outside.
Although it was daytime and subtle noises would normally be muffled, there were very few people here, making it incredibly quiet. Thus, even during the day, footsteps were highly noticeable.
Moreover, perhaps because the specter aura behind him had grown significantly denser than before,
his perception had actually improved.
Consequently, he could clearly distinguish that these footsteps were heading straight for the villa he was in.
And it was only one person, definitely not Xu Youyou returning.
Sure enough, in less than two minutes, he heard a knock on the door.
Without hesitating, Zuo Lin'an walked over and opened the door. Standing outside was a man in his thirties or forties who looked quite refined and scholarly.
Could this be some highly intelligent criminal?
Or a beast in human clothing?
“Are you looking for me?”
The man nodded slowly. “Hello, little brother. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Zhou Hang.”
“I saw Wang Hu bringing two unfamiliar faces here to pick a house from a distance earlier, so I knew newcomers had arrived.”
Zuo Lin'an asked, “So, is there something you need?”
As he spoke, he scanned the outside, wanting to see if there was anyone else lying in ambush nearby.
Zhou Hang replied, “I know newcomers always carry three sets of new prison uniforms with them. I was wondering if you could sell me one?”
Zuo Lin'an snapped out of his thoughts and raised an eyebrow slightly. “You want the prison uniform?”
Speaking of prison uniforms, they had stuffed quite a few into their backpacks. They hadn't counted them carefully, but there were at least a dozen or so.
“Yes. After all, it's new clothing, very clean.”
Zuo Lin'an had already confirmed that Zhou Hang had come alone.
After some thought, he didn't refuse. He had been wondering where to find a target for nine o'clock, so having someone deliver themselves to his doorstep was, of course, the best possible outcome.
“How do you plan to buy it?”
Zhou Hang offered a price. “A complete set of shirt and pants for ten pounds of rice. How about it?”
“There is no currency in Sin Hunter City; it's basically all bartering. Ten pounds of rice for a set of clothes is quite a lot.”
Zuo Lin'an, however, shook his head.
“You're not being very fair here. Although I've just arrived and don't know the prices, food like rice is bound to have a decent harvest every year in Sin Hunter City.”
“But everyone only gets three sets of clothes. Once one is ruined, you have one less.”
“The people outside won't replenish them for us at all, so clothes are the real scarcity—even if they are just prison uniforms.”
Zhou Hang was slightly taken aback, looking a bit surprised.
“It seems I underestimated you. In that case, I'll give you a realistic price.”
“Over in the city center, a brand-new prison uniform goes for twenty-five pounds of rice. How about I offer you that price right now?”
“You and your friend have just arrived, so you must be desperately short on food. This amount of rice will be enough to sustain you for a while.”
Zuo Lin'an readily agreed.
“Sure. But my buddy and I are two grown men, and twenty-five pounds of rice won't last us very long. I'll take the initiative to sell you two sets. How about you give me fifty pounds of rice?”
Just as he was about to make a move earlier, he caught sight of two people walking together not far away out of the corner of his eye.
He realized this place was not suitable for taking action.
By asking for more rice now, he could follow Zhou Hang to his house to retrieve it.
Once they got there, it would be much easier to make a move.
Moreover, he could tell that Zhou Hang was clearly a very clean person, yet his prison uniform was worn out and frayed in many places from washing.
If Zuo Lin'an was willing to trade an extra set of new clothes, he definitely wouldn't refuse.
Sure enough, as soon as those words were spoken, Zhou Hang's eyes lit up.
“Really?”
“You're willing to sell me two sets?”
Zuo Lin'an nodded. “Yes. If you're willing, I'll go grab the clothes right now.”
A joyful smile appeared on Zhou Hang's face.
“Great, great, no problem! I'm willing to trade!”
Zuo Lin'an immediately turned and walked inside, pulling two sets of prison uniforms from his backpack.
However, when he showed them to Zhou Hang, the other man frowned slightly. “Why are they so wrinkled?”
Zuo Lin'an replied calmly, “I took them out to look at them before, then just stuffed them back in. Hey, what does it matter if they're wrinkled? As long as they're new, it's fine, right?”
Zhou Hang figured that made sense. He took a closer look and confirmed they indeed hadn't been worn.
“Alright then. Wait here, I'll go get the rice for you now.”
Zuo Lin'an waved his hand. “Why go through all that trouble? I'll just walk over with you and bring the rice back directly. That way, you don't have to make a second trip.”
Zhou Hang frowned slightly but didn't refuse in the end. Although he lived in a very secluded spot, plenty of people knew where he lived, so it wasn't really a secret.
“Alright then, follow me.”
Zuo Lin'an held the two sets of clothes and was about to follow him, but quickly realized something.
“Wait a moment.”
Zhou Hang turned around just in time to see Zuo Lin'an head back into the house.
Not knowing what he was doing, Zhou Hang didn't ask.
Zuo Lin'an returned inside, picked up the backpack from the floor, quickly hid it in a corner, and then walked back out.
Although the backpack only contained some food, water, and a dozen or so sets of clothes, these were all the belongings they had on the surface.
They couldn't afford to have them stolen.
“Let's go.”
Zhou Hang nodded and led the way.
Zuo Lin'an followed behind, seemingly relaxed and carefree, but in reality, he was observing his surroundings and memorizing the route.
Of course, the most important thing was to check if anyone was watching them in secret.
After all, his perception had been enhanced slightly.
If someone kept staring at him, he would still feel a slight sensation.
However, as they took many twists and turns over a long distance, Zuo Lin'an didn't feel anything unusual.
It was either because this place was too vast with too few people,
or because Zhou Hang lived in such a secluded spot that there was simply no one else around.
But this was for the best, as it spared him a lot of worries.
However, as they kept walking, Zuo Lin'an suddenly felt like they had been walking for quite a while. Was the distance really this far?
He stealthily checked the time.
8:36 AM.
Only twenty-four minutes left until exactly nine o'clock.
Zhou Hang lived far too far away!
And this guy was walking so slowly.
Another ten-plus minutes passed, and the time reached 8:51 AM.
Seeing that there were less than ten minutes left until nine o'clock,
and just as Zuo Lin'an was contemplating how to speed things up,
Zhou Hang suddenly spoke.
“We're here.”
Rate on N.U.
