Chapter 48: Petrified (2/2)
Yang Dawei walked beside Luo Yuan and answered in a whisper, “We don’t really know who they are, just that they are from Hedong City and that we once got into a fight with them.”
Luo Yuan could tell that the trio had not been on the winning side of the fight, so he decided against asking any further questions.
Before they were allowed to enter the central building of the encampment, they had to go through a checkpoint. After they were given the all-clear, they entered the lobby of a torn building that might have once been a bank, except that now its walls and foundation were exposed to the elements. The men from Hedong City were at the counter, getting their paperwork done.
As they were approaching the counter, one of them glared and made a slit-throat gesture while his friend laughed out loud. Qian Dakui’s face reddened and he grinded his teeth in disgust. Luo Yuan was worried that they might start a fight but to his surprise, Qian Dakui took a deep breath and looked the other way. The atmosphere was tense, but it wasn’t just Qian Dakui. Luo Yuan noticed that Zhang Cao and Yang Dawei seemed equally provoked, their faces dark while they held themselves back, a mixture of anger and fear in their eyes.
He still found the tension between the two parties peculiar, so he observed the men from Hedong City some more. While he was looking at them, one of the men noticed and smirked at him. Luo Yuan was impressed that this stranger had sensed his covert observation. He was certain that he was the one that had been disturbing Qian Dakui’s party.
This can’t be right. He looks too average to exert so much terror, his aura isn’t even that intimidating! He’s just so… normal. You wouldn’t even notice him in a crowd. It’s pretty damn obvious that he’s not the alpha of the pack. He looks more like a sidekick. Curiouser, and curiouser indeed.
Luo Yuan wrinkled his forehead, deep in thought.
When the five men finished their paperwork and left the area, only then did Qian Dakui & Co. exhale a sigh of relief and go back to their easygoing personas. Luo Yuan followed Qian Dakui into an office next to the ammunition warehouse. A middle-aged, somewhat corpulent man was lounging in the middle of the office. He was dressed in a military uniform, but looked more like a businessman. He greeted the newcomers with a smile.
“What do you need?”
Yang Dawei, who was in charge of logistics, asked Luo Yuan if he needed any weapons, but he politely declined. He explained that his own swords were all he needed and that he wasn’t very good with a gun anyway.
Yang Dawei looked at Qian Dakui before he turned back to the officer, “Just the usual, Officer Huang. We’ll have a ’56 machine gun, an ’88 shotgun, and a grenade launcher. I don’t suppose there’s been any raise in prices?
“Still the same old price for the moment. We’re expecting a bit of a raise as the military is spending more than they used to,” the officer replied without looking up. He punched a few numbers on the calculator before he added, “The deposits will cost you a 2000-gram rice coupon. Do you need ammunition?”
Yang Dawei’s expression turned to disbelief at the prices, but he knew that there wasn’t anything they could do about it. “We’ll take twenty penetrators, a thousand common pistol bullets, five grenades rounds, and eight hand grenades.”
“That’ll be a 6850-gram rice coupon.”
Yang Dawei took out a wallet and wasted no time in paying. That was when the officer looked up and grinned, “I don’t suppose you’ll be needing a mortar?”