The truck rumbled slowly along the rural path.
Lin Fan looked at the withered vegetation on either side of the road. It was the fifth day after the radiation event, and the toxins hidden within the plants had fully erupted. As far as the eye could see, the fields were blanketed in a withered, deathly yellow hue.
"Boss Lin," Xiao Tian, seated in the passenger seat, spoke with a worried expression, "Are you sure Xin Xin will be okay at home alone? Things are chaotic out there now. What if someone with bad intentions targets the farm? Wouldn't she be in danger?"
Lin Fan smiled faintly.
Danger?
Right now, in all of Southern City, there was no place safer than that farm.
If anyone could forcibly break into the farm to harm Xin Xin, then their armed strength was probably enough to take on the city's armed police directly.
But that wasn't something Lin Fan could tell Xiao Tian. He simply smiled and said, "There's nothing valuable at my little run-down farm—who would care about it? Besides, Xin Xin's only seven years old. Even if she had a weapon, she wouldn't know how to use it. And… Xiao Hei is there. No one's getting in. Don't worry."
"Heh… then I'm relieved," Xiao Tian nodded with a smile, then looked down and silently began typing on his phone.
Lin Fan glanced at him curiously.
Xiao Tian seemed to notice Lin Fan's gaze and quickly shoved the phone into his pocket with a sheepish smile. "I was just worried I didn't bring enough money, so I texted a friend to borrow some."
Lin Fan was silent for a moment, then pulled five hundred-yuan bills from his wallet and handed them over. "I don't have much money left either—here, take this."
Xiao Tian was clearly stunned by Lin Fan's gesture. He hesitated for a full seven or eight seconds before hurriedly waving his hands. "No, no, Boss Lin! You've already done so much for my family—I can't take your money!"
"Take it," Lin Fan said, not waiting for a refusal and stuffing the money into Xiao Tian's hand.
To Lin Fan now, money was meaningless.
"This…" Xiao Tian looked at the bills in his hand, his expression complicated. After a moment's hesitation, he clenched his teeth and said, "Boss Lin, I swear I'll repay your kindness one day!"
Clap, clap.
Lin Fan didn't speak—he simply reached out and patted Xiao Tian on the shoulder.
The rural path was bumpy and rough. Lin Fan followed the GPS navigation, driving forward. At a fork in the road, just as he was about to turn onto the route the GPS indicated, Xiao Tian suddenly reached out and grabbed the steering wheel with a resolute expression, as if making a tough decision. He said, "Boss Lin, I think the right road is blocked off. Let's take the left detour instead!"
Lin Fan raised an eyebrow.
The road to the right was the main road through the township. Under normal circumstances—barring an earthquake or landslide—it would never be blocked. So why was Xiao Tian saying that?
Lin Fan's gaze locked onto Xiao Tian's face.
At some point, Xiao Tian's complexion had turned ghostly pale, devoid of any color. Despite the cold weather, beads of sweat were glistening on his forehead—he looked like he'd suddenly fallen ill.
Lin Fan frowned, immediately sensing that something was wrong. In a deep voice, he asked, "Xiao Tian! I drive this road all the time. I never heard anything about it being blocked. How do you know? What's going on with you?"
"A... a friend told me…" Xiao Tian stammered.
"Which friend?" Lin Fan slammed the brakes. A chill ran through him—this whole thing felt off. He reached out and tightly gripped Xiao Tian's wrist, his voice cold: "Call him. I want to hear for myself."
"Boss Lin, please don't ask! I'm not trying to hurt you!" Xiao Tian's expression twisted as if making a desperate choice. His voice grew rushed, tinged with pleading. He pointed toward the left fork. "Boss Lin, just turn now! It'll be too late otherwise!"
Lin Fan stared at him, as if trying to find a crack in his eyes—but failed.
Whoosh!
Without a word, Lin Fan turned the steering wheel and sped down the left path.
Meanwhile—
Three hundred meters ahead on the right-side township main road, a black Mercedes SUV sat parked.
Inside, a cold-faced man in a black suit sat in the passenger seat. Three other similarly dressed, brawny men were with him, their muscular frames exuding menace.
The cold-faced man held a tablet. On its screen, a red dot moved steadily toward their location.
Suddenly, the red dot paused—then veered off course, heading down a different road that would never intersect theirs.
"Son of a bitch! Something went wrong!" the man cursed. "That little bastard double-crossed us!"
Clang!
The other three men's expressions darkened. With a burst of curses, they all drew gleaming knives from their belts.
"Hmph. Good thing I planned ahead," the cold-faced man said, his expression ice-cold. He grabbed the mic of his earpiece and barked, "The target is heading your way now. Remember—he must be taken alive! That's what Mr. Liang ordered!"
A voice responded through the earpiece: "Understood!"
Click!
The man tore off the earpiece and turned to the driver. "Turn around. We'll cut him off. Two teams—front and back. I want to see if they can grow wings and fly their way out today!"
…
Vroom!
The 1.4-liter engine of the small truck roared like it was on the verge of collapse. Lin Fan had floored the gas pedal. The tires screeched against the pavement, smoke curling into the cabin through the window.
"What the hell is going on? Tell me!" Lin Fan growled, face dark as thunder. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he suddenly saw a black SUV flying toward them at breakneck speed—less than three hundred meters behind!
He was furious.
Somehow, he'd been dragged into a storm—targeted by unknown forces.
But who were they?
The military?
No—that was impossible. If it were the military or police, they'd simply arrest him using formal channels. They wouldn't resort to this.
Friends of Sun Dayou and Yu Lin?
That didn't add up either. Sun Dayou was just a middle manager in a small company. His annual salary might barely break six figures. Yet the Mercedes SUV chasing them had a price tag of at least three million yuan.
If Sun Dayou really had that kind of backing, why would he be so desperate for Lin Fan's farm?
"Boss Lin, I… I'm sorry!" Xiao Tian sobbed, trembling all over. "I betrayed you! I checked surveillance near my house and saw it was you who saved me that night! I… I was desperate. I heard Tianrun Pharmaceuticals was searching for a cure for acute poisoning, so I contacted them…"
His whole body was shaking as he cried out, "I had no choice! I had no money or food—if I went on like that, I'd starve to death! They promised me a huge sum…"
"…" Lin Fan's brow twitched violently. Fury surged in his chest, but this wasn't the time to explode. He asked coldly, "What was their plan?"
"They told me to lure you out of the farm," Xiao Tian said through chattering teeth. "They know you have medicine that can treat poisoning, so while you were gone, they were going to take Xin Xin and use her to force you into submission!"
Lin Fan froze, then his face turned dark and frightening. He looked at Xiao Tian. "So… those questions you asked earlier were to test me? To find out if the farm had defenses? And when you were texting, you were informing them?"
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Xiao Tian sobbed into his hands.
"You son of a bitch!" Lin Fan growled through clenched teeth, every word filled with seething rage. "If anything happens to Xin Xin, I swear I'll make your whole damn family pay with their lives!"