Return of the King, Dominating the City

Chapter 1950: Chapter 1797: A Decade-Long Scheme

If it were somewhere else, he might have thought these people were trekkers or poachers.

But the place where these people set up camp was too coincidental; it was exactly at the location of that important fork depicted on his map.

At this fork, two maps have to be joined together to know which direction to move forward.

Otherwise, with only half a map, it would be like groping in the dark.

Song Yun thought to himself, "Are they from the Shen Family, keeping watch here? After all, the Shen Family got half of the map and, although they still don’t know how to get to Taoyuan, they know the fork is an important checkpoint. As long as they have people stationed here, someone will come eventually. Among those who come, there might be the other half of the map."

As Song Yun was thinking this, he saw that among the group of people, one person had a black token hanging from his waist with a "Shen" character on it.

"Just as expected, it’s them."

Song Yun raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Dongfang Yun beside him.

It was unclear whether Dongfang Yun noticed the "Shen" character token; her expression remained very calm as she walked toward the campsite ahead.

"I wonder what Dongfang Yun’s relationship with the Shen Family is."

Song Yun thought to himself, following Dongfang Yun towards the campsite ahead.

The people in the camp were obviously very alert and had already seen Song Yun and Dongfang Yun. Two men stood up and watched the approaching duo.

When they were within fifty meters of the camp, one of the men shouted, "What are you doing, are you lost? Sorry, but please return the way you came, we don’t..."

Before he could finish, the man was stopped by a bearded man behind him who whispered a few words in his ear.

The man immediately changed his tone and shouted to Song Yun and Dongfang Yun, "In this vast forest, it’s easy to lose direction. Since we’ve met as trekkers, why not come over, and let’s take care of each other."

Seeing the change in attitude, Song Yun’s mouth curled into a cold smile. If there was no conspiracy, he wouldn’t believe it even if he died.

Dongfang Yun obviously sensed the anomaly as well; her eyes flickered slightly as she continued walking forward.

At the same time, she whispered to Song Yun, "The other side seems suspicious, so be careful later."

Hearing this reminder, Song Yun’s eyes lit up.

Since Dongfang Yun said this, it can be concluded that she is not with the Shen Family; otherwise, she wouldn’t be unaware that the campsite ahead belongs to the Shen Family.

However, Song Yun could not rule out the possibility that Dongfang Yun might have good relations with the Shen Family.

After all, he wasn’t sure if Dongfang Yun saw the "Shen" character token of that group of people.

The two continued to move forward, approaching the campsite, and only then did Song Yun see that the camp not only had a fence but also had a large net stretched over the top with a tarp, to ward off rain.

This setup clearly indicated that they were stationed here long-term.

Recalling the three off-road vehicles parked in the woods earlier, Song Yun thought to himself, "It looks like the Shen Family specifically arranged for people to guard this spot, waiting for those exploring Taoyuan to come. Other than accidental trekkers, anyone reaching here must have a map. The Shen Family surely has a cunning plan to seize the other half of the map."

As Song Yun pondered this, the skinny man who had called out earlier in the campsite said, "You two, since we’re all trekkers and it’s fate to meet, please come inside and have a seat."

With that, the skinny man opened the small gate in the fence.

Song Yun and Dongfang Yun, both skilled and brave, showed no hesitation and walked straight into the camp.

The bearded man, the leader, stood up and pointed to a tree trunk lying on the ground, saying heartily, "Please, take a seat. I am Qian Lei, but you can just call me Da Lei."

"Brother Da Lei, I’m Song Yun."

Song Yun clasped his hands and nodded slightly, his gaze casually glancing towards the other person’s waist.

The "Shen" character token he saw earlier was indeed with this bearded man.

But upon closer inspection, the token was no longer visible; obviously, Qian Lei had hidden it away.

Humph, trying to trick me!

Song Yun sneered inwardly but sat down without showing any sign of displeasure.

"Hello everyone, I’m Dongfang Yun."

Dongfang Yun nodded and sat down next to Song Yun.

Qian Lei maintained a hearty smile on his face and introduced everyone to Song Yun and Dongfang Yun, "This is Liu Gang, Liang Chong, Zhou Jie, Ma Dong, Xu Feng..."

After Qian Lei introduced everyone, Song Yun noticed for the first time that there was actually a woman among them.

The woman was named Yang Na; she was quite pretty and had a very nice figure, at least an eight out of ten.

After chatting for a while, Yang Na seemed very friendly, offering apples she had peeled to Song Yun and Dongfang Yun.

Since both Song Yun and Dongfang Yun were cautious, they naturally didn’t eat anything offered by them, and after politely declining, Yang Na didn’t insist further and placed the apples on the table.

Until the apples oxidized and turned brown, no one touched them, and it was as if the people in the camp didn’t even see them.

Qian Lei, smiling broadly, asked Song Yun and Dongfang Yun, "So, where are you two headed?"

Song Yun replied, "We are solo travelers, exploring the mountains without a fixed destination, wherever we end up is fine."

"Interesting."

Qian Lei laughed heartily, glanced at Dongfang Yun, and gave Song Yun a knowing look, "Are you two a couple or married?"

"Neither." Dongfang Yun shook her head, "We just met on the road and decided to travel together."

Qian Lei jokingly said, "Perhaps after this journey, your relationship will change."

Everyone laughed, but Dongfang Yun remained stern, which made the atmosphere a bit awkward.

Qian Lei laughed awkwardly and turned to chat with Song Yun, saying, "Brother, entering this forest alone, you’ve got guts. Watch out for wild wolves."