Chapter 72

Outside the stone cave, the rain had stopped, and the night sky was clear, with stars scattered across it.

In the sky, there was even the Big Dipper, which Su Peng recognized. He led Ling Xiaoyu towards the town.

When the two returned to the town, it was probably around three or four in the morning, and the horizon was already slightly brightening.

Ling Xiaoyu rushed to the inn, angrily pounding on the door. The sleepy-eyed inn boy opened the door and was immediately thrown to the ground by Ling Xiaoyu.

The inn boy was terrified, thinking he had been caught by bandits. Ling Xiaoyu gave him a few punches, demanding to know why the glutinous rice had been replaced with regular rice.

The inn boy stammered, and after a while, explained the reason. It turned out that the inn had run out of glutinous rice, but Ling Xiaoyu had given him a good amount of silver. The inn boy, greedy for the money from selling the two bags of rice, and seeing that Ling Xiaoyu didn't seem to know the difference, had grabbed two handfuls of regular rice and passed them off as glutinous rice.

Ling Xiaoyu, understanding the situation, felt both angry and helpless. She couldn't really kill the inn boy to avenge Zhang Jin, but she couldn't contain her anger and gave him a good beating.

"Ling, stop hitting him. We were out all night and are dirty. Let's clean up while we're still in the inn. We have to board the ship tomorrow," Su Peng said, seeing the inn boy suffer.

Ling Xiaoyu still felt unsatisfied and kicked the inn boy again, holding a short knife and saying, "If you dare to use fake goods again and I find out, I'll cut you down!"

The inn boy, with a face swollen like a pig, didn't understand why two bags of rice could make this female hero so angry, but he didn't dare offend a martial artist. He could only cry and say, "I won't do it again, sir."

Ling Xiaoyu finally felt a bit better, kicked the inn boy one more time, and went upstairs.

Su Peng shook his head, threw the inn boy five taels of silver, and said, "Take it to treat your injuries and bring us two buckets of hot water for a bath."

The inn boy, with a face swollen like a pig, still confused, could only nod, take the silver, and prepare the bath water for Su Peng and Ling Xiaoyu.

Su Peng returned to the small building. Soon, the bathtub and hot water were delivered, and Su Peng cleaned himself. The water he washed with had a faint black color, possibly from the poison in his body.

After checking his body, Su Peng found that he seemed to have no major problems. However, there was a faint palm print on his chest, left by the black-robed man's final blow. Su Peng didn't pay much attention, thinking it was a bruise from the internal energy and would naturally disappear with time and practice.

The blue robe he had worn last night, Su Peng also washed. The robe was very easy to clean, and it dried quickly. He shook it and it was ready to wear again. However, Su Peng, who had a slight obsession with cleanliness, didn't wear the blue robe. He changed into his old clothes, put the blue robe away, and came out.

Ling Xiaoyu had also tidied up. She changed from her yellow dress to a light red outfit. The two found staying in the inn meaningless and went to the dock to find the ship.

When they arrived at the ship, the eastern sky was gradually brightening. Just as they were about to board, they suddenly heard someone on the ship burst into laughter!

Su Peng recognized it as Ouyang Qing's voice and used his lightness skill to jump onto the ship. On the deck, Ouyang Qing was wielding a long knife, performing a set of knife techniques!

Seeing this, Su Peng understood that Ouyang Qing must have made a breakthrough and was now summarizing and reflecting. He didn't approach but watched Ouyang Qing perform the techniques.

Su Peng was at least three to four meters away from Ouyang Qing, but when Ouyang Qing swung his knife, it brought a wave of heat, like the sandstorm of the desert blowing in his face. Su Peng was quite impressed; Ouyang Qing's internal energy was definitely beyond his current level.

After about the time it took to burn an incense stick, Ouyang Qing gradually stopped.

"Congratulations, Brother Ouyang!" Su Peng clasped his hands and said to Ouyang Qing.

"Ha ha ha! Little Brother Su, last night I watched the sunset over the river and had some insights. I stood quietly at the stern of the ship all night and finally had a breakthrough at sunrise, advancing my martial arts!" Ouyang Qing laughed heartily, and Su Peng smiled and congratulated him.

Ouyang Qing laughed for a while before gradually stopping. Seeing Su Peng's appearance and expression, he said, "Hmm? Why does Little Brother Su look a bit tired? Did you encounter something and fight someone?"

Su Peng nodded and briefly recounted the events of the previous night. By then, Ling Xiaoyu had also boarded the ship. Her mood was low, and after greeting Ouyang Qing, she returned to her cabin to rest.

"Really, I didn't expect you to have such an adventure last night. I'm a bit regretful for not going ashore with you," Ouyang Qing said, marveling at Su Peng's story.

"Brother Ouyang's martial arts breakthrough last night is even more worthy of congratulations than this adventure," Su Peng smiled and said to Ouyang Qing.

"Ha ha ha ha! Indeed... Little Brother Su, it's almost dawn. You haven't slept all night. Go rest first," Ouyang Qing laughed heartily and then said to Su Peng.

"I am indeed tired. I'll go back and rest," Su Peng clasped his hands, temporarily bid farewell to Ouyang Qing, and returned to his cabin.

Back in the cabin, Su Peng stretched his body. The events of the previous night had been rich and eventful, and he was both mentally and physically exhausted. Seeing no one around, he logged out of the game.

Exiting the game pod, Su Peng stood up and looked at the clock in the machine room. It was already 4:05 AM. He rubbed his body, used his card to open the door of the machine room, and walked out.

In the corridor, Su Peng didn't return to his room but went to the bathroom on the left side of the corridor to relax with a cigarette.

Entering the bathroom, Su Peng lit a cigarette. Just as he was about to finish it, he suddenly saw someone come out of the bathroom.

"Minister Shi?" Su Peng looked at the person, who was the logistics director, Shi Qianjun.

Shi Qianjun saw Su Peng and nodded, saying, "As Lei Ming said, you have a lot of energy. You're up so early."

Su Peng frowned slightly. He knew that Shi Qianjun usually stayed in his office, which had a room inside. However, there was a large screen wall in the office that displayed video information from the entire company, including the new recruit machine room. When did he come to the bathroom? Didn't he see me in the machine room earlier?

However, Su Peng didn't say anything but asked seemingly casually, "Minister Shi is also up early."

"Hmm..." Shi Qianjun nodded and said, "I'm about the same as you. I wake up very early every day, around three in the morning. I sat in my office for a while and then came to the bathroom."

Su Peng listened, feeling even more puzzled but said nothing, just nodding silently.

Shi Qianjun didn't seem to think much about it either. He took out a pack of cigarettes, lit one, and started smoking. Su Peng finished his cigarette, threw away the butt, and said, "I'll go back now, Minister Shi."

"Sure, take care of yourself when you're not working," Shi Qianjun nodded slightly and said.

Su Peng walked out of the bathroom on the left side of the corridor, feeling very puzzled. He thought to himself, "He has no reason to lie to me. If he was in the office at three, he should have seen me in the new recruit machine room. Could the surveillance in the machine room be malfunctioning?"

Thinking about this, Su Peng had an idea. He didn't return to his room but went to the new recruit machine room.

When he reached the machine room, Su Peng used his card to open the door and saw someone under the air conditioner, who had just finished installing it.

"Who's there?"

"Who's there?"

Su Peng and the person called out at the same time, noticing each other.

"It's you..." The person under the air conditioner turned around, and the slightly tense mood seemed to ease. Su Peng recognized him and said, "Team Leader Lei, you're up so early?"

"Um..."

The person was Lei Ming, the team leader of the new recruits. He nodded and walked out from inside the room. Su Peng noticed that he had a slight sweat on his forehead.

"I came to check if you were off the machine, but I found the air conditioner seemed broken, so I tried to fix it and succeeded," Lei Ming said to Su Peng, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Lei Ming seems nervous but is trying to hide it... Could there be something wrong with him?" Su Peng thought, recalling the unreasonable conversation with Shi Qianjun earlier. He probed Lei Ming, saying, "Team Leader Lei, I was on the machine all night yesterday. When I went to the bathroom just now, I saw Minister Shi... It seems he didn't know I was up all night."

"Oh... I see..." Lei Ming listened, took off his sunglasses, and looked down as if thinking. After a while, he looked up and said, "That's normal. Minister Shi doesn't watch the monitors 24/7. He might not have noticed you. Oh, by the way, Minister Shi told me that new recruits are not allowed to stay on the machine all night... You violated the rules yesterday, and you might have your salary deducted..."

"Really? Will my salary be deducted? How much?" Su Peng asked, trying to sound a bit nervous like a regular employee.

"It's not certain... But you said Minister Shi didn't notice you staying on the machine all night?" Lei Ming asked, then looked up at Su Peng.

"Yes... I didn't say anything..." Su Peng nodded. He thought he saw Lei Ming breathe a sigh of relief, and heard Lei Ming say, "This game is so realistic that anyone might stay up all night. Since Minister Shi doesn't know, I won't be a tattletale. You haven't filled out the overtime form yet, right? When you fill it out, just write that you logged off before midnight yesterday. I won't ask any questions, and we'll let it go to save you from a salary deduction. It's not easy for new recruits."

"Okay... Thank you, Team Leader Lei," Su Peng said, pretending to think for a moment.

Lei Ming nodded, found the overtime form at a table in the machine room, and handed it to Su Peng.

Su Peng filled it out as Lei Ming suggested but thought to himself, "When something is abnormal, there must be a reason. Lei Ming's attitude is very subtle... The surveillance in the machine room must have had a problem yesterday. Did Lei Ming tamper with it? What is his purpose?"