Da Ge

Chapter 26
Wei Qian was initially taken aback, then an indescribable feeling surged within him, as if an unspoken connection, devoid of blood ties, tugged at his heartstrings.rVAGJHEaXkrYkGTGLFlJWypcnaeaoN

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He relaxed his body, leaning against the cold washbasin, feeling the almost soothing chill.IkRbAduQtxTcOcUUWvdzzziSJWgtep

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“What nonsense are you spouting?” Wei Qian looked at him, then suddenly laughed, half-jokingly asking, “Kid, how much are you worth? Could be sold as a young bride, or maybe a half-grown lad to work for someone else’s meals?”wzsuLgOkDgnKbSKgVAfNpttTonolcY

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Wei Zhiyuan realized he had said something foolish. Suddenly, he found it hard to revert back. Whenever he opened his mouth, he instinctively simulated the speech of the intellectually impaired child, Song Xiaobao, uttering the most foolish words.HVHsSuqnfADEyywrzSPMGAtGzoCYhe

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Wei Zhiyuan decided he couldn’t continue like this. Being likable wasn’t enough; being cute and coy wasn’t either.uRFvnPMUsaduBCkSlugvgUrRSiUJBz

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Standing up straight, as if pledging allegiance to the flag like a Young Pioneer, he proclaimed loudly, “When I grow up, I’ll take care of you. I’ll earn money and support you, okay?”OrFpSKkDDQnEwotcyuepovqqrOInVI

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Wei Qian’s heart softened momentarily. For the first time, he clearly felt himself drawn into a vortex of emotions, so overwhelmed that he hardly knew how to express it. He could only adopt the annoying demeanor of an adult, teasing Wei Zhiyuan, “Then you better hurry up and grow, I think even radishes grow faster than you.”MnEMIWoaUSxOpCPgTHvnBldSgCKWal

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Wei Zhiyuan solemnly declared, “I want to grow up tomorrow. I… I’ll be good to you for the rest of my life, never let you suffer.”XGRKUoOoaZTufUzRVfwUbQncccyhUW

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“Grow up tomorrow?” Wei Qian bent down, scooping up Wei Zhiyuan with one hand and tossing the shoeless brat onto the bed, “Where can I find you such fast-acting fertilizer?”vpJVEEMsaMgIuvFHiEZKBlLQJWqsqK

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His arm muscles involuntarily trembled, causing his grip to falter slightly. Wei Zhiyuan instinctively wrapped his arms around his neck, then just as quickly withdrew – suddenly feeling ashamed, as if in the blink of an eye, he had already outgrown the stage of childish intimacy.gQLRqaqJauTagtSiTaUVNsYlgrORxp

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Wei Qian turned off the lights and soon drifted off to sleep.jdFYxNziRVJgdZsCzixSaOGtyooMXj

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On one hand, he was truly exhausted; on the other hand, he had gained a sense of strength from his younger brother, something belonging to true adulthood, which supported him calmly and tranquilly.XkFCpDTSdIlcvblctphnETxPwSQyXV

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Want his life? Not so easy. Lei Xiaodong might not even have had the chance to reincarnate yet.SEGfYPotAUOAtjkdRtyitDjbBbnVsu

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Wei Zhiyuan fell silent. In the darkness, he gazed at his brother’s blurred profile.CeGjsqbyVjZAtTktGTgfTQyFpRqlma

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He gently closed his eyes, his expression peaceful. The silhouette of his nose and lips seemed drawn, and his hair had grown somewhat longer, a stray strand falling diagonally across his forehead, revealing a faint hint of fading childishness.ycAlCYXafjmZMXCSsIlHRGyBYtfGlj

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In Wei Zhiyuan’s budding sense of aesthetics, he believed there was no one else in the world as handsome as his brother. His brother was like an invincible deity, bearing all the suffering that should have fallen on his own shoulders, erecting a small shelter in the midst of the stormy weather.ceWriJyhWqwuFTWaHQOmCyfVvFbHsO

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The next day, Wei Qian still didn’t dare to eat too much; his stomach still ached faintly.AuRlGNRcccQFyNheyxAXNGCkqtThwQ

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Wei Zhiyuan ran to the small restaurant to ask for a day off. When he came back, he started pestering Wei Qian, strongly insisting on going home. The little guy had desperately tried to portray himself as a young man yesterday, but now, he was reverting to his old ways, resorting to coquetry and stubbornness once again… He probably wouldn’t use any other tactics against his brother.OOQCecbihKQPaXcqFtdKKsqBYaTEOm

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…The result of his resistance was that he ended up with adhesive tape stuck on his mouth by Wei Qian.DQupuwmHxXvxzeiFHwwCaDbdponcyr

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Wei Qian stretched a bit and then sat down to flip through the second-hand textbooks he had brought.wogPDJntOTDruAeronwyRRFqYfDgXl

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High school textbooks were an incredibly absurd thing, to put it simply, the more boring they were, the more boring they got. But Wei Qian didn’t feel that way; he devoured them eagerly, finding them engaging.FVEaZVgogIGkIBJZNlrZtdZVyxDJbm

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It had been too long since Wei Qian left school, and he didn’t want to go back and fall behind.vCNCNKwkIEKmqvsQgQlzgVAUYwahKI

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Every time he opened the old textbooks, his heart miraculously quieted down… Besides, he found it quite enjoyable. The previous owner of the books was a weirdo who loved expressing his thoughts. He could turn even trigonometric functions into various little skits. This weirdo was also very skilled at drawing turtles. In every blank corner of the book, aside from the main text and notes, he filled them with all sorts of turtles, each with its own gestures and postures, abundant and diverse.XGSldrctwNEblUmVSRWMkcwUYRbIqw

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Oh, right, the weirdo marked on the last page: “When the divine turtle appears, who can contend? To achieve turtlehood, one must first castrate oneself.”NNxzPykunjmYLRQgtzVGluptIQbdnq

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Who knows what kind of realm this person reached in his studies.QGTIQYAwkwbrmRCNjoNBpJimLzMLBm

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Wei Qian remained calm until noon, until the food delivery arrived.yKIbXeycvzunYrozhjQoLfDdOOsNtA

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The person brought two portions of food—Wei Zhiyuan usually worked across the street and didn’t come back for lunch, so the food delivery was only for him. Today, Wei Qian had no appetite, so he didn’t even instruct the delivery person to bring an extra portion… This indicated that someone was monitoring them.EHLOXnAVjLDPvzvSZOXpkcIrkqTfPF

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The hotel was booked by Zhao Laojiu; it might even be their own property. In that case, even the room might not be safe, as there could very well be cameras.nxEhUdHlxfgQnNDnumPAvpeIoDCACz

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As Wei Qian thought about this, he immediately maintained a seemingly indifferent expression, quietly sitting back on the small sofa and table in the standard room. He pulled out a piece of note paper, leisurely copying the “divine turtle” from the old textbook while carefully pondering.NaEbvffPAEErxByzGlJlWwhiQMLxcj

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Wei Qian was adept at deciphering people’s minds. He knew that most of the lower-level boxers were just like him—short of money, looking to make a quick buck and leave. For these people, once they received their appearance fees, they didn’t usually expect much in terms of prize money. In other words, nobody would risk their lives just to win.mRfXQuTBtByhswAkhqgjfXKldNlYyx

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If they safely made it through the second round, then the third round would surely come. But the likelihood of them resorting to doping was small—because losing was just losing. If they lost, they could surrender and endure a couple of beatings, which wasn’t a big deal.AGSHDUkFpbXnqllpLbGPeMDkYHCJxP

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However, if they were pushed to the brink in the second round, most of them probably wouldn’t compete in the third round.zTihaTNQiIuLQUkIQAJqrPbwPTeMCy

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Wei Qian wasn’t sure how closely they were being monitored. He could guess that the hotel belonged to the other side, but he couldn’t be certain if there were surveillance cameras in the room, if their phones were tapped, or if they were being followed when they went out—it was possible for one or two of these to be true, but it was unlikely that they were all being watched closely. Zhao Laojiu and his men probably didn’t have the resources for such extensive surveillance.AYSkzpgMHykmAgxUrUpyXuKdgCWbhE

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But let’s say, hypothetically, that Zhao Laojiu could monitor everything. If they controlled the entire city, these people had nowhere to retreat to. At least they could pretend to be dead for the third round.BEIHtxwJKjVAuPuuAqkEZluACfWMAi

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Forcing themselves onto the field half-dead, getting knocked down with a single slap—surely that could be understood, right?fRIaswHohrKAcgsRvkzjvcJnfjYPJp

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Wei Qian playfully drew the tail of a mischievous turtle, the pen pausing. He wondered, how could he design something that would make these life-preserving yet money-grabbing poor fighters risk their lives recklessly?hoPwOIvbkhtcIanYTKCtIQsSxQDWsr

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Poking at their weaknesses? Like kidnapping their families?mGrlfuLueuqIAoPyQYNGepgWkRnFma

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It seemed unlikely indeed. Based on his observations over the past few days, many of the lower-tier boxers were without families or stable jobs, living as single men. Moreover, they came from all over, speaking various dialects. It would be too complicated and risky to attempt something like kidnapping, especially outside of their own territory.oKACzTCNQurqcZKsvZvZgzdrCRXrer

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So Wei Qian concluded that the key factor had to be much simpler and straightforward—either money or masculinity.IMemObYPVbqjfgXnEqdGEpcnTFapLJ

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He speculated that the time between the second and third rounds would be very short, perhaps even forcing him to fight twice in one day… But how to force him?dxxtImErMKUWMwjoCZtMCWqTFnIbmY

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The specific method had to be simple yet cleverly effective.OVPuOCpIINdMIXyfPkhmqchvSetSJd

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As Wei Qian repeatedly sketched the tail of the mischievous turtle, he pondered that he could control his greed for money; he knew his limits and would leave once he earned enough. And he believed that many others were like him in this regard. As for masculinity… most of these people had experienced various challenges in life, and some were not young anymore; their masculinity wasn’t easily provoked.UdpunjvIBTOnRsFGObBwDewDinRPGZ

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He couldn’t think of a solution for now, so he put down the pen and motioned for Wei Zhiyuan to come over. “Let’s go, we’re going out for a bit. We need to send money to grandma.”arwUSJEELDrvWbiJuVdOKFvLBOukOa

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Wei Qian put on his clothes, pretending to be unfamiliar with the streets. He bought a map from a roadside vendor and, holding the map, kept leading Wei Zhiyuan in circles, circling twice until Wei Zhiyuan understood.SlmWXjKlzpJjzYVlLdAGCWRfUhpLek

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The young boy was astonishingly sensitive and immediately wanted to turn around to look back. Wei Qian reached out and cupped the back of his head, stopping him.DVUZBNIFnLrBuMJmtIJXIKEMGiuaCC

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He led Wei Zhiyuan dizzily to the post office, leaving five hundred for himself and sending the remaining three thousand five hundred to Grandma Song. Then, he took out some change and bought two ice creams on the roadside, one for himself and one for Wei Zhiyuan. They kept walking until they reached a relatively empty stretch of road with no one around. Wei Qian then gently said to Wei Zhiyuan, “Don’t speak carelessly from now on. Find a way to contact your third brother, but don’t let anyone see you. And tell him not to come looking for us when he arrives.”iEkGNdjUoBBKfZzWdtygivCIKyywrq

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Wei Zhiyuan miraculously understood his meaning and asked in a hushed voice, “Why should I call him?”ZfyoRSbFCtkWGdpjJAKsUvLycgwOIh

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“I don’t know yet. Let me think about it.” Wei Qian caught sight of a suspicious figure at the intersection, seemingly observing the two brothers. When their eyes met, he quickly pretended to look elsewhere.swtHiVYltALdyEDqELHVZhPkwghJvU

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Clearly, not a very skilled tracker.rVNhiNflCYtsAgZqgWNZioNAIoYkdd

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Wei Qian casually lowered his gaze and raised his voice slightly, changing the subject, “Oh, by the way, I haven’t asked you yet, how did you do on your final exams?”bnUVhNuwvwUKQgikwsVgnRtgjChGvA

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In an instant, Wei Zhiyuan’s face lit up, and he exclaimed loudly, “First place!”LGqVjIYlsYfVhBuWjGTMhOrXjLqTQk

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Because he often switched rapidly between portraying himself as “very silly and naive” and showing himself as “very smart and useful,” his experience with dissociation was rich. So Wei Zhiyuan’s quick changes in character even left Wei Qian momentarily stunned.iDUgKlKRNyaoZKYtrWJAfmdsHljMhi

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Wei Qian paused for a moment before casually asking, “Did anyone tie with you?”HjOXTQYdfwoRZrjsOGVxEovSokPewN

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By this time, they had crossed the intersection and passed by the tracker, neither seeming to notice the other.DfCimqLwIFhudwrAszkWbdZxrNvWGP

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And Wei Zhiyuan, like a true naive kid, puffed up his chest and proudly performed what could be called “showing off as a good student”: “There’s never been anyone tied with me in our class! Oh, by the way, brother, I forgot to tell you, Xiao Bao was the tenth from the bottom this time. The teacher criticized him during roll call and said she wanted to talk to you next semester.”SHcmMMQLUZNChrjSaBnXftuOtwxCdq

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“…Is that so,” Wei Qian chuckled awkwardly. “Why am I so honored?”lyaekDMEpWnGyGHZZHhImYKZDBHfMv

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To act so perfectly in the midst of danger and even remember to throw shade at Xiao Bao!sTuTgsPlbDlsUphIGQOkZpwxdNdlWj

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Wei Qian thought, this kid is truly outstanding.jQkwshXWXIZpJjpDcemSaYWKDyHhTF

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In the evening, Wei Qian received a greeting from Zhao Laojiu. Zhao Laojiu first asked after his well-being, instructed him to buy whatever he liked to eat, and after the first match, gave him a week to adapt. He even offered to let them explore the local area with the food delivery person as a guide.YzaqVbPihuexpOWlnUSzzCkAJboaJC

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Zhao Laojiu specifically mentioned Wei Zhiyuan: “That little kid of yours grows so fast. I noticed his pants; they were fine when he first arrived, but in the blink of an eye, they’re way too short… Ah, there’s nothing you can do at his age, clothes just don’t last.”bGVHjInfzppxszbnbKSgAxtTSdEnLO

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After saying this, the food delivery person brought a set of clothes that very afternoon. Once Wei Zhiyuan put them on, they fit perfectly.VLJFOELOZKVVWstPXNDECnLGCXIXYn

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They hadn’t been there for even half a month, and Wei Zhiyuan hadn’t taken any supercharged fertilizer or turned into a genetically modified beanstalk overnight, so how could his pants suddenly become way too short?ZVQuvUnAoLlRsVWyWFfiZSDeTSUcId

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Wei Qian knew that this was Zhao Laojiu’s way of warning him through Wei Zhiyuan.EpfWvUkJrBBDcRdqFyLgKMiegWeFPw

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As a token of appreciation, Wei Qian unceremoniously accepted the clothes and then inquired about the most upscale place in the city from the food delivery boy. Finally, he chose a French restaurant and treated Wei Zhiyuan to an expensive Western meal.xtpxPwdbqDXoBSgkGKAywClltPZmkJ

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Along the way, he acted like someone who couldn’t tell north from south, holding up the map and constantly asking questions, occasionally throwing out a few extremely ignorant questions to lure the boy into conversation.CSngeoVeXgSsjnCVkTXHjCshQnTyKA

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Wei Qian didn’t know if French cuisine was any good; he chose the restaurant because it happened to be on the way to the underground boxing arena.rNbZsQlUVrGpCvOygeJLxteWRTVCNf

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As they passed by, Wei Qian glanced over and simultaneously squeezed Wei Zhiyuan’s hand.iOcBRPUtINAUqfZGgumyekoewmGcnA

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Wei Zhiyuan immediately understood and pretended to be clueless, asking innocently, “Brother, what are you looking at? What’s that place?”lhyjJClYqMJGwBnqwKUVsfKdKJmAvv

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Wei Qian also pretended to be embarrassed and glanced at the boy leading them, whispering, “Don’t ask nonsense, that’s where people work.”CcWDnAaYROWqzajqrjGySBjGcXwxNz

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A mocking smile flickered across the guide’s face, but it quickly disappeared. He followed Wei Qian’s lead and jokingly said to Wei Zhiyuan, “Yeah, little bro, only the most talented people can work there. You just grow up well, and maybe you’ll get to work there too.”kBkaiIsbpQkoJXeEPOwBPUoEIPZHcs

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As they spoke, a foul smell wafted through the damp air. Wei Zhiyuan covered his nose and frowned at the guide, saying, “You guys are just fooling kids, it stinks! I don’t think that place is impressive at all!”sGRlSzQbYdwsFOUpmDpxLWxZAsgERX

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A large garbage truck emerged from a very narrow alley, loaded with several large bins of trash and countless bags of various sizes.IxXzdoezQtrFLxQVyjSAXDjLtqSoiD

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Wei Qian rubbed his nose and suddenly had a thought—where did all the dead bodies go?HWRlzmLlelhsqlEFAHGCkdzuKFrWDT

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Those with families would naturally be claimed, but what about those without any relatives or even a real name? Where did their bodies end up?HYEEkCRNkMxXiVCeJwcBvFuJJZpnAl

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His mind raced, and he pretended to be a country bumpkin, looking surprised and exaggeratedly saying, “Wow, you guys actually have people specifically cleaning up garbage. We don’t have that where we’re from; we have to handle it ourselves. A few piles of garbage can stink up the whole area, even reaching the satellites.CXgboTVCVQIMnvWtgEluQwaEdYdJFF

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The guide didn’t seem like a key figure either, so Wei Qian casually replied, “Hmm, they take them to the outskirts of the western part of the city. They sell what they can, like cans, and burn the rest—hey, it’s almost dinner time, why talk about such disgusting stuff?”MBjbipNnZwkJumZTqyzeKbzTURzxOg

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The western part of the city?LfkdFnEZTqFWmeeHEWYogsPXZXuqiU

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Wei Qian glanced at the detailed map and saw it was a vast empty space, with no visible institutions or prominent buildings. It was probably a desolate area rarely visited by people, with a small river nearby winding its way from the city center.JUWkXVHwbZrjsFXxOYovwtFbwNNXdA

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In the blink of an eye, he had a suspicion.ronmZqehGHNYcTzyucmhFSuZdMSOBs

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And a week passed in the blink of an eye.HMxiyZPXyfkCLoxKWWMtTWIGYxrXYy

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