49: Chapter 47: Eavesdropping 49: Chapter 47: Eavesdropping When they reached the periphery of the airing area, the large rectangular field still made Su Mo’s legs weak.
If she were to run 10 laps, would she really not make it?
The huge searchlight swept back and forth; the field was empty, with barely anyone around that night.
Su Mo placed her bag by the netting and began warming up with Lu Chen.
As they started running, Lu Chen followed leisurely behind her.
She managed to keep up her energy for the entire first lap.
However, lacking physical enhancement, Su Mo couldn’t move her legs anymore after the third lap.
Large beads of sweat fell from her forehead.
She bent over, hands on knees, gasping for breath: “I can’t do it anymore.”
“Your stamina is worse than I thought,” Lu Chen said as he patted her back and created a small ice cube for her to hold in her mouth.
His fingertips touched the girl’s warm lips, and he reflexively withdrew his hand and coughed lightly: “Continue.”
Su Mo, unaware of his reaction, pouted, stood up, and as the ice in her mouth quickly melted into water, she began running again.
Su Mo couldn’t remember how many laps she ran; her throat felt like it was burning, and her short sleeves were completely soaked and clung to her body.
“Why… aren’t you… tired at all?” she asked him between heavy breaths in a fragmented manner.
“It’s because your physical condition is too poor,” Lu Chen followed behind her as calm and unhurried as ever.
Su Mo turned her head and saw that this man was so unfazed that he didn’t even sweat.
In comparison, she looked like a drowned rat.
By the final lap, Su Mo couldn’t keep going, and her legs gave out as she started to fall forward.
Lu Chen was quick to catch her and supported her against himself so she could stand steady.
Sweat blurred Su Mo’s eyes; she blinked forcefully, seeing double images of Lu Chen’s handsome face, though the green countdown timer above his head was quite bright.
“Do we have to run tomorrow too?”
The man supported her for a while before sitting her down by the wire where she had left her bag and placed a large ice block next to her to cool her down.
Running in such weather could easily lead to heatstroke.
Knowing her own lack of stamina, Su Mo didn’t object.
“We’re going to gather supplies in three days, what do you think about that?”
The words Zhao Changsheng said in the cafeteria that day felt off to Su Mo.
“They want to kill someone to silence them.”
Su Mo’s previously limp body stiffened, and her eyes widened: “Then why are you so calm?”
“Are you scared?” Lu Chen leaned on the wire fence, speaking indifferently.
“Since you’re so calm, you must have a solution already,” she replied.
Su Mo was utterly convinced about this man; he definitely had a plan in mind.
Lu Chen’s expression softened as he rubbed Su Mo’s head, pausing when his fingertips felt the moisture and then withdrew his hand: “Let’s go.”
“We still have to deliver some things to Su Niang,” Su Mo said, shouldering her bag and walking beside him.
The farm nights were guarded by a few muscular men with guns, but the vast field seemed too large for anyone to dare steal anything, so the guards were all huddled together chatting quietly.
In such an expansive area, the two of them quickly sneaked in without alerting the guards.
The farm was divided into two parts: one side for the cattle shed and the other for cultivation.
It wasn’t hard to find Su Niang’s little house, situated right beside the cattle shed.
It was a stand-alone prefab house with a faint light shining from inside.
Lu Chen was hidden in the darkness, constantly on alert.
Su Mo tapped on the door and whispered, “Su Niang.”
There was a burst of noise inside, and soon the door opened.
The woman’s face was full of surprise, “You really came!”
Su Mo slipped inside where there was just a mat on the ground, a blanket, a small table, and several bloodstained cloths hung on the window with a wire.
Beyond that, there was nothing else.
The conditions were crude, but it was still much better compared to what Su Mo had seen in the refugee camp.
Embarrassed, Su Niang pulled the bloodstained cloths off the wire and hid them in the blanket, “This is the best place Li Qian could secure for me.”
“It’s quite good,” Su Mo smiled faintly, just about to unload the contents of her backpack when there was another knock on the door.
Su Niang’s face paled, “Who could it be this late?”
Su Mo patted her hand, “It’s fine, it’s a friend of mine.”
She opened the door, and it was Lu Chen.
The man’s lips were pursed, his expression cold, “There’s trouble.”
Su Mo’s expression tensed, quickly handing her entire backpack to Su Niang, “Keep this, Su Niang, everything’s inside.
You know I wasn’t here tonight, right?”
Accepting the backpack, Su Niang nodded seriously, “I know, go quickly, girl.”
After they left, although Su Niang did not know what had happened, she switched off the small lamp in the shack,
“What happened?” Su Mo, hidden in the darkness, followed Lu Chen as they sneaked away from the shack.
The farm was right next to the prison gate, separated only by a wide concrete road.
Li Qian was just returning with his men, looking visibly worn.
“Why is he coming back at this time?” Su Mo crouched in the dark, her body pressed against Lu Chen.
“Let’s go see,” Lu Chen said, pulling her to follow Li Qian, who had just left the farm, now heavily patrolled by sturdy men.
Due to their murder incident, the night guards had doubled in number, including both superpower users and ordinary prisoners on patrol.
They dodged batches of guards until she climbed onto Lu Chen’s back, and the man carried her up a tree right in front of the prison guards’ dormitory, hidden among the night and leaves.
Sitting on the trunk, Su Mo watched as Li Qian entered and whispered, “They shouldn’t be able to find us.”
The countdown was still visible above Lu Chen’s head, indicating that the spiritual power shielding effect was still active; they could eavesdrop from this tree.
“Did you bring back the stuff?” Shen Du waved his hand to dismiss the others while sitting on a chair.
He couldn’t have imagined that there were two people on the tree outside his window.
“Yes,” Li Qian pulled out a package from his bosom and handed it to him, “Special sleeping pills and sedatives.”
The prison’s medical supplies had long been depleted; he had to send Li Qian out to get more.
Old Shen Du tore open the bag, checked it was correct, and stowed it away in a drawer, “Hao Hu won’t be involved in the task I gave you; I have other things for him.”
Li Qian clenched the hand by his side slightly and then curved his lips into a polite smile, “Yes.”
“Li Qian, you’re on my side, right?”
Only when the people left did Hao Hu enter the room, “Boss.”
Old Shen Du leaned back in the chair, his tone stern, “There’s a food shortage coming the day after tomorrow; you go clear out those foreign waste civilians and let our people take over.”
There were plenty of big, strong prisoners in the jail; they couldn’t waste food on useless people anymore.
Hao Hu nodded; he and his buddies had long been fed up with these outsiders, who ate a lot but did little work.