Chapter Ninety-Two: A Threatening Gesture

So diligent indeed, Xu Fei thought to himself.

Still, he knew the two men were about to make their move.

When Zhang Mingyang saw that the liquor had not yet run out, he had already finished more than half a bottle before even getting through the dumplings.

"I can’t do it anymore. I’m going to lie down for a while," Zhang Mingyang said, waving his hand. He then rested his head to the side, and before Xu Fei could even put his coat under it, the sound of his snoring had already begun.

"Brother Mingyang falls asleep fast, doesn’t he?" Li Sixi said with a smile as he set down his cup.

He glanced at Xu Fei.

"Brother, you still drinking?"

Xu Fei had not expected Li Sixi to be able to hold his liquor so well.

He nodded.

"Since you’re in the mood, I’ll keep you company."

Li Sixi smiled and filled the cup again.

He looked at the bottle.

"We can each pour ourselves a cup."

Xu Fei nodded.

It seemed this farmer was a man who knew his drink.

He picked up a dumpling. Li Sixi ate half of it, then lifted his cup and said, "Come on, brother, I’ll say it again: thank you. Meeting you all on this trip means I didn’t come out for nothing."

Xu Fei smiled and clinked his cup against his.

There was a sharp, clear ring.

They both drank it down in one gulp.

Li Sixi set down his cup and stood.

"I’m going to step out for a moment. I’m getting old; I’m not what I used to be..."

He shook his head with a smile.

Watching him leave, Xu Fei divided up the remaining liquor.

Just then the train pulled into the station. Xu Fei saw that the man in the seat behind Li Sixi stood up, took his luggage, and got off. Then one of the two men who had boarded with them sat down in that seat.

"Brother, come on, let’s finish this wine and then we’ll doze off for a while," the man who had come back said, sitting opposite him and raising his cup.

Xu Fei nodded.

"All right. You sleep, brother. I’m not too tired. I’ll keep an eye on our luggage."

Li Sixi laughed. "What’s there to watch? How..."

Then he asked in a low voice, "Is there anything valuable in there?"

Xu Fei smiled and shook his head.

"Just some clothes, and two jars of pickles. But there are a lot of people on this train, so it never hurts to be careful."

Hearing that, Li Sixi nodded. He lifted his cup and drained it.

When he set the cup down, he smiled and patted his waist.

"Brother, my wife is the clever one. She sewed a little pocket into the waistband of my trousers, hahaha..."

The proud Li Sixi even lifted his shirt a bit.

Xu Fei had seen him take money from it before.

He nodded and said with a smile, "Sister-in-law really thinks of everything."

"That’s right."

After speaking, Li Sixi shifted farther inward and leaned his head into the corner between the seat and the wall of the carriage.

Xu Fei hurriedly handed him his coat.

"Brother, put this under your head."

Li Sixi smiled, crumpled it up, tucked it behind his head, and then closed his eyes as well.

At this time, most people in the carriage had also finished eating.

There was less movement now.

Only a few people were still chatting idly.

Xu Fei glanced at the time.

Half past nine in the evening.

It was still a long way until dawn.

A long, long night.

Xu Fei knew that waiting it out like this would not work.

So he simply leaned back in his seat as well.

But his eyes remained on Li Sixi.

Then, all at once—

The carriage lurched violently.

And then the entire compartment went dark.

There was hardly any light left at all.

Yet at that very moment Xu Fei suddenly opened his eyes wide.

A tunnel?

How had he not thought of that?

He seemed to catch a shadow flickering before his eyes.

Instinctively, Xu Fei reached out his hand.

Sure enough, he actually caught hold of something.

It was a piece of someone’s clothing.

Before he could even cry out, a faint glint of light suddenly flashed in front of Xu Fei’s face.

A knife!

The other man raised it and brought it down toward Xu Fei’s hand.

Xu Fei knew the man was vicious beyond restraint, and he could only withdraw his hand.

The train gave a low, deep roar again.

It was the sound of the car emerging from the tunnel.

As light began to appear ahead, that figure disappeared from in front of him.

"What’s going on?"

Someone stood up and shouted.

"Exactly. In the middle of the night, how can they cut the power when we go through a tunnel?"

Someone else had come to the same conclusion as Xu Fei.

Xu Fei looked at the man with his back to him.

He knew the one who had drawn a knife on him was this person.

And not far across from him, the man’s two companions were staring at Xu Fei with cold, hostile eyes.

Xu Fei understood.

They had already been alerted.

"I’m sorry, everyone. The circuit breaker in our carriage must have tripped somehow just now. Sorry about that."

The conductor for this carriage came forward to explain to the passengers.

However, Xu Fei noticed that the man sitting opposite him seemed to exchange a subtle glance with the conductor.

Could that be true?

Xu Fei’s heart tightened slightly.

Were these pickpockets in league with the train crew?

His mind felt as if it were no longer under his control.

But on second thought, it was possible.

What kind of coincidence would make the breaker trip at such a perfect moment?

Darkness.

Xu Fei swallowed.

Then the man sitting opposite him slowly stood, holding a newspaper as he came over.

When he reached Xu Fei’s side, he asked, "Friend, is this seat taken?"

He meant the seat where Li Sixi had been sitting.

Xu Fei shook his head.

The other man did not even seem interested in the answer.

By the time Xu Fei had finished shaking his head, the man was already seated opposite him.

At that moment, the accomplice behind him also stood up, stretched, and then turned to stand right beside Xu Fei.

The two men had boxed him in.

"Don’t move, and don’t shout."

The man beside Xu Fei kept one hand in his trouser pocket. When Xu Fei glanced over, he could see something hard pushing up a small bulge in the fabric.

As for the man opposite him, he had covered one hand with the newspaper.

Right there before Xu Fei’s eyes, that hand reached toward Li Sixi’s waist.

"You..."

Xu Fei frowned.

Before he could even get the words out, the man at his side made a threatening gesture at once.

"What are you doing? Do you want to die?"

He bent down and fixed Xu Fei with bloodshot eyes, as if one more word from Xu Fei would send the hand in his pocket flying out.

As for what would happen then, Xu Fei naturally understood without needing to think about it.

His hands clenched tightly.

Meanwhile, opposite him, the movements beneath the newspaper were swift and practiced. In the blink of an eye, the man had already succeeded.

He stood up.

His gaze flicked again, hard, toward Xu Fei’s face.

The two of them, one after the other, walked toward the end of the carriage.

Then, at that very moment, Zhang Mingyang, who had been sleeping all this time, slowly opened his eyes.

"They’re gone?"

he asked Xu Fei.

"Yes."

"Then shouldn’t we make our move too?"

Xu Fei nodded.

They also stood up.

One after the other, they followed after them.