Nodding to Shen Bao, the two had greeted each other.
Under the circumstances, their relationship was not suitable for public disclosure, as Ye Fan was wary of everyone except a few like Elder Lei.
Especially those from the Four Great Families of the Dark Alliance, they were Ye Fan's primary concern.
Over twenty people set out in separate vehicles.
Ye Fan didn't know the destination, nor did Elder Lei and the others.
Lin Yue specifically dispatched a driver to take them.
The car drove west until it exited Jiangcheng's border.
Ye Fan couldn't help but frown, "We've already left Jiangcheng, could this operation be heading to another city?"
Looking at the increasingly desolate surroundings, Ye Fan couldn't help but knit his brows.
Elder Lei was not from Jiangcheng and knew little about the area. Only Shen Bao, with a somber expression, kept his eyes fixed on the outside.
"This seems to be the road to Taiping Town."
"Taiping Town?"
Ye Fan asked with a hint of confusion, "Is that the Taiping Town rumored to be haunted?"
Although he didn't know much about the area around Jiangcheng, Ye Fan had heard of Taiping Town's reputation.
Taiping Town, one of the top ten adventure hotspots in the country, was rumored to have been an ancient battlefield where hundreds of thousands of lives were buried. Ghosts were said to appear there every night.
As more and more people came to explore, a village eventually formed here.
While called a village, it was mostly populated by outsiders doing business, with all sorts of people.
Furthermore, although there were law enforcers to maintain order, their status here was very low, and they didn't dare to show themselves at night.
Thus, it became an excellent place for underground transactions.
"City Lord Lin said that batch of items was a mission assigned from above, and they should be circulating in the market. Why do we need to pick them up in Taiping Town?"
Ye Fan frowned, very puzzled.
Elder Lei and Shen Bao also sensed that something was amiss.
But now that they had come this far, it was too late to turn back even if they wanted to.
The driver remained silent, focused on driving, completely ignoring the conversation of Ye Fan and the others.
It wasn't until dusk that the car finally arrived at a town.
More than a dozen cars, forming a grand motorcade, attracted a lot of attention as they paraded through the town.
Liu Yuan and the others alighted first. After surveying the surroundings, Liu Yuan spat on the ground.
"Damn it, what kind of hellhole is this, making me come to such a godforsaken place to pick up goods."
Accustomed to a life of luxury and entertainment, Liu Yuan naturally found the place desolate upon arrival.
"Shut your stinking mouth."
Zhao Danfeng walked over with a grim expression, her eyes frequently scanning the surroundings, and coldly reminded Liu Yuan.
Ye Fan also noticed the situation around them. In the shadows, more than a dozen pairs of eyes were watching them.
Being new to the place and unfamiliar with the local customs, Ye Fan did not speak much, only keeping his senses sharp to prevent any unexpected incidents.
"This place feels so eerie, I have a feeling of being spied upon," Shen Bao said softly to Ye Fan as he approached.
"Deploy your men. Don't make a big fuss. Have them all disguised as ordinary people and scout the area within a kilometer radius of where we'll be staying."
Ye Fan instructed in a deep voice.
Shen Bao understood and quickly made arrangements for his subordinates.
This time, Shen Bao had brought his confidantes as always.
For such secret operations, he would only feel at ease bringing his confidantes. Moreover, the trip to Qianfo Mountain last time made Shen Bao even more aware of the importance of cultivating his own influence.
Therefore, after returning from Qianfo Mountain, Shen Bao began to vigorously expand his forces.
Currently, within the law enforcement agencies, there were no less than thirty to forty people loyal to him.
On the surface, he brought twenty people this time, with the rest following behind them. This was Shen Bao's contingency plan, to avoid having no retreat in case of danger.
"City Lord Lin has already booked our accommodation. Everyone, follow me," Zheng Zhiyuan said with a smile and led the way towards a nearby inn.
"Once we're here, we must be extremely careful and not give them any chance. When you sleep at night, keep one eye open."
After a stern instruction to Elder Lei and the others, Ye Fan followed Zheng Zhiyuan towards the inn.
It was a seemingly small inn. The proprietress sat at the entrance, leisurely shelling sunflower seeds.
Seeing Zheng Zhiyuan and his group arrive, she merely raised her eyes, showing no enthusiasm.
"How many people?" she asked indifferently, her sunflower seed shelling not stopping.
"Mr. Lin has booked rooms for us."
Saying this, he took out a piece of paper from his pocket, which contained the room numbers booked by the City Lord's Mansion.
Upon hearing "Mr. Lin," the woman was taken aback for a moment, then looked up at the group.
The next moment, her face was filled with joy.
"Oh, esteemed guests have arrived, please come in."
Her attitude had undergone a complete 180-degree turn from her previous cold and distant demeanor. At this moment, the proprietress was enthusiastically welcoming.
Ye Fan narrowed his eyes, his expression indifferent, taking in everything about the inn.
Soon, led by the proprietress, everyone arrived at their respective rooms.
As it was a small inn, only two people could share a room.
Ye Fan happened to be sharing a room with Shen Bao, which made communication convenient.
Elder Lei was with Zheng Zhiyuan, and the rest of the group also settled in.
The proprietress bid them farewell and went downstairs.
Ye Fan and Shen Bao returned to their room and inspected it thoroughly. Seeing no anomalies, they then organized their belongings.
"Is there anything unusual outside?" After washing up, Ye Fan sat on the sofa and asked Shen Bao.
Holding a communicator, Shen Bao shook his head, "My deployed men have dispersed, and so far, no anomalies have been detected."
These men were all meticulously trained by Shen Bao, excelling in martial arts, stealth, and reconnaissance.
Ye Fan nodded, "It's good that there's nothing. However, you must tell them to never let their guard down. I always feel that Taiping Town is not peaceful, and a great storm seems to be brewing, which might erupt at any moment. I hope I am just worrying unnecessarily."
After they chatted for a while, Zheng Zhiyuan called for people to go down for dinner.
Because their group was too large, they had to occupy two tables.
The proprietress personally cooked, and soon, over a dozen dishes were served.
Having traveled all day, everyone was ravenous and began to devour the food upon seeing it.
As Ye Fan picked up a piece of food, an unusual aroma entered his nostrils.
Ye Fan froze, his brows knitting slightly.
The food was not right; it seemed to have been tampered with.
Immediately, he took two small black pills from his pocket and discreetly handed one to Shen Bao.
These were detoxification pills he had obtained from the divine physician Hao before setting out. Although they couldn't cure all poisons, they had a good resistance effect against ordinary drugs.
Ye Fan had obtained them at great effort, just in case.
He hadn't expected to use them tonight.