Chapter 27: Yearning for Home

Originally very quiet, Li Wenzhong began to stir again upon hearing the door open. Chen Lin quickly stepped forward and knocked him unconscious with a solid blow, then joined forces with Chen Xiaolan to carry him downstairs. Fortunately, it was lunchtime, and the hallways and neighborhood were mostly empty, so they managed to load him into the back seat of the pickup truck without issue.

To be safe, once inside the vehicle, Chen Lin struck Li Wenzhong’s head twice more to ensure he wouldn’t suddenly wake up midway. Why the need to restrict Li Wenzhong’s movements so strictly? Because Chen Lin wanted to keep knowledge of the modern world’s situation limited. The fewer people who knew, the fewer complications there would be.

Returning to the villa, Chen Lin hadn’t even gotten out of the car when his phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and was surprised to see the company’s office manager calling.

“I already said I’m quitting! Why are you calling again?” Chen Lin snapped.

The voice on the other end shouted back, “You damn well said you quit, then went silent! What’s going on? Don’t you want to return the company’s pickup truck?”

Chen Lin cursed under his breath. He had completely forgotten about that.

“Cut the nonsense. How much for the truck? I’ll buy it.”

“200,000,” came the reply.

“What the hell? Why don’t you just go rob one? A beaten-up pickup that’s been used for seven or eight years, you’re asking 200,000? The secondhand market tops out at 20,000. I’ll give you 50,000. Take it or leave it. If not, call the cops. I’m not returning it!”

There was a stunned pause on the other end. “50,000 it is. Transfer the money.”

Chen Lin hung up and immediately sent 50,000 via WeChat to the office manager.

No sooner had he breathed a sigh of relief than his phone rang once more. It was his mother.

He hurriedly adjusted his tone and answered, “Hello, Mom...”

Before he could say more than a word or two, a torrent of nagging came through.

“What’s going on? You haven’t answered your phone for days! Where the hell have you been? Your father almost called the police!”

Chen Lin scratched his head. “Well, the construction work here is done. The company sent me to a site abroad. The signal’s bad.”

“Abroad? Which country?” His mother’s voice turned anxious.

There was silence, then his father’s voice took over. “Which country? I’ve heard things are chaotic out there. You must be careful!”

“I’m fine, Dad. I’m in Pakistan — you know, the ‘Iron Brother.’ And I’m just at the construction site, very safe.”

More silence followed before his mother asked, “Will you come home for the New Year?”

“Yes, definitely. I’ll be back. I can’t talk now; there’s work to do. I’ll call you later.”

Chen Lin dared not say more, fearing further questions he couldn’t answer. After hanging up, he sent 100,000 to his father through WeChat—not too much, or it would spark more inquiries—and messaged that it was an overseas allowance. He told his parents not to be frugal and to buy whatever they wanted.

Having done all this, Chen Lin exhaled heavily. Will he make it home for the New Year? Hopefully.

“Young master, what’s wrong? Missing the master and mistress?” Chen Xiaolan teased.

Chen Lin waved her off. “Nothing. Come on, let me get you something to eat...” Watching Chen Xiaolan happily eating instant noodles, Chen Lin suddenly remembered he still hadn’t bought the gun. Only ten minutes left—next time then. He planned to contact that classmate who ran with the local underworld to see if he could get a firearm on the black market or maybe even smuggle a batch in from abroad.

Pakistan, after all, is a country of skilled craftsmanship—handmade AKs, grenades, even RPGs. Impressive!

In the 21st century, time ticked away.

Meanwhile, in the fifteenth year of the Hongwu era, Zhu Yuanzhang, accompanied by Li Jinglong and several corpses, arrived late at a restaurant in Jurong County to wait. Li Jinglong knelt sorrowfully before his father’s corpse, while Zhu Yuanzhang sat nearby, smoking cigarettes scavenged from the restaurant, his face drawn with worry.

After a while, Zhu Yuanzhang stubbed out his cigarette. “Isn’t it about time? Why haven’t the bodies disappeared yet?”

No sooner had he spoken than the three corpses began vanishing one after another under their watchful eyes.

They scanned the surroundings anxiously, but after a moment’s pause, no one revived.

“It’s over. They’re truly gone for good, aren’t they?” Zhu Yuanzhang’s voice trembled as he frantically searched the restaurant.

At the same moment, Chen Lin and his companions uprooted the villa entirely and descended into a dense forest.

They appeared out of nowhere, crushing a swath of trees beneath them.

Yet the villa remained remarkably steady—it didn’t crash down with a thud as one might expect. It was as if it had simply materialized from thin air.

Like a small hill had risen, the foundation and basement, along with the soil within ten meters of the villa’s outer walls, lifted the entire property seven or eight meters above the original ground.

Around the edges was a neat, sheer cliff face—strange and abrupt.

Only the sound of the villa flattening the trees caught the attention of Shi Dazhuang, the overseer stationed outside. He hurried over with his men to investigate and was stunned.

“W-what is this...?” Shi Dazhuang rubbed his eyes. “How did a mansion suddenly appear here?”

At that moment, Chen Lin and Chen Xiaolan emerged from the villa, walking down a half-finished concrete path, standing high above the crowd.

“Young master! Xiaolan!”

“What are you all standing there for? Quickly get a ladder so we can come down!”

“Right, right! Go get a ladder!”

Before long, the two descended safely.

Peering through the trees, Chen Lin caught sight of the nearly completed outer walls and smiled with satisfaction.

“Good. You all immediately clear a sloping path along that road. Make sure no outside bricklayers or masons get involved, and absolutely no one is allowed to see inside.”

Though puzzled, Shi Dazhuang knew this was not the time to ask questions. He ordered ten servants to get to work.

An hour later, a simple earthen slope was ready. After reminding Shi Dazhuang to keep things secret, Chen Lin drove the pickup truck away with Chen Xiaolan and Li Wenzhong in tow, leaving the astonished overseer and his men behind.

Finally, one servant could no longer contain himself and knelt, exclaiming, “May the gods bless us! Our young master is truly a deity descended upon the mortal realm!”

Everyone was stunned, their hairs standing on end. One by one, they fell to their knees, bowing and chanting devoutly in the direction of the departing pickup.

After their prayers, Shi Dazhuang was the first to rise, sternly saying, “The young master said no outsiders are to know the secret here. I don’t want any of you…”

Before he could finish, one man reassured him, “Don’t worry, Brother Dazhuang. We’re no fools. We know what to say and what not to say.”

“Exactly. The young master is a god to us. He only brings good fortune. Unless we’ve lost our minds, we would never betray this secret.”

Shi Dazhuang nodded. “Good. Now let’s send the outside masons away to avoid gossip and keep this place hidden. We’ll handle the finishing touches ourselves.”

“I agree. Only the gate section of the wall remains; we can manage that on our own.”

As they conferred, an unspoken unity formed among them, a resolute faith to follow Chen Lin for life.

From now on, Chen Lin was their heaven; his words their destiny. If he told them to die, they would do so without hesitation.