Love on the Turquoise Land

Yan Tuo returned with an assortment of breakfast items, which indeed won him much goodwill. Many here only knew him by name as the boss but had never interacted with him before. Suddenly receiving such consideration, they couldn't help but feel smug and even a little flattered, finding the breakfast in their hands exceptionally delicious.

He paid special attention to the one who had undergone surgery late last night.

That man was Tian Xiang, in his early twenties. Due to a gunshot wound that made movement difficult, Xiong Hei had instructed him to recuperate on-site, promising full pay until he recovered and could return to duty.

As Yan Tuo carried the meal bag over, Lü Xian, who was brushing his teeth, caught sight of it and shouted indistinctly, "Hey, can't feed the patient just anything. No spicy food now."

Yan Tuo replied, "I know the basics. Beef and egg flower porridge—good for protein."

Lü Xian didn't argue further. Hearing the commotion, Tian Xiang quickly pressed the electric bed's button to help himself sit up and pulled out the small tray table, his eyes brimming with gratitude. Bosses were truly high-caliber people, so approachable and thoughtful even with small things like meals. Someone like Xiong Hei, with his violent temper and penchant for kicking and hitting, would never be more than a lackey in this lifetime.

Yan Tuo opened the meal bag, took out the porridge container, removed the lid, placed a spoon inside, and set it on the tray table. "Can you manage on your own?"

Tian Xiang nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes, yes."

As he spoke, he scooped a spoonful into his mouth, praising it before even tasting it. "So delicious."

Yan Tuo smiled and sat on the stool by the bed. "Xiong told me about yesterday. You worked hard."

Tian Xiang flustered, "No, no, it's nothing. I got paid. It's Brother Xiong who gave me the chance."

Yan Tuo didn't respond immediately.

Xiong Hei—you could say he was all brawn and no brains, but because he wasn't afraid to spend money and valued loyalty, he'd gathered a group of reckless, daring underlings willing to cross lines and take risks. These people weren't connected to the "earth fiends" or "ghost servants," but they were probably just as troublesome.

Yan Tuo had once drawn an organizational chart for Lin Xirou's group.

At the core were the earth fiends, led by Lin Xirou. Their numbers were unknown, but he suspected that the Excel spreadsheet Lin Ling had secretly copied recorded their distribution. The numbering had gaps, currently reaching No. 017, Zhu Changyi. Apart from Xiong Hei, these people were scattered across regions, social classes, and industries, living like ordinary people.

The inner ring consisted of ghost servants. As Nie Jiuluo put it, they were inexplicable and eerie turncoats—never clawed, never lost their minds, seemingly normal in every way, yet they would serve the earth fiends tirelessly, even unto death. From this perspective, his father, Yan Huanshan, was a ghost servant—one who wasn't entirely "ghost-like."

The list of ghost servants was completely blank. Precisely because it was blank, he kept his distance from everyone around him, never fully trusting anyone, speaking in half-truths. Strangely, he found it easier to feel warmth toward strangers.

The outer ring comprised people like Tian Xiang—undeniably human, but when humans turned ruthless, even ghosts would step aside. Their numbers were unknown, their members fluid.

When he finished the chart, Yan Tuo felt profoundly alone—like a tiny ant trying desperately to drag down a hot air balloon, standing against a vast and bizarre organization all by himself.Sometimes, he felt his progress was too slow. Seven years had passed with almost no breakthroughs. But then he would console himself: as long as he didn’t lose, as long as he was still standing, it didn’t matter how slow it was. There was no need to rush—after all, no matter how fast he went, his home would never return.

...

Yan Tuo snapped out of his thoughts and asked Tian Xiang, "You’ve been following Brother Xiong the whole time? How long?"

The boss was starting to ask questions, and Tian Xiang grew a little nervous. "I was introduced to Brother Xiong by a friend. I’ve been with him for four years. Last... last year, Brother Xiong arranged a position for me in the company. It’s stable, and they even pay my social insurance and housing fund."

Yan Tuo nodded. "Getting used to the company?"

Tian Xiang nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes. Mr. Yan... I keep my mouth shut. I know the rules."

"First time in Shihe?"

"Se-second time. Last time was in ** month."

Yan Tuo pretended to know about the last incident too. "Didn’t go too smoothly then, did it? Almost got someone killed. You all should be more careful."

He remembered Lü Xian mentioning that someone had been brought in at the beginning of September, nearly dead, with broken ribs that almost punctured a lung.

Tian Xiang looked uneasy. "We were careless last time. Thought it was just some ordinary camper. Didn’t expect him to be so fierce. Everyone panicked and went too hard."

A camper—so they grabbed someone randomly? And then brought him in for emergency treatment...

Yan Tuo suddenly recalled what Lin Ling had mentioned about her experience in the underground second floor of the farm.

She said she heard a man being beaten by Xiong Hei, pleading, "I’ve done nothing to you," while Aunt Lin warned Xiong Hei, "Be careful, don’t kill him. He needs to stay alive."

It sounded a lot like the incident in ** month: the victims had no idea why they were targeted, but they had to be "alive." Dead was useless.

Yan Tuo didn’t dare probe too deeply on any one point, afraid of raising suspicion, so he smoothly changed the subject. "For this kind of work, you have to be extra cautious. Look at you this time..."

He gestured at Tian Xiang’s wound. "Heard it was a blind man."

At this, Tian Xiang’s face twisted with humiliation and anger, forgetting all about being deferential. He cursed viciously, "Fuck! Just my damn luck, Mr. Yan. Can you believe it? A blind man fires randomly and still manages to hit me..."

Yan Tuo said coolly, "Didn’t hit your brain. Not that unlucky."

Tian Xiang froze, a chill creeping up his spine. That offhand remark dredged up a flood of dread. Yeah, what if it had hit his brain...?

Xiong Hei had told him to go to the temple and pray. He really should—thank the gods for sparing him.

He swallowed hard and said, "Mr. Yan, you’re really something. One sentence and you woke me up. No wonder they say people should... stay optimistic. Optimistic folks can find the good even in the worst situations..."

Yan Tuo had meant to shut Tian Xiang up, but instead, he got a flattering compliment thrown back at him.

Still, he’d been with Tian Xiang long enough—any longer would seem odd. He stood up. "Well, at least the blind man’s accomplices are in our hands now. I’ll go check on them..."

Casually, he added, "They’re at Natou, right?"

Lin Xirou probably had two hideouts in Shihe. If they weren’t here, they had to be at "Natou."Tian Xiang responded absentmindedly, only realizing after he spoke, "Ah, no, Mr. Yan, don’t bother going. It’d be a wasted trip. They were sent to the farm last night."

The farm.

So they were taken to the farm.

Yan Tuo chuckled. "So impatient. It was snowing last night—was it really necessary to rush like that?"

He then pointed at the porridge on the small tray. "Drink it while it’s hot. Don’t let it get cold."

Yan Tuo excused himself, claiming he was tired from waking up early to buy breakfast and needed to go back to sleep. Lü Xian gave him a look that said, "I knew it," and remarked, "See? I knew you couldn’t change. Your diligence lasts all of three seconds."

Yan Tuo ignored him, entered his room, and locked the door.

What he really wanted was a quiet place to sort through the information he had.

They were at the farm.

This was a problem. The second underground level was too heavily guarded. Even if he cut the power and disabled the surveillance systems, how was he supposed to break through those people inside? And how could he get Jiang Baichuan out?

Maybe he should take it slow—go to the farm first, meet Jiang Baichuan, and then figure out the next steps.

Just as he was thinking, his phone rang.

It was Lin Ling.

Yan Tuo was surprised. His first words were, "Something wrong?"

...

Lin Ling was indeed his ally, but not an ideal one.

She was too timid. After the incident at the farm, she fell ill from fright and for a long time afterward, she couldn’t sleep with the lights off or eat lotus root or any dishes with sugar-glazed strands.

She had made two small attempts at resistance. Once, she mentioned wanting to apply to a university in another city, but after Lin Xirou flatly said, "No," she never brought it up again.

The other time, Yan Tuo, feeling sorry for her, suggested, "Why don’t you just leave secretly? Don’t make any elaborate plans—Aunt Lin is too sharp. You can’t hide anything from her. Don’t tell anyone, not even me. Just go out shopping one day, suddenly rush to the station, buy a ticket, and leave. Once you arrive, buy another ticket to the next stop, and then the next. After a few transfers, it’d be hard to track you down."

Lin Ling, tears in her eyes, asked him, "Will you come with me?"

Yan Tuo replied, "This is my home. I’m not going anywhere."

Lin Ling hesitated for a long time but finally, as he had hoped, disappeared one day while out shopping.

Yan Tuo was genuinely happy for her. He was stuck in his own misfortune, but he didn’t want to drag anyone else down with him.

But to his surprise, Lin Ling was found and brought back by Xiong Hei the very next afternoon. Lin Xirou was furious. She grabbed Lin Ling by the hair, slapped her several times, and shook the three ticket stubs found on her, demanding, "Haven’t I treated you well? I raised you all these years—how dare you run off without a word? Why did you run? Where were you planning to go with all these transfers? Answer me!"

Lin Ling couldn’t come up with a convincing lie and was too scared to tell the truth. She trembled, crying uncontrollably.

Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, Yan Tuo stepped in.

He said, "Let it go, Aunt Lin. Don’t be angry. This is because of me."

Lin Xirou paused, seemingly realizing she had lost her composure. She smoothed her hair awkwardly. "You?"

Yan Tuo knew he had to make the lie big enough to be believable.

He explained, "Here’s the thing. Lin Ling has feelings for me. She confessed a couple of days ago, and I turned her down, saying we grew up together and I don’t see her that way. I guess she was too embarrassed and couldn’t handle it, so she wanted to run far away and never see me again."Adolescent girls do tend to have many obsessive thoughts, so Lin Xirou naturally accepted this explanation. She regretted her overreaction and smiled awkwardly with a hint of guilt, saying, "The girl has grown up. It's my fault for not paying enough attention."

...

After that, Lin Xirou comforted Lin Ling in every possible way, buying her many new clothes and trinkets. She also took time to talk with her, helping her sort out emotional issues and advising her to look further ahead, as the scenery nearby might not be the best.

In short, harmony was restored, and everything seemed to have been brushed aside—at least, that was how it appeared from Lin Xirou's perspective.

But for Lin Ling, it clearly wasn't the case.

She secretly sought out Yan Tuo and told him she had an intuition that she wouldn't be able to escape—Lin Xirou would definitely find a way to bring her back.

She also asked him, "Yan Tuo, why do you think Aunt Lin adopted me? There must be a reason, right?"

...

And so, Lin Ling naturally became his companion. Though not the most ideal, having someone by his side was better than trudging alone.

Yan Tuo took great care of Lin Ling, assigning her only the most covert and safe tasks—like covering for him, gathering bits of peripheral information, or stealing that Excel file from Lin Xirou's computer. She also quietly tracked the movements of the people listed in that file.

Lin Ling rarely called him unless it was truly urgent.

Sure enough, Lin Ling's voice was low and urgent: "Yan Tuo, do you remember that list? The one with the 'Hundred Family Surnames'?"

Yan Tuo: "I remember. Go on."

"Those people had always stayed put, living quiet lives, and rarely traveled far unless for work. But in the last two days, I found that five of them have left."

Five?

Yan Tuo sucked in a sharp breath. Although the list was numbered up to 017, it started from 003—Xiong Hei—and the numbering wasn't sequential, with gaps here and there. In the end, excluding Xiong Hei, there were ten people in total.

Five of them leaving meant more than half were on the move.

He quickly pulled out his laptop from the suitcase, powering it on as he asked, "Did you find out where they went?"

"They all went to Xi'an first. Then they split into two groups. Take note—numbers 010 and 015 are probably heading to Shihe, where you are now. Numbers 004, 009, and 016 are most likely going to the farm."

As the file opened, Yan Tuo swiftly scanned the entries for these numbers.

Numbers 010 and 015 were both men, and from their photos, they seemed burly, similar to Xiong Hei.

Numbers 004, 009, and 016 were two women and one man, all relatively thin and scholarly-looking. One of the women was even elderly, in her sixties.

The impression was that the first group leaned toward physical confrontation, while the second seemed more suited for discussions.

Lin Ling continued, "I'm not too sure about the group going to Shihe. But for the three heading to the farm, one of them was picked up by a company car. The car had a dashcam, so I secretly took out the memory card to check. Though it only recorded outside footage, I could hear voices."

Yan Tuo was surprised. "Pretty clever."

Lin Ling sounded embarrassed. "You didn't take me on this trip, so I had nothing to do at home. I just wanted to contribute more. Like you said, take it slow—every little bit helps."

Yan Tuo: "Find anything?"Lin Ling gave a hum of acknowledgment. "I listened to the whole thing. That person made several calls in the car—we can skip the trivial family matters—but there was one call where he clearly lowered his voice and spoke very vaguely. However, one sentence stood out as particularly eerie."

"The words were: 'Your opposition is useless. Everyone has already voted, and we must follow the rules. I vote for the death penalty.'"