Rotting Land: Survive-Chapter 394 - 392: The Final Test (Part 2)

Tang Xiaoquan didn’t rush to reply. Instead, he turned his gaze to Xu Renjie by his side, and then, without preamble, asked, "Captain Xu, do you remember what I said to you on the way back after our first delivery to the gymnasium?"

Xu Renjie was slightly taken aback, evidently surprised, but he bowed his head in thought and murmured, "I remember, you mentioned Wei Dazhuang, right?"

"That’s right! It’s him exactly!" Tang Xiaoquan raised his fingers, making a gesture of affirmation.

However, this gesture to Wang Qiang seemed rather...

"No way! Quan, I asked you about opening the iron gate, why are you mentioning Wei Dazhuang? Isn’t it enough to deal with those two troublemakers already!"

Tang Xiaoquan remained extremely calm. He could understand his brother’s agitation, but...

The corners of his lips slightly curled up, revealing a meaningful smile: "I know everyone is very opposed to Wei Dazhuang, but I want to say that he might become the crucial point in our plan to infiltrate the gymnasium."

"What!!" His words immediately sparked skepticism from everyone present, and they all looked at Tang Xiaoquan incredulously.

"Xiao Tang! You’re not joking, are you? Do you still believe Wei Dazhuang is undercover?" Old Zhao frowned his eyes, obviously not fully understanding the young man’s thoughts.

Tang Xiaoquan was unsurprised by their skepticism. He gathered his thoughts briefly and explained, "Actually, regarding Wei Dazhuang, there’s something I’ve been hiding from everyone."

"Oh?" Midway through his words, everyone looked at each other, and then in unison asked, "What is it?"

"It traces back to the first time we delivered to the gym!" As if returning to that morning, Tang Xiaoquan slowly narrated, "That day’s delivery went smoothly, but at the end, Wei Dazhuang made three requests of us."

"Hmm!" Old Zhao nodded affirmatively, recalling that the young man had mentioned this before, but how was this related to whether Wei Dazhuang was an undercover agent? He curiously pursued, "What, can these three requests prove Wei Dazhuang’s innocence?"

"Not really!" Tang Xiaoquan waved his hand, "The key isn’t the three requests, but the gesture he made while saying them!"

"Gesture?" One had to admit, Tang Xiaoquan certainly knew how to grasp people’s attention, because with his words, everyone’s curiosity was piqued.

"Yes, the gesture," speaking while lifting his right hand, Tang Xiaoquan continued, "Look here, when Wei Dazhuang made those requests, he raised his fingers in succession, and when all three were up, two words appeared within his palm."

"Which words?"

"Undercover!"

"Hiss" was the sound of gasping; Tang Xiaoquan’s words were undoubtedly a bombshell falling upon everyone’s hearts.

"Xiao Tang! Are you saying Wei Dazhuang wrote ’undercover’ on his palm and then signaled to you?" Old Zhao clearly couldn’t accept this fact yet, so he asked again hesitantly.

"Yes! I was shocked at the time too. Honestly, if I hadn’t been directly facing Wei Dazhuang, I probably wouldn’t have noticed this detail." Tang Xiaoquan replied quite candidly, but Wang Qiang, upon hearing, was a bit upset.

"Hey! Buddy! That’s not fair! If you discovered this early on, why didn’t you tell us? This clearly shows distrust in us!"

"Yeah! Qiangzi! Had you told us earlier, we wouldn’t have suspected Uncle Dazhuang for so long!" Wu Chao also showed a hint of complaint.

Tang Xiaoquan could only smile wryly in resignation.

How could he not trust his companions? He had his own reasons for doing so, but bound by the inherent pride of Huaxia people, he couldn’t explain it to everyone.

Seeing the atmosphere growing increasingly awkward, Xu Renjie, who had maintained silence, cleared his throat and said, "Hey~ everyone don’t misunderstand Xiao Tang. The reason he didn’t tell you was mainly to prevent anyone from becoming awkward after knowing. After all, if we’re acting, we must carry it through fully. If Wei Dazhuang is undercover, we should cooperate with him. If more people knew about this, one might accidentally reveal our scheming during interactions. So Xiao Tang and I decided to keep this under wraps. This is also being responsible to Brother Wei!"

Following Xu Renjie’s explanation, the group’s skepticism towards Tang Xiaoquan also dissipated promptly.

Wang Qiang, going above and beyond, patted his brother’s shoulder and sincerely apologized: "Quan! Sorry! I rambled again! Hey, you mustn’t take it to heart!"

As if seeing a monster, Tang Xiaoquan glanced at Wang Qiang, evidently surprised by his friend’s behavior, but soon laughed, nudging his back and joking, "Are you feeling okay? Courteous among brothers, how corny!"

Hahaha! Laughter instantly erupted, and with the laugh subsiding, Xu Renjie, who had just saved Tang Xiaoquan, suddenly spoke again: "However, Xiao Tang! It’s true Wei Dazhuang wrote ’undercover’, but it doesn’t mean he truly is one! Remember Zhao Huilong’s trick today; it’s possible he did it deliberately for us to see!"

Indeed! Xu Renjie’s concern was legitimate; after all, if Zhao Huilong could feign to seize a car, why couldn’t Wei Dazhuang create confusion to win survivors’ trust?

"Yeah!" Zhao Yunhai immediately tapped the table, vividly recalling today’s experience, hence supporting Xu Renjie’s concern, "Old Xu is right, we can’t blindly trust Wei Dazhuang. I think we need to be cautious!"

The scene turned noisy again, everyone whispering about the viewpoints of both sides.

Meanwhile, Tang Xiaoquan, the initiator of the topic, calmly gazed at the water in front until everyone quieted down, then composedly said, "Zhao Shu, Captain Xu, I agree with what you said! We truly cannot fully trust Wei Dazhuang, but we also can’t not trust him! In the current situation, we need someone from the base as an internal contact to possibly complete the gymnasium infiltration plan. My intention is..."

Instinctively shifting towards the table, once close enough to the surface, Tang Xiaoquan lowered his voice and said, "My plan is to set a trap, to test Wei Dazhuang’s intentions."

"Oh?" His words undoubtedly piqued everyone’s interest once more, and Old Zhao almost unconsciously asked, "What do you mean? How do you plan to test Wei Dazhuang’s intentions?"

After a brief pause, scanning the group, Tang Xiaoquan solemnly replied, "My plan is like this..." (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)