Chapter 274: The Convoy’s Secret

“Does something like head swapping actually exist in this world?”

As a professional specializing in special pollution cleanup Lu Xin wouldn’t overlook any suspected Pollution Source.

So he quickly started his motorcycle its engine sputtering as he followed the truck.

One behind the other they followed the small road nearly buried by weeds in the Wasteland heading towards the main road.

It was clear these small rural paths were a complex maze made even harder to navigate by the overgrown weeds.

Even normally one could easily take a wrong turn if not careful.

The Pollution Source likely only exerted a slight influence on those nearby distorting their sense of direction.

Just a moment of confusion at each intersection and this area became an inescapable labyrinth.

“Is this head swapping thing in their convoy real?”

“If it was a powerful pollution the convoy should have been wiped out by now right…?”

“But if it’s a minor pollution ordinary people usually wouldn’t even notice it…”

…

Lu Xin mused silently as he rode his motorcycle.

He had just heard a brief account of the situation from this Uncle Zhou.

They were a convoy from Hongling City specializing in transporting goods between various high-wall cities across the Wasteland.

The two of them were veteran drivers in the convoy. The middle-aged man’s name was Zhou Dachang and the young man was his nephew Zhou Xiaomao.

Old Zhou had been with the convoy for seven or eight years while Little Zhou had been driving for over a year.

Caravans like theirs primarily took on hired transport jobs but sometimes they’d do side gigs for extra cash. Like now the uncle and nephew duo planned to use the convoy’s rest time to take a truck to nearby villages for scavenging.

These abandoned villages might look unassuming but you could always find something valuable.

Of course this time they’d had bad luck. They finished scavenging but ran into a Ghost Wall on their way back.

Regarding the pollution they mentioned Uncle Zhou hadn’t gone into detail.

He only said it had something to do with their Boss.

This ‘Boss’ was just a title referring to the person in charge of the convoy.

From their hesitant manner they seemed full of doubts but unsure how to explain clearly.

Finally they just told Lu Xin to follow them back and meet the Boss saying he would understand then.

Lu Xin didn’t mind. After wandering around all night he needed to replenish both his gas and water anyway.

…

Under the high Red Moon amidst scattered headlights the truck and motorcycle soon left the wilderness and reached the main road. Lu Xin and the uncle-nephew pair visibly relaxed continuing forward until they faintly saw lights ahead.

It was an abandoned service area. From afar rows of massive trucks were parked in two lines.

In the dark surroundings they looked like crouching behemoths.

…

“Heavenly King covers Earth Tiger…!”

Still several hundred meters from the service area a loud shout suddenly erupted from the dense weeds beside the road.

The voice was extremely loud amplified by a megaphone.

*Screech…*

Old Zhou driving the truck jumped startled and slammed on the brakes. He stuck his head out and yelled back the countersign: “Go up the mountain to hunt rats!”

Lu Xin following behind was stunned. “What the heck?”

“Is that Old Zhou?”

The megaphone voice stopped and two figures emerged from the sides of the road.

Both men held guns. One had a sawed-off rifle the other something more serious a dark submachine gun.

They shone bright flashlights held high aiming them towards the sky.

“Hey damn it…”

Uncle Zhou cursed sticking his head out of the driver’s cab. “What’s wrong with you flashing lights at people?”

“So it really is you old rascal.”

The man with the submachine gun lowered his flashlight and sneered. “You’re in trouble let me tell you. Said you were just popping over to the nearby village to scavenge and be right back but you’ve been gone half the day. The Boss is furious right now. You delayed the schedule watch out or she’ll have your hide.”

As he spoke the other man noticed Lu Xin following behind immediately raised his rifle and shouted “Who’s that?”

“Don’t panic he’s a friend from Qinggang.”

Uncle Zhou quickly shouted back. “Damn it you guys have no idea what we just went through! We got tricked by a ghost…”

The young man beside him corrected “Uncle that was pollution.”

“Shut up.”

Old Zhou scolded him then added “If it weren’t for this little brother just now we might’ve ended up hanging from a tree. He’s also heading to Central City so we can stick together look out for each other. You don’t need to worry about this I’ll talk to the Boss later…”

After the brief explanation he started the truck again.

Seeing that Lu Xin was alone the two men acting as sentries didn’t say more and slipped back into the roadside grass.

Lu Xin followed the truck into the service area and discovered the convoy was surprisingly large.

Over twenty massive modified trucks were parked in neat rows.

These trucks were more than twice the size of the one they were currently driving; they were the main cargo haulers.

The truck the uncle and nephew drove was actually the convoy’s utility vehicle normally used for transporting adjusted cargo between the large trucks or for dealing with nearby settlements.

Only when the main convoy stopped to rest would Old Zhou and the others take this smaller truck to scavenge in nearby villages.

Besides the trucks they also had many motorcycles parked in rows nearby.

These belonged to the security team and the scouting team.

In a post-Red Moon convoy each role was distinct and indispensable.

…

Now in the open space of the service area a fire had been lit. Beside it rows of tents were set up. Some people were grilling unknown meats by the tents talking and drinking while others lay silently in their driver’s cabs smoking cigarettes.

After parking the truck Old Zhou didn’t rush to unload. He first greeted Lu Xin then headed towards the service area’s main building.

Entering the lobby they found it empty stripped bare leaving only a shell. The long dining tables and benches were haphazardly piled against the walls. A tent was pitched in the middle of the lobby with a fire burning inside.

At that moment several people were gathered by the firelight discussing something in low voices.

“Heh heh…”

A smile spread across Old Zhou’s face. He held a half-man-high fitting mirror he’d just taken from the truck. Large red words ‘double happiness’ was printed on its surface. He approached saying “Bo… Boss look what I brought you…”

…

Before he could finish a dirty smelly towel flew through the air slapping directly onto his face.

In front of the tent a woman with long nimble legs jumped up. Holding a bamboo pole she started whacking Old Zhou mercilessly. “You son of a bitch! You finally decided to come back? Always thinking about that worthless junk. If something really happened should we bother looking for you?”

“If we looked for you and delayed the delivery time would you take responsibility?”

…

“Hey hey… had a bit of an accident otherwise I’d have been back long ago…”

Old Zhou turned his back taking two hits obediently then continued smiling as he offered the mirror.

“This is for you Boss. I checked it’s not even cracked…”

Saying this he shifted slightly revealing Lu Xin who had followed him in. “Also Boss something else. We got lost just now. It was all thanks to this little brother from Qinggang helping us otherwise we’d definitely have been trapped by a ghost… This little brother is heading to Central City on business traveling alone which is inconvenient. So we brought him back to travel with us is that okay?”

“What ghost nonsense?”

The Boss frowned slightly looking over at Lu Xin. “A drifter?”

Lu Xin looked up at her. This Boss was a woman at least 175cm tall.

Her long legs clad in skinny jeans wrapped with some gray cloth strips were particularly striking.

She looked to be in her thirties and her features were surprisingly attractive.

Perhaps due to constantly traveling the Wasteland her skin looked a bit rough and there was a scar on her face.

“What do you do?”

The Boss looked Lu Xin up and down. Seeing he didn’t look like a typical con artist she asked with a frown.

“Hello my name is Lu Xin. I’m going to Central City to visit relatives.”

Lu Xin answered honestly a smile appearing on his face. He took two steps forward extending his hand.

*Shhk.*

Behind the long-legged Boss two silent men immediately reached for their waists revealing dark gun handles.

The Boss didn’t shake Lu Xin’s hand either frowning. “Just you alone? Going from Qinggang to Central City?”

“Well…”

Lu Xin awkwardly retracted his hand. “Actually no. Not just me. There’s my Father Mom Sister and we brought a dog too. We’re all going to Central City to visit relatives and deliver a file on the way. It’s just that… they aren’t here right now.”

Both Old Zhou and Little Zhou paused hearing this. Lu Xin hadn’t mentioned family earlier.

The Boss was also curious. “Separated?”

Lu Xin thought seriously for a moment. “I guess so.”

He didn’t try to explain his family situation in detail.

Although he disliked lying he knew that sometimes small lies could avoid big trouble.

Wasteland travelers were highly vigilant. Mentioning his family might just frighten them.

To gain their trust he was already prepared to tell a story about his sister getting lost while playing…

However even he didn’t expect the Boss to be surprisingly straightforward.

She just pondered for a moment didn’t ask further questions just looked Lu Xin up and down and said “We’re all just trying to survive out here in the Wasteland. In these messed up times helping each other out is the right thing to do. But I hope you understand we’re just a bunch of folks hauling cargo earning an honest living the hard way. We don’t want trouble but we aren’t afraid of it either. You can travel with us fine maybe trade for some supplies but absolutely do not cause any trouble…”

As she spoke her slightly narrow eyes fixed on Lu Xin’s face like a hawk. “Understand?”

Lu Xin was a bit surprised nodding honestly. “Understood.”

“Alright then.”

The Boss waved the bamboo pole in her hand. “Get out. Old Zhou tell him our convoy’s rules.”

“Yes yes…”

Old Zhou hastily agreed pulling Lu Xin outside.

Everything seemed to go smoothly yet somehow Lu Xin felt the gazes of the people around him were a bit strange.

Not just them even Old Zhou and Little Zhou seemed hesitant their eyes flickering.

After they left someone behind the Boss couldn’t help but say “His origins are unknown isn’t that risky?”

“It’s fine. We’ll be there in two days anyway. If there’s really a problem we couldn’t avoid it anyway. Better to keep him close where we can watch him.”

The Boss waved her bamboo pole. “Besides Old Zhou is sharp as a tack. If there was really a problem would he have brought him back?”

The two men behind her exchanged a glance and said no more.

They just sighed inwardly as if they had already guessed something.

…

“Did you see the problem?”

After Old Zhou led Lu Xin out of the service building seeing no one around he asked anxiously.

“Who?”

Lu Xin was completely baffled.

“The Boss! You didn’t notice?”

Old Zhou was clearly surprised. Zhou Xiaomao beside him also leaned in.

“Her?”

Lu Xin couldn’t help frowning. “What’s wrong with her?”

“She…”

Hesitation clearly showed on Old Zhou’s face. After a long moment as if mustering courage he lowered his voice. “I suspect… no actually many people suspect… our Boss has had her head swapped… or rather her body swapped… Let’s put it this way our Boss… except for her head which is still hers the body isn’t…”

?

Lu Xin struggled to comprehend Old Zhou’s words.

The head is hers but the body isn’t?

How weird was that?

After trying hard to understand for a while he frowned and asked “What exactly is going on?”

Old Zhou and Little Zhou looked troubled shaking their heads. “It’s like we said… you didn’t see the problem?”

Lu Xin suddenly felt a pang of guilt.

If that woman really had a problem but he hadn’t noticed it felt like he was betraying their trust.

He hesitated turning back. “Should I go take another look?”

“No no no…”

Old Zhou quickly stopped him. “The Boss hits people…”

Little Zhou thought carefully then whispered “Maybe wait a bit? You’ll know later…”

Old Zhou suddenly seemed to realize something glancing at Lu Xin with a hint of pity.

…

Back at the truck Old Zhou and Zhou Xiaomao got to work. One unloaded goods from their truck into the larger one they drove while the other expertly retrieved a simple tent from the compartment setting it up beside the truck and laying out two quilts on the ground.

Then they took some steamed buns and salted meat to roast over the large fire generously sharing two pieces with Lu Xin.

Lu Xin didn’t refuse. Although he’d already eaten in the village he considered this a late-night snack.

The firelight flickered peacefully surrounded by occasional laughter singing and the snores of those already asleep.

The atmosphere in the convoy seemed calm and free.

But after about half an hour a long whistle suddenly pierced the air.

*Swish!*

Everyone instantly tensed pulling down curtains stamping out fires and diving into their tents with a whoosh.

Lu Xin was still sitting outside caught off guard.

Zhou Xiaomao already inside the tent quickly stuck his head out shouting urgently “Get in here quick!”