Chapter 284: Conflicting Signals

Lu Xin laid out his thoughts logically and methodically, making a very convincing case.

But the convoy’s old drivers were all completely baffled.

“Deal with that violin sound?”

Someone in the convoy reacted, “You mean… we charge into the city?”

Lu Xin nodded, his expression calm. “To be precise, I *have* to find him. And I suggest you follow me. It’s dangerous in the city now, your chances of survival are slim if you scatter… But before you follow, I must warn you—sticking with me is also incredibly dangerous.”

“But I’ll do my best to protect you. It’s better than running around blindly.”

…

The faces of the old drivers twisted uncomfortably.

This was just too strange.

In their eyes, Lu Xin’s calmness seemed even stranger than the madmen outside…

What was all this nonsense? Violin sounds, scientific analysis, charging straight into the heart of the problem…

From any perspective, Lu Xin was an outsider. And now, in this desperate situation, this stranger suddenly appears, claiming madmen are controlled by a violin sound only he can hear, suggesting they charge out together to find it…

…

“Boss, don’t trust him. I think there’s something off about this guy…”

Amid the confusion, a sharp-headed man suddenly whispered to Gao Ting.

His eyes, however, were fixed on Lu Xin as he spoke to the boss. “Nothing happened before he joined the convoy. We travel with him for just one day, and trouble starts. Now, when things are this dangerous, he actually wants us to follow him deeper into the city…”

…

“I’m not forcing you to follow me…”

Lu Xin frowned, explaining softly, “I’m just offering a reasonable suggestion.”

“Sun Gouzi, you son of a bitch! Say that again?”

Before Lu Xin could say more, a curse erupted. It was Old Zhou, his aged face contorted with anger. “Little Brother Lu saved my ass twice already! And you’re saying this now? Can’t you ever change that rotten habit of blaming others whenever there’s trouble?”

“Looking for a fight, are you?”

It wasn’t just him; Little Zhou also took a sharp step forward, fists clenched tightly.

The man called Sun Gouzi, a member of the security team usually responsible for guard duty, flushed red with shame at being cursed. He yelled back, “He’s the only outsider in the whole convoy! It’s obvious we’ve been set up. What’s wrong with suspecting him? When he first joined, I think I saw him fiddling with a phone. Who knows if he was sending messages outside?”

“Sending messages to your eighty-year-old mother, maybe…”

Old Zhou stood with hands on hips, head tilted back, yelling, “Little Brother Lu was sending messages to set up a date for your eighty-year-old mother…”

Even Lu Xin was rendered speechless by this. “I didn’t…”

“You bastard…”

Furious, Sun Gouzi immediately raised his fist to strike.

Little Zhou was already in a fighting stance, his burly frame poised. “Bring it on, you grandson… I’ll beat you down…”

Seeing the argument escalate, Sun Gouzi didn’t dare fight Little Zhou but continued to shout, his face crimson, “Setting that aside, I saw him staring at our boss every day! He kept looking and then writing stuff down nonstop! You dare say there’s nothing wrong with him?”

“If there’s nothing wrong, then take out what you wrote and let us see!”

…

Lu Xin glanced at him but had no intention of showing his notebook.

The small notebook contained many confidential notes he’d recorded. Besides, Old Zhou and Little Zhou didn’t want others knowing about that matter either.

“Sun Gouzi has a point. We really should be careful about this guy…”

“Exactly! Who knows if he has ulterior motives telling us to find some violin sound?”

“Why was he secretly watching the boss? What was he writing down?”

…

Soon, all sorts of shouts erupted. People said anything and everything. Sun Gouzi, Old Zhou, and Little Zhou stuck to their guns, arguing fiercely like two lit fuses setting off opposing fires, threatening to engulf everyone in the blaze.

“Are everyone’s tempers really this short?”

Caught in the middle, Lu Xin pondered silently.

He didn’t particularly like this situation. Plus, he was quite anxious to deal with that violin sound.

Whether it was his sister’s unhappiness or his mom’s irritation, he felt concerned about the specific situation over there.

So, for this convoy, he’d done enough, right?

If they really didn’t trust him…

*Bang! Bang!*

Just then, two gunshots suddenly rang out. Dust rained down from overhead.

The crowd, locked in a heated argument, jumped in surprise.

Turning, they saw the boss, her face flushed red with anger. Her gaze swept chillingly over everyone. “We’re at death’s door, and you still have the energy to argue and fight here? Do you think the madmen aren’t coming for us fast enough? You want to die slower, is that it?”

Sun Gouzi, Old Zhou, and Little Zhou instantly fell silent, not daring to respond.

But it was clear Sun Gouzi wasn’t convinced, and his words had indeed sown suspicion among some others.

“I don’t know what he does.”

The boss glanced at Lu Xin, saying, “But do you really think…”

“If someone wanted to plot against us, would they really need to go to the trouble of planting a spy?”

“They could just blow up a bridge to force us into a dead end!”

“Have you been watching too many old movies?”

…

“Ah, this…”

Sun Gouzi, initially full of anger, was suddenly choked speechless.

In his panic, he had vented all his doubts onto Lu Xin, not really thinking it through. But now, reconsidering, he realized that while their convoy seemed to have fallen into an ambush, it had nothing to do with spies. When the original road was blocked by a mudslide, they had no other choice.

Simply put, their convoy wasn’t important enough for someone to bother planting a spy, which ironically cleared Lu Xin.

Even Lu Xin looked at the boss with some surprise. He hadn’t expected this way of resolving the issue.

However, they still felt somewhat uneasy in their hearts. “So… we just trust this guy?”

…

“Are you sure there’s a violin sound controlling these madmen?”

Just then, the boss suddenly looked towards Lu Xin.

Meeting the gazes of the surrounding crowd, Lu Xin nodded, then said sincerely, “I did hear a violin sound, and I intuitively felt a connection between it and these madmen. But I can’t say for sure, and I don’t know how to prove it.”

“You don’t need to prove it.”

The boss looked deeply at Lu Xin, then suddenly walked to the motorcycle and slapped it hard.

*Zeee-waaa! Zeee-waaa!*

A red light flashed on the motorcycle, and a piercing alarm blared, making everyone’s eardrums vibrate.

Boss Gao immediately turned her head to look outside. Under the effect of the motorcycle alarm, the madmen outside clearly became agitated. Initially, they were just hiding in various dark corners, their eerie smiles occasionally flashing by. But when the noise sounded, many madmen suddenly poked their heads out violently, the smiles gone from their faces.

The change was exceptionally clear.

The boss frowned and turned off the alarm.

The piercing sound vanished. The madmen outside noticeably calmed down, looked around in confusion, and actually retreated back into hiding.

After a while, the cold laughter started again, and their expressions turned eerie once more.

“Brother, you were right.”

Boss Gao took a deep breath and nodded at Lu Xin. “My men misunderstood you. Apologies.”

The faces of the others in the convoy immediately became complicated, especially Sun Gouzi, whose face alternated between red and white.

He seemed to want to say something but couldn’t bring himself to lose face.

Lu Xin, who hadn’t stopped observing the boss, nodded and smiled back at her.

This boss was quite impressive.

“Boss, then… are we really going to charge out?”

Seeing the boss confirm, through her own method, that this unfamiliar young man’s words held merit.

The group of old drivers couldn’t help but ask nervously.

In reality, all they could confirm now was that sound, or rather noise, did indeed affect the madmen.

But they still weren’t sure about that possibly non-existent violin sound.

Under such uncertain circumstances, were they really going to charge into the city and take this risk?

It was hard to describe the complex feelings of these old drivers. They hardly dared to look outside at those pale heads popping up, chilling them to the bone.

By now, they didn’t even know how many madmen had appeared in this city, lurking around them, let alone how they could possibly escape attacks from hordes of these monsters.

However, they usually had immense faith in Boss Gao, so they looked towards her expectantly.

As she spoke these words, Gao Ting seemed to have already made up her mind. She looked up at Lu Xin and asked:

“Where is that sound coming from?”

Lu Xin was a bit surprised by her reaction. He smiled and pointed northwest. “That place isn’t close.”

The boss nodded. “Your method makes sense, but charging over together is too risky.”

Saying this, she suddenly raised her hands. “Tie me up!”

“This is…”

The two men beside her, looking like her subordinates, were startled at first, then understood.

Fear appeared on their faces as they cried out, “Boss Gao, you…”

“Cut the crap! Is this the time to waste?”

Boss Gao cursed through gritted teeth, “How come you don’t waste so much time when we’re in bed?”

Her subordinates’ faces turned white, then red from her scolding. Gritting their teeth, they retrieved two rolls of clear tape and pieces of rubber tire tread from their motorcycles. They quickly wrapped the rubber pieces around her arms, shoulders, thighs, and other areas. Then, with a *rip*, they tore off the tape and started wrapping it around her body layer after layer, as if it cost nothing, circling her several times.

Many of the old drivers present guessed her intention and cried out in alarm, “Boss, you can’t do this…”

“Boss, we have dozens of guns! If we go, we go together!…”