Road Survival, I Have a Hint System!

Hearing the hooded man's words, Zhang Tuohai couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

He wasn’t an aggressive person; on the contrary, he respected many of the standing figures.

For example, teachers like Hatano, Momotani, and Katou all had his esteem.

But the hooded man in front of him? He didn’t know him at all.

Since he wasn’t a familiar teacher, why bother with pleasantries?

Zhang Tuohai lifted his head and raised the Remington hidden in his coat.

“I didn’t catch that; say it again.”

“Y-Your Excellency, I’m sorry!” The hooded man, seeing the Remington, couldn’t care less about confronting the denim-clad duo. He held his knife with one hand and performed a proper 90-degree bow to Zhang Tuohai.

“Hmm, looks like a proper elder; even the bow is standard,” Zhang Tuohai mused, clicking his tongue.

He’d only seen such things in the news before; now he could finally witness it in real life and take a good look.

The denim-clad man No. 1 and No. 2 exchanged glances, unsure whether to take the opportunity to sneak attack or to bow together with the hooded man. They stood there, frozen.

No one spoke, and the atmosphere turned silent.

Five minutes passed, with Zhang Tuohai doing nothing, and the denim-clad duo also remaining idle. The bowing hooded man couldn’t endure it any longer.

“Y-Your Excellency, may I ask…” The hooded man straightened up, wanting to ask Zhang Tuohai for clarification.

“Did I tell you to stand up?” Zhang Tuohai replied coldly.

“Y-Your Excellency, w-what do you mean?”

“Kneel down.” Zhang Tuohai said, “I heard the most sincere apology from you guys is to kneel down. Why didn’t you do it earlier? Do you look down on me?”

“Y-Your Excellency, I-I didn’t mean that. I…”

“Now, right this moment, I want to see it. Otherwise, you’re looking down on me.” As he spoke, Zhang Tuohai aimed the gun at the hooded man.

Thud! The hooded man immediately knelt down, hands on the ground, curling his body into a ball—roughly like this.

“That’s better.”

Zhang Tuohai nodded in satisfaction.

“Now tell me, why are you confronting me here?”

“Y-Your Excellency, we…”

The hooded man began to speak but was interrupted by Zhang Tuohai.

“Shut up!” Zhang Tuohai pointed at denim-clad No. 1. “You speak.”

“Bro, we’re confronting over something.”

Denim-clad No. 1 said.

“What is it?” Zhang Tuohai asked, intrigued.

“It’s the knife in his hand.” Denim-clad No. 1 said.

“We found the box first, and when we opened it, the knife slipped out and he picked it up. We asked him to return it, but he refused, so we confronted him.”

“Is that so?” Zhang Tuohai turned to ask.

“W-Well, this thing has no owner; I picked it up, so it’s obviously mine…” the hooded man argued loudly.

“So that means he’s telling the truth?” Zhang Tuohai asked with a smile.

“Y-Your Excellency…”

The hooded man tried to argue, lifting his head.

Bang! The response was the sound of the Remington firing.

A .12 bullet grazed his scalp, and a trickle of blood flowed down from his head.

“You are right.”

The hooded man knelt down again.

“Indeed, only the sound of gunfire is a language you understand.”

Zhang Tuohai’s expression was icy as he approached the hooded man.

“Have you eaten any braised meat these days?”

“I had a piece.”

The hooded man didn’t understand why Zhang Tuohai asked this, but out of fear of the Remington's power, he answered cautiously.

“No, I think you ate two pieces but only paid for one!” Zhang Tuohai stated.

“No, I only ate one!”

“Then prove it to me!”

“How do I prove it?”

Clang.

Zhang Tuohai kicked the samurai sword to the hooded man's feet.

“Don’t you have a traditional culture called seppuku? Cut it open and count to know.”

“B-Baka, you’re insulting me!” The hooded man suddenly looked up.

He realized Zhang Tuohai never intended to let him live.

He quickly picked up the knife from the ground, raising it high.

Before he could strike down, the thunderous sound of gunfire rang out once more.

The hooded man felt himself fly backward, soaring five or six meters before crashing against the wall and slowly sliding down.

A splash of red stained the wall behind him.

Why did Zhang Tuohai insist on killing the opponent?

Because he was from Jinling.

After glancing at the hooded man’s corpse, Zhang Tuohai walked straight toward the third floor, not even glancing at the samurai sword on the ground.

His attitude left the denim-clad duo bewildered.

“Bro, you didn’t take the knife!” the denim-clad duo called out from behind.

“A broken piece; if you want it, keep it,” Zhang Tuohai said without turning back, heading straight upstairs.

He did this to encourage the two to leave.

Although he wasn’t afraid of them causing trouble, it was better to save some effort if he could.

Sure enough, the denim-clad duo exchanged glances, quickly picked up the knife, and ran downstairs.

For them, a knife was a decent haul.

Zhang Tuohai went straight to the third floor, where both sides were lined with corridors. After a quick look around, he found that it seemed to be an office-like place, with each room containing desks and chairs, as well as filing cabinets, but they were all empty.

“System, where’s the staircase to the attic?”

[Go to the second room ahead; in the corner, you’ll see a pull rope. That’s the switch to open the staircase.]

“Hidden quite discreetly.”

Zhang Tuohai nodded and followed the system's instructions, entering the room and pulling the rope with all his might.

Clang.

A retractable wooden staircase fell from the ceiling.

Dust burst forth.

“How many years has it been since anyone came here?”

Zhang Tuohai frowned and climbed step by step to the top of the staircase.

At the top was the attic, filled with dust and looking as if it hadn’t been stepped on for many years. The windows were covered in dust, blocking out the sunlight.

In the center of the attic, an orange supply box sat gleaming.

Seeing this, Zhang Tuohai felt a surge of joy and was about to approach to collect the supply box.

Suddenly, the system's voice rang out.

[There are traps ahead; walking straight will surely result in injury.]

“Traps?” Zhang Tuohai halted his step.

“Where are the traps, and how do I avoid them?”

Zhang Tuohai asked in a deep voice.

[The third, fourth, and seventh floorboards ahead are pressure plates; stepping on them will trigger landmines.]

[The sixth and twelfth floorboards are flipping boards; stepping on them will trigger mechanisms, firing crossbow arrows.]

[The ninth, eleventh, and fourteenth floorboards are hollow boards; stepping on them will cause you to fall downstairs.]

Listening to the dense information about the traps, Zhang Tuohai cursed internally, “Is this a vault? What on earth is being protected that requires so many traps?”