Chapter 1692 The Prison Cell
- For Ma Xiaoling, this really rubbed her the wrong way. Since she’d taken the job, she had to find the guy no matter what. If she couldn’t even locate him, that’d be a total joke. She wasn’t about to let that happen. Otherwise, she’d really be a piece of trash. And nobody wants to be trash. Everyone wants to be strong. Put simply, everybody’s chasing a dream. The only difference is whether you can make it real. Some people can. Some can’t. That’s life. A lot of things don’t bend just because you want them to. If you can’t pull it off, then it’s a damn mess. “If he really got eaten, then we won’t be able to find him,” Ma Xiaoling said. “If that’s the case, your bounty’s gone, right?” Hu Dali said. “Yeah. But if I don’t get paid, I don’t get paid. I already got a 5 million deposit,” she said with a grin. “Either way, I’m not losing out.” Since she’d pocketed 5 million, she might as well quit while she was ahead. That’s life. If you get too greedy, you’re begging for trouble. People’s greed has no ceiling. You get 5 million, then you want 10 million. And it never ends. Keep going like that and you’re asking for disaster. That’s why the old-timers always said: stop trouble while it’s small. Only then can you keep things under control. Otherwise, it turns into a damn mess. And in this day and age, nobody wants that. So Ma Xiaoling was ready to accept whatever came. That was the only way to feel at peace. Because a lot of things in this world don’t go your way just because you say so. If you expect everything to be smooth sailing, dream on. So she didn’t press it. She knew the situation was still in her hands. “If we really can’t find him, then forget it. Let’s just head back,” Ma Xiaoling said with a smile. To her, this outcome was normal. Since they couldn’t find the person, she didn’t want to waste time. Sticking around here wasn’t going to help. So why waste any more time? She had nothing to agonize over. She’d done her part. If they couldn’t find the guy, then that was Jack’s bad luck. Charging in here alone was a death wish. If she didn’t die doing that, it would’ve been pure luck. But nobody gets everything in life by luck alone. If it were that easy, that’d be a damn joke. Nobody’s that dumb. So Ma Xiaoling felt they could pull out now. Of course, if she wanted to retreat, she still needed Marcus Crawley’s approval. If he didn’t agree, there wasn’t much she could do. “If we bail now, that’s messed up. We haven’t even found him. How are you going to explain that when you get back?” Hu Dali said. “Then what do you suggest? We can’t find him. What are we doing here?” Ma Xiaoling snapped. To her, everything has the same rule: quit while you’re ahead. Since she already had the 5 million, she didn’t need to push it. If she kept piling on more work, the pressure would be huge. Nobody wants that. So at this point, they might as well go with the flow. This was Death Lake. Plenty of creepy stuff happened here. If something bad went down, it’d be tragic. No one wanted that. Obviously. None of them did. So they all wanted to head back. If sticking around here meant nothing, it was better to retreat. If they didn’t leave now, they might miss their window. This place was too dangerous. Monsters could pop out any minute. And they weren’t strong enough to shrug it all off. If real danger showed up, they’d be toast. So of course they wanted out. If they didn’t leave now, they were done for. “In that case, I’m all for pulling out,” Hu Dali said. He was a businessman at heart. That meant always doing the math. If there was a profit, he’d jump. If not, he didn’t bother. He still had a demon core on him. If he brought it back, he could make bank. So all he wanted now was to head home fast and cash in. If he couldn’t even manage that, he’d be an idiot. “Marcus, what do you think?” Ma Xiaoling asked. “I say we head back,” Marcus Crawley said. If they couldn’t find the person here, then forget it. They couldn’t camp out forever. That’d be boring as hell. So pulling out now was the best move. If they didn’t get that, they’d be in a bad spot. Nobody wanted that. Otherwise, it would be a total tragedy. “Alright. If that’s the case, we’re heading back,” Ma Xiaoling said. She was a tough one. But even she had decided to retreat now. That said a lot. It meant there really wasn’t any wiggle room left. That was that. The world worked like this. You don’t get your way just because you want it. If it were easy, someone else would’ve taken the job long ago. It wouldn’t have landed in her lap. Ring, ring. Just then, Ma Xiaoling’s phone rang. “Well? Did you find my son?” an anxious voice asked. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Phil. I didn’t,” Ma Xiaoling said. “Then keep looking! Someone said my son showed up in the Fog Forest!” the woman shouted.