Chapter 71: Bullying.
Haru and Jake stood there at a loss for words. What could they say? Haru then spoke. "Come on guys, There is no need for guns is there? We are the inspection committee. There is no reason for you to aim your guns at us." Jake started laughing hysterically.
"What's so funny?!" One of the men shouted.
"Oh, Nothing. Don't mind me." Jake said between each giggle. Haru stood smiling as the big muscular man stepped forward.
"Okay, enough playing around. Who are you two and what are you doing here?" He looked down at them both.
"Fine, I'm a friend of your client. We are tagging along for the trip. We just got a little curious about the cargo." He told the man. But he didn't believe a single word of it.
"I won't warn you again." He said and then grabbed hold up his knife on his belt.
"But I was telling you the truth, that time." The man was starting to lose his patience.
"Okay... if it is true then tell me. What is the name of our client." He looked at Haru and saw his face as he tried to think.
Hmm. I never called him anything but sect master. What was it the Li Jun called him again? "Little Shen," Haru said.
The man looked at Haru with wide eyes. "You really do know the old Master Shen? And you dare to be so disrespectful toward him? Don't you know of his power?" The other men all looked at this big guy with confusion.
He seemed to be their leader but this was probably the first time they saw him acting like this. "Well, The only two names I know him as are Sect Master and Little Shen. I don't think he will mind if I call him that. Will he?" Haru began to question himself. Was it really disrespectful?
"What's going on!? I heard the alarm and came as fast as I could!" Cui ran into the warehouse and began to look around.
"Oh, Miss Cui. It's nothing we can't handle. Just two intruders. They claimed to know the client." The big guy shouted to her as she spotted Haru and Jake surrounded by the big group of armed men.
"What are you two doing out here!? I thought I told you to wait in the car? Is it your goal to annoy me or something?" Cui shouted at Haru and Jake.
"Oh, So they really were telling the truth?" He was shocked. He thought for sure that he found two kids that were up to no good. Well in theory he wasn't wrong.
"Yeah, My grandfather asked me to bring that one along with me. The blond one is his friend he decided to bring along for the ride. I was just talking to your boss about that when the alarm went off." She briefly explained the situation to him and then waved her hand for Jake and Haru to walk over to her.
"Okay, Well everyone. At ease!" The man shouted. Dismissing all the armed men. They all went back to whatever they were doing before.
Haru and Jake both made their way over to Cui. "What were you two thinking? You could have gotten hurt. These people are quite rough." She was worried about them.
"Sorry, I just got a little curious as to what we are transporting… So what's up with that coffin?" Haru asked. Cui put her hand over his mouth.
"Shh… Don't mention that. Only a few people have seen it. You aren't supposed to know."
"Fine. I didn't see anything. But you are going to have to tell me what it is." Haru told her and then walked in front of her back outside toward the car.
"Fine…" She muttered as she followed him. Jake walked closely behind Cui.
"It was a misunderstanding then?" A skinny man with glasses and long hair asked as Cui walked out. He was dressed in camo pants like the rest of the men but his build seemed out of place. He almost looked sick.
"Yeah, Are you all ready to leave yet?" Cui asked this scrawny looking man.
"We are ready when you are Miss Cui." He said and then pulled out a radio.
"All units gather at the front entrance." He spoke into it. There were distant replays of his voice coming through the radios the men nearby were carrying. And then a few seconds later it sounded like thunder rolling in through the sky as all of the men marched out to the front entrance like they were told to.
There looked to be around sixty or seventy men in total. They stopped abruptly in front of the scrawny man and then saluted. "Squad A and Squad B. You will be leading this mission. Captains of both squads, Please lead your men to your vehicles and be ready to leave." Around twenty people stepped forward and then got into the vehicles that were waiting for them.
It took them less than two minutes to all stack up into around six vehicles in total. On top of having the two military style cars they also had four blacked out SUV type cars.
"We are ready when you are, miss." The scrawny man said to Cui and then walked back inside one of the small building located nearby.
"I guess that's it. We had better go now." Cui said and then walked over and got into the car. Haru and Jake followed close behind and then got back into their previous sitting arrangements with Haru up front and Jake having the back all to himself.
"I can't help but feel like they were trying to just get rid of us as soon as possible." Jake leaned forward and said through the gap between the seats.
"That wouldn't surprise me. They are a private militia after all. I bet they have tonnes of things in their warehouse that they don't want you to find. People don't appreciate it when nosy kids are rummaging through their things." Cui said and then sighed.
"Forget it. I'm not even mad about it. I probably wouldn't be able to keep my curiosity to myself either. I can't blame you for something like that." She said as she turned the key to the engine.
"Oh, Speaking of being curious… What was the coffin about?" Haru asked her again. "It isn't a damn coffin!" Cui snapped.
"Well, it sure looked like a coffin. So what is it?" He asked her again. She seemed especially hesitant to answer.
"We aren't sure." She said and then began to follow the trucks that had set off ahead of her.
"Wait what!? You aren't sure!?" Jake stole the words from Haru's mouth as he leaned forward and shouted in surprise.
"Put your seatbelt on!" Cui yelled back at him.
"Fine, Fine it's on." He said followed by a loud clicking noise.
"We aren't sure because we haven't opened it. The weird box thing was found buried at the bottom of the ocean a few years back. The government tried opening it but everything they tried was unsuccessful so the sect bought it from them since they no longer had a use for it." She explained.
"So what you are actually saying is that it could be anything?" Haru asked.
"Basically…" She answered. And then began to focus on her driving. Haru lay back in his seat and turned on the radio. This time it went on to the right channel.
"Okay. It's definitely a coffin then." Jake said whilst making himself comfortable too.
"Probably. But there is always the chance of it being something else. What if it is a biological weapon that was locked up and thrown away?" Haru made the point to him.
"Yeah, That could make sense too I guess." Jake agreed. They both spoke to each other about what they thought it was for around an hour.
"Do you two ever shut up?! It's like driving with two five year olds in the car." Cui complained as Jake and Haru were still talking about their theories on what they were transporting. It went silent for a few seconds as Jake and Haru stopped their conversation.
"Way to kill the fun…" Jake said back to her. Cui looked at him like she was about to stop the car and beat him for answering back.
"Yeah, I was quite enjoying that talk." Haru looked at her and shook his head in disappointment.
"Don't look at me like that. I am supposed to be in charge here." She started to question her authority.
"Who put you in charge? I decided to come along with you by choice. I don't need a leader to help me make decisions." Haru told her.
Jake smiled before adding his part. "Yeah, Who died and made you king? I wasn't even invited in the first place. You hold no power over me. Do you think you are really in charge?" Cui looked down at the steering wheel before turning back to Haru and Jake.
"Why are you both bullying me! What did I do?" She sounded like she was actually upset.
"Okay, I'm sorry," Haru said. She looked back at him.
"Yeah me too. We were just trying to have some fun to pass the time. You made the perfect target. I didn't mean anything I said." Jake added. She looked like she was about to smile again.
"Yes, We will listen to the commands of the ever so great leader!" Hara shouted and then put his hand on his chest. Jake went into a fit of laughter once again.
"Okay, You can stop with the sarcasm. I get it." She then went back to focusing on driving.