Bandits Fleeing with Three Hundred Thousand Taels of Silver?

Huang Shaojie quickly examined dozens of dead soldiers and reached two conclusions.

"These soldiers were all killed with a single slash. There were hardly any signs of a chaotic fight on the ground, which showed that they had almost no ability to resist the bandits at the time."

"Either these bandits were highly skilled in martial arts, or these soldiers had been drugged with some kind of power-dispersing sedative!"

He examined the corpses' organs and blood, but unfortunately, he could tell nothing from them.

Setting that aside for now, Huang Shaojie decided to first see where the wagon tracks led.

Three hundred thousand taels of silver—if each wagon carried ten thousand taels, it would take a full thirty wagons.

It was now mid-November. The weather was dry, and it had barely rained lately, so the official road was hard. Wagon wheels left only faint ruts as they rolled over its surface.

Huang Shaojie followed the tracks forward. The ruts were numerous and jumbled, mingling with horse hoofprints as they stretched ahead.

In other words, the bandits had directly driven the wagons carrying the official silver onward as they fled.

"Are you looking for wagon tracks?"

Xiao Qiuyue walked over. She too had been following the tracks.

Huang Shaojie nodded, his gaze following the official road ahead. Suddenly, he spotted what seemed to be a pile of ashes at the bend in the road up ahead.

"Battalion Commander Xiao, it looks like something was burned over there. Let's take a look."

Huang Shaojie pointed to the pile of ashes several dozen meters away as he spoke to Xiao Qiuyue.

Xiao Qiuyue nodded, and the two quickly walked over to the ashes.

Huang Shaojie drew his Embroidered Spring Blade and poked through the ashes a few times. There were still some unburned dead branches and leaves within, but nothing seemed particularly unusual.

Yet the two of them caught the faint lingering scent of sandalwood incense in the ashes.

Xiao Qiuyue immediately felt her head grow heavy and hazy. She hurriedly held her breath, retreated more than a zhang away, and said:

"There's stupefying incense in there. Hold your breath and get back!"

Naturally, Huang Shaojie had smelled the stupefying incense as well, but he did not feel the slightest bit dazed.

He knew it was because he had cultivated the first level of the Indestructible Vajra Technique. Ordinary poisons and stupefying incense could no longer harm or affect him.

"There really is stupefying incense..." Huang Shaojie said unhurriedly as he stood and sheathed his blade. He slapped his forehead. "So that's it. I understand now!"

Xiao Qiuyue also thought of it at that moment and said in realization, "The bandits burned the stupefying incense here beforehand. When the soldiers escorting the tax silver passed this spot, they happened to breathe it in and lost all strength. No wonder they were all killed with a single slash and seemed utterly unable to resist."

Huang Shaojie said, "This official road heads northwest, and it is winter now, when northwest winds blow. The soldiers came from the southeast. Once that northwest wind blew, all the stupefying incense was carried straight into them. By the time they noticed something was wrong, even holding their breath would have made it difficult to circulate their inner power."

Xiao Qiuyue said, "Come on. Let's report this discovery to Commander Niu."

With that, the two went before Niu Ren.

Xiao Qiuyue cupped her hands and said, "Reporting to you, sir, we have found a clue."

"Oh?" Niu Ren's eyes lit up as he looked at Xiao Qiuyue. "Battalion Commander Xiao, what clue did you find?"

Prefectural Governor Luo, Prefect Liu, and the other officials all turned to look at Xiao Qiuyue.

Xiao Qiuyue said, "Just now, while Huang Shaojie and I were examining the wagon tracks left by the tax silver convoy, we found a pile of ashes burned at the bend in the road ahead. We went forward to inspect it and discovered that it contained stupefying incense..."

"So that's how it was!" Before Xiao Qiuyue could finish, Niu Ren understood everything. "It never occurred to me that the bandits had burned stupefying incense ahead of time. It is winter, and northwest winds are blowing. With mountains on both sides of this official road, once the wind blew, the stupefying incense was carried right into the soldiers escorting the tax silver..."

Prefectural Governor Luo, Prefect Liu, and the other officials were suddenly enlightened as well!

Niu Ren had only guessed earlier that the soldiers might have been poisoned, but he had not imagined the bandits had used such a method.

Still, this allowed Prefectural Governor Luo to breathe a sigh of relief.

It meant there was no bandit spy within the army.

Otherwise, as the prefectural governor in charge of Suzhou's military and civil affairs, he would bear even greater responsibility for this tax silver robbery.

Now that the case was clear, there was no need for further investigation of the scene.

Niu Ren said to Prefectural Governor Luo, "Prefectural Governor, the soldiers' bodies can be cleared away. I will lead the Imperial Guard along the wagon tracks to pursue the direction in which the bandits fled. Farewell!"

Prefectural Governor Luo cupped his hands. "Many thanks to Commander Niu and all the Imperial Guard! If you discover the bandits' trail, Commander Niu may inform this official, and I will dispatch troops to assist in encircling and exterminating them!"

Niu Ren swung onto his horse and led the Imperial Guard forward along the wagon tracks on the official road.

Although Niu Ren's eyesight could not compare to Huang Shaojie's Insight Technique, he was still a Fifth Rank Grandmaster. With his inner power concentrated in his eyes, he could easily track the marks left by the wagon wheels.

He led several hundred Imperial Guard onward at a gallop without even needing to dismount.

After racing for several dozen li, just as they were about to leave the Drum Camel Ridge area, the wagon tracks suddenly vanished.

"This is truly strange. How could the wagon tracks suddenly disappear?"

Niu Ren leaped down from his horse and carefully searched the road surface all around, but he still could not find any wagon tracks.

It was as though the dozens of wagons transporting official silver had suddenly vanished into thin air upon reaching this spot.

Just as everyone was at a complete loss, Huang Shaojie came over and cupped his hands to report to Niu Ren.

"Commander Niu, this subordinate has found those wagons."

"Where?" Niu Ren asked urgently.

"Please look, sir!"

Huang Shaojie led Niu Ren to a hillside and pointed at a pile of wagons below it.

The dozens of wagons had all been thrown down the hillside!

"No wonder we couldn't find their tracks!"

Niu Ren looked at the pile of wagons scattered in wreckage below the slope and sank into thought.

The bandits had driven the wagons carrying the tax silver here, only to throw them down the hillside. Then where was the official silver from the wagons?

"Go down and see if there is anything else."

Niu Ren gave the order.

A Company Commander led several dozen Imperial Guard down the slope to search.

Before long, the Company Commander returned to report.

"Sir, there are only several dozen shattered wagons at the bottom of the slope. Not a single tael of official silver was found."

"Then it seems the bandits abandoned the wagons and fled with the silver!"

Niu Ren said, stroking the short beard on his chin.

Xiao Qiuyue looked around in confusion. "Sir, there are no villages ahead and no inns behind in this area. Why would the bandits suddenly abandon the wagons here? There were a full three hundred thousand taels of silver on them. How could they have transported it away?"

Three hundred thousand taels of silver filled several hundred chests. Even if each person carried one chest, it would still require several hundred people.

Just imagine it—several hundred people carrying several hundred chests of silver through a place with no village ahead and no inn behind. How far could they carry them?

Would that not be far too conspicuous?

Niu Ren pondered, "The bandits abandoned the wagons here to evade the authorities' pursuit. There is no way they could simply carry three hundred thousand taels of official silver away in broad daylight. They must have hidden the silver somewhere nearby."

"Pass the order. Everyone is to search the surrounding area. Several hundred people carrying chests would definitely have left footprints and other clues."