Night slowly lowered its curtain,
A carriage flying the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce banner, escorted by over twenty mounted guards, drove out through the city gates.
The black-armored soldiers exchanged glances. One of them removed his armor and quietly headed elsewhere.
"Long San has left the city?"
Inside a splendid hall, Ding Feng frowned. "What is he going out for so late at night?"
A servant replied, "According to the brothers we planted inside, the injury on his left arm has worsened. He is returning to the Yue Capital to seek treatment from a renowned physician friendly with the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce."
"Or perhaps he caused the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce such enormous losses that he is too ashamed to remain in Eastern Spirit City."
He guessed.
"Humph! He is up to no good!"
Ding Feng looked at Earth-Treading Tiger Lu Hou. "In my opinion, we might as well find an opportunity to kill him and wipe the slate clean."
"Tiger Den will not act."
Lu Hou lifted his eyelids slightly. "You have lived in East Spirit for too long and do not understand the power of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce. They hold down the entire nation. They merely cannot spare more manpower for now, and they also fear the uncertain stance of the Marquis Who Guards the East."
"Unless necessary, do not drive them into desperation."
Ding Feng snorted coldly and said nothing further.
No matter how much he clung to them, he could not convince Tiger Den that a half-crippled man could scheme against them.
Under the dim light lay familiar pastoral scenery.
"I never expected Shopkeeper Long to come as well."
Jiang Ding sat in a corner with his sword in his arms, somewhat surprised.
"The Four Seas Chamber of Commerce may have accepted it, but this half-crippled man has not." Long San said in a deep voice, "Young Master, if you have any backup plans, you may reveal them now."
Even now, he did not believe that the youth before him intended to charge into Tiger Den alone and kill his way through it. He believed Jiang Ding had summoned forces from those behind him.
Jiang Ding shook his head, closed his eyes to rest, and spoke no more.
Long San also fell silent.
He would not fight anyone. If it meant dying, he would not go, nor would he let the shop hands under him go.
The carriage traveled for six or seven hours. Even though the cabin jolted violently, Jiang Ding remained in a state of cultivation, his inner force circulating back and forth as it nourished and tempered the eighty tiny meridian branches, including the Twelve Primary Meridians.
The Young Eagle Takes Flight Sword Art had reached great mastery; he could cultivate while walking, sitting, lying down, or standing.
"Young Master, we have arrived."
Long San, who had been silent for a long while, lowered his voice.
Jiang Ding opened his eyes, and a faint flash of white light vanished between his brows.
Looking around, he saw that the sky had turned pitch-black. The rustling chirps of insects filled his ears, mixed now and then with wolf howls and ape cries. They had completely left behind the smoke and fire of the human world.
After traveling continuously for six or seven hours, everyone, including Long San, wore exhaustion in their eyes. They had long since dismounted and were leading their horses on foot.
"Young Master, Tiger Den is somewhere within this area. I am completely certain of it!"
Long San said gravely, "I simply do not know whether it is within ten miles or several dozen miles. I will wait here for Young Master for seven days. If I receive no fireworks signal after seven days, I will set out for the Yue Capital."
"Alright."
Jiang Ding nodded. With a light tap of his toes, he leaped several yards and landed atop the crown of a large tree. After several more bounds, he swiftly vanished into the forest.
Long San said nothing more. He found a patch of high ground, set up camp, and silently chewed on cold dried meat.
"Third Master, are we really going to wait for him for seven days?"
One of the shop hands could not help asking.
"We will wait."
Long San swept his gaze over the shop hands. "The Chamber of Commerce is weak in Eastspirit Prefecture. I do not know whether any of you brothers have been bought off, so I will say only one thing."
"Anyone—remember, anyone!"
He raised the snow-bright saber in his hand, his eyes crimson and crazed. "Do not leave my sight. That includes eating, drinking, pissing, and shitting. Otherwise, do not blame me for disregarding brotherhood!"
"Rest assured, Third Master!"
The shop hands all shrank back.
Dark mountain ranges stood vast and dense.
Jiang Ding sat cross-legged beneath the shade of a hundred-meter-tall tree. At some point, his green robe had turned into leaf-pattern camouflage, blending perfectly into the shadows.
Of the four drones in the sky, one remained overhead to keep watch, while the other three flew off in separate directions.
Scenes flashed across his contact lenses. Most were pitch-black images, wilderness forests ruled by the night.
Now and then, a faint glimmer flickered.
It was moonlight reflected from ponds and lakes, as well as clusters of fireflies forming scattered points like stars. Occasionally, pairs of eerie green eyes appeared—the wolves of the forest.
Little by little, he searched.
Little by little, he searched.
Jiang Ding was exceedingly patient. His breathing remained even at all times, conserving his strength to the utmost.
More than thirty minutes later.
"Found... it!"
A point of orange-red firelight stood out sharply in the night.
That orange-red firelight drew nearer and multiplied. When the drone flew overhead, a stronghold perched upon sheer cliffs appeared before his eyes.
Cliffs surrounded it on three sides, with only one road for the stronghold guards to enter and exit, blocked by a high wall built from wood and stone.
Torches burned constantly atop the wall. The guards carried sabers, spears, swords, halberds, and all kinds of weapons, with many strong bows and heavy crossbows of unknown origin. Their discipline was fairly orderly; even in the dead of night, they maintained basic vigilance.
"Not simple. With this one stronghold and two or three hundred guards, even an army of ten thousand would never dream of taking it!" Jiang Ding muttered, continuing to observe the arrangements throughout the stronghold.
He discovered that the barracks inside were neat and orderly. The trenches, ponds, latrines, storerooms, and other locations had all been arranged with great care, laid out in straight horizontal and vertical lines with a certain distinctive style.
"It resembles..."
Jiang Ding thought for a moment, and an answer surfaced in his mind.
"An army!"
"That is right. These arrangements and the strict training of the guards all carry the heavy flavor of an ancient cold-weapon army camp. Did one of the Seven Tigers of Tiger Den once serve as a commander?"
Jiang Ding guessed.
At the stronghold gates,
A group from a horse caravan came up the mountain by some small path. They threw down struggling cloth sacks from horseback and shouted several words toward the wall.
The guards hurriedly opened the gates, took over with practiced ease, and untied the sacks.
"Mother!"
"Sir, my father has money! Please spare me!"
Inside the many cloth sacks were children.
There were both boys and girls, mostly around their teens, though some were seven or eight. Their clothing varied: some were filthy beyond measure, some wore coarse peasant clothes, and some were fair and plump, clearly born into wealthy families.
Their origins were incomparably complicated, a sight that was horrifying to behold.
"Those beggar children... were transported here."
Jiang Ding's expression was complicated.
After he had discovered the Wild Wolf Gang abducting little beggars from Rotten Plank Street last time, he intervened to stop them. Long Shi and the others had not committed the crime again, though he did not know whether they had paid money to shake off orders from above or done something else.
But he knew it was merely deceiving himself. If there were none on Rotten Plank Street, there would be plenty elsewhere.
He could only console himself with the saying: when poor, cultivate oneself alone.
"I was not wrong. I truly am weak—how would I dare to bring benefit to all under heaven?"
Jiang Ding leaped down from the treetop, occasionally stepping on branches and using the slightest tap of his toes to spring onward. Soundlessly, he closed in on the distant cliffside stronghold. "Yet since I have encountered it, I may as well be a little reckless."
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