"Yan Tao, carry those children over to one seat."
Gripping One-Ear by the ear, Lian Youming called out to Yan Tao, who had been watching in stunned terror.
Only when his voice reached her ears did Yan Tao come to her senses. Looking again at the children in the village women's arms, she immediately understood something, and anger entered her eyes. She hurried over, carried the swaddled babies back, and laid them beside her one by one.
"Why aren't they crying?" Yan Tao examined them in turn, looking rather frightened.
"They've probably been drugged too," Lian Youming said quietly. "Keep a close eye on them."
Only after all the children had been taken back did Lian Youming look at One-Ear, who was grimacing in his grip. "Who is this Eighth Master?"
One-Ear looked panicked. Clasping his hands, he begged for mercy. "Sir, the rules in this line of work run deep. It's not that I don't want to talk. If I do, I won't live either. Please have mercy and let me go."
Lian Youming glanced at the people still gathered at both ends of the carriage. Quite a few had dispersed, but from the looks of it, those remaining clearly had something else in mind.
It seemed they wanted to even the score.
He asked again, "Where did these women carrying the children come from?"
One-Ear was in so much pain that tears streamed down his face. "They're just uneducated farmers. They joined up to make money, mostly to provide cover. The ones who attacked you with blades are hired knife fighters trained by people along the railway running south from Beijing-Tianjin. They belong to the Thieves' Gate. There are errand runners, lookouts, fences, and planners too, like the Eight Great Guardians under Mountain Hawk."
"Well, now, you even