Ronava dragged the last survivor into the basement filled with funeral supplies, tied him up, and stuffed a rag into his mouth to prevent him from waking up and shouting.
Lin En boiled some water and made some tea in the kitchen, then sat down at the table to discuss the next step with her.
"The mines in Starfell Valley are also in the Chasm, which is too far. A round trip would take another week."
Ronava held the teacup in her hands.
"Moreover, there are dozens of people inside, and someone is in charge. If a fight breaks out and the noise is too great, it will not only alert the enemy, but there are also people being held captive in the mine. In the chaos, people could easily die."
"You mean?"
"Why not write to Zhongli and let him handle it?"
She took a sip of tea, then put the teacup down and explained.
"Those two from the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor could just casually greet those Liyue Qixing and have them bring some men to raid the mine. That would be better than the two of us forcing our way in."
Lin En nodded. Indeed, after running for so long without even a couple of days of rest, they had to go back to work. Even an ox wouldn't be used like that.
Besides, it's Liyue's business anyway, so why not leave it to Zhongli? He might be more reliable than them.
He thought for a moment and then asked.
"What about the two group leaders in town?"
"These two are responsible for sending people up the mountain to collect people. Zhou Dashi's daughter was taken away, so they must have been involved. If we confront them directly, they definitely won't admit it, so it's better to..."
"That's a good idea. I'll write the letter to Zhongli first and send it out today."
Lin En found a piece of paper and roughly wrote down the address of the mine, the situation of the manager, and the people imprisoned inside. At the end, she added, " Ronava and I are waiting for your good news at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor branch in Yilong Wharf. Good luck."
Seal it up and hand it to the shop assistant next door, asking him to deliver it to the post station and bring it back to Liyue Harbor. The shop assistant accepted the Mora and assured him that it would be delivered within ten minutes.
After it got dark, the two changed into dark clothes and went out the back door.
Yilong Wharf is not big, with only one main street that connects to mountain roads at both ends. At the east end of the town are several rows of old houses with blue tiles and low walls. The alley is very narrow, only wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
Lin En walked east along the street and soon saw a courtyard gate with red lanterns hanging on it. The lanterns were old, and the red cloth had faded to a pinkish-white, but they were still quite eye-catching when lit at night.
This should be it.
Lin En stopped close to the wall, peeked into the yard, and saw that the gate was ajar, lights were on inside, and people were talking.
He listened for a while; it was a man's voice, loud and forceful.
"... What exactly happened to that girl surnamed Zhou? The higher-ups are pressing for her release, and instead of taking advantage of the easy money, you let two outsiders ruin it?"
The other voice was younger, and a little timid.
"Brother Liu, those two people were armed. I saw the silver-haired one pull out a long gun and threaten the villagers of Yilong Wharf that day."
"How dare you say that! You could have just stirred up trouble and that branch of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor would have been gone!"
Lin En remembered that the person surnamed Liu must be Liu Mazi Pockmarked. He slammed his hand on the table, making the dishes rattle.
"Take a few more men up there tomorrow and patrol the path along the flowerbeds. Tie up anyone who's stray; don't wait until they're completely unconscious."
"That old bastard surnamed Zhou came to me today to ask about something. I managed to fool him, but I can't hide it for long. Hurry up and get the people together and hand them over, or he'll cause me some trouble."
Lin En pulled back and made a gesture to Ronava.
There were only two people inside; she didn't see anyone else. Ronava nodded to indicate that she had heard it too.
"Don't touch him yet."
Ronava said in a low voice.
"We haven't even checked on Zhao Siyan yet. If there's a commotion here, and they get the news and run away, we'll have to look for them again."
The two quietly slipped out and walked around two alleys toward the west end of the town.
Zhao Siyan's house was easier to find; the crooked jujube tree in the yard peeked out from over the wall, with a few shriveled jujubes still hanging on its branches.
The courtyard gate was closed, but the lights were on inside, and there were people drinking and playing drinking games; I could hear at least three or four of them.
Lin En peeked over the wall, picked two good dates, tasted them, and found they were sour.
"Get down to business!"
Reminded by Ronava, he glanced inside.
A table was set up in the courtyard, and four people were sitting around it drinking. One of them, a thin man wearing glasses, was playing a drinking game and shouting loudly. He must be Zhao Siyan.
The other three looked like his underlings; several knives lay across the table.
There are a lot of people here.
Lin En shrank back.
"Four of them, and they were all armed."
"Let's ignore them for now."
Ronava said.
"Proceed according to plan tomorrow."
Lin En thought for a moment and nodded.
"Alright, the real money comes from the mine anyway. So what if those two team leaders ran away? Once the Millelith seals off the mine, they won't be able to cause any trouble without their backers."
The two returned to the branch store the way they came, retied the man in the inner room, and gave him a bowl of water.
Lin En sat at the table in the front hall, reviewed all the information from the day, and drew a simple diagram on a piece of paper.
The mine shaft, the two team leaders, the location where flowers were planted on the mountain, and the place where Zhou Xiaohe disappeared are all marked.
"It seems this group hasn't been transported to the Chasm yet."
Lin En put down his pen.
"At least they haven't set off yet. Once we have the evidence, they shouldn't have any chance of turning things around."
"Yes, if we take direct action, they won't admit it, and then those rude villagers will cause trouble again."
Ronava had just finished showering and came out of the inner room, sitting down across from her at the table in her pajamas.
"Are you afraid of causing trouble too?"
Lin En joked, in his memory, Ronava was fearless.
"I'm not afraid, but it's very noisy, and it will annoy me."
"Just don't kill them all."
Ronava he heard this.
Am I that scary?
He shook his head, then nodded.
"If these people found out who you are, they'd probably move to Liyue Harbor overnight."
He folded the paper and put it in his pocket. The next morning, the two went their separate ways. Ronava Lin En carried a basket and headed to the place where he was collecting herbs.
"Wow, there are so many people gathering herbs on the mountain today!"
Lin En mingled among the crowd, looking around, but soon everyone dispersed. He quietly followed the only boy who was heading up the mountain.
He followed the man north along the mountain path, crossing streams and climbing low slopes. At one point, they stopped to rest under a rock wall and ate two compressed biscuits.
Around two o'clock in the afternoon, the man arrived at a high ground.
"We've finally arrived. Let's see if we can find any herbs."
The boy looked around, put down the bamboo basket, and began searching through the grass.
The high ground is flanked by steep rock walls, with a narrow, winding path running through the middle. There are few signs of human travel along the path, and the wild grass grows lushly.
"Coming to such a dangerous place?"
Lin En didn't rush to go any further with him. He first climbed to a high place and looked down. The view from here was excellent, and he could see many young people gathering herbs. This was exactly the spot he wanted.
"Yesterday the foreman said he'd lead the team to arrest them directly. This spot is practically made for me. Let's check the surroundings for anything unusual first."
He muttered something to himself, intently observing his surroundings.
Just as I was about to come down from the high place, I suddenly heard a shout from not far away. The voice was not loud, but it sounded like a girl, with a sobbing tone.