Rendezvous

Chao Qian explained, "Which caravans are setting out, when they depart, and even what cargo they're hauling—some bandit gangs know all of it well in advance. We've caught quite a few inside men, but there always seem to be more." He Lingchuan, however, replied, "Any gang worth its salt would operate like that." That was exactly how the sand bandits outside Blackwater City on Red Cliff Road operated. Even ordinary cat burglars cased their targets before striking; killing people and looting goods naturally required far more care. Some sand bandits had even colluded with local officials—birds of a feather flocking together. His old man, He Chunhua, knew these underhanded tricks inside and out, and Young Master He had absorbed it all through long observation, so none of this felt novel to him. Fortunately, the bandit scourge in Yuheng City hadn't degenerated to that extent yet. "Cracking down hard on our end won't be enough if they can still get intel from Baisha Bay and other places," He Lingchuan mused. "What about their fencing channels? Have we uncovered how they fence their loot?" Stolen silver could be spent right away, but plundered goods had to be fenced for cash—otherwise, what was the point of robbing them in the first place? "These bandit dens have a division of labor. Some specialize in raids, while others handle cleanup and fencing. Some dens even share the same fencing pipeline. But the bandits we've captured are all field raiders who've never dealt with the buyers directly. They don't know the ins and outs, though rumor has it—" Chao Qian let out a breath. "Rumor has it there are fences right here in Yuheng City!" He expected He Lingchuan to flare up in rage, but to his surprise, the newly appointed commander looked completely unfazed: "To sell hot goods, you naturally look for a bustling, wealthy place where you can offload them fast. Which bandit gang would try selling their loot in the middle of nowhere? Yuheng City is the closest city to Longchuan and has plenty of people—it really is the ideal market." "Word has it they also sell into Jintao," Chao Qian added. "Longchuan connects to the Yin River, so when bandits are pushed to the brink, they flee toward Jintao." "So their rat holes run in every direction. That makes it tricky to clear them out in one fell swoop." He Lingchuan asked, "Have we sent anyone undercover into Longchuan?" Suppressing bandits, after all, was fundamentally an exchange of spies, wasn't it? "We sent three men in just over a month ago, but none of them have made a name for themselves yet, nor have they passed back any useful intelligence." He Lingchuan instructed him, "First, map out the distribution and makeup of the bandits in Longchuan, especially the remnants of Xiji who recently fled there to turn bandit!" Chao Qian gave a solemn, respectful nod. "Understood." He Lingchuan then summoned the peregrine falcon. "Fly to Panlong City and fetch Skinny. I have an important mission for him. Tell him the pay is handsome—enough to cover all his youngest sister's schooling in one go. Also, I have a roster here of twenty men. Go to General Red and requisition them for me." These twenty men were all seasoned Gale Army veterans. Drilling troops required instructors, so he needed people he knew and trusted. Coming to Yuheng City meant a promotion and a raise; those fellows wouldn't be able to refuse. The peregrine falcon tilted its head, peering at him. In the past, whenever this kid asked it to run an errand, he had cajoled, coaxed, and lavished it with perks. How had he gotten so smooth at issuing direct commands now? He Lingchuan put on a stern face. "Military orders! Off with you, double quick!" Indeed, among the civil and military officials here, none held a rank higher than his. With no choice, the peregrine took the list, beat its wings, and flew westward. Just then, Willow arrived to report that the bandits captured yesterday had confessed. "Oh? You say this band of robbers was almost run out of Longchuan themselves?" He Lingchuan's curiosity piqued. "Come on, let's go hear what they have to say." *** Dusk was falling, but thanks to the reflection from the snow on the ground, the dense forest wasn't too dim. The way ahead was exceptionally rugged. At times there was no path at all, only craggy boulders and deep ravines. This was an untrodden way impassable to fine steeds, but it posed no challenge to He Lingchuan or Zhu Daniang. Thus, the sure-footed rock sheep temporarily served as Dong Rui's mount. Even so, Dong Rui was jolted so much by the hopping, bounding rock sheep that his rear ached terribly. Seeing his limp, exhausted state, Zhu Daniang taunted, "Wasn't it you who picked this route?" Dong Rui's little scout creatures could fly into the sky to reconnoiter ahead, so the duty of guide had fallen to him. Who knew this fellow would shun perfectly good main roads to choose a winding sheep path, which eventually petered out into complete dead ends. "I wanted to take a shortcut," Dong Rui grumbled. From the sky, the line had looked so clear; how was he supposed to know the terrain on the ground would be so tortuous? After fleeing Lingxu City, they had escaped westward without a moment's pause. Through several close scrapes along the way, they finally bid farewell to Beijia on the twenty-third day! A triumphant great escape. Their speed in flight had outpaced the news of Mount Xu's upheaval and the transmission of Lingxu City's wanted notices. The farther west they fled, the safer they became. By the time they departed the Xuluo Kingdom, the local vassal demon king had only just received word from Lingxu City, leaving the entire demon state no time to react. Beijia was simply too vast; news traveled from east to west with a substantial delay. Regardless, they had now passed beyond Xuluo Kingdom's northwestern border, which meant they were entirely out of Beijia territory. From that moment on, they were genuinely safe. "Look, there's a village up ahead!" About fifteen zhang ahead, tucked behind the woods, stood a small village. The three walked over and found some twenty houses in the village, though trees grew through the roofs of seven or eight of them and vines tightly choked their outer walls. Clearly, the village had long been abandoned. Yet this was precisely He Lingchuan and company's destination. They needed a secluded place. A deserted village in the wild mountains could not be more fitting. At that moment, the woods ahead rustled softly. The two men instantly went on high alert, but Zhu Daniang was overjoyed. "My sister is here!" Sure enough, a colossal spider emerged from the woods. Nearly a zhang tall with thick, heavy chelicerae, it looked like a moving house. This was someone He Lingchuan knew all too well: Zhu Erniang had arrived! The moment He Lingchuan had blown the spider xun in the Mount Xu formation core, Zhu Erniang, far away in the Demon Nest, had sensed it. Ancient immortals possessed methods beyond mortal comprehension, and having hatched from the same egg and lived together for more than three millennia, she and Zhu Daniang had long cultivated an extraordinary telepathic bond. Upon learning that He Lingchuan had stolen the immortal molt from Mount Xu, she had decisively relocated from the Demon Nest, advancing along the outer fringes of Beijia to rendezvous with Zhu Daniang. Even though she had operated the Demon Nest for countless years, the Heavenly Palace knew full well the origins of the immortal molt. For Zhu Erniang, the Demon Nest was no longer safe. She had no choice but to abandon much of her possessions and depart without hesitation. "Erniang, you finally—" The rest of the sentence died in his throat before he could finish, because several more giant spiders were emerging one after another behind Zhu Erniang! One, two, three, four, five—a full five massive spiders, and every single one was even larger than Zhu Erniang! The clearing in the woods could hardly contain them. Two of the spiders had clambered over a giant boulder, perching firmly with their bodies nearly perpendicular to the ground. Including Zhu Erniang, the overwhelming presence of all six behemoths gathered together frightened the rock sheep into backing up several steps. After the initial shock and spine-chilling dread passed, He Lingchuan suddenly realized: weren't these five all Zhu Erniang's former molts? Their appearance was identical down to the star charts on their bellies, differing only slightly in size.