Chapter 89
No one knew exactly when the Saint vanished. Muna swore up and down that she wasn’t lying. She had just finished her night watch and stepped out to check on her two senior sisters. It couldn’t have been more than a moment, but when she returned, the sleeping Saint had disappeared without a trace.
They were all seasoned mercenaries; if someone had broken in to kidnap her, they would have noticed. Could the Saint have truly vanished into thin air?
The two captains had only just fallen asleep when they were rudely awakened. But upon hearing the news of the Saint’s disappearance, any trace of sleepiness vanished instantly.
Muna led them into the room where it had happened. Hua Yumu didn’t rush to action. Instead, he carefully surveyed the area before crouching down to examine a small patch of disturbed dust in the corner.
The cleaning staff must have been careless, leaving this spot untouched.
He didn’t seem to mind the dirt. Instead, he gently touched the dust with his fingertip, which instantly turned gray, as if he were gauging its thickness.
There was a spot that seemed thinner than the rest…
Watching Hua Yumu’s meticulous actions, Muna couldn’t help feeling anxious. “Captain Hua, what are you doing?”
Jing Tianyang shook his head, signaling her to be quiet. s a fellow captain, he was well aware of Captain Hua’s background—a nomadic tribesman skilled in the art of tracking. Given some time, he would likely notice details others might overlook.
…
Outside, as dawn broke, Wakako and Lin Lin raced through the streets, one after the other, not daring to pause for even a moment.
Jinxin Port was primarily a merchant town. Shopkeepers were already up, setting out their stalls. They cast curious glances at the two young women with disheveled hair, clearly in a hurry.
The pair scoured the surrounding streets as quickly as they could, but found no sign of suspicious activity. They didn’t even catch a glimpse of a white robe’s hem.
Lagging behind her senior sister, Lin Lin finally ran out of stamina. Gasping for breath, she leaned against a wall. “Senior Sister, let’s stop running around aimlessly. We should go back and see if Master and the others have found anything.”
Despite Wakako’s burning desire to keep searching, she couldn’t deny the logic in her junior’s words. Blindly rushing through Jinxin Port would only risk splitting up their team, making them vulnerable to diversionary tactics. Reluctantly, she agreed to return with her junior sister.
The three back at the inn had already dressed and prepared to leave.
Wakako frowned and asked, “Master, have you discovered anything?”
“Nothing,” Hua Yumu shook his head slowly. “Besides the four of you, there’s no trace of anyone else entering the room. Even the Saint didn’t leave any trace when she left.”
He said, “The Saint is frail and not suited for travel. If someone had abducted her, they would have had to carry her on their back. The extra weight would have deepened their footprints, leaving a trail we could follow. But there are no such footprints in the room…”
Jing Tianyang’s expression darkened as he pondered, “But a living person can’t just vanish into thin air.”
Muna, feeling the weight of responsibility most keenly, couldn’t contain her anxiety. “Then let’s not just stand here! Our top priority should be to search the entire city.”
Fortunately, Jinxin Port was still within Mios territory, making their actions easier to justify. Armed with the royal decree given to them before their departure, Hua Yumu quickly had the entire city locked down. Even the ships in the harbor were ordered not to leave.
The trial was meant to be covert, so they couldn’t risk causing a citywide panic. The kidnappers wouldn’t be foolish enough to leave the Saint in her conspicuous white robes, so the group only provided the city guards with a general description of her appearance. They specifically instructed them to look out for young women wearing veils, without divulging any other details.
Wakako simply drew a portrait and gave it to the soldiers searching the city, so they could identify her. With just a few strokes, she captured Miki’s likeness with remarkable accuracy.
The city officials, startled into action, learned that these visitors were mercenaries from the capital. Though they didn’t know the identity of the woman being sought, they didn’t dare show any negligence.
“Captain Hua, please try to remain calm. We promise to provide you with answers,” one official assured him.
Hua barely registered the words, his attention fixed on Wakako’s sketch. The portrait was strikingly lifelike, almost as if the Saint herself were present. The red of her lips, in particular, was rendered with perfect subtlety.
“Captain Hua?”
The call snapped him back to reality. Hua reached into his robes and pulled out an unremarkable small pouch. From it, he produced a few pure white flower petals. They had come from the Divine temple in the royal palace, a divine harbinger of the trial to come.
The first petal had already begun to wither, which could only mean one thing…
The moment they set foot in this city, the trial had already begun.
***
Since its founding, Jinxin Port had always been a bustling hub of activity. This was the first—and likely only—time the city had been locked down for three days. No one could enter, and those inside couldn’t leave. The city’s residents were growing increasingly restless and vocal in their complaints.
Yet still, there was no sign of the missing woman.
Given the distance from the inn to the port or city gates, even if the Saint had been taken the moment Muna left the room, there simply wasn’t enough time for anyone to escape on horseback before the lockdown was ordered. Even Wakako admitted she couldn’t have managed such a feat.
This meant the Saint had to still be within the city walls. But where could she possibly be hiding?
The five mercenaries, along with the city guards, had tirelessly searched every inch of the city. They’d questioned every household yet found not even a shadow of the missing woman.
Watching Wakako devour her fifth bun, Lin Lin shot her a sidelong glance and sighed heavily, “How can you eat at a time like this? Lady Saint, where could you possibly have gone…”
Wakako swallowed the bun with a sip of water, saying nothing.
“What are we going to do?” Lin Lin, still childlike in many ways, was always the first to panic in a crisis. Looking utterly lost, she rambled on. “Without the Saint, what’s the point of the trial? We’re going to lose without a fight.”
She rambled on for a long time before Hua Yumu finally told her to stop. “Alright! Nothing is certain yet. Stop this useless chatter.”
Chastised by her master, Lin Lin reluctantly fell silent, though her eyes still betrayed her despair and frustration.
Muna covered her face and sobbed softly, “I’m sorry… If only I had stayed by the Saint’s side, none of this would have happened…”
“That’s enough! It’s all your fault,” Jing Tianyang snapped impatiently. “You made such a serious mistake, what’s the point of crying now? You’d be better off pulling yourself together and thinking of a solution.”
His words ignited Muna’s simmering anger. She was already under immense psychological pressure; she completely broke down under her teammate’s accusation. “I was just keeping watch alone! Would the outcome have been any different if it had been you?”
Jing Tianyang’s mood hadn’t been good these past few days, and his tone became harsher. “Of course it would have been different! With your level of vigilance, you’re a disgrace to mercenaries!”
“You!”
“What about me?”
Muna was so angry she could only cry, unable to form words.
At that moment, Lin Lin chimed in with a sarcastic tone, “Now’s not the time to shift the blame. We all lost the Saint together. We might as well all die together.”
Jing Tianyang exploded with rage. “Die? Who’s dying with you? This is clearly her fault!” He jabbed his finger viciously at Muna.
He pointed his finger at Muna angrily.
Hua Yumu said in a deep voice, “Captain Jing! You’re a captain, how can you argue with your juniors?”
“Oh, Captain Hua, you’re so magnanimous. Why don’t you just take all the blame for this incident yourself then?”
Throughout the heated exchange, Wakako watched with cold detachment. Even when the others tried to draw her into the argument, she remained silent, as if she hadn’t heard a word.
She finished her bun slowly, seemingly oblivious to its dryness. Then she stood up and left the room, heading towards the inn’s back door.
“Senior Sister, where are you going?” Lin Lin quickly followed, eager to escape the tense atmosphere. “I’ll come with you.”
“I’m going to the bathroom,” Wakako replied.
“Me too.” Lin Lin insisted, clinging to her senior. She continued to complain, “I really don’t want to stay with them….”
Wakako listened patiently.
Back in the room, Jing Tianyang had stormed off, while Muna continued to cry silently. She failed to notice that Hua Yumu was still present. He suddenly moved closer and whispered, “Muna, calm down and listen to me.”
Muna was startled by the Alpha’s pheromones and stepped back, but Captain Hua’s voice was soft and steady as he continued. “Something has infiltrated our group of five.”
“What… something?” she asked, confused by his choice of words.
On the other side of the wall, Jing Tianyang had returned to the adjacent room. He pressed his ear against the wall, holding his breath as he strained to hear their conversation. He could only catch fragments of what was being said.
He heard Hua Yumu explaining patiently.
“I know you’re not… those two girls are my apprenticies, I know them… so…”
He didn’t know what the last part of the sentence was, but it made Muna gasp in shock.
“You mean…”
“That’s right.”
“Act now?”
“Yes.”
Muna took a deep breath. In that instant, her mercenary instincts kicked in, and she made her own judgment: “Alright!”
In the next room, Jing Tianyang’s eyes darkened as he tightened his grip on his weapon.
Hearing Hua Yumu and Muna going downstairs, he skillfully climbed out of the window.
…
Meanwhile, at the back of the inn, Lin Lin wrinkled her nose as they approached the outhouse, “Hurry up, I don’t want to stand here.”
Wakako suddenly said, “Is there anyone else around right now?”
“I don’t think so,” Lin Lin didn’t know why she asked, but she instinctively looked around. “No, there’s no one.”
“Good, I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“Someone has infiltrated our group of five. I need to find and kill that person quickly.”
Lin Lin’s expression turned to shock. “What do you mean? Are you saying someone is disguised as one of us? Who?”
Wakako smiled. “It’s…”
…
In the shadows, unseen figures stealthily approached, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Their sword tips were poised, ready to plunge into their target.
They waited patiently until they spotted an opening .
Four swords whistled through the air, simultaneously piercing their victim’s body. The strike was fatal, destroying vital organs. No one could have survived such an attack.
Blood pooled on the ground.
Lin Lin’s eyes turned cold. “So it was you, Sister Wakako.”
…
At the same time, Wakako slowly sheathed her sword, looking at the body that had vanished in an instant, and said softly, “It was the four of you, Junior Sister.”
