Chapter 97
Hidden enemies…?
Wakako looked down at the fully loaded wagons. Could this be why the boxes were so unusually heavy?
Old Chen urged the drivers to move quickly, and soon the wagons began to move out one by one. The three mercenaries pretended to leave but didn’t go far, their eyes fixed on the horse tracks on the ground.
“If only we had bows,” Wakako muttered, disappointed that they hadn’t brought any to remain inconspicuous.
Wakako drew her short blade from her waist and asked the others, “Shall we go?”
The other two nodded, “Let’s go.”
The boxes were so heavy that the wagon wheels left deep tracks. They didn’t even need tracking skills to easily discern the direction in the darkness.
Just as they were about to set off, Wakako and Hua Yumu both hesitated. The master and apprentice, sharing an unspoken understanding, simultaneously thought of a crucial question—
Old Chen was smuggling people, yet he was leaving such obvious tracks behind? Wouldn’t that make it too easy for someone to follow them?
Jing Tianyang frowned, “What’s wrong?”
Wakako expressed her doubts, but he dismissed them. “So what? Old Chen’s got protection from higher-ups; he’s confident he won’t be caught.”
“But…”
“Besides, his cargo is so heavy, it has to be transported to the warehouse somehow. No matter how they try to conceal it, horse tracks and wheel marks are inevitable and can’t be hidden immediately. Perhaps he’ll send someone to clean up these traces later?”
That made sense.
There was no time to dwell on this now. The urgent matter was to check if there really were people hidden in those boxes.
The three moved swiftly through the night like hunting leopards, chasing their prey relentlessly.
Soon, Wakako found an opportunity. She deftly climbed onto the roof of one of the wagons, her body perfectly balanced, making no sound—just a faint whisper of air.
The wagon driver looked back but saw nothing, so he paid no further attention.
Compared to the weight of the cargo, Wakako’s slight presence went unnoticed. She silently made her way into the wagon, heading straight for one of the box she had already unlocked earlier.
Ten wagons, twenty horses, twenty drivers, fifty boxes.
Were there really people hidden inside? Wouldn’t they suffocate?
She opened the lid again and quickly found the hidden compartment. But instead of seeing anyone, there was nothing but glittering gold.
So much gold… The value was unimaginable. No wonder they had gone to such lengths to hide it.
Wakako searched all the boxes in this wagon without finding a single person. She leaped to another wagon to continue her search.
The three of them quickly searched through all the cargo, communicating with specific signals in the darkness, but none of them found anything.
Waka ko, positioned near the front of the caravan, signaled to the others: “Time to act?”
Her companions responded with a hand gesture of agreement.
Wakako drew her blade and silently apologized to the horse before swinging down to hang from the wagon’s side, stabbing the horse sharply in the rear.
The horse let out a loud neigh and bolted forward in a frenzy. The driver, caught off guard, nearly lost his grip on the reins, barely managing to stay on the wagon.
Old Chen, who was also riding a horse pulling cargo, saw this from behind and quickly reined in his horse, shouting, “The cargo! Protect the cargo!”
If the boxes were damaged, all his efforts would be wasted!
The horse, panicked, crashed into the wagon ahead, causing a chain reaction as one after another lost control. Even the most experienced drivers couldn’t handle so many horses going wild at once .
Finally, a driver fell from his seat, and his panicked horse reared up, toppled by the weight of the boxes.
“The cargo!”
The chaos gave Wakako the perfect opportunity to act. She leapt down, striking the drivers at the back of their necks with swift hand strikes, knocking them unconscious without killing them.
Hua Yumu and Jing Tianyang were slightly slower than her, but still fast enough.
Nineteen men were taken out in an instant.
The seemingly frail Old Chen was still shouting for the drivers to protect the cargo when he suddenly realized everyone had fallen unconscious. The horses were either injured or panicked, leaving only him still seated steadily on his horse.
Before him, standing atop the wagons, were the same faces of those who had helped with the work earlier.
Old Chen immediately realized he had fallen into a trap. For smuggling and human trafficking, discovery meant certain death, and not even his connections could save him.
Panicking, he hurriedly untied the ropes securing the horse to the wagon, abandoning the cargo in his bid to escape. But Wakako was faster. She flipped in the air and landed in front of him, blade drawn, blocking his path.
Her two companions quickly followed, cutting off any chance of escape.
Old Chen’s face turned ashen, knowing he had nowhere to run. He spoke hoarsely, “Who… who are you? Jinxin patrol? Or have you come from the capital?”
Wakako didn’t waste words with him, only saying, “Tell me the locations of all your ports, and you’ll live.”
A cunning fox has many dens. They had already inspected the cargo boxes and found only a small amount of the hallucinogenic plant. Surely, there were more hidden elsewhere.
“Who would believe you?” Old Chen gritted his teeth. “This is a capital offense… Even if the Queen herself came, she couldn’t spare my life.”
If he confessed, his crime would be sealed, and he’d lose his livelihood. Prison would be the least of his worries.
Wakako’s expression remained calm, the tip of her cold blade pressing against his forehead. “If you don’t believe me, then you die now.”
What choice did he have?
Old Chen’s eyes filled with struggle.
Hua Yumu narrowed his eyes and asked another question: “Have you ever smuggled people?”
The Saint’s prophecy couldn’t be wrong. The question was whether the enemies hidden in the cargo were there already or if it was something yet to happen.
Old Chen turned his head, answering promptly this time: “No, why would I smuggle people?”
“To betray the kingdom by collaborating with the enemy.”
“You think I’m like those Saionji rats?” He snorted coldly with contempt.
The treason committed by the Saionji clan was a scandal that had rocked the kingdom. Jinxin Port, being the epicenter, was particularly aware of the event.
Wakako’s fist clenched involuntarily when she heard him mention the Saionji clan with such disdain.
Hua Yumu gracefully leaped down from the wagon: “Wakako, go notify the guards. We’ll handle this man with Captain Jing.”
As captains, they had special interrogation techniques at their disposal.
Old Chen, sensing the threat in their words, was still more concerned about his cargo than his life. “Where are you taking my cargo?!”
“We’ll destroy them all, of course.”
“No! I…”
“We know what they do. These plants cause hallucinations,” Hua Yumu’s handsome face showed a trace of disgust. “You’ve hoarded them to sell to others in Jinxin, to get them addicted and make a profit.”
Jing Tianyang, also a captain deeply trusted by their Queen, was no less patriotic than anyone. He lowered his voice: “Do you realize how much damage this would cause to Mios? If everyone becomes addicted to this drug, what will happen to Jinxin Port? To the kingdom? Your selfishness is despicable!”
The two men spoke harshly, and Old Chen began to sweat, his lips trembled: “…That’s not it.”
He muttered under his breath, “I wasn’t trying to get people addicted…”
“Hah.” Jing Tianyang laughed coldly. “Then what did you make this for?”
Wakako lit the signal flare in her hand. Soon, a wisp of purple smoke rose into the sky. The law enforcement and patrol squads would arrive shortly to handle these matters.
She turned back, seeing Old Chen’s pale face and the faint glimmer of hope still in his eyes.
“I just… I just wanted to see my family again,”
He said very softly.
Everyone was stunned.
Old Chen’s voice cracked as he continued, “A few years ago, a strange disease ravaged the city. My wife and daughter caught this incurable illness and didn’t survive that winter. Only I lived…”
He had already figured out that Old Six and Big Brother were probably coerced into coming here. He smiled bitterly: “Old Six’s parents and Big Brother’s fiancée were also taken by that disease.”
His voice grew increasingly hoarse, becoming barely audible: “What did I do wrong?”
“I just miss them.”
“I just want to see them again…”
They had planned to interrogate him further before the patrol arrived, but Hua Yumu, and even Jing Tianyang, found themselves hesitating.
They were accustomed to violence and separation, to life and death. By all rights, they should have been unmoved, yet they hesitated to act.
Now they understood why Old Six and Big Brother had refused to reveal anything about the leaves.
Wakako stood in silence, saying nothing as the patrol arrived, swiftly arresting Old Chen and the unconscious drivers and confiscating the cargo ds.
“This one will come with us,” Hua Yumu said softly.
Old Chen hadn’t yet revealed the locations of his other operations. They needed to make him talk.
The horses and wagons were still usable, so there was no need to return to the inn on foot. They had struck lightly; the horses had only sustained minor injuries and were still able to run.
Jing Tianyang rode at the front, guiding the wagon, while Hua Yumu communicated with Lin Lin and the others via their communication stones. Old Chen was tied up securely, with no chance of escape.
Wakako sat opposite him.
She looked at the man, slumped in defeat, and for a moment, she saw herself at eighteen.
When Wakako had believed Miki was dead, she had spent countless sleepless nights, sometimes going days without eating, and other times mechanically chewing her food only to vomit it all back up. Her throat had burned like it was on fire, but she hadn’t stopped.
She had snuck back to the Saionji clan’s old estate, wandered alone in the mountains, burying herself in dirt as if that could erase everything. But no matter what she did, nothing had worked.
If only she had been able to escape into an illusion back then, to pretend none of it had ever happened…
Wakako asked very softly: “How old was your daughter?”
Old Chen raised his eyes.
“She wasn’t even five,” he said.
Such a small child…
Old Chen seemed to perceive something: “I have a request.”
“There are still some leaves in the pouch at my waist. Could you give me one?” he lowered his head, smiling. “I know I’m as good as dead, but I just want to see them one more time. Just once more.”
Wakako removed the pouch from his waist, finding several crumpled leaves inside.
She picked one up.
Old Chen suddenly said: “You have someone you miss too, don’t you?”
His eyes were incredibly deep, as if they could draw her in.
“Do you have regrets? Don’t you want to see her again? Don’t you want to escape from all of this and live in the past?”
Wakako listened silently, staring at him without moving.
“You’ve already tasted its effects, haven’t you? You know what it can do.”
“Don’t you want to try it… just one more time?
***
Outside the wagon, Hua Yumu gripped the communication stone tightly, giving Lin Lin a brief account of the night’s events. He told her they didn’t need backup and to quickly return to the inn, warning her not to linger outside for too long.
But he received no response for a long time.
“Lin Lin?” Hua Yumu frowned and called out again. It didn’t make sense—she should still be within range.
Lin Lin held her communication stone tightly, her silence stretching on as she stepped back cautiously. Together with Muna, she positioned herself protectively in front of the Saint, whose black veil fluttered slightly in the night wind.
After a long pause, Miki finally spoke, her voice barely audible: “Twenty.”
Lin Lin, sensing danger, moved with utmost care, her hand slowly reaching for the bow strapped to her back.
