Chapter 732: Meetup

Chao Qian explained, "Some bandit gangs know in advance which caravans are departing, when they're leaving, and even what goods they're transporting. We've caught many informants, but we can never catch them all."

He Lingchuan, however, said, "Well-established bandit gangs operate exactly this way."

The sand bandits outside Blackwater City, along the Red Cliff Road, operate in this manner. Even petty thieves scout their targets before striking; naturally, those who rob and kill are more meticulous. Some sand bandits even collude with local officials, a practice known as being in cahoots.

His father, He Chunhua, was well aware of such schemes, and Young Master He, having grown up observing them, no longer found them surprising. Fortunately, the bandit problem in Yuheng City hadn't deteriorated to that extent.

"Our strict crackdowns alone aren't enough; they can still get information from White Sand Bay and other places," He Lingchuan mused. "Have we figured out the bandit gangs' fences yet?"

Stolen money can be spent directly, but stolen goods must be sold for cash. Otherwise, what's the point of robbing them?

"These bandit dens have a division of labor: some specialize in robbery, others in handling the aftermath and fencing goods. Some dens even share a single channel for selling stolen goods. However, the bandits we've caught are all involved in the robberies themselves and haven't dealt with the buyers of stolen goods, so they don't know their connections. They've only heard—"

Chao Qian exhaled, "They say there are fences right here in Yuheng City!"

He expected He Lingchuan to be furious, but the newly appointed commander looked completely unperturbed. "Of course, to sell stolen goods quickly, you need a bustling and prosperous place. What bandit lair would go to a poor, remote village to sell their haul? Yuheng City is the closest city to Longchuan, and it's populous. It's indeed an ideal target."

"I also heard they sell them in Jintao Kingdom," Chao Qian added. "Longchuan is connected to the Yin River, so if the bandits are pushed too hard, they'll flee towards Jintao."

"This rat's nest is quite extensive, making it hard to clear out in one sweep," He Lingchuan said, asking him, "Have we sent anyone to infiltrate Longchuan?"

Suppressing bandits, after all, involves a process of sending out spies.

"We sent three people in over a month ago, but they haven't established themselves yet and haven't provided any useful intelligence."

He Lingchuan instructed him, "First, get a clear picture of the bandit distribution and composition within Longchuan, especially the remnants of Xi Ji who have recently settled there as outlaws!"

Chao Qian responded with a solemn "Yes."

He Lingchuan then summoned the Peregrine Falcon: "Go to Panlong City and find Skinny. I have an important mission for him. Tell him the reward is generous enough to cover his youngest sister's tuition fees in one go. Also, I have a list of twenty people here; go to General Hong and ask her to send them over."

These twenty individuals were all experienced Dafen Army soldiers. Training troops required instructors, so he needed people he knew well and could trust.

Coming to Yuheng City meant a pay raise and promotion; these individuals should not be able to refuse.

The Peregrine Falcon tilted its head, looking at him. In the past, when this young man asked it to run errands, he always coaxed and persuaded it, offering plenty of benefits. How was he now giving orders so smoothly?

He Lingchuan's expression hardened. "It's a military order. Aren't you going?"

Indeed, no military or political official here outranked him. With no other choice, the Peregrine Falcon took the list, flapped its wings, and flew west.

Just then, Willow reported that the bandit caught yesterday had confessed.

"Oh? You mean this gang of robbers almost got driven out of Longchuan themselves?" He Lingchuan's interest was piqued. "Let's go hear about it."

As dusk approached, the dense forest was not dim, thanks to the reflection of the white snow on the ground.

The path ahead was exceptionally rugged, sometimes even non-existent, with only jagged boulders and deep ravines.

This path was unopened, impassable for horses, but it posed no problem for He Lingchuan and Matron Zhu. Thus, the agile rock goat temporarily served as Dong Rui's mount.

Even so, the rock goat's constant bouncing and jumping left his bottom sore.

Seeing his listless appearance, Matron Zhu scoffed, "Didn't you choose this path?"

Dong Rui's small, flying scouts could survey the path ahead, so the task of guiding fell to him. Who knew this fellow would ignore good main roads and choose a winding, narrow trail that eventually disappeared, leading only to dead ends?

"I was trying to find a shortcut," he mumbled. "From above, the route looked very clear, but I didn't realize how uneven the ground was."

After leaving Lingxu City, they fled west without stopping, enduring several adventures along the way, but finally, on the twenty-third day, they bid farewell to Beijia!

A triumphant escape.

Their escape speed was faster than the news of the Xu Mountain incident and faster than the spread of Lingxu City's wanted notices. Thus, the further west they fled, the safer they became. By the time they left Xuluo Kingdom, the local vassal demon king had only just received the news from Lingxu City, but the entire demon kingdom hadn't yet had time to react.

Beijia was simply too vast; news traveling from east to west involved a significant time lag.

In any case, they had left the northwestern border of Xuluo Kingdom, which meant they had completely exited Beijia's territory. From that moment on, they were truly safe.

"Look, there's a village ahead!"

About fifty feet ahead, a small village lay hidden behind the woods.

The three walked over and saw that the village had over twenty dwellings, but seven or eight of them had trees growing on their roofs and their outer walls were tightly covered in vines.

Clearly, the village had long been abandoned.

But this was He Lingchuan and the others' destination.

They needed a secluded place.

A desolate village in the wilderness was perfectly suitable.

Just then, a rustling sound came from the woods ahead. The two immediately became alert, but Matron Zhu was overjoyed. "My sister is here!"

Indeed, a massive spider emerged from the forest, nearly ten feet tall, with sturdy chelicerae, resembling a moving house.

This one, He Lingchuan knew all too well:

Matron Zhu Er has arrived!

The moment He Lingchuan blew the spider ocarina in the heart of the Xu Mountain formation, Matron Zhu Er, far away in the Demon Lair, sensed it.

Ancient immortals possessed some truly inconceivable abilities. Matron Zhu Er, who was born from the same egg as Matron Zhu and had lived with her for over three thousand years, had long developed a peculiar psychic connection. Upon learning that He Lingchuan had stolen the immortal's slough from Xu Mountain, she decisively moved out of the Demon Lair and traveled along the outskirts of Beijia to meet Matron Zhu.

Although she had operated within the Demon Lair for many years, the Heavenly Palace was well aware of the immortal's slough's origins. For Matron Zhu Er, the Demon Lair was no longer safe.

She had to abandon many of her possessions and leave decisively.

"Zhu Er, you finally..." The last two words were swallowed by him, because several more giant spiders emerged one after another from behind Matron Zhu Er!

One, two, three, four, five—a total of five giant spiders, and each one was even larger than Matron Zhu Er!

Including Matron Zhu Er, the oppressive presence of the six giants gathered together scared the rock goat back several steps.

After the initial shock and horror, He Lingchuan suddenly realized: weren't these five all Matron Zhu Er's sloughs?

Their appearances were identical, even the star maps on their bellies were exactly the same, with only slight differences in size.