Chapter 233: A Turn for the Better

You might not believe this if we told you, but we spent three days squatting in this mountain ravine and ended up capturing our own people.

For a moment, Zheng Fan, A’Ming, and the Blind Man exchanged looks.

The Blind Man had no eyes to exchange looks with, but he still pretended he did!

There was no way to smooth this over as a simple misunderstanding.

Two members of the Secret Intelligence Department had already been killed by their side.

Even if they reported the whole matter upward truthfully, it would be difficult to clean up.

The Marquis of Jingnan could shield Zheng Fan from plenty of things. As protective umbrellas went, his was thick enough to rank among the top three in the entire Great Yan Dynasty.

But the problem was this: once you learned about the Helian Clan’s treasure vault, why didn’t you report it?

You actually dared to secretly search for the treasure yourself?

You, the City Defender of Shengle City, attempted to swallow an entire treasure vault for yourself?

What exactly were you plotting?

This mess was already stuck to their crotches.

So, as for the brave man of the Secret Intelligence Department before them whether he wanted to hit the road or not, he was hitting the road.

No matter what happened, there was no possibility of letting him leave alive.

Zheng Fan reached out and removed the file that had been wedged in the man’s mouth.

The man immediately demanded, “Who are you people?!”

Zheng Fan answered calmly, “The Eastern Depot of the State of Dacheng!”

“…”

The Blind Man.

“…”

A’Ming.

“Eastern Depot?”

“An office just like your Yan Secret Intelligence Department.”

The man’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He seemed to be analyzing whether this intelligence was accurate.

“The Helian Clan’s treasure vault belongs to us Jin people! You Yan people took our land and still aren’t satisfied? Now you want to covet the wealth wrung from the blood and sweat of the people of Jin?”

“Ridiculous! The Helian Clan’s lands are obviously territory of the Great Yan Dynasty now. Whatever belonged to the Helian Clan belongs to the Great Yan Dynasty!”

Well now.

A genuine hero.

Even the way he spoke sounded thoroughly Yan.

A thought flashed through Zheng Fan’s mind.

He smiled and said, “You people certainly worked hard, going through all that trouble to let the Helian Clan’s young lady escape.

“Unfortunately for you, she’s fallen into our hands instead.”

The man’s expression instantly changed.

He cried out, “You—you have a mole inside the Secret Intelligence Department!”

He left the rest unsaid, but anyone could infer it: otherwise, how could they possibly know about this?

Zheng Fan slowly exhaled.

He had guessed correctly.

Truthfully, after learning Helian Baozhu’s identity, Zheng Fan had already begun to suspect something.

Because he understood Yan’s style far too well.

Tian Wujing was the sort of man capable of exterminating his own entire clan.

And a madman like Li Fusheng had been raised into a Regional Commander by the Zhenbei Army.

The Helian Clan had dared kick Yan while it was down and take the initiative to invade.

When Yan struck back, how could they possibly leave even the chickens and dogs alive?

And sure enough, that was exactly what had happened.

Helian Baozhu had clearly been deliberately released by the Secret Intelligence Department.

They had wanted to let out a long line to catch a big fish.

The man snorted coldly.

“You won’t escape. There are several thousand Yan troops nearby!”

Zheng Fan froze for a moment when he heard this.

Then he understood what the man meant.

Obviously, the military operation several days earlier had surprised these agents of the Secret Intelligence Department as well.

It had even caused them to lose track of Helian Baozhu’s group.

Which meant the “several thousand Yan troops” this man had just mentioned were Zheng Fan’s own soldiers.

Heh.

Now this was amusing.

You’re threatening me with my own army?

At that moment, the Blind Man spoke.

“Mas—… Depot Master.”

“Hmm?”

“I have a few things I’d like to say to him.”

“Go ahead.”

The Blind Man lowered his head toward the captive.

“Look. Two of your brothers are already dead, and you’ve fallen into our hands. If you’re willing, you can absolutely defect to our Eastern Depot. In the future, you’ll enjoy endless—”

The man’s body suddenly trembled.

Blood began pouring from his mouth.

Mockery filled his eyes.

He had bitten off his tongue.

The Blind Man sighed.

He turned and glanced toward Zheng Fan.

Zheng Fan nodded.

Understanding, the Blind Man covered the man’s eyes with one hand.

A silver needle pierced directly into an acupoint.

He gave the man a quick death.

By the pool, Fan Li had already climbed out.

His entire body was dripping wet, and a corpse was slung over his back.

“Perfect timing, A’Li. Dig a pit and bury all three of them.”

Fan Li scratched his head.

Then nodded.

He hoisted all three corpses onto himself, walked into the distance, and began digging.

At that moment, Xue San returned as well.

He held a dagger in his hand.

There was still blood on its blade.

“Master, I dealt with the two over there. Huh? Where’s the prisoner?”

Xue San looked confused.

Why were they all dead?

“We killed the wrong people. They were from the Secret Intelligence Department,” the Blind Man explained.

“Yan’s Secret Intelligence Department?”

Realization dawned on Xue San.

“No wonder the last guy I killed cursed me with a bit of a Yan accent before he died. I thought I’d misheard.”

Zheng Fan sat down again at the cave entrance.

“San’er, go bring those two corpses back too. Give them to Fan Li and have him bury them together.”

They were comrades in arms, after all.

Killing them had been a misunderstanding.

Xue San nodded and turned back to retrieve the bodies.

A’Ming sat down and looked at the wound in his abdomen.

Silently, he took out his waterskin again and drank a few mouthfuls of blood.

The Blind Man turned toward Zheng Fan.

“Master, since the Secret Intelligence Department was still searching around here, that proves the Yan court hasn’t found the treasure vault’s contact either.

“We still have a very good chance.”

Zheng Fan rubbed between his brows.

“Things aren’t as simple as they were before.”

“Master, there’s no need to worry about that. The identity you invented earlier is perfect, isn’t it?

“We can throw the blame onto someone else. The State of Dacheng’s Eastern Depot, Qian’s Silver-Armored Guard, even some jianghu faction or gang—any of them will do.

“As long as we arrange things cleverly and leave behind a few traces, we can always wash ourselves clean.

“Even if we find the treasure vault, we can think of a way to launder that too. It’s only money. We don’t have to spend it like nouveau riche.”

Zheng Fan nodded.

“You’ve thought it through more thoroughly.”

No matter what, they could not possibly give up on the treasure vault.

They had already waited almost three days.

Walking away now would feel like an enormous loss.

The Secret Intelligence Department had added some pressure, but Zheng Fan and the others had no deep patriotic attachment to the Great Yan Dynasty.

Nor would they feel much guilt.

“Once A’Li finishes burying the bodies, we continue.

“We’ll wait another three days.

“If the contact still hasn’t appeared by then, we stop wasting time.”

There was still plenty of work waiting back home.

They could not remain planted here forever dreaming of striking it rich.

“This subordinate understands.”

…

“A’Li, dig it a little deeper. Bury these two with them too.”

“Got it.”

Xue San clapped the dirt from his hands.

“Then I’m heading back to Master. You keep busy.”

“Got it.”

Xue San successfully escaped the labor and ran back.

Taking advantage of the lull to flatter Master a little and say a few pleasant words cost nothing, after all.

Fan Li remained behind alone to dig the pit.

He dug quickly.

Before long, a large grave had been excavated.

He climbed out and sat down, intending to rest before putting the corpses inside.

Just then, a sound suddenly came from the forest ahead.

Fan Li seemed not to hear anything at all.

He merely shifted his body a little closer to the pair of axes he had left on the ground.

A moment later, two figures walked out of the forest.

Yes.

They simply walked out openly and brazenly.

Even Fan Li, who was usually regarded as the group’s idiot, felt that these two were being absurdly idiotic.

Both wore standard savage clothing.

Animal hides covered their bodies.

One carried a bow.

The other carried a saber.

The saber-wielding savage walked straight to the five corpses that had yet to be buried.

He crouched and examined them.

Then he turned excitedly toward his companion.

“No mistake. They’re agents of the Yan dogs’ Secret Intelligence Department!”

Fan Li frowned.

He felt that the situation might not be so simple.

At the same time, he unconsciously suppressed his urge to swing up both axes and hack them apart.

Fan Li stared at the two men.

Then asked, “Where’re y’all from?”

The bow-carrying savage immediately answered, “That’s right! We’re from Geda Mountain!”

“…”

Fan Li.

For the first time, Fan Li understood what the other Demon Kings normally felt when looking at him.

“When Boss Yang came looking for us, the Yan dogs were chasing him. He’d been hit by several arrows. He barely made it to Geda Mountain and found us before he died.

“The two of us brothers left Geda Mountain and have spent several days searching for you. We nearly ran into agents of the Yan dogs’ Secret Intelligence Department several times.

“A while ago, Yan troops came through too and caused an enormous commotion.

“Fortunately, we finally found you.”

The other savage then asked, “Is the young lady safe?”

“Safe,” Fan Li answered.

“Take us to see the young lady. This place isn’t safe. Once we pick her up, we leave immediately.”

“Okay.”

Fan Li nodded again.

Then he pointed toward the five corpses on the ground.

“Bury ’em first.”

Without caring that the two men were standing beside him, he bent down and tossed the five Yan corpses into the pit.

The savage carrying the bow nodded.

“Right. We should dispose of these Yan dogs’ bodies first. Otherwise, they could expose our trail. You’re careful in your work.”

Fan Li nodded very seriously.

He deeply agreed.

After the bodies had been buried, Fan Li pointed behind himself.

“The young lady’s over there. Follow me.”

With that, Fan Li picked up his axes and headed back.

The two savages followed behind him.

And so, under the dumbfounded gazes of Zheng Fan, the Blind Man, A’Ming, and Xue San, Fan Li simply brought the two men straight back.

He pointed at them.

“People from Geda Mountain. Came to pick us up.”

The two savages immediately cupped their fists.

“This one is A’Tong.”

“This one is A’Mu.”

Xue San badly wanted to ask Fan Li:

I sent you out to bury some dead men. Where the hell did you pick up a pair of Astro Boys?

But Xue San quickly realized something was wrong.

Because he saw Master and the Blind Man their bodies had begun trembling slightly.

There were actually tears glistening at the corners of their eyes.

Their mouths hung slightly open, with thin threads of saliva stretching between their lips.

Fuck.

You two got into character that quickly?

Zheng Fan immediately walked out of the cave.

He took three steps, then stopped.

Then took another three steps forward.

His face wore the expression of a man who had endured countless hardships and finally found his own people.

His voice overflowed with shock, hope, wariness, and disbelief.

He choked out, “Is it really— really you?

Is it truly you?

Why did you only come now?

Why did you only come now!!!”

[End of Chapter 233]