Chapter 993 - 995 - The Spy Planted Many Years Ago_1
In the mountains of Wucang to the north of Wuyuan City, Jiang Yichun led Yao Yuxuan and several subordinates on a secret search, but what exactly he was looking for, or what he could find, even he wasn’t clear.
When he discovered the Sheepskin Scroll at Batianzhai, he sensed that the matter was extraordinary, and he immediately dispatched someone to urgently send it back to the Capital City, into the hands of the Emperor. By coincidence, the Emperor happened to have a small fragment of Sheepskin Scroll that matched this one. The Emperor brought in experts to decrypt the map, and one of the locations on the map was here, but whether this point was indeed where the treasure lay was something no one could confirm.
Because the map wasn’t only the two pieces in the Emperor’s possession; there likely were other parts as well. The marked point may not necessarily be the spot of the treasure; it might be nothing at all.
By the end of the first day, they finally found the location marked on the map. However, the map was too rudimentary—a tiny spot that represented a large area, even several mountain peaks. Thus, by the end of the day, they hadn’t found anything.
Jiang Yichun was anxious about going to chase his wife and son, very anxious indeed, but as he carried the Imperial Decree, he could not leave until he found what he was searching for.
"If there’s really nothing here, just a random coordinate, haven’t we wasted our efforts?" Finally, Yao Yuxuan also raised his doubts.
Jiang Yichun thought for a moment and said, "Let’s search carefully for three more days. If we still haven’t found anything, I’ll go back to the Capital City to admit my guilt."
Yao Yuxuan patted his shoulder, "Xiaojiang, don’t worry. The Emperor won’t blame you for these aimless things."
By the evening of the second day, just when Jiang Yichun was about to order everyone to light a fire and prepare dinner, his eyes suddenly brightened as he pointed to a distance and said, "Master, look, isn’t the shape of that cave somewhat familiar?"
The mouth of the cave was not round; it was circular on the top and slanted downwards, looking somewhat like a trapezoid with its top horizontal line turned into a curved peak. Looking closely at the markings on the Sheepskin Scroll, it was of the same shape. It was just too small, one wouldn’t notice it without paying close attention.
A look of joy appeared on Jiang Yichun’s face, "That must be the place."
No one was in the mood for dinner anymore, and they all followed Jiang Yichun into the cave.
The cave seemed naturally formed but had been partially worked on by humans. From time to time, stalactites hung down from the ceiling, and the space was very limited. In such a cave, which seemed completely natural, the group encountered a mechanical trap halfway through. The torch in Jiang Yichun’s hand was extinguished, and he suffered a cut on his arm from a hidden weapon. Fortunately, he dodged quickly, and the wound was not serious.
But many of his subordinates let out screams of agony. When the torches were re-lit, he found that most of his men were injured, and the Sheepskin Scroll he was carrying had disappeared without a trace!
"Lightning, do a headcount!" Jiang Yichun barked, his gaze towards Yao Yuxuan, not far beside him, now carrying a hint of scrutiny.
Yao Yuxuan only had several tears in his clothes, looking somewhat disheveled but uninjured. He seemed not to notice Jiang Yichun’s suspicion and took the initiative to bandage Jiang Yichun’s wound.
"Master, we are down two men. There’s no sign of anyone being taken; it looks like they left on their own," Lightning said, snorting coldly. "Some wounds weren’t caused by hidden weapons but by those two taking advantage of the chaos."
Jiang Yichun’s expression turned frightfully cold, "So we have a spy among us."
Most of the men under his command were arranged by the Emperor, and this mission was to search for treasure for the Emperor, so to avoid suspicion, he could not place too many of his own men. Only Chenfeng, Muyu, Lightning, Thunder, and four other dark guards were his trusted subordinates from the floors above, but Chenfeng and Muyu had already been left with Bai Ruozhu, which meant he was essentially left with just those six men.
Lightning did not specify who was missing, but on closer inspection, he realized that he was down by two dark guards.
If someone sent by the Emperor had gone missing, Lightning would have said so outright. Hearing those words, he had already guessed the outcome.
He had considerable influence in the floors above as a hall master, which was why he was able to leverage the power of his faction, and the men he brought with him were all trusted confidantes. When exactly had those two been bought out?
He couldn’t help but recall the incident in Anyuan Town when he was nearly killed, surrounded by assassins, and only survived thanks to Bai Ruozhu’s timely rescue. It was then that he had been betrayed by his servant, Liu Dun.
Liu Dun later committed suicide by poison, and he hadn’t been able to get any clues out of Liu Dun, leaving him in the dark as to whether Liu Dun had been planted by the enemy from the beginning or was bought over later. But he had a nagging feeling that the enemy had planted Liu Dun beside him, perhaps long in advance.
And what of the two dark guards who defected today? Perhaps they, too, had been planted beside him even longer–he had been with them for seven years!
He felt as if a giant, invisible hand was gripping his lineage, having laid traps far ahead, waiting for him to stumble into them. This gave him an extreme sense of discomfort.
But soon he recomposed himself, ordering everyone to rest briefly before continuing on. Perhaps they could still catch the two who had launched a surprise attack.
Everyone was quite irked by the ambush and driven by the incentive; they made quick progress, all eager to capture the two traitors.
Just as they were about to enter a large chamber deep within the cave, they suddenly heard a clamour of banging sounds from inside. Thunder, who had excellent eyesight, quickly showed elation and said, "Heaven indeed has eyes; they’ve triggered a mechanical trap and now can’t even save themselves."
Jiang Yichun quickly made a hushing gesture, signaling everyone to stay still. With a flash, he moved closer, and his two copper coins flew out, striking the knees of the two individuals. The two, occupied with dealing with the activated trap, had no chance to dodge Jiang Yichun’s copper coins and involuntarily fell to their knees in pain.
The moment they fell, they were struck by hidden weapons fired by the trap. The one with stronger martial arts skills was bad enough, but the other looked like a porcupine from the sheer number of hits. Had it not been for his inner strength protecting his Heart Meridian, he likely would have been gravely injured or even dead.
The mechanical trap eventually came to a stop, and Jiang Yichun laughed coldly, "Having someone trigger the traps for us is really not bad. Seize them!"
Lightning and Thunder rushed forward and took control of the two men, quickly hitting their acupoints and then binding them tightly.
Thunder, fearing they might have poison hidden in their teeth or might commit suicide by biting their tongues, simply dislocated their jaws.
"Speak, who planted you by my side?" Jiang Yichun glared fiercely at the two men, dismayed that he had cared for them for so many years, considering them as confidantes.
Neither of the men answered, and suddenly, one of them began convulsing and then lost breath and life. Jiang Yichun didn’t even have time to intervene, and turning to the other, he too began convulsing. This time, however, it was Yao Yuxuan who acted promptly, inserting a silver needle and saving the man’s life.