Chapter 311 - Emissary from the Radiant Raven Sect

"What?" Aged Crow was shocked as he rushed up the horse carriage. "Let me take a look!"

Blazing Dragon had only told them that this was an important trade for the Dongxian Family, but he never mentioned anything about the goods being transported.

To think that the Dongxian Family was actually smuggling young girls out of Bog Town!

Aged Crow was not the only one who was shocked either.

Everyone present, be it Lu Tianzi, the hundreds from the Blazing Wings, the mercenary groups, or even the young lady and the rest of the traders, all of them turned towards the horse carriage in alarm.

Lu Tianzi did not hesitate to stretch his perception over to investigate.

Now that a box had been opened, the concealing formation seemed to have lost its effect, and he could easily see what was within the open box.

Lying in the large box was a young girl at the Primary Essence Building realm, probably around thirteen to fourteen years of age. She had her eyes closed and remained completely still despite the racquet, seeming to be in a deep slumber.

But with his expertise in poison, Lu Tianzi knew instantly that she had been drugged.

Aged Crow went up the horse carriage and personally opened up the other five boxes, only to be greeted with a similar sight each time.

"Shit!" Aged Crow could not help but curse out in anger.

He jumped out of the horse carriage and stomped over to the young lady who was still sitting on the ground. Grabbing her by the collar, Aged Crow forcibly lifted her to her feet. "How dare you assholes do such things? Do you have no sense of empathy for others?!"

"I-I had no idea either!" the young lady stuttered. "I didn't know! I really wasn't told what was in the boxes!"

"As if I would believe you!" Aged Crow slapped her across the face, sending her tumbling to the ground once more. "And you mercenaries! Take a good look! This is what you were about to sacrifice your lives to protect! If we weren't here to stop you, you would have been part of this wretched plan to smuggle girls out of Bog Town! Shame on you!"

Jue and the rest of the mercenaries remained silent at his accusation.

All of them had been stunned speechless by the sudden turn of events, and simply had no words to retort.

"Let me see…" Jue's voice was weak as he slowly trodded towards the horse carriage.

Lu Tianzi released the pressure that he had been applying on everyone, but remained on high alert. He, too, wanted to find out just what was going on here.

According to Blazing Dragon, this was a trade that involved the Dongxian Family.

Did this mean that one of the noble families of Bog Town was into the trade of human trafficking?

Or was this a setup by Blazing Dragon to turn public opinion against the noble families?

Before confirming things, Lu Tianzi dared not jump to conclusions.

As an outsider, he was probably the one who knew the least about the relations connecting each influence within Bog Town. His best course of action now was probably to take a sideline while the rest of them figure things out.

Aged Crow did not stop Jue, and the latter quickly made his way to the horse carriage.

The moment he got onto the horse carriage, he felt his knees go weak.

Indeed, lying in each of the six large boxes was a young girl. All of them were at the Primary Essence Building realm and not past the age of fourteen.

This was what he had signed up for?

The masked man was right. If the horse carriage had not been stopped here, he would have ended up contributing to this wretched scheme!

No, that's not all.

This was not the first time he had seen similar jobs posted for mercenary groups. Just how long had this been going on in the past?

But if this had been going on for a while, then how could there not be any reports made about all these missing girls?

Those damned nobles… they had been suppressing the news!

To be able to suppress news of such magnitude, just what had they done to the families of the missing young girls?

When Jue finally stepped out of the horse carriage, his expression was blank, and he seemed to have lost the light in his eyes.

"Satisfied now?" Aged Crow questioned.

Jue ignored Aged Crow, walking past him and over to the rest of the Iron Claw Brigade. "We are leaving."

"Captain…" Xing muttered with eyes filled with worry.

This was the first time she had seen Jue with such a lost expression on his face.

Jue did not answer Xing either, simply turning around to leave.

The masked men surrounding them immediately readied their weapons upon seeing them approach, but Aged Crow gave the order to let them go.

"The rest of you can go as well, unless you are still in the mood to fight!" Aged Crow shouted to the rest of the mercenaries.

After a short moment of hesitation, the mercenary groups started leaving one by one.

Seeing that they were finally allowed to leave, the young lady who was in charge of the trading team quickly scrambled to her feet. But before she could take another step, Aged Crow stepped in front of her to block her way.

"You are staying," Aged Crow's tone was as cold as ice. "Only the mercenaries are allowed to leave! We will be bringing the traders back with us for questioning!"

Hearing that, the young lady was hit by a sudden spell of giddiness.

Who knew what her fate would be after she was captured by these men?

"Seems like things are done here," Lu Tianzi said to Aged Crow. "Since that is the case, I will be taking my leave as well."

"You aren't coming back with us, White Griffin?" Aged Crow asked in surprise.

"No," Lu Tianzi shook his head. "I've got other things to tend to."

"I see," Aged Crow nodded. "Thank you for the help today. Because of you, we didn't suffer a single injury, and those mercenaries got to see just how wretched the town currently is!"

"Don't worry about it. If you find out anything, just let me know," Lu Tianzi said before turning to leave.

As much as possible, he would like to avoid physical interactions with the Blazing Wings organisation. It was fine if there were no Origin Core realm martial artists around, but if there were any, they might be able to see through Lu Tianzi's true identity under the mask.

Just like the guy who had been watching from the shadows since the start.

Unfortunately, Lu Tianzi had no choice but to act earlier since he did not wish for any harm to fall upon the kind-hearted Iron Claw Brigade.

But now, it was time to deal with this new source of trouble.

Instead of returning to Bog Town immediately, Lu Tianzi went deeper into the woods. Unsurprisingly, the guy who had been hiding in the shadows followed closely behind.

After putting a good distance between him and the earlier group, Lu Tianzi finally stopped and looked in a certain direction. "Don't you think it is about time you showed yourself?"

"You know when I said that a rat has sneaked into my precious store of materials? I never thought that this rat would actually be you," a familiar young man slowly walked out from behind the trees.

He was sporting short brown hair and dressed in a long heavy cloak, just like how Lu Tianzi remembered him from their previous encounters.

But this time, unlike previous two occasions, the young man was wearing a mask on his face as well.

"I think you misunderstood," Lu Tianzi answered. "We are on the same side."

"Is that so, White Griffin?" the young man snorted. "Do you know how surprised I was when Aged Crow told me that the emissary from the Radiant Raven Sect has arrived before me?"

"I don't know what you are talking about," Lu Tianzi said. "I never said that I am an emissary from anywhere, if that is what you are insinuating."

"Then who are you?" the young man questioned authoritatively.

"I am just another member of the Blazing Wings," Lu Tianzi said. "Judging from your words, are you trying to say that you are an emissary from the Radiant Raven Sect?"

"Hahahaha!" the young man suddenly broke out in laughter. "Just another member of the Blazing Wings? Coming from outside of Bog Town and knowing the code immediately? Do you take me for a fool who did not do my share of information gathering? I am Zuomin Ta, a Core Disciple of the Radiant Raven Sect! If you think that I am going to let you get away with such nonsensical babblings, then you are really underestimating me! Speak, just who sent you to infiltrate the Blazing Wings?"

Lu Tianzi frowned.

This Zuomin Ta did not seem interested in hearing him out at all.

He had no doubt that even if he confessed that he was led into the organisation by sheer coincidence, the other party would not treat his words seriously.

"What do I have to say for you to believe me?" Lu Tianzi asked.

"Answers," Zuomin Ta replied instantly. "And don't even think of lying again. If you fail to give me the answers I want, be prepared to never speak again for the rest of eternity!"

Lu Tianzi let out a sigh. "Ask me anything then. I will answer truthfully."

"Finally giving up, I see. Smart choice, that makes things easier for both of us," Zuomin Ta laughed. "So for starters, who sent you?"

"Nobody sent me."

"Nobody?" Zuomin Ta frowned. "Then how do you explain knowing the code when you have only just arrived in Bog Town then?"

"I didn't know the code," Lu Tianzi answered truthfully. "I really am not a poison master, but looking for poison materials."

"You are looking for poison materials that can't even be found on Wondertrap Mountain? Even though you are not a poison master?" Zuomin Ta's frown deepened.

"That's right," Lu Tianzi nodded.

"Looks like I really have to teach you a lesson before you are willing to confess!" Zuomin Ta drew a halberd from his spatial ring.

Lu Tianzi let out another sigh.

He knew just as well that things would turn out this way, but at least he tried.

As for facing this opponent who was at the Third Cycle Origin Core realm, Lu Tianzi was not particularly worried.

Worst comes to worst, he could just activate his beastial bloodline, though he would certainly prefer not to do so as much as possible.

Now then, how far should he go when dealing with this Zuomin Ta?

Thankfully, they were now alone in the woods, away from the prying eyes of others.

Even if he silenced the other party right now, nobody would be able to witness it.

But if he did, would it cause any problems in the future?

Lu Tianzi had no idea how much Zuomin Ta knew about him, or what this Radiant Raven Sect was all about. But judging from how proud Zuomin Ta was to be just a Core Disciple, it sounded like quite a powerful influence.

No matter what he chose to do next, a single misstep here could result in a stream of endless troubles.

No, it would probably be worse if he let the other party leave.

Judging from his tone, this Zuomin Ta was already dead set on labelling Lu Tianzi as a spy. There was no way he would take it lying down after being beaten up by Lu Tianzi.

If Zuomin Ta was allowed to return to his sect and gather helpers, things could end up being even worse for Lu Tianzi.

The only question now would be whether Zuomin Ta had already informed anyone about Lu Tianzi's identity.

But even if he had already done so, so what of it?

Letting him go and giving him the chance to gather helpers for the sake of revenge.

Not letting him go and risk having his companions seek Lu Tianzi for revenge.

If either way meant that Lu Tianzi would be facing troubles in the future, he might as well just bet on the second option. That way, there was at least a chance that Zuomin Ta had been too confident of his higher cultivation level and neglected to ask for help earlier!

That was quite likely as well, considering the pride of those martial artists who belonged to powerful influences.

Of course, letting him go might also cause Zuomin Ta to understand the difference between them, therefore no longer seeking him out.

But Lu Tianzi had no interest in gambling on something as improbable as that.

Ding-a-ling-!

Lu Tianzi shook the Isolation Chime Bell that he had pulled out of his spatial ring. World Origin Energy immediately gathered in the surroundings, materialising into the shape of a giant bell.

This giant bell fell to the ground heavily, caging the both of them within. The inner walls of the giant bell started to glow, lighting up the space within.

"What's this?" Zuomin Ta relaxed upon seeing this, casually his halberd against his shoulder. "Only willing to talk under such a private setting?"

"Yeah," Lu Tianzi smiled. "Let's have a nice long talk."