Chapter 99: Planning An Approach

Upon walking inside, Lin Mu saw that there was someone else sitting in the shop. The man was dressed in the clothes of a high official and he had seen him before. It was one of the men that had come with the leader of the Hei corps, Hei Wan.

Lin Mu nodded to him in greeting and saw him reciprocate as well. He then walked inside the other room under the guidance of the old woman. The old woman came to a stop in front of the wall and held out her hand.

"The badge." The old woman spoke.

Lin Mu withdrew the badge from the ring while putting his hand inside the pouch and handed the badge to the old woman. She looked at it for a moment, before inserting it into a small slot that was hidden in the seam of the wall.

The wooden panel of the wall shifted and Lin Mu walked inside it. After stepping in, the panel closed back, and he started walking down the passageway, into the stairwell. He reached the entrance of the safe house a couple of minutes later and opened the door.

As soon as the door was open, he saw two people standing in front of the door. They seemed to be alert and ready to attack. But after seeing Lin Mu, they relaxed and sat back down on their chairs. 

"I need to report something. Where's Hei Bao?" Lin Mu questioned.

The man who was sitting in front of Lin Mu was one of the members of the Hei corps that Lin Mu had not met yet. 

'He's probably someone that came with Hei Wan.' Lin Mu thought.

"You can head on inside. The captain is having a meeting with the rest of the Hei corps." The man spoke.

Lin Mu simply nodded and went to the room that was to the right. He opened the door and saw the ten members of Hei corps standing around Hei Bao and Hei Wan. They turned around to look and saw Lin Mu entering.

"You're here already?" Hei Bao said.

"I have a couple of things to report and I also would be needing your help with something." Lin Mu replied.

"Go ahead." Hei Wan spoke in affirmation.

"The town head has declared a strict curfew at night. The captain and new vice-captain of the town's guards declared to the residents." Lin Mu spoke.

"We already know about the curfew." Hei Bao spoke.

"That's not all, I learned a few more things. Apparently, this new vice captain is named Han Lei, he's Han Xu's brother. He's meant to be his replacement." Lin Mu spoke with a serious tone.

"Then that means…" Hei Shi spoke before she was interrupted.

"The culprits are making their move. They are probably controlling the town head as well." Hei Bao postulated.

"This Han Lei is rather overbearing too. He broke the arm of a resident just to make an example out of it. The captain did not seem to stop him either and there's another new vice captain that we don't know of." Lin Mu added.

Hei Wan turned towards Hei Bao after hearing Lin Mu's report and spoke,

"Forget my previous order, from now on focus on the Vice captains and the town head as well. It's no doubt that they are part of the culprits. This curfew only helps them in their acts. Now they can just abduct people and say that they were arrested for wandering outside." 

"Yes, leader." Hei Bao responded.

Hei Wan then turned back to Lin Mu and spoke again,

"Now, what kind of help did you need from us?" 

"I went to the mercenary camp an hour ago and met their current leader. He's named Hong Luo and is also a peak stage qi refining realm cultivator. He has asked me for help." Lin Mu answered.

"And what does he need help in particular?" Hei Wan questioned.

"It's with regard to the disappearance of the mercenaries. He wants me to help investigate the matter and also to help him keep a watch during the night. But now that the town head has declared a curfew it would be difficult for me to go out, although that's not my main concern. The town head also wants to meet all the people who were part of the Night Vigil, thus one way or the other I'm gonna have to meet him." Lin Mu explained.

Hei Wan went silent for a minute and seemed to be thinking about it. The other members of the Hei corps also stayed silent, so as to not disturb their leader.

"It should be no problem, I'll dispatch some of our members to keep watch on the mercenaries at night. It aligns with our goals, anyway. As for the investigation about the disappearance of mercenaries, we are already on it." Hei Wan spoke after thinking for a bit and then turned to face Hei Bao again.

"I know what to do." Hei Bao spoke before Hei Wan could even speak.

Hei Wan simply nodded in appreciation.

"Now about this meeting with the Town Head, what are you going to do?" Hei Shi asked.

"I'm going to meet him right now. Better get it done as soon as I can. Delaying it would be no use as they should already know about me because of the other people from the Night Vigil." Lin Mu replied.

"That should be fine, but just in case have Hei Shi follow you. That should help avoid any untoward incidents." Hei Wan suggested.

"I'm fine with that." Lin Mu answered.

"Okay then. Now everyone knows what to do, so get going." Hei Wan ordered.

"Yes, leader!" All the members of the Hei corps replied in unison.

Nodding in understanding, Lin Mu turned back to leave. Hei Shi too followed behind him and left the room, while the other members dispersed as well and went to prepare for their missions.

Before walking out the door of the safe house, Hei Shi picked up her mask and put it on. She also brought an additional mask with her and handed it to Lin Mu.

"What's this for?" Lin Mu asked although he knew why.

"Have it just in case. You are an ally of the Hei corps now anyway, so you have the right to use it." Hei Shi answered.

Lin Mu nodded and took the mask. He then opened the door of the safe house and walked up to the shop above it. The old woman who was watching the shop handed him the badge back before he left. 

"I'll take another route and keep on following you. If you find anything suspicious just signal me by putting your hand up with three fingers." Hei Shi informed.

Lin Mu nodded in response but chuckled when he heard Senior Xukong speaking in his mind.

"If you're the one who has trouble, I doubt she will be able to do much. You're already much stronger than her." Xukong spoke.

"That is true." Lin Mu simply spoke before leaving the alley.

"Now then, it's time to go to the guard barracks." Lin Mu muttered to himself.

Lin Mu went to the southern district and reached there after thirty minutes. Along the way, he saw many people discussing and gossiping about the town head's order. They were also talking about the vice captain and how he had injured the innocent man.

'Seems like the people won't mind it if this vice captain disappears as well.' Lin Mu thought.

Lin Mu was just about to enter the guard barracks when someone called out to him. 

"Lin Mu!" A voice called.

Lin Mu turned back to see and saw that it was Lu Xiao who had called him. 

"Where did you go last night?" Lu Xiao asked.

Lin Mu was dreading this moment for a while now, but now that it had finally come he had prepared his answer.

"I couldn't find the guards and thought it was dangerous to head on alone, so I headed back. But when I came back I couldn't find any of you, so I went back to my house." Lin Mu spoke.

While his excuse had multiple flaws that could be picked out, Lin Mu didn't think that it would be as troublesome. No one had seen him after he left, so no one could verify his claims either.

"Oh, okay then." Lu Xiao simply replied.

"What happened with you guys' last night?" Lin Mu asked.

"We searched the houses as we had decided to and actually found a few more people that were awake. We informed them of the incident, but some of them disagreed with us and refused to leave their homes as they were scared." Lu Xiao replied.

'That understandable. Most people would not think of leaving their homes after an unexplained incident like this.' Lin Mu thought.

"What happened after that? I mean someone informed the guards, right? Did you guys find a guard?" Lin Mu questioned.

"Oh, we didn't just meet any guard, we met the new vice captain himself. Apparently, he was out on his patrol and was heading towards the residential district himself." Lu Xiao answered.