Chapter 244: Chapter 244. Discovered The Traitor
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Before Su Qing left, she instructed Xiaoying,
“Xiaoying, plug the door properly.”
The Tartan soldiers didn’t come. There were still soldiers and big brother patrolling outside. Xiaoying felt sorry for Su Qing; she pulled her arm and refused to let her go.
“Sister Su Qing, my big brother, and the others are guarding outside. Have a good rest for the night!”
“Go to sleep!”
Xiaoying’s concern made Su Qing feel very warm, but if she didn’t go out and take a look, she wouldn’t feel at ease. She was afraid that the demon from last night would come back again.
She wanted to go to where the incense table was found last night and guard it. Of course, she did not tell Ji Shuisheng or anyone about this.
There were weapons in the system, which were snatched from the bandits by Ji Shuisheng and the others. Su Qing had put these weapons into the system because she worried the soldiers would find them.
She hadn’t had the chance to take them out since she put them in the system to use them tonight.
Su Qing took advantage of the moonlight to come to the place where she and Ji Shuisheng had left the city last night. It was a remote city wall. As soon as the five-clawed steel structure was thrown onto the wall, she heard a stern shout from the city wall,
“Who is it?”
Su Qing raised her eyebrows. There was no one guarding this position yesterday. Why was there someone protecting it tonight?
The soldier’s shout attracted everyone. There were still spies in the city. Su Qing did not want to be discovered, so she pulled the five-clawed hook and left the city under cover of the night.
Su Qing jumped onto the roof and followed the person from the top. After running a few steps, she saw a black shadow fleeing in panic. Su Qing quietly followed behind. After running away from the city wall, he ran into an alley. The other party seemed very familiar with the terrain of Mo City.
“What did you do?”
The two patrolling soldiers heard the commotion and aimed their steel knives at the black shadow.
The black shadow walked out of the alley and said to the other party with a smile,
“It’s me, Liu Hong.”
The two soldiers put away their knives and asked casually,
“Why aren’t you sleeping at night?”
Liu Hong clutched his stomach with a bitter expression.
“My stomach hurts. I have diarrhea.”
“I’m looking for Ms. Su. Her medicine is very effective.”
When Su Qing heard the two soldiers’ words, she was praised. These soldiers believed in her medical skills.
“It’s not good to disturb others at night. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
Liu Hong found an excuse and said to the two soldiers considerately,
“You guys go and patrol quickly. Don’t delay the official business.”
“Alright, then, have a good rest.”
The two soldiers were on official duty and left after a word of concern.
This Liu Hong glanced behind him and left after ensuring no one was following him.
Su Qing jumped off the roof and continued to follow Liu Hong.
Someone on the other side of the city wall sounded the gong.
“Someone has come in. Everyone, quickly search.”
Liu Hong stopped in his tracks and glanced at the city wall. His eyes were filled with uncertainty. He stomped his foot unwillingly before leaving resentfully.
Su Qing didn’t want to alert the enemy. She wanted to find out who he was in contact with and who was behind the scenes. She went to see if the person who did the incense table last night had appeared.
Su Qing found an empty wall and threw the five-clawed hook onto the battlement. She pulled the rope to ensure it was secure and grabbed it several times before climbing the wall. The soldiers in the city were alarmed, and all rushed to the city gate. No one noticed Su Qing.
Su Qing used her five-clawed hook to get out of the city and ran towards the location where the incense table was found last night under cover of the night.
Ji Shuisheng and the others had been watching the entire night in Mo City. They had followed the few main suspects, but they had not left the military camp tonight and had been sleeping in the camp. The person who had caused everyone’s nerves to be tense did not appear tonight either.
Could it be that their suspicions were wrong?
It was not easy to find spies hidden in the team. Did he hear someone run to the city wall last night and throw a five-clawed hook? Was he going to inform them or let the people outside the city in?
Ji Shuisheng didn’t go back to sleep. He went to look for Cheng Yu to discuss this matter at dawn.
When Ji Xiaoying heard Shuisheng was back, she ran to look for him.
“Big Brother, where is Sister Su Qing?”
“Isn’t she sleeping at home?”
Ji Shuisheng was stunned by his sister’s question, and his heart skipped a beat.
“She said she went to look for you.”
Xiaoying panicked when she heard Sister Su Qing wasn’t with her brother. Where did Sister Su Qing go last night?
“I’ll go and look for her.”
Ji Shuisheng suddenly thought of the person who threw the five-clawed hook last night. Could it be Su Qing?
He didn’t have the time to eat breakfast. After informing Uncle Cheng, he anxiously looked for Su Qing.
There was no need to jump over the wall in broad daylight. Ji Shuisheng walked out of the city gate openly. Just as he left the city gate, he saw a team walking towards Mo City from afar. A yellow flag was waving back and forth in the wind.
Ji Shuisheng stopped in his tracks and looked at the team with his hands on his eyebrows.
The orange-red sunlight was right behind them. This team came from the back. When they got closer, they could see clearly that the leader of the escort team was Yang Baton.
However, these people looked very messy. Their faces were covered in dust, and their faces were thin. The black boots on their feet had turned gray. Some even had two holes in the top of their boots from their toes. They looked exhausted.
They were escorting six carriages, five of which were filled with goods, and the last carriage was filled with the daily supplies for the dozen of them.
Ji Shuisheng quickly cupped his fists and greeted him.
“Brother Yang.”
“Brother Ji?”
Yang Zhi did not expect to meet Ji Shuisheng in Mo City. He had not drunk water for two days, and his lips were dry and cracked. Every time he spoke, he would bleed.
He was pleasantly surprised to see Ji Shuisheng and thought that he would only be able to meet him after reaching Jingshi Dao.
“How did Brother Yang arrive so quickly?”
Ji Shuisheng asked Yang Zhi with a smile. When they left, they asked Yang Zhi to deliver the goods seven days later because they feared they would be exposed together.
They had been delayed for two days on the road and stayed in Mo City for another two days. In total, Yang Zhi and the others had left three days earlier.
“Master Su has prepared the goods. I wanted to deliver the cotton clothes earlier so Brother Ji could earn money, so I left two days earlier.”
Yang Zhi licked his dry lips. It was great to meet Ji Shuisheng here. Perhaps they could deliver the goods here. Without water and food, his brothers could not hold on.
“Did you encounter any danger on the way?”
Ji Shuisheng asked with concern. Yang Zhi shook his head. “It’s not a big deal. Many soldiers are on the road now, and the bandits don’t dare to come out and cause trouble.”
“Hurry up and enter the city to rest.”
Ji Shuisheng invited Yang Zhi and the escorts into the city. After entering the city, he brought them to the government office to unload the goods.
“Brother Ji? Why are you staying in the government office?”
Yang Zhi asked curiously when he saw Ji Shuisheng bring them to the government office. He had not seen a single runner since they entered the government office.
“The magistrate was scared away by the Tartan soldiers. We’ll stay here for a few days.”
Qiu Yongkang happened to come over to discuss some matters with Ji Shuisheng. Seeing Yang Zhi and the others, Qiu Yongkang was pleased and greeted them warmly. Ji Shuisheng didn’t hide anything from Yang Zhi.
“Yongkang, please take care of Brother Yang and our brothers.”
Ji Shuisheng was in a hurry to look for Su Qing, so he arranged for Yongkang to take care of Brother Yang. Qiu Yongkang was very good at diplomacy and would make people feel at home.
Ji Shuisheng cupped his fists apologetically at Yang Zhi.
“Brother Yang, you and your brothers should have a good rest. I have some urgent matters to attend to..”