eurekapd Chapter 17 Exposed
Chapter 17 Exposed
Xie Yan made her way around and, without much effort, followed a familiar-looking person to the second-in-command's room.
The man was in a hurry, his clothes were covered in mud, as if he had just returned from the village and was eager to find the second-in-command.
"Second-in-command, that's me."
The second-in-command was also not asleep at this moment, and was burning something over a candle flame.
"Come in."
"How is it? Is there anything unusual?"
The second-in-command looked at his subordinates, his expression no longer as violent and rude as it had been seen earlier, but rather somewhat unfathomable.
The subordinates were used to the second-in-command's actions and didn't even glance at what he was holding. They bowed their heads respectfully and said, "Xiaofengpo has indeed collapsed, and several people are still buried underneath."
The second-in-command let go, watching the items drift to the ground and burn. Upon hearing this, he immediately lost interest. "What did Qiu Wu Niang say?"
"Qiu Wu Niang is sick and is staying in her room. Xiao Er said that it rained heavily last night, and Niu Da took the goods and people to ask for lodging for the night. There was no problem."
When this was mentioned, his subordinate's expression became a little strange.
He had seen the waiter before, but this time he felt something was off.
Not only has her voice become high-pitched, but she also walks with her legs crossed and a swaying gait.
"You haven't seen Qiu Wuniang?" The second-in-command's expression suddenly turned serious.
The subordinate hurriedly replied, "Second Master, don't worry. I went to Qiu Wu Niang's room to check, and she is indeed ill and lying in bed."
"Is he really sick?" The second-in-command was still somewhat skeptical.
"Yes, it must be because the wind and rain were too strong last night, and I caught a cold without realizing it."
He no longer doubted anything, but instead brought up another matter.
"Go back and tell the brothers to pack their things. The church will be coming to take our things away in a few days, and then we'll be leaving too."
His subordinate was a little surprised: "So urgent?"
"Something's happened." The second-in-command didn't go into details, "and that fatso has been getting increasingly out of control lately; he'll be in big trouble sooner or later."
It seems the second-in-command and the first-in-command are not on the same side.
Xie Yan sat on the rooftop, pondering. According to the second-in-command, he seemed to be a member of that sect as well, and the things that had just been burned might have been intelligence given to him by the sect.
Seeing that nothing was happening, Xie Yan waited for a while before leaving.
He wandered around the village until dawn before returning to the place where Yu Bai and the others were imprisoned, locking them up again, and then picking up Lu Zizhao to go back.
This happened every night for several days in a row.
It seemed that they knew they were there to rescue people, and the people in the room with Yu Bai and his group didn't make a sound. They even covered for them, which greatly facilitated their actions.
Xie Yan, with a blade of grass in her mouth, lay on the clean straw she had found and had Lu Zizhao massage her legs.
Lu Zizhao rubbed his leg, looked at him hesitantly, and finally asked stammeringly, "What kind of person is Prince An?"
Xie Yan raised an eyebrow at him, not realizing that this kid was a fan of Chu Ling.
“I heard people say that he defended the border, drove away the barbarians, and was a great hero.”
Xie Yan replied perfunctorily, "Well... I guess so."
As the force on her legs gradually increased, Xie Yan sensed something was wrong.
Looking up, the boy's face showed no admiration or respect, but rather a deep resentment and hatred.
"What kind of hero is he? Where was he when these bandits were causing trouble here? Where was he when innocent people were being tortured? Where was he when my parents died?!"
Xie Yan: Oh, so you're a hater.
He's still just a child. To be honest, Xie Yan can understand his feelings, since he's been through similar situations himself.
"Heroes, in the end, are just ordinary people."
Xie Yan didn't explain much to Chu Ling; the knot in his heart was already untied, and no amount of explanation from others could undo it.
Lu Zizhao still looked gloomy, his hands clenched into fists, and he kept punching Xie Yan's leg as if it were Chu Ling.
Xie Yan: ...You little rascal, you have too much energy for nothing, huh?
Xie Yan kicked him away, stood up, and dusted off her clothes. Just then, the door opened, and Niu Da walked in.
Niu Da nervously gave him a meaningful look, and Xie Yan then noticed that he was accompanied by several people.
Those people came in and dragged them out without saying a word, even carrying out the person who was lying down.
Xie Yan calculated the time; if what Niu Da said was true, the people from that sect shouldn't arrive until tomorrow.
Those people did not bring Lu Zizhao along.
Xie Yan turned to look at him. The boy stood there straight, his face indistinct in the shadows.
Dozens of people were forced onto the open ground of the fighting arena. Xie Yan and Yu Bai exchanged a glance across the crowd, both of them revealing doubt in their eyes.
The bandits formed a circle around them, then parted to reveal their leader and second-in-command.
The leader was still panting heavily after just a few steps, while the second-in-command followed behind him with an undisguised look of disgust.
Only after his men painstakingly carried over the enormous armchair did the chief finally sit down, satisfied.
He glanced around at the kidnapped people with his slit-like eyes and chuckled contemptuously: "I heard that you have government spies here."
These words caused an uproar not only among the kidnapped people but also among the bandits.
Yu Bai and the others suppressed their shock, wondering how things had been exposed and who had leaked the information.
The leader waved his hand, and Niu Da was pushed forward.
He fell heavily to the ground, tears streaming down his face, and crawled to the chieftain, grabbing his clothes.
"Boss, boss, I really don't know anything!"
The leader glanced at him, snorted coldly, and then kicked him away.
"Hmph! What are you? I let you eat and drink well, just so you could become a traitor, right?"
Niu Da kowtowed on the ground, his head bleeding profusely, but he didn't dare to rest and got up to cry out his innocence: "Boss, you've been wronged! I've always been loyal to you!"
"Still pretending!"
The head of the gang was absolutely furious. If it weren't for the difficulty of standing up, he would have kicked him a few times.
"Boss, don't be angry, let me handle this."
The second-in-command helped the first-in-command, who was slumping over in anger, and then turned to signal to his men.
His men immediately kicked him in the face, knocking out Niu Da's front teeth.
He landed punches on his vital spots again, and finally grabbed his hair and lifted him up.
"You still don't admit it?"
Niu Da was on the verge of death, and he certainly wanted to admit it, but ever since that night, Yu Bai had fed him poison, the effects of which were excruciating. Compared to the poison, he could barely endure it for now.
"I'm innocent... I've been wronged..."
Seeing that he was stubborn and refused to speak, the leader waved for his men to stop and sneered, "If you don't talk, plenty of others will."
Behind him, Lu Zizhao walked out with a blank expression.
He just stared at Xie Yan quietly, his eyes full of mockery.
Seeing the shocked Niu Da, the leader laughed out loud, "You didn't expect that, did you? This kid will do anything to survive."
"Tell me, which one of you has the audacity to come here looking for death?"
Lu Zizhao slowly raised his hand, just then, a sudden voice interrupted him.
"Wait a moment."