Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 261: Gathering of Heroes

In the camps that were scattered right outside the market, although it was much quieter compared to what it was like during the day, there were still people working.

Zhao Changhe observed the camps that he could see and he was reminded of scenes at ports, bustling hubs of commerce.

He wondered about the unspoken agreements between the various merchant caravans. Had they made a deal to divide the area into territories? It seemed that each group had its own area, seemingly well taken care of and undisturbed by others. Despite the crowdedness, everything appeared to be somewhat organized.

This arrangement conveniently facilitated Zhao Changhe’s investigation. It would have truly been a headache if everything was a mess.

He easily found the Qiao Clan’s caravan camp. At this time, there were people loading goods into their carriages—mainly jewelry, spices, and sheepskins, it appeared. It looked like they were preparing to bring them to the Central Plains.

The goods appeared to be delivered directly by a barbarian merchant. Zhao Changhe could vaguely hear the man’s complaints. “Second Master Qiao’s arrogance has been getting worse. Now, he just stays inside his tent and doesn’t even show his face. Is this the etiquette of your Central Plains?”

Someone who seemed to be in charge of overseeing the deliveries smiled apologetically and said, “Second Master Qiao originally went into the market with the young master, but he was beaten up after heading to have a meal at Lady Three’s inn...”

“Oh? Second Master Qiao actually had the balls to go against Third Lady Yuan? Even Commander Ubalu doesn’t dare to mess with her. I heard she has a powerful backing!”

“Tsk, how could they have possibly provoked Lady Three? However, the one who beat them seems to be someone with considerable backing as well. I heard that it was Wang Daozhong from the Wang Clan. His strength is worthy of someone on the Ranking of Earth. He was actually able to break the second master’s hand just by gripping it under his arm.” The manager imitated the motion and grimaced. “It’s frightening just thinking about it...”

The barbarian merchant gasped. “Are you freaking serious? Since he was able to display such great strength worthy of someone on the Ranking of Earth, then it might really be Wang Daozhong!”

“Yeah, that’s what we think too. And even if he’s just pretending to be someone from the Wang Clan, the second master does not dare take the risk. After all, what if he actually is someone from the Wang Clan? If that’s the case, then there would be no future for us back in the Central Plains.”

“With what has happened, those from the Wang Clan still dare to appear near the Warring Lion Tribe?”

“We don’t know. But now that the Warring Lion Tribe is in a mess, they probably would not bother to look for trouble with the people from the Wang Clan...”

As the two conversed, they walked into the camp, surrounded by laborers moving goods, with several guards trailing behind them.

No one noticed that among the busy laborers, a man silently blended in and entered the camp together with them. He even helped them carry goods all the way to the carriages

Zhao Changhe followed the two, feeling that the conversation between the two was very informative and worth listening to.

Sure enough, he heard the barbarian merchant ask, “You mentioned earlier that you brought six slaves this time? Are they in one of the carriages”

The manager subconsciously glanced around and lowered his voice as he said, “The slaves we brought this time are all martial arts experts from the Central Plains. The weakest one is at the fifth layer of the Profound Gate, while the strongest one is at the seventh layer. The prices they’ll go for will definitely not be low. The second young master intends to auction them at the beast ring. Perhaps Commander Ubalu might be interested.”

The barbarian merchant frowned, “They don’t sound like that great of merchandise... The more powerful a martial arts expert is, the harder they are to control. They might even end up escaping and turning against us. Other than Commander Ubalu, ordinary forces won’t dare to purchase that kind of slave. Not only might you not get a good price for them, but you might even end up getting pressured by Commander Ubalu into selling them for cheap.”

The manager obviously had this thought as well and sighed. “I also feel that they aren’t all that great either, but the second master thought it was a great business opportunity...”

The barbarian merchant asked, “How were you even able to capture them? It should not have been easy. I’ve seen experts at the sixth layer of the Profound Gate. With their movement arts, they’re faster than horses, and their endurance is often not inferior to horses either.”

“They were scouting the Desolate Wolf Tribe and were discovered and pursued. In their attempt to escape, they saw our caravan and thought that they were saved because we were from the Central Plains.” The manager smiled slyly. “The second master welcomed them into the caravan and captured them.”

Zhao Changhe took a deep breath, clenching his fists tightly, resisting the urge to draw his saber.

The task assigned to him by Cui Yuanyong turned out to be much easier to complete than expected. Fortunately, he had not killed the two from the Qia Clan at the inn earlier. Otherwise, the caravan would have been in chaos, and they most likely would have withdrawn right away, resulting in his lead being cut off. They might have even killed the team to avoid any trouble.

But despite the seemingly straightforward success, Zhao Changhe felt no relief at the moment. On the contrary, he was even more infuriated at this merchant caravan now.

The team of martial artists was made up of brave men who had come to help defend Yanmen. They had even gone as far as to risk their lives to conduct reconnaissance beyond the Great Wall! They had not come here for sightseeing!

When they resolved themselves to face the barbarians, they did so to protect those of the Central Plains!

These honorable and chivalrous martial artists probably never imagined that they would be betrayed by the very people they were fighting to protect. The psychological blow was far worse than any physical harm they could have suffered.

Fortunately, they were all still alive, and it seemed like they were uninjured. Rescuing them would mean saving six brave men.

Even the barbarian merchant, who was someone inclined to act for profit, could not help but ask, “Is it really worth it to enslave your compatriots for some money?”

“Well, it’s not just that. The grain we brought was meant to be delivered to the Desolate Wolf Tribe. If they followed us, we might have been exposed. What were we supposed to do when they reported back to Huangfu Yongxian or Tang Wanzhuang? It’s either we kill them or capture them and sell them for money. It’s as simple as that.”

Of course, the barbarian merchant didn’t have anything against it, nor could he be bothered to argue further. He simply said, “Since we’re old acquaintances, just sell them directly to me. Don’t bother auctioning them off. Trust me, it isn’t worth it... If Commander Ubalu decides that he wants them for free, you might really end up having to give them away for free.”

The manager said, “I don’t have the authority to make that decision. You will have to ask the second master if you want to have them.”

The barbarian merchant said, “It will take some time to load the goods. I’ll take this opportunity to check on your second master’s injuries as well.”

As the two spoke, they headed toward the camp. Zhao Changhe pretended to be busy loading goods, but his mind was deep in thought.

There were too many people here for him to be able to rescue someone without causing a commotion. Any slight disturbance would attract the entire caravan with over a thousand people. Being alone placed him at a disadvantage. He really would have appreciated it if he had a companion to help him create a diversion.

Should I go find some help? Maybe I could pay Lady Three to lend me a hand? Would she agree though?

While he was in thought, there was suddenly a commotion at the entrance of the camp. “Where did this drunkard come from? Get out of here!”

A somewhat familiar voice drunkenly exclaimed, “Damn it, what’s the use of being a lord if you’re broke? Where are your local beauties? Come out and dance for me!”

Zhao Changhe’s eyes lit up.

Situ Xiao! Hehe, I’ve got help!

The guard at the entrance to the camp cursed angrily, “Fucking drunkard, this isn’t some camp with barbarian beauties! If you’re looking for a brothel, it’s the other way! I was actually thinking of going there too!”

“This isn’t the brothel camp? I don’t believe it! I think you look like a pimp...”

“Fuck off, you drunkard!”

A commotion broke out at the entrance to the camp.

Inside the main tent, Second Master Qiao had his hand in a sling, and he was seeing the barbarian merchant off. Seeing the disturbance, he angrily ordered, “Who’s the drunkard causing trouble? Have some men deal with him!”

After issuing his orders, Second Master Qiao said to the barbarian merchant, “Brother, you’re right. It might be better to sell the slaves to you privately...”

Before he could finish speaking, a flash of sword light emerged from behind the main tent.

Nobody knew how long the one wielding the sword had been lurking there. It was likely that they had slipped in while the two from the Qiao Clan had gone to the market to eat. Regardless, they had definitely remained motionless for at least several hours.

Apart from top-tier assassins from the Snow-Listening Pavilion, there was only one bounty hunter who would do such a thing...

Han Wubing!

Seizing the opportunity amidst the commotion at the gate, Han Wubing, who had been in hiding for quite a while, struck decisively and attempted to assassinate Qiao Er!

Clang!

To Han Wubing’s surprise, he actually failed to kill Qiao Er, who only had average combat power and even had one hand broken. The barbarian merchant had blocked his killing strike with a scimitar!

Han Wubing moved to the side while the barbarian merchant was pushed back several steps.

“I did not expect there to be such an expert among the barbarians from the Western Regions. It seems I miscalculated this time,” Han Wubing thought to himself. He did not have time to finish off Qiao Er and swiftly retreated toward the back of the camp.

Qiao Er was quickly surrounded by people. He shouted furiously, “What are you all standing there in a daze for?! Stop him!”

Countless people surged toward Han Wubing. In the darkness of night, Han Wubing moved like a ghost, leaving a trail of blood and screams as he fought his way out of the camp.

Meanwhile, Situ Xiao, who had caused the disturbance at the entrance to the camp, was dumbfounded.

He and Han Wubing had never even met, let alone made any arrangements. He had only come here to cause trouble because he noticed that this merchant caravan was from the Central Plains. He had acted on impulse, hoping to draw out Qiao Er and perhaps take his head on the spot.

But before he could do anything, someone else already tried to assassinate the person he wanted to kill.

Damn, what a guy!

Faced with the guard who now regarded him as Han Wubing’s accomplice, Situ Xiao did not feel frustrated at all. Instead, he willingly played along. He took a sip of wine, then suddenly sprayed the wine toward the torches at the gate.

Fwoom!

Flames soared into the sky as the gate, the tents, and the carriages entering and leaving, along with some spices and fabrics, were ignited.

The camp was finally thrown into utter chaos, and those loading the carriages were all ordered to help put out the fire.

Meanwhile, Zhao Changhe went through the carriages, looking inside each of them one by one.

Brothers, please hold on a little longer. I will help you later after I save some people.

Bang!

After going through several dozen carriages and finding nobody inside them, Zhao Changhe’s eyes finally lit up when he found one that had a few people who seemed to be sleeping inside. Just as he was about to climb aboard the carriage, he suddenly felt a chill on the side of his neck.

Zhao Changhe instinctively tried to dodge, but he discovered that the other party’s sword moved in a strange and mysterious way. He was unable to dodge at all, having been caught off guard.

While the long sword was placed against his neck, a cold voice came from behind him, “Which truck contains food and horse feed? Take me there... Eh, your saber...”

Zhao Changhe sighed and beheld the familiar face behind him. “You want to take some food and horse feed? Do you also want to take me away? How about managing a stronghold together?”

Yue Hongling’s eyes widened.