“So you’re telling me that he’s not from the Kingdom of Sorcerers?” Chen Cheng found it a little unbelievable. “Then where’s he from?”
“Where else?” Li Chengguo muttered, “Fortress 178, of course.”
Chen Cheng looked very interested. “I’ve never been to Fortress 178 before. Quick, tell me what happened.”
As such, Li Chengguo told him about how the two of them had discovered Ren Xiaosu’s whereabouts before Melgor restrained him with the Earth Bind spell. Chen Cheng was surprised. “So he was actually taken captive to the Kingdom of Sorcerers by Lord Melgor? But he doesn’t look like a captive to me? And he’s not particularly polite to Lord Melgor either.”
Logically, since Ren Xiaosu was a captive, his status should be very low. So how did the tables turn and make him look like he was the boss now?!
Li Chengguo and Liu Ting thought back on everything for a long time before saying with a sigh, “Actually, we can’t figure out what went wrong either….”
To be honest, they really did not know where it had gone wrong. Ren Xiaosu had become the authoritative voice in their group, and even Sorcerer Melgor would subconsciously listen to Ren Xiaosu’s suggestions.
Chen Cheng mentally took note of what they said. He felt this should be considered very important information.
Ren Xiaosu came from the Central Plains, yet he was extremely interested in the traditional motto of their organization.
The young man named Ren Xiaosu might just prove to be very important to their organization. “By the way, what hobbies does Ren Xiaosu have?” Chen Cheng asked with a smile.
Liu Ting said expressionlessly, “He enjoys oppressing the good!”
Chen Cheng felt his chest tightening. Their organization did not like such people at all. “Be more specific, in what way does he oppress the good? Who does he oppress?”. Liu Ting pointed at Li Chengguo first, then at himself. “Mainly the two of us.”
Chen Cheng’s mouth twitched. “Interesting…”
Just as he was about to ask more questions, Ren Xiaosu’s voice rang out behind Chen Cheng. “What are y’all chatting so happily about?”
Chen Cheng turned around and saw Ren Xiaosu looking at him with a smile. There was clearly nothing wrong with that smile, but sweat again beaded on Chen Cheng’s back. “Ahem, nothing much. I’ll be going now.”
When he returned to his own carriage, the middle-aged woman was dismantling and cleaning her crossbow. “What’s the matter? Why do you look so flustered?”
Chen Cheng said in a low voice, “Aunt, Ren Xiaosu came from the Central Plains. He was brought here as a prisoner by Melgor.”
The middle-aged woman was taken aback. “The Central Plains?”
“Yes, does our organization have any links to the Central Plains?” Chen Cheng asked. “That I do know a little about,” the middle-aged woman said with a frown. The young sorceress’s interest was also piqued. “Father has mentioned the Central Plains to me before as well. What’s our relationship with the Central Plains?”
“I can’t tell you two much for the time being, but there’s something I can let you know. The founder of our organization was from the Central Plains,” the middle-aged woman said.
The trade caravan continued advancing for two days without encountering bandits again. On the third night, Qian Weining quietly paid a visit to Melgor while everyone was asleep.
The vice president of the York County Chamber of Commerce looked at Melgor and said in a serious tone, “Revered Lord Melgor, we’ll be entering the mountains tomorrow. Can you please tell me what kinds of enemies you’re facing? Why are they pursuing you?”
Ren Xiaosu listened from nearby and thought Qian Weining was sound in his judgment.
Melgor looked at Qian Weining and said, “How do you know those people are targeting me?” “Because other than you, no one else in the trade caravan is worthy of the other party mobilizing so many people to go after.” Qian Weining said softly, “The goods might be worth a lot of money, but it’s not worth it for the other party to take such a risk with those brand-new fletched arrows and longbows from the military. It’s also not worth it for them to make a move so close to York County.”
“Then why didn’t you turn the trade caravan around and return to York County?” Melgor asked curiously. “That’s actually the most appropriate action to take, isn’t it?”
Qian Weining lowered his voice and said, “I have my reasons for continuing the expedition. All I want to know is what kinds of enemies you’re facing, Lord Melgor. Only then can I determine how to deal with them.”
Nearby, Ren Xiaosu cut in with a smile, “I think you’re mistaken about something. Lord Melgor doesn’t have any enemies. Those bandits are not here for us. Who knows, it might be you they’re actually after?”
The words left Qian Weining stunned. However, Qian Weining did not refute Ren Xiaosu’s accusation for the moment.
Ren Xiaosu was just bluffing Qian Weining, but little did he expect to hit the mark. After Ren Xiaosu brushed off Qian Weining with a few simple words, he then said to Melgor, “Why do you think Qian Weining insists on going to Ghent City?”
“I don’t know.” Melgor shook his head. “Maybe he wants to make money? I know he doesn’t receive a fixed sum for his salary as the vice president but earns a commission based on how many trade expeditions he can put together. If he makes one less trip, he’ll earn less money. If the goods suffer any losses, the Chamber of Commerce will also deduct the money from his pay.”
“It’s definitely not that simple.” Ren Xiaosu shook his head. “That person is very smart. He definitely knows which is more important, making money or keeping his life. It’s clear now that the road ahead is super dangerous and he might even die in the process. In that case, there must be something more important than his life since he still wants to go to Ghent City.”
In reality, Ren Xiaosu was already a little curious on the first night. At that time, Qian Weining had already discovered something fishy about the bandits, but he did not lead the trade caravan back to the city.
Under normal circumstances, merchants prioritized making money. As the saying goes, peace breeds wealth. What merchant would risk their lives to sell their wares for no reason?
However, Qian Weining did not turn around. Instead, he decided to conceal his suspicions of the bandits and continue with the expedition.
Melgor looked at Ren Xiaosu. “Then what should we do? Is this good or bad news?”
“Let me analyze it for you.” Ren Xiaosu said, “The Tudor family wants you dead so that their precious heir won’t have to face gossip after marrying your childhood sweetheart, right?”
“Um, yeah,” Melgor said.
“Qian Weining wants to go to Ghent City for some reason, but there’s also people who want him dead. You’ve figured that out, right?” Ren Xiaosu said.
“Um, yeah,” Melgor said.
“I don’t have enough info right now to determine whether the bandits that attacked us on the first night were here to kill you or him.” Ren Xiaosu said, “But regardless of who the target might be, their goal was definitely to wipe out the entire caravan. So this is just a relatively simple case of addition and subtraction. Right now, be it you or Qian Weining, the number of enemies you two have to face has just doubled. Are you surprised?” Ren Xiaosu said.
Melgor stared blankly at Ren Xiaosu again. “Then should we run?”
Ren Xiaosu patted Melgor on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’m here!”