Chapter 110 - 95: Returning at Night

Chapter 110: Chapter 95: Returning at Night

Of all the Taiping Bureau White Clothes from his intake, he had only ever met Luo Anning.

He was unconventionally recruited and ended up with a somewhat unreliable direct superior, which meant he currently knew less about the Taiping Bureau than an outsider.

Su Mu had heard Luo Anning mention that after officially becoming a Taiping Captain, the Taiping Bureau would provide formal training for newcomers.

The Taiping Bureau White Clothes were essentially a reserve force, so they even skipped the training.

"Ten days to half a month... I don’t have that much time."

Su Mu shook his head. If he couldn’t meet Lin Qi Huan, there was no point in him staying here.

"By the way, do you have a grudge against the Feiyun Thieves?"

Zheng Tu asked suddenly.

"Why do you ask?"

Su Mu asked, puzzled.

"The Feiyun Thieves may be notorious, but they usually don’t go out of their way to provoke the Government Office.

"With their strength, they could attack our supply points at any time, but they never touch them. It’s because they’re afraid of angering the masters from the Taiping Bureau,"

Zheng Tu said, "In the past, they never targeted supply convoys. Why would they target you this time?"

"I don’t have a grudge against the Feiyun Thieves, but someone who doesn’t like me paid them to deal with me."

Su Mu said calmly.

"So that’s how it is. They’ve really got some nerve."

Zheng Tu said, "Your private grudge has nothing to do with the City Defense Army, but daring to touch our supplies is a provocation against us!

Do you know who hired them? I can submit a report to the General and have him send troops to arrest the person who hired the Feiyun Thieves!"

Su Mu shook his head, thinking to himself, ’No wonder Zheng Tu was demoted to this place. He really is a bit simple-minded.’

’Would the General listen to you?’

’Besides, the person who hired the Feiyun Thieves is clearly no ordinary figure. With no proof, not even the General could do anything to them.’

’The supplies weren’t lost, and the Feiyun Thieves are dead, leaving no witnesses. On what grounds could the City Defense Army go after the Hu Family?’

’As one of the four great families of Wuling City, the Hu Family must have deep roots. They probably have countless intricate ties to the General as well.’

"There’s no need to submit a report. We didn’t suffer any losses, anyway."

Su Mu said, "If you don’t mind, Captain Zheng, I’d like to rest in the camp for two days before heading back. My men are exhausted from the journey."

"Of course."

Zheng Tu agreed with a nod, not hesitating for a moment.

"Sir, the count is finished. The numbers match; there are no shortages."

The soldier counting the supplies reported.

Zheng Tu arranged for the supplies to be stored, had a receipt written up, and after signing and fingerprinting it, handed it to Su Mu.

He then personally arranged accommodations for Su Mu and his men.

After eating and drinking their fill, the exhausted constables drifted off to sleep.

There was nothing more to it.

After night fell, the entire camp was fast asleep, save for a small squad of soldiers patrolling on night watch.

The patrolling soldiers didn’t notice that as a light breeze passed, a dark figure vaulted lightly over the camp’s fence without making a sound.

...

Boldened by his great skill, Su Mu traveled through the pitch-black mountain forest.

He was so fast that the nocturnal beasts couldn’t even get a clear look at his figure before he vanished, giving them no time to attack.

Fully unleashing his strength at the minor completion stage of Tendon Tempering, combined with his Xun Wind Realm, Su Mu’s speed reached an almost unimaginable level.

The mountain journey of several dozen li had taken seven or eight days to travel, but on his return, he covered the distance in less than four hours.

Of course, this was partly because he was no longer slowed down by the large carts, but more importantly, it was due to his Xun Wind Realm.

Empowered by the Xun Wind Realm, his speed rivaled that of Martial Artists who specialized in movement techniques.

After arriving outside South City, Su Mu waited for the right moment and easily scaled the city wall.

Compared to the Inner City’s ironclad defense, the Outer City’s defenses were full of holes.

As a constable of the South City Bureau, Su Mu knew the loopholes in South City’s defenses like the back of his hand.

It was naturally a simple matter for him to sneak in and out of the Outer City.

After entering South City, Su Mu still didn’t stop.

He went straight to the foot of the Inner City’s wall.

’I hope Luo Anning didn’t lie to me.’

Looking at the Inner City’s towering walls and the faintly visible, fully-armed soldiers atop them, Su Mu thought to himself, ’The Inner City has a loophole left open specifically for those young masters and ladies, to make it convenient for them to go out and play the righteous hero at night...’

Luo Anning had told him this once during a casual chat.

The children of the great families in the Inner City often get the idea to "uphold justice" after they start cultivating the Martial Dao.

So, despite the tight security, the Inner City deliberately left an opening for these young masters and ladies to come and go.

Otherwise, once the city gates were closed at night, if they rashly tried to scale the walls, they could easily be accidentally injured by the City Defense Army.

Su Mu crouched by the moat and observed for a while.

Soon, he discovered that there was indeed a hard-to-detect gap in the City Defense Army’s patrol route.

If he hadn’t known about it beforehand, he probably could have watched all night without spotting this gap.

Now—

A cold smirk appeared on Su Mu’s lips. He turned his Official Uniform inside out, then used a black cloth to cover the lower half of his face.

Finally, he raised the blue-steel longsword he had swiped from the supply point, leaped up, pushed off the wall a few times to gain height, and vaulted over the Inner City wall.

Patrolling soldiers glanced in his direction. Seeing Su Mu’s black-clad disguise and the route he was taking, they immediately understood.

They calmly turned their heads away, pretending they hadn’t seen anything.

Only those young lords from the Inner City knew this route. Anyone else, even if they stumbled upon the opening by coincidence, couldn’t possibly follow the entire path correctly.

The patrolling soldiers were long accustomed to this situation.

Su Mu landed softly inside the Inner City and couldn’t help but let out a long sigh of relief.

If his identity had been exposed just now, it would have been difficult for him to escape unscathed, even with his current Cultivation.

The Inner City’s City Defense Army likely had no shortage of experts at Bone Tempering Perfection.

’Thankfully, Luo Anning didn’t lie to me. This path really can get you in and out of the Inner City.’

’She’s a good woman.’

Su Mu reined in his thoughts, got his bearings, and melted back into the darkness.

...

Inner City.

Hu Mansion.

Although it was late at night, many parts of the Hu Mansion were still brightly lit. One could even hear the sounds of stringed instruments, pipes, and singing coming from several courtyards.

It formed a stark contrast to the pitch-black silence of the Outer City at night.

The Hu Family Patriarch, Hu Gongxiu, was sitting in his study. He held a ledger in one hand, while the fingers of his other flew across an abacus with a series of sharp clicks.

"Silver..."

Hu Gongxiu felt an inexplicable agitation.

With the Xu Family connection severed, the Hu Family had lost at least tens of thousands of silver taels in annual income.

Tens of thousands of taels might not seem like much to a great family like the Hu.

But in reality, the Hu Family was a massive enterprise. With so many mouths to feed, the amount of silver spent each day was astronomical.

Not to mention cultivating the Martial Dao—that was where money truly flowed like water.

Suddenly losing tens of thousands of silver taels had left the Hu Family’s finances for the year stretched thin.

"Wang Guan... Su Mu... They deserve to die!"

Hu Gongxiu cursed under his breath. ’They ruined my Hu Family’s source of wealth, and they still dream of promotions and riches?’

’Keep dreaming.’

’Wang Guan is a disciple of the Wang Family, so he can’t be killed carelessly, but Su Mu must die.’

’Even if I can’t kill Wang Guan, I’ll have to destroy his future prospects. He wants to be an official again? In his dreams!’

Hu Gongxiu thought, grinding his teeth.

’After Bao Tong kills Su Mu, I can have Guang Shao use the pretext of "harming an Official" to wipe out the Feiyun Thieves.’

Hu Gongxiu thought to himself, ’The Feiyun Thieves have been entrenched outside Wuling City for years. They must have accumulated a lot of silver from their robberies. It’ll be just what we need to solve the Hu Family’s urgent financial crisis.

Guang Shao’s Blood Exchange isn’t going smoothly. I’ll need to prepare more Blood Exchange Pills for him.’

Hu Gongxiu rubbed the bridge of his nose. The Hu Family had already invested too much. Hu Guangshao had to become a Taiping Captain; he absolutely could not fail!

"Fire!... There’s a fire!..."

Just as Hu Gongxiu was lost in thought, a sudden shout shattered the tranquility of the night.

Immediately after, a column of fire shot up from deep within the Hu Mansion, instantly dyeing half the sky red.

Hu Gongxiu’s vision went black. His body swayed twice, and he nearly fell over.