Chapter 21: The Man Who Wasn’t There

Azure Cloud City is already tired of the Violet Cloud Summit excitement.

The days following the auction were busy for merchants, and the cultivators who came back from the event brought their share of treasures with them, but now prices have normalized, caravans resumed their routes, and the streets of the city filled up with the mundane hustle and bustle.

The Black River chamber of commerce never had the luxury of forgetting about anything.

From its shelves in the Eastern district thousands of transactions flow daily, from spirit herbs that come from the surrounding mountains, weapons that head to distant cities, caravans of ores that cross the Eastern Wilderness, and cultivators that come to the chamber in search of cheap healing pills or million-jun coin treasures.

And at the heart of it all, is Wei Qian.

The man was sitting in his office, staring at the glowing shard of communications jade on the table in front of him when the first message appeared.

Wei Qian turned to look at the shard, than picked it up.

A man’s voice, cold and annoyed, echoed in the room.

"Branch Manager Wei."

Wei Qian carefully concealed his smile.

"Director Luo."

"Where is the shipment from the Western Wilderness?"

Wei Qian’s fingers stopped on the edge of the table.

"The shipment?"

There was a pause.

"The shipment that was supposed to arrive three days ago."

Wei Qian leaned back in his chair.

"Oh, that shipment."

"I recommend you drop the charade and start telling the truth."

Wei Qian’s smile vanished.

He understood what the conversation was about, but he did not expect the call to be so soon.

"A week ago a caravan of ours passed through the Western Wilderness," Wei Qian said, "it had spirit herbs, ores, formation supplies, beast cores and a few crates of cultivation resources.

It was a routine shipment."

Wei Qian’s fingers traced the edge of the table, revealing his unease.

The caravan had left the Western Wilderness three weeks ago, carrying a cargo worth millions of coins.

It should have arrived in Azure Cloud City three days ago.

It did not.

"We haven’t received any distress signal," Wei Qian said.

"I have people searching along the caravan’s route."

"That’s not an answer."

"It will have to do."

The voice on the other end grew colder.

"The shipment contained something that was not on your branch’s manifest."

Wei Qian frowned.

Now he understood why the call was not made by the Western Wilderness director.

"It was a routine cargo," Wei Qian said.

"Nothing of value was reported stolen."

"That is what the manifest said."

Wei Qian’s voice tightened.

He knew what the voice on the other end meant.

The Black River chamber of commerce was big enough to occasionally lose a caravan of cultivation resources on its way to Azure Cloud City.

It could afford to do that because there was nothing of value in it.

The shipment that left the Western Wilderness consisted of a caravan of seventy-two people, thirty-six of which were guards, twenty merchants and workers, and sixteen cultivators that were hired to protect the cargo.

The caravan was led by the experienced Captain Zhou Han, who was familiar with the road and had made the journey more than a dozen times before.

The caravan should have arrived three days ago.

It did not.

"There has been no distress signal," Wei Qian said.

"I have sent some people to investigate the route."

"That will not do."

"There was nothing of value on the cargo," Wei Qian said.

"Nothing that would draw unwanted attention."

The voice on the other end was silent for a moment.

"You are lying."

"You are mistaken," Wei Qian said evenly.

On the table in front of him, he had opened a stack of papers describing the shipment.

The caravan had left Blackstone market on the twelfth day of the last month, with thirty-six guards, captain Zhou Han, and a cargo of spirit herbs, ores, formation supplies, beast cores, and a few crates of cultivation resources.

Wei Qian’s eyes moved over the words.

It was all there, but he knew the Black River director was not interested in what was on the paper.

He was interested in what was not.

"Who told you?" Wei Qian asked.

"What difference does it make to you?"

"There is no difference."

The voice on the other end of the line hesitated.

Wei Qian knew the man was about to say something, and he was right.

After a few seconds of silence, the voice said, "The shipment included a sealed jade box.

The box belongs to the regional headquarters.

I want it returned to us."

Wei Qian’s eyes moved to the jade shard on the table.

"I will find it," he said.

"You have seven days."

The communication shard went silent.

Wei Qian placed it back on the table and looked at it for a moment before turning away.

Seven days, he told himself.

It was not a request, only a warning.

If he failed, the regional headquarters would use the disappearance of the shipment as leverage to accuse him of dereliction of duty and remove him as a branch manager.

If the jade box was as important as it sounded, then he was not the only one who wanted it.

Wei Qian stood and picked up the documents.

"Get me the transportation records.

We’ll start with the route."

An hour later, the private office of Wei Qian was considerably more crowded than it was an hour ago.

Three clerks stood around the branch manager, offering stacks of papers, and his apprentice Chen Rui stood beside him, holding a communications jade shard.

Wei Qian scanned the first paper.

"The caravan left Blackstone market on the twelfth day of the last month?"

"Yes, Branch Manager," said one of the clerks.

"How many guards did you have?"

"Thirty-six.

Captain Zhou Han led the caravan.

They passed through Red Pine Pass three days before the expected date of arrival.

Nothing out of ordinary happened.

The caravan sent an arrival notice, and the guards did not report any damage or attacks.

Wei Qian turned to his apprentice.

"Did they send a regular arrival report?"

"Yes.

They did.

Any problems along the route?"

"No, Sir."

Wei Qian looked at the report in his hands.

"Then what happened to them?"

No one answered.

That was the problem with caravans.

They could disappear for a variety of reasons, robbed by bandits, attacked by spirit beasts, or intercepted by an enemy force.

A spatial disaster could swallow the entire caravan with its cargo of cultivation resources and be gone within a day.

But these things left traces.

Wei Qian knew the caravan was not destroyed by beasts, bandits, or enemies of the Black River chamber of commerce.

The caravan was intact when it passed through Red Pine Pass.

That was more than any other force could do.

Wei Qian leaned forward and tapped on the paper in front of him.

"Show me the route."

Chen Rui laid out a large map on the table.

The approximate path of the caravan from Red Pine Pass to Azure Cloud City was marked with a thick red line.

It went through a series of settlements, crossed two mountain roads and finally entered the Azure Cloud City territory.

Wei Qian studied it for a moment before asking, "How many caravans passed through this route during the same period?"

"Twenty-seven," said Chen Rui.

"And how many of them disappeared?"

Wei Qian’s eyes narrowed at the answer.

"Only ours," said one of the clerks.

It was not a natural disaster, not this time.

Wei Qian turned to the sealed part of the transportation document.

"Who prepared the cargo manifest?"

"Manager Qiao prepared the final manifest," said Chen Rui.

"Get him here.

He’s not in the building," said Wei Qian.

"He took a leave of absence yesterday," said Chen Rui.

Wei Qian looked up from the paper.

"Of course he did."