Chapter 138: 137: A Night of Chaos and Silence

The dense night could not be dispelled in the air.In the sky, the moon was obscured, and only a few stars shone through, their light piercing the dense forests outside Cuijin City, where a merchant caravan was making its way with difficulty.

At the heart of the caravan were several wagons drawn by horses, loaded with valuable goods; among them, one item was worth a fortune.

To protect these goods, numerous guards surrounded the moving wagons, vigilant. At the end of the procession, several mercenaries were positioned to prevent attacks.

This caravan had come from a city called Newcastle, tasked with transporting goods to Cuijin City. For maximum safety and speed, they had initially traveled by waterway. But as the journey neared its end, they were repeatedly attacked by enemies along the waterway and lost quite a few men. Duncan, the forty-something supervisor of the caravan, made a swift decision to switch from water to land.

However, after reaching land, safety was not guaranteed, and just recently, the caravan had faced a small-scale attack. Although quickly resolved by the caravan, the incident cast a shadow over Duncan’s heart. Looking at the forest ahead, Duncan wondered how many more ill-intentioned people were waiting.

“Damn, I shouldn’t have taken this deal, though the profit is terrifyingly high, it might cost us our lives. And although it was agreed to be kept absolutely confidential, the news has somehow leaked. Damn!” Duncan cursed inwardly, but he did not show this emotion. He knew he was the backbone of the caravan, and if he panicked, the entire caravan would be inconceivable.

Taking a deep breath, Duncan tried to calm his emotions and turned his head to look to the side.

Next to him was a young man from the caravan, one he was very fond of, who turned eighteen today and was named Luther. Despite coming from the slums, Luther was smart and had learned quite a few characters and could calculate some simple accounts under Duncan’s teaching. In a few years, he could manage things on his own. Most importantly, he was hardworking, principled, and extremely polite to everyone in the caravan, earning their respect.

Duncan intended to groom him as his successor and always took him along on trips to give him more experience and help him grow. Luther understood this and was immensely grateful, working very hard.

At that moment, Duncan looked at Luther and said, “Luther, order everyone to stay alert and not to let their guard down.”

“What’s wrong, Uncle Duncan? Is there something amiss?” Luther asked, his eyes sparkling.

“No, nothing is amiss now, but I’m still worried. You must have noticed, this time is different from the past. The goods we’re transporting are too valuable, valued enough to be connected with those mysterious wizards, and inevitably coveted by many. Therefore, being extra cautious isn’t unwarranted. The events that happened on the ship and the recent attack are examples; we absolutely cannot afford any mistakes.”

“Understood, Uncle Duncan, I’ll go and tell everyone right now; everyone will surely understand your reasoning.”

“Mm.”

“By the way, Uncle Duncan, should we prepare the mechanical crossbows, string them up just in case?” Luther asked again.

“This…” Duncan hesitated for a moment. The caravan did have a number of mechanical crossbows, and they were of high quality, primarily for unexpected needs. But… mechanical crossbows, unlike bows and arrows, especially in certain quantities and qualities, were explicitly prohibited by the Jade Kingdom; it could potentially threaten official rule.

If caught violating the law, they wouldn’t be executed, but a hefty fine was certain. If it were just their own people in the caravan, there wouldn’t be much worry. But this time, they had taken on a big job at short notice, fearing they were short-handed, they had hired several mercenary teams. More people meant more problems, and mercenaries were known to be motivated by money; if they brought out a large amount of mechanical crossbows now, it could later be leaked by a drunken mercenary, or they might even report it for a bounty.

After pondering for a moment, Duncan looked at Luther and shook his head, “No need to do that for now, just have all the guards check their bows and arrows. As for the mechanical crossbows, if it really becomes dangerous, we’ll bring them out then. It shouldn’t delay anything.”

“Alright.” Luther didn’t say anything more and turned to leave.

But suddenly, Duncan thought of something and called out to Luther, “Wait a moment.”

“What is it, Uncle Duncan?” Luther stopped, slightly puzzled.

“Well—” Duncan drew out his words, his gaze sharpening a bit as he spoke, “Luther, please also go tell the captains of those mercenary teams. Tell them, we’re paying them a hefty sum of silver coins, not to accompany the caravan on a stroll, but to ensure its safety.

If we’re attacked and they don’t step up, just falsely shouting and letting our people do the fighting, then they can forget about getting the remainder of their payment, and they’ll have to cough up the advance too. Our Merchant Group, while amicable, is not to be trifled with.”

“Yes.” Luther’s expression turned serious upon hearing Duncan’s words, and he nodded forcefully before turning to head toward the back of the caravan.

“Tap, tap, tap…”

After a while, Luther returned, addressing Duncan, “Uncle Duncan, everything is taken care of, everyone in the caravan understands your meaning, and they all promise to be careful. And those mercenary teams also said that they hadn’t reacted quickly before, which is why our people had to fight. If we encounter enemies again, they will definitely take initiative to go up and ensure everyone’s safety.”

“Huh, mercenaries’ promises?” Duncan shook his head after hearing this, “Just take their words with a grain of salt, don’t trust them too much. We’ll see how things actually turn out.”

“Hmm, that’s actually what I thought too,” Luther agreed.

“That’s good,” Duncan said, without saying anything more.

“Squeak creak…”

The horses pulled the carriage forward, and everyone followed, the entire merchant group moving cautiously and with difficulty through the forest.

“Squeak creak…”

The whole caravan had been moving quietly for about half an hour when suddenly the silence was broken by someone shouting, “Careful!”

The entire merchant group immediately stopped; with a “swish,” the guards uniformly drew their weapons, vigilantly looking around, some even picking up bows and arrows, but… no attack came.

Duncan frowned and shouted, “Who’s making all that noise?!”

“Housekeeper Duncan, it was me.” A man walking in front of the merchant group spoke up, pointing ahead on the road, “Housekeeper Duncan, the road is blocked. I was afraid there might be an ambush, that’s why I shouted to be careful.”

“Hmm?”

Duncan’s eyes flashed as he looked ahead, and indeed he saw a dry tree trunk fallen, blocking the entire merchant group’s path.

This…

At that moment, Luther moved closer to Duncan and whispered, “Uncle Duncan, let me check it out.” As he started to walk forward, he was suddenly held back by Duncan.

Luther turned his head towards Duncan, a puzzled look on his face. At this moment, Duncan’s face was expressionless, his eyes cold with either fear or vigilance.

Turning his head, Duncan called out to the side, pointing out two of the men’s names: “Rick, Spa, you two go ahead and check the situation. If there’s no problem, move the tree trunk.”

After a pause, Duncan added, “You two have both performed well this time. When we reach Cuijin City, I’ll give you a raise. And be careful.”

“Uh, Uncle Duncan, we’ll be careful,” the two named men replied, not so much frightened as they were pleased, whether because of the concern shown or the potential raise.

The two men stepped out of the merchant group and walked quickly towards the tree trunk blocking the road.

Before touching the trunk, the two men wisely looked around carefully, noticing no unusual circumstances, they then began to lift the tree trunk.

The trunk was heavy, and they exerted great effort to barely move it, but just as they were halfway through, suddenly Duncan’s voice sounded a warning, “Careful!”

“What…” Before the two men could react, there was a “whiz whiz whiz” sound as numerous arrows flew out from both sides of the forest, turning the two men into porcupines.

They fell down with a “thump.”

Duncan had no time to grieve; he continued to shout warnings loudly, “Ambush! Be careful!”

The merchant group’s members quickly sprang into action, trying to defend themselves. After killing the two men moving the tree trunk, arrows rained quickly from both sides toward the merchant group.

Some who were too slow to dodge screamed as they fell.

Duncan ducked beside the carriage, pushing Luther’s head down beneath him while loudly commanding, “Return fire! Return fire!”

Hearing Duncan’s command, the guards responsible for security in the merchant group stood up, holding bows and arrows, and shot toward the attacking directions. However, caught between two sides, they clearly were at a disadvantage. After a brief counterattack, they hadn’t killed many enemies, but had lost nearly half of their own men. It seemed that if they continued to stay here, it was only a matter of time before everyone was wiped out.

“Damn!” Duncan cursed after looking back and muttered to himself, “We can’t continue like this, we must find a way to leave. We must let the mercenaries cover us while the merchant group breaks through…”

Underneath Duncan’s weight, Luther, after hearing this, struggled to his feet and shouted, “Uncle Duncan, I’ll go notify the mercenaries, I…”

“No, I’ll go.” Luther hadn’t finished speaking when Duncan cut him off and pushed his head down again. Duncan said solemnly, “You can’t go.

First, it’s too dangerous now. You’re still young and need to find a way to survive because you have to go back and marry Melissa! I only have this one daughter, and she likes only you. You absolutely cannot take the risk!

Second, those mercenaries are all cowardly money-grabbers. At a time like this, a young man like you can’t hold them down. Only I can make them obey orders properly. So, I’ll go.”

After Duncan finished speaking, he bent over and started walking to one side. Luther, with tears in his eyes, grabbed hold of Duncan, “Uncle Duncan, let me go…”

“Don’t argue!”

As the two were about to argue, they heard someone from behind the caravan desperately shouting, “Housekeeper Duncan, Housekeeper Duncan, damn it, those mercenaries have all run away!”

Uh, this…

The problem suddenly solved itself; neither of them had to go now.

Duncan’s face turned pale with rage as he slammed his fist into the ground, “Damn mercenaries, I knew we couldn’t rely on them!”

“Then… Uncle Duncan, what do we do now?” Luther asked, “Should we fight the enemy?”

“Fight?” Duncan’s eyes twinkled, and after a moment of fixed gaze, he said, “Yes, fight!”

“But…” Duncan’s tone suddenly changed, looking at Luther, “But it’s me who will be fighting, not you. Kid, don’t get worked up, I’m telling you, this is the only way. Soon, I’ll bring out the mechanical crossbows and distribute them to everyone and then let off a volley to temporarily suppress those damn enemies. Meanwhile, you need to find a way to break out on horseback. Not just to save your life, more importantly, there are two things you need to do.”

Duncan lifted his body and fumbled on the top of the carriage, pulling out a white wooden box and shoving it into Luther’s arms, “This is the most valuable merchandise in our business this time. If it gets lost, our entire merchant group can’t afford the loss. So the first thing you need to do when you break out is protect it well, and not let it fall into enemy hands.

The second thing you need to do after breaking out is to rush to Cuijin City with all speed. Ask for reinforcements there, let the official soldiers of Cuijin City come to rescue us. Don’t give me those teary eyes; this is not the time to cry. Just do well, and we’ll all survive. I still want to see you marry Melissa. I won’t die easily. Did you understand everything I said?”

“I understood.” Luther nodded vigorously.

Duncan took a deep breath, “That’s good.”

The next moment, Duncan, like an old leopard, charged out, opened another carriage that contained boxes, and inside were brightly shining mechanical crossbows…

For a while, the shooting from both sides of the forest continued, aiming to kill all the people in the caravan. However, the caravan suddenly burst with a storm of arrows in retaliation, catching the ambushers off guard and causing several unlucky ones to be hit by arrows and cry out in pain.

Seizing this opportunity, a horse from the caravan sped out at high speed, with Luther almost lying flat on its back, clutching a white wooden box, and rushed out of the encirclement, out of the forest, toward distant Cuijin City.

“Thump thump thump… thump thump thump…”

The continuous sound of horse hooves beat on the road outside the forest as Luther furiously whipped the horse, pushing it to its maximum speed.

He needed to be fast, faster, incredibly fast!

Every second he delayed, another person from the caravan might die.

Thinking this, Luther again fiercely lashed the horse. The next moment, his eyes widened in shock. He suddenly pulled the reins, the horse neighed loudly, its front hooves rose high, then heavily struck the ground, creating several centimeter-deep indentations.

Ahead on the road, several dozen fully armed cavalrymen were charging toward him, quickly closing in, then surrounded Luther.

Luther, extremely nervous, held the box in his arms and trembled slightly, swallowing his saliva, he asked the unidentified men, “Who… who are you?”

A cavalryman stepped forward, removed his helmet, revealing blond hair and a handsome face, and said to Luther, “I am Mire, captain of the Third Cavalry Guard of Cuijin City. Who are you?”

Luther’s eyes immediately widened as he exclaimed, “You are a soldier from Cuijin City, no, a noble? Greetings, Lord Mire, I am Luther from the Purple Bauhinia Commerce Group. We are here to deliver items to Cuijin City. We were ambushed on the way, and only I managed to break out to seek your help. Please, would you follow me and quickly help rescue Uncle Duncan and the others from our commerce group?”

“Hmm?” Mire frowned, seemingly not easily convinced by Luther’s words, and asked, “Clarify a bit, what is your Purple Bauhinia Commerce Group delivering to Cuijin City? Why were you ambushed?”

“Our commerce group was transporting a very precious item. I do not know what it specifically is. However, Uncle Duncan mentioned that it is related to a mysterious wizard, and if it were lost, our entire group could not afford the loss. That is why we were attacked…”

“That precious item, is it in this wooden box you are holding?” Mire suddenly interrupted Luther.

“Uh, yes,” Luther replied unguarded.

“Open it and let me see. I need to confirm what you are saying. After confirmation, I’ll follow you to rescue them,” Mire said.

“Okay, okay,” Luther responded without thinking twice and quickly opened the box, revealing its contents.

Inside the box, nestled in thick black silk, were three objects resembling crystal material. They were not very large, round in shape, and intricately adorned with complex patterns. Inside, a purple glow pulsated, visible even in the darkness of night.

Luther looked at the strange items in the box with some surprise.

Mire narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself, “An Examination Exemption Certificate, indeed. This could be a fortune, haha, as expected, fortune comes to the Lorand family.”

“Hmm?”

Luther looked up at Mire, puzzled by his words, and suddenly felt a chill run through his entire body.

He became suddenly alert, realizing that the person before him might not represent the official army of Cuijin City.

Otherwise, why would they not be in Cuijin City, but instead on the road to it? Why did he seem more familiar with the goods than Luther himself? And why did he insist on seeing the items in the box before rescuing anyone?

Thinking this, Luther saw Mire suddenly give him a strange smile, not bothering to hide as he “swished” a longsword from its scabbard, slashing towards him.

Luther felt his blood freeze, his mind a complete blank, save for one thought: Uncle Duncan, I’m sorry…

Just as Luther thought he faced certain death, suddenly “whoosh, whoosh,” several arrows flew past his ears and struck Mire in the head.

“Bang,” Mire’s hand loosened, dropping the longsword.

“Thud,” Mire’s face still held the strange smile as he fell stiffly from his horse.

Luther felt his blood resume flowing as he looked towards the distance and saw more cavalry charging forward, slaughtering those who had surrounded him.

The cavalry shouted as they slaughtered, “People of the Lorand family, you have violated the laws of the kingdom. I am here by the King’s command to eradicate you. Those who dare resist will meet their end, lay down your weapons and surrender, and you may be spared…”

The new cavalry was evidently formidable, quickly ending the battle. A tall knight rode up to Luther and said, “Hey, kid, don’t be afraid. I am here by the King’s command to protect you and the goods your commerce group is transporting. Hand over the items quickly, I need to ensure their safety.”

“So this is the real official army of Cuijin City.” Luther thought, somewhat coming to his senses, and instinctively started to hand over the box.

The next moment, however, he heard more hoofbeats in the distance, followed by even more cavalry charging wildly. The leader shouted, “Philip family, how bold of you to fake the King’s orders to attack other families. You intend to start a noble war, you are the real lawbreakers, all of you will die…”

Luther was completely stunned, utterly at a loss about whom to trust.

The night was still long, and more and more people gathered under the cover of darkness, fighting and killing for a precious item…

Meanwhile, Richard was in the study of his residential courtyard, quietly writing on papyrus with a quill.

“Shh, shh, shh…”

The night was chaotic, yet silent…