Hidden Shadow – CH 169

Chapter One-Hundred-Sixty-Nine: The Wind Rises in Yangzhou (3)

The secret letter was from Gu Jinghong. Judging from its contents, it seemed that Chu Dingjiang had discussed with him the plan to attack the Piaomiao Mountain mansion together.

“I thought it was just the two of us.” An Jiu put down the letter, feeling a little more at ease. She was not afraid of death, but she had not even seen Mei Yanran yet. She could not die; after all, she had only gotten this life because of Mei Jiu.

Even if most of Piaomiao Mountain mansion’s strength had been drawn to Bianjing, it was not a place that one or two people could easily conquer.

“Gu Jinghong has a hundred men under his command, but the forces within the Konghe Army are complex and difficult to mobilize. The situation is still not optimistic.” Chu Dingjiang paused, then said, “However, if there’s a 30% chance of victory, we can still fight.”

An Jiu disliked Gu Jinghong. She did not have much experience in dealing with people and judged people entirely by intuition.

“Why would he take this risk?” An Jiu asked.

“He wants to enthrone the Second Prince, cultivate his power base, and, more importantly, gain favor with the Emperor,” Chu Dingjiang said slowly. “It’s hard to say whether this reason is true or not. He has no ambition; perhaps he’s doing all this because he’s disillusioned with the world.”

“Disillusioned with the world?” An Jiu asked, puzzled.

“He’s tired of his situation, dissatisfied with the world, so he wants to destroy or change it.” Chu Dingjiang, having seen countless people, could roughly discern Gu Jinghong’s mindset.

He joked, “I only have a superficial acquaintance with him; what I’ve seen is merely the surface. Perhaps he’s a spy for the Liao Kingdom?”

An Jiu did not ask further. Gu Jinghong’s secret letter stated that the Emperor had agreed to his request. This letter was from a few days ago, and considering the time it took to deliver it, Gu Jinghong might already be approaching Yangzhou City.

“Let’s go.” Chu Dingjiang stood up, brushing the pine cone shells off his clothes.

Before reinforcements would arrive, they needed to ascertain the terrain and the enemy’s troop strength.

There were no high points near the docks, making it impossible to survey from above; they could only investigate from within.

Chu Dingjiang had An Jiu change into women’s clothing to conceal her face, while he himself donned a human skin mask. After discussing their plan, they entered the dock.

The dock was still bustling.

As Chu Dingjiang and An Jiu walked among the crowds, initially, when they headed towards a passenger ship, nothing seemed amiss. However, as An Jiu began walking north along the riverbank, she felt constantly watched by countless eyes.

When An Jiu pretended to admire the scenery and looked around, the feeling disappeared.

Generally speaking, lower-level mental power could not detect higher-level mental power, but this was not always the case. An Jiu dared not freely unleash her mental power here.

“Excuse me, young man, where is the outhouse?” Chu Dingjiang stopped a thin man who resembled a foreman, secretly slipping him a silver coin as he spoke.

The skinny man stuffed the silver into his pocket. “I will take you there.”

“Thank you so much!” Chu Dingjiang quickly pulled An Jiu along. “Wife, let’s go.”

An Jiu’s expression stiffened slightly: They had not discussed this at the beginning!

Chu Dingjiang comfortably led her behind the skinny man.

Along the way, piles of goods, like mountains, gradually blocked the view on either side, leaving only a narrow path. These goods seemed randomly piled, but upon closer inspection, they seemed to conceal some kind of pattern.

“We are here.” The skinny man stopped, pointing to a small shed built of wooden planks ahead. “Hurry, hurry, there are goods everywhere here. Outsiders are not allowed to wander around. If the top officials find out, I will be punished!”

Chu Dingjiang slipped another silver coin. “Thank you, young man.”

Chu Dingjiang pushed An Jiu into the outhouse. “Wife, I am outside, hurry up! Do not delay!”

The outhouse was very rudimentary, without a chamber pot, just a pit dug in the ground, lined with stones on both sides. It reeked, swarming with greenbottle flies, making An Jiu frown.

Knowing Chu Dingjiang needed time, An Jiu stayed a little longer.

“Are you done yet?!” the skinny man asked impatiently.

“Wife, are you done yet?” Chu Dingjiang urged.

“Almost!” An Jiu said irritably.

Chu Dingjiang walked up to the skinny man with a forced smile, slipped another silver coin into his hand, and flicked his finger slightly.

The skinny man did not notice the subtle gesture, took the coin, and continued to mutter discontentedly, “It’s been so long, the baby could have been born by now!”

As soon as he finished speaking, everything went black before his eyes, and before he could react, he fainted.

“All done.” Chu Dingjiang took out a handkerchief and wiped the powder off his finger.

An Jiu emerged with a dark expression.

Chu Dingjiang smiled. “You wait here; I will be right back.”

Chu Dingjiang’s figure flickered, disappearing silently.

After about half a cup of tea’s time, Chu Dingjiang had circled the entire dock, returning somewhat weary.

The skinny man, still groggy, did not know how long he’d slept, but felt someone nudging him.

He abruptly opened his eyes, seeing Chu Dingjiang’s anxious face. “Young man, are you alright?”

The skinny man’s face was gloomy, his narrowed eyes coldly scrutinizing Chu Dingjiang, a hint of malevolence lurking between his brows.

“Hey, young man, your complexion is not right! Are you possessed?” Chu Dingjiang exclaimed in surprise, quickly pulling An Jiu behind him, using this protective gesture to conceal her strange expression.

Chu Dingjiang knew she was trying her best to cooperate, but her acting was simply too poor.

The skinny man’s mental senses failed to detect anything suspicious. Though still doubtful, his expression softened slightly. “How did I faint?”

“We do not know either. If you do not wake up soon, the ship will be leaving!” Chu Dingjiang said.

“Let’s go.” The skinny man rubbed his temples and led the two back to the dock.

Chu Dingjiang and An Jiu immediately boarded a passenger ship.

The ship quickly sailed away from the dock.

Chu Dingjiang deliberately chose a small boat because it could not hold much. Besides the passengers, the food and water would only last a day or two, so they would have to stop shortly after sailing.

The ship headed north. As Chu Dingjiang expected, it stopped briefly at a privately owned dock along the coast near Chuzhou.

Only after disembarking did An Jiu inquire about the situation.

Chu Dingjiang said in a deep voice, “There is indeed an array at the dock, but it is just an array, not a place where many assassins are hiding. The real lair of Piaomiao Mountain mansion is in the town.”

An Jiu nodded, “It should be that the entire town has that kind of array that conceals power. When I was waiting for you outside that day, I clearly saw several people who knew martial arts enter the town, and then I could not sense their presence anymore.”

“Now that we are sure, things are easier.” Chu Dingjiang smiled slightly. His mental power was different from An Jiu’s. An Jiu could not detect ordinary people, but he could. The town was not big; he just needed to identify the densely populated areas and then eliminate them one by one. He was not afraid of not finding the place. The skinny man at the dock was clearly skilled in martial arts and was probably one of the many assassins. He had rich experience. Although the sleeping potion Mo Sigui prepared was colorless and odorless, fainting for no reason would inevitably arouse suspicion. He could not make any further moves recently.

“First, go to Chuzhou and meet up with Gu Jinghong,” Chu Dingjiang said.

An Jiu suddenly thought of something. “Since you’ve decided to investigate first, why do you still want the Yu family’s goods to go through Feng’s Wharf?”