My Years in the Jianghu with the Prince: A Time of Unethical Conduct

Chapter 16 Night Detective

The entire room fell silent; everyone was waiting for the leader to speak.

Seeing an opportunity, Niu Da immediately approached the leader and whispered cautiously in his ear, "Leader, why don't we stop for a bit? They urgently need more people, and it would be troublesome if we didn't have enough."

He then looked at the second-in-command standing to the side and asked, "What do you think, second-in-command?"

The second-in-command agreed, "That's true."

The leader, rubbing his large belly, snorted and gestured for Niu Da to go check on him.

In the fighting arena, the young man, panting heavily, watched Niu Da check on Xie Yan's condition, gritted his teeth, and roared at the gang leader, "It was me! I won! Let me go!"

The bandits looked at him with disdain and whispered among themselves.

"It's that brat again, he's really tough."

"Who says otherwise? His parents are dead, and he's living like a dog."

"Hey, do you guys think the boss will let him go this time?"

"..."

The leader stared at the fighting arena with an inscrutable expression until he saw Niu Da nod, then sneered, "I just said kill him. What a pity, he's not dead yet."

Seeing the boy's incredulous look, everyone burst into laughter.

Niu Da helped Xie Yan out, and the gang leader waved his hand listlessly, struggling to his feet: "That's enough for today, everyone disperse."

The bandits swarmed forward and dragged the disgruntled boy and the others away.

There were no doctors in the mountain stronghold. The bandits would just take some medicine for minor illnesses and injuries, and whether they lived or died was entirely up to fate.

So Xie Yan didn't give himself away. He put away the blood bag, had Niu Da casually wrap two bandages around his neck, and was then led to a room.

It was a dilapidated mud house where people were imprisoned. The walls were completely covered with mud bricks, making it dark, and there was only one door that was a bit drafty.

The ground beneath their feet was covered with damp, musty-smelling straw, upon which lay several immobile people, who appeared to be seriously injured.

It was unclear how long they had been lying there; they were barely breathing, and Xie Yan could smell the stench of decay emanating from them.

The boy was also inside; he seemed to have been beaten up as well, and his injuries were visibly more numerous.

Seeing Xie Yan being thrown in, the boy remained motionless, huddled in the corner, his sinister eyes fixed on him.

Neither of them uttered a sound. The wooden door was slammed shut, and the sound of the bandits laughing and talking could be clearly heard as they walked away.

Xie Yan lay down for a while before the boy slowly approached him and looked him over.

"Who exactly are you? What do you want here?"

Xie Yan glanced at him sideways and retorted, "And what are you doing in a place like this?"

The boy sat curled up with his knees drawn up to his chest. His eyes were not visible in the dim light, but his muffled voice could be heard: "I was kidnapped with my family a few years ago."

He paused, then said, "But they're all dead, so only I'm left."

"I want to live."

The figure of the boy in front of me gradually overlapped with that of another person.

Xie Yan blinked, reached out and ruffled the boy's hair. "What's your name?"

The boy watched speechlessly as Lu Zizhao touched his head and then wiped his hands with his clothes.

Xie Yan rolled over and got up, tossed him a bottle of medicine, then took the medicine to check on the injuries of the others before returning to sit down face to face with Lu Zizhao.

"So, you've been here a long time, according to you. Then let me ask you, why did that boss capture so many people?"

Lu Zizhao buried his face in his knees, clutching the medicine bottle tightly in his hand.

"I don't know much either. It seems that the chief has joined some kind of cult and has to send people and money to them regularly. So the chief sends people down the mountain to kidnap people and rob goods from time to time. The people under him call this tribute."

This statement is the same as what Dao Yu Niu Da said.

Xie Yan pondered for a moment, then made up her mind and said to Lu Zizhao, "Do me a favor, and I can get you out of here."

The boy shook his head and refused, "I want something else."

"Oh? What do you want?"

Lu Zizhao looked into his eyes and said something softly.

Xie Yan was somewhat surprised, but he didn't think about it for long and readily agreed.

Night had fallen, and with no one around, the bandits were too lazy to guard the place.

A dagger emerged from the crack in the door and, with a flick of the wrist, pried open the latch.

Xie Yan grabbed Lu Zizhao and slipped out.

"Go that way."

Following his directions, Xie Yan made her way to the place where Yu Bai and the others were being held.

That place was different from Xie Yan's. A row of mud houses were connected together, with the doors locked tightly with iron chains. Windows were opened on both sides for ventilation, and about ten people could be squeezed into each room.

Several tables were set up in front of the earthen house for the bandits guarding it to drink and make merry.

Yu Bai and the others were newcomers, and according to Lu Zizhao, they should have been locked in the outermost earthen house.

The bandits were already quite drunk and couldn't tell which way was which, so they didn't notice anyone quietly approaching the earthen house.

By the moonlight, Xie Yan looked through the window and easily found a group of people preaching to the imprisoned people—no, praising the great deeds of their prince.

Xie Yan was speechless. Lu Zizhao, whom he was carrying, overheard this and asked him with some surprise, "Are you one of Prince An's men?"

He wanted to say no, but when he thought of the luxurious garden mansion that Chu Ling had promised him, he reluctantly admitted it.

A pebble flew out of nowhere and hit Yu Bai on the head. He cried out "Ouch!" and turned around to see Xie Yan's half-face peeking out of the window.

"I hope I haven't disturbed you?"

Yu Bai smiled sheepishly, "Young Master Xie, we've finally waited for you. How shall we get out?"

"Wait."

Xie Yan told Lu Zizhao to hide, and while changing her clothes, she took out a middle-aged man's face and put it on herself; it was the appearance of one of Niu Da's men.

Lu Zizhao stared in disbelief as he transformed into a member of the mountain bandits, even his voice becoming extremely rough.

Xie Yan swaggered toward the bandits guarding the mountain.

"Hey! Isn't that Wang Er!" Soon someone spotted him.

"The brothers are drinking."

Xie Yan sniffed, smiled sheepishly, and seamlessly joined the group of people chatting and putting their arms around each other's shoulders.

"Heard about it? You guys had a great day, huh? You stumbled upon a real bargain. I heard the boss is going to reward you handsomely."

"Just lucky, just lucky."

"You've really struck gold! You'd better hurry up and do something about it!"

Xie Yan chuckled and picked up the wine jar. "Come on, let me toast you brothers! We won't leave until we're drunk!"

A moment later, Xie Yan stepped over the corpses lying on the ground, found the key, and opened the door.

Yu Bai and the others were startled when they came out.

"You... you managed to drink them all under the table by yourself?"

Xie Yan looked at them like they were idiots and threw a medicine bottle at them. "I didn't expect that waiter's sleeping potion to be so effective."

"Alright, get back to work. Remember to bring that kid along, he can give you directions."

Without further delay, everyone immediately dispersed.