Chapter 75: Tracks

Chen Mo slowly closed the letter in his hand; he had already read it back and forth carefully.

Half a month ago, Mo Hu discovered news about the Dutian Dao Sect; they had recently been smuggling commercial goods toward Xingyuan Prefecture.

He did not know exactly what they were, but according to what he said in the letter, his investigation revealed that the person receiving these goods in Xingyuan Prefecture was none other than the Ziyi Daoren who had attacked Mo Dao that day.

As long as they could capture this group, they could pull up the radish and bring out the mud, finding the tracks of the Ziyi Daoren.

Therefore, he wanted to ask Chen Mo to help him stage an ambush; once successful, regardless of what commercial goods this group was transporting, everything would belong to Chen Mo.

In addition, he would provide two hundred taels of silver to Chen Mo as a reward for his help.

If his own guess was correct, then it was likely because Liu Mingqiao had been captured that Mo Hu was able to discover the Dutian Dao Sect members smuggling commercial goods.

The transport of Official Salt is not subject to the jurisdiction of the Tax Bureau, and the Tax Bureau has no authority to inspect it.

During the transport of Official Salt, no stops are allowed along the way except at Post Stations, and no one is permitted to obstruct it.

Using the pretext of transporting Official Salt to smuggle goods is not only the safest method, but also one that absolutely no one could discover.

Previously, Mo Hu had not been able to find any traces of the Dutian Dao Sect, yet he happened to find them over half a month ago.

Clearly, without Liu Mingqiao's help, the Dutian Dao Sect could only smuggle commercial goods through other methods.

But why would the Dutian Dao Sect need to smuggle? And such small-scale smuggling at that!

Even if they could earn some money, it would only be a drop in the bucket for them.

Unless the things they were smuggling were not fit to be seen, and they were not doing it to make money, but because they had to secretly transport the items to Xingyuan Prefecture.

Chen Mo took a fire-starter and destroyed the letter in his hand.

As for what exactly the Dutian Dao Sect members were transporting, he would know once he went to see for himself.

Since Fifth Brother had sent someone to deliver a letter asking for his help, he had no reason to refuse.

Moreover, this was just a small matter; they would not truly be facing that Ziyi Daoren, so the danger was not high.

Even if they did truly face that Ziyi Daoren, with his current strength, who would win and who would lose remained to be seen.

This was still Chen Mo's cautious estimation; after all, he had never truly seen the Ziyi Daoren, only heard Mo Hu speak of him.

At the very least, based solely on the strength the Ziyi Daoren had displayed that day, he was absolutely far inferior to his current self.

However, even so, these Cultivators had strange methods, so it was best for him to be careful when facing them.

"I have some matters to attend to and must go out for a few days; I will set off tomorrow morning. See if there is any heavy work left to do around the house; I will finish it first."

After destroying the letter, Chen Mo got up to find Zhao Yu to inform her that he would be leaving for a few days, then immediately added, "There is no need to prepare travel food for me; I won't be gone long this time, and it will likely be difficult to light a fire on the road, so just prepare some dry rations."

Zhao Yu pondered for a moment; she did not ask what Chen Mo was going to do, as she knew it was military business.

"The water in the vat is almost gone; you can just fill it up later, there isn't any other heavy work. I will go prepare the dry rations for you now so you can take them on the road."

The only heavy work at home was actually just fetching water for the vat; other chores were relatively light.

It wasn't that Zhao Yu couldn't do this work, but her speed was far inferior to Chen Mo's.

After drawing well water and resting peacefully for the night, the next day Chen Mo took the dry rations Zhao Yu had prepared for him.

There were quite a lot of dry rations: twenty pork buns the size of an adult's fist, three catties of beef jerky, five catties of cooked beef, six catties of spiced beef, and six baked oil cakes.

If Chen Mo ate sparingly, he could manage for two days.

In fact, with his current physical strength, even going three or five days without eating would not affect him; if he planned for Inedia, even a month or two would not be a problem.

The reason Chen Mo brought so many dry rations was mainly because traveling consumed a lot of energy, and also to ensure that the Transformation Pearl could continue to replenish his Qi and Blood while on the road.

Chen Mo carried his pack and was about to leave; Zhao Yu stood at the door to see him off.

"You must be careful on the road; I will wait for you to come home." She smiled and urged him carefully, though her eyes could not hide her worry.

"Don't worry, I will definitely come back." Chen Mo smiled at her, picked up his pack and weapons, and strode away.

Although he might not necessarily meet that Ziyi Daoren this time, a lion uses its full strength even when hunting a rabbit, so he still made full preparations.

He did not bring his ordinary long spear with the hard shaft, but instead brought the Steel Spear his foster father had forged for him, wrapping it tightly in a long cloth bag specially sewn by Zhao Yu, keeping it covered during normal times and only revealing it when needed.

He also carried the Ten-Stone Strong Bow on his back; a bow of this strength was rare even in the military. It was said that from the bow body to the bowstring, it had been soaked in a certain special snake oil to achieve such strength.

To avoid being too conspicuous, he did not wear his armor, but only wore a piece of Body Armor, covering it with his clothes.

Chen Mo left Zhu Niu Ji and first went to the military camp to make arrangements, ensuring there would be no other problems during the two days he was away.

After making the arrangements, he did not ride a horse, but left alone as he usually did.

The place he was going this time was entirely wilderness; riding a horse would not only fail to save energy, but would also slow down his progress.

Leaving Zhu Niu Ji, he headed west.

Chen Mo held a map in his hand; this map was drawn in great detail, marking not only the official roads but also various country paths, mountains, and rivers.

Its level of detail far surpassed any version circulating on the streets; even the maps drawn by many merchants themselves were not nearly as detailed.

This was a map used only within the military; any civilian who dared to copy this map privately would be executed immediately.

And any official who lost or leaked such a map without cause would receive fifty military floggings and be stripped of their rank by three grades.

What Chen Mo held in his hand now was only a detailed map of the small area around Zhu Niu Ji, while a detailed map of the entire Xingyuan Prefecture was likely only in the hands of the Imperial Court's Ministry of War and his foster father.

Not long after, Chen Mo had already stepped out of a stretch of saline-alkali land, and there was a small private salt field under a low mountain col not far away.

This small mine was actually marked by Chen Mo himself; it had not appeared on the map before.

After passing this mine, the road under his feet suddenly became much harder to walk.

Clusters of low shrubs covered his footsteps, all kinds of snakes, insects, rats, and ants occupied the area, and the terrain was uneven, sometimes walking on gravel paths.

There were no hills or mounds near Zhu Niu Ji; it was basically all plains.

Chen Mo's speed was not very fast, but he moved forward steadily.

Even so, he still crossed nearly a hundred miles before sunset, arriving at the meeting point he had agreed upon with Mo Hu.

With a light sweep of his gaze, Chen Mo had already discovered traces of other people having been there.

Following the traces, just a few dozen zhang away, someone was camped at a wind-sheltered mountain col.

"Fifth Brother." He called out softly, one hand already undoing the bag containing his weapons; if there was anything wrong, he would act.

Since Fifth Brother wanted to come here himself, then besides him, the people appearing here could also be from the Dutian Dao Sect.

"How did you get here so fast?" Mo Hu was startled upon hearing the voice, revealing his figure from behind the mountain hollow.

Only then did Chen Mo put away his weapon and smile, "I didn't dare to be careless after receiving the letter, so I rushed over immediately."

"I have investigated the matter almost thoroughly; either tomorrow or the day after, those people from the Dutian Dao Sect will certainly pass by nearby, so we shall wait here and set an ambush," Mo Hu said in a low voice.

Pulling Chen Mo behind the mountain hollow, besides him, there were two Personal Soldiers, both veteran Personal Soldiers under General Sun, trustworthy and not lacking in strength.

The two of them only knew Chen Mo well, after all, they had only spent half a year together, but they had spent several years with Mo Hu and Mo Dao, a friendship forged through life and death.

The two of them came this time also harboring the intention of avenging Mo Dao.

"Beef in Zhu Niu Ji is cheap, I brought some, let the brothers all have a taste."

Chen Mo opened the parcel and took out the remaining beef to share among the few.

The night was peaceful, and the next day, the few began to act in an orderly manner.

(End of this chapter)