Chapter 23 - Infiltration (1/2)

Fortunately, after Kang gave his orders, it didn't take long for the residents to pack their belongings into bags.

Not living in luxury, they knew how to live with the bare essentials. Obviously, over the years, they had accumulated various personal items, but they weren't as important as their own life.

Of course, Hei had nothing to prepare since he didn't live there, but he started helping them anyway to take down tents and store the food for the journey.

Kang and the other four selected for this mission came out of their tent armed. They all had similar leather protections, but each one differed in the type of weapon he had.

Zenko had red hair and a massive build. Taking advantage of this feature, his choice of weapon was a battle-axe held with both hands.

Yuhan and Delan were twins with light brown hair. They had a slimmer build than Zenko, but you could still see that they had a well-trained body. Respectively, they had a double edge sword and a pair of sharp daggers.

Sen instead used a bow. He had long black hair and the most slender body of all. However, he had sharp eyes that allowed him to observe the situation calmly and to use his bow as best he could. At his waist, he had a short dagger in case he had to switch to close combat.

Finally, Kang had a metal staff that reached his eyebrows. It was different from the metal stick that Hei saw in Kang's hand when he entered through the secret passage in the wall, both in size and in the quality of the weapon itself. Evidently, this was his real weapon. He also carried a dagger in his waist.

Seeing that they would leave soon, Hei took the opportunity to give the last food leftovers from the meal to Xing and Ye. Because of that bad news, the people at the table had lost their appetite, leaving various leftovers on the table.

Since he had been taught the value that represented what he ate, Hei couldn't bear that food was wasted, so he gave it to his two little sisters so that they could be full of energy.

When they finished eating everything, Kang told the people present with a resolute look, ”Well then, remember what I said. Two hours, no more. If you don't see us coming, go away immediately. Remember always to stay together and help each other. ”

At that point, the two groups left the room towards the dark tunnels and then split up at some point. The first one headed to Dong Zhen's shop. The second one to the city gates from where they would then go outside.

Once separated from the others, Hei asked Kang for details of how they would enter without being seen. The young man set off first with an introduction to how the space around Dong Zhen's shop was structured.

The merchant had bought a large piece of land and built walls around it. There was a single entrance guarded by guards while the perimeter of the walls was also guarded.

Going straight from the front entrance, there was Dong Zhen's shop. Although it was called a shop, it was nothing more than the merchant's residence where he preferred to conduct his business, since his men surrounded him. Behind this 'shop,' there were two other smaller buildings.

”The building from at we will arrive is where the animals are kept. As they aren't kind people, the animals that are forced to stay there all the time. Without the possibility of going to the pasture, the animals must necessarily carry out their needs there. Therefore, to remedy the problem, the merchant's men placed a hole that leads to the city's sewer system to dispose of the animal's organic waste. These underground tunnels are connected to the city's sewer system, which is connected to that hole.” Kang explained as they passed through these tunnels, the smell inside was strong, but it started to get more and more intense as they approached the sewer system.

Hearing that they would enter the place he was looking for, Hei gave a start. He didn't expect to find them so fast.

This was a good thing for him since he could ascertain the conditions of the water buffaloes immediately, but he would have to wait to free them.

Given that Kang was the one who had shown him the secret passage, he certainly couldn't abandon him without helping him free his kidnapped companions.

”From the way you are explaining, I infer that you have already used that passage and not just one time, have you?” Hei asked thoughtfully.

It was hard to believe that he knew so much information without having experienced this passage himself and without having explored the place a little.

Kang smiled slightly at Hei's question, ”Yes, I discover passage a long time ago when I wandered through these tunnels trying to memorize the routes. Sometimes I return to see what the situation is like. I have always considered Dong Zhen an enemy to be eliminated. Even though, up to now, I have never engaged in such an action, except for a few small skirmishes with his less important men. But my experience is limited only to the outside, I never went inside the buildings to avoid alerting the guards, so I don't know how much use my information has.”

”No, the ones you have are already more than I could have hoped for. Don't worry. We will free your companions.” Hei said, trying to console Kang lightly. Although he didn't show it on the outside, Hei knew how restless Kang was inside.

After walking a little more, they reached the entrance that led to the sewer system, and from there, they finally reached the hole.

From inside the sewer system, you could barely see the outside as there was a large number of feces, manure, and other waste in the hole. The stench was incredible, and flies were flying everywhere.

However, the group paid little attention to this. Indeed, they wouldn't pull themselves back from fulfilling their mission just to avoid getting a little dirty.

So, one by one, with Kang in front of everyone, followed then by Hei, and finally, by the other four, they slowly came out of the hole and ended up getting completely dirty with everything present in the duct.

Ye and Xing made some complaints about the smell, not being used to it, and they held their breath while waiting to come out. Hei had already got used to the smell and tried to console his two little sisters to resist.

Once they all came out, they saw that they were near a wooden building. From outside you could hear animal noises coming from inside.

There was no guard nearby, but it wasn't a surprise. After all, who would guard some animals, considering the stench that laid there?

Fortunately, it was blowing a bit of wind, and the group could breathe a bit of clean air. At the moment, it was still afternoon, although it would soon start to set. If there was a positive thing in the fact that it was still daylight, it was that, at least, they wouldn't have visual difficulties in moving, although this would be the same for their enemies.

Seeing that they were still adapting to the environment, Hei started moving to the adjacent building, followed shortly by the others.

The building in question was nothing more than a stable; inside, the water buffaloes were sleeping, each in their own designated spaces, on one side of the stable; the other was occupied instead by the manger.

Hearing that there were people, the water buffaloes began to wake up and moo but were immediately stopped by another bellow with an authoritarian tone. The albino buffalo had produced it.

This one came out of the perimeter area where it was sleeping and looked towards Hei, who was approaching.

When he reached it, Hei held out a hand and placed it on its head as he looked at the spirit beast straight in its eyes, ”I came as I promised, today you and your companions will be freed. But it is not yet time to leave. I must first help them free their companions. Then we can leave. For the moment, stay here and keep the others ready for the escape, okay?”