C39 (1/2)
Yang Lin walked down the slope and by the time he returned to his own tent, Yang Hu and Yang Bao were already there waiting. The two brothers were very secretive and nervous, upon seeing Yang Lin return, they followed him into the tent, as if there was something important to talk about with Yang Lin.
”Big Brother, we have spies in our caravan!”
”Ah, there's a traitor in our caravan?”
Yang Lin was shocked, seeing that the mounted bandit had their eyes on him from the beginning to the end, he never thought that his caravan would have a traitor! This is a real internal problem. Were these bandits attracted by these traitors? But he had only been in Chi County for a few days. How had these bandits colluded with him?
”Tell me, what happened?”
Yang Hu and Yang Bao, the two brothers had obviously discussed this beforehand, upon hearing Yang Lin's question, Yang Hu looked at his brother Yang Bao and pouted. Yang Bao understood that it was time for him to speak, so he hurriedly took a step forward and whispered to Yang Lin.
”Big brother, we noticed a few people the day before yesterday. They often walked at the back of the group and left marks on the road that we passed by. It's the same as when we were hunting in the mountains, afraid of getting lost and making marks, but why would they do that? We two brothers became suspicious and kept our eyes on these people. We found out that they have to make a mark every few dozen miles, so we guessed that these people were spies. There should be other people following behind our team. ”
”Good brothers, you did too well.”
No wonder those guys were following him. They had an inside story. Good man, it looks like they were already prepared. When we were preparing cloth and equipment in the county, they had already colluded with us. So where were they going to do it?
”Public Ridge?”
Yang Lin's mind immediately recalled the dispute between Su Shuang and him regarding the route. The two of them were very clear about the dangers of Public Ridge, but why did Zhang Shiping mention that he wanted to go to Public Ridge? Why were the mounted bandit in front waiting there? How do they know our route? Who provided them with the route?
Zhang Shiping?
Impossible, if Zhang Shiping is also a traitor, then why did Tang Qing tell him that there are mounted bandit s here and there, and that it would be better for us to fall into their trap? Why did he mention it? If that was the case, the mounted bandit would most likely judge if we were to pass by the Ma Lin Mountains and set up an ambush here.
”Who are they?”
”They are all the subordinates of eagle peak's Second Leader, Li Yan. There's about seven of them.”
Oh, is Li Yan involved?
”Li Yan was not found involved.”
”Then is Liang Tian, Dong Jian, Ding Ji and Gu Hui participating?”
”None of them.”
”Other than Li Yan's subordinates, is there anyone else worth suspecting?”
”Nope.”
Yang Hu, go and find Li Yan, Liang Tian, Dong Jian, Ding Ji, and Gu Hui. Yang Bao, go and capture those seven secretly.
”Understood.”
When Yang Hu and Yang Bao left the tent, Yang Lin gnashed his teeth in anger. He was not angry at Li Yan, he had never trusted him. He was angry at Liang Tian, since this guy did not tell him, was he also participating? If so, I'll cut him up.
”Yang An, Yang Shun.”
”Here.”
”Yang An, go inform the rest of you to come to my tent. Yang Shun, go inform the people from the various villas to get ready for battle.”
”Understood.”
Not long later, Yang Hu called Li Yan, Liang Tian, Ding Ji, and Gu Hui over. The five of them had never entered Yang Lin's tent before, so they did not have any special relationship with Yang Lin.
”Sit down. I've called you all here to have a chat. How about it, are you two used to the snowy plains? ”
”Thank you Master Yang for your concern. When we were in Jizhou, snow often fell during the winter as well. Master Yang is from the south, I doubt that he will get used to it. ”
Although Li Yan was muttering in his heart, he was still chatting with Yang Lin. Yang Lin was also amiably talking and laughing with them. Gradually, they relaxed and naturally sat in Yang Lin's tent to chat. However, everyone's hearts were still unsettled.
Not long after, Zhang Fei, Dian Wei, Dian Wei, Yan Liang, Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Lin Feng, Luo Yong, Luo Yong, Cang Ba and the others arrived at Yang Lin's tent, after everyone had settled down, Yang Lin suddenly took out a long rod with three black stripes wrapped around it, and held it up.
”Have any of you ever seen this kind of long rod?”
Zhang Fei and the other brothers were confused and shook their heads. As Li Yan glanced at the long rod, he calmly shook his head, indicating that he had never seen it before. However, Liang Tian's face was unsettled, and seemed to be a little surprised.
”To tell you the truth, in our caravan, there is a bandit's spy. They inserted this kind of long rod into the snow, and lead the bandit to follow us step by step. Now that the bandits are right behind us, can any of you tell me what exactly is going on? ”
”Kill those who raise them.”
Just as Yang Lin finished speaking, Zhang Fei jumped up and shouted angrily. The loud roar almost knocked over Yang Lin's tent. Yang Lin waved his hand and asked him to sit down. His eyes stared at Liang Tian until they turned cold.
Liang Tian's face turned purple, he looked at Yang Lin blankly, and did not know what to say. Dong Jian, Ding Ji, and Gu Hui were also panic-stricken, their eyes constantly looking at Li Yan. Only Li Yan sat like nothing had happened, with a faint smile hanging on his face.
”Well, what don't you want to say?”
”Master Yang, don't force them. This was done by me alone, it has nothing to do with them.”
Li Yan laid on the bed shamelessly, taking all the blame on himself the moment he opened his mouth. He clearly knew that since Yang Lin had called them over, he must have already gotten hold of everyone here.
”Liang Tian, tell me, what is going on?”
Tears rolled down Liang Tian's face as he suddenly stood up and kneeled on the ground. However, he did not kneel to Yang Lin and instead kneeled down towards him, and kowtowed three times towards Li Yan with a ”dong dong dong”.
”Second Boss, I didn't think that you would still do it. You are harming our brothers.”
Li Yan sat there motionlessly, his face expressionless as he stared at Yang Lin with a blank look. He really did not understand, his subordinates were all experts in the dark. How could they be discovered by Yang Lin?
”Master Yang, no matter how you punish me, I don't complain. I just hope that you can leave the Second Leader's life and not punish the other brothers.
”Do you guys have anything to say?”
Yang Lin ignored Liang Tian, and stared coldly at Dong Jian, Ding Ji, and Gu Hui. The three of them kneeled on the ground at the same time, and their expressions were calm. They looked at Li Yan, kowtowed three times towards Li Yan, and then kneeled down towards him.
”Master Yang, the Second Boss saved us at that time, and we saved him. Although we tried to persuade the Second Boss, he still did it, and we begged the Master Yang to spare the Second Boss, we are willing to die for him.”
Yang Lin was speechless, Liang Tian, Dong Jian, Ding Ji, Gu Hui did not do anything wrong, can you force them to sell their benefactors? If they sold out the second-in-command today, they might sell out tomorrow. Do you want a righteous man who is willing to be punished for his benefactor, or do you want a villain who can sell out others as he pleases?
Just then, Yang Bao walked into the tent. When he saw that everything was still there, he nodded towards Yang Lin. Looking at him, Yang Lin could guess that he had captured all seven of them. Yang Lin waved his hand, telling him to speak in front of everyone.
”Brother, those seven people have all been captured, they admit that the Second Boss told them to do it, and even the long rod that was used as a marker was given to them by the Second Boss.”
Yang Lin understood it all, it was all done by the Second Leader. It looked like Liang Tian, Dong Jian, Ding Ji and Gu Hui were not lying. But what should he do with the second-in-command? Kill him? He was really afraid of chilling Liang Tian, Dong Jian, Ding Ji, Gu Hui and the rest's heart, so he stared at Li Yan fiercely and spoke coldly.
”Second Boss, tell me, how should I punish you?”
”Hmph, there's no need for Master Yang to act, I'll kill myself.”
Li Yan snorted coldly, he quickly pulled out the blade on his body and slashed his neck with lightning speed, only to see a spurt of blood spurting out, Second Boss still had his eyes open, and his body slowly fell to the ground. He had to admit that the Second Boss was indeed an expert at doing covert work.
”Second Boss …”