Chen An and Li Yin were still lying on the ground. After a burst of noise from Li Yan's room, it had fallen silent. After a while, they felt a chill on their bodies, but it returned to normal after a moment. They still did not dare to get up.
Strategist Ji had once again secretly entered Green Mountain Pass. He went straight to the military camp. His purpose on this trip was to find the person who had spoken to Chen An at the military camp gate yesterday afternoon, and the other soldier on duty at the north city gate who had told Li Yin that "Lord Li had already left the city two hours ago." It was, of course, very easy to know where these two soldiers were in the camp. Chen An and Li Yin were old hands in the army, and they both knew these two soldiers. Under his detailed questioning just now, Chen An and Li Yin had already told him everything they knew about the two soldiers, like pouring beans from a bamboo tube.
Soon, Strategist Ji arrived in front of the military camp. It was now midnight. The military camp gate was tightly closed, and patrol squads would occasionally walk past in neat formations inside. But in Strategist Ji's eyes, it was as if there was nothing there. He could come and go as he pleased in the garrison camp of hundreds of thousands of troops, let alone this military camp of tens of thousands of people in the city. In a short while, a figure shot out of the military camp like lightning. If anyone could see clearly, they would see that this person was carrying a person in each hand, as if they had no weight at all. His figure flickered, and he had already floated out of the military camp.
Feng Chuang slowly woke up, feeling cold all over. He couldn't help but open his eyes, but he was stunned, thinking that he was sleepwalking. He was now lying in what seemed to be a dense mountain forest. Looking up, he could see a little moonlight sprinkling down from between the leaves of the treetops. He hurriedly turned his head. It was dark all around, and he couldn't see clearly. He clearly remembered that he had conducted a routine full-squad training after dinner today, and then he had turned off the lights and gone to bed early. He was clearly sleeping in the barracks. How was he now in what seemed to be a mountain forest outside the city?
He sat up and shook his head to clear his mind. "This must be a dream." When he opened his eyes again, the scene before him was still the same. Even for a brave warrior of the battlefield like him, he couldn't help but feel afraid. He quickly pinched his thigh. It hurt. This was not a dream.
"You don't need to confirm. This is not a dream. What you need to do now is to answer my questions honestly. That's enough," a sinister voice said in the darkness.
Feng Chuang only felt the back of his neck grow cold. He turned his head to look. In the darkness not far away, a tall and slender man in a black robe was standing there.
"Who... are you?" Feng Chuang asked, his voice trembling.
"It's not you who asks, it's me. Do you understand? Remember, when I ask you questions later, if you lie, the consequences will be a bit unpleasant." The voice was cold and without a trace of emotion.
"Yesterday afternoon, when you were on duty, did Strategist Ji's disciple, Li Yan, walk out of the military camp?"
Feng Chuang was stunned. He had not expected this person to abduct him here and ask this question. He couldn't help but hesitate for a moment, but he didn't dare not to answer. "Oh, yes. He came out not long after he entered the military camp."
With a "crack," a shrill scream pierced the night in the mountain forest, startling the roosting birds into flying away with a flutter. The man in the black robe had, at some unknown time, already appeared in front of Feng Chuang. He reached out and broke one of his fingers.
Then, amidst the continuous low questioning, shrill screams would occasionally ring out, and from time to time, there would be sounds of bitter pleading.
A quarter of an hour later, Strategist Ji slapped the head of Feng Chuang, who was already disfigured and had few intact parts on his body. Feng Chuang then fell down softly, bleeding from all seven orifices, but with a smile of relief on his face, as if death was the happiest thing for him.
In that quarter of an hour, Strategist Ji had used many inhuman methods, but his question was always the same: "Did Strategist Ji's disciple, Li Yan, walk out of the military camp?"
After a quarter of an hour, he had confirmed that "Li Yan did not walk out of the military camp."
Next, he bent down and woke up the other soldier. In a short while, shrill screams rang out again. And in this dark night in the mountain, even the startled birds all around had long since disappeared without a trace. Only the dark night and the ghost-like screams continued to echo.
Another quarter of an hour later, Strategist Ji once again slapped the soldier's head. The screams stopped abruptly.
The surrounding ancient trees towered into the sky. Strategist Ji stood there. "So Li Yan really did leave the city, and from the north city gate. And the other military camp guard said he didn't walk out of the military camp gate. Hehe, Hong Linying, what a good move. There are only two exits to the military camp. Since Li Yan did not go out of the camp gate, but Li Yan appeared at the north city gate, did you even use a tiger tally to let Li Yan out from the military supply depot?
Once you leave this city from the south or north gate, if you want to come back, you can only return the same way you came, from the same gate. Unless he secretly entered the city through the north gate again. But that is almost impossible. There is no doubt now that Li Yan left the city yesterday.
He was alone when he left, not on horseback, and in a hurry. It can be deduced that he was also avoiding Hong Linying. With that boy's caution in secretly practicing my handwriting and being able to make Hong Linying use a tiger tally, how shrewd is his mind? He is definitely not a person who would put his life in the hands of others. I just don't know what method he used to shake off Hong Linying as well. Hmph, it seems that Hong Linying was also played by him.
This way, it can be judged that he will definitely not secretly sneak back. Because that would only increase his chances of being caught. The so-called 'darkness under the lamp' trick also depends on the timing. How could he, with his mind, not know when to advance and when to retreat?
Thus, there is basically no need to investigate the city. I was originally thinking of capturing that Liu Chengyong and Li Yan's fellow villagers to question them. Now it seems that is also unnecessary. Li Yan is now hiding somewhere outside the city."
If Li Yan and Hong Linying were here, they would be greatly surprised. The plan they had been planning for months had been figured out almost completely by the calmed-down Strategist Ji in just half a night.
And Strategist Ji's entry point was also very particular. Although he had Liu Chengyong, Li Shan, and Li Yu as suspects in his conclusions, he had more directly found the key witnesses who had seen Li Yan. After getting the answer he wanted, he then reasoned further, and the truth of the matter slowly emerged. The other few conclusions were easily solved, saving the time of finding and interrogating each one. But this had also invisibly saved the lives of Liu Chengyong, Li Shan, and Li Yu. If it weren't for the calmed-down Strategist Ji, he might have gone to find anyone he suspected. The fate of the person he found would basically be certain. He would not have left any survivors.
"Then next is that boy's whereabouts. Li Family Village in the Great Green Mountains? Hehe." In this darkest hour before dawn, Strategist Ji's dark face had already merged with the night. Only his white teeth were particularly conspicuous.
With a flicker, he was about to break through the air and leave. But he immediately stopped again. He focused his mind for a while and muttered to himself, "No, although the 'darkness under the lamp' situation might occur in Li Family Village, this method of gambling with his life is too hasty. That is not something that boy would do. Among these conclusions, there are two other things that might reveal this boy's whereabouts. One is, why did Li Yan recently buy a large amount of farm tools and clothes? The second is, what is the meaning of the large area of flowers and plants that Li Yan recently planted?"
He just stood there motionless. Time passed bit by bit. The eastern sky was slowly beginning to brighten, and the mountain forest also began to look a little hazy.
Finally, Strategist Ji's figure moved. He shook his head. "Those farm tools and clothes seem to be really useless. This should be a way for him to soothe his state of mind. After all, Li Yan grew up in a mountain village and still has a primitive dependence and possessiveness towards farm tools and things in the city. It's just that these flowers and plants look a bit strange. It's possible that they are a purpose for his escape. As for the specifics, I still have to go back and check." Thinking of this, he got up and went towards the Strategist's Manor.
At this time, there was an uproar in the military camp in the city. Two soldiers had disappeared overnight. Were they enemy spies? Had they been discovered and secretly slipped away in the middle of the night? Or had enemy personnel appeared in the city and abducted these two soldiers? For a time, the military camp was extremely tense, and each battalion was wary of each other. Among these people, one person vaguely felt that this matter might be related to Li Yan. That was Liu Chengyong. Of the two missing men, one was on orders just like him, and the other was also on duty at the city gate that day. But he did not dare to say it rashly. He just felt extremely nervous. He had a guess that it might have been Strategist Ji's doing. Otherwise, with the strict security of this military camp, it was not something that a few masters from the martial world could abduct. And this was also done silently. Thinking of Strategist Ji's unpredictable methods when he was fighting the enemy outside the city before, he became even more certain.
Hong Linying was sitting in the central command tent. After getting the news in the morning, he had rushed over.
Looking at the generals in the main tent, he said in a deep voice, "The south gate is closed to entry and exit. The north gate is to be strictly checked. The military camp is also to be thoroughly investigated internally. Two large teams will be dispatched from each battalion to investigate the various households in the city. The official statement to the public is that it is suspected that enemy spies may have infiltrated the city. Do not reveal any news of the missing soldiers. Do you understand?"
The generals in the main tent all stepped forward in unison. "As you command." They then filed out. In an instant, only a few advisors and Marshal Hong were left in the main tent.
Marshal Hong looked at the few advisors and waved his hand. "You may also go out."
"Yes, Marshal."
After the personnel had left, Marshal Hong looked at the marshal's desk and was lost in thought for a while. "Hehe, you've made your move? You're really fast. Since you've already become suspicious, then I'll just go along with that boy."
In the Strategist's Manor, in the inner valley, Strategist Ji had already returned here. Looking at the two men who were still kneeling there, a murderous glint flashed in his eyes. He slowly walked to the front of the two men and looked at the two men lying on the ground without a word. A moment later, he waved his robe sleeve. "You two, get out."
Chen An and Li Yin had been kneeling all night. Even with their physical strength, their minds were already blurry. Suddenly hearing this voice, they were startled and became a little more clear-headed. They quickly kowtowed, and then slowly and with difficulty stood up. Then the two of them supported each other and limped outside.
The two of them did not know that they had just walked through the gates of hell. It was just that Strategist Ji saw their appearance, and now he had other things on his mind, so he had temporarily let the two of them go.
Strategist Ji did not pay attention to how the two of them went back. He looked at the various flowers and plants that had been planted not far in front of the stone house and couldn't help but observe them carefully. He then carefully walked along the winding path between them, stopping and going, occasionally bending down to observe carefully.
And so, the morning sun slowly rose. At this time, Strategist Ji was squatting in front of a flower. This flower was planted on the south side of the inner valley, already close to the foot of the mountain. Relative to the stone house and this patch of flowers and plants, it was already extremely remote. He patiently walked through one place after another. When he came here, he found that one of the flowers was a little taller than the surrounding flowers. This was originally a very common thing. The height of plants was not fixed. But what was strange was that the area around this flower was much emptier than other flowers and plants. But it was not a very large empty space. But upon closer inspection, this was somewhat different from other places.
Strategist Ji squatted in front of this flower and first observed it for a while. He found that although this flower was taller, it seemed to be malnourished. This was a bit strange. Generally, tall and large flowers and plants should be lush. But the branches and leaves of this plant were a bit sparse.
Seeing this, he reached out and dug a few times at the root of the flower. The flower then fell down. It seemed that its roots were not very deep. Then he saw that after the main stem of the flower had fallen over, a piece of silk was exposed underneath. He was immediately invigorated and grabbed the piece of silk with his hand, which was filled with spiritual power. But in the subsequent process of picking it up, there were no abnormalities.
After taking it in his hand, he looked at it carefully. It was a small piece of black silk, folded into a small square.