Chapter 68: Leaving No Evidence

"Wu the Sixth is getting desperate!"

Among the guards lurking nearby, one could not help but snicker aloud.

Watching Wu the Sixth, utterly clueless about what had just transpired and now boiling with rage, even Zhao Hengyi could not suppress a slight smile tugging at his lips.

It was hard to blame Wu the Sixth, truly. After all, the man had always been a taciturn hunter; to demand he lead troops and command in battle was indeed a stretch.

But Wu the Sixth had his own strengths. He traversed mountains and forests as if walking on level ground; once in the Great Green Mountains, he moved as though in his own backyard. His survival skills in the wild were so impressive that even veteran soldiers had to admit their respect.

The region around Jiangling Prefecture was filled with mountains and rivers, a stark contrast to the flat terrain of Yonggu City, where the old soldiers had once served. Eager to master the art of warfare in such woodlands, the veterans had learned much from Wu the Sixth.

In Zhao Hengyi’s eyes, Wu the Sixth was the ideal candidate to instruct in mountain and jungle warfare. His appointment to lead the hunting party in their drills was meant to nurture him further.

After all, Wu the Sixth was used to fighting alone and was not adept at small-unit tactics or teamwork. But an instructor who only excelled in solo combat would not do, thus the current predicament.

Eager to impress his new employer, the "Mountain Burrowing Dragon" led a band of mountain bandit underlings, brandishing weapons and shouting from half a mile away, as if afraid no one would know the Zhou family’s reinforcements had arrived.

Having wasted two days preparing a battle plan that was now useless, and having lost his gamble in the field, Wu the Sixth was fuming, venting all his anger on the hapless, clueless bandits.

Even his frustration at never having learned to read, and at being scolded by the Sixth Aunt, he now laid at the "Mountain Burrowing Dragon’s" feet!

On one side was a group of bandits putting on a show to curry favor with their new master; on the other was Wu the Sixth, burning with fury and desperate to redeem himself. The outcome of this encounter was all too predictable.

With Wu the Sixth’s curses ringing through the air, the hunting party held nothing back—a hail of arrows rained down upon the utterly unprepared bandits!

Shrieks, wails, and curses blended into a chaotic uproar. Having just fought a major battle, the hunting party was no longer as green as before; charged with adrenaline, they now bared their fangs like a pack of young wolves, showing the world their true ferocity.

Dozens of mountain bandits were wiped out to the last man—the hunting party left not a single survivor.

So ruthless was Wu the Sixth’s command that even the guards found themselves in awe.

This was proof that they had truly absorbed the master’s spirit: in external warfare, when facing foreigners or hardened criminals, exterminate them all—take no prisoners.

Only when the fighting was over did Zhao Hengyi emerge from the woods with the guards, helping the young hunters tend to the wounded and collect the spoils.

Only then did the hunting party realize that all their heroic deeds had been witnessed by their employer. Their already high spirits soared to new heights.

As for the aftermath, Zhao Hengyi had long since made his arrangements.

The captured deserters were interrogated separately, confirming all that Liu Gou’er had previously reported.

These men came from various border troops, all scattered and captured after a battlefield rout, then gathered and used by someone with ulterior motives. According to their confessions, the mastermind behind it all had amassed at least five or six hundred such deserters!

Was the mastermind planning to turn all these men into mountain bandits?

During their transfer, the deserters were repeatedly broken up and regrouped. The hundred or so delivered to Dangyang County came evenly from six different border garrisons, proof that the planner was meticulous indeed.

They described being transported from different border towns to Dangyang, by cart, by boat, over mountains and along roads. Their escorts were seasoned and kept all contact with outsiders to a minimum.

This was crucial information. Others might assume that such seamless logistics meant the mastermind or organization was simply thorough, having arranged everything to perfection.

But Zhao Hengyi thought otherwise.

Though not an expert in personnel movement or logistics, as a modern man, Zhao Hengyi knew well enough that running such a complex operation without a single slip was a tremendous feat.

Moreover, these deserters were living men, needing food, drink, and rest along the way. Supposedly, those who provided for them were not fixed; at each stop, there was a base of sorts responsible for their needs.

These bases ranged from inns to restaurants, even to the manors of wealthy families—their backgrounds and functions varied, and none were within the reach of ordinary folk.

Each of these soon-to-be reorganized deserters had passed through five or six such bases. Counting those sent elsewhere, just from six border towns to the heartland of Great Yan, the mastermind had deployed at least twenty bases.

Among those named by the prisoners, there was significant overlap, but eight distinct bases were identified and meticulously recorded by Zhao Hengyi.

For such covert bases to exist, each would have required enormous effort and years of careful management. To activate more than twenty at once, moving deserters with such skill and composure—this could only be the work of a well-established, tightly organized power.

The bases and transport routes were not hastily assembled; in the hands of any power, such assets would be invaluable. For the time being, Zhao Hengyi could not imagine what they were usually used to transport.

Whatever it was, it could not be anything legitimate, or else there would be no need for such secrecy.

It seemed he had once again made a formidable enemy. But it mattered not; as long as all evidence was thoroughly destroyed, in an age without surveillance cameras or satellite images, no one could ever prove it was his doing.

With this conviction, Zhao Hengyi ordered the prisoners to collect the bodies of their comrades and deliver them en masse to the newly built stronghold of the "Mountain Burrowing Dragon." After clearing out all the grain and silver from the stronghold, Zhao Hengyi, invoking his rank as an adjutant in Yonggu City’s Xuan Battalion, executed all the deserters under the laws of Great Yan.

As for the weapons and bows that others might have coveted, Zhao Hengyi left every piece behind in the stronghold and burned it all to ashes.

Though the "Mountain Burrowing Dragon" had received support from the Zhou family, their operation had only just begun; the loot was meager, though there was plenty of grain. Fortunately, the delivery wagons were still in the stronghold, so they loaded everything up and hauled it away.

All tracks left along the way were obliterated. Two miles from the village, Zhao Hengyi sent men back to quietly fetch his own wagons, and grain and treasure were covertly transported home and directly stored in their warehouse, sorted by type.

As for the Zhou family’s wagons, every one was smashed to pieces and burned to cinders.