Chapter Ninety: Shadowed Pursuit

The group returned to the camp, where only Du Long’s closest friends remained. Even the two captains, Sun Lin and Wang Shun, had been sent off to rest, while the newly subdued great lion was crouched outside the tent, guarding the entrance.

After settling onto the blankets inside, everyone turned their eyes to Du Long. It was the Phoenix Princess who could not hold back first. “Husband! Hurry and tell us where you disappeared to for these few hours! And what is the story with that great lion?!”

“Nothing much,” Du Long said, reciting the excuse he had already prepared without hesitation. “I just went out to relieve myself, and then I heard what sounded like a demonic beast fight off to the northwest. Curious, I slipped over and hid in the shadows to watch. As it turned out, Little Fierce was battling a crocodile demon. It was about to lose and get eaten, so I took pity on it and helped kill the crocodile demon instead. To repay me, it decided to come back with me.”

“That’s all? Nothing else?” the Phoenix Princess asked, a little dazed.

“Of course that’s all. What more complicated story were you expecting?” Du Long replied, scratching his head in feigned innocence.

“Honestly, can you tell us how strong the lion was, and how strong the crocodile demon was? And exactly how did you help it defeat the crocodile? Be clear about it!” Du Cai Ni protested with a heavy roll of her eyes.

“How strong? I really don’t know,” Du Long said, playing dumb. “All I know is that after fighting for a long time, the two of them were exhausted. I charged in with my battle saber and hacked at the crocodile demon while helping the great lion. With its aid, I fought three hundred rounds and only then managed, with great difficulty, to kill the crocodile demon!”

“Three hundred rounds? Looking at you so spotless and clean, you don’t seem like someone who’s fought three hundred rounds at all! Aren’t you still wearing the same clothes from daytime? You never even changed!” The Phoenix Princess’s eyes flashed with a dangerous light, as though if Du Long dared to keep lying, she would leap on him and take a bite.

Du Long’s heart tightened. He inwardly cried bitterly to himself. One careless slip of the tongue had instantly exposed a flaw, and in the end he could only laugh awkwardly. “Heh heh, my lady is indeed formidable. Nothing escapes your sharp eyes. Yes, I exaggerated the process a little. In truth, the two of them fought each other to a draw, and I was only the straw that tipped the balance. I hardly expended any strength at all. The entire credit belongs to that great lion.”

“You little rascal. Still, you really are lucky,” Du Cai Ni muttered, equal parts envy and jealousy. “Look at everything that’s happened lately. You not only won yourself a beauty and married the Phoenix Princess, you even got a territory for free. You must have reaped plenty just from all those house seizures, right? And now, barely after entering the Demon Beast Forest, you go out for a casual piss and somehow bring back a lion demon as well?”

“Hahaha...” The young people all burst into laughter.

Because of this little episode, none of them felt sleepy anymore. The few of them sat around chatting idly, and before long dawn arrived. By the time everyone had finished breakfast and prepared to depart, the sun was already rising in the eastern sky.

With such a dashing great lion as a mount, how could the Phoenix Princess bear to keep riding her white warhorse? She had long since clung to Du Long, and the two of them rode Fierce Wind together. Since they were now properly husband and wife, sharing a mount was nothing unusual.

Along the march, though they occasionally encountered a few demon beasts, most were weak. Upon seeing a large human force, they did not dare approach, and the road became much safer.

The others knew nothing of the reason, but Du Long understood perfectly well. The abnormal rampage of demon beasts the day before had most likely been caused by the fierce battle between two terrifyingly powerful beasts.

They advanced through the morning with hardly any resistance and finally reached the location of the first gold mine. By the time they arrived, the place was already deserted, with not a single person in sight within the mining area.

He had long heard from the guides that this was a poor mine, so the private miners probably fled as soon as they received word. Du Long did not care. While resting there for lunch, he also followed the original plan and left behind a force of thirty to fifty men to guard the mine.

Inside the gold mine camp, everything needed for human rest was already in place. The cave where the mine was located had been completely encircled by a temporary defensive palisade, sparing Du Long the trouble of building anything himself. He only needed to occupy the site directly, then send a few people back to his territory to bring skilled miners over to work the deposit.

Everything had already been planned, so Du Long did not linger. After lunch, he led more than four hundred men onward toward the next gold mine.

The second mine was exactly the same as the first: deserted and abandoned. It was clear that the Iron-Blooded Lord’s reputation had some deterrent effect, and the private miners had all vanished without a trace.

Since the day was already late, Du Long did not rush on to the next mine. Instead, he chose to rest for the night at the second camp. Nothing happened overnight. The next day, after leaving behind several dozen men to guard the mine, he set out again with his troops.

“Du Long, ever since we entered the first gold mine, there’s been an adventuring party following us from far behind. Looks like they’re not an ordinary adventuring party,” the spirit ring beauty reminded him with hidden meaning partway along the road.

Du Long’s brow twitched, and he hurriedly asked in his mind, “Ling Er, what do you think they are? Why are they following us?”

“Didn’t you think our journey has been far too smooth?” the spirit ring beauty replied with a light laugh.

“That’s true. I’ve also felt that something has been a little off all along,” Du Long said thoughtfully. “When we interrogated those corrupt officials in Rich Plow County, all the greatest profits from the private mining ended up flowing to the Fan family. That clan has always run roughshod over the Great Heaven Empire. How could they possibly surrender those mines so easily?”

“Your guess is very reasonable. I think the Fan family is probably plotting something extremely important, and they seem to be at a critical stage. During such a time, they would need a great deal of money. By rights, they should never give up these mines, which are the fastest sources of wealth, so readily.”

“Should I secretly seize the adventuring party behind us and interrogate them?” Du Long’s eyes flashed coldly. Toward the Fan family, the blood feud of annihilation from his previous life still burned bright. If he had a lawful chance to take revenge, he would never show mercy.

“Not yet. Let’s do it this way instead, and not one of them will get away.”

After the spirit ring beauty finished giving her instructions, Du Long continued leading the army forward as though nothing were amiss. By noon, he ordered a rest in place and quietly arranged several secret orders.

As usual, after hundreds of men finished lunch they continued onward, leaving behind a few clusters of extinguished campfires that still sent up wisps of smoke.

Not long after the hundreds of men had left, the adventuring party followed. There were six of them in total, dressed like wandering rangers, the most ordinary sort of adventuring attire found in the Demon Beast Forest. On any normal day, one really would not have noticed anything unusual about them.

Among the six, a middle-aged man with a goatee began looking around. He first used a branch to stir through the campfires covered by fine soil, then said in a low voice, “They left not long ago. Everything is normal. I reckon that surname Du hasn’t discovered anything unusual.”

“Captain, since everything is normal, should we send the signal now?” one of the team members asked respectfully.

“No. Follow them for another few dozen miles. Only after confirming that their direction has not changed should we send word upward. Move, keep following them from a distance!” The middle-aged man with the goatee had a shrewd glint in his eyes.

“Haha! And who exactly are you planning to keep following?” A burst of laughter suddenly rang out from the nearby woods, and soon a figure riding a fiery red lion appeared before the adventuring party.

“Bad! We’ve been discovered, break out now!” the middle-aged captain cried in alarm, then darted away like lightning, fleeing in a direction away from Du Long.

“Trying to run?” What horrified him even more was that people were rushing out from all sides. It was obvious he had been surrounded.

Seeing that escape was impossible, the six members of the adventuring party could only retreat reluctantly. The middle-aged man with the goatee then forced himself to remain calm and said, “We’re only an ordinary adventuring party. Who are you people? We’re willing to hand over all the money on us, as long as you spare our lives!”

“An ordinary adventuring party?” Du Long snorted in disdain. “Hmph. Keep acting if you want. I’ve been watching you for a long time. You started sneaking behind us from the first gold mine onward. Don’t think a few sloppy lies will get you through this.”

“Ah! Aren’t you the newly appointed lord of Rich Plow County? My lord, we didn’t follow you on purpose! It’s just that this Demon Beast Forest is far too dangerous, and the few of us only wanted to hitch a ride!” the middle-aged man argued further.

“Enough nonsense. Men, bind them all!” Du Long could not be bothered to waste any more time with these people. The longer things dragged on, the greater the chance that the people behind them would realize what was happening.

Very quickly, several fierce and wolf-like retainers of the Du Clan rushed up and tied the six men together. Surrounded on all sides, they did not dare resist and could only allow themselves to be bound tightly.

Without waiting for them to continue their excuses, Du Long deliberately shouted, “Separate the six of them and interrogate them individually. Whoever confesses first gets to live. Kill the rest!”

“Yes, sir!” several retainers shouted in unison, then dragged the men in different directions, scaring the lot of them half to death on the spot.

“No, I’ll confess! I’ll confess everything!”

“I’ll confess too, Lord! Spare my life!”

...

Before they had even been dragged away for questioning, three cowardly men cracked immediately. If they confessed too slowly, they would die, so who would not fight with all their might for a chance to live?

Among the six, only the middle-aged leader and one other hard-headed fellow still refused to plead for mercy. Du Long waved a hand with contempt. “In that case, those four may live. Since these two are not afraid of death, let us oblige them. Cut them down!”

“Wait! My lord, I’ll confess too!” Seeing the Du retainers raise their blades to chop off their heads, the last two stubborn men could no longer endure it. Deep in these mountains and forests, if this Iron-Blooded Lord wished to kill a few people without making a sound, there would be no one to rise up and seek justice for them.