Feng Fei slowly opened his eyes inside the burlap sack. After complaining about the terrible treatment he received during the kidnapping, he carefully assessed his surroundings.
Feng Fei was unceremoniously thrown onto the carriage, causing it to lurch and sway. A moment later, another person was stuffed into a burlap sack and thrown in, landing right next to Feng Fei.
Feng Fei's lower body was soft, not like the hard wooden planks of a carriage. After thinking about it, she realized that quite a few people had been tied up earlier and were now under her body.
Listening to the neighing of the horses, Feng Fei estimated there were about three or four carriages. Each carriage carried about ten people, meaning that Ping An Inn had kidnapped about 30 people tonight! It seemed that quite a few people had come from Qingfeng Town recently! Feng Fei stroked her chin. When she was put into the sack, her hands and feet weren't bound, clearly indicating that "Brother Su" had great confidence in the drugs distributed from above, believing that putting them in the sack was enough. And indeed, that was the case; apart from Feng Fei, none of the others managed to resist the effects of the drug on their own.
Feng Fei listened carefully for a while and confirmed that they were still near Ping An Inn.
A moment later, "Brother Su's" voice rang out: "Let's go!"
The carriage slowly began to move, initially along a smooth road, then turning a corner and venturing onto a bumpy, potholed path. A short while later, Feng Fei heard dogs barking again, followed by another turn, and then another. This time, Feng Fei heard the faint sound of flowing water. The carriage continued forward, and after yet another turn, it returned to a smooth road, and all other sounds ceased.
Suddenly, the carriage jolted, as if it had rolled over a protruding rock.
There was a rustling sound, seemingly from the wind blowing through the leaves. There were also sounds of insects chirping, indicating that we had entered a forest.
As Feng Fei was racking her brains to recall where there were forests near Fengdu, the carriage seemed to have entered another uneven road, bouncing back and forth. Feng Fei felt that if this continued, she would vomit up everything she had eaten in the past few days. At this moment, she felt a pang of envy.
Those who are obsessed.
It was barking again! But it wasn't the same as what he'd heard before. The previous ones were probably just ordinary dogs kept by ordinary families, but these barking dogs were clearly trained. Feng Fei wasn't yet able to tell what breed they were.
Chapter 33 Listening to Secrets in the Enemy's Circle
Chapter Thirty-Three: Listening to Secrets Within the Enemy's Circle
After that, I don't know where we went, but we walked for a long time, about two hours in total, and it was already getting light.
Feng Fei, trapped in the sack, stared at her hands, lost in thought for a moment. She wasn't sure if this act of "delivering herself" would bring her misfortune and regret. But having come this far, she couldn't afford to think about anything else. She could only calm herself and see how things would unfold.
Feng Fei suppressed his emotions, closed his eyes, and waited for things to unfold.
The carriage suddenly stopped, lurching slightly. Feng Fei leaned forward, and a burlap sack that had been lying next to him rolled onto him. Feng Fei let out a muffled groan, but quickly swallowed it so no one else would hear.
The curtain was suddenly pulled open, and a burst of light shone into the carriage.
Feng Fei tensed up, closed his eyes, lowered his breath, and pulled the Mingfeng in his sleeves tighter before stiffly letting the people outside carry him off the carriage.
There seemed to be quite a few people outside; nearly thirty people were being carried out of the three carriages. Judging from the sounds, Feng Fei should be in the middle to the back of the procession.
The surroundings were quiet, except for the sound of footsteps on the ground.
It seemed as if he had entered a garden. Feng Fei suddenly smelled a faint floral fragrance, but he couldn't identify the flower. The fragrance was somewhat pungent, and Feng Fei felt an itch on the tip of his nose, as if he might sneeze at any moment.
"Achoo!" Suddenly someone in the group sneezed, the sound muffled, as if it came from a sack!
Feng Fei's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly covered his mouth and nose, his mind strictly suppressing the urge to sneeze, not allowing himself a chance to sneeze.
"Hmph, someone really did sneak in!" The speaker was one of the team leaders, his voice inscrutable and full of disdain. "Throw that person into the Serpent's Lair!"
The two men carrying the sack responded and were about to turn and walk in another direction. The person inside the sack realized that he had exposed his whereabouts, and immediately used his sword to cut open the sack and jumped out.
"What? Still trying to resist?" The leader sneered, waving his hand dismissively. "Quickly scoop this person up and throw him into the Ten Thousand Snake Cave!" Without waiting for the others' reactions, he turned and left. The others followed, except for two who, having lost their sacks, surrounded the man.
"You two think you can scoop me up..." The man who had tried to sneak in didn't even finish his sentence before his body went limp and he collapsed! He opened his mouth wide in terror, but no sound came out. He couldn't even lift his hand, let alone draw his sword. In the end, he was silently carried away and sent to the so-called Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes.
Feng Fei was covered in cold sweat inside the sack. She didn't know if she would be captured suddenly and inexplicably like that person. Feng Fei suppressed her unease and carefully circulated her jade-colored spiritual energy to examine her body, but she found nothing amiss.
Feng Fei was still uneasy. After thinking for a moment, he probed his consciousness into "Little Yuanzi" and found a porcelain bottle containing "antidote pills." Without hesitation, he swallowed one. These "antidote pills," along with the other porcelain bottles containing other medicines, were prepared for Feng Fei by Yuan Jue. Although he didn't know if they would be effective, taking them would at least give him some peace of mind.
Feng Fei dared not be arrogant anymore, not knowing what he would encounter next.
The road ahead was clearly not easy; they encountered three more places and managed to clear out the five people in their group.
Feng Fei pressed her wildly beating heart. She hadn't expected the layout here to be so tight. She had just entered the door and had already been subjected to four terrifying checks. If it weren't for the various medicines given to her by Yuan Jue, plus her unique jade-colored spiritual power, she would probably have been kicked out long ago.
They finally stopped listening in a courtyard.
The team leader suddenly spoke up: "How many people are left?"
"Twenty-one people."
"Okay. Three people per room, you can make your own arrangements." After giving the instructions, the team leader left the courtyard.
The remaining people followed the leader's instructions, forming groups of six, and carried the three sacks back to the room.
There were seven rooms in total, with three rooms on the east, two rooms on the north, and two rooms on the west. Feng Fei was assigned to the south-facing room on the west side.
Feng Fei and the others were put into sacks and taken to their rooms. After being placed on the beds, the sacks were untied.
When Feng Fei lay down on the bed, he wanted to take a deep breath; it was too suffocating in the sack.
However, it was clear that this was not a move Feng Fei could make. Feng Fei had no choice but to endure it.
At this time, the six people who had brought them into the house were still inside and had not gone out, as if their task was simply to guard the three people who had been brought in in sacks.
However, they didn't remain silent as before. After the three people were settled in bed, two left, and the remaining four sat around a round table facing the door.
"Tsk, I wonder what's the purpose of making such a big fuss this time."
"Hehe, I've heard some inside information!"
"Oh? What's wrong?" The other three people, hearing this, curiously crowded around to ask.
Seeing the curious looks on the other three's faces, the man didn't keep them in suspense. He poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip, and slowly said, "It seems they captured people this time because of the treasure!"
Feng Fei couldn't help but prick up his ears and listen carefully.
"When someone above returned from Qingfeng Town, they inadvertently learned that someone in Qingfeng Town possessed crucial clues about the greatest treasure in the Vermilion Bird Kingdom. Upon returning to Qingfeng Town, they discovered that the person had inexplicably disappeared! After inquiring, they learned that the person had already headed towards Fengdu with the clues. So, the person above reported the matter to Mr. Yue. Originally, Mr. Yue intended to suppress the matter, but the person above went to inform the master, who then ordered us to find the person who possessed the clues to the treasure."
The man took a sip of tea and continued, "The master seems to be dissatisfied with Mr. Yue's behavior and has actually locked him up in the bamboo garden!"
"What? Bamboo Garden?" the other three exclaimed in surprise.
The Bamboo Garden is not just a simple yard filled with bamboo. Three terrifying beings reside within it, and anyone who enters and accidentally angers them will be devoured. What kind of beings these three are, they have no idea. It is precisely because they don't know that they are even more terrified. Apart from their master and Mr. Yue, no one else has survived after learning what these three beings are.
Thinking of the horrors of the bamboo garden, all four of them couldn't help but shudder.
Those who spoke earlier secretly blamed themselves for coming out, for scaring themselves for no reason.
At this moment, the two people who had gone out earlier returned, each carrying two jugs of wine.
The person who had spoken earlier hurriedly stood up, took the wine, and poured more wine for the person who had placed the wine bowl in front of him.
Perhaps emboldened by the alcohol, the person who had spoken first asked again, "What happened after Mr. Yue entered the bamboo garden?"
The two who came in later were unaware of the topic they had been discussing. After asking them carefully, they also wondered what had happened to Mr. Qiyue.
"Mr. Yue has entered the Bamboo Garden and hasn't come out yet, but no bad news has come out." Seeing that this person hadn't revealed any noteworthy news, the other five people gave him a look of disdain and then fell silent, focusing on pouring themselves wine and drinking.
The room fell silent. Feng Fei carefully suppressed his breathing, afraid that he might inadvertently attract the attention of the six people in the room.
Suddenly, a man hiccuped and said, "These days are fucking miserable, I wonder when it will ever end!"
The person sitting next to him was so frightened that he dropped his wine glass and quickly covered his mouth, whispering, "Do you want to die? You're not allowed to say things like that again!"
The other four sat far to the side, heads bowed, as if they hadn't seen or heard anything.
The man whose mouth was covered suddenly began to sob softly, "My wife and youngest daughter came back from Qingfeng Town, and they were also arrested. They were among the first group of people arrested, and now... I..."
Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing.
Those who serve as subordinates often have no choice in the matter. They can't even protect their own wives and daughters; it's truly heartbreaking.
After a moment of silence, the person who had previously given everyone the tip cheered up and said, "Alright! Since it's already happened, there's no point in thinking about it anymore! Yang Liu, maybe your wife and children are still fine. They don't have any martial arts skills, so the medicine they received won't harm them. Once they confirm your wife and children's identities, they'll probably be released."
Yang Liu knew these were just words of comfort, but he had no other choice.
Yang Liu gulped down a mouthful of wine, smashed the wine jug on the ground, and walked outside.
The person who had previously advised him sighed and hurriedly followed.
The room fell silent immediately.
Chapter 34 The General's Mansion
Chapter Thirty-Four: The General's Mansion?
It was clear that the conversation between the six people had made Feng Fei feel uneasy; it seemed that their master did not treat his subordinates well.
However, the current situation did not allow Feng Fei to grieve for others. Feng Fei remained lying on the bed, pretending to be dead. Finally, around noon, the remaining four people in the room went out, while the two who had gone out earlier stood guard at the door, exchanging words intermittently.
Although it seemed that no one was watching the room anymore, Feng Fei remained cautious and silent, still lying there holding his breath.
A moment later, the door suddenly opened, and a middle-aged man dressed in a golden-yellow suit and sporting a goatee walked in. After circling around Feng Fei and the others' beds, he left without doing anything else.
However, Feng Fei was terrified and broke out in a cold sweat. She felt the middle-aged man's gaze sweep over her, as if he could discover her secret. Fortunately, her jade-colored spiritual energy suddenly disappeared into the depths of her meridians, preventing the middle-aged man from noticing anything amiss with Feng Fei.
This should be the final check. After the middle-aged man left, the six guards at the gate all departed. Feng Fei cautiously scanned the area with his divine sense and discovered that besides himself, there were only twenty faint breaths in the courtyard, presumably the other twenty who had been abducted. Only two people remained guarding the courtyard gate.
It seemed that nothing was wrong, and Feng Fei breathed a slight sigh of relief, but still decided to hold back and deal with whatever came up after dark.
Before nightfall, another person arrived in the courtyard. It wasn't the middle-aged man who had come at noon, but a man who appeared to be around twenty years old. This man wore a silver mask, and the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, revealing exceptionally fair skin that made his exposed lips appear particularly red and alluring.
"Mr. Yue." The two men guarding the courtyard gate bowed respectfully.
Mr. Yue nodded and walked into the courtyard, looking at each person in each room. When he saw Feng Fei, Mr. Yue paused slightly, but then resumed his normal walk outside.
Since Feng Fei was in the southernmost room on the west side, Mr. Yue went straight out to the courtyard after looking at Feng Fei's room.
Feng Fei desperately wanted to press her hand against her wildly beating heart, but she held back, desperately trying to remain motionless. The moment Mr. Yue paused at her bedside, Feng Fei almost lunged at him, but seeing that Mr. Yue didn't react, she almost assumed he had discovered she wasn't under the control of drugs like the others.
As night deepened, after listening to the absence of any other unusual noises, Feng Fei slowly sat up in bed. The first thing he did after sitting up was to take a few deep breaths.