Chapter 89: Prepare for Battle

Several people were hiding in an alley. The bald man was panting hard, drenched in sweat, and the fury in his heart had been largely burned away by the chase. He suddenly realized this was not the time to go looking for Old Five Ma. What he needed now was to save his own skin.

If he fell into the hands of those people, he would be in grave danger. Even if the family head and the others managed to rescue him afterward, that shipment would likely be impossible to recover.

He could not bear such a loss. What he had to do now was hurry to the family head and report everything at once.

He needed the family head to think of a way to recover the goods, or at the very least to borrow the power of the Ji family to retrieve them. He would not swallow this bitter loss alone, and neither would the Ji family.

After making up his mind, the bald man steadied his breathing, rose quietly, and slipped out of the alley toward the Ji family ancestral residence.

The horse-faced man followed beside him, too terrified to breathe. Whatever the bald man ordered, he did; the others were the same.

Even the slowest-witted among them now sensed something was wrong. They had not received any word about a major operation.

With so many soldiers posted throughout the streets and not a single warning reaching them, the target of this operation was already all too clear.

Could they possibly end well?

The bald man led his group into a vast estate. The residence was grand and imposing, and at a glance it was obvious the people living there were no ordinary folk.

At the front of the main courtyard stood stone lions, hitching posts for horses, and a small open square.

In these times, only those with real standing would dare place stone lions at their gate so brazenly.

After noticing this, Xu Lin immediately used her aura-seeing art. One look was enough to make her marvel.

The waves of rich energy told her that this entire district was full of wealth; every household had some serious family fortune.

Unfortunately, Xu Lin knew nothing of the county’s history. Otherwise she would have learned that everyone living here bore the surname Ji.

Xu Lin chose the direction where the treasure aura was thickest and moved forward. Boosted by the Wind-Racing Talisman, her speed was astonishing, and within two or three minutes she was close.

She vaulted over the wall into the courtyard, instantly setting off a burst of barking. Good heavens, it was not just one dog, but several vicious hounds.

Almost at the same time the barking started, several figures rushed out of the room. The leader snapped harshly, “Who’s there? Come out at once. I can see you.”

They scanned the surroundings warily, and one of them even rushed to the doghouse to check.

“Little thief, stop hiding. You’ve already been exposed,” the man continued to bluff.

Xu Lin curled her lip. She had also come to the doghouse and, without a word, first used a silver needle to make the dogs shut up.

Once the barking died away, the men did not return to bed. Instead, they spread out around the room.

Though there were only a few of them in there, why were they standing in such an odd formation?

It looked just like they were keeping watch.

Xu Lin narrowed her eyes. After thinking for a moment, she began using the spatial black hole to inspect the situation underground.

She wanted to see exactly what they were guarding.

As one black hole after another appeared and vanished, Xu Lin finally made a discovery.

Beneath this side room there was actually a hidden chamber about ten square meters in size, and five people were sitting inside it.

The oldest looked to be sixty or seventy, the youngest around thirty. Every one of them wore a grave expression.

“Grandfather, this situation is highly suspicious. We received no word at all beforehand,” Ji Chuan said in a deep voice.

“Indeed, something is off. I called your fourth uncle, and the call wouldn’t go through. That’s probably not a good sign.”

Old Master Ji stroked his beard, his brows knotted into a tight furrow, his wrinkled old face heavy with concern.

He simply could not understand where exactly things had gone wrong.

The others did not look any better. They whispered among themselves, speculating about what major trouble had erupted this time, while also assessing the possibility that disaster might strike the Ji family.

At that very moment, Ji Chuan suddenly dropped to the floor, pressed his ear against the ground, and listened intently. Very soon, his expression changed dramatically. In a low voice he cried, “Grandfather, this is bad. I hear dense footsteps rushing toward us. I’m afraid...”

Terror was written all over his face. “I’m afraid a large force has been deployed.”

The other four in the room were so shocked that they all sprang to their feet, and even the sixty- or seventy-year-old family head jumped nearly three feet high.

There was no sign at all that he was a man with one foot already in the grave.

“Are they really coming for the Ji family?”

“How is that possible? We have people above us.”

“That’s right, it can’t be. Old Second is the number two man in the municipal committee, and Old Five is the top man in the county. If something really happened, they couldn’t possibly fail to notify us.”

“Exactly, exactly. There’s no way they wouldn’t tell us!”

Though the four men kept saying it was impossible, the fear on their faces did not diminish in the slightest.

They knew their own affairs best, and better than anyone else they understood that if their family were to come under attack, it would be a catastrophe of unimaginable magnitude.

Finished. They were finished.

Old Master Ji sank into a chair, his face as pale as death, as though he had seen a ghost.

Ji Chuan rose from the ground and brushed the dust off his clothes. His expression was no better than the others, but he was young, and blood still ran hot in his veins.

He looked at the other four, especially at his grandfather, the family head, and in that moment Ji Chuan felt that his grandfather was truly old now, no longer up to the task.

He could no longer shoulder the responsibility of the family head.

And now it was his turn to step forward.

Ji Chuan cleared his throat and coughed once. Seeing that he had not drawn the others’ attention, he raised his voice and said loudly, “Since matters have come to this, we can only fight. Hurry and notify every household to prepare for battle.”

“Battle?” The Ji family head looked at his most favored eldest grandson with a bitter smile and asked, “No matter how powerful our Ji family is, we cannot outmatch the army. How long do you think we can hold out?”

“As long as we can. The Ji family is not without preparation. As long as we drive through the blockade, we still have a chance to flee to the islands, don’t we?”

Ji Chuan fixed the family head with a serious gaze. “Grandfather, the weapons in our family warehouse are not for show. If we strike first while they are unprepared, our chances of breaking out are very high.”

The Ji family head was left staring blankly, while the others looked delighted. Indeed, this was also a way out.

In any case, so long as they were not caught, they would not be without a path forward.

The Ji family was wealthy and influential. They had not only laid plans in the islands, but also had people in the harbor city. What mattered most right now was breaking out.

Thinking of this, they quickly regained their spirits and became full of vigor.

Xu Lin, who had been eavesdropping, tilted her head. What was this? The Ji family still had a sizable stockpile of weapons in their warehouse?

Weapons capable of confronting regular troops? That would not do at all. They had to be taken away.

Even if they were only gathering dust in storage, she could not allow the Ji family to use them to sow chaos.

Without another word, Xu Lin turned and left. She had to get to the weapons first and secure them.

Weapons were the things of iron and blood, the place where blades and arms gathered. Xu Lin silently recited this while her little hands kept counting and calculating.

Before long, she had worked out the location of the weapons. Without hesitation, Xu Lin raced straight for the armory.