From bone collectors to the supreme ruler of humanity

Chapter 15 Manager Zhao visits

Zhao Yuanlang turned to Su Wenyuan: "You said at the donation point today that you saw a bone collector drop a few coins marked with the Black Sand Gang's symbol on his person?"

Su Wenyuan nodded: "Yes, a bone collector named Lin Yan, a registered resident of Black Wind Ridge."

Zhao Yuanlang narrowed his eyes: "Black Wind Ridge... is that the area we searched a while ago?"

"Exactly."

Zhao Yuanlang stood up and paced around the room a couple of times.

"Where is Lin Yan now?"

"I don't know." Su Wenyuan shook his head. "I left after paying the donation, bought some grain, and left the town."

Zhao Yuanlang remained silent for a while.

"Go find him," he said. "Find that Lin Yan and bring him back."

When Zhou Dahu came out of Qingfengxiang, it was already completely dark.

He stood at the alley entrance, the wind blowing against his body, the cold sweat on his back still wet.

The Eastern Palace.

These two words were like two branding irons, burning his heart with pain.

He now has only one thought in his mind: to find the bone collector.

Regardless of whether that kid threw the brocade pouch or not, now that Steward Zhao wants to find him, he has to find him.

Zhou Dahu returned home and summoned several of his trusted confidants.

"Go to Black Wind Ridge and find that bone collector named Lin Yan for me."

"Now?"

"Now! Immediately!"

Several people accepted the order and left.

Zhou Dahu sat in the main room, increasingly feeling that something was amiss.

Lin Yan acted strangely when he came to pay the donation today.

Three hundred coins, and I collected them in no time.

Where would a bone collector get so much money?

And those few coins bearing the Black Sand Gang's mark—how could someone from a nomadic background have such things?

Zhou Dahu suddenly stood up.

wrong.

Lin Yan, when he was at the donation point today, clearly had other copper coins in his hand, but he deliberately dropped the marked ones.

He did it on purpose.

He deliberately let the accountant, Su, see the money.

One by one, the threads in Zhou Dahu's mind began to connect.

That brocade pouch was also thrown away by that kid.

He stole the grain from the warehouse and then framed someone with a brocade pouch.

The purpose was to muddy the waters so that Manager Zhao would investigate me, and then he wouldn't have time to deal with him.

"You, Lin Yan..."

Zhou Dahu gritted his teeth, his face trembling with anger.

I'll skin you alive.

Lin Yan didn't wait until evening.

After returning from town, he hid the grain and said to his mother, "Mother, pack your things, let's go."

Chen didn't ask why, she just glanced at him and started tidying up.

Lin Xiu also helped out in a sensible way.

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, they had brought everything they could from the house.

A roll of bedding, a few tattered clothes, a small jar of salt, a small bag of mixed grain flour, and a chipped wood-chopping knife.

Lin Yan carried his mother on his back and held Lin Xiu's hand with one hand as they left the cave dwelling.

"Brother, where are we going?"

"Go up the mountain."

"It's cold up in the mountains."

"Brother will start a fire for you."

The night road to Black Wind Ridge is difficult to traverse, but Lin Yan offers a view of the mountain.

He knew perfectly well which roads were easy to travel, where there was shelter from the wind, and where people could hide.

He followed the route he had scouted during the day, heading deeper into the mountains.

After walking for about an hour, we arrived at the foot of a cliff.

This is a hiding place he had chosen a few days ago.

There is a crack in the cliff face, covered by vines on the outside, and inside is a natural stone chamber, not large, but big enough to accommodate three or four people.

Lin Yan parted the vines and helped his mother and sister inside. He then used stones and dry branches to block half of the entrance to the cave, leaving room for ventilation.

"Mother, Xiuer, you two stay here for now."

"And you?" Chen asked, holding his hand.

"I'm going downstairs for a bit; I have something to take care of."

"Yan'er..."

"Mother, it's alright." Lin Yan patted his mother's hand. "I'll be back before dawn."

He climbed down the cliff and walked back the way he came.

He stopped when he reached the halfway point of the mountain.

There was a firelight at the foot of the mountain.

There weren't just one or two torches, but seven or eight, walking up the mountain path.

Zhou Dahu's men arrived faster than he expected.

Lin Yan crouched behind an old pine tree, watching the flames get closer and closer.

There were eight people in total, all holding torches and carrying knives and clubs.

Zhou Dahu was walking at the very front.

That bastard came in person.

"Search! Search every single cave dwelling! If you don't find Lin Yan, nobody's going back!" Zhou Dahu's roar echoed through the mountains.

Lin Yan watched them head towards the cave dwelling area without moving.

He is waiting.

After those people finished searching the cave dwelling and found that the person was not there, they searched up the mountain.

That will be his chance to make a move.

Zhou Dahu's men searched for half an hour.

The Lin family's cave dwelling was the first to be searched, but nothing was found.

They searched Old Zhang's house next door, then Li Dazhuang's house next door, one by one, but there was no trace of Lin Yan.

"Master Zhou, there's no one here."

"Master Zhou, we don't have any here either."

"You're all fucking useless!" Zhou Dahu kicked over a clay pot. "Search up the mountain! That kid's definitely hiding there!"

Eight people carried torches and walked up the mountain.

Lin Yan stood up from behind the old pine tree and followed silently behind.

[Viewing the Mountain] allowed him to thrive in the darkness.

He knew exactly which roads were easy to walk on, which stones would make a sound, and which trees could hide people.

Zhou Dahu and his men, holding torches, couldn't see anything in the open.

Lin Yan followed for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before arriving at a mountain hollow.

This place is surrounded by forests on all sides, with a clearing in the middle, which used to be a resting place for hunters.

Zhou Dahu stood in the open space, directing his men to search in all directions.

Lin Yan squatted at the edge of the woods, watching the eight scattered dark figures, his mind racing with calculations.

Eight people.

The furthest one had already entered the woods, while the closest one was only a dozen steps away.

He can't handle eight at the same time.

But he doesn't need to deal with eight at the same time.

Lin Yan emerged from the woods and silently approached the nearest person.

The man was holding a torch and looking down at the ground, searching for footprints.

Lin Yan pressed himself against him from behind, covered his mouth with his left hand, and brought the back of the machete across his right hand, striking him on the back of the head.

The man groaned and went limp.

Lin Yan caught the torch, stuck it in the ground, and dragged the person into the woods.

It took less than three breaths.

The second one is on the other side of the woods, furthest from the clearing.

Lin Yan went around him and, using the same method, knocked him unconscious with the back of his knife.

The third person was searching a dry ditch when Lin Yan jumped down from above and kicked him in the shoulder, causing him to fall directly into the ditch and pass out.

The fourth person, upon hearing the commotion, raised a torch and shone it towards the ditch.

Lin Yan hid behind the bushes by the ditch. When the man got close, Lin Yan reached out, grabbed the torch, and pulled it down. The man stumbled, and Lin Yan's knee struck him in the chest.

If you can't catch your breath, you'll fall over.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

When Lin Yan dragged the seventh person into the woods, only Zhou Dahu was left in the clearing.

Zhou Dahu stood in the open space, holding a torch, looking around.

"Where the hell are they? Where the hell have they all gone?"

No one answered.

The wind rustled through the woods.

Zhou Dahu finally realized something was wrong.