Xuanqing Guard

Ma San quietly meditated and treated his injuries in the small courtyard Zhang Lie had arranged for him, while waiting for news from Flying Dragon.

In fact, Flying Dragon didn’t need to make any complicated preparations for that batch of large-scale transactions. Naturally, someone helped him get the paperwork from the granary, and then he’d make contact, covertly taking the grain from the other party.

On the surface, this seemed like yet another collusion and smuggling case, but in truth, the key steps were all recorded within the Xuanqing Guard as "confidential operation."

Of course, the Xuanqing Guard would never investigate this themselves, and the Local Government Office wouldn’t meddle either, nor would they be sensitive enough to notice anything amiss.

However, other people were already taking action.

Zhang Qian and Gan Lin once again received Shen Hao’s request, asking them to have their friend in the Jingxi Army Supply Battalion keep an eye out, to see if anyone from the Ministry of War had recently come to transfer out Storage Bags.

Wu Kai at the Beach Stone Transmission Array also received notice.

There were also the Inspectors. Shen Hao himself even led a team, splitting into three groups to secretly head to the Xiaochuan area of the southern border to lay out preparations in advance.

This time was different from the previous one. Shen Hao didn’t inform the Border Army at all. Instead, he adopted a strategy of "tightening control over critical routes and waiting for the right moment to close the net." He wouldn’t give the other side a chance to approach the Ten Thousand Miles Bamboo Sea.

The so-called critical route was actually a three-way intersection near Xiaochuan close to the Ten Thousand Miles Bamboo Sea, called "Stone Horn".

Not having to use a cover to coordinate with the Border Army like last time was mainly thanks to the current tense state of the southern border. Outside Zhuo Huo Pass, military forces were openly displayed, and inside the pass was already under wartime martial law. The Ten Thousand Miles Bamboo Sea, which connects to Barbarian Territory, was now strictly controlled due to several recent border crossings by barbarians. Sneaking through wild mountains and forests had become very difficult, and if discovered, one might immediately face a Border Army sweep—the risks were huge.

According to the analysis of the Four Divisions, and Shen Hao’s own judgment, the likeliest route for Ma San and his group to transport goods would not be through the wilderness, but by using the Ministry of War’s official identity to take the main road openly, then get near the Ten Thousand Miles Bamboo Sea through Stone Horn, which was currently the only accessible point.

This was the fastest route, and also the safest for Ma San’s group. The Ministry of War’s credentials were extremely useful—after all, who would casually suspect that people from the Ministry of War were trading privately with the barbarians?

The arrests would be made at the end, but the investigation would follow Ma San and his group every step of the way.

This time, every single point along Ma San’s route would be clearly recorded by Xuanqing Guard, with appropriate witnesses arranged. This way, the case file would finally have solid evidence rather than pure speculation. Later, a formal roster would be made based on this route to identify the people involved for arrest.

The actual arrests would be carried out by the Black Banner Battalion of Fengri City. Shen Hao transferred two hundred elite from Thousand Households Station’s Black Banner Battalion, and from four other Hundred Households Stations, one Xiaoqi from each— altogether over five hundred men, all fully equipped with Talismans and Magic Discs. They were divided into three groups to use Yu City’s Teleportation Array, then took boats to Beach Stone, and finally reached Xiaochuan. The official pretext was an Order from the Xuanqing Guard Commander’s Office: to assist the southern Border Army’s Inspectors with disciplinary action and rectification.

With over a hundred thousand Border Army soldiers stationed there, an extra five hundred Xuanqing Guard would never draw attention. Even more so, since they moved in three batches, there wasn’t even a ripple.

The only thing that cost Shen Hao a headache was coming up with a reason to finally enter "Stone Horn". In the end, they barely managed to station men there under the pretense of "border inspection," going through the motions of "inspection proceedings."

Shen Hao personally led his men to Xiaochuan. Other than the Black Banner Battalion of Fengri City that came with him, even the Four Divisions who oversaw the general plan were kept in the dark. Wu Kai, who was stationed at Beach Stone, knew even less—he was only told to pay close attention recently to the people coming and going through the Thousand-Mile Sound and Teleportation Array.

The witness Wu Kai recommended was Captain Chen, not himself. This was reasonable, since Captain Chen was the one actually responsible for registering people in and out of the Transmission Array—he was naturally the prime candidate as a witness. Wu Kai actively gave up the opportunity to claim this credit for himself.

Wu Kai’s intention wasn’t generosity—in fact, he thought that credit was too hot to hold.

Are you supposed to inform on your own people with the Bright Lamp? Even if it’s a rotten apple within the army, it’s still a matter for the military, something you handle behind closed doors. If it’s brought to Xuanqing Guard, where’s the dignity? Isn’t that betraying your own?

Moreover, in recent days, those previously lukewarm Inspectors had acted like madmen, arresting people everywhere in the army. At first, it was just ordinary Soldiers, then Decurions, and later even Captains—yesterday, a Captain was thrown into jail. Word was over fifty people had already been arrested at Beach Stone recently.

What’s going on here? A purge right before war?

Wu Kai couldn’t quite figure it out. But one thing was clear to him—the atmosphere in the south was changing. Partly due to the increasingly intense outside situation, and partly due to this purge-like rectification within. It made Wu Kai uneasy, so he kept as low a profile as possible, never wanting to become a scapegoat.

"Lord Wu, you’ve been patrolling so diligently these days, every time I drop by you’re here." Captain Chen had no idea his name had already been submitted by Wu Kai as a witness for Xuanqing Guard, and he smiled at Wu Kai, quite fond of him.

"No choice but to be diligent. Lately those outside Inspectors are like lunatics, arresting people everywhere—they call it rectification, but who knows if there’s another reason? Didn’t I mention before that I made some enemies back in Hai Xia? So I have to be run-around, just in case anyone seizes the chance to trip me up from the shadows."

"Hahaha, Lord Wu, that’s what I call being cautious. But you’re right—those guys from the Black Banner are pretty scary. I heard Captain Xiao from Supply Battalion got taken away yesterday, and there wasn’t even an explanation. If you ask, all you get is ’It’s classified,’ and that’s it."

But they say those people have the Military Supervisor backing them?"

Wu Kai froze, uncertain. "That’s impossible, isn’t it? The Military Supervisors are civil servant people. Didn’t they always butt heads with Xuanqing Guard?"

"Who knows? But if they’re teaming up to go after people from our military, that’s all it takes, isn’t it?"

Wu Kai silently nodded. That was certainly possible. Still, Xuanqing Guard probably wouldn’t be so high-handed as to make arrests on their own—they’d most likely coordinate directly with the Military Governor’s Office, arrest people, throw them in jail, interrogate them, but not execute them—most likely to save face for the military, leaving it for Marshal Zuo to give the final order himself.

If you execute your own under your own orders, at least you keep a little dignity.

The two chatted for a while, but soon, the sentry outside came to report: someone wanted to enter the restricted area. The man was a Captain from inside the restricted garrison, surnamed Xie.

"Xie Kai? What’s he coming for?" Captain Chen wasn’t fond of Xie Kai at all.

"Let’s go. Last time you took me to buy pills from him. If he’s here, it’s probably for something serious. I’ll go with you."

"Let’s go together, then."