Chapter 969: Call Me Brother Chu

Editor: Henyee Translations

Li Hongyu, seeing Chu Tang return, immediately went up to him, originally intending to confront him, but after seeing Chu Tang’s expression, he softened his approach and asked, “Where have you been?”

“I went to sleep. I haven’t had a good sleep for a long time,” Chu Tang replied lightly, feeling relaxed now that the matter was resolved.

Li Hongyu, frustrated and helpless at Chu Tang’s indifferent attitude, remarked, “Couldn’t you have given me a heads up?”

“Do you need to manage even when I sleep?” Chu Tang glanced at Li Hongyu.

“That’s not what I meant,” Li Hongyu waved his hand dismissively. “Forget it, I can’t win an argument with you. I wanted to tell you that we’ve deployed everyone, but we still couldn’t find the person you mentioned. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. If we can’t find him, we can’t find him,” Chu Tang said nonchalantly.

Li Hongyu couldn’t understand Chu Tang, “So, what do we do next?”

Chu Tang thought for a moment, “Let’s go check out the reason for the shipwreck.”

Li Hongyu took Chu Tang to the riverbank, where people still gathered around. The boat, now capsized, showed signs of aging and rust, with marks from hooks visible under the sunlight, resembling an old man gasping for breath.

Chu Tang circled around the boat and then pointed to a crack at the bottom, “The bottom of their boat cracked open here, water gushed in through this and caused it to sink. I guess they must have been drinking a lot on board, which is why they didn’t react in time when the ship was sinking.”

Li Hongyu objected, “It’s conceivable for my brother and his group, but what about the guards? Not a single guard escaped.”

“Could they have been drinking together?” Chu Tang speculated.

Li Hongyu considered this possibility, “It’s not unlikely. My brother loved dragging his group into drinking sessions. If someone drugged the wine, couldn’t they carry out such a murder?”

Chu Tang countered, “It’s unlikely everyone on board was drugged. Think about it; when people drink, some start before others. If something was off, those who drank later would definitely notice and stop.”

Li Hongyu found Chu Tang’s reasoning persuasive, and was sidetracked, “That’s possible. So, what are you suggesting?”

In order to close this case as an accident, Chu Tang said, “This must have been an accident. The coroner said they didn’t drink alcohol or get poisoned. You don’t actually believe in ghosts, do you?”

Li Hongyu shook his head, still feeling that something was off about the whole situation, “Did you find any other clues?”

“No,” Chu Tang apologized, “I don’t have the skills for investigation. I couldn’t be of help.”

Li Hongyu comforted him, “It’s okay, you did your best.”

With the issue apparently resolved, Chu Tang was ready to leave, “I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll be going now. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help to you.”

Li Hongyu instinctively asked, “What are you going to do?”

“Something very personal, I can’t discuss it,” Chu Tang replied.

Li Hongyu didn’t press further, “Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.” Chu Tang flew away quickly, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Li Hongyu stood there, watching him go, and murmured in amazement, “His lightness skill is too good, he flew away so fast.”

…

After parting with Li Hongyu, Chu Tang headed towards the border, waiting on the road that General Chen must pass.

At that moment, he had changed his appearance to that of a young soldier.

When General Chen saw him, he couldn’t help but be skeptical, “Are you really the assistant sent by General Tang?”

Chu Tang handed him a token, “General Chen might not trust me, but you can trust this token, right?”

No one could steal a token from General Tang. Convinced, General Chen said, “Mount up, let’s go.”

“Yes.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The group rode their horses towards the border.

Along the way, General Chen told Chu Tang that the arrows had disappeared three months ago.

Initially, it was only bundles of twenty arrows that went missing. It was hardly noticeable in a large stockpile until thousands of arrows were missing.

He quickly had his men investigate, but once the thief realized they were being tracked, they stopped. With no leads, the investigation reached a dead end.

Two months later, when checking the military supplies, they found that the middles of the arrows had been hollowed out and filled with dry branches to appear intact from the outside.

General Chen continued to deploy people to investigate and issued a strict order: to uncover the truth at any cost. They dug up the ground but still found nothing.

As military movements from the Xiasang country became frequent, suggesting an imminent threat of war, General Chen couldn’t sit still and urgently sought General Tang’s help.

After hearing General Chen’s account, Chu Tang was convinced that there were spies within the army, and not just one, “How did you handle the military supply officers?”

General Chen was furious at the mention of them, “They were all dismissed and are now imprisoned in the dungeons of Liang City.”

Chu Tang thought for a moment then asked, “Is the military camp close to Liang City?”

“Yes,” General Chen nodded.

Chu Tang inquired further, “How prevalent is the use of fairy dust in Liang City?”

General Chen responded, “I issued a military order — anyone caught using fairy dust in the city is executed immediately, so officially, no one in Liang City uses fairy dust.”

Sometimes harsh measures are effective, Chu Tang remarked appreciatively, “General Chen is wise.”

General Chen didn’t care for flattery at the moment, “Chu Tang, you are sent by General Tang, and I trust you, but trust is one thing, and doing the job is another. You must handle this well.”

Chu Tang confidently promised, “Give me three days, and I will provide you with a solution.”

General Chen slapped his thigh in agreement, “That would be excellent.”

…

On the border, the Eastern Dalin border army, numbering three hundred thousand, stretched across several miles in their encampment. Soldiers were busy with their duties: some stood guard, others patrolled or trained, presenting a formidable and endless sight.

Following General Chen into the camp, Chu Tang was assigned a tent right next to the command tent for safety reasons, considering there were traitors in the camp who might attempt an assassination.

If only General Chen knew of Chu Tang’s combat capabilities, he would realize that it was the traitors who needed protection from Chu Tang, not the other way around.

Once settled, Chu Tang began his investigation. General Chen assigned two of his most trusted aides to assist Chu Tang and follow his commands without question.

“Let’s go to the military supply office,” Chu Tang said.

The two aides, twin brothers named Chen Yi and Chen Er, responded. The names were simple and easy to remember.

Chen Yi, the more serious and somewhat blunt of the two, directed, “This way, young master.”

Chu Tang stopped, puzzled, “Why do you call me young master when I’m clearly dressed as a soldier?”

Chen Er, thinking Chu Tang was upset, quickly smoothed things over, “It’s because you carry the aura of a young master, and not the roughness of a soldier. Calling you ‘young brother’ felt inappropriate since we are older, so my brother referred to you as ‘young master.'”

Chu Tang looked at Chen Er. The man seemed to have a high emotional quotient, “From now on, don’t call me young master, call me Brother Chu. Age doesn’t matter.”

“Understood, Brother Chu,” Chen Er quickly agreed.