Chapter 56: It’s Back Again
After the fmes died down, the night once again enveloped Guanhekou Town. The noise faded away, and silence quietly returned.
In the night breeze, lights slowly flickered on in the houses on both sides of the street. A few brave townsfolk, nterns in hand, stepped out and cautiously looked around, as if trying to figure out what had happened earlier.
"We need to pack up quickly and leave, to avoid any trouble," Tang Mingli whispered, giving orders to the guards.
Under his command, the guards swiftly cleaned up the battlefield, disposing of the remaining items and debris. They reorganized and prepared to depart.
The cart that had been carrying Zhu Ting's coffin was shattered into pieces during the battle by the shockwaves of spiritual energy. Tang Mingli ordered two guards to temporarily store the empty coffin at the town’s charity house, pnning to deal with it ter when the mission was over.
Once everything was arranged, the guards surrounded the carriage and hurriedly left Guanhekou Town, heading towards the capital.
At the front of the group rode a tall man on a chestnut horse. He was upright, his helmet slightly tilted, with a pleased expression on his face. It was Chen Weiliang, the newly appointed captain of the guards, promoted by Tang Mingli to repce Tang Ping. Riding Tang Ping’s former steed, he was full of vigor, thinking of his bright future ahead.
Rumors had it that the Tang family held significant power in the capital, and now that the family head had taken notice of him, completing this escort mission would bring him great merit. Chen Weiliang felt confident that his future was as bright as could be, with dreams of promotion, wealth, and fame pying out in his mind, and a smile spreading across his face.
The first rays of the morning sun broke through the darkness of the night, casting light on the winding mountain roads, dispelling the gloom of the previous night. Unbeknownst to them, they had already left Guanhekou Town far behind.
"As long as we cross these few mountains, we’ll reach Gaoping Prefecture!" Chen Weiliang said with enthusiasm, encouraging the guards. "Push a little more, we’ll get there soon!"
He spurred his horse to the side of the carriage and leaned in to ask Tang Mingli about the next part of their journey, and whether they would be stopping to camp in the mountains.
Inside the carriage, San Bao sat quietly. She could feel the oily and obsequious air of Chen Weiliang even through the curtain, and a wave of nausea swept over her. Once he moved away, she whispered to Tang Mingli, "Why did you promote someone like him?"
Tang Mingli just smiled without answering.
The group took a brief rest at the foot of the mountain. Chen Weiliang then announced that, to avoid the crowded town and the trouble of moving through a busy city, the Tang family head had decided the team should take a faster, smaller path. This would not only help them avoid the usual issues in rge cities but also allow them to reach the capital sooner and complete the task of escorting the Zhu siblings — though now, it seemed, only Zhu Chengzhi remained.
After the brief rest, the group set off again, following the mountain path.
But it wasn’t long before they had to stop again.
Having learned from the previous days' experiences, San Bao and Tang Mingli didn’t ask many questions. They immediately left the carriage and hurried to the front of the group to see what was going on.
They saw the guards gathered around Chen Weiliang, all looking tense, their eyes fixed on something ahead. There was a palpable pressure in the air.
In the middle of the road ahead, a thick tree had fallen, its trunk supporting a wooden frame.
It was eerily identical to the roadblock they had encountered outside Anping Town a few days ago. The only difference was that this time, the frame held not a dead cow, but an upright coffin.
That coffin, standing in the center of the wooden frame, looked strangely familiar.
San Bao’s expression shifted slightly, and she excimed, "Isn’t that Zhu Ting’s coffin?"
This was the very same empty coffin they had left at the charity house in Guanhekou Town just a few hours ago!
How could it be here?
A series of questions exploded in everyone’s minds, but no one could provide an answer.
The air seemed to freeze, and the forest was so quiet that only the rustling of leaves in the wind could be heard. The sunlight filtering through the tree canopy fell onto the coffin, but it did not bring warmth. Instead, it added a yer of eeriness.
"It's back again," San Bao murmured. It felt like the countdown to another storm had just started for their journey, which had barely escaped the fmes of the previous one.
