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nTranslator: Myuu Editor: Kelaude

nThe sounds of iron hooves could be heard very clearly in the silent night despite it was very far from Yan Liqiang. Yan Liqiang didn’t follow too closely, he only listened to the noises the horse carriage made and trailed behind it, passing through a few alleys of Pingxi City while keeping a distance between them.

nThat horse carriage seemed to take a few detours on purpose. Yan Liqiang realized that it had made another two small rounds, seemingly wanted to see if there was anyone following behind it. But in the end, Yan Liqiang was never discovered. Such sneaky behavior had piqued Yan Liqiang’s curiosity even more.

nMore than twenty minutes later, the horse carriage made a turn into a small alley behind the main street then stopped at the back door of a courtyard.

nThis area seemed to be in an upscale part of Pingxi City, filled with mansions and courtyards of influential clans. Every single of them was surrounded by very high walls and red-lacquered gates that were obviously distinctive from other common buildings.

nThe courtyard was enormous, the double-courtyard residence at the front faced the street across of it. There were stores somewhere along the street. From the look of the signboard, it seemed to be one of the finest boutiques in Pingxi City. However, at this time, the boutique had already closed for the day just like the rest.

nIt was pitch black in the alley and the visibility was very low.

nTrailing behind the horse carriage, Yan Liqiang arrived at a turn in the alley. He looked around and realized that there was a courtyard beside him. There were neither lights nor any voices in the yard. He leaped and kicked against one of the walls in the small alley with his foot and hooked onto the top of the courtyard wall two meters high with one of his hands. He then exerted force in his hand and climbed on top of the courtyard wall and tread along it a few steps before he jumped onto one of the roofs. He bent down and scurried like a cat on the roof before hopping onto another and laid flat on his stomach against the roof tiles behind the roof ridge. He peeked his head out and silently watched the situation in the small alley.

nThat horse carriage was somewhere below him at the eleven o’clock position, just thirty meters away from the roof where Yan Liqiang was lying on his stomach. He had chosen this spot because he could have an overlook of everything happening in the small alley below him.

nHalf of that Shatu man’s face who had rushed here with his horse carriage was hidden by his hat, leaving only his eyes exposed. After stopping his carriage, he climbed down and took another look around, appearing to be very cautious. After making sure that there was no one else in the alley, he went towards the back door of that courtyard and banged on the door with the door knocker.

nThe Shatu man knocked a series of times. It sounded like there was some sort of rhythm to it — two short knocks and two long knocks, just like a secret code.

nAfter he was done knocking, he waited by the door.

nNot more than ten seconds later, a lantern lit up in the rear courtyard. A man in his thirties came out from a room nearby with his other two servants, carrying the lantern along with him. They came to the small door in the backyard then cracked the door open first to take a peek outside. They only opened the door and came out when they saw the Shatu man.

nThe shop owner who came out from the boutique leaned his head close to the Shatu man and they exchanged a few words. But since their voices were too soft and Yan Liqiang was so far away from them, he couldn’t catch a word of their conversation.

nAfter they had finished speaking, the Shatu man opened the horse carriage door and beckoned to the shop owner. One of the two servants that came out along with him hopped onto the carriage and dragged out a big roll of beast leather from inside and then carried it with the help of another servant to a room in the textile courtyard.

nThe two servants came out again and carried another big roll of beast leather from the carriage to one of the rooms in the courtyard.

nAfter that, the Shatu man closed the carriage door and left on his horse carriage without any further delay. The man who looked like the shop owner took another look around before he went back inside the courtyard and shut the back door.

nIn a glance, that Shatu man seemed to be just delivering goods to this boutique. It looked like it was a normal business trade and there wasn’t anything odd about it. However, Yan Liqiang still felt something was off.

nFirst of all, both parties were being a little too sneaky and seemed like they were up to no good. Secondly, he couldn’t stop feeling that the Shatu man wasn’t a good and honest person who would just earn some money as a mere coachman. Also, when he left just now, the person who looked like the shop owner didn’t give him any money either. Lastly, Yan Liqiang couldn’t shake off the feeling that was something fishy about those two rolls of leather which the two servants from that boutique had carried into the textile courtyard.

nUnder normal circumstances, if those two rolls were just normal leather, the two servants would be able to carry each by themselves. Yet, just now when those two servants took the goods in, they had to lift them together. From an aerial view, the two rolls of beast leather appeared to be hollow in the middle with leather wrappings around it. Yet from the looks of their weight, something already seemed off. Furthermore, the two servants seemed to be extra cautious when they were carrying those rough leather. It didn’t seem like they were carrying beast leather at all.

nThe Shatu man drove his empty horse carriage away and left through the alley below Yan Liqiang. Yan Liqiang considered for a moment before he decided to stay instead of leaving with the horse carriage. When that horse carriage had traveled far enough, Yan Liqiang slowly slid down from the roof, and tread along the courtyard wall until he arrived at a small alley. There, he bolted towards the courtyard wall of the yard behind that boutique.

nYan Liqiang adjusted the hat on his head and pulled his scarf up so that his face would be completely covered. He then exerted some force beneath his feet and stepped on the wall a few times to climb to the top of the wall in a flash. He hung onto the courtyard wall with his hands and lowered himself quietly into the yard. It seemed like the secret manual ‘Nine Palace Wind Shadow Steps’, which Qian Su had given to him had come in handy at times like this.

nThe lamp inside the house was still brightly lit. The shop owner, his two servants and the two rolls of goods were in there.

nYan Liqiang tiptoed to below one of the room’s windows. Just like a very common scene in Chinese movies, he wet a finger with his saliva then gently poked a small hole through the paper screen that was glued to the window frame in the lowest corner. He then leaned his head forward to observe the situation inside the room.

nThis room seemed to be used to store leather goods. It was filled with quite a number of tiger, bear, leopard, and fox leather. There were also some dazzling mink. All of them were displayed on a rack.

nThe goods that the Shatu man had just delivered seemed to be two big rolls of antelope leather and were placed on the floor. The shop owner stood at the side as he commanded his two servants to cut the ropes tied around the two rolls of antelope leather and unrolled the leather.

nIt didn’t take too long before one of the goods was spread open, and Yan Liqiang felt his heart suddenly convulse.

nWhat he saw was a young lady of about seventeen or eighteen years old wrapped inside the antelope leather. When the leather was spread, she lay there on the floor.

nThat lady seemed to have lost consciousness. Her hair was quite messy and from her attire, she was most likely a Chinese girl from Pingxi City. Not only that, she had a rather beautiful face.

nThe other roll of leather was spread open, revealing a younger lady of about fourteen or fifteen years old, also similarly Chinese. Both ladies were unconscious.

nOne of the servants gulped loudly. He pinched the younger lady on her cheek then started to chuckle lecherously. “Owner, the goods that those Shatu people delivered this time are quite fine. These are so much better than the last time and they seem to be quite young. Young Master wasn’t too pleased with the last one. He only managed to play with her a day before she died. I’m sure he can have fun for a few more days with these two…”

n“If you value your life then retract your dirty paw and stop your nonsense. A woman of such caliber isn’t someone you can play with. You won’t be able to bear the consequences if she loses even a strand of hair. Hurry and send them over. The young master is still waiting!” The owner sternly ordered and pushed the rack that had a tiger leather hanging on it to the side, revealing a hole in the floor.

n“Alright, alright…” The servant who was chuckling lecherously earlier stood up, then together with the other servant brought over two huge wooden boxes. They placed both of the girls in each box and put a lid over them. Both of them then carried one of the boxes together and went into the tunnel entrance that had been revealed.

nAfter both of them went off, the shop owner opened the other box instead and greedily stared at the woman inside it. He reached his hand into the box and fondled her body for a while. After four or five minutes later, footsteps were heard from the tunnel below. The shop owner swallowed his saliva and muttered to himself with a sigh. “Such a pity. Tragedy loves beauties…” He only retracted his hand and closed the box again after he finished speaking.

nHis two servants reappeared from the hole in the ground and carried the other box into the underground tunnel again.

nYan Liqiang’s hands curled into tight fists upon hearing those words. A murderous intent surged within him and his blood was already boiling. There was nothing he despised more than human trafficking in his previous life. In his opinion, a human trafficker caused even more harm than a drug dealer. He didn’t expect to run into an incident like this. From the tone of the shop owner and his servants, he guessed that the girls who had been sent into the underground tunnel would most likely meet a tragic end…

nThinking up to this point, Yan Liqiang’s heart immediately turned cold…

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