"Just as we withdrew our people, someone else went missing?"
"Commander, could it be a coincidence?" reported the captain of the guards.
Tang Wen sneered, "A coincidence?"
He was furious. He didn't care much about the lives of the Scavengers; it was impossible to manage them all. But their inexplicable disappearances left him no time to hunt, cure meat, or stockpile food, which was intolerable.
"Commanders, what should we do next? Should we go to the scene and take a look?"
Seeing Tang Wen deep in thought, Zhou Bing signaled the guard captain to remain calm.
After a few minutes, Tang Wen spoke, "This is definitely not a coincidence. The Scavenger Camp is chaotic and crowded; there might be spies among them."
"Very likely."
Tang Wen continued, "Here's what we'll do: send a few hot-tempered individuals to the Scavenger Camp to vent their anger. Accuse the Scavengers of harboring traitors. Then openly tell them we don't have time to deal with it."
The guard captain thought he understood, "Then we secretly send people to infiltrate the Scavengers!"
"Cough, no need for such trouble. Those Scavengers can be bought with just a little Foxtail millet. We can't distinguish who the informants are."
After hearing Tang Wen's words, the guard captain looked at him with admiration, "I oversimplified it."
"Just have people keep an eye on the road to the Black Mountain Camp."
And so it was decided.
Four hunting squads quietly left the city, with one squad ambushing the road to the Black Mountain Camp.
The other three squads dispersed around the Scavenger Camp, not too close to it.
"Caw, caw, caw," the sound of the hunting squads in armor startled a Red-eyed Raven into flight.
"Damn it! Bad luck, running into this thing as soon as we step out."
"Damn bird."
Someone in the squad raised a bow, but the Red-eyed Raven swiftly turned and plunged into the forest.
"Damn! Quite clever."
This type of raven is a low-level Mutated Beast.
Due to its unpleasant call, jet-black feathers, and blood-red eyes, it is considered an omen of bad luck.
As for how exactly it brings bad luck, no one knows.
It's much like the belief that black dog blood can ward off evil spirits and black cats can communicate with the spiritual world.
After the hunting squads went out.
Tang Wen and the other commanders did not slack off.
That night, Commander Zhang was on night duty, while Tang Wen and Zhou Bing slept in their respective quarters.
The night passed, but nothing happened.
The one-armed Commander Zhang sat alone in the council hall until dawn.
In the morning, the hunting squads reported no abnormalities; they hadn't even encountered any wild beasts.
The three commanders were silent. Commander Zhang, who had not slept all night, pressed his temples and said irritably, "Forget it, let's just report it and prepare to take on those damn Black Mountain Devils!"
Clearly, this was said in anger.
After Tang Wen waited for him to calm down, he said, "This doesn't match the modus operandi of the Black Mountain Devils at all. If we go to war with Black Mountain, whoever is hiding in the shadows would probably laugh in their sleep."
"Someone in the shadows?" Commander Zhang was startled, realizing this was indeed a possibility, and took a deep breath to calm down.
Zhou Bing also found it unusual and speculated, "Could someone be secretly watching our camp gates? They don't act when they see the hunting squads go out. They only act when we withdraw our people."
"It's possible," Tang Wen stroked his chin and pondered for a moment. "Send a few hunting squads disguised as ordinary people to leave the camp from the inner city. Have them monitor the situation and withdraw the current guards."
"Good idea!"
"Not bad."
Half an hour later, four hunting squads took a detour and dispersed from the inner city gate, leaving the camp.
They wandered in the forest outside until dusk, then gathered at the designated meeting point before heading to their respective locations for ambush and observation.
Meanwhile, the four hunting squads that had left the city the previous night returned to the camp gate one by one, their expressions grim and muttering curses.
Yet, that night passed without incident.
The next day, Tang Wen assigned three hunting squads to continue their usual tasks of hunting, chopping wood, and assisting the camp's kitchen staff in curing meat.
The night remained uneventful.
Another day passed, and Tang Wen rotated three different hunting squads to go out hunting.
In the evening, everything was still peaceful.
The Scavenger Camp reported no missing persons, and the monitoring hunting squads found nothing unusual.
Five days later, Tang Wen and Zhou Bing recalled the four hunting squads responsible for surveillance.
That very night, dozens of people went missing from the Scavenger Camp again.
"This is a slap in our face!" Commander Zhang was furious upon hearing the news.
Zhou Bing's pretty face turned cold, and the hunting squad leaders looked extremely displeased.
Tang Wen, who had lived two lives, remained calm.
He was even somewhat satisfied that none of the hunting squads had suffered any casualties.
At this point, it was clear that they would have to seek help from the inner city.
Before doing so, his hunting squads had managed to witness the enemy's cunning and strangeness without paying any significant price.
That was already quite good.
In the afternoon, Tang Wen reported the situation at the General's residence in the inner city.
He detailed the entire sequence of events regarding the "disappearance of scavengers."
Inside the room, the experienced commanders exchanged puzzled glances.
Clearly, they couldn't figure out how the enemy had managed it.
A hot-tempered commander shouted, "Let's just go and capture someone from the Black Mountain Devil to interrogate!"
"Exactly, regardless of the situation, attacking the Black Mountain Devil is always the right move!"
"I agree."
"Agree with what? All of you, shut up!" General Zhou glared at them.
The commanders immediately fell silent.
General Zhou had long been a figure of authority, and no one dared to oppose him.
After a brief pause, General Zhao spoke up to ease the tension, "It hasn't rained for dozens of days, and the foxtail millet seedlings in the fields outside the city are almost withered. We don't know how long this drought will last, so it's really not the time to start a war."
Tang Wen nodded inwardly; both generals in charge of the camp were sensible people.
But while everyone understood the reasoning, the continuous disappearance of scavengers and the hunting camp's inability to get to the bottom of it was frustrating.
Though not a major issue, it was deeply unsettling.
Tang Wen understood this feeling all too well. He glanced at Zhou Bing, thinking about how he possessed a valuable tool but had no opportunity to use it.
This often left him feeling dissatisfied!
Commander Qian Dong of the Guards suggested, "How about we have the hunting camp patrol every night and see if they still dare to come?"
Scaring them off might be a last resort, but it carried greater risks.
Once the enemy figured out the patrols' strength, they might send in experts to directly eliminate them.
In that case, the Flame Camp would suffer even greater losses.
After more than an hour of discussion, no consensus was reached.
The two generals dismissed the meeting, keeping Tang Wen and two others behind.
After the other commanders left, the atmosphere in the room grew even more somber.
The two generals exchanged a glance, and General Zhou asked with a serious expression, "Do you think it's possible that there's a problem within our own ranks?"
Huh?
Tang Wen, Zhou Bing, and Commander Zhang exchanged glances.
Finally, Zhou Bing shook her head and said, "It shouldn't be possible. The elites I brought from the inner city hunting camp and the Martial Apprentices from the martial arts school are all long-time members of the camp. Their entire families live here. What good would it do them to stir up trouble and cause unrest in the camp?"
"What about the outer city guards newly recruited into the hunting camp?" General Zhou asked again.
Commander Zhang replied, "I can't speak for everything, but the outer city guards have families and stable incomes. They are generally very reliable."
Being a guard is akin to having a golden rice bowl, with high status, and there's almost no reason for them to cause trouble.
The camp's promotion system is transparent. If you want to be a captain or a commander, just train hard in martial arts.
As long as you have the strength, it's hard not to get promoted.
The trail went cold, and the situation reached a stalemate.
"Little Tang, what's your opinion?"
Tang Wen had been thinking for a while. Upon being called, he immediately and succinctly said, "Let's deploy the commanders!"
His tone was natural, and his problem-solving approach was straightforward.
It was like a battalion commander facing the question, "What if the 50mm howitzer can't take down the enemy?"
The natural response would be, "Bring out the bigger calibers! Get the 100mm howitzer, the 155mm howitzer, all of them!"
For Tang Wen, the hunting camp captain was a 50mm howitzer.
A third-level Martial Master commander was a 100mm howitzer.
A second-level Martial Master commander was a 155mm caliber.
As for a first-level Martial Master?
That would probably be comparable to a 203mm giant cannon.
He explained, "Although we don't know how the people in the shadows are doing it, the fact is that our hunting squad can't even catch a glimpse of them."
The two generals whispered a few words among themselves, and General Zhou decisively said, "Alright, besides you and Zhou Bing, deploy four more commanders!"
Zhou Bing and Commander Zhang felt relieved.
With six commanders deployed, they sh
ould be able to root out the hidden enemies, right?
But Tang Wen didn't think so. As he said before, what if the other side has a general-level powerhouse?
"If Sister Bing and I both leave, someone still needs to hold the fort in the outer city."
As he spoke, he looked at General Zhao.
(End of Chapter)