Volume Two: The Great and the Small Chapter Sixty-Nine: They Will Not Come (Part Two)

First, he was carried, moving rapidly down the mountain.

Ten minutes later, he was placed onto a carriage, and the men who had been carrying him climbed aboard as well.

At first, the path was rugged and uneven, but after twenty minutes, it smoothed out, and the carriage picked up speed.

Another half-hour passed before the vehicle slowed down. The surroundings shifted from silence to the sounds of human voices and barking dogs.

Huang Ming, entirely confined within a burlap sack, felt not a hint of panic. Instead, he remained calm, drawing upon the experiences of his past life to deduce details about the journey.

Following a violent jolt, the carriage slowed further; clearly, they had reached their destination.

Sure enough, once the vehicle came to a full stop, one of the men spoke: "Bring him inside!"

Immediately, Huang Ming felt his body lift. Still inside the sack, he was hauled off the carriage, then dragged and shoved forward, bumping against what felt like a raised threshold along the way.

"Second-in-Command, the man has been brought here."

"What are you doing? I told you to invite Young Master Huang for a meeting; you are being far too crude. Quickly, untie him and let Young Master Huang out!"

Following this clearly staged dialogue and a flurry of activity from the men, Huang Ming stumbled as he finally emerged from the dark, stifling depths of the sack.

A sudden brightness filled his vision, causing Huang Ming, who had been in darkness for so long, to shield his eyes. Then, he heard a man standing before him laugh: "My men are ignorant; please forgive the grievance caused to you, Young Master Huang..."

Huang Ming showed neither fear nor anger. He looked at the man—a lean, shrewd-looking fellow in his thirties—and said, "Was it you who kidnapped Xu Qingzhi? Since you already took the gold, why didn't you release them, and instead kidnap me as well?"

"If you think this will force me to comply or cough up more gold and silver, you have thought wrong!"

"Hahaha, Young Master Huang is truly extraordinary. Anyone else would have been terrified by now; I am impressed!" The man did not take offense, laughing and clapping his hands together before gesturing to a nearby seat. "Please, sit and speak. Bring tea."

After Huang Ming sat down without ceremony, a burly man in coarse cloth brought over the cheapest tea, a layer of scum floating on the surface of the liquid.

"Forgive the poor hospitality, Young Master Huang. We brothers are poor and can only drink such inferior tea. Please bear with it." As he spoke, he took a large gulp himself.

Huang Ming did not touch the tea, but stared at him and asked, "Who exactly are you, and what is your goal in doing this?"

"Has Young Master Huang finally figured it out?"

"You kidnapped Xu Qingzhi and the other, leaving a note for me to pay a gold ransom... I suspect the money is a ruse, and taking me was the real objective, wasn't it?"

"Young Master Huang is indeed clever. You solved the mystery so quickly; I am even more impressed with you." The man clapped his hands again, looking highly approving.

Yet, despite his demeanor, he clearly felt smug, convinced that everything remained within his control. "So, I assume there is no need for Young Master Huang to ask about the identities or backgrounds of myself and my brothers, is there?"

Huang Ming smiled. "Indeed. Having gone to such lengths to plot this, you certainly wouldn't reveal your true selves and invite me to seek revenge later, would you? Does this mean you have no intention of taking my life?"

"Of course. We have no grudge against you, Young Master Huang; why would we harm you?"

"If you don't want my life and aren't after the money, then you must be acting under someone else's orders, hoping to obtain something of greater value from me. Speak—what do you want?"

Seeing Huang Ming was so cooperative, a glint appeared in the Second-in-Command's eyes. "Since you are so straightforward, Young Master Huang, I won't beat around the bush. There is someone we have been tracking for a long time, someone we have been wanting to deal with. Before we could act, you and your Imperial Guards beat us to the punch—Imperial Physician Meng Chuyao. As long as you hand him over, I guarantee you won't be harmed. Afterward, not only you, but the young master and young lady of the Xu family will be allowed to return safely. How about it?"

Huang Ming lowered his gaze, a faint, mocking smile on his face. "So, you really are after him?"

"Hmm? You guessed it?"

"Given how closely these two events followed one another, it was impossible not to draw a connection. So, tell me, who ordered you to do this?"

"Young Master Huang, before asking questions, you should consider your own situation! I am the one in charge here!"

Seeing the man’s expression shift, Huang Ming stopped pressing the issue. He already knew the answer in his heart, and there was no need to rush the interrogation now.

"In that case, I will tell you the truth: whether or not Imperial Physician Meng is released is not my decision to make. You have truly grabbed the wrong person this time!"

"I know he is in the hands of the Imperial Guards, but the one watching him now is Huang Bingkun, who is closest to you. With one word from you, he will naturally let the man go!"

The Second-in-Command paused, then proposed, "You don't even have to issue such an order. Just tell us where he is hidden, and we can go retrieve him ourselves."

He stood up and walked over to Huang Ming, looking down at him. "I advise you to be smart and choose to cooperate with us. Otherwise, although I am a reasonable man, my subordinates are quite crude, as you have already witnessed..."

Facing such a threat, Huang Ming remained unperturbed, sitting steadily in his chair. "And what if I told you that even I don't know where the Battalion Commander has hidden him?"

"I see you really are stubborn until the very end!" The Second-in-Command finally grew angry, his gaze locked onto Huang Ming. "You will change your mind once you see the corpses of your two attendants!"

"The corpses of my two attendants?" Huang Ming asked, sounding somewhat surprised.

The man smiled with a cruel sense of triumph. "We never leave loose ends. Since we invited you here, those two were destined to be silenced. Otherwise, how could we happily enjoy that gold?"

"Oh, so that's who you're referring to..." Huang Ming laughed, without a shred of worry.

Seeing this, a flicker of unease took root in the man's heart. He immediately turned his head and shouted, "Why haven't Old Five and the others returned yet?"

Someone outside quickly replied, "I don't know! Perhaps they were delayed on the road? Second-in-Command, should we send men to meet them?"

"No need. Everything there was planned. More than ten brothers against two—it should have been easy to eliminate them!" He seemed to be saying this for Huang Ming and the brothers outside, but also to bolster his own confidence.

For some reason, he felt a chill, as if something beyond his control was about to happen.

At the same time, the sound of a few donkeys braying drifted in from outside, causing Huang Ming’s eyebrows to arch sharply.

He then grinned at the Second-in-Command. "I think they aren't coming!"

As the words left his lips, the situation shifted.

Sudden shouts of battle echoed from outside: "Attack! All of you, anyone who resists or flees, kill them without mercy!"

While the Second-in-Command stood frozen in shock, Huang Ming suddenly surged into action. His hands flipped, pinning the man’s wrists, and he kicked out with lightning speed, striking the man directly in the groin!