A sickly fellow ridiculed by the entire army? I'll be the most beautiful woman in the barracks!

Wang Liefeng's forehead veins throbbed, and his hands clenched into fists. He knew all too well the power of the two weapons Chen San had just mentioned.

Not long ago, in the battle outside Zhenbei City, several thousand Tartar cavalry and tens of thousands of auxiliary troops were wiped out by those two weapons.

If Zhao Daxuan were to place these two weapons near the gold mine, then even if they brought all ten thousand men who had come to the Black Mountain Pass, they would only be sending them to their deaths, let alone bringing two thousand men.

Moreover, Zhao Daxuan plans to send three times the manpower. If he really wants to take down the gold mine, the commotion will be impossible to cover up.

If the higher authorities investigate later and the gold mine affair is exposed, they will not only have worked for nothing, but they will also be charged with treason.

Wang Liefeng leaned forward, his eyes fixed on Chen San, and coldly questioned, "What exactly happened? Zhao Daxuan was perfectly fine, why did he suddenly increase his defenses?"

"How would I know?" Chen San shook his head with a wry smile. "I guess he saw the city guards' army arriving and was afraid that Commander Leng and his men would discover the mine's secret and report it to the court, so he strengthened the defenses in advance."

As he spoke, Chen San took out the silver note that Wang Liefeng had given him a couple of days ago from the inner layer of his leather armor and gently patted it on the table.

"Lord Wang, if you are not prepared to take over the gold mine, then this silver note is too hot for me to handle, so I should return it to you."

"I'll pretend I don't know anything about your affairs. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. But I hope you won't make things difficult for my brother. From now on, let's go our separate ways and live in peace."

The man surnamed Liu, standing nearby, frowned, leaned close to Wang Liefeng's ear, and whispered, "Something's not right!"

"What a coincidence! We just set the date for our operation, and Zhao Daxuan suddenly wants to strengthen our defenses? Could it be a trap, a bait set for us by this kid?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Liefeng reacted instantly, grabbed the long knife on the table, took a step forward to Chen San, grabbed his collar, and held the long knife directly to his neck.

The blade felt icy cold to the touch, and instantly left a shallow red mark on Chen San's neck.

"Tell me! Has Zhao Daxuan already discovered our plan to seize the mine tomorrow night, and is he deliberately sending you to lie to me?"

Wang Liefeng's voice was icy cold, "If you dare utter a single lie, I'll kill you right now, then go and bring back your deserter brother and have him executed by slow slicing!"

"Lord Wang! If I dare to lie to you, may I be struck by lightning!"

Chen San pretended to be trembling with fear, but he gritted his teeth and stubbornly held his neck.

"My brother's life is in your hands. Do you think I would risk his life?"

Upon hearing Chen San's words, Wang Liefeng unconsciously loosened his grip on the knife slightly.

Seeing this, Chen San quickly added, feigning urgency, "Brother Wang, I'm on duty tomorrow night. Once you arrive, I can guide you to the locations of all the sentry posts, both visible and hidden!"

"But if it's past tomorrow night, even if you know all this information, it'll be useless. Once those two weapons are in place, no one will be able to get in! Tomorrow night is your only chance!"

Wang Liefeng stared into Chen San's eyes for a long time, and seeing only panic and urgency in them, without a trace of guilt, he finally let go and put the knife away.

He knew perfectly well that Leng Wuye had emptied his savings by buying warhorses some time ago, and if he were to slowly rebuild his wealth, it would take many years. Therefore, Leng Wuye was absolutely unwilling to miss this opportunity.

However, just to be on the safe side, I should inform Leng Wuye first before making a decision.

"Chen San, wait here for a moment, I'll be right back."

"Brother Liu, please greet the three Chen brothers!"

After uttering those two sentences, Wang Liefeng turned and strode out of his tent, heading towards Leng Wuye's tent not far away.

Half an hour later, Wang Liefeng returned to his tent with heavy steps, staring intently at Chen San with a determined expression on his face.

"Chen San, the date is still tomorrow night at 1:45 AM!" Wang Liefeng slammed his fist on the table, his eyes filled with a greedy ruthlessness. "You wait for us at the foot of the mountain. Make your move as soon as we arrive!"

"Once the matter is settled, you'll receive the remaining four hundred taels of silver, not a penny less!"

As Wang Liefeng spoke, he picked up the hundred-tael silver note on the table and stuffed it into Chen San's hand.

"Take this first, go back and keep a low profile, don't give anything away! Whether we can quietly take over the gold mine tomorrow night depends entirely on you!"

Chen San clutched the silver note, nodding repeatedly, looking extremely grateful, but inwardly he felt a great sense of relief.

He thought to himself, Zhao Daxuan was absolutely right. These greedy guys had indeed taken the bait.

"Sir, please rest assured, everything will be perfectly safe!"

After Chen San disappeared into the night, Wang Liefeng finally breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and returned to the camp. Everything was ready for the operation the following night.

The next morning, a notice was posted outside the gate of Heishan Pass, and the notice board was surrounded by layers of refugees who were ready to go to work.

Several soldiers from the Wangbei Camp stood on a stone platform. One of them pointed to the portrait on the bulletin board and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Listen up, everyone! Those kidnappers we caught the other night have confessed!"

"This man is a low-level leader in the kidnapping gang. He confessed that the mastermind behind their gang is actually a captain from Zhenbei City!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the people around him erupted in commotion and began to discuss it amongst themselves.

The soldiers from Wangbeiying had been making a ruckus in the refugee camp for most of the night a few nights ago, and they still vividly remembered how they had caught several human traffickers.

"What?! It's a captain! This is incredible!"

"Yes, a captain-level officer is a big shot in our Zhenbei City, yet he's doing such a despicable thing!"

"This is outrageous! Which captain did this soldier do?"

The soldier standing in front of the bulletin board shouted, "We don't know which captain it is, or who the kidnapper leader is, but we have leads in Zhenbei City!"

"This afternoon, two hundred soldiers will be dispatched to escort these traffickers to Zhenbei City. General Yue will then follow the clues and personally expose the captain behind them!"

"Lord Zhao said he assured everyone that he would definitely give the villagers an explanation!"

"Excellent! Lord Zhao is wise!"

"Lord Zhao is mighty!!"

These messages spread like wildfire, reaching every corner inside and outside Heishan Pass.

The soldiers of Wangbei Camp and the refugees in the refugee camp were all talking about this.

Among the crowd, several men watched the scene in silence. After gathering all the information, they exchanged glances and then quietly withdrew from the crowd, disappearing into a corner.

When they reappeared, they were already in the city guard camp several miles away. The group came together to Leng Wuye's tent to request an audience.