Chapter 173 Zhou Tie Breaks His Gun, Lin Chen Angrily Investigates a Large Quantity of Goods

Lin Chen crouched down.

He pressed his hand against the door panel of the sealed cabin.

The wood was damp, and most of the tung oil paint had peeled off; pressing his fingertips against it caused a layer of debris to flake off.

The lock was cast from pig iron, and rust dripped down from the keyhole, seeping into the cracks of the wood, turning them black.

Zhou Tie handed over an iron hammer from the side.

The hammerhead was small, and the wooden handle was wrapped with cloth strips for a firm grip.

Lin Chen did not take it.

He pressed the copper end of his scabbard against the lock body and exerted force with his wrist.

The copper edge wedged into the gap of the locking ring, and he twisted.

Rust fell in a flurry from the joint, landing on the deck with a faint, crisp sound.

Five breaths.

A crack appeared in the middle of the locking ring.

Two more breaths, and it snapped.

Half of the lock head hit the wooden board, bounced once, and rolled to Shen Yue's feet.

Shen Yue looked down, then used the tip of her foot to nudge the lock fragment aside.

Lin Chen pushed open the cabin door.

The door hinge was rusted shut, sticking after he pushed it three inches.

He applied more force, and the door panel scraped a layer of wood shavings off the inner wall with a creaking sound.

The air that rushed out was thick, stuffy, and smelled of a mixture of blood and aged rot.

The light from the oil lamp shone in from behind him, illuminating only the space three steps past the threshold.

There were things on the floor.

Several stacks of yellow paper parcels.

The parcels were tied tightly, with hemp rope biting into the paper, the knots tied fast.

Beside them were three wooden crates scattered about, their lids askew, with nails protruding halfway out of the wood.

Lin Chen stepped over the threshold.

His boot soles pressed against the damp wooden boards with a dull sound.

He crouched down, hooked his fingers around the edge of a paper parcel, and lifted it.

The parcel was heavier than expected, the weight causing his wrist to dip slightly.

The hemp rope left a red mark on his fingertips.

He ignored it and turned the parcel over.

On the bottom was a line of small characters; the ink had blurred, but it was still legible.

Bing-Seven.

Yunjin Ferry.

The parcel remained unopened.

He set it aside and picked up the second one.

Then the third.

There were seven parcels in total.

They were all similar in weight and tied just as tightly.

Shen Yue squeezed in behind him.

The cabin was narrow, and there wasn't enough room for two people to stand side by side.

Her shoulder brushed against Lin Chen's back, the fabric creating a faint friction sound as she passed.

Lin Chen did not look back.

"What is Bing-Seven?"

Shen Yue's voice was low.

Lin Chen's fingers paused for a beat on the hemp rope of the paper parcel.

"It's a batch number. Yunjin Ferry is the source."

Pei Yan stood at the cabin entrance, not entering.

His figure blocked most of the light, casting a shadow onto the cabin floor that enveloped both Lin Chen and Shen Yue.

"Open one and see."

Pei Yan's voice came from outside the door.

Lin Chen untied the hemp rope of the first paper parcel.

The knot was complex, requiring seven loops to be undone before it loosened.

He opened the parcel.

Inside, there were no ledgers or banknotes.

There was only a stack of neatly cut yellow hemp paper.

The paper was densely covered in writing.

The handwriting was small and neat, written with an extremely fine wolf-hair brush.

The format of each page was the same.

The date was in the top left corner, the code in the top right, and the quantity in the middle.

Following the quantity were three characters: "Settled."

Lin Chen flipped through two pages.

The dates started from half a year ago and continued until ten days ago.

The page with the highest quantity read fifteen.

The one with the least read three.

Shen Yue's gaze swept across the paper, and her throat moved.

She reached out to take it, but her fingers recoiled upon touching the edge of the paper.

There were dark brown stains on the paper, dried and crusted into a thin layer.

Blood.

"This is a record."

Shen Yue's voice was dry.

Lin Chen gave a grunt of acknowledgment.

He retied the paper parcel and set it aside.

He picked up the second paper parcel.

He opened it.

Inside were banknotes.

They were folded neatly, with a thin slip of paper between each banknote, on which were written the code and time of the handover.

The denominations of the banknotes were not large, the largest being fifty taels and the smallest five taels.

However, stacked together, they were as thick as a little finger.

Pei Yan's voice drifted in from the doorway again.

"There is another layer beneath the paper parcel."

Lin Chen's fingers probed the bottom of the paper parcel.

Sure enough, the parcel was divided into two layers, separated by a thin wooden board in the middle.

He pulled out the wooden board, and underneath was a hard-covered booklet.

The cover of the booklet was pasted with black cloth, which was heavily worn, with frayed edges.

He opened the first page.

Blank.

The second page, also blank.

Starting from the third page, there was writing.

It was not an account, but names.

Each name was followed by the person's place of origin, age, and physical characteristics.

Behind some names, a circle was drawn, with a character written inside: "Settled."

Some were marked "Waiting."

Behind one name, there were two characters: "Broken."

Lin Chen's gaze rested on the two characters "Broken" for three breaths.

He handed the booklet to Shen Yue.

Shen Yue took it and flipped through it page by page.

Her hand trembled when she turned to the seventh page, and her fingertips pressed a shallow indentation into the paper.

"Inspector."

Shen Yue looked up.

The color had drained from her face, and her lips were pressed into a thin line.

"There are one hundred and forty-seven people recorded here."

Lin Chen took the booklet back from her.

He flipped to the last page.

The page was blank, but in the bottom right corner, there was a line of tiny characters.

It was not ink, but carved with a fingernail.

The strokes were shallow and would be impossible to notice without careful inspection.

Bingyin Month, Seventeenth.

Large Batch.

Today is the fourteenth of the Bingyin Month.

Three days later.

Lin Chen closed the booklet, the black cloth cover making a dull sound in his palm.

He stood up and turned to walk out of the cabin.

Shen Yue followed behind, her footsteps two beats faster than when she entered.

Pei Yan turned sideways to clear the cabin entrance, his gaze landing on the hard-covered booklet in Lin Chen's hand, but he did not reach for it.

Lin Chen walked onto the deck.

The night wind whipped over from the river, blowing his robes against one side.

Zhou Tie was crouching at the edge of the deck, clutching the two broken pieces of the iron spear.

The fractured end of the spear shaft was jagged, with wood shavings sticking up.

He did not look at Lin Chen, his eyes fixed on the river water.

Lin Chen walked behind him.

"Pei Yan retrieved the things from the fishing shed."

Lin Chen's voice was steady.

Zhou Tie did not move.

Lin Chen added: "There are more things on the ship. In the sealed cabin in the hold."

Zhou Tie's Adam's apple bobbed.

He placed the broken iron spear on the deck and stood up.

As he turned, his knee knocked against a bollard with a dull thud.

He ignored it and followed Lin Chen toward the cabin entrance.

The door to the sealed cabin in the hold was wide open.

The light from the oil lamp leaked out, illuminating the seven paper parcels and three wooden crates on the floor.

Zhou Tie stepped inside.

He was broader than Lin Chen, and as he entered, his shoulder brushed against the door frame, scraping off a layer of rust powder.

He crouched down and pressed his fingers onto one of the paper parcels.

His fingertips rubbed along the hemp rope.

"This rope is tied with a sailor's knot."

Zhou Tie's voice was squeezed from deep in his throat, hoarse.

"Only people who work on the river tie it like this. Afraid of it coming loose."

Lin Chen stood beside him.

His boot soles pressed against the damp wooden boards, and he said nothing.

Zhou Tie picked up another paper parcel and weighed it.

He put it down.

He picked up the second one, then the third.

He weighed all seven paper parcels.

He rested his hand on the last paper parcel and did not move.

"The weight is wrong."

Zhou Tie looked up at Lin Chen.

"Seven parcels of goods, and the weight of each is almost the same. But the sizes of the paper parcels are different. The density of the things inside should be different."

Lin Chen's thumb traced a half-circle on the hilt guard of his blade.

"You mean that these seven parcels only look like seven parcels from the outside. The contents inside have been tampered with."

Zhou Tie nodded.

"Similar to shifting cargo. It looks like seven piles, but the weight has actually been evened out."

Pei Yan walked in from the cabin entrance.

He crouched beside the three wooden crates, hooked his fingers around the edge of the lid, and flipped it up.

The lid was not locked, but it was jammed on something.

He applied more force, and the lid creaked as it pried open.

It was empty inside.

There was only a layer of dry grass spread on the bottom of the crate, and the grass was stained with dark red marks.

"It's for holding people."

Pei Yan's voice was flat.

"The size is just enough to fit a child. Sitting curled up."

Zhou Tie's fists tightened.

His knuckles turned white in the dim light.

Lin Chen walked to the wooden crate.

He bent over, reached into the bottom of the crate, and his fingers parted the dry grass.

There was something under the grass.

Very small.

He picked it up and placed it in his palm.

It was a cloth shoe.

The kind worn by an infant, with a soft sole, and a small, crooked yellow flower embroidered on the upper.

The thread ends were not tucked in and were sticking out.

There were dried mud stains on the upper.

And a small dark stain.

Lin Chen pressed it with his thumb; the stain was hard.

Blood.

He clutched the cloth shoe in his palm.

The warmth of his palm warmed the cloth shoe slightly.

"Take them."

Lin Chen turned around.

The voice was squeezed from between his teeth, every word carrying the coarseness of being rubbed by sandpaper.

"Take everything. The booklet, the paper parcels, the banknotes, the wooden crates—leave nothing behind."

Zhou Tie stood up.

He walked to Lin Chen and stopped.

His gaze shifted from Lin Chen's hand clutching the cloth shoe to his face.

The moonlight shone in from the cabin entrance, revealing the tense line of Lin Chen's jaw.

"Inspector."

Zhou Tie's voice was hoarse.

"Three days later, large batch."

Lin Chen looked at him.

"You heard it."

Zhou Tie's Adam's apple bobbed again.

He did not reply.

He turned and walked out of the cabin.

His footsteps were heavy on the wooden boards, each step so heavy that the ship swayed slightly.

Lin Chen followed him out.

When he reached the deck, Zhou Tie was already standing by the gunwale.

He turned his back to everyone, facing the river.

His right hand clutched the unbroken section of the spear shaft, with the spearhead still attached; the iron spearhead reflected a cold light in the moonlight.

Zhao Gang returned from the fishing shed.

He was carrying his blade on his shoulder, followed by two brothers escorting prisoners.

Seeing the scene on the deck, his pace slowed.

He saw Zhou Tie's back, saw the broken iron spear, and saw the cloth shoe clutched in Lin Chen's hand.

He lowered his blade from his shoulder, the tip resting on the deck, and said nothing.

He Jian stood at the cabin entrance, his left hand pressing against the hilt of the short blade behind his waist.

His gaze swept over everyone on the deck, finally resting on Zhou Tie.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Zhou Tie's arms lifted.

The spear shaft was held horizontally in front of him.

His left hand gripped the middle of the shaft, while his right hand gripped the part near the spearhead.

Both hands exerted force simultaneously.

The spear shaft emitted a groan of twisted metal in his palms.

The sound was muffled, carrying a heaviness as if it had been stifled.

Lin Chen watched him.

The spear shaft bent.

It bent into an arc from the middle.

The arc grew deeper and deeper.

Wood shavings burst from the fracture, splattering onto the back of Zhou Tie's hands.

Then, it snapped.

The spear shaft broke into two pieces from the middle.

The section with the spearhead carried half the wooden handle, while the section with the spear tail was left with only a bare, broken end.

The broken edge was jagged, with wooden splinters sticking out.

Zhou Tie clutched the two pieces of the spear shaft in his hands, his arms hanging at his sides.

His shoulders were shaking.

The movement was slight, but it never stopped.

He Jian walked over.

He stood beside him.

He did not speak.

He simply stood there.

Zhao Gang sheathed his blade.

He walked to the other side of Zhou Tie and also stood there.

The three of them faced the river, their backs to everyone else on the deck.

The moonlight dragged their shadows across the deck, stretching them out long.

Lin Chen walked over to the children.

Seven children sat in the center of the deck, wrapped in blankets.

The youngest one was curled up in a corner; the iron chain had been removed from their ankle, but the chafed skin was still oozing blood, covered by the corner of a blanket.

The slightly older boy kept his eyes fixed in the direction of Zhou Tie.

He saw Zhou Tie break the iron spear and saw He Jian and Zhao Gang stand beside him.

His fingers moved along the edge of the blanket, pulling it closer around the little girl next to him.

Lin Chen squatted down.

He reached out his hand and touched the boy's shoulder.

The boy's body tensed up.

Lin Chen did not move.

His hand rested on the boy's shoulder, his palm against the thin blanket, and he could feel the boy's shoulder bones pressing against his hand.

"We will take you back at dawn."

Lin Chen's voice softened.

It was much lighter than when he usually spoke.

The boy looked at him.

He looked for several breaths.

Then he nodded.

The nod was slight, almost imperceptible.

Pei Yan walked out of the cabin.

He was carrying that hard-covered booklet in his hand.

He walked to Lin Chen's side and squatted down.

His gaze swept over the children, finally landing on the wound on the youngest child's ankle.

He fished a small porcelain bottle from the old cloth pouch at his waist, pulled out the stopper, and poured a little powder onto his fingertip.

The powder was pale yellow and smelled of medicinal herbs.

"Don't move."

Pei Yan's voice was light.

He carefully sprinkled the powder onto the wound.

A slight stinging sensation came from the wound, and the child flinched but did not pull away.

Pei Yan used a strip of cloth he tore from the hem of his own garment to bandage the wound.

His movements were not fast, but his fingers were steady.

After bandaging it, he stuffed the porcelain bottle back into the cloth pouch.

He stood up.

"This medicine can stop the bleeding and prevent infection."

Pei Yan looked at Lin Chen.

"But the wound needs to be checked by a doctor again. The bone isn't broken, but the tendons might be injured."

Lin Chen nodded.

Pei Yan pulled the hard-covered booklet from his robes.

He opened it to the last page.

He pointed to the line of text carved with fingernails.

Seventeenth day of the Bingyin month.

Large shipment.

"Three days."

Pei Yan's voice dropped to its lowest.

"If this shipment travels by water, departing from Liucha Estuary and following the current downstream, it can reach the next transfer point in two days. The handover is on the third day."

Lin Chen's gaze fell on that line of text.

The marks carved by the fingernails were shallow, but every stroke was forceful, carved into the fibers of the paper.

"Where is the transfer point?"

Lin Chen asked.

Pei Yan traced the edge of the booklet with his finger.

"Downstream from Liucha Estuary, the river splits into two forks. The left goes east, leading to Yongchang Commandery in Jiangnan. The right goes north, entering the heart of Nanyang Prefecture."

"What if they take the right fork?"

Pei Yan looked up at him.

"The right river channel is narrow; large ships cannot enter. They must use small boats for transshipment. The transshipment point is near the river fork, where there is an abandoned pier. The locals call it Ghost's Dread."

Lin Chen closed the booklet.

"Have you investigated this?"

Pei Yan nodded.

"I was investigating the Sheng Family's leads in Jiangnan and tracked them to that pier. It was empty. But in the warehouse behind the pier, there were drag marks. They were the same as the ones in the secret room of Tongbao Firm."

Lin Chen stood up.

He walked to the side of the ship, facing downstream.

The river water gleamed darkly under the moonlight, flowing east, turning north, and disappearing into the depths of the night.

"Zhao Gang."

Lin Chen called out.

Zhao Gang walked over from beside Zhou Tie.

He gripped the hilt of his blade in his hand, his canine teeth biting his lip.

"You take some men and escort the children back to the Patrol Division."

Lin Chen turned around.

"Take the land route, quickly. Arrive before dawn."

Zhao Gang nodded.

"Understood."

"Zhou Tie, He Jian."

Lin Chen looked at the two men who were still facing the river.

"Take ten brothers of the Meridian Opening Realm and travel downstream by water. Go to the Ghost's Dread pier at the river fork. Set an ambush. Do not alert anyone."

Zhou Tie turned around.

His face was expressionless in the moonlight, but the things in his eyes were like burnt charcoal, dark red.

"Intercept any ship you see."

Lin Chen's voice was deep.

"Capture the people on the ship alive. Seize the ship."

Zhou Tie clutched the broken spear shaft, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

"Understood."

He Jian drew a narrow short blade from behind his waist and wiped the blood from the edge on his hem.

"How many chains should we bring?"

Lin Chen glanced at him.

"Bring enough. There might be more than one ship."

He Jian nodded.

He sheathed the short blade behind his waist.

Pei Yan walked to Lin Chen's side.

His fingers pinched an iron spike inside his sleeve, turning the spike half a circle between his fingers.

"I will go back to the Patrol Division with you. To interrogate Third Manager Sheng Xuanbai, we need to verify the names in the booklet."

Lin Chen did not answer immediately.

His gaze swept over the deck.

Shen Yue was counting the items brought out from the cabin, sorting the paper packages and silver notes, wrapping them in oil paper, and stuffing them into a wooden chest.

Her movements were fast, her fingers steady.

Her sleeve had been torn by something, the fabric turned out to reveal the light-colored undergarment inside.

Lin Chen walked over.

Shen Yue heard footsteps and looked up.

She was holding a stack of yellow hemp paper in her arms, the paper neatly stacked against her chest.

"Inspector."

She placed the paper on the wooden chest beside her.

Lin Chen looked at her.

"You are injured."

Shen Yue paused for a moment and looked down at her hands.

There was a shallow cut on her right index finger, caused by the hemp rope when she was unwrapping the paper packages earlier.

The bleeding had stopped, and a thin, dark red scab had formed.

"It's nothing."

She pulled her hand back into her sleeve.

Lin Chen pulled a small roll of white cloth from his robes.

The cloth was rolled tight; he used his teeth to bite open the thin string tied around it and pulled out a section.

He grabbed Shen Yue's hand.

Shen Yue's fingers were cold, and her fingertips were trembling slightly.

Lin Chen did not look at her face; he wrapped the white cloth around her index finger twice and tied a knot.

His movements were not fast, but the cloth strip was wrapped tightly.

After wrapping it, he let go of her hand.

The knot of the white cloth was slightly crooked, resting on her knuckle.

"Go finish counting the items."

Lin Chen turned around.

"Give me the inventory list."

Shen Yue looked at the piece of white cloth on her finger for two breaths.

When she looked up, Lin Chen had already walked to the side of the ship.

She responded, her voice lower than usual.

Pei Yan stood nearby, watching this scene.

His gaze moved from the white cloth on Shen Yue's finger to Lin Chen's back, then retracted.

The corners of his mouth curled slightly, a very faint arc that vanished quickly.

The gray-white at the horizon expanded.

It was almost dawn.

Lin Chen stood at the side of the ship, his fingers resting on the mouth of the scabbard of the black abyss blade.

The copper ridge of the scabbard was chilled by the night wind, pressing against his palm.

He looked down at the hard-covered booklet in his hand.

That line of text on the last page: Seventeenth day of the Bingyin month, large shipment.

The marks carved by the fingernails appeared even shallower in the gray-white daylight, easily overlooked at any moment.

Three days.

One hundred and forty-seven people.

And another large shipment.

He stuffed the booklet into his robes, against his chest.

The hard corners of the pages pressed against his skin.

"Let's go."

Lin Chen stepped over the side of the ship, his boot soles sinking into the muddy ground on the bank.

The mud was dampened by dew, soft, and he sank half an inch deep.

He pulled his foot out and walked toward the Patrol Division.

Pei Yan followed half a step behind him on his right.

Shen Yue held the inventory list and trotted to catch up.

Behind them, Zhao Gang was already calling for men to prepare to escort the children.

Zhou Tie and He Jian were counting the number of people going into the water.

The iron chains clanged as they collided.

Lin Chen's pace did not stop.

His boot soles stepped on the muddy road, making a muffled sound.

The hard-covered booklet in his robes pressed against his chest, its temperature gradually transferring and mixing with his body heat.

Three days.

He had to pry open the mouth of Third Manager Sheng Xuanbai, unravel the loose ends of Liu Ruohan, and plant men at the Ghost's Dread pier within these three days.

He also had to find those one hundred and forty-seven names, one by one.

The moonlight had completely faded.

The line of gray-white at the horizon turned into a fish-belly white.

The morning breeze swept over from the river, carrying the smell of water and the scent of cooking smoke from the early-rising farmers on the distant bank.

When Lin Chen arrived at the South City Gate, the gate had just opened.

The guards saw the bronze token at his waist and straightened their backs.

Lin Chen nodded and walked into the city gate.

In the alleys, there were already women carrying water early in the morning; the wooden buckets struck the stone slabs with a crisp sound.

He walked through the alley and headed toward the Patrol Division.