Chapter 647 — Tail

Though he was speaking, Yang Juehuan's steps never faltered for an instant; Yang Ce and Liu Yu, along with the other four, followed far behind the fleeing subordinate.

No matter how stealthily that fleeing subordinate moved, no matter how he tried to hide, in Yang Juehuan's eyes it was all as good as nothing.

To an ordinary man, the jungle is a fine place to hide one's tracks—once you have put enough distance behind you, those coming after can never catch up, for the terrain itself leaves pursuers nothing to follow.

And so the subordinate out in front, after running some distance, stopped running and settled into an even pace, convinced that Yang Ce and the others could never possibly catch them.

Yet Yang Jiyan simply trailed behind these men, unhurried, never closing the gap.

The man was cunning enough, of course: every so often he would glance back, and only when he saw nothing amiss did he press on.

But Yang Ce was a good distance from him—if the man could have spotted Yang Ce, he would have needed powers like Yang Puqi's to do it.

Clearly this subordinate was one who walked the jungle often; he covered a great distance without any sign of fatigue. Had Yang Ce and the others not all been rigorously trained, they truly would not have been able to keep up with him.

Small wonder—here in the jungles of Miaojiang, trees stood everywhere and no road could possibly carry a vehicle. Apart from walking on foot, there really was no other means of transport to rely on.

Even men of the stature of the Yimiao Stronghold's chief or the Right Elder had no choice but to go on their own two feet—unless they used a helicopter, which was rather too much trouble.

After some three hours of walking, a village appeared not far ahead of the subordinate—this, presumably, was the Yimiao Stronghold.

The village sprawled over a vast area, as large as a small town, though within it every house was single-storey; the finest were two-storey wooden buildings. It was a little like some primitive society—there were no towering edifices at all.

This, presumably, was local custom. Yet the very fact that such a village could be built was proof enough of how swiftly the Yimiao Stronghold had grown, for though its structures were but one- and two-storey bungalows, they were built with exquisite beauty—set down in a city, they would be the likes of villas.

A few men stood guard at the village gate, but when the subordinate passed, they asked only a cursory question or two before letting him through—plainly they knew him.

Having followed him this far, Yang Shuoxuan could go no further; after all, Yang Cen and the others could be spotted at a glance as strangers from outside. Without forcing their way in, there was no getting inside smoothly.

"Captain, what do we do?" By the time Yang Ce brought the group near the stronghold, Feng Yan and the others had understood that the subordinate had entered the village.

"Let's wait here. He can't get away anyway." Seeing how things stood, Lin Yi was in no hurry; he simply halted, found a place where the trees grew thick enough to conceal them, and sat down.

"True enough. If this subordinate reports to their chief, that bitter chief might come out in person. We just wait here by the stump for the rabbit to run into it."

The subordinate, of course, still assumed Yang Yongjin knew he was alive. He rushed in a panic to the chief's door, only to be stopped by one of the chief's trusted men: "What's your business?"

"Brother Yao, the chief sent me out on a mission before—our whole force was wiped out, and I alone escaped by luck. I must report to the chief at once!" the subordinate said urgently.

"Is that so. Wait a moment, then." Brother Yao seemed not to regard the subordinate's tale of total annihilation as anything worth noticing. Chin in the air, he said to the man, "You wait. Who knows whether the chief has time to see you!"

As one close to the chief, Brother Yao was habitually haughty and looked down on everyone else in the stronghold. Having spoken, he did not go inside but simply stood where he was and paid the subordinate no further mind.

Seeing that Brother Yao would not go announce him, the subordinate grew anxious: "Brother Yao, this is urgent—why won't you go tell the chief?"

"Damn it! I go when I want to go—who are you to remind me? What do you think you are?" Brother Yao was instantly displeased, and eyed the man with impatience: "Wait over there. Don't stand here getting in my way!"

"Brother Yao, how can you be like this? This really is a matter of great importance!" The subordinate was somewhat helpless. What was the matter with this Brother Yao?

"The chief is resting now. If I go disturb him, what if he curses me out?" Brother Yao was a gatekeeper, so he had no idea that the chief had ordered another trusted man to go test Yang Juehuan. Thus Brother Yao, as always, was full of swagger toward those who wished to see the chief—without some profit in it, no one was getting through that door!

"If you go, he won't curse you!" the subordinate thought. People are dead—how big can this be? How could he curse you?

"I say, you must be new here from some other stronghold, aren't you? Don't you know the rules at all?" Brother Yao was finally losing patience. He held out a palm: "You want me to announce you to the chief—don't you know to show a little something? Who does a favor for nothing? Who do you think you are?"

"You—you—" The subordinate had never imagined that with a matter this grave, he would still have to pay to have word passed to the chief. Wasn't this Brother Yao a bit too crooked? He was getting angry too: "There's no profit in it for you. Go or don't go, as you please. I'll just wait here. If business is delayed, it's on your head!"

With that, he stepped to one side and washed his hands of it.

"Go on and wait then, dumb bird!" Brother Yao curled his lip. He had seen plenty of fools like this—blustering that they would wait right here. Let them wait; a day or two and they would soften of their own accord, and then would they not come properly bearing gifts and piling on the fine words?

So Brother Yao did not mind in the least, and went on leisurely guarding the chief's gate.

The Bitter Chief waited a long while and received no report from the men he had sent out earlier. Growing uneasy, he asked the trusted man beside him, "Those men with Wang Xiaozhao—they've been gone so long, why is there still no word? Call them and ask what on earth is going on."

Even in the jungles of Miaojiang, cell phones were in use. The Yimiao Stronghold was nearest to the outside, so the signal reached even here; further in, the signal would grow weaker and weaker...

"Yes, Chief!" The trusted man nodded and dialed Wang Xiaozhao's number. The call connected at once, but no one answered for the longest time—and after a long wait, still no one answered...!