Knuckles had just come back from sending word out to Wang Ben and the rest.
He still looked flustered. He had to make preparations on his side too, but he couldn't find both of his helpers.
But Lester was here too, but he was supposed to be with Frank.
"Had something terrible happened?"
The first thing that went through his mind was that maybe Lester had betrayed them, but that wasn't possible; he was just too much of a coward to do that. Just like other merchants, Lester's worst nightmare was to die and leave his money.
"Where is Frank? Weren't you supposed to be with him?" cadet knuckles enquired
"He came to me and told me to help him get into the guard house. I tried to stop him but he just wouldn't listen." Lester voiced that he felt like he was being bullied but he couldn't do anything about it.
He was just too afraid.
"Oh, he asked you to do that." knuckles had a smile on his face.
He thought "good job Frank"
But then frowned and said "how are we getting him out of there though"
"I can get him out by tomorrow. It was all a show. I promise I have it under control," Lester said hurriedly.
He heaved a sigh of relief knuckles wasn't angry. He was out of the woods.
Cadet knuckles was praising Frank in his head. If Lester found out, he would probably be pissed because "it was his idea after all and he deserved credit for it."
"How about sparrow?" Knuckles inquired.
"I have no idea; he just left without saying a word," Lester said.
"Okay"
"If that's all, I will be taking my leave. I still have a lot of business to conclude," although Lester said that he dared not leave before being told to do so.
Don't be in a rush, "said cadet knuckles."
"I still have use for you," he added.
Lester felt a chill run down his spine.
...…..
The soldier that had just brought Frank into the guard house said, "Get in there little shit, this is your new home now."
He was fiddling with the bag of coins in one hand, and in the other he held rank like he was nothing.
He had no idea that Frank was scoping the layout of the guard house as soon as he came in.
The guard pushed Frank into a room of about 20 men.
They all looked depressed and looked at me with pity.
Another lost soul had joined them.
Frank started looking around but he couldn't find any trace of Joey and Jake. He looked panicky.
"Had they been moved?" he thought.
He then walked towards a man seated in the right corner alone and sat down with him.
"What do you want?" the man asked.
"I don't believe we've ever met," said the man.
"I just have a question." Frank looked nonchalant when he said that.
"Don't we all"
"Are we the only people in this guard house?" Frank finally asked after a few seconds of silence.
"As far as I know, yes," said the man.
"The village population is only so and so. We don't have any other criminals here."
"Though there are many more criminals out there than here," he added.
Frank just stared at him for a minute.
"There are a few down below. I think they are about 3 or so," the man said.
"Oh, they must be special," said Frank.
"Heard they were spies sent by an enemy village," the man said nonchalantly, and looked towards the door that led to the underground cell.
Franks' eyes had a hidden glint in them when he looked at the door.
...…..
There was a table with three men on it, and they were laughing In merriment
"You're right, brother sparrow, the guys from the riverside walkers, or whatever they called themselves, are a bunch of trash," a voice echoed. They had grown tired of the bandit's presence.
"Yes, they are a bunch of trash. They couldn't handle bigger villages and towns, so they came for us." The second guard spit on the floor.
He clearly had personal beef with the bandits.
"Someday we will take them out," said Sparrow.
Although the guards were drunk, they looked sorrowful. Of course they wanted to take them down, but they didn't have the strength and some of their fellow guards had been bought.
But it was good to dream...
Sparrow was slowly conditioning them for battle.
...
"Where did you say the Li family mansion is again?" Knuckles asked
He was getting annoyed by the minute.
"It's right over there."
He was pointing at a mansion that was barricaded from all sides. They were prepared in case anyone tried to get in. This is how the Li family protected themselves from the bandits.
They didn't have the manpower to take them down, so they barricaded themselves.
knuckles despised people who were unwilling to fight for what was rightfully theirs.
"I told you it was impossible to get inside without being skewed by the lis," said Lester.
"Don't worry about that, just watch my horse. I'll be right back."
Knuckles made a few moves and completely disappeared from sight. He was a cultivator, after all, and didn't need to fear.
...….
"Brother Wang, we got a message from Knuckles," said one of the firebird base cadets. He seemed happy. He hadn't read the message yet, so he just hoped for the best.
But
When Wang ben read through the message, he couldn't help but frown.
"How far is the reinforcement from getting here?" cadet Wang asked the one who brought the message.
"4 days, sir, they are coming from far away."
"Sigh," Wang Ben took a deep breath and said, "We can't wait for them, in three days We move out and rescue our comrades."
only he knew that the reinforcement wouldn't make it in time and he couldn't just leave his people to get executed in there