novelraw 678. Nighttime Romance
678. Nighttime Romance
Anyone who sees my niece's skill would be terrified.
Instead, the others gathered around Wang Ling'er, cheering her on. After giving them a brief reprimand, Wang Zhuang went to the second-to-last carriage in the caravan.
He carefully looked around to make sure no one was paying attention before he deftly lifted a corner of the heavy curtain of the camel wagon and disappeared into the deeper darkness inside.
The interior of the vehicle was even larger than it appeared from the outside, clearly having been specially reinforced. A heavy tarpaulin blocked out most of the outside light and noise, making the air somewhat stuffy. Three figures sat steadily in the corner, almost blending into the darkness.
"Greetings, esteemed guest!"
Wang Zhuang bowed slightly in the darkness, his voice carrying an unquestionable respect. At the same time, he quickly glanced at the three people in the car, carefully observing the subtle changes in their expressions to determine if they had any dissatisfaction.
"Chief镖头 Wang, there's no need for such politeness." The leader's voice rang out, neither loud nor soft, revealing little emotion, but exuding a calm indifference born of a life of long-term pampered living.
Hearing this response and not sensing any obvious blame, Wang Zhuang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He carefully explained, "The most important reason we took that person in today was to cover our tracks. After all, if we're too vigilant, we'll only give ourselves away. The more relaxed and casual we are, the more likely we are to avoid danger."
The voice paused for a moment, then seemed to flash with approval: "We don't have as much experience with these things as Chief Escort Wang. You can figure it out yourself; we won't put any pressure on you."
"As long as you can see us off in the end, you will receive every penny of the promised reward!"
The huge weight that had been hanging over Wang Zhuang's heart finally eased a bit, and he thought to himself, "What a stroke of luck!"
He quickly nodded again in the darkness and lowered his voice, saying, "Rest assured, my esteemed guest, I will do my utmost in this mission!"
Silently lifting a corner of the carriage curtain again, Wang Zhuang slipped out like a shadow and quickly disappeared into the shadows surrounding the convoy.
Wang Zhuang has been under immense pressure these past two days, his body constantly on edge. The reason is simple: the convoy he's in charge of escorting the vehicles received an unimaginably huge order several days ago.
Given Wang Zhuang's cautious nature, he initially wanted to give up. However, after hearing the price, he was willing to try, no matter the risk.
The reward was so generous that it was enough to allow Wang Ling'er to change her life and send her directly to the Valley of Medicine and Poison.
The temptation was so great that he ultimately chose to take the risk. The mission itself was clear and specific: escort these three "distinguished guests" in the car to a designated location, and do nothing else.
But the identity of this "distinguished person" and the potential dangers they might bring were shrouded in secrecy by the client, like a thick fog shrouding the journey. This was the source of Wang Zhuang's taut nerve, the reason he dared not relax.
The fact that the three people in the car needed their escort meant they must be of very high status, and it was highly likely that they would attract the attention of others who would try to ambush and kill them.
However, Wang Zhuang had no idea what kind of person would appear, and could only take it one step at a time.
That is why he was extremely cautious, and did not even reveal the true special nature of this mission to any of his trusted guards.
Throughout the convoy, everyone treated it as just another routine, reasonably profitable escort mission. Only in this way could the team maintain maximum relaxation and naturalness under dangerous circumstances, avoiding giving themselves away due to tension and preventing lurking observers from easily seeing through their disguise.
This is Wang Zhuang's way of life: to hide thunder in silence and avoid war in ordinariness.
That's why he didn't flatly refuse when Wang Ling'er took in the mysterious black-faced man out of momentary pity. To onlookers, this was just a minor episode in the caravan's journey, a trivial "good deed," and would more likely be seen as a normal merchant caravan.
After settling the "distinguished guest" in, Wang Zhuang's gaze once again fell upon Wang Ling'er's camel cart.
The doubts in his heart hadn't completely disappeared, and the wariness of the unexpected visitor in the car resurfaced. Was the appearance of this dark-skinned man really a coincidence? He decided to check again for himself.
He slowed his pace, seemingly casually inspecting the night watch arrangements, but in reality, he subtly approached the camel cart carrying the charcoal-covered man again. Inside the cart, Wang Ling'er seemed to have finally stopped her fussing, probably exhausted from her "medical skills," and was curled up in a corner with her medical book in her arms, her little head nodding off.
Wang Zhuang silently climbed into the car, his gaze sharp as a knife, piercing through the dimness inside and carefully scanning the charred body.
He crouched down, not touching it, but examining every detail from top to bottom: the thick, eerily charred shell was cracked, and the entire body lacked any warmth befitting a living person, instead emanating a strange aura akin to being smoldering. There were no traces of identification left on the body; clothing and ornaments had all turned to ash, completely integrated into the charred shell of the human form. Wang Zhuang listened intently to the area beneath the chest. The so-called faint rise and fall was so slow that each one was almost imperceptible.
After a long while, Wang Zhuang's tense back slowly relaxed. He silently exhaled a breath of pent-up frustration, and the suspicion in his eyes finally faded.
The horrific scene before him proved nothing more than that of a poor, unfortunate soul who had accidentally stumbled into the volcanic eruption and was almost instantly incinerated. There was no other clue whatsoever. No disguise, no traps, only a faint glimmer of life; this person truly seemed to be just an unfortunate passerby.
As Wang Zhuang exited the carriage again, most of the heavy worry in his heart finally dissipated. All he needed to face now was this somewhat profound night.
He straightened his back, his expression regaining the decisiveness and composure he usually displayed when commanding an operation. As the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort), he had absolute control over the caravan before him! He walked to the campfire and began to methodically give instructions in a deep, powerful voice:
"Old Wu, you take ten men and keep watch for the first half of the night, focusing on the northwest direction. That pile of rocks is the easiest place for people to hide!"
"Old Han, take two men and keep a close eye on the southeast. Don't miss a single thing that moves near the canyon entrance."
"Everyone else, get to sleep. Those on night duty, get yourselves ready. Anyone who slacks off or dozes off and ruins the boss's important business, I'll skin you alive!"