CHAPTER 202: 202: IS THERE A CHILD BY THE ROADSIDE?

"Earl... what do you mean by that..."

Lu Lijun, the scholar, stared wide-eyed, his mouth agape, almost dropping his jaw to the floor, utterly horrified. He simply couldn’t believe his ears, nearly thinking he had misheard...

"Do I need to repeat myself?" Li Yan’s sharp eyes fixated on Lu Lijun, a chill emanating from him, presenting an unquestionable demeanor.

Lu Lijun was drenched in sweat, his entire body trembled as he said, "No, no need..."

Of course, he dared not question the Earl’s words; he was just terrified because just now the Earl said that all the villagers in the mountain might be in alliance with the weapons dealers!

Such a bold speculation significantly increased the challenge of the mission; how could he possibly believe it!

Li Yan was holding a map, his eyes like torches as he continued to study it, his voice steady, even somewhat icy, "The weapons dealers have no reason to choose such a large mountain!"

"It is isolated on all sides, with excellent geographical location, very suitable for manufacturing weapons..." Lu Lijun said reluctantly.

"If I remember correctly, this mountain has a name, called Taiping Mountain, and there’s a village on it, called Pingan Village! Back when Longxing Country established the Academy, they even recruited trainees from there, enough to show how populated the place was."

"When choosing a hiding spot, weapons dealers should consider everything: concealment, transportation, and the ease of escape routes! By this measure alone, Taiping Mountain doesn’t meet any of these points!"

"Transporting a large number of arms without proper routes and manpower is absolutely impossible! Similarly, producing arms in large quantities requires manpower and time! To do all this without anyone finding out, what other possibilities are there besides collusion with local bandits?"

"This..."

Lu Lijun was speechless but had to admit that the Earl’s analysis was spot on, flawless with no loopholes.

The weapons dealers, who caught the special attention of the superiors, could not possibly be dealing with a small number of arms! Under such circumstances, it is absolutely impossible without manpower assistance.

Moreover, mass production of arms inevitably has its flaws; the paper can’t hide the fire. With such close proximity, the villagers couldn’t possibly have not noticed, yet they did not choose to report it, and no information leaked out.

What can this prove? It can only mean they are in cahoots...

If so, the situation is too dangerous!

"Earl, there are thousands of villagers in Taiping Mountain. If one-third of them have weapons, we would be surrounded!"

A deputy has been studying the information about Taiping Mountain for a long time, but the more he looked, the deeper his frown became, he said, "I’ve studied it carefully! There’s something different about these weapons dealers; out of the thirty, twenty-six are locals, and the other four are outsiders. The leader among them is Zhou Li. It’s not ruled out that they might be manipulating the villagers or brainwashing them!"

"Among thousands, there has to be someone who realizes the truth!"

Li Yan supported his forehead, still contemplating the real reason why news never leaked, thousands of people twisted into a single rope, is this really possible?

Unless they are systematically trained trainees! Otherwise, they definitely wouldn’t be like this.

His thoughts drifted far, yet he couldn’t figure out this problem, suddenly, Li Yan jerked back; quickly pulling his thoughts, he said, "Wasn’t there a child by the mountain road just now!"