“They do.” Yue Shan turned his head sideways, pointing at his own neck. “On the back of their necks, right here, they all have the character ‘龍’ [Dragon] carved.”

“The lettering isn’t very large; if you don’t look closely, you can’t make it out clearly — you have to get close to tell it’s a character.”

“That’s how the common people can tell whether someone from inside has come into the city.”

“As for their clothing, there’s nothing particularly special about it.”

“In the past few days since we arrived, we’ve also tracked more than a dozen people with the character ‘龍’ on their necks,” Long Qi said.

“Miss Jiu’er, there’s one strange thing — the brothers doing the tracking all lose the trail in the very same forest, without exception.”

“Which forest is that?” Feng Jiu’er frowned.

“About a mile west of the town, there’s a patch of woods,” Long Jiu said.

“According to the map, past that forest, after crossing a mountain stream, is Panlong Stronghold.”

“Mn.” Long Qi glanced at Long Jiu, then turned his gaze back to Feng Jiu’er.

“In Lord Yu’s letter, he said that until Miss Jiu’er arrived, we weren’t to act rashly. Our activities have been limited to that forest.”

“Actually, I once led some brothers to follow two people from Panlong Stronghold the whole way, and in the end, we still lost them in the forest.”

“When we tried to get close to Panlong Stronghold, we got lost before long. Fortunately, we still made it out safely in the end.”

Yue Shan took a deep breath and looked at Feng Jiu’er again.

“There’s definitely something wrong with that forest. Quite a few common folk have gone missing in it. I’ve also led men in a few times myself, and each time we came back empty-handed.”

“In the end, I could only give the order not to let the common people go near the forest.”

“So, the key issue right now is that forest,” Feng Jiu’er said, holding her teacup and taking a sip.

She glanced at the three of them and stood up.

“Whatever’s inside, at the very least we need to break through this forest first.”

“Zhao Yusheng should be able to arrive around sunset tomorrow. He’s rather skilled in strange arts and mysterious techniques.”

“Let’s watch how things go for the next two days. If we can break through the forest first, good. If not, we’ll have to see if Zhao Yusheng has any way.”

“All right.” Long Qi stood up as well.

“Miss Jiu’er, Miss Qiao, Jian Yi, Yinan — let me take you to rest first.”

“They’ve already instructed the brothers to keep watch at all times for any sign of Panlong Stronghold’s people. The moment there’s anything, someone will come back to report.”

“If anything happens, I’ll come let you know right away.”

“All right, thank you for the trouble.” Feng Jiu’er nodded slightly and turned to walk outside.

Qiaomu, Jian Yi, Feng Yinan, and Long Qi all went out, leaving Yue Shan and Long Jiu behind to discuss something.

No one disturbed them while they rested. It wasn’t until past noon that Feng Jiu’er and the others left the tent.

The tent was large, divided in the middle by a curtain — Feng Jiu’er and Qiaomu stayed on one side, Jian Yi and Feng Yinan on the other.

In an army camp, even if one wanted to be particular about such things, having a soft bed was already enough.

When Feng Jiu’er and the others came out of the tent, a brother was standing guard outside.

“Miss Jiu’er, this way, please!” The brother gestured.

Feng Jiu’er nodded and walked toward the tent ahead.

The brother guarding the largest tent saw them coming and immediately lifted the curtain.

“Seventh Young Master, Miss Jiu’er and the others are here.”

“Good!” Long Qi set down the brush in his hand and stood up. “Go prepare the midday meal.”

“Yes.” The brother nodded, turned, and waved to signal another brother to go prepare it.

He remained at the door, holding the curtain up.

Once all four of them had entered, he let the curtain fall and stood quietly guarding the entrance.

“Miss Jiu’er, did you sleep well?” Long Qi came forward and asked.

“Very well.” Feng Jiu’er nodded. “Haven’t you eaten yet either?”

“Mn.” Long Qi nodded. “Sit, I’ve already had someone prepare it.”

It was the same table as before — not very large, but able to seat ten people without much trouble.

Long Qi personally poured tea for the four of them again, a smile at the corner of his mouth.

“Long Qi, you really are the most courteous of the Twelve Flying Dragon Riders,” Feng Jiu’er said, taking the teacup, praising him.

“Miss Jiu’er, you flatter me!” Long Qi sat down and poured himself a cup as well.

“Long Jiu and Yue Shan went out. Yue Shan said the people from Panlong Stronghold usually only show up after noon, so they went to have a look themselves.”

“Mn.” Feng Jiu’er took a sip of tea and stretched.

“After the midday meal, we should go out and take a look around too.”

Especially the forest — they had to go check out the forest.

As Feng Jiu’er said this, she glanced at Feng Yinan.

Feng Yinan, holding his teacup, nodded slightly, understanding what she meant.

Very often, Feng Yinan was even more formidable than someone with great martial skill.

He understood how to communicate with small animals, and forests never lacked for those.

After the midday meal, Feng Jiu’er, Qiaomu, and Feng Yinan went out together, and of course Jian Yi came too.

Jian Yi was Feng Jiu’er’s shadow — that much went without saying.

So most of the time, Feng Jiu’er didn’t even need to assign Jian Yi any task; he would simply follow her regardless, and he wouldn’t accept any other arrangement.

This time, Long Qi came along as well.

The camp wasn’t far from the town; it took less than a quarter hour on horseback to get there.

Once they entered the town, the four of them slowed their pace and walked along the main street.

Perhaps because it was close to the city gate, this area was livelier than expected.

On both sides were either shops or street stalls, and there were plenty of people on the road.

Occasionally a carriage passed by, occasionally a few horses too — calls of hawkers, cheerful shouts, quite a lively scene.

“Miss Jiu’er.” Yue Shan came over from not far away.

“Yue Shan, any findings?” Long Qi immediately grew alert.

“Mn.” Yue Shan nodded. “Someone just came out of Tang Qi Tavern — two men, looked to be around their twenties.”

“Might have been out to buy grain — they were pulling a handcart.”

Feng Jiu’er looked ahead in the direction Yue Shan had come from for a moment, then asked: “They went into the grain shop?”

Two men, pushing a cart, looked to be in their twenties — more importantly, Feng Jiu’er could faintly make out a dark mark on the back of one man’s neck.

Yue Shan turned his horse back, looking at the cart outside the grain shop in the distance, and nodded.

“Right, that’s the cart.”

“Miss Jiu’er.” He turned back to look at her. “What should we do now?”

“Keep watching. As for these two, we’ll just follow them,” Feng Jiu’er said.

“It’s said the stronghold has a population in the tens of thousands — there can’t possibly be just one or two people coming out. Maybe this ‘龍’ mark is just a smokescreen.”

“What Miss Jiu’er says isn’t unreasonable.” Yue Shan sighed softly.

“There are quite a few people in our city, and there’s plenty of movement between the nearby towns. Plus this city gate is close to two other cities, so there are new faces every day.”

“It’s fine, just keep an eye on things,” Feng Jiu’er waved a hand. “Long Qi, you don’t need to follow either. Go take a look around nearby, see if you find anything.”

“I’ll go over with Qiaomu. Feng Yinan and Jian Yi can trail behind — too many people would make things inconvenient.”