sumed his duties, which included copying books and mending them!Although the repository prohibits even servants and outsiders from entering, it still requires people to maintain and manage its operati...Chapter 330 The Third Possibility 2

"What, you don't know where my son is What kind of nonsense are you talking I've already given you ten thousand taels of silver, in real gold and silver. Lord Cao was getting angry; he had already paid the ransom according to規矩 (rules).

"Lord Cao, we have taken so much money from you. If we knew anything about your son's whereabouts, we would definitely tell you. But we truly don't know," the bandits said frankly. They could understand Lord Cao's feelings at this moment and weren't angry with him.

"What do you mean Are you saying that whoever told you to do this didn't inform you of my son's whereabouts Then what was the point of asking me for money" Lord Cao asked continuously. He had also thought about this; it might be a way to drain his financial resources rather than just for money.

Although ten thousand taels wouldn't severely hurt the Cao family's foundation, they didn't have enough working capital left. If things went poorly, their business could collapse. Lord Cao had thought of this possibility long ago.

The other families who were unaware of the situation also considered taking advantage of it and using the opportunity to squeeze out some of the Cao family's businesses.

Perhaps the Cao family had made too many enemies; their strength was severely weakened in this matter, and many people took advantage of the situation without hesitation.

Xiaoyao never considered this because it wasn't his problem to deal with. The Cao family had completed their mission as far as he was concerned. Whatever happened next would be their own business; if it didn't concern him, he wouldn't get involved!

If Lord Cao knew about all of this, he might die from anger, for someone like him to be tricked by a boy and ignored.

However, at this moment, he only cared about finding out where his son was. He still thought that the matter had something to do with Black Wind Fort; he didn't think it could have anything to do with him because they were looking for someone from Black Wind Fort.

"Lord Cao, I'll tell you the truth: we don't know what's going on either. We don't know who took your son or why this happened. We don't know anything about it," the bandits said clearly.

"What do you mean" This was the third time Lord Cao had asked what they meant, but now he sounded puzzled rather than angry.

"It means we have no idea either. The matter has nothing to do with us; your son wasn't taken by us, and the person who took him isn't connected to us in any way. He might just be using us as an excuse. I suggest you go back and think about how to deal with that person or group," the bandits said.

"What do you mean You don't know what's going on, but you didn't say anything so you could keep this money for yourselves" Lord Cao was no fool; he understood quickly what the bandits meant.

"That's right. This is your son's good fortune. You can go back now. We already gave you face by letting you come here in the first place," the bandits said with a smile, showing no concern for Lord Cao's murderous gaze.

If he could, Lord Cao would have killed them all on the spot to relieve his anger.

They had already taken ten thousand taels of silver from him, and now they were keeping silent about this matter until now. How much time had been wasted At this moment, time was life, both for himself and his son.

He also realized that perhaps others wanted to waste his time; coming here today had at least given him some time. If someone else had come instead, it might have taken longer for the news to get back, and matters would be slower to arrange.

But how should he arrange things now

Lord Cao was completely clueless because he knew nothing about his enemy. Not knowing who the enemy was or what they intended made it difficult to defend against them.

He could only speculate that the attack might come from their business side, since the Cao family had lost ten thousand taels of silver.

But he didn't know that there were no enemies at all; everything he was thinking and doing was wrong. Because of this, he made many mistakes leading to a rapid decline for the Cao family.

If Xiaoyao knew about this, knowing that the Cao family had fallen because of him, he wouldn't feel guilty. Not only due to the heir's evil deeds but also because the Cao family represented wealth without conscience; such an ending was deserved.

Later, the young master of the Cao family came to understand that what he once had was not permanent; anything owed would have to be repaid.

The Immortal Wanderer did not seal off his path to survival. He informed the Cao family of his whereabouts later on, but by then, the young master was barely alive and only recovered enough to use a wheelchair normally after a long period of time.

His legs were already ruined, not because he had done something in the cellar or starved them to death. The Immortal Wanderer had crippled his legs from the start, but the young master didn't realize it at that time and thought that the Immortal Wanderer only injured his legs.

In fact, even if the young master had known then that his legs were ruined by the Immortal Wanderer, he would have believed he could still find a renowned doctor to heal them. However, this was wrong; the possibility of recovery had already been cut off. Without a miracle, it was impossible for him to recover, and such a miracle would never be known to the young master.

To return to the topic at hand, after learning that the Black Wind Bandit Camp had swindled him out of 100 thousand taels, the Cao family patriarch did not linger but quickly returned down the mountain, ordering all necessary defensive measures.

From this point on, the Cao family withdrew from the Immortal Wanderer's scheme. Subsequently, it was time for the Immortal Wanderer to take center stage and find a way into the Black Wind Bandit Camp to rescue someone. This wasn't particularly difficult.

After arriving at the Black Wind Bandit Camp, the Immortal Wanderer observed and replaced one of their small-time bandits with ease, successfully infiltrating the camp.

As mentioned before, the Black Wind Bandit Camp was not a meticulously organized place. The Immortal Wanderer replacing an insignificant bandit who no one cared about went unnoticed by others.

Once inside the camp, he easily located people from the small villages, including that elder's daughter-in-law. Indeed, they were here.

The reason why the Black Wind Bandit Camp needed middle-aged women became clear to him; it was simply due to a shortage of kitchen staff. A few months prior, when their food didn't meet expectations, a leader had killed them.

Of course, that wasn't truly the case. If the food hadn't met expectations earlier, they wouldn't have endured until then. However, no one delved deeply into this matter. Killing someone in a bandit hideout was nothing unusual, especially if they were originally captured.

Fortunately for him, his current identity as a small-time bandit had some connection to the kitchen; he guarded the food supplies, and initially, there was only one person here, which was another reason why the Immortal Wanderer chose this place.

Typically, such an important storage area would be heavily monitored by many people. However, since the Black Wind Bandit Camp had been going smoothly for so long and the warehouse was inside their hideout, they didn't give it special attention. Assigning just one person here already seemed generous.

Originally, this post did not exist; when they needed to assign a small-time bandit some tasks, he was placed here, receiving no other benefits. It's easy to imagine that the conditions of this small-time bandit were poor.

The Immortal Wanderer chose this warehouse because he wanted to poison them, and poisoning was the simplest method against these bandits. The best places for poisoning would be water sources or food, but since the water source could always be poisoned at any time, there was no need to consider it. Therefore, they had to focus on the food.

When it came to food-related matters, one could choose either the kitchen where meals were prepared or those responsible for transporting food, and another option would be guarding the source of their food. However, choosing either of these first two options meant dealing with a lot of people, which increased the risk of being noticed; so this idea was discarded.

On the other hand, there was only one person guarding the food supply warehouse, making it an ideal choice for the Immortal Wanderer.

In addition, both the kitchen and transportation areas had tight security to prevent any tampering. The bandits were wary of captives trying anything suspicious in these locations.

Also, people generally watched out for poison after meals were prepared but not before cooking; it was a habit since they could still check afterward anyway.

Hence, the Immortal Wanderer chose this warehouse as his target, finding it much easier. Of course, this was just an alternative plan in case simpler methods proved ineffective.

"Are you from the small village"

The Immortal Wanderer took a chance to speak with the elder's daughter-in-law and mentioned both her husband and father-in-law by name.

She was somewhat frightened, thinking that he might be one of these bandits. Hearing him know their names made her fear for their safety and feel very scared.actually had tokens, they were extremely disrespectful and tried to snatch them. Unfortunately, they ended up being surrounded by a group of strong people."What are you here for"Certainly, when everyo...