The leader fell silent in urgency, contemplating while his subordinates waited.
Soone suggested, "Leader, why don’t we go ashore and look around?"
After so thought, the leader nodded, "Whether we find anything or not, we must leave a ssage at the rendezvous point."
As Ye Shiqi listened to their discussion and their plans to search, she felt that this was the perfect mont to leave. Their boats were unattended, with no people or cargo aboard, and it was likely that not many were watching.
She also didn’t want to ride a horse alone on land, as using her spatial abilities repeatedly would exhaust her.
Talking to these strangers surely required a token they recognized.
Ye Shiqi could only search the old housekeeper for sothing to use, and from a pocket in his cloak, she found a signet.
"The token bore a ’Ye’ character."
Clutching the token, Ye Shiqi appeared inside the cabin.
At the ti, she was still dressed as a man, a young master with the appearance of a teenager.
Alert as always, the leader and those aboard the ship took notice of her arrival.
"Who are you?"
The leader and his n drew their weapons—swords and knives, and even improvised arms.
Despite the appearance of a well-dressed Young Master, who seed to bear them no malice, they were in the midst of a discussion when this young lad suddenly appeared—soone they had not noticed entering, which put them on guard, as though they were ready to fight at the slightest disagreent.
It was even necessary to kill this person in front of them if needed.
"There’s no need to be tense. I am the one you are looking for, one of them at least," Ye Shiqi said without imdiately showing the old housekeeper’s signet.
"Hey, who are you? How can you prove it? How do we know you weren’t eavesdropping on us?"
The leader just stared hard, remaining silent, and it was his subordinates who spoke.
"There’s evidence, right? Soone must have told you about who I am."
It was then that Ye Shiqi finally brought out the old housekeeper’s token.
Upon seeing the token carved with the ’Ye’ character, Ye Shiqi thought that such tokens could be easily imitated or forged by anyone skilled in carving.
However, the owner of the token harbored a secret sign, a mark of their silent code.
The leader and his n stepped closer, even snatching the token from the other party’s hand.
Ye Shiqi let him take it without protest.
The leader examined the signet closely. Indeed, it was one specifically made for transporting supplies within the Ye Family Army.
The token appeared ordinary, but only insiders could see that the ’Ye’ character indicated the owner’s identity.
Recognizing the token, he realized it belonged to the General’s old housekeeper, the highest-ranking person at this contact point, apart from the General himself.
That person was also the leader responsible for transporting supplies.
"Where did you get this token from?"
Ye Shiqi understood their suspicion was justified—they still didn’t trust her.
After all, they had never t her face to face, and given the prevailing insecurity, distrust of strangers was sensible.
Having encountered so much danger already, they might fear she was a spy as well.
"Of course, the token was in possession of the old housekeeper," she replied with such steadiness that she didn’t seem like a re child of eight or nine. Dressed as a young noble, her deanor was distinctly mature and exuded an air of grace.
It was as if they were not facing a child but holding a conversation with soone their own age.
The leader’s mind raced. The old housekeeper had told them previously that their little master was just eight or nine years old, and had ntioned the child’s gender.
He observed that this young master lacked a prominent Adam’s apple—it was clearly a young lady beneath the disguise.
"Are you the little master?"
The leader’s words caused his companions to have a mont of realization, their faces brightening with joy as they looked at Ye Shiqi.
Smiling, Ye Shiqi nodded, "Indeed! I am your little master."
"That’s wonderful! We’ve finally t the little master. Others will surely be envious when they hear we t you first," the n proclaid, their utterances scattered and disjointed, reflecting the nature of their job along a vast service network that spanned the country, each on different routes, so overland and so by water.
They asked with giddy anticipation before recalling the old housekeeper. "Where are the old housekeeper and the convoy? What exactly happened last night? How could they disappear without a trace?"
To their questions, Ye Shiqi could only say that she had been separated from the old housekeeper and the others, that they were safely on their way from another location, and there was no need to wait for them.
Regarding the events at the inn, she explained that there had been assassins and that the inn’s staff had been involved. She was unsure how many groups there were, only that these people might not belong to a single organization.
Upon hearing this, the leader and his n grew silent and worried, then he ordered his subordinates to set sail.
The little master had said the old housekeeper and the convoy were safe, probably taking an overland route, perhaps already aware that the water route was being watched.
If the old housekeeper and the convoy, along with the sunken food supplies, horses, and the convoy could be replenished through another line, then all the food had to be moved onto the ship. With so much food, the ship was sure to sink sowhat, which would be obvious at deeper water levels to anyone with clear sight.
Departing with an empty ship might draw attention and could be tracked, yet if the little master kept out of sight, bandits interested in plundering might dismiss the ship as worthless upon closer inspection and reconsider their intent to rob.
This might make the ship sowhat safer.
With a murder in Bian City, many people had vanished, drawing the attention of various organizations.
Those monitoring the ship noticed it set sail without waiting for people and began to ponder their next move—whether to follow or not, and so indeed chose to pursue.
Ye Shiqi stayed in the cabin, which her room was, arranged early by the old housekeeper.
This waterborne journey would not be a matter of a day or two but possibly more than a week, necessitating adequate provisions for lodging and food.
The leader and sailors prepared sufficient water and food on board, items they would replenish every ti they went ashore.
During the voyage, the sailors diligently fished, as if their sole purpose for the trip was fishing.
They did this not only to give the appearance of fishing while keeping an eye out for any pursuers but also to keep distance from other vessels and guard against pirates. They had just left the harbor, and the nearby cities were still sowhat bustling.
As they sailed, many vessels passed them: large ships and small ones.
So followed closely, waiting for an anomaly, but there was no sign of aggression from their side.
The crew took turns patrolling, especially vigilant at night.
Ye Shiqi stayed in her room, not venturing outside, with all her als brought to her.
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