Chapter 486 - Kidnappings Here Too?

"Oh? What's this? Disappearing people here too?" Lin Mu muttered to himself.

It wasn't hard for Lin Mu to hear the waiter talk due to his enhanced hearing. 

'Even the kingdom is not listening to them? This shouldn't be possible, they should send someone to investigate.' Lin Mu thought before taking out the communication jade slip.

He was still in the range of the city so should be able to contact Wu Hei.

"Is there a problem?" Wu Hei instantly asked.

He knew that if Lin Mu was contacting him, in the middle of his travels, there was bound to be something wrong. 

"Another town with people disappearing, the Dusty Mill town." Lin Mu replied.

"That's not right… we have no reports of this." Wu Hei replied.

"I overheard the people in the restaurant talk about it. Besides, I took a look over the town. The number of people is really less than there should be." Lin Mu explained.

"Did they ask for the guards to investigate?" Wu Hei questioned.

"They did. Apparently, the kingdom won't listen to their plea or something. I don't know but this does not add up. Perhaps the Gu Legion is part of this too." Lin Mu replied.

"Let me check, give me a few minutes." Wu Hei said.

Lin Mu put down the communication jade slip and continued hearing the conversation of the waiter and the cook. But they had already stopped speaking and the waiter was now coming towards him with a tray.

He poured Lin Mu a glass of water upon reaching his table.

'May as well ask him directly.' Lin Mu thought.

"I saw that the town looks rather empty, why's that?" Lin Mu questioned.

"Is it that obvious now?" The waiter spoke before sighing.

~Sigh~

"A lot of people left the town as was told to us by the 'guards' but we knew they would not leave without informing the others. We suspect that they disappeared or were kidnapped." The waiter answered.

"Did the kingdom soldiers not take action, I mean there is an outpost nearby that I went past when I came here?" Lin Mu asked.

"They're even worse. Unless they get ordered from their superiors, they won't act on it. We even tried to send some people to the capital city to inform the official there, but they were prevented from going past the outpost itself." The Waiter spoke.

"Why were they denied? And what about your town head, why do you guys not ask him, he's an official too?" Lin Mu questioned.

"They simply told them that there were bandit attacks going on currently and that it was dangerous to go ahead. The people had no option but to come back. As for our town head, there isn't one for the past six months." The waiter answered. 

"Six months? Where the hell is your town head?" Lin Mu asked, feeling this to be absurd.

"He died. He was sick for a few years now and finally succumbed to it six months ago. We were supposed to get a new town head, but the capital city's officials never appointed anyone. I now think it is our bad luck that our main city is the capital city and not some other regional city. 

I've never seen such a slow response before in other towns." The waiter said, feeling frustrated.

Every town and village that existed in a state, came under the authority of the regional main city. In the case of the Northern town, it was the Wu Lim city. But in this case, since the region of the capital was simply too large, this town came under it as well. Usually, things in the capital region should have been taken care of promptly but there was a slack attitude.

"I see…" Lin Mu didn't know what more he could say to the man.

He just watched as the waiter went on to attend to the few customers that were still in the restaurant. Just as Lin Mu looked around, he felt the communication jade slip hummed in his hand.

"You were right," Wu Hei said.

"I talked more and found out that they haven't had a town head for six months either and that they are being restricted from leaving the town by the soldiers at the outpost." Lin Mu Informed.

"Just as I expected. I believe this is one of the towns the Gu Legion is targeting. This is their classic modus operandi. First, they isolate the peoples, spread rumors that the people are leaving for better job prospects or better life and then start kidnapping people." Wu Hei explained.

Lin Mu's eyes lit up, showing a fierce look and he spoke, "should I take care of them?"

"Unfortunately, no… if you act now, it is likely that the spies at the Tri Cauldron peony sect will be alerted as well." Wu Hei replied.

Lin Mu gritted his teeth and knew that he would have to bear with it for now. He could not compromise their mission for this, not at this point, at least.

"Alright…" Lin Mu replied after a short period of silence.

"Don't worry, I'll send my men there. They should be able to stop the next kidnapping, and once that happens, we'll blow the whistle to the king. He will definitely have to act at that point." Wu Hei spoke.

An idea popped into Lin Mu's mind upon hearing Wu Hei's words.

"That's right, we can use this as an opportunity. Make the king aware of the actions of the Gu Legion and their reach. If we bare everything to the people, he will have no option but to act on it." Lin Mu said.

"Yes, that can work." Wu Hei replied.

"Hmm… I'll investigate a bit more and see where they are hiding here. Though I think I may already have an idea about that…" Lin Mu replied.

"Okay, feel free to do that. Inform me if anything new arises." Wu Hei replied before stopping the link.

"Gu Legion… I'll eradicate you all!"