70. Back to the smugglers cave
The ladies didn't have to wait long, as during the following day the carriage with Xin and the Ghost Army soldiers drove up to the cabin. The ladies and Feiyun warriors had hidden when one of the guards reported the oncoming carriage. This cabin was the last where the road was wide enough to allow a carriage, so here the soldiers forced Xin to leave the carriage. They then ordered her to follow the path to the smugglers cabin. This all happened under the watchful gaze of Su, Rushuang, Xunan and Yunchuan, it took all their willpower not to try and save Xin yet. But the instructions were clear: "Contact Pei Zhu first." According to the information Yan had given them Pei Zhu, Fei Yuan and Luo Xin should be close behind them. So apart from four Feiyun soldiers, who did follow the small group with Xin, they remained in their hide outs. When the group soldiers were out of earshot and the forest once more seamed calm and quiet, a second lady came out of the carriage, which surprised the ladies, but most of all Xunan, as it was her sister who carefully and very quietly climbed down the path the warriors had taken. Su signalled to Xunan, who stepped out of her hide out and grasped her sisters elbow. Before Xian could shout Xunan placed her hand over her mouth: "Quiet Xian, we can't let them know. Come, quickly." She took her sister to the others who came out of their hiding places.
"We have to save Xin, come quickly before we lose them." Xian hurriedly said when her sister removed her hand.
"We will, but we have to wait for a few men who are following you. Pei Zhu, Fei Yuan and Luo Xin." Xunan explained. When she saw her sister wanted to interupt she quickly added: "We know where they are taking Xin, a few of Lady Rushuang's men are also following them. Come be quiet and let's wait. We expect the men to come shortly." And they didn't have to wait long for the men to arrive. As they came up to the carriage the others stepped into the small clearing, Su saw the relief and delight on Fei Yuan's face when he saw Xian. He quickly ran to her and asked if she was alright. Xian nodded, but fear and anxiety were still on her face. Hurriedly Su and Pei Zhu explained their adventures and then Su told Pei Zhu what Yan had told her. Without hesitation it was decided that Fei Yuan would take Xian back to the Marquis mansion, where there were already two of Su's maids, who had been dispatched to the mansion on the day following Su's dissappearance. He would return with the maids to the smugglers cabin, where Yunchuan would wait with Mei Ling to be taken back to the Marquis Mansion. The others would follow Xin and her captors and try to free her.
They quickly made their way to the smugglers cabin, where Yunchuan and Mei Ling would wait for Fei Yuan. The others left for the smugglers cave. Once they reached it, two Feiyun warriors came from their hiding places and told them they had seen Xin and her captors enter the cave. None had left. Pei Zhu nodded and with some gestures told the others to covertly enter the cave. The Feiyun warriors lead the way. They all expected a fight, but no sound came from the cave, which surprised Su hightly. Soon a warrior came out and told them the cave was empty.
"But you followed them to here?" Rushuang asked the Feiyun warriors, who nodded. Pei Zhu couldn't contain himself anymore and briskly walked into the cave. The others followed, weapons drawn. They found the cave as was reported: empty.
"How is this possible? Where did they go?" Pei Zhu asked Su as they looked around in astonishment. If Yan had been there he would have recognized Su's mood and seen that she was already trying to work out what had happened, but his little brother didn't know Su that well, so he pressed: "Sister-in-law, what is happening? Where is Xin?" Rushuang hushed Pei Zhu: "She is trying ot figure that out, but you need to give her some time." Luo Xin had stepped up to Su after he had walked to the end of the cave: "There is no opening further in the cave. The only entrance is the one we used." Luo Xin looked around, taking stock of all that was in the cave, then he turned to Su and noticed her expression: "What are you thinking?"
Without turning to anyone Su started to talk, looking around while she theorized: "We have multple cases of the Ghost Army kidnapping persons to force their family members to do their bidding. I think it's a way of dealing with opposition that comes from madam Luan. We know of at least four instances when she used it. Criminals often use the same methods." Rushuang commented: "She kidnapped us and Xin. And there was the family of the physician who declared my father's death a suicide. That is three instances, how do you know there are four instances?"
"The first was my mother, years ago, before I was born."
"Your mother!?" came from different persons. Their surprise barely registered with Su, who was now once more walking around, apparently taking a precise stock of the cave and it's funiture. Absentmindedly Su told the story: "The previous head officeer searched for lost Bai Liang customs, pieces and documents. After his death his wife send me what he had found. He had also found official documents from my father. There was a journal detailing certain meaningful events that had happened to the Bai Liang tribe. In that journal I found the old case of the kidnapping of my mother, shortly before she and my father would be wed. But now that I'm here again I think something is wrong." Lost in her thoughts Su walked past the beds to the far end of the cave.
"Sister Su, what happened with the kidnapping of your mother?" Rushuang touched Su's shoulder to get her attention, which only halfway worked. Clearly Su had found a mystery here in the cave, which needed clearing up. "What could an old case learn us now, what can it add to make it possible for us to find Xin?" Pei Zhu asked, a little annoyed. Su seemed to hear his annoyance: "It can be helpful because it was always believed she was held and rescued in this cave. But I remember her description of the cave and it doens't match this one. Furthermore, she wrote she had to travel through a cavesystem before reaching the cave in which she was held. We know madam Luan knows these caves, she kept my mother here, there isn't any other place it could be."
"Madam Luan is a tradesman daughter, her family came from these parts of Beirong. Once Shuomo visiterd here with her sons." Xunan elaborated. Luo Xin had started carefully feeling alongside the cave walls, to see if there was a secret entrance they'd missed, but he couldn't find it. "Su, there is no other entrance here." He said. Su shook her head and wanted to sit down on the furthest bed, when something caught her eye. The bed wasn't made up like the others were. She then remembered the difficulty she'd had in tipping the bed. Now unencumbered by her daughter she tried again, but she still couldn't easily move the bed. She tried another bed, which she could tip on it's side. Returning to the farthest bed she asked Luo Xin to help her and together they managed to raise and tip the bed, revealing a wooden trapdoor. In stunned silence the others watched as Luo Xin lifted the trap door, revealing a set of stairs. "This is how they got Xin out without our guards on the other side seeing them." Luo Xin said.
"And this is the cave system my mother traveled through." Su added.
"What are we waiting for? Let's follow them and free Xin before she falls in madam Luan's hands." Pei Zhu was already walking to the hole, but Su stopped him. "Let's split up, one group will follow through the cave. I'm expecting it to lead to the second smugglers cave higher up the mountain. Which is most likely where soldiers also found my mother. The others will take the mountain path, that way we can trap them. Remember some of those soldiers are Feiyun soldiers in disguise." This plan was accepted and Pei Zhu and Xunan with a few Feiyun warriors followed the cave system, while the others hurried up the mountain path.