Too many female prisoners, a special forces soldier transmigrates and marries wildly.

"He's dead," said Ling Shuang, the elder sister of the Ling family, coldly. "Half a year ago, he took on a mysterious escort mission. The employer was a high-ranking official in a prefecture in the northern border, supposedly to escort a batch of ancient books to the south. As a result, the escort team was intercepted and killed by a group of black-clad experts as soon as they crossed the prefecture border. My father fought desperately to cover their retreat, allowing my sister and me to disguise ourselves as refugees and escape... Later, we heard that my father's body was displayed at the city gate, accused of 'colluding with the enemy and selling military intelligence'."

Ling Shuang's eyes welled up with blood-red tears: "We begged all the way, hoping to find a chance to take revenge. We never expected to faint from hunger at the border and be captured by marauding soldiers. They said we were refugees and took us as prisoners, selling us here like livestock."

Lin Feng understood. This explained everything. Why they knew martial arts, and why their eyes held that pride that didn't belong to prisoners. They weren't ordinary victims; they were avengers who had escaped death.

"What exactly was that shipment?" Lin Feng pressed. For a prefecture to go to such lengths as to silence the entire escort agency and even mobilize border troops to cover up the truth, it couldn't possibly be something from some ancient book.

Ling Shuang shook her head: "Before my father died, he only said that the thing was stained with the royal mark, and to look at it was a capital offense. We don't know what it is."

Ling Xue, the younger sister beside him, suddenly spoke up, her voice weak but clear: "Sister, I remember that night, when Father was looking at the contents of that box under the lamp, his hands were trembling. He said, 'This is what will bring about the downfall of the country.'"

Lin Feng took a deep breath. This situation was far more complex than he had imagined. While border troops might be involved in human trafficking for financial gain, if it involved such high-level secrets and murder, it was a crime of treason.

He looked at the two frail women in front of him. They had killed the bandit leader and wanted to become female bandits in Black Wind Stronghold, but they just wanted to find a foothold in the chaotic world and take the opportunity to seek revenge.

"Ling Shuang, Ling Xue." Lin Feng stepped forward and placed a black token on the table. "I will not interfere with your revenge. On the contrary, I can tell you that those men in black who killed your father back then were very likely assassins raised by some bigwig in the border army."

Ling Shuang and Ling Xue were shocked and stared intently at the token.

"But I have a condition." Lin Feng's gaze swept over the mess in the room. "I'll borrow this Black Wind Stronghold for a while. You'll be my eyes and ears, keeping an eye on all human trafficking and illegal transactions along this route. In return, I'll help you get revenge and give you justice."

Ling Shuang looked at Lin Feng, and the man's eyes reminded her of her deceased father—the same kind of unwavering determination that carried heavy responsibilities and dared to face the darkness.

"You want us to be undercover agents?" Ling Shuang sneered. "What if you're a hypocrite too?"

"You can choose not to believe me." Lin Feng turned around, preparing to leave, "But apart from me, it will be very difficult for you to find out the name of that state official or which army those men in black came from. No matter how many bandits you kill, you're just wallowing in this quagmire and will never touch your real enemy."

Just as Lin Feng was about to step out the door, Ling Shuang's voice rang out behind him, filled with determination:

"We'll cooperate with you. But Black Wind Stronghold must listen to us. We're going to be the bandit leaders here, and nobody will dare to ride roughshod over us anymore!"

Lin Feng waved his hand without turning his head: "Suit yourself. As long as you don't kill innocent people indiscriminately, Black Wind Stronghold is yours."

The night grew deeper outside the gate. Lin Feng stepped out of the mountain stronghold, already having made his plans. These two sisters, each possessing extraordinary skills, along with this secluded Black Wind Stronghold, would serve as a foothold and outpost for him.

The only question is, where will that "thing" that wiped out the Flying Cloud Escort Agency lead everyone?

Lin Feng and his companions did not go far. Before long, it started to rain, so they rested in a cave by the roadside outside the mountain stronghold.

"Guard, those two sisters from the Ling family have too many unresolved issues," Bai Xiaohe suddenly whispered, looking towards the desolate mountain stronghold. "They see revenge as their only way to survive. People like that are the most dangerous. If we don't manage them properly, they will turn against us and affect us as well."

Lin Feng sat cross-legged by the fire, his Broken Mountain Blade resting across his lap. He said calmly, "A tiger in the mountain is like a stone lion guarding the gate, as long as I don't pull out its teeth. If it dares to devour its master, I will smash its spine."

"Miss Su," Lin Feng looked at Su Xuanji, "what do you think that box of 'items from a fallen kingdom' contains?"

Su Xuanji frowned slightly: "To form a complete chain of interests involving high-ranking officials, border troops, and bandits, and even to the point of destroying a renowned escort agency in the north, it must be something far more than just gold and silver. If it were a secret letter of treason, it would be a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family; if it were a royal treasure, it would be a disaster that would overthrow the entire nation. But no matter what it is, as long as it is out there, it is a sword hanging over everyone's head."

As they were talking, a dark shadow swept past like a ghost through the rain outside the cave and landed silently at the cave entrance.

It is Ling Shuang.

She was soaking wet, her hair plastered to her face, but her eyes were sharper and colder than before, even carrying a hint of barely perceptible...fear.

"Commander Lin." Ling Shuang clasped her hands in a fist salute, her voice slightly strained. "The village has been cleared out. We've also verified the identities of those women. Besides my sisters and me, there are three genuine refugees, and the rest... are all family members of deserters captured by the border troops from various garrisons."

Lin Feng raised an eyebrow: "The border troops are arresting the families of their own people?"

"That's right." Ling Shuang gritted her teeth. "The bandits who surrendered said that this batch of 'goods' was originally going to be delivered to the Yihonglou in the southern city of Jin Guan Cheng. But recently, things have gotten tense, so they changed their minds and are sending it to the even more distant Heishui City. The person who will receive the goods will arrive at Laoyadu, thirty miles outside Heifeng Village, in three days."

"Blackwater City?" Su Xuanji looked up abruptly. "That's a lawless place at the junction of the three northwestern states, a melting pot of all sorts of people, where imperial decrees don't even leave the city gates."

A cold glint flashed in Lin Feng's eyes. By selling people to Blackwater City, the border troops could avoid the imperial court's notice and still maintain contact through that network and various smuggling operations.

"Does the person who received the goods have any distinguishing features?" Lin Feng asked in a deep voice.

Ling Shuang took a deep breath and said, word by word, "I mentioned it. That person was accompanied by two top-notch experts, and... he had a special waist tag with the words 'Imperial Gift' engraved on it."

"Imperial gift?" Xie Wanqing's voice trembled slightly. "Among the border troops, only... the highest commissioner of the Privy Council stationed in the northern border has an imperial gift waist token."

Lin Feng suddenly stood up, and the Broken Mountain Blade emitted a deep hum.

The Privy Council.

It's the Privy Council again.

From framing Zhao Li to human trafficking, and now to the involvement of royal treasures, this thread has finally pulled us from local corruption to the colossal figure at the highest level of government.

"It seems we can't just wait these three days," Lin Feng muttered to himself.

Ling Shuang was taken aback: "You're going to Laoyadu?"

"No." Lin Feng looked out at the rainy night, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "I'm going to Blackwater City. Since you're sending your 'goods' there, I'll go there and raze your 'warehouse'!"

He paused, then looked at Ling Shuang: "As for your father's grudge and the whereabouts of that box, the answer is probably in Blackwater City."

Ling Shuang trembled, her eyes blazing with fury. She knelt on one knee, a true act of submission: "I am willing to serve you!"

Lin Feng helped her up, his gaze sweeping over the crowd: "Bai Xiaohe, Su Xuanji, Xie Wanqing, come with me to Blackwater City."