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

The battle, from start to finish, lasted only a dozen or so breaths. Everyone inside was subdued. The operation was swift and clean, without making much noise.

"Tie them up, search them, check the room." Lin Feng sheathed his sword and gave the order in a deep voice.

He walked to the table, picked up the chair Hu Meng had just been sitting on, felt around underneath, and pulled out a small roll of paper wrapped in oiled paper from the crack. Unfolding it, he saw several lines of coded messages written on it, the handwriting messy, seemingly some kind of code that was difficult to decipher at first glance, but one of the words seemed to be related to "Longsheng Goods Storehouse".

Duan Yuewei quickly searched the room and found several secret letters, some silver notes, two poisoned daggers, and several tokens not made in the Central Plains style from under the bed, in the cabinet compartments, and on Hu Meng's body.

The contents of the secret letters were fragmented, but one of the letters was addressed to "Your Highness the Third Prince" and signed with a monogram, though it was not clearly visible.

A black token, about half the size of a palm and neither gold nor wood, was found in the clothing of an injured person. The front of the token was engraved with a ferocious beast head, and the back had an ancient seal character "狩" (hunt) – the very symbol of the assassins from the "Red Abyss" operation in the Fulong Ridge underground palace!

Just then, rhythmic bird calls came from outside the door, a signal from the Duan Yue Guards on the outer perimeter—something was happening!

Lin Feng immediately signaled everyone to be quiet and blew out the tinderbox.

He approached the door silently and listened intently. Outside the courtyard, he heard light footsteps, as if several people were cautiously making their way from the front of the inn towards the back.

The footsteps stopped outside the courtyard gate. Then came a low knocking sound, three long and two short, quite rhythmic.

It's a code!

Lin Feng gave the Duan Yue Guard who was unlocking the door a wink. The guard understood, and mimicked the voice of the previous sentry, giving a muffled "hmm" while gently flicking the bolt, making a soft "click" sound, as if he had just been startled awake and was groggily opening the door.

The person outside the courtyard gate seemed to have no suspicions. After waiting for two more breaths, he tried to push the door open.

The moment the courtyard gate was pushed open a crack, Lin Feng moved! Like a cheetah poised for battle, he darted out from behind the gate, grabbed the wrist of the first person to enter, pulled him inward, and simultaneously slammed his knee into his abdomen! The man didn't even have time to scream before he collapsed to the ground. Lin Feng seized the dagger from his hand and held it to the neck of the second intruder! The whole process was lightning fast!

Two more people were behind them. They were shocked when they saw this and were about to draw their swords and shout when the Duan Yue Guards standing on both sides pounced like tigers, covered their mouths, and pressed the blades to their throats, subduing them instantly.

The intruders were four men, all dressed as ordinary shop assistants, but their waists were bulging, clearly concealing weapons. Judging from their faces, they were not benevolent.

"Tie them up and bring them in," Lin Feng whispered, dragging the four men into the courtyard and throwing them together with Hu Meng and the others. He checked the four men and found nothing special except some loose silver coins and daggers. However, one of them was wearing a large gold ring on his finger, with a tiny "Liu" character engraved on the inside of the ring.

Liu? The maternal family of Consort Liu? The Yongchang Earl's Mansion?

Lin Feng's mind raced. Hu Meng was nominally affiliated with the Yongchang Earl's Mansion, and these "staff" carrying the Liu family's rings came to meet Hu Meng late at night... It seemed that the Liu family was also deeply involved.

"Sir, what should we do with these people? And what about Hu Meng? Should we wake him up and interrogate him?" a Duan Yue Guard asked in a low voice.

Lin Feng shook his head: "We can't stay here any longer. Take Hu Meng and the ring-wearing 'gang leader' away. The rest of them, knock them unconscious, tie them up tightly, gag them, and throw them inside. Restore the scene to its original state, leaving no obvious trace of us. We're leaving."

"yes!"

The group acted immediately. After everything was settled, they left silently and quickly disappeared into the darkness of the night.

Chen Heng also noticed two suspicious men entering the shop, one of whom had a slight limp, seemingly injured. Chen Heng didn't alert them, but kept a close watch. Only after Lin Feng's group succeeded and gave the signal to retreat did Chen Heng lead his men to quietly leave the surveillance point and return to the agreed-upon location to regroup.

In an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the West Market, Lin Feng met up with Chen Heng. Hu Meng and the "Liu guy" were left on the cold ground, still unconscious.

"Commander, the people who went into that shop haven't come out yet. It seems like that's another hideout. Should we take it down?" Chen Heng asked.

"No need for now." Lin Feng shook his head. "Taking down 'Yuelai Inn' has already alerted the enemy. That general store might be more useful to keep; we can see who goes there and who contacts them. Just send someone to keep an eye on it from a distance, but don't let them get close."

One of the guards walked up to Hu Meng, ripped off his hood, and splashed a bucket of cold water on him.

Hu Meng jolted awake, looking around blankly. When he saw his surroundings and the cold-faced Lin Feng in front of him, his face turned ashen, and despair filled his eyes.

"Instructor Hu, we meet again." Lin Feng squatted down and looked at Hu Meng. "Tell me, who ordered you to assassinate me? What's the deal with the 'Crimson Abyss' token? How did you collude with the Third Prince, the Zhou family, and the Liu family? Explain yourself clearly, and perhaps you can leave with a whole corpse."

Hu Meng's lips trembled, his eyes flickered, but he gritted his teeth and said, "I...I don't know what you're talking about! I'm just a head instructor of the guards, the assassination has nothing to do with me! What token, what collusion, I know nothing about it! Don't make false accusations!"

"Don't know?" Lin Feng sneered, picked up the "Hunting" token, and waved it in front of Hu Meng.

"This token was found on one of your assassins. The 'Crimson Abyss' demons wreaked havoc on the border and assassinated court officials—their crimes are tantamount to treason! You, a retired Imperial Guard, actually colluded with these demons; what is your punishment? Execution of your entire family would be too lenient!"

Upon hearing the words "extermination of nine generations of one's family," Hu Meng trembled violently, his eyes filled with even greater fear, but he still forced himself to remain calm: "You...you framed me! You must have planted this token beforehand! I want to see the authorities! I want to..."

"See an official?" Lin Feng interrupted him. "I am the official! I am the Grand Commander of the Northern Border and Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince. I have been ordered to investigate this case and have the authority to execute first and report later! Hu Meng, I'm giving you one last chance. Speak, who is the mastermind behind this? How many assassins escaped last night, and where are they hiding? How do you contact 'Red Abyss'? If you utter another falsehood..." He flipped his wrist, and the cold blade of the "Dingjiang" short sword was already pressed against Hu Meng's Adam's apple, slowly pressing down, and a trickle of blood seeped out.

The fear of death finally shattered Hu Meng's mental defenses. He also sensed Lin Feng's undisguised killing intent and knew that this god of death before him truly dared and would kill him immediately.

"I'll talk! I'll talk! Grand Commander, spare me! Spare me!" Hu Meng cried out in despair, tears streaming down his face.