The Wind Rises in 1898: Becoming a Warlord Starting in Southeast Asia

Chapter 49 Infiltrating the Dangerous City

Chen Feng, carrying a load of grain, strode to the door and deliberately lowered his voice, saying, "Sir, my family is short of salt. I'd like to sell some grain to exchange for salt."

The sentry leaned against the doorframe, his hand on his rifle, and looked him up and down with a half-smile: "A shortage of salt is easy to solve, we have plenty in our warehouse, why bother exchanging it?"

Chen Feng replied casually, "Thank you, sir. How about we exchange the salt from your warehouse?"

"We have plenty of food, just pay me and buy it. Come with me!" the sentry said, walking towards the gate.

Is this an attempt to force a sale?

Chen Feng chuckled inwardly, seeing this as a perfect opportunity to ascertain the distribution of internal forces. He immediately lowered his head, feigning an honest and unassuming demeanor, and followed along.

The sounds of dice clashing and shouts came from the two barracks. The left side was occupied by native soldiers, and the right side by Chinese soldiers, with a clear boundary. Most of the soldiers on duty were lazy and inattentive.

Upon reaching the warehouse entrance, the sentry casually ordered, "Wait here, I'll go get you the salt."

The guard at the door glanced at him, then looked down at his nails, clearly unfazed by such behavior.

A moment later, the sentry came out carrying a small cloth bag and chuckled, "One pound of salt, two silver pesos."

It was indeed a forced sale.

The bag contained at most half a pound of salt, yet the price was more than ten times higher.

Chen Feng immediately sprang into action, his voice trembling as he said, "Sir, this is far too expensive!"

"Huh? You're kidding me?" The sentry threw down the bag, raised his rifle threateningly, and said, "Want to buy it but think it's too expensive? You're tired of living?"

"I...I dare not..."

Chen Feng kept his head down, pretending to be trembling with fear, and shakily took out a silver peso, but out of the corner of his eye, he firmly remembered the sentry's appearance.

There's a scar on my left eyebrow, and half of my right index finger is missing. I'll have to get my revenge someday.

"Give it to me!"

The sentry snatched the silver peso from the man and yelled, "Get out of here! Don't get in the way."

Chen Feng jogged out the door, bent over, picked up the grain load, and ran as fast as he could.

Laughter came from behind: "This fat sheep actually has five silver pesos! Let's rob him again when he comes back from selling grain!"

Another sentry chuckled, "Then we'd better keep a close eye on them!"

Chen Feng slowed down after walking a little further away.

This main road connects Manila and Malolos. Even now, amidst the chaos of war, many horse-drawn carts still travel along it, and he walks along the road carrying his load without drawing attention.

About an hour and a half later, the south gate of Malolos came into view.

Chen Feng could see from afar that the checks at the city gate were several times stricter than usual, with a full squad of Spanish soldiers armed to the teeth, and more than twenty servants guarding both sides.

Ordinary people were not allowed to enter the city at all; only merchants holding temporary permits from the Governor-General's Office were allowed to transport goods in.

After observing for a while while carrying his load, Chen Feng pretended to be annoyed, stomped his foot, and then walked along the path towards the west gate.

This side is also heavily guarded, and the number of troops is twice as large.

Is the West Gate the main direction of the Independent Army's attack?

Chen Feng secretly guessed, then carried the grain load toward the small pavilion where he and Zheng Mingsong had taken shelter from the rain earlier.

The rain was gradually subsiding, and the pavilion was empty. He simply used the carrying pole as a pillow, squinted his eyes and pretended to rest, but in reality, he kept an eye on the passers-by, while his ears were perked up, collecting bits and pieces of information.

As dusk approached, Zhang Xiuwu arrived with thirty strong men, calling out in a low voice, "Brother Chen, wake up!"

Chen Feng yawned, sat up, and glanced at everyone.

Li Chenghua, Qian Jianeng, and Du Lichun were among them, all dressed in coarse cloth short jackets, with dark skin, looking like genuine farmers, showing no trace of military bearing, much more pleasing to the eye than those slackers of the Independent Army.

"Once you enter the city, you are not allowed to speak, look around, or reveal your identity," Chen Feng said sternly.

Everyone nodded in agreement, and no one spoke, clearly indicating that Zhang Xiuwu had given prior instructions.

Zheng Mingsong seemed to have planted spies nearby, and soon emerged from the city. He still had his slicked-back, center-parted hair, but his face held a bitter expression: "Brother Chen, you said there were twenty people, how come there are ten more?"

Chen Feng chuckled: "Ten more people? It's a piece of cake for Young Master Zheng."

Zheng Mingsong stomped his foot heavily and sighed helplessly, "You're going to get me killed sooner or later! Don't tell me you're planning to attack Marolos City with the Independent Army?"

"Are my thirty men enough?" Chen Feng asked rhetorically.

"That's good!"

No sooner had Zheng Mingsong finished speaking than five carriages approached from the end of the road, with no guards except for the drivers.

He whispered a reminder: "Later, you all need to pretend to be caravan guards. The carriages are filled with spirits for the Spanish colonial army. Don't show anything unusual."

"Did you all understand?"

The thirty people nodded simultaneously without making a sound.

Zheng Mingsong breathed a sigh of relief, lifted his foot and walked towards the city gate, turning his head to say, "By the way, Brother Chen, there's news about the Yang timber merchant you asked me to inquire about. I heard he offended the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Manila and was arrested."

That unlucky martial uncle!

Before I could even ask him for help, he got into trouble first.

Chen Feng shook his head inwardly and asked in a low voice, "Have you found out why he offended the Japanese Chamber of Commerce? Is his life in danger?"

"The specifics are unclear, but he should be out of danger. If the Japanese really wanted to kill him, they would have done so already," Zheng Mingsong said.

"Thank you, Brother Zheng. We'll talk again after I'm done here," Chen Feng replied.

As they were talking, the carriage arrived at the city gate.

The Spanish officer in charge of the search strode over and demanded in Spanish, "Who goes there? What's in the carriage?"

"We are from the Zheng Family Trading Company. This is strong liquor prepared for the army." Zheng Mingsong stepped forward quickly and subtly stuffed a handful of silver pesos into the officer's hand. "The journey has been turbulent, with independent forces everywhere. We were worried that our goods would be robbed, so we hired more guards."

The Spanish officer deftly pocketed the silver pesos, glanced at Zhang Xiuwu and the others, and seeing that they all looked honest and law-abiding, and after hearing the soldiers report that the carriage had been inspected without incident, he waved his hand: "Go in!"

Although Chen Feng couldn't understand Spanish, he could guess what was going on from the expressions of the two men, so he quickly told everyone to follow the carriage into the city.

Zheng Mingsong quickly followed, and was about to speak when Chen Feng interrupted, "Since we've gone all the way, with so many of us, we'll have nowhere to stay but to hide in your warehouse for now."

"You..." Zheng Mingsong stomped his feet in anger, but there was nothing he could do. He could only order the coachman, "Take them to the warehouse."

Chen Feng then smiled. "Brother Zheng, thank you for your help this time. This time, it's my treat. Shall we go to a restaurant for a couple of drinks?"

At this moment, a shop assistant from Zheng Family Trading Company suddenly ran over and whispered a few words to Zheng Mingsong.

Upon hearing this, his expression instantly turned serious.