Chapter 48: The Mysterious Old Man

  At this time, the sky was already bright and hazy, with a faint light shining through the horizon onto the water village. On the water village, imperial guards were coming and going, pushing together the bodies of the dead pirates, collecting their weapons, and over ten shivering pirates who had surrendered were kneeling on the ground, looking at the passing imperial guards in terror.

  Two warriors carried Chen Liangshan to Zhao Yan's side, threw Chen Liangshan aside and made a fist to apologize: "Your Highness, Chang Ruoxin died, it was our dereliction of duty, please punish us."

  Zhao Yan helped the soldier up and said with a smile: "If he's dead, then let him be dead. Anyway, he wasn't of much use."

  Unfortunately, Zhao Jiong's smile was more terrifying than his scowl at this moment. The sinister and frightening smile did not have any soothing effect. Zhao Jiong picked up a knife from the ground and, ignoring the two Imperial Guards who were covered in cold sweat, dragged Chen Liangsheng, who had lost too much blood and was somewhat dazed, towards the south of Shuizhai.

  Chen Liangshan was quite fond of raising dogs, the more ferocious the better. After becoming a water bandit, he brought the dogs to the island and raised them in enclosures. It's unknown how many people became food for these dogs; if there were any disobedient subordinates, they would be thrown into the cages alive. His cruel methods are detestable.

  When Zhao Jin arrived in front of the cage, the four fierce dogs inside barked frantically at him, their sharp teeth constantly snapping shut, and they kept colliding with the cage with their bodies, wanting to rush out and grab food. There were at least dozens of white bones inside the cage, and the scene was extremely eerie.

  Zhao Han smiled coldly, threw Chen Liangshan to the ground, pulled out a crossbow bolt and ruthlessly inserted it into Chen Liangshan's palm. Blood gushed from the wound in Chen Liangshan's palm, and he woke up with a start, clutching his only remaining hand and letting out a blood-curdling scream.

  Zhao Kan looked at Chen Liangshan who was screaming miserably, his eyelids didn't even twitch once. He then inserted the remaining three crossbow arrows into Chen Liangshan's remaining three limbs. Chen Liangshan now lay on the ground in a big character shape, staring at Zhao Kan with terrified eyes.

  "My good brothers didn't die on the battlefield, but were tortured by you until they're neither human nor ghost. Today, you'll get to experience this feeling too."

  Zhao Kan's dagger flashed, and Chen Liangshan's ear fell off instantly. Blood dripped down his cheek, and Zhao Kan ignored Chen Liangshan's pleas for mercy. Every time Zhao Kan cut off a piece of Chen Liangshan's flesh, he would mutter the name of a Forbidden Army officer. By this time, Chen Liangshan was already on his last breath.

  "Kill me, I beg of you!!!" Chen Liangshan's eyes bulged with blood vessels, and he cried out in agony.

  Zhao Xian replied coldly: "It's still early, don't rush."

  Chen Liangshan's mouth suddenly overflowed with blood and he stopped breathing. It turned out that he had been tortured to the point where he could no longer bear it, and had bitten his tongue in half to end his life.

  Zhao Kuang flew into a rage, cursing: "Bastard, how did you die? How could you die?" As he spoke, he wildly hacked at Chen Liangshan's corpse with his knife. In an instant, the corpse was a bloody mess, and Zhao Kuang was splattered all over with blood. Perhaps using up all his strength, Zhao Kuang dropped the steel knife covered in fresh blood and began to retch on one side.

  The fierce dog in the cage barked even more wildly, drooling at the 'delicacy' in front of it.

  "Go to hell!!" Zhao Jin angrily took out his crossbow and shot all the bolts inside at the four fierce dogs. Blood splattered everywhere, and the four fierce dogs fell to the ground. Perhaps they would never understand why the person who brought them 'food' would kill them.

  Zhao Yan sat weakly on one side, the gentle breeze blowing his bangs and bringing fresh air to his face. The pungent smell of blood made Zhao Yan feel a little dizzy. He looked at the sunrise slowly rising in the east, and his mind was filled with surging thoughts.

  Zhao Kuang had always thought that he was strong, and the life and death of others were just like this era, having nothing to do with himself. As long as he could keep his own life safe, that would be enough. Now Zhao Kuang knew that he was wrong, and he too was an ordinary member of this era.

  He has grown accustomed to this place, the comrades by his side, the brothers who have shared life and death with him, the woman he deeply loves. If one day he were to die in this era, Zhao Yun would no longer complain about the injustice of fate. Zhao Yun knows that he can no longer live for himself, but must bear the weight of responsibility.

  At this time, a soldier with a very pale face walked to Zhao Jin's side, who was sitting on the ground covered in blood, and carefully reported: "Your Highness, Miss Wu is looking for you everywhere. You should go back."

  Zhao Yan said faintly: "My current appearance is not suitable for the past, let Miss Wu rest well first."

  "Yes, Your Highness. There is another thing. In the deepest part of the dungeon, there is an old man who doesn't respond to questioning and it's unclear whether he's pretending to be deaf or really is deaf. Please make a decision, Your Highness." The soldier continued to report.

  "Oh, take me to see." This mysterious old man suddenly aroused Zhao's interest. It was not an ordinary person who lived in the water dungeon until now.

  The soldier handed the silver tickets to Zhao Ze and said, "Your Highness, these were found in Chen Liangshan's room. It's strange to say that except for several thousand taels of white silver, all the other money in the Water Fortress has been exchanged for silver tickets."

  Zhao Kan was shocked, this silver bill roughly looked at it and had over 10 million, but then thought about it and understood that Chen Liangshan was afraid of losing the white silver in the water village, and when giving gifts to local officials, he couldn't carry boxes in with a big fanfare, so he could only exchange them for silver bills which would be more convenient.

  Zhao Yan returned to the prison with the soldiers, and the corpses and wounded soldiers inside had been removed, but the foul smell could not be eliminated.

  When he walked to the deepest part of the prison, seven or eight imperial guards stood here with weapons in hand. Seeing Zhao Yin arrive, they immediately stood up straight and made way for him. The old man leaned against the wall, tilted his head, and looked at Zhao Yin with a faint gaze before closing his eyes again and not speaking. However, Zhao Yin keenly noticed that the old man's cheekbones were knife-sharp, angular, and distinct, although his face was gaunt and his bones were prominent. His eyes were deep and distant, and he was by no means an ordinary person.

  Zhao Yan asked on his way forward: "Old man, why are you locked up here?"

  The old man sneered and didn't say a word. Zhao Jie didn't get angry either, and continued to say: "Don't worry, sir, I'm not in cahoots with Chen Liangshan."

  "What's going on? Are you trying to cheat me again with a new group of people? Call Chen Liangshan over, do you think you're qualified to talk to me?" the old man sneered.

  "How dare you!!!" The surrounding imperial guards glared and shouted. Zhao Jiong's current status in the Invincible Army was extremely high, scolding him how could they tolerate it, hating to go forward and chop that old man.

  The old man sneered and looked at Zhao Jie deeply once again before falling silent.

  Zhao Yan said: "Chen Liangshan has already been killed by me."

  Zhao Yin stepped forward, took the dagger from the imperial guard's hand, and with one swift motion cut off the iron lock. Zhao Yin opened the door and was about to help up the old man when he suddenly saw the old man's eyes flash with a fierce light, and with a sudden burst of energy, his aura became like a waterfall that left people momentarily losing their courage to resist. Although it was only for an instant, in a confrontation, it was fatal.

  Before Zhao Jie could react, the old man had already taken the dagger from his hand and placed it against his neck. The cold blade was ready to slit Zhao Jie's throat at any moment. Zhao Jie was shocked in his heart, realizing that this old man was a true master. The Imperial Guards immediately surrounded them, their weapons trained on the old man.

  The old man faced the crowd with a stern expression, clearly a seasoned veteran. Zhao Yan said calmly, "All of you, get out of the underground prison."

  "The... " The imperial guards hesitated.

  Zhao Yan said: "I'm fine, obeying orders."

  The defeated troops retreated from the dungeon.

  Zhao Yan smiled and said: "Old man, we can talk now, I'm no threat to you."

  The old man weighed it for a moment and let go of Zhao Jiong. Zhao Jiong clasped his hands together in greeting and said, "I am Zhao Jiong, a general of the Imperial Guard. I don't know where you come from, sir."

  "Those soldiers are so respectful and worshipful to you, is your identity just a simple general? If you don't have the intention, then there's no need to talk about it." The old man snorted.

  "I was rude just now, I am a royal person, this time I came here to save people." Zhao Yan apologized with a fist.

  "Promoting the interests of the world and eliminating the harm of the world, can you know my identity?" Zhao Yan stroked his beard and said.

  "Are you a descendant of Mozi?" Zhao Yan exclaimed.

  The Mohist school of thought was one of the major philosophical schools in ancient China, emerging around the Warring States period. The founder of the school was Mozi. The Mohists were a tightly organized academic community with a strong hierarchy, led by a figure known as the "Grand Master". In later periods, the Mohist school split into two branches: one branch focused on the study of epistemology, geometry, optics and statics, known as the "Later Mohism", while another branch transformed into wandering knights in Qin and Han societies.

  The former inherited many of the social and ethical claims of the pre-Qin Mohist school, with significant achievements in epistemology and logic. After the Warring States period, the Mohist school declined. By the Western Han dynasty, due to Emperor Wu's policy of venerating Confucianism, changes in societal attitudes, as well as the Mohist school's own rigorous training, strict rules, and lofty ideas that were not accessible to everyone, the Mohist school basically disappeared after the Western Han. However, according to archaeological discoveries, the last generation appeared in the late Qing dynasty, resisting foreign invasion and eventually becoming extinct.

  "Which school of thought does the master belong to?" Zhao Yan couldn't help but ask.

  The old man's eyes flashed with some surprise as he looked at Zhao Jian, the Mohist school was divided into two factions, and outsiders knew very little about it. How did this young man in front of him know?

  "My name is Wu Dong'a, don't call me Mr. this or Mr. that, it's annoying to listen to. I'm a man of impatient temperament, often traveling outside, so I am a wandering knight."

  Zhao Jian showed a hint of disappointment. What he had hoped to get was the Mohist school's mechanical technique, which had been passed down for many years and must have had its unique aspects. But this Wu Dong A in front of him was a wandering swordsman with extremely high assassination skills, yet what Zhao Jian needed most at this moment was the Mohist school's mechanical weapon.

  But Wu Dong's words later dispelled the disappointment in Zhao Jian's heart. Seeing Zhao Jian's slightly disappointed eyes, how could he not know what Zhao Jian was thinking? He said lightly: "The Mohist school of thought also exists in the world."

  Wu Dong'a finished speaking and didn't say another word, but instead looked at Zhao Yan with a profound gaze.

  Zhao Yan naturally understood that the old man was waiting for benefits, so Zhao Yan said: "As long as Mr.'s request does not violate morality, Zhao Yan will not decline."