Chapter Mu howled in chaos. Porcelain shards had pierced into his flesh—not just one or two pieces—causing him to bare his teeth in pain.

The violent shaking had passed, and the thunderous sounds had weakened. Mo Zi felt the boat return to its normal swaying rhythm, but Chapter Mu said they still couldn’t go out, so they continued waiting in the cabin.

“Mister, how can I explain this?” Mo Zi’s delicate brows furrowed slightly, appearing quite troubled. “It’s like feeding good intentions to an ungrateful wretch. You wanted to help me, yet I caused you to suffer so grievously. Alas, if I’d known the boat would shake so violently, I would have set aside the airs of a lady and held onto a pillar rather than end up in such a sorry state, even causing Mister Chapter to be injured.” She secretly cursed Chapter Mu as an ungrateful wretch with evil intentions who hadn’t warned them in advance that the boat would shake.

Chapter Mu was like a mute eating bitter herbs—suffering he couldn’t express. When he fell flat on his back, he hadn’t seen Mo Zi’s delighted expression. When he came to his senses, she wore a pained face and spoke these words, looking quite apologetic. If he made an issue of it, he’d appear petty. Moreover, he hadn’t even considered that she’d done it deliberately, because in his eyes Mo Zi was merely a beautiful woman who happened to have a sharp tongue. After all, just now even strong men would have been swaying back and forth. So he could only consider himself unlucky.

“Madam need not apologize. This little injury is nothing.” He still had to put on a smiling face.

From beginning to end, she hadn’t said a single word of apology. Mo Zi laughed inwardly, but said aloud, “Mister has bled so much—how can it be a minor injury? I happen to have excellent external injury medicine, but unfortunately I can’t go fetch it right now.”

Chapter Mu touched his face, his teeth hissing as he inhaled. The handful of blood made him dizzy. Previously he’d been nothing more than a somewhat educated schoolteacher who usually only held pens and books. Later, following He Hu in debt collection and uprising, he’d always stayed in the rear. At most he’d had a finger scratched—when had he ever bled this much?

But in front of so many beauties, he insisted on saving face despite his suffering, his lustful heart still not dead. “The medicine can wait… I wonder if Madam or the young ladies know how to bandage wounds, to temporarily stop the bleeding for me.”

Before Mo Zi could speak, Luo Ying’s eyes darted about. “Mister, your face is stuck with porcelain shards… how can we bandage it? We must first pull them out.”

Chapter Mu twitched the corner of his mouth. “Miss Luo Ying is right. The pain made me forget.”

“Among us, only Hua Ying is most skilled with external injuries. Wait a moment, Mister, I’ll call her for you.” Luo Ying giggled and went outside to call Hua Ying.

Chapter Mu couldn’t match names to faces, but hearing the two characters “Hua Ying” was quite beautiful… he assumed it was some elegant beauty and secretly rejoiced. Seeing someone enter, he mustered his spirits to look over, only to see a tall, sturdy woman striding toward him. He was immediately dumbfounded.

Hua Ying, having been coached by Luo Ying, naturally wouldn’t make Chapter Mu comfortable. Her large palm pressed his head down onto the table. While telling him not to move… she proceeded to clear the porcelain shards.

Chapter Mu felt darkness before his eyes. That massive figure wasn’t stopping his bleeding—she was squeezing out blood! Some blood even splattered into his eyes, causing him to roll them back in pain.

“Ah—it hurts! It’s killing me.” Chapter Mu tried to push Hua Ying away.

But how strong was Hua Ying? Chapter Mu with his thin arms and legs, and that whining—to her it was like a mosquito. She raised her hand and slapped his head twice. “If you don’t want the fragments embedded in your skull, stay still. Not squeezing—pulling like this—”

Chapter Mu’s forehead was covered in sweat. Seeing the bits of flesh on the porcelain shard in Hua Ying’s hand, he immediately fainted.

“Taking flesh and skin together.” Completely unfazed, Hua Ying utterly ignored the unconscious Chapter Mu… continuing her great bleeding enterprise.

Mo Zi really couldn’t keep a straight face and laughed into her hands.

And everyone around her was also smiling.

When Chapter Mu awoke wanting to explode in anger, he discovered all his wounds had been properly bandaged. His volume immediately dropped. “Is this any way to treat injuries? The pain nearly killed me.”

“Good medicine tastes bitter but benefits the illness. Hua Ying’s method is a bit painful, but it’s also for Mister’s sake. As the saying goes, long-term pain is worse than short-term pain… now that all the bad blood has been cleaned out, don’t you feel much better, Mister? Isn’t everything before your eyes especially clear and sharp?” Seeing him nod, Mo Zi continued, “The herbal classics record this as ‘clarity of mind and spirit’—this is precisely what they mean. Mister Chapter need not thank me, just thank Hua Ying.”

A’Yue, who read medical texts as leisure reading, glanced over. In front of outsiders, she couldn’t point out Mo Zi’s yet another distorted interpretation of the classics. It was clearly caused by excessive blood loss. Just some embedded fragments, yet half a basin of blood had been squeezed out—it would be strange if things weren’t clear and sharp before his eyes.

But Chapter Mu was befuddled by her words and actually said to Hua Ying, “Thank you, Miss, for treating my injuries.”

Hua Ying showed no expression and indifferently turned her face away.

“By the way, Mister Chapter’s subordinate just came to say we’ve reached the river surface. Does that mean we can leave the cabin?” No need to expend too much effort on such minor characters—now to deal with the big fish.

Chapter Mu’s expression visibly relaxed. “Yes, in another hour we’ll reach Tiger King’s main stronghold. Madam can begin preparing. I think it would be best if Miss also puts on her wedding dress.”

“That wouldn’t be proper. We say we’re escorting a bride, but doesn’t Tiger King’s place not know yet? Once we reach shore and Tiger King also nods in agreement, then we’ll choose an auspicious day for the wedding.” Putting on a wedding dress wasn’t that easy.

“Madam’s sister possesses such heavenly beauty—how could Tiger King not agree? But Madam has considered things thoroughly. I take back my previous words.” Chapter Mu’s etiquette was superficial, lacking much genuine substance.

“Mister Chapter should rest for a while.” Mo Zi didn’t bow, merely waved her empty sleeves and told the women they were leaving.

Shortly after returning to her own cabin, Stinky Fish climbed up from the secret passage.

He only nodded to his second sister-in-law, not even glancing at the others. He spread a map on the table, quite excited. “Brother Mo, first guess—where did their boat go?”

Mo Zi didn’t hesitate, her fingertip pointing to a spot on the map. “Here.”

Stinky Fish’s eyes lit up, but he still wanted to test her. “Where is here?”

“Passing beneath a great waterfall, there’s a natural water cave in the mountain that emerges through the mountain onto the river surface.” Mo Zi answered coherently.

Stinky Fish clapped and gave a thumbs up. “Brother Mo is Brother Mo—without even looking, you can understand the intricacies.”

“With such a loud water sound, I’d be foolish not to guess it. I wondered why their boat used burled wood that’s heavier but sturdier than ordinary cedar—turns out it was specially made for passing through waterfalls. Fortunately our boat can also withstand it.” She had applied the sturdiness of ocean vessels to river boats, intending to increase defensive capabilities.

“Who would have thought there was another world beneath the waterfall where boats could pass? Inside the cave isn’t a narrow passage but quite a broad lake surface with many stone caves of various sizes. Without their guidance, we really wouldn’t know which one to take. After entering the stone cave and traveling for two quarters of an hour, we reached the river surface. Outside is an uninhabited canyon—except for bird calls, I heard nothing. Outside the cave are thousands of vines, blocking the entrance completely inside and out. Right now the boat is heading due north.” Stinky Fish finished his report.

“Due north?” Mo Zi’s finger followed Stinky Fish’s words, suddenly stopping. “Ta River.” Across Ta River was Yuling.

“Exactly.” Stinky Fish tapped the table. “I never imagined He Hu would set up his main stronghold on the Ta River bank. Across from him are over a hundred large Daqiu warships, yet he’s not afraid of wolves in front and tigers behind. Just because he’s called Tiger, does he have such enormous courage?”

“I thought he’d choose an inland river bay in the Cloud Ridge—he does have some brains.” Cloud Ridge was the large mountain range He Hu relied on, with rivers and streams crisscrossing its interior, offering many waterways. “The most dangerous place is the safest place. Daqiu is currently concentrating heavy forces on Great Zhou’s northern border and can’t spare attention for this part of Nande. One hour, due north—He Hu’s main stronghold can only be at Immortal Mountain. Stinky Fish, immediately send the dolphin craft back to report.” The dolphin craft could dive or surface—truly speaking, surfacing was easier; just unload the iron blocks inside.

“Right away.” Stinky Fish slithered back down.

“What should we do?” Luo Ying asked.

Mo Zi looked at the young women and smiled charmingly. “Change clothes. The most inconspicuous kind, the sort you’d never think to wear normally, that make people’s eyes dim just looking at them—proper, respectable, the kind that come from great households, very dignified clothes.”

“Why is that?” Qiu Shuang didn’t understand.

“When clothing is proper, the heart becomes proper. Even if the other party consists of tigers, leopards, and wolves, they’ll want to pretend to be hypocrites, which can temporarily delay evil intentions.” On this mission, Mo Zi had three goals: first, scout the waterway; second, rescue Su Lan; third, investigate their true strength. Delaying tactics were essential.

“How long must we delay?” Wu Youyan bore heavy responsibility.

“At minimum one day, at most three days. Once we rescue the person, we leave whenever there’s an opportunity.” She wouldn’t rely on Yuan Cheng’s reinforcements.

“They have tens of thousands of men. Without waiting for Prime Minister Yuan, can we escape unscathed?” Qiu Shuang didn’t become arrogant about her own martial skills and ignore the overwhelming numerical advantage, unable to maintain Mo Zi’s good mentality.

“Apart from He Hu’s direct subordinates, most of the Zicao army consists of common people driven to desperation by government authorities. He’ll act with some restraint. As long as we utilize things properly, we may have a chance of winning.” Though Chapter Mu’s words were exaggerated, there were indeed many people of aspiration under He Hu’s banner—whether they could stay was another matter.

“Madam, Mister Chapter says the shore is visible and asks if you’d like to come on deck to observe?” A maidservant relayed the message from outside.

Mo Zi agreed.

Outside the boat, three sides were green mountains and one side water—gold, red, silver, green, autumn’s colors rising with the wind. What should have been a paradise on earth—the glint of weapons in the forest, thatched huts and wooden sheds in mountain hollows, busy crowds and horses, mingling with martial spirit and heroic air, tragic determination and hope interwoven together—was like a giant wearing patched battle armor.

“Madam, how does our Zicao main camp look? That most imposing building halfway up the mountain is where Tiger King resides.” Chapter Mu’s bandaged fingers pointed upward.

Mo Zi looked toward the mountainside. Well, it truly was quite imposing—black lacquer with gold characters, glossy black tiles and red carved railings, built three stories high into the mountain. Was He Hu treating these people as rebels or construction workers? Such extravagance in building a house.

“There seem to be several women up there.” Her vision was quite good.

Back on his own territory, Chapter Mu felt nothing needed hiding and spoke frankly. “The third floor is Tiger King’s living quarters. Those several are his wives and concubines.”

“Several?” Mo Zi smiled. “Tiger King is truly a hero.”

“How so?” Chapter Mu was curious.

“Heroes have difficulty passing the beauty barrier.” Just as Mo Zi said this, she saw banners coming down the mountain path, emblazoned with fierce tigers showing bloody gaping maws.

Chapter Mu said joyfully, “This is Tiger King’s personal guard’s leading banner.”

He Hu had arrived!