At the Hour of the Snake, the Suishui City Prefecture Yamen.

County Magistrate Kong Pei was nursing his second pot of hot tea with his head down. Although drinking hot tea, cold sweat kept breaking out on his forehead. He anxiously looked toward the doorway. A figure flashed, and Advisor Jia arrived.

Advisor Jia had a face like yellow earth, two mouse-like whiskers, and glanced at Kong Pei with eyes where the whites were more visible than the blacks, then bowed in salutation. Kong Pei hastily pulled him aside: “I just received a letter from Tian Nan Prefecture. Prince Kang wants me to closely monitor the Nanhu Camp outside the city. Recently, soldiers from the Nanhu Camp have been mysteriously leaving camp. Could something have happened?”

Advisor Jia stroked his mouse whiskers: “Lord Kong is worried whether Dongfang Shangwu has malicious intentions.”

“One must be cautious.” Kong Pei’s expression was serious. “There’s panic within the Holy City, and the princes are openly and covertly fighting. Now the six great military camps within Great Shi territory have become the most critical factors in this struggle for succession. If Dongfang Shangwu makes any unusual moves, the first to lose his head would be me!”

“Lord Kong worries too much.” Advisor Jia walked to the study window, gazing at the hazy horizon. “In my humble opinion, Dongfang Shangwu is probably the most stable force among the six great military camps. Because the Dongfang family has been heavily relied upon by the imperial court for generations and is considered the backbone, and the current Crown Prince has married Dongfang Shangwu’s younger sister as his primary consort, Dongfang Shangwu has absolutely no reason to raise troops in rebellion.”

“Advisor Jia speaks very correctly.” Kong Pei looked at Advisor Jia’s back and sighed: “Once this world falls into chaos, those who will suffer are still the millions of common people.”

Advisor Jia turned around and said: “Although Dongfang Shangwu cannot rebel, what Lord Kong said earlier is also correct—we still cannot relax our vigilance toward him. You must know that besides eating people, tigers can also bite people.”

Kong Pei nodded with a grave expression.

At this time, two streets away from the Prefecture Yamen at the Four Seas Restaurant, the pavilion was already bursting with guests. Suishui City controlled the commercial trade with the island nations of the Eastern Sea, so the city gathered various kinds of visitors from different countries and regions. There were barbarians from the Western Regions, warriors from the Southern Wastes, and merchant groups from the Eastern Sea’s Wa Kingdom.

Amid the rising and falling shouts of the restaurant’s waiters, the draft through the restaurant lifted the long hair of a person in the corner, revealing a hideous blue face—it was Meng Rui.

The “Death God” curved blade wrapped in black cloth rested on the table, with Meng Rui’s hand pressed on top of it: “Speak. How much money?”

Sitting across from him was a Wa Kingdom person with a garlic-bulb short braid, wearing plain hemp clothing. The Wa Kingdom person saw the blue face and showed a shocked expression: “Just give me ten taels.”

Meng Rui nodded, took out a yellowed piece of paper and placed it in front of the Wa Kingdom person: “Explain it word by word. Don’t miss any character.”

The yellow paper was precisely what the green-eyed masked person who had abducted his sister had left behind. Aside from a few Chinese characters, the rest were all Wa Kingdom characters. Meng Rui could only find a Wa Kingdom person to translate it, hoping to find clues about his sister.

“Alright, alright.” The Wa Kingdom person read the letter with full concentration. “The beginning seems to be a story: When the cicadas cry until nearly dawn, their calls have become sparse and are about to cease. But the leaves on the tree remain emerald green, not saddened by the broken cries.”

A line of ancient poetry suddenly flashed through Meng Rui’s mind, matching the story: “At the fifth watch, sparse and about to cease, one tree green and unfeeling.”

“What about the rest?”

“After that, there’s only one sentence.” The Wa Kingdom person slowed his pace. “Intentionally gambling without fate, Yama watches the twin gates.”

“At the end, the signature—see you again in Suishui.”

At the fifth watch, sparse and about to cease, one tree green and unfeeling. Intentionally gambling without fate, Yama watches the twin gates.

See you again in Suishui.

The contents of the mysterious letter had surfaced, but Meng Rui was still completely confused. There was not a single word about his younger sister Meng Wan Xiang’s whereabouts, but his intuition told Meng Rui that this letter was very important.

Putting away the letter, Meng Rui placed an ingot of ten taels of silver on the table. The Wa Kingdom person beamed with joy, but out of nowhere, a long sword appeared, pressing right on his head.

Meng Rui suddenly turned around. Two more Wa Kingdom people, one tall and one short, had appeared at the Four Seas Restaurant, wearing expensive deep blue feather robes. The one pressing the sword was the short Wa Kingdom person. His features were extraordinarily ugly as he said with a cold laugh: “Inoue, you’ve made us search so hard for you.”

So he’s called Inoue, Meng Rui silently noted.

The cold blade pressed against his scalp. Inoue’s face turned purple as he said in a trembling voice: “Lord Aihara, please spare me. I have a wife and children in Suishui. I need to earn money to support them. I don’t want to go back anymore!”

“Baka…” The Wa Kingdom person Aihara chattered a lot in the Wa Kingdom language, but judging from his tone, he was cursing. Aihara turned back to glance at the tall Wa Kingdom person, who seemed to have higher status.

He looked at Inoue like looking at a dying dog.

The tall man made a “slash” gesture. Aihara flipped his hand, and the long sword slashed down. Inoue desperately shouted… but just as the blade was about to scrape his neck, another blade appeared out of nowhere, and moreover, it was an unsheathed blade.

Aihara’s sword was blocked. He glared furiously at the person who suddenly intervened—this person was Meng Rui. With the “Death God” curved blade at his side, Meng Rui said coldly: “This friend Inoue just helped me with something. You two cannot kill him.”

“Moreover, this is Great Shi territory, not your small foreign kingdom. Recklessly wielding swords to kill people—the national law will not tolerate it.”

Meng Rui’s resounding words caused a stir throughout the Four Seas Restaurant. Someone echoed: “That’s right! If Wa Kingdom thieves want to kill people, go back to your Wa Kingdom!”

“Looking at those arrogant ugly faces makes me furious.”

“Get lost quickly!”

“…”

Blue veins bulged on Aihara’s forehead as he pointed his long sword at the crowd: “All of you shut up! Whoever says one more word, I’ll cleave him in two!”

The surroundings suddenly became silent as a graveyard. Wa Kingdom warriors were not easy to deal with, and no one wanted to risk their life provoking them.

Aihara laughed viciously with arrogance, but suddenly darkness fell before his eyes as Meng Rui leaped forward like a hunting leopard. Before Aihara could react in any way, “Death God” struck Aihara’s long sword. Only the sounds of “crack crack” were heard as the long sword shattered into four or five pieces.

“You call this a sword!” Meng Rui laughed coldly.

“My sword… how is this possible?” Aihara’s cow-like eyes widened as he stood completely dumbfounded.

After quite a while, Aihara came to his senses and roared as he lunged toward Meng Rui. The tall man stopped him and cupped his fists toward Meng Rui: “Your Excellency has excellent skills. This humble one, Tengu Ichiro, greatly admires you. Today’s matter ends here. I hope to meet Your Excellency again in the future.”

Tengu Ichiro wore a smile on his face, but murderous intent lurked in his eyes. Meng Rui’s heart sank. This type of honey-mouthed, sword-bellied hypocrite was far more terrifying than Aihara. Out of courtesy, Meng Rui also cupped his fists in return.

“I refuse to accept this!” Aihara shouted like a crazed bull. Tengu Ichiro swung his left hand and viciously slapped him across the face, then angrily rebuked him in Wa Kingdom language for several sentences. Only then did Aihara hang his head dejectedly and stop shouting.

“Inoue, you should stay well in Suishui and support your family.” Tengu Ichiro said finally, then pulled Aihara out of the restaurant.

“Teaching those Wa Kingdom scoundrels a lesson—so satisfying!”

“Excellent!”

After Tengu left, a round of loud cheers erupted in the Four Seas Restaurant. Meng Rui didn’t want to attract too much attention, so he left the payment for wine and also departed.

The haze of Suishui City enveloped Meng Rui. Carrying the unknown mystery of those four strange lines, where should he go next…