A fierce gust of wind!

That was the tattooed man’s sensation.

The brother beside him hastily stumbled back two steps, prompting him to look carefully. Good heavens—a gleaming hook was firmly embedded in the ship’s gunwale beside him. If it had been just slightly more centered, the hook would have caught not wood but his neck.

Well then, he had seen that person dressed in men’s clothing with a woman’s voice quickly grab the boat hook. He had also seen that person lift the hook up. But he never imagined that person would actually dare to swing it down.

The tattooed man jumped back half a beat too late. His head, which had been fevered from that smile, was suddenly doused as if with icy water, becoming completely sober. After sobering up, murderous intent arose.

Drawing both sabers, he shouted: “Brothers, board the ship and kill them all clean—leave not a single one.”

“This is truly a misunderstanding.” Just as conflict was about to erupt, Mo Zi’s crisp voice flowed like spring water, causing that pack of fierce wolves to pause their movements. “I merely wanted to hook a pole across to return the gift. I didn’t control my strength properly, nor did I know this damned thing was so heavy—it accidentally slipped from my hand and flew out. Please forgive us all. Fortunately, no one’s life was endangered—otherwise I would be hard-pressed to escape blame. Truly worthy of Great Qiu’s fierce warriors—brave and fearless, magnanimous and generous.”

After the black-armored warriors heard the last sentence, who could continue clamoring to kill? They had just been mocking the other side’s weakness, yet now they themselves would be the weak ones, and facing someone effeminate at that. If they made an issue of it, wouldn’t that make them petty? However, the tattooed man was the leader, so ultimately they had to listen to him.

The tattooed man snorted. After a long moment, he sheathed his blade. He had actually flared up momentarily, forgetting this was Great Zhou’s capital. The assassins Yuling had sent—they had the right to deal with them. But these people were just ordinary Great Zhou commoners. If they really killed them, though he himself wasn’t afraid, it would likely affect the bigger picture. After all, they had come under the banner of seeking peace.

Seeing their leader put away his weapons, the black-armored warriors all sheathed their blades.

“This time we’ll spare you. Next time you dare be insolent toward your grandfathers, we’ll dismember you into eight pieces and exterminate your entire families, old and young.” The Han people were as lowly as ants—of course when striking, one had to take out the whole nest.

Mo Zi didn’t respond to these words. The opposing side only had twenty-some black-armored warriors. She was very clear about their strength—they were no match for Zan Jin alone, let alone with Chou Yu and the others present. She tied the cotton robe wrapped around the severed arm onto the pole, raised the pole and sent it across. The cotton robe slid down leisurely to the Great Qiu ship’s side.

Now concealed within the sleeve from the wrist up, the black-armored warriors could still see that claw-like hand. They looked at each other, not understanding the meaning of this returned gift.

The tattooed man’s clamorous voice was probably natural, and he was somewhat fired up again: “Damn it, what do you mean? We clearly gave it to you to fill your bellies—why don’t you give face and return it instead? And what’s this about returning gifts?”

“You speak in error.” Mo Zi glimpsed the shadows in the cabin moving toward the doorway but paid little attention. “As you all said, Great Zhou is a land of propriety and etiquette. It’s just that Great Zhou is also prosperous—things that fly in the sky, run on the ground—we can’t finish eating them all. Why would we practice cannibalism? Moreover, ancient texts record that human flesh is actually unpalatable. Whether beautiful women or handsome men, however cooked, it’s sour and tough—its fragrance doesn’t compare to pork or beef, its freshness doesn’t compare to fish or lamb. Since it’s flavorless, why trouble your own tongue and teeth? Furthermore, I’ve heard that humans differ from animals. Among all things in the world, only we humans can build houses, farm fields, raise livestock, and do ten thousand kinds of tasks—this is because our bodies contain a spiritual essence. When a person dies, this spiritual essence becomes worms and is poisonous. Otherwise, how would corpses dead for many days produce such disgusting things as corpse worms? When corpse worms break through the body, the poisonous qi is already not deep. For the newly dead, the worms transform internally into the flesh and the poison spreads through it. Eating it won’t cause immediate death, but the poison becomes worms that take residence in the body, quietly shortening one’s lifespan. Since it’s harmful, why seek a shortened life?”

Three instances of “why.”

Had she cursed them?

Not a bit. Not a single dirty word.

But what she said made those black-armored warriors who had eaten human flesh turn pale one by one, including the tattooed man. They even felt something wrong with their bodies, as if poisonous worms were crawling. Simultaneously, they all made the same motion, uneasily shifting their bodies.

Mo Zi wasn’t finished yet: “Naturally, this theory is also rather ethereal—supposedly only recorded in a single rare medical text. Moreover, losing twenty or thirty years of life really doesn’t amount to much for warriors who fight on battlefields.”

Twenty or thirty years? All the black-armored warriors’ faces twitched. Mostly it was nonsense, but where had these corpse worms come from? And besides, human flesh didn’t taste that great anyway.

Seven or eight people emerged from the cabin. Among them, two wore Great Qiu fourth-rank and fifth-rank military official robes. The other several were eighth-rank and ninth-rank—minor clerks accompanying the delegation.

It seemed there were no familiar faces. Mo Zi’s heart relaxed.

“Bah! This boy talks nonsense. You fools, don’t you use your brains to think?” The fourth-rank official had a fierce appearance. “We Great Qiu wolf clan—when we kill enemies, we must drink their blood and eat their flesh. It has always been thus since ancient times.”

Great Qiu valued military prowess and looked down on civil learning. From top to bottom, the court officials had almost all risen through fighting wars. Han officials were extremely few, also the type who swallowed their anger, constantly used as targets by these grassland descendants, with no dignity to speak of.

Mo Zi’s expression remained calm: “In Great Qiu’s imperial clan and nobility, those who live long are few. Those who become kings mostly die young in their prime. On the contrary, the common people who herd sheep often celebrate their seventieth year. In contrast, look at Great Zhou’s Nande—the late emperor passed away after seventy years. The age at which princes, marquises, generals, and ministers retire is also about seventy-plus. Among the common people, centenarians are also ordinary.” Scare them to death.

The fourth-rank official hadn’t expected Mo Zi to know Great Qiu’s affairs so clearly. Thinking more carefully, somehow he actually felt there was some sense to it. But he was after all a superior officer, not as simple and foolish as the warriors. Whatever was in his heart, his face didn’t reveal.

“It’s just an arm—if you don’t have the guts to eat it, just say so. Stop putting on airs.” He snorted coldly. Reaching out, he grabbed that severed arm and yanked it out with force. “This was someone who assassinated our Great Qiu envoys—they don’t deserve such treatment.”

Oh? He understood her meaning of clothing the dead? This advance envoy was quite clever.

“What has the advance envoy come for?” Mo Zi asked.

“To come for world peace.” Originally he hadn’t wanted to tangle with this sort of commoner, but the other party’s sharp tongue aroused his competitive spirit.

The fourth-rank official thought what he thought but involuntarily glanced to the side. That person had most of his body turned away from the opposing sand ship, yet his expression was excited. Yes, excited. Although that person from childhood had never shown joy or anger on his face, now his blinking eyes, the gradually curving corners of his mouth, the delight flowing in his gaze—all indicated his mood was extremely good. Could it be he also wanted to display his learning before Great Zhou’s common people, so they wouldn’t think Great Qiu could do nothing except fight wars? It seemed his own performance was actually correct.

Mo Zi noticed the fourth-rank official’s eyes rolling toward the side. She followed his line of sight but only saw those minor officials standing sideways with unclear faces. She didn’t think much of it at the moment and said: “Coming for world peace, yet hanging dead bodies on the mast? Sir says these are Yuling assassins. If this were in Great Qiu, however you handled it, naturally no one could speak against it. However, we Great Zhou commoners only understand that the deceased are the greatest. The person is already dead, and as Sir said, for the sake of peace—is this bloodiness what Great Qiu calls peace? Not far ahead is the dock. Great Zhou’s welcoming envoys and many common people are respectfully awaiting your honored arrival. I won’t speak for others, but as for me—I find it shocking to the eye and absolutely dare not look at your Great Qiu ship a second time.”

The fourth-rank official was silent for a while, then rebutted thus: “Yuling has already been destroyed. In the future when our three nations finish negotiating, all three nations will be troubled by Yuling’s remnants. This method is merely a warning to those with ulterior motives.”

Mo Zi shook her head and smiled: “This commoner is ignorant and cannot see this as a warning to Yuling people. Rather, it seems like killing the chicken to warn the monkey—shown to us of Great Zhou. Has Sir perhaps forgotten that this is not Yuling, but Great Zhou’s capital?”

The fourth-rank official was stunned. Yes, if Great Zhou thought this way, it wouldn’t be good at all. Earlier, letting the black-armored warriors run wild was only toward those ordinary commoners—being somewhat presumptuous could be considered diminishing Great Zhou’s authority. But Great Zhou’s navy was indeed very troublesome. Never mind their shipbuilding techniques—their troop numbers far exceeded Great Qiu’s, and they had formidable generals leading troops that one had to be wary of.

Seeing the other party had some understanding, Mo Zi struck while the iron was hot: “World peace depends on the reasonable and capable people of the three nations. Since we seek harmony, we truly should not see bloodshed today. Sir possesses both civil and military talents and certainly understands this principle. I request that Sir put down the deceased and cover them with clothing. Great Zhou is a land of propriety and etiquette. Great Qiu also advocates loyalty, righteousness, filial piety, and propriety.”

Originally, even if Mo Zi hadn’t asked him to put down this group of dead people, the fourth-rank official had been planning to discuss it with that person. But covering them with clothing—this he strongly resisted and flatly refused: “In this freezing cold, having come from afar, how would we have extra clothes to drape over dead people?”

Mo Zi seemed to have anticipated he wouldn’t agree. After thinking, she said in a very humble tone: “If Sir is willing, this commoner has a method that can solve this.”

The fourth-rank official found Mo Zi too difficult to deal with and was about to turn and leave when he heard that person say two words in a low voice. Somewhat surprised, he nevertheless conveyed: “It’s acceptable.”

Mo Zi called out loudly to all the Hongyu workers: “Everyone, Great Zhou, Nande, Yuling, and Great Qiu once agreed to a hundred years of mutual peace. However, worldly affairs are unpredictable, and times change. We cannot do much else, but adding clothing for others is still well within our means. I’ll take the lead—whoever among you isn’t afraid of the cold, follow my example once.”

With that said, she removed the cotton robe from her body and pulled up the boat hook, this time tying it firmly to the hook head.

Not one person from Hongyu failed to follow suit. They removed their robes and hung them on the iron hooks.

Mo Zi gripped the tail of the pole with her right hand and counted: “One… two… three!”

This was the tacit understanding trained through working together. Everyone waited for her to count to three, and dozens of cotton robes left their hands. Smack, smack, smack, smack—so orderly, draping over Great Qiu’s ship’s edge.

The motion was forceful enough.

The Great Qiu ship fell silent.

“Sir, please allow us to make a small contribution to world peace.” Since the other side had used a grand hat to suppress her, she put the grand hat right back on them. World peace? Hmph!

The fourth-rank official was simply dumbfounded. How could he have imagined Mo Zi would pull this move? He could only look at that person again, waiting for his indication.

That person turned his face slightly to the side, glimpsed the cotton robes on the gunwale—the expression of delight was replaced by gravity. But ultimately he nodded lightly.

The fourth-rank official cleared his throat: “Since Great Zhou’s common people are so kindhearted, this envoy cannot disappoint them. Someone, put down those dead soldiers and drape them with clothing. You all must also restrain your words and actions—you may not continue to make such jokes about people. We are within Great Zhou’s territory and should observe Great Zhou’s propriety.”

Seeing those black-armored warriors unwilling yet having no choice but to comply, Mo Zi thought to herself: Black-armored warriors are Great Qiu’s most elite brave warriors. Previously, officials below fourth rank had trouble moving them much, yet now they’re easier to talk to?

Zan Jin lightly patted her.

Mo Zi turned her head and saw Fei Xia and Shui She had boarded the ship. She clasped her fists: “Many thanks to Sir for fulfilling this commoner’s wish. May Great Qiu and our Great Zhou live in peace forever. Farewell.”

When everyone worked as one, the ship moved as if downstream. In a short while, they had sailed far away.

On the Great Qiu ship, that person who had deliberately kept his back to Mo Zi all along turned around.