Just as the upper and lower classes in Xuanzhu County were mingling together, Qiugua Floating Town, a day's journey from Xuanzhu County, was also bustling.

Bang, bang, bang!

After a series of gunshots, the last soldier also fell to the ground.

A group of attackers dressed as merchants examined the battlefield. At this moment, the entire Qiugua Floating Town was littered with corpses, blood flowing like a river. Hundreds of the Linhai Army were completely annihilated. The burning bonfire illuminated their unwilling faces, and the scorched bread near the fire showed they had been attacked while dining.

The large holes in the ground and the still-burning house ruins seemed to prove how effective the Luminous Firepowder was.

Most of the injuries on their bodies were from sharp weapons, with a few from guns. The merchants picked up swords and knives to make sure the bodies were dead, and several carts loaded with gold and silver treasures accumulated over centuries in Xuanzhu County were driven away from Qiugua Floating Town by them.

Pa.

As the blade pierced the flesh, the merchant felt a strange feedback from the sword. Looking down, he realized he had struck an artery, causing blood to spurt out.

But to be sure, he stabbed once more to confirm the body didn't move, truly making it a fine corpse, before continuing his work of stabbing the bodies.

It was unknown how long it was until the group of merchants put on Swift Blade Boots and left Qiugua Floating Town, with the sound of the carriage wheels fading into the distance, when suddenly, the body that had been stabbed twice twitched.

It was Wan Xisha.

He didn't dare stand up and crawled southwards. Most of the blood on him had clotted, even the terrifying wound on his chest that almost cleaved him in half no longer bled—that's why he could survive.

It was actually an illness, the Medical Officer called it 'Huiyao Disease'. Wan Xisha's physical condition was much better than that of ordinary people, with a restoration ability ten times that of a typical Huiyao person, but at a high cost—historically, those who contracted 'Huiyao Disease' rarely lived past thirty.

Destined to die young by birth, to say Wan Xisha didn't resent his condition would be a lie. But at this moment, he couldn't help but be thankful for his 'Huiyao Disease'.

If he didn't have this illness, their Linhai Army would have been completely wiped out.

Yet, despite his tough physique, the massive blood loss made his vision blurry, and his head swayed as if filled with water. Nevertheless, he kept crawling forward relentlessly.

He must deliver the intelligence from here!

He needed to let General Lan know who attacked the Linhai Army convoy!

He believed General Lan would avenge their fallen brothers and reclaim the dozen or so carts of crucial military funds!

"Cough, cough!"

Wan Xisha coughed out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, then crawled forward. The wound on his thigh split open again from hitting rocks, and his hands were a bloody mess, filthy and raw.

Time started to blur, and he seemed to see his comrades beside him, Xiao Liu who loved chicken legs, Jie who disliked wearing pants in the camp, and Old Wang whose feet smelled worse than his... Everyone seemed to be there, returning with him.

Wan Xisha didn't know how long he crawled until a beam of light illuminated him.

"You are worth remembering. Tell me your name."

Wan Xisha coughed twice, and hoarsely said:

"Linhai Army, Fifth Battalion, First Infantry Platoon, all..."

He suddenly drew the dagger from his waist and slashed out a blazing light burst:

"Charge!"

Swoosh!

A spray of blood bloomed, scattering on the foreign battlefield.

...

...

"Where will the military funds I sent to Lan Yan go?"

In the dark alley of Xuanzhu County, Leye suddenly asked a remote question.

"Why ask this?"

"Didn't you cause the riot today to keep Xuanzhu County too busy to tend to the just-departed Linhai Army supply fleet?" Leye said, "Moreover, the greatest profit you can reap from this riot is the batch of military funds I painstakingly gathered."

"Truly nothing can be hidden from you." Qin Leye smiled, "The funds will be sent to Yanjing."

"How was it done?"

"Do you mean how to take it or how to send it?"

"Both."

"Taking it was quite simple," Qin Leye shrugged, "Walk over, kill all the Linhai Army, and take it."

"The Linhai Army had as many as four hundred people. Do you have the forces to handle four hundred of the Linhai Army?" Leye was very skeptical about this.

"Of course not by force." Qin Leye pointed to the flames in the inner city, "It was already known where the Linhai Army would stop on the first night, and all we needed to do, just like bombing the Sea Cape Gate, was to lay some surprises where the Linhai Army would rest."

"Even with Luminous Firepowder, you couldn't have greatly reduced their numbers," Leye inquired, "Moreover, they have Swift Blade Scouts, who could possibly escape and report to Lan Yan. Even if Lan Yan doesn't consider me a friend, he would certainly consider those military funds his friends—you're dancing on a steel wire."

"Your thinking is wrong," Qin Leye laughed, "A panic-stricken regular army of four hundred people attacked at night, to kill them all, doesn't require equivalent force."

Leye paused slightly.

"Peak of Perfection?"

"Yes."

"Your Luminous Four Guardians still have such hidden cards?" Le Yu was truly surprised: "If the Luminous Four Guardians have so many high-level Martial Artists, with such deep foundation, you could directly sweep through Xuanzhu County."

"The foundation of Luminous Four Guardians isn't as deep as you think, and soon you'll understand the reason." Qin Le Yin gently shook his head: "I should first answer your other question—I'm planning to transport the military expenses back to Yanjing via the canal."

Luminous can be said to be the civilization of the Flame River, rising from the Flame Mountain in the Western Region, flowing towards the Dongyang Sea. The Flame River nurtures the people along both banks, hence the development of the Luminous people. Over these thousands of years, the Flame River has also become a major canal connecting east and west. If you go upstream from Dongyang, you can indeed reach Yanjing.

"I haven't heard that the Qin Family is involved in maritime transport." Le Yu squinted: "And if you want to return to Yanjing by river transport, even excluding weather interference, you must use a 'Dawn and Dusk' class steamship—otherwise Blue Flame will definitely have time to send troops to intercept you."

A regular sailing ship is influenced by the weather and wind currents, not fast in inland rivers. If it runs slowly, Blue Flame can catch up within a day and sink your ship outright.

However, the steel steamships developed in recent years, powered by Luminous Stone solar energy, can navigate quickly no matter the water currents, wind directions or weather, and their defense is impressive. The 'Dawn and Dusk' class steamship mentioned by Le Yu is the only steamship available for civilian use.

"Exactly." Qin Le Yin showed some surprise: "You seem quite knowledgeable about how to flee to Yanjing."

Of course, Le Yu also feared that White Night would suddenly betray him and revolt; naturally, he had prepared several escape routes for himself. He had a well-crafted plan for escaping Dongyang, avoiding repeating the mistakes of being kidnapped by traffickers.

Le Yu: "As far as I know, Xuanzhu County doesn't have a Dawn and Dusk class steamship."

"Indeed, it doesn't."

"Where did your steamship come from then?"

"Yanjing."

Le Yu slightly frowned: "But I've been monitoring all the major associations in Silver Blood. If they had a Dawn and Dusk class steamship coming from Yanjing, I would definitely know, unless the second-in-command slacked off."

"Yin Minghong didn't slack off, but there's one association you definitely wouldn't pay attention to." Qin Le Yin smiled: "Even if they brought a Dawn and Dusk steamship, you would think it's very normal."

Such an association with zero presence?

Le Yu quickly reviewed the member list of Silver Blood Association in his mind, until he recalled a name and suddenly realized: "Shi Family?"

"Correct, it's the Shi Family." Qin Le Yin nodded: "Selling off their estates, almost removed from Silver Blood Association, wholeheartedly leaving Xuanzhu County."

Several months ago, the Shi Family had been selling off their assets continuously. The first factory bought by White Night was obtained from the Shi Family.

During these tumultuous months, it seemed like the Shi Family had nothing to do with it. They kept selling off assets, exchanging them for gold and silver, appearing ready to flee at any moment, until Le Yu brought the Linhai Army into the village.

They painfully cut four percent, finally exchanged for Le Yu's pass, quickly fleeing Xuanzhu County with all their possessions. Le Yu didn't make things difficult for them given they willingly paid, even thinking the Shi Family might become the biggest winners—in addition to the other Silver Blood associations facing financial ruin, only suffering a four percent loss, the Shi Family naturally took a small loss as a win.

"Did the Luminous Four Guardians foresee such far-reaching plans months ago?"

"All guided by fate." Qin Le Yin shook his head: "The Shi Family originally just wanted to leave Dongyang, but when all conditions were met, everything naturally fell into place."

"What Luminous Four Guardians excel at is still these eight words—"

"Ride the trend, amplify the waves."

Le Yu nodded, stood straight, raised his head to look at Qin Le Yin, and said loudly: "Since your Luminous Four Guardians have already gained everything they wanted from Xuanzhu County—"

"Can you let me go?"

Ha!

Qin Le Yin couldn't help but laugh, lightly shaking his head: "I didn't expect you'd beg for mercy."

"Killing you won't recover the military expenses, nor can it turn back time. I obviously don't want to fight such a pointless battle," Le Yu said matter-of-factly: "Similarly, killing me won't bring you any benefits; let's just catch up as old friends, pretend nothing happened, okay?"

"No." Qin Le Yin shook his head: "Besides, you just said my biggest gain from this turmoil is the batch of military expenses."

"Actually, it's not. My biggest gain tonight."

"Is you."

His lips curled up, eyes bent, revealing a smile like receiving a birthday gift: "We don't mind workers' uprisings or struggle for discourse power. In fact, the more fiercely the workers rise, the higher our status in the Imperial Court."

"Raising rebels for one's own weight, I understand." Le Yu said: "Then all the more reason to keep me around, I can definitely become a great concern for the Imperial Court, White Night is less useful than I am—"

Qin Le Yin shook his head forcefully: "But you definitely cannot be kept, absolutely not."

"The conflict between workers and Silver Blood Association, many in Luminous Four Guardians can see it, even my teacher predicted the rise of the workers' class."

"Those who can see the direction of the wheels of history, I call them wise."

"If you were also wise, I might keep you."

Le Yu felt his intelligence was being belittled: "Am I not considered wise?"

"If being wise means only seeing the direction of history's wheels, the feeling you give me is that you can control the direction of history's wheels, even halt the wheels' steps." Qin Le Yin's eyes were filled with bright admiration: "I call someone like you—"

"Saint."

"So, I am truly delighted to meet you here."

"White Night, if removable, should be removed."

"You, must die!"