If I, a death row inmate, am not to become a demon, am I to become a member of the Imperial Guard?

Anyang City was deathly still.

Commander Chen huddled in his study like a frightened mouse. The doors and windows were tightly shut, not even a breath of wind could get in. The air was thick with the musty smell of decay.

The tea on his table had long since gone cold. He hadn't touched it.

Two hours ago, the scout he sent out came running back like a madman. The man stammered and couldn't finish a sentence; he just kept gesturing to indicate his name.

The entourage of the Imperial Guard Commander has already passed Qingshi Ferry. They should be able to enter the city by tomorrow morning at the latest.

Pacification Commissioner!

These three words were like three mountains, pressing down on Chen Qianhu, making it hard for him to breathe. He knew what this meant. The Heavenly Principle Sect affair, the embezzlement of pawnshops, the collusion with bandits—each one was enough to kill him ten times over.

He's finished.

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, soaking his collar. His fingers unconsciously reached for the purse at his waist. It was bulging, holding all his hopes.

He risked his life to earn those tens of thousands of taels of silver.

With that money, he could go south, buy a small island, and hire a few servants. He could live a carefree life for the rest of his days.

Yes, escape! We must escape now!

Commander Chen suddenly stood up, the movement so abrupt that it knocked over the chair behind him. The wooden leg slammed onto the blue brick floor with a loud crash. He was startled, his heart pounding wildly.

He dared not delay, hurriedly stuffing all the scattered silver notes on the table into an oilcloth bag. He then dragged a heavy wooden box from under the bed, inside which were dozens of ingots of gold.

These are too heavy. I can't take them with me.

He gritted his teeth, grabbed only three or five of the smallest ingots, and stuffed them into his pocket. Then he rummaged through the closet and pulled out a set of the most worn-out coarse cloth clothes to change into. In the mirror, his face was sallow, his eyes sunken, like a starving ghost crawling out of a mass grave.

He tightly wrapped the oilcloth around his chest and placed it close to his body. That made it look proper.

Under the cover of night, he quietly slipped out the back door. Like a ghost, he disappeared into the crisscrossing alleys of Anyang City.

Three miles outside the city, there is a dilapidated temple.

That was the only way to the official road to the south.

Zhou Yang had arrived long ago. He and Qin Shuang were lying in the bushes halfway up the mountain, dozens of feet apart, and could see the entrance to the dilapidated temple clearly.

The wind here is colder than in the city, carrying the dampness of the grass and trees. Qin Shuang shrank her neck and asked in a low voice, "Will he come?"

"Yes, he will." Zhou Yang's voice was calm. "A person who is about to drown will see every straw he grabs as a lifeline. That bag of silver was his lifeline."

Zhou Yang spent a few taels of silver to hire seven or eight thugs. These men were all struggling to make ends meet outside the city, homeless and often starving. He gave them a chance to survive, letting them block other people's path to survival.

It's a very fair deal.

The thugs had already settled in the dilapidated temple. They lit a bonfire, and on it sat a stolen, fat chicken, sizzling and dripping with oil. The aroma carried far on the wind.

They deliberately laughed and talked loudly, their vulgar voices carrying for miles at night.

Commander Chen walked in the darkness for almost an hour. His feet were blistered and raw. He was exhausted and scared, almost collapsing. Just then, he smelled the aroma of meat.

He stopped and hid behind a tree to observe carefully.

Inside the dilapidated temple, the firelight flickered. Several men dressed in tattered armor were gathered around the fire, eating meat and drinking wine heartily. Judging from their appearance, they didn't seem to be any kind of martial arts experts.

Commander Chen began to consider the situation. Walking alone at night was too dangerous. If he encountered bandits, he would lose the bag of silver. It would be much safer to have a few people escort him.

These people may not look like good stuff, but that's precisely why they're easy to control.

He cleared his throat, straightened his tattered clothes, and pretended to be down on his luck as he walked step by step toward the dilapidated temple.

"Who goes there!" The sentry at the temple gate immediately stood up, holding a chipped knife in his hand.

Commander Chen raised his hands, revealing a fawning smile. "Gentlemen, please do me a favor. I'm just passing through and I've gotten lost. I'd like to borrow a light and rest my feet."

The thugs in the temple all looked over. The one-eyed leader sized him up, his eyes filled with greed and suspicion.

"Rest? I think you're not resting, you've come to seek refuge, haven't you?" The one-eyed man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

Commander Chen was startled, but remained outwardly calm. "Sir, you jest. I am a law-abiding citizen; why would I seek refuge with anyone?"

"A law-abiding citizen?" The one-eyed man spat. "A law-abiding citizen's chest can be bulging? I advise you not to try anything funny. Hand over the stuff, and I'll give you a quick death."

Commander Chen realized something was wrong; these people were probably bandits. He turned to run, but two men grabbed him and pinned him down, rendering him unable to move.

"Don't rush off." The one-eyed man strolled over slowly and reached into the oilcloth bag in his arms.

Commander Chen struggled, shouting, "Don't do it! I'll give it to you myself! The silver is all yours!"

This is a delaying tactic. He wants to appease these people first.

The oilcloth bundle was pulled out; it was heavy. The one-eyed man opened it and his eyes widened in disbelief. Inside were colorful silver notes.

"My goodness..." he couldn't help but curse.

The other soldiers and thugs also gathered around, their breathing becoming heavy as they looked at the silver notes.

Seeing his opportunity, Commander Chen lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "What's this? If you're willing to work for me, this little bit of silver is just a drop in the bucket!"

The one-eyed man paused, looking at him suspiciously: "What do you mean?"

"I am Commander Chen of the Anyang Garrison!" He lied, elevating his rank by one grade. "Something has happened in the city, and I need to go south to seek refuge with the Governor-General. This is my travel money. If you escort me, I guarantee you will all be given official positions when we arrive!"

He spoke with absolute certainty.

Those thugs had been bribed by Zhou Yang, and they were putting on a convincing act. When they heard this, their faces indeed showed longing.

A rogue soldier leaned close to the one-eyed man's ear and whispered, "Boss, this is a real opportunity. We've spent half our lives trying to get by, and we haven't even managed to become a ninth-rank official. If we could really get in with the governor, wouldn't we be set for life?"

The one-eyed man hesitated.

He looked at the silver note in his hand, then at Commander Chen's "confident" expression. His heart began to pound.

Commander Chen added fuel to the fire. He took out the gold ingots from his pocket and threw them on the ground.

"Use this to buy wine for the brothers first!" His voice carried an undeniable authority. "As long as you help me cross the river safely, you can have any county on the south bank designated as your government office!"

The gold gleamed alluringly in the firelight.

The soldiers' eyes turned red.

One-Eyed Dragon grabbed Commander Chen's hand, his face beaming with smiles: "Master Chen! You should have said so sooner! Don't worry, with us brothers here, no one can harm a hair on your head! We're loyal to you!"

He personally tied the oilcloth package back to Commander Chen's waist, behaving as respectfully as a grandson.

Commander Chen felt much more at ease. He knew he had made the right bet. He had successfully lured these people into their greed.

He feigned exhaustion as he sat by the fire, took the bowl of wine offered to him, and took a sip. "We'll leave at dawn. You've all had a hard night."

A few thugs, all smiles, put a piece of golden-brown roasted chicken on his plate.

Chen Qianhu picked up the chicken leg, about to put it in his mouth.

Suddenly, he felt a chill down his spine.

The hand that had handed him the chicken suddenly flipped over and grabbed his neck. At the same time, the two people sitting next to him sprang up, and a cold dagger plunged into the gap between his ribs.

"Well……"

Commander Chen's eyes widened like saucers. He couldn't understand why they had suddenly turned against each other.

The chicken leg in his hand fell to the ground, covered in dust.

"An official? The county government?" The one-eyed man leaned close to his ear, his voice like that of a demon from hell, "We just want your life and your money!"

The dagger was churning inside his body.

Commander Chen felt his life slipping away rapidly. With his last ounce of strength, he clutched the oilcloth bag to his chest. It was his life.

The others rushed forward.

He was hacked down with a flurry of blows.

There were no screams, only muffled thuds of blood and gore. These thugs moved with practiced ease, as if they had done it countless times before.

Soon, Commander Chen was reduced to a pile of mud.

The one-eyed man, panting heavily, pulled the oilcloth bag and the few gold ingots from his arms and distributed them to everyone.

"Light the fire! Burn it clean!"

The torch was thrown into the woodpile.

The dry wood and thatch immediately burst into flames. The flames greedily devoured everything in the temple, including the corpse of Commander Chen.

Half an hour later, the entire dilapidated temple was engulfed in flames.

On the mountainside, Qin Shuang watched the towering flames in silence. She hadn't expected it to end like this. There was no thrilling duel, only a disgraceful massacre.

Zhou Yang's face remained expressionless. He stood up and brushed the grass clippings off his clothes.

"Let's go," he said.

"Those people..."

"Once they take the money, they'll burn all of Commander Chen's bones to ashes. Then they'll go their separate ways, and no one will be able to find him," Zhou Yang said calmly. "They won't live long; the money in their hands will cost them their lives."

This was everything he had planned.

Let the greedy die from greed. Let those who most want to gain an advantage become the ones who gain an advantage in the eyes of others.

On the way down the mountain, Qin Shuang suddenly asked, "From the very beginning, you never intended to do it yourself?"

"I'm not an assassin," Zhou Yang replied. "I'm just a businessman. I accomplished the most with the least amount of money."

He stopped and glanced back at the firelight. The firelight reflected on his face, flickering intermittently.

"The greediest people deserve the worst fate," he said softly. "This deal is fair."