During the Qin Dynasty, he was in charge of the net.

Lian Po and Chen Chang appeared at the tavern entrance an hour later.

The sun was already setting, and there were far fewer people gathered around the tavern.

Lian Po immediately spotted Chen Er hanging at the entrance of the tavern. His body was tied to a wooden stake, his arms were bare, and he was covered in blood, looking extremely miserable.

Seeing this, Lian Po felt a pang of pity. He quickly stepped forward, pulled down the guard post, and went to Chen Er's side to untie him.

The tavern owner had already sent two waiters to stand guard nearby. When they saw an old man with white hair trying to untie the second son, they hurriedly went to stop him.

The two waiters tried to grab Lian Po's arm, but when they tried to pull him back, they found that he wouldn't budge.

The two were also puzzled. They looked at the burly old man in front of them. He had a full head of white hair and his face was full of wrinkles. He was probably in his eighties or nineties.

This old man should be half-buried in the ground, how could he have such great strength?

The two waiters wanted to try again, but Lian Po had already grabbed the rope binding the dark-skinned man. With a slight effort, the finger-thick hemp rope snapped.

So much so that the two waiters who were pulling Lian Po were thrown back by the force and fell twice.

Lian Po removed Chen Er from the wooden stake, and Chen Er seemed to be awakened by Lian Po's action.

"General, is that you?"

Chen Er's voice was so weak that it was almost inaudible, but Lian Po still heard it clearly.

"it's me."

Two streams of murky tears flowed from Chen Er's eyes.

"General, I didn't... I was framed."

Chen Er uttered these words intermittently, and when he finished speaking, he seemed to have exhausted his last bit of strength, and the light in his eyes completely disappeared.

Lian Po knew that with the spirit of this dark-skinned man, he shouldn't have suffered such humiliation. The reason he had held on until now was probably because he wanted to explain something to him.

Having spent his life on the battlefield, witnessing the deaths of countless brothers before his eyes, he now felt not grief, but shame.

When he left, he met Chen Chang and Chen Er's elderly mother, who was a blind old woman. She was very worried about her son leaving Zhao for Wei.

However, when she heard that her son wanted to follow Lian Po, she immediately changed her attitude and told her son to listen to General Lian Po's words.

Lian Po knew he had no face to see the old woman.

Holding the dark-skinned man's corpse, Lian Po suddenly felt something and looked towards the second floor of the tavern.

On the second floor of the tavern, a gloomy young man dressed in a black robe stood out. The two looked at each other, and with just one glance, they felt a sense of apprehension towards each other.

The young man in black robes was Li Ji. In his eyes, although the burly old man was dressed in plain clothes, he had an aura of commanding thousands of troops and being the only one who could do it. He figured that this old man must be his target for this mission, Lian Po of the Zhao State.

In Lian Po's eyes, the black-robed youth's gaze was like the water of a cold pool, deep and desolate, and his body was filled with a murderous aura, like a vicious tiger ready to devour someone. This person must be the mastermind behind Chen Er's affair.

"You must be General Lian Po of Zhao, sir?" Li Ji jumped down from the building, landed lightly, and stood in front of Lian Po, asking.

"Indeed, I am Lian Po."

"I don't know why you would harm my personal guards."

Lian Po asked calmly, but beneath that calm lay a volcano about to erupt.

"Because I want something like what the general has," Li Ji asked calmly, seemingly unaware of Lian Po's impending outburst.

"What is it?" Lian Po asked, frowning. He was not trusted by the new ruler of Zhao, was ostracized by the court officials, and had no assets at home. He did not understand what he had that was so coveted.

"If the general is not afraid, you may come into the tavern and talk with me." Li Ji pointed to the tavern and then went inside.

Lian Po frowned as he watched Li Ji's figure, then handed the body of his second son to Chen Chang and said:

"You guard Chen Er's body and wait for me to come out."

"General, I'll go in with you. It'll be good to have someone to watch out for us if the bandits have an ambush."

Upon hearing this, Lian Po shook his head and said:

"I am old and near death, I have no fear of these things. If anything changes later, take the second son's body back to Zhao."

Chen Chang wanted to say something more, but then he heard Lian Po say, "This is a military order."

"Yes, General." Chen Chang straightened up and replied loudly, unaware that the next time he saw General Lian Po would be the time of their parting.

Lian Po entered the tavern and followed Li Ji up to the second floor.

Li Ji sat at the table, which was covered with food.

"General Lian, you must be hungry. We can talk about our business later. Why don't we eat first?"

Lian Po had indeed not eaten for almost a day, but he didn't look at the food. He simply waved his hand and looked straight into Li Ji's eyes.

"Is the general afraid that I will poison the food? Well then."

The reason I want to see the general is that I want to take something from him.

"What is it?"

"The general's head."

The atmosphere froze the moment Li Ji uttered those words.

However, Lian Po did not get angry as Li Ji had expected.

Lian Po remained calm and asked, "Who sent you?"

"The Luo Wang (Net of Heaven), but the information about the general was provided by people from Zhao and Wei. As for who they are, we at Luo Wang cannot say," Li Ji replied calmly.

Li Ji's answer, though simple, directly addressed the core of the conflict surrounding Lian Po's entry into Wei: not only did Zhao not want Lian Po to enter Wei, but there were also people in Wei who were resisting him.

Upon hearing this answer, Lian Po was taken aback. For the first time, his usually calm face showed a change in expression. If the Wei leadership did not want him to join Wei, then what was the basis for his entry into Wei?

"Is there really no place left for me, Lian Po, to go?" Knowing that his chances of joining Wei were slim, Lian Po disregarded everyone else and couldn't help but voice his thoughts.

"From the very beginning, there was no possibility of success for you, General, once you entered Wei. You could be appointed a Grand General in Zhao, but once you leave Zhao, you will only be a homeless dog."

"Fine, what a pathetic dog. You think I won't dare to make a move? Aren't you afraid I'll kill you first?" Lian Po asked, squinting, seemingly genuinely considering whether it was feasible.

Will killing this assassin sent by the Luo Wang organization break the deadlock?

At this moment, the atmosphere between the two had reached a freezing point, and the next moment could see swords clashing and blood splattering.

However, even at such a moment, Li Ji calmly poured himself another glass of wine and then slowly said:

"Killing someone is to make your own life better, but if killing someone is digging your own bigger grave, then what is the point of killing that person?"

Kill me, and the Net will only send even more powerful assassins. With information provided by the states of Zhao and Wei, the Net can know the general's whereabouts at any time.

This is a hunt, a fight to the death.

"Hahaha... Hahaha! Good, very good!"

Upon hearing this, Lian Po suddenly burst into laughter, the sound echoing through the tavern. However, there was no laughter in his aged eyes, only a sense of sorrow and self-mockery.

With the situation so clear, he not only couldn't enter Wei's territory, but he also couldn't do anything about the murderer who killed Chen Er, who was right in front of him.

He had initially been curious about how Chen Er had been framed, but now he had lost interest. After their conversation, he realized that the young man before him was too cunning and ruthless. Even Lian Po, who was powerless to resist, could only submit. Chen Er would likely die without any chance of redress.

After laughing, Lian Po's face quickly returned to calm, but his voice sounded a few years older than usual as he said:

"Thank you, young man, thank you for waking me up, otherwise I would still be deceiving myself."

You may take my head, Lian Po's head.

"But I have one wish unfulfilled before I die; please grant it."

"General, please speak freely." Li Ji neither agreed nor refused.

The other party can say it, but whether they will agree is another matter.