In the Ming Dynasty, I became invincible simply by extracting memories!

Shen Lian instinctively took a step forward, using the crowd as cover, and followed the person at a distance without making a sound. Making a fuss would only alert the target.

The tall, thin figure had clearly noticed the pursuers and weaved through the alleys, trying to shake off Shen Lian. Shen Lian pursued relentlessly, but was stopped at a fork in the road by the guards at the granary. Military regulations were strict; entry was forbidden without orders. The delay was brief; the man had vanished. Shen Lian's mind raced: the granary was impassable, the city walls were too steep to scale, and the only hiding place was the City God Temple at the North Gate. He made a quick decision, signaling for Yi Dong and Yi Xia to join him. The three of them took a shortcut straight to the City God Temple, hiding behind an old locust tree ahead of them.

As dusk approached, the cannon fire on the sea ceased, and the Japanese pirates' offensive entered a brief respite. The city was filled with the groans of wounded soldiers and the sounds of hammering as fortifications were repaired; it had been another gruesome day. Yet, the quiet of the City God Temple silently reminded Shen Lian of the urgency of the situation.

Time ticked by, and just as despair was about to set in, the edge of the tree shadow trembled slightly. A tall, thin figure emerged from the end of the alley, walking briskly along the base of the wall, glancing back every now and then. After confirming no one was around, it swiftly slipped into the crooked doorway of the dilapidated temple. Moments later, the sound of fluttering wings echoed from within the temple.

A gray carrier pigeon flew out of the broken window, flapping its wings and heading towards the sea.

As Dong raised his hand, a cold light shot out from his sleeve. The tail of the dart left a silver line in the twilight, piercing through the chest of the carrier pigeon. The pigeon's wings stiffened in mid-air, and it plummeted straight onto the stone steps in front of the temple.

Shen Lian strode forward, untied the bamboo tube from the carrier pigeon's leg, peeled off the sealing wax, and took out the paper strip.

The note contained only one line of text:

The gunpowder on the east wall has been replenished, and the western section will be rotated at 5 PM.

Shen Lian immediately recognized that the handwriting on the pen was exactly the same as that on the Japanese secret letter that framed Zhao Wenbao.

Shen Lian slowly stood up and tucked the note into his sleeve. He rarely got truly angry, but at this moment, a feeling that was hard to describe as either anger or sorrow welled up in his chest. The gunpowder on the east wall had been dried overnight, and the rotation of guards on the west section at dusk was a plan he had just discussed with Deng Cheng.

If this letter reaches Wu Ping, and the western section of the city wall is captured tonight, Dachengsuo will become a slaughterhouse.

The three men drew their swords and walked straight into the dilapidated temple.

The main hall of the City God Temple was cold and damp. The statue of the god had long been overturned, with severed heads and arms lying on the ground. Under the offering table, next to a bamboo pigeon coop, a tall and thin figure was huddled up, trembling like a leaf under the oppressive aura of Shen Lian and the other two, completely forgetting to resist.

It was the same relieved figure who had just been on the training ground.

The short knife, used in both winter and summer, was silently pressed against his neck. The blade grazed his flesh, and the man let out a short, sharp scream, freezing in place. Shen Lian used the twilight filtering through the broken window to examine the face. He was around forty years old, with fair skin, and the words "Outpost" were embroidered on the chest of his uniform, while the hilt of his knife at his waist was engraved with the character "Li".

"Impressive skills," Shen Lian said with slight annoyance. "You almost got lost while we were winding through the alleys."

"Mr. Shen...?" The man's lips trembled, his voice dry. "You Imperial Guards can just hold a knife to someone's neck like that? What nonsense! I don't understand what you're talking about!"

"That's not right. The Embroidered Uniform Guard holds knives to the necks of traitors who collude with the Japanese, not just anyone's neck," Yi Dong glared fiercely.

"Don't move!" Xia pushed her short knife forward a few inches, stopping the man from twisting his body.

Shen Lian reached out and took off the waist tag from the man's waist, then turned it over to take a look.

"Commander Li Gui."

Shen Lian put the waist token into his pocket: "You were quite quick to hide the pigeon coop just now. What are you carrying in your clothes? Take it out yourself."

Yi Dong pulled an ivory plum blossom seal from Li Gui's arms.

"The plum blossoms of Meiling." Shen Lian put away the seal. "Commander Li, good tricks. How much did Captain Wu give you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Li Gui suddenly became agitated. "I picked up this seal! It was...it was dropped on the ground by Zhao Wenbao! I thought it was small and delicate, something to play with. Yes, it's Zhao Wenbao! The seal belongs to Zhao Wenbao! He's a spy! Commander Yu has already executed him!"

Shen Lian stopped talking and put his hand on Li Gui's shoulder.

The ability to retrieve memories is quietly activated.

Countless images flooded in like a burst dam.

He saw Zhangzhou City four years ago, where Li Gui was dragged out of the gambling den by two thugs, his face bruised and swollen, and the amount on the IOU was enough to buy his life.

He saw Li Gui secretly open the military's document box in the middle of the night, using a brush dipped in pine soot ink to copy the military deployment against the Japanese on a thin piece of bamboo paper, fold it, and stuff it into the bamboo tube attached to a pigeon's leg. The first time he delivered the message, his hands trembled so much he could barely hold the pigeon; the pigeon's wings flapped against his palms. He gritted his teeth and threw the pigeon out the window.

He saw Li Gui appear at the largest gambling den in Zhangzhou the day after he received the silver, betting dozens of taels of silver, attracting the attention of all the gamblers. He laughed heartily when he won, and slammed his fist on the table and cursed when he lost. When he was blinded by greed, he even bet a knife.

He saw how Li Gui approached Zhao Wenbao, this old sentry officer who could barely read. Li Gui patted him on the shoulder with a beaming smile: "Old Zhao, we're comrades, how could I harm you? I sent ten taels of silver to your mother, enough to keep her comfortable. Just do a few small favors for me, and I'll reward you handsomely afterwards."

He saw last night.

After much searching, Zhao Wenbao finally found Li Gui. His expression was solemn, and his tone was full of grief, indignation, and determination.

"I'm going to see Commander Yu and lay everything out on the table!" His eyes were filled with pain. "Those heartless bastards, Wu Ping! My brothers who fought alongside me have fallen one after another under his Japanese swords!" Zhao Wenbao was filled with resentment. "My life is worthless to begin with; I'll just die. But if my elderly mother finds out that I've been secretly colluding with the Japanese and living off these sordid deeds for a few taels of silver, she'd rather I die on the spot than let me do this!"

Upon hearing this, Li Gui immediately laughed heartily, stepped forward, and firmly put his arm around Zhao's shoulder, his expression frank and earnest: "Old Zhao, what you said really resonates with me! You did the right thing. In fact, I had already made up my mind to tell Commander Yu the truth."

Warmth and resonance can last only a moment, and then a sudden change occurs!

Just as Li Gui wrapped his arms around Zhao Wenbao, a cold glint suddenly appeared! The short knife that had been hidden in his sleeve slid out suddenly, and his wrist swiftly tightened to lock onto Zhao Wenbao's neck!

The strike was incredibly fast, ruthless, and clean. Zhao Wenbao didn't even have time to scream before his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground. His hand flailing in the air, grasping nothing. Li Gui checked his breathing, but then vanished into the night as if nothing had happened.

Shen Lian withdrew his hand.

His face had turned pale, devoid of color. This was because the golden finger had not only exhausted him, but also because he had just seen the last glimmer of light in Zhao Wenbao's eyes in that memory—a light of resentment, regret, and despair tinged with the abyss of despair.

"Li Gui, you were ruthless with Zhao Wenbao's knife."

Upon hearing this, Yi Dong and Yi Xia's expressions changed drastically. They immediately stepped forward, tightening their steel knives and pressing them firmly against Li Gui's neck!

Li Gui's face turned deathly pale.

"You're the one who slipped that secret Japanese letter into his suitcase. You're the one who threatened his family. You also set up his gambling debts. He wasn't a gambler to begin with, but you sent someone to lure him into the casino, got him addicted, and then used his family's lives to force him to comply."

Li Gui's lips trembled, and he was so shocked that he couldn't utter a single word.

"Take him away." Shen Lian stood up. "Go see General Yu."

When Shen Lian led the bound and gagged Li Gui into the council hall of Dacheng, the generals who were discussing today's casualties and planning tomorrow's city defenses were all stunned.

Deng Cheng was the first to jump up.

The towering man, his chest still wrapped in blood-stained bandages, froze, as if struck by lightning, upon seeing the person kneeling on the ground. He stared at Li Gui for several breaths. "Mr. Shen, are you sure you haven't arrested the wrong person? Li Gui has followed me for many years, and he's never been hesitant in fighting the Japanese pirates! In the battle of Zhao'an, he killed three Japanese pirates and has more than a dozen scars on his body. How could it be him? How could he possibly be colluding with the Japanese?"

Li Gui, kneeling on the ground, burst into tears upon hearing Deng Cheng speak up for him. He crawled towards Deng Cheng on his knees, but was restrained by two guards, still shouting, "General Deng, injustice! Injustice! Mr. Shen has wronged an innocent man!"

Deng Cheng's robe twitched, and he instinctively wanted to step forward and speak up for Li Gui. Several of his officers also stood up, their faces filled with disbelief. The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became tense. This was no nobody; he was the captain of the vanguard battalion, a trusted confidant of Deng Cheng, and a man who had actually fought Japanese pirates on the battlefield.

"Mr. Shen, shouldn't we investigate this matter more carefully?" Even the usually composed Deputy Commander-in-Chief Tang Kekuan couldn't help but speak up, his face clearly showing gravity and unease. "Commander Li usually doesn't show his strength, but he has served under Commander Yu for nearly fifteen years. I have heard of him more or less, and he has always been at the forefront of every battle. This evidence of collusion with the Japanese..."

"Yes." Shen Lian took out three items from his sleeve and placed them on the table one by one.

The torn piece of paper still bore the words "Zhao the garrison commander...family...Zhejiang...Taizhou..."; the plum blossom seal was still damp with fresh ink; and the piece of paper taken from the pigeon's leg had clear writing and still-wet ink.

"These three items came from Zhao Wenbao's barracks, Li Gui's bosom, and the carrier pigeon he released." Shen Lian's voice was calm as still water. "Li Gui, in Zhangzhou, the merchant who paid off your gambling debts was surnamed Lin. You could gamble freely for a hundred taels of silver."

Li Gui shuddered, the fear in his eyes as he looked at Shen Lian even greater than when his carrier pigeon had been intercepted by the dart. He couldn't understand how this Imperial Guard knew about the merchant surnamed Lin, and even described the amount of silver he received the first time so precisely.

"You're lying! You're lying!" he cried out, trying to mask his fear. "I've never seen a businessman surnamed Lin! I've never seen him!"

Shen Lian ignored him and continued, "In the thirty-first year of the Jiajing reign, you followed Commander Yu to defend Taizhou. The Japanese pirates launched a sudden night attack. Disregarding orders, you led eight men to attack without authorization. Under cover of darkness, you reached the anchorage of the Japanese pirate fleet and burned two enemy ships, throwing the pirates into chaos. Commander Yu recognized your exceptional courage and promoted you to the rank of sentry officer. That was the most triumphant battle you had ever fought since joining the army."

Li Gui's body stiffened slightly. That happened almost ten years ago; how could this Imperial Guard know about it?

"In the thirty-fourth year of the Jiajing reign, you incurred your first gambling debt at that small gambling den near the Quanzhou Prefectural School. It's utterly ridiculous that Zhao Wenbao paid it for you. Zhao Wenbao treated you sincerely, always looking out for you. How dare you be so heartless and cruel as to murder your former brother with whom you shared life and death?!" Shen Lian's eyes were bloodshot. He suddenly grabbed Li Gui's collar, yanked him close, and roared angrily, "With your heartless and treacherous nature, are you even human?!"

"After you were promoted to battalion commander, you had some spare cash and couldn't control your spending. In the following years, every time you were transferred between Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, and Taizhou, you would first find out which alley in the city had the gambling dens. The people at the gambling dens called you 'Big Fat Sheep, Soldier.'"

"Commander Li, over the years you've lost no less than eight hundred taels of silver at the gambling table. Your salary as a commander is only twenty taels a year. Where did this money come from?"

Li Gui's face turned deathly pale with shock.

"How do you know all this..." he almost murmured, "How could you possibly know all this..."

Deng Cheng stood to the side, his face growing increasingly grim. He had seen Li Gui's reaction—the despair on the verge of collapse that only someone whose secrets had been exposed could display. Looking at the evidence Shen Lian had laid out, his heart churned violently. Forcing back his disappointment, he asked, "You...how could you bear to harm Zhao Wenbao? He's a brother in arms!"

Li Gui's lips trembled, and he dared not look up at Deng Cheng.

"Are the gambling debts that Mr. Shen found out true?" Tang Kekuan asked.

Li Gui finally lowered his head.

Deng Cheng stood there dumbfounded, and asked again in a very low and hoarse voice, "This... these achievements over the years may have been earned through bloodshed. Did you say you would quit gambling in front of your brothers in the sentry post? How can you be so unable to control yourself?" As soon as he finished speaking, Deng Cheng was about to step forward and kick Li Gui, but was quickly stopped by the generals.

As Shen Lian spoke, his tone was filled with complex regret. He stepped forward, looking at Li Gui kneeling on the ground, "In those years, you, Li Gui, fought bravely against the enemy. Those battle achievements, those scars, were all earned with real swords and spears. Li Gui, it's true that you colluded with the Japanese."

Li Gui's hands were stained with the blood of Japanese pirates, and also with the blood of his comrades. The real tragedy is that sometimes, a person can be both a hero and a coward at the same time. When he faced the blades of the Japanese pirates on the battlefield, he was a fearless warrior, but when he turned around and faced the sound of dice in the gambling den and his own weakness, he became a traitor who betrayed his comrades.

Li Gui trembled violently, his face streaked with tears and snot. He kowtowed desperately to Deng Cheng, his forehead slamming against the blue brick floor with a dull thud, leaving a patch of bright red blood after a few thuds.

"General Deng! General Deng! I'm so sorry! I have no face to see you!" His voice was hoarse and broken. "I'm a gambler. A few years ago, when I had just been promoted to battalion commander, some old Annamese gamblers set a trap for me, and I couldn't control myself... They said they would report me to Commander Yu if I didn't pay back the money, but I was afraid of being exposed... Just then, a merchant surnamed Lin came to my door, saying that if I helped him pass on a few messages, not only would my gambling debts be wiped clean, but I could also make money. I was blinded by greed..."

"General Deng, all these years I've fought the Japanese pirates, always charging to the front lines, trying to wash myself clean with their blood! But I can't wash myself clean... I can't wash myself clean!" He wailed. "I killed Zhao Wenbao. He said he was going to confess to Commander Yu. I steeled myself, afraid... afraid he'd reveal the truth... I was bewitched... I have an eighty-year-old mother at home!"

Li Gui knelt on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, unable to utter a complete sentence. Yu Dayou broke the silence and slowly walked to Li Gui.

"Li Gui, you have followed me for many years, and I remember all your merits on the battlefield. During the night raid on Taizhou, you burned the Japanese pirates' ships. In the bloody battle of Wangjiangjing, you saved Dengcheng's life."

Li Gui raised his tearful eyes, his lips trembling violently.

Yu Dayou shifted his gaze from Li Gui and swept it over the generals present. He saw Deng Cheng, who was about to plead with him, Tang Kekuan, whose expression was complicated, and the other generals who remained silent.

"But," his voice suddenly hardened like iron, "military law is as solid as a mountain."

Four words, resounding with conviction.

"Those who collude with the Japanese pirates, kill. Those who betray their comrades, kill. Those who provide military intelligence to the enemy, kill." Yu Dayou enunciated each word clearly. "Li Gui, you saved Deng Cheng's life, and I will remember that debt. But you owe Zhao Wenbao your life; his mother is still waiting for him to come home in Taizhou. You intend to repay it with a knife? Can the money you sent to his family buy back his life? Can it restore his reputation?"

Li Gui knelt on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, and kept kowtowing.

Yu Dayou turned around, facing the generals, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"Take him to the city wall and execute him in a public and just manner."

Four guards stepped forward and dragged the limp Li Gui away. Deng Cheng turned his head, his shoulders trembling violently. Tang Kekuan sighed deeply and closed his eyes.

Li Gui was taken to the most conspicuous spot on the city wall, and in front of all the guards, his enormous head fell to the ground. Yu Dayou personally carried Li Gui's head and hung it in the most prominent position on the city wall, facing the direction of Wu Ping's fleet.

Shen Lian knew that Wu Ping's inside man in the city was finished, and his patience had run out. With the battle at this stage, Xu Chaoguang, Wang Boxuan, and other spectators were already in place.

Tomorrow at dawn, everything will be clear.