Republic of China era: A hundred-year-old still practicing martial arts? Is that right?

In the latter half of the night, fog rose over the sea.

A thin mist rose from the sea, obscuring the ship's silhouette on the water.

The entire dock was eerily quiet, with only the sound of the river water lapping against the embankment.

Deep in the reed beds, some distance from the estuary, a sudden "splash" of water could be heard.

A small fishing boat emerged silently, its oars submerged in the water, making no sound whatsoever.

A person stood at the bow of the ship, wrapped in a black cloak, with the hood pulled low, revealing only his chin.

Behind him followed a short-clothed attendant carrying a wooden box about half a person's height, with iron-bound corners, which looked quite heavy.

As soon as the boat touched the mudflats, the man stepped ashore, his boots making no sound as they sank into the mud.

"Click."

On the rooftop, the sound of Li Shuwen's gun tip slicing through the air was exceptionally clear in the still night.

The spearhead was pointed directly at the man's head on the shore; if he made the slightest movement, his head would be smashed to pieces.

"Brother Lin, how have you been?"

The man chuckled, lifting his hood to reveal Jiang Yunhe's face—a face that, while weary, remained shrewd. He looked up at the rooftop, his voice low and playful: "In the middle of the night, Brother Li, you should be able to distinguish friend from foe with your gun."

Lin Ji emerged from behind the fortifications: "You've got guts! You knew He Ze was going to join the National Salvation Association, didn't you!"

He stood opposite Jiang Yunhe, three steps apart: "You just boarded He Ze's flagship and come straight to see me? Aren't you afraid we'll throw you into the river to feed the fish?"

"Feeding fish?" Jiang Yunhe laughed, shaking the dew off his cloak. "In this chaotic world, what are eternal enemies, what are absolute allies? Old Lin, you've already reached the threshold of mastery, you don't still believe in that stuff about loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, do you?"

He crouched down and tapped the wooden box at his feet with his fingertips.

"I'm here tonight to make a deal with you."

Li Shuwen jumped down from the rooftop, strode over, his spear still pointed at Jiang Yunhe, and said in a deep voice:

"Who will do business with you?"

Jiang Yunhe glanced at him, a sneer on his lips: "If you dare to drop that gun, Jiangcheng will be blown to bits at dawn tomorrow. At that time, not only you, Brother Li, but even the people who just arrived from the Xinghua Society might not be able to escape."

Lin Ji raised his hand and pressed down on Li Shuwen's arm, his gaze fixed on the wooden box: "What do you mean?"

"He Ze never intended to occupy Jiangcheng." Jiang Yunhe's smile faded, and his voice turned serious. "He has twelve armed merchant ships upstream that will arrive by dawn. They're not carrying soldiers, but explosives. Twelve ships full of them."

He bent down and opened the wooden box, inside which were neatly stacked more than a dozen bundles of explosives.

At the bottom of the box was a yellowed blueprint, which showed the flight path and the berthing positions of the three Jing-class ships.

"He wants these ships to rush over and blow up right next to the Jing-class ship." Jiang Yunhe pointed to the mark on the blueprint with his fingertip: "Blowing down the Jing-class ship will give him more than half a month to sort out all the big and small matters in the south. By then, it will be too late for the government to go south to quell the rebellion."

Li Shuwen's expression changed: "What a brilliant plan! But what does this have to do with us?"

"Of course." Jiang Yunhe straightened up, clapped his hands, and looked at Li Shuwen with a light laugh: "Aren't you already doing it?"

Lin Ji bent down and picked up a bundle of explosives, pinching it between his fingertips.

It's military-grade yellow explosive, extremely powerful; a single shot can collapse half a building.

With twelve ships, let alone three Jing-class ships, they could lift half the dock into the sky.

"Why are you telling us this?" He looked up at Jiang Yunhe, his eyes sharp. "What good will it do you to leak such a major secret to me?"

"Benefits?" Jiang Yunhe smiled. "The benefit is that Jiangcheng won't be ruined here. Although I'm a江湖人 (jianghu person, a person from the martial arts world), I still have to have some bottom lines. The one who can truly save this country is neither the ruling government nor the National Salvation Association."

He glanced at Lin Ji and the other man: "Of course, it's not the current Xinghua Society, but at least you guys are still somewhat disciplined in your actions and don't use the lives of ordinary people as stepping stones. I don't want to see a perfectly good Jiangcheng blown to smithereens, nor do I want to see hundreds of thousands of people along the river become victims of warlords seizing power."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a deep, long whistle sounded from upstream.

"Waaah—"

The sound pierced through the thick fog, causing the river surface to tremble slightly.

The two of them looked up at the same time, gazing upstream.

In the thick night fog, a dark mass of shadows could be vaguely seen, one ship after another, forming a long line, like a moving iron wall, slowly pressing down with the river.

The masts and sails stood tall, blocking out the sky and making one feel suffocated just looking at them.

"They're here!" Li Shuwen's expression changed drastically. "Even earlier than you said! He Ze accelerated overnight, trying to catch the government off guard!"

Jiang Yunhe frowned, clearly not expecting the fleet to arrive so early.

He tucked the pipe into his waistband and closed the box lid:

"That's all I have to say. Believe it or not, it's up to you. I'm leaving now. As for He Ze, I'll try to find a way to go back and stall him for as long as possible."

He turned and jumped onto the fishing boat. With a push of the bamboo pole, the small boat silently glided into the thick fog and disappeared in the blink of an eye. The ripples left on the water's surface were quickly smoothed out by the river.

Lin Ji stood still, his fingers clutching the navigation map, gazing towards the sea.

It arrived two hours earlier than expected.

There simply wasn't much time left to set it up.

Just then, a deafening roar erupted from the west of the city, a cacophony of cries and curses filling the air.

Immediately afterwards, several streaks of fire shot into the sky, thick smoke billowed, and dyed half of the night sky dark red.

"Oh no! Something's happened in the city!" Li Shuwen cried out.

No sooner had he finished speaking than a thug from the Sea Dragon Gang came tumbling and crawling from the alleyway entrance, his face covered in ash and blood trickling from his forehead. Upon seeing Lin Ji, he collapsed to his knees, panting and barely able to speak coherently.

"Mr. Lin... It's terrible! The refugees in the west of the city are in an uproar! Someone is spreading rumors that the government is going to seal the city gates and burn all the refugees alive! Now several thousand people are rushing towards the south gate, trying to break it down and let the National Salvation Association soldiers in! The military governor's men have already gone to hold the city gate, but they're about to be overwhelmed!"

Lin Ji clenched his fist with a "crack".

Feint to the east while attacking in the west.

It's all just a gimmick to attract attention.

The real killer move was planted inside the city from the very beginning.

Once the thousands of refugees broke through the city gates, Heze's infantry swarmed in, and with twelve explosive ships threatening the river outside, the National Salvation Association's plan to establish a southern separatist regime was realized.

Jiang Yunhe did not mention the matter of inciting displaced people in the city!

Was he genuinely unaware, or was he deliberately hiding half the truth?

Lin Ji didn't have time to think. He made a decisive decision, looked up at Li Shuwen, and said, "You immediately take all the brothers around us to the South Gate to provide support. Arrest the ringleaders first, but don't harm ordinary people! Anyone else who dares to take advantage of the chaos to smash, loot, or vandalize, take them down without hesitation!"

"Understood!" Li Shuwen picked up the wrought iron spear, turned around and left, quickly disappearing into the alleyway.