Unparalleled medical and martial arts skills, saving the CEO's fiancée at the start.

The leeches are no longer useful.

This was the conclusion Ye Chen reached after guarding the original dock until late at night.

The assassin threw himself into the river, leaving behind only half a box of biscuits and half a bucket of murky river water; not even a scrap of paper with writing on it remained.

The leech huddled behind the discarded tire, trembling violently. It answered only one out of ten questions, and every single one of them was: "I don't know."

Ye Chen told He Jianping to take him back first and put him in the garage to be locked up with the other six people.

If you don't teach the leeches a lesson, they'll really think they're slippery eels.

Before dawn, news came from Han Song's side: the rental house behind the vegetable market in the north of the city was empty. The landlord said that the tenant had come half a month ago, paid a month's rent, and suddenly left last night without taking the bedding.

They searched the house from top to bottom, but found only half a burnt piece of paper under the sink, on which they could make out the two characters "dock".

Han Song asked the landlord what the tenant looked like. The landlord said he was in his fifties, not tall, hunchbacked, spoke with a slight southern accent, and liked to wear a dusty old suit.

The strangest thing is that this person always wears a pair of white gloves even in the sweltering heat, as if afraid of getting something on them.

After listening, Ye Chen asked the ghost servant, "Are there people in the Blackwater who like to wear white gloves?"

Ghost Servant shook his head: "The people outside Blackwater are all sorts of people, and the people inside each have their own taboos, but there's one thing: since Uncle Shui's code name includes water, he's not a martial artist. This person is most likely the head of the secret agents sent out by Blackwater, specializing in managing informants and spies. He doesn't show his face easily, but he can't get anything done in Jiangcheng without a dock. The word 'dock' might not refer to the old dock, but rather to one of Blackwater's rendezvous points in Jiangcheng. Outsiders might think it's called a dock, but it's actually somewhere else."

Jiang Ruoxi hadn't slept; she sat in the study, looking at the map of Jiangcheng over and over again.

Upon hearing the word "wharf," she looked up and said, "There are many places in Jiangcheng called wharf. There's the old wharf in the eastern suburbs, the sand and gravel wharf in Jiangbei, and a long-abandoned aquatic product wharf in the south of the city. None of them are called wharf on the map. But there's one place that my dad often mentioned when I was a child, called Wulidu. It was the oldest passenger ferry crossing in Jiangcheng. Later, a bridge was built, and the ferry crossing was abandoned, leaving only a few rows of old houses. It was included in the renovation area of ​​the old street in the north of the city and has never been demolished. Locals are used to calling it the old wharf, but the map says it's called Wulidu."

Ye Chen took the map and looked at it, then pointed to the location of the old ferry crossing.

Ye Chen suddenly remembered what Uncle Shui said in Zhang Heng's phone recording: "After you cross the river, someone will pick you up."

Wulidu is located right on the riverbank, with a large abandoned freight yard and reed marshes on the opposite bank. It is both remote and quiet.

If Blackwater wanted to set up an inconspicuous rendezvous point in Jiangcheng, Wulidu would be the perfect choice.

"I'll go to Wulidu tonight," Ye Chen said.

"It's just me and Uncle Gui. If there are too many people, it will be easy to panic."

Jiang Ruoxi wanted to say something, but Ye Chen gently pressed a finger to her lips: "I promise you, I won't do anything reckless. You have Han Song and Guli guard the house, and Lao Song's men will keep an eye on things along the river. I'll call you immediately if anything happens."

Jiang Ruoxi pursed her lips, but ultimately did not stop her.

There was no moon that night, and a thin mist rose over the river.

Ye Chen and the ghost servant did not take the main road, but followed the riverbank all the way to Wulidu.

The river flowed slowly at my feet, like a dark black ribbon.

The old houses at the ferry crossing squatted darkly on the shore, and a few crooked willow trees, like disheveled old men, drooped their branches.

Ye Chen stood in a patch of waist-high weeds, looking towards the old house with night vision binoculars.

After looking for a few minutes, he put down the mirror and said in a low voice, "There's someone in the westernmost room. The curtains are only half drawn. I can see light, very weak, like candlelight. There's someone sitting at the door with something in their hand."

The ghost servant nodded and took out an iron ruler from his sleeve.

The two of them, one in front of the other, slowly made their way toward the row of old houses, using the weeds and fog as cover.

When they were about twenty steps away, Ye Chen smelled a very faint smell of smoke, the tobacco from a pipe, mixed with a hint of the bitter fragrance of mosquito repellent.

This smells exactly the same as the one he smelled on Ji Changming on Jiangxin Island.

The old accountant said that when the secret sentries in the Blackwater area relayed messages, the Water Lord would use two kinds of smoke: one called "water grass" and the other called "river mist".

Jiangwu is exactly that flavor right now.

The person sitting at the door seemed to have noticed something, and slowly stood up, glancing in Ye Chen's direction.

He was a man in his forties or fifties, with broad shoulders and a short neck, carrying an iron pipe as thick as an arm.

Ye Chen stopped hiding, straightened up from the bushes, and strode over.

Upon seeing Ye Chen, the man's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and the iron pipe slammed down on his head.

Ye Chen dodged to the side, and with a flick of his sword sheath from bottom to top, it struck the iron pipe, sending sparks flying.

The man's hand trembled, and the iron pipe nearly slipped from his grasp. The ghost servant caught up and subdued him with a single move, twisting his arm and pinning him to the ground.

Ye Chen kicked open the door to that room.

Inside the door, a piece of white wax was burning, its flame a pale yellow. A hunchbacked old man in a gray suit sat in the corner, his back to the door, as if he hadn't heard a thing outside.

He was slowly smoking, his white gloves appearing extremely white in the candlelight.

"Uncle Shui," Ye Chen called out.

The old man didn't turn around, but just chuckled softly, like an old cat meowing in the night: "Ye Chen, you're a dog, your nose is really sharp."

He slowly turned around, revealing a face so thin it was almost emaciated.

His eyes were deep-set, but his gaze was extremely bright, like two flames encased in old wax.

His white gloves were spotless, standing out starkly in the dilapidated house.

"Are you coming with me on your own, or do you want me to do it?" Ye Chen gripped the hilt of his sword, his tone calm, yet revealing undisguised killing intent.

Uncle Shui calmly finished his last puff of pipe, tapped it, and said, "I'm not a martial artist, I can't beat you, but I can't leave either. Once I'm ashore, there's no turning back. Do you think Blackwater only sent me as a sentry to Jiangcheng? Before I even arrived, they had already planted seventy-two spies here. If you capture me, there will be others. Blackwater has no shortage of manpower or time. But you, carrying that scroll and that jade pendant, can you sleep soundly at night?"

Ye Chen smiled.

Ye Chen smiled, but the coldness in his eyes intensified: "Whether you can sleep or not is none of your concern. I'll pull out these seventy-two nails of yours one by one. Starting tonight, I'll pull out this one first and take it with me."

The ghost servant stepped forward and lifted Uncle Shui off the chair.

Uncle Shui did not resist, but when he went out, he looked up at the sky.

The fog was so thick that the stars were invisible.

Suddenly, the Water God said, "The boat at Wuyi Ferry has already started moving. I'm just a lantern bearer. Once the lantern is lit, the boat will come."

After saying that, he fell silent.

Ye Chen had Shui Bo and the man put into the car. On the way back, he called Zhou Wantong: "Uncle-Master, help me investigate a place called Wuyi Ferry. Don't alert them. Just find out if any ships from other places have docked recently. Let me know as soon as you have any news."

After hanging up the phone, Ye Chen leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes.

The fog outside the car window grew thicker and thicker, as if it would swallow the entire city of Jiangcheng.

Ye Chen knew that Uncle Shui's words weren't just meant to scare people. The Blackwater's ship might really have already set sail.

But so what?

Since they dared to come, he dared to leave them all in Jiangcheng.

Not one can escape.