In truth …
When Water Rascal led the group of water ghosts to attack, Happy received a few quest notifications from the system. The first quest was to protect Xu Hong so that he would not be harmed. When he repelled a group of water bandits, he quickly received the second quest — capture the leader of the water ghosts, Water Rascal. Then, he triggered the third quest — investigate the mastermind!
"You have two choices. Either tell me who is the mastermind, or die!"
Happy might not have run into many similar quests in World of Martial Arts, but he had accumulated enough experience, and he instantly grasped the crux of the quest. He even grasped Water Rascal's fear of death, which was why he could not be bothered to waste his breath. He used the most direct method to destroy the water ghosts' morale. Then, with a cold and emotionless sentence, he struck Water Rascal's weakness.
He stared at the bleeding Silver Wolf Emperor Breaker Sword in front of him.
Water Rascal shuddered and quickly confessed!
"It's General Yang from the imperial court's navy!"
"Hmm?"
Xu Hong shuddered, and his expression turned incredibly dark.
"Nonsense!"
Happy naturally noticed Xu Hong and his group's reactions. His gaze turned cold, and the sword glare on his Silver Wolf Emperor Breaker Sword instantly grew even brighter.
"Don't! It's true! I'm not lying. General Yang from the imperial court's navy really sent someone to contact me. I still have the token they gave me … "Water Rascal was terrified. He shuddered and brought out a black iron plate. Not only did he tell them everything he knew, he was afraid that the sword would land on his neck.
A cold breeze from the river blew past them. The people on the deck were so shocked by Water Rascal's words that they could not speak for a long time.
'I see!'
Ever since the Murong Clan stepped into the salt trade, General Yang had sent people multiple times to contact the Murong Clan's fleet in secret to show his willingness to protect them, but the Murong Clan had rejected him with the reason that they had enough power to protect themselves.
But in truth, General Yang was the ruler of the imperial court's navy in this area!
He took advantage of both the legal and illegal forces!
Those who did business properly would all take protection fees from him.
Those who did not pay up would soon have bandits come to their door, and they would lose their money and their lives!
Those who did not have a lot of profit would be dealt with by the bandits themselves. Every month, they would pay protection fees, and it could be considered as an amulet of the navy allowing them to move about in the area.
The Murong Clan clearly did not know what was going on. Right when they took this path, they offended General Yang!
However …
The Murong Clan's strength was second to none in all of Gusu. They also had countless elites, which made General Yang incredibly wary of them. He did not dare to attack them recklessly.
Besides, the Murong Clan did indeed have the ability to protect themselves when they wandered the world of martial artists!
Over the years, the Murong family's business grew bigger and bigger. Sometimes, they would even take the initiative to protect other ships. This made General Yang and the water bandits in the Changjiang River very unhappy.
Some time ago, he heard that the Murong Clan's leader had led a large group of elites out of Gusu to head to Beijing to handle some matters. Not only had he mobilized some of the elites from the salt ships, but there was also only one woman in charge of the clan. General Yang instantly had the idea to have Water Rascal, who was the most cunning person in Changjiang, take action.
"Everything I said is true! It was all true! I'm not lying to you! "
Water Rascal knelt on the deck and swore to the heavens.
Happy frowned and looked at Xu Hong.
"Deacon Xu, what do you think?"
Xu Hong's expression was red with rage, and it was very unpleasant. He sighed.
"Over the past few days, I've traveled the river for a few years, and I've heard about General Yang from quite a number of merchants. But since we've been living in harmony, I didn't pay much attention to it. I didn't expect that he would actually ignore the Murong Clan's prestige and attack our fleet! I will definitely report this to the clan leader. "
Happy cast Water Rascal a glance. "But the words of a mere water bandit aren't enough to convince others!"
Xu Hong nodded quietly. He felt that it was a pity.
"That's right. Regardless of whether it's the imperial court or the people in the world of martial artists, they will definitely not believe in the words of a water bandit. Even if we report this to the clan leader, we might not be able to deal with a high-ranking official of the imperial court. Besides …" When he said that, he stopped. When he saw Xu Hong's indignant expression, Happy understood what he meant.
The Murong Clan might be powerful, but they were a famous clan without any official positions. Since they were descendants of the previous dynasty, their statuses were very sensitive. If they recklessly attacked a high-ranking official of the imperial court, it would be the same as inviting trouble to themselves.
At that moment …
"Ding!
The system notification:
"Use Water Rascal as a hostage to lure General Yang out! Gather evidence that General Yang is working with the water bandits! "
Right when the system notification faded away, Water Rascal raised his head cautiously.
"Hero, I've told you everything I know. Now, can you let me go?"
"Let you go?"
Happy smiled.
"If I let you go, how would I know whether what you said just now was true or not?"
When he heard this, Xu Hong instantly had a surprised expression appear on his face.
"Officer Happy, are you saying …?"
"Just now, the water bandits who ran away should have spread the news here. General Yang will definitely know that Water Rascal is in our hands." While speaking, Happy took the black steel plate from Water Rascal's hands and smiled coldly. "Say, do you think that General Yang will still be able to sit on his throne?"
"Lure the snake out of its hole?" Xu Hong's eyes lit up, but then, worry appeared on his face. "But I heard that this Yang is an elite, and the guards beside him are all extraordinary. They're in Life and Death Realm, so they won't be easy to deal with."
"What about Yang?" Happy asked.
"The peak of Life and Death Realm!"
When he heard Xu Hong's answer, Happy instantly felt at ease. "Then there's no problem." To him, it was not too difficult to deal with a group of Life and Death Realm soldiers.
However …
Happy's guess was wrong! He was gravely wrong!
When they traveled dozens of miles forward, the surface of the river suddenly became smaller. A large patch of common reeds appeared in front of the fleet, and the river was less than the width of two ships.
…
"Make way! Make way! "
At the entrance of Common Reed Town was a group of armored soldiers who aggressively pushed away the many players at the entrance. They unfurled the rice paper, and a notice was posted at the most eye-catching spot at the entrance of the town!
It was an order to gather militia!
The content was as follows:
Right now, there are hundreds of cunning and ruthless water bandits who have robbed an entire fleet of salt ships, and they are about to pass by our town! Right now, I am grandly gathering chivalrous people who have the heart to get rid of evil to become militia, and we will send our soldiers to Common Reed Bank to ambush the water bandits!
Anyone can join us!
If the quest is successful, we will bring out a ship of salt, which is worth one million taels of silver crumbs, as a reward to all chivalrous people who manage to kill the water bandits. If we split the rewards, we will get three thousand taels of silver crumbs per person.
Similar notices were posted in several nearby towns at the same time …
At the same time, all the players in a circular area of dozens of miles in a few small towns received a system notification.
"Will you respond to General Yang's call to become militia? Head to Common Reed Bank to ambush the water bandits! Every time you kill a water bandit, you will get three thousand taels of silver crumbs! Kill a Life and Death Realm martial artist, and you will get ten thousand taels of silver crumbs. "
The small towns moved!
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