The wiry man didn't say a single word.
He turned—and jumped straight into the river.
In that instant, Li Daoxuan understood everything.
This bastard was definitely a strong swimmer.
One look at that dark, sun-baked skin told the whole story—this was someone who'd grown up on boats. If he made it into the Yellow River, chances were high he'd escape alive.
"Run, my ass!"
Li Daoxuan flashed forward and jumped in after him.
The moment he followed him into the water, the wiry man was secretly ecstatic.
Hah!
I grew up on the water.
You're some pampered young master—how dare you jump in after me?
On land you might be a monster, but in the water? I'll have you cleaned up in three moves.
He'd thought this fight was lost for sure.
Never expected that at the very end, he'd get the chance to capture an important leader from Xiaolangdi.
That would be a huge merit when he got back.
So he didn't swim far after entering the water. Instead, he deliberately paused slightly beneath the surface.
Splash!
Li Daoxuan plunged down right after him.
The wiry man immediately swam over, reached out, and grabbed—ready to start a full-on underwater struggle.
But then—
He instantly realized he was wrong.
Li Daoxuan didn't fight him at all.
He simply reached out and grabbed his arm.
The wiry man violently shook his arm, trying to throw him off and counterattack—but Li Daoxuan didn't care in the slightest. He just clung on, refused to let go, and then… stopped struggling altogether.
Because Li Daoxuan—
Was a giant block of iron.
Even doing absolutely nothing, he generated an overwhelmingly terrifying sinking force.
The wiry man felt an enormous pull dragging him downward. Panic exploded in his heart. He thrashed upward desperately, trying to haul Li Daoxuan back toward the surface.
But—
No matter how good a swimmer you are, dragging something this heavy goes beyond human limits.
No matter how he paddled, he couldn't rise.
No matter how he struggled, they kept sinking.
Down.
Down.
Down.
Until everything around them turned pitch black.
On the boat, Jiang Cheng, the courtesan, the militia sailors, and the special operations soldiers were all leaning over the railing, staring into the river.
A long time passed.
Still no sign of the Dao Xuan Tianzun surfacing.
Nobody knew what was happening below.
Suddenly—
The cotton-thread Dao Xuan Tianzun hanging on Jiang Cheng's chest spoke:
"Alright. That guy will be sinking at the bottom forever."
"Huh? The Dao Xuan Tianzun is back?" Jiang Cheng blurted out.
"Then… the Dao Xuan Tianzun's dharma body—?"
"Let the dharma body sink to the riverbed."
That thing was far too heavy. Even Li Daoxuan himself couldn't swim back up with it. Might as well let it clutch the corpse and sink forever.
Besides, mass-produced Dao Xuan Tianzun units were plentiful.
Li Daoxuan felt a bit annoyed.
No live captive meant they still didn't know who was targeting Gao Family Village.
By now, the soldiers were already cleaning up the battlefield.
Enemy corpses were tossed into the river "to feed the fish," politely termed a water burial. Soldiers wounded by arrows were wrapping their injuries.
Jiang Cheng had a small bloody hole in his chest. He was pulling out the arrowhead and applying golden wound medicine, his mouth twitching in pain.
"Those damn bastards nearly sent me straight to the afterlife," he cursed.
"Too bad we didn't leave anyone alive."
The courtesan frowned.
"They seemed very familiar with our weapons. Could there be a traitor among us?"
"No," Li Daoxuan said calmly.
"They knew our weapons were powerful, but they didn't know I was on the ship. They had no understanding of me at all."
"That means the information didn't come from within."
The courtesan and Jiang Cheng both snapped to attention.
Right—
The enemy knew to guard against firearms and grenades, but didn't recognize the Dao Xuan Tianzun at all.
That ruled out internal betrayal.
"They're people who know something, but not everything," Jiang Cheng said thoughtfully.
"They know the Five-Colored Dao Xuan Tianzun Banner represents us. They know what weapons we use. But they don't understand our internal structure—and they've never even heard of the Dao Xuan Tianzun's reputation."
He paused, then added slowly,
"Some bandit group?
Jurchen special agents?
Or… the imperial court?"
All of those were possible.
Li Daoxuan knew better than to jump to conclusions. Guessing without evidence only dug holes for yourself.
"Enough guessing," he said.
"When we get back, distribute the video of this incident to all departments."
He turned to the courtesan.
"Don't release it publicly. Send it secretly."
She nodded.
"This shouldn't be made public yet. We need to identify the enemy first."
"Yes," Li Daoxuan agreed.
"Let every department stay on high alert."
Then he suddenly chuckled.
"The defensive measures that ship used against us—
You recorded those too, right?"
The courtesan smiled.
"Every bit of it."
"Good," Li Daoxuan said.
"Send a copy to the scientists in Gao Family Village. Let's see what they think."
Puzhou — Huangpu Military Academy
Sun Chuanting drew a small mountain on the blackboard.
Then, with a stern face, he addressed the cadets below:
"When armies meet, avoid mountains unless you control the valleys. Occupy high ground, avoid climbing under fire—this is mountain warfare…"
Bang!
He slammed the desk.
"Flat-Rabbit!!!!
You dare sleep in my class?!"
Zheng Gouzi broke out in cold sweat and hurriedly poked the student next to him.
Flat Rabbit jolted awake with a shout, sprang to his feet, wiped the drool from his mouth.
"Ah? Ah—no, no! I wasn't sleeping! I was listening very carefully!"
Sun Chuanting glared.
"What did the last passage I explained mean?"
Flat Rabbit face went pale.
"Uh… just now…"
Zheng Gouzi quietly flipped The Art of War open to the correct page and slid it toward him.
Flat Rabbit swallowed hard, glanced at it, then looked up.
"Headmaster, what you just said was—when fighting the enemy, we should fight in dangerous valleys, fight on dangerous mountains, and basically wherever we fight, we'll definitely win."
Sun Chuanting pointed toward the training ground outside.
"Get out.
Run fifty laps."
Flat Rabbit trudged out, looking utterly dejected.
But the moment his back turned—
A trace of joy spread across his face.
Heh.
At least I don't have to listen to this sleep-inducing lecture anymore.
Running fifty laps is way more fun.
"You're still smiling?" Sun Chuanting barked.
Flat Rabbit jumped.
"You can tell I'm smiling even with my back turned?!"
Sun Chuanting said coldly,
"I can see the muscles beneath your ears lifting upward. If that's not smiling, what is?"
Flat Rabbit was stunned.
"Amazing… as expected of the headmaster. Truly sharp-eyed."
"Flattery is useless now," Sun Chuanting said.
"Besides fifty laps, copy The Art of War twenty times. Hand it in by tomorrow evening."
Flat Rabbit wailed.
"What?! No! Anything but copying! I'll run another hundred laps, just don't make me copy!"
Sun Chuanting snorted.
"If you don't finish copying by tomorrow evening, I'll report it to the village committee and confiscate your Knight-Errant License."
That—
Was a killing blow.
Flat Rabbit immediately straightened up.
"I guarantee completion of the copying task."