Seeing as they were making so much noise, it was obvious that the guards outside had been completely wiped out.

Liu Zhenqing reacted calmly, calculating that the most likely option was that they had come here to deal Yi Chuan a finishing blow. He had initially thought that with notices posted all over the city asking for medical treatment, those people would not kill Yi Chuan since there was no need to do so.

Then the sounds came inside, and Liu Zhenqing looked through the gap in the closet door to see that they were rummaging around carefully, but not looking for anyone.

If they hadn’t come to deal with Yi Chuan, what were they there for?

But no matter what they were doing, with them in a state of digging three feet into the ground, it was only a matter of time before they were found.

Liu Zhenqing looked at Yi Chuan. He was holding the long sword tightly, but seeing the unnatural tremor in his hands, he knew his body was not strong enough to deal with the current situation.

Taking his hand, Liu Zhenqing wrote: Trust me.

Yi Chuan was taken aback, and looked at him in puzzlement.

Liu Zhenqing was holding a silver needle. When someone approached the door, he instantly took action before the other could pull away and stabbed one of Yi Chuan’s acupuncture points.

Yi Chuan was caught by surprise, and a mouthful of blood spurted out. Pulling Yi Chuan, Liu Zhenqing rolled through the cabinet door and onto the floor. Yi Chuan directly entered a death-like state, unable to move, but he could still faintly see and hear.

The people who had come to search were also shocked to see this situation.

Liu Zhenqing shouted: “What do you intend to do? Yi Chuan, help me, help me…..”

“Shut up!” Someone shouted, then looked at the gray-faced Yi Chuan. “He’s practically on his final breath, why are you counting on him?”

Having said this, he stopped looking at Yi Chuan, and Liu Zhenqing breathed a sigh of relief.

Liu Zhenqing said hurriedly: “Who exactly are you? Enemies of Captain Song? Don’t kill me, I’m just Captain Song’s lover.”

Those people looked at Liu Zhenqing and exchanged glances. There seemed to be some disdain, but one person still came forward and said: “If the boss hadn’t taken a liking to you, I would really want to put a knife in a slut like you.”

It was novel for Liu Zhenqing to be insulted in such a way for the first time.

The hell? Slut?

The only person who would say this about him was Zhao Haicheng. The man pulled Liu Zhenqing up to a standing position and said: “Tell us, where is the portrait that Song Xingmu bought?”

Liu Zhenqing was puzzled for a moment. They were here for the portrait?

He felt suffocated. Looking at the beauty Er-gou was addicted to in the past, something was wrong.

“Don’t kill me, I know where it is. It’s on the study table in the courtyard next door,” Liu Zhenqing said decisively.

He thought that with luck, these people would leave after obtaining the portrait. However, his luck was not good.

Soon, the group that left to get the portrait returned with it, grabbed Liu Zhenqing, and carried him away.

“Wait, where are you taking me?” 

“It is not your place to ask.”

“No, if you intend to kill me, then let me die here. I don’t want to have an incomplete corpse.” Liu Zhenqing was getting the other party to talk. How could these petty thieves be Liu Zhenqing’s opponents? They immediately spoke.

“Shut up, we’re not going to kill you. We’re going to give you to our boss to cool his temper.”

The corners of Liu Zhenqing’s mouth twitched. Yi Chuan could hear, so he had to leave more news. He ventured: “Are you talking about…..Lieutenant General Zhao?!”

“It seems the boss wasn’t exaggerating when he praised you for being clever. Our boss is so great, but you actually disappointed him. After a few days, you will understand what an amazing person we follow.”

Having said this, he was about to drag Liu Zhenqing away.

Liu Zhenqing said while struggling: “Are you going to take me to the water village?! Aren’t you afraid that Captain Song’s people will find out?”

“The boss is not in the water village. He’s on the island. When we send you there, if the boss doesn’t want you, you’ll be thrown into the sea!” With that said, he no longer gave Liu Zhenqing any opportunities. He just picked him up and left.

Liu Zhenqing was calm and collected. He had finally left enough information.

Moreover, if they were to take him to the island, Song Xingmu’s fleet must flank them from the outside, and might even meet them halfway.

When he was thrown onto the boat, Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but say: “What are you doing? Going against Captain Song, aren’t you afraid of dying?”

“Hmph, let’s see if he has any chance of surviving,” the man guarding Liu Zhenqing said.

“Captain Song has gone to sea. Aren’t you afraid you’ll encounter him?”

“He foolishly went off to fight pirates, how could he know……”

Liu Zhenqing: I think you are quite foolish.

“But you…..he will move heaven and earth for Yi Chuan, but you are just a plaything. Our boss showed you kindness, but you were too ignorant.”

Liu Zhenqing narrowed his eyes and said: “He is only a lieutenant general. I…..”

“Bullshit. When we succeed, our boss will be the hero of the country, his status equivalent to the current general who guards the country. You’re being given a chance now, but you still don’t know how to cherish it. I warn you, when we get to the island, you had better take the initiative to make the boss happy, or…..” The man gave him a look of warning.

Liu Zhenqing critiqued internally, He is nothing compared to the general who guards the country. The general is mine. But Liu Zhenqing’s expression was shocked and uneasy. “What do you mean? You want to…..to…..”

“That’s right, rebel! Now that I’ve told you so much, you should understand, right? If you don’t become the boss’s person, you will die!”

Liu Zhenqing wanted to say more, but the guard was already annoyed and knocked him out directly. When he awoke, he was on a bed inside a room.

He quickly got up, but because he was still tied with rope, he could only sit up with difficulty. He looked up and saw that the portrait scroll on the table had not been opened, which meant nobody had come yet. Looking around again, he saw that the layout of the room was not simple. There was a desk for handling official business nearby, and a huge map hung on the wall behind the desk, including the sea region and the city on the shore. This was a customary decoration common among military officials. He was definitely in Zhao Haicheng’s rooms on the island.

Liu Zhenqing naturally knew this map by heart from when he and Song Xingmu fought together.

What was strange was that there was an area painted with vermillion on it. That area basically surrounded half the city with the coastline as one side, and seemed to follow the water veins of the underground river.

Liu Zhenqing was looking at it curiously when the door opened, and the sound of rapid footsteps could be heard along with an argument.

“Who told you to do this!” It was clearly Zhao Haicheng’s furious voice.

“But Boss, you were out of your mind a few days ago. Wasn’t it because you couldn’t buy the painting, and something about Young Master Huo? We were afraid that something big would happen and the painting would be destroyed, so we took it in advance. It just so happened that Young Master Huo was there, so it was convenient…..doesn’t the boss like him? Then keep him by your side, lest he die. Anyway, Song Xingmu is still at sea. Nobody will find him.”

They obviously looked down on Liu Zhenqing, but wanted their boss to be happy, so they did this.

Zhao Haicheng didn’t know that this matter was beneficial to Liu Zhenqing. As long as he didn’t go berserk, his safety was still guaranteed.

Sure enough, when Zhao Haicheng walked in, he saw Liu Zhenqing curled up and trembling on the bed, and was dumbstruck. He turned around and said impatiently: “Get out.”

When the group of subordinates saw this situation, they promptly concluded that the boss had accepted their kind gesture. They ran out happily and were considerate enough to close the door.

Liu Zhenqing shook when he heard the movement.

The room was quiet for a while. Finally, Zhao Haicheng said: “Don’t be so afraid, you won’t be killed.”

Zhao Haicheng’s tone was very bad, not as gentle and soft as in the past.

When Liu Zhenqing looked up, his eyes were red. Zhao Haicheng was stunned, and stood up as if he had been stimulated. “Who are you showing this look to!”

Liu Zhenqing was taken aback. Shouldn’t he pretend to be afraid? How did he turn out to be so crazy?

He didn’t know, so he could only look at him blankly.

Facing this appearance of his, Zhao Haicheng became even angrier. He walked directly to the bed, grabbed his chin, and scoffed coldly: “You really know how to arouse a man’s interest. That night in the alley, was it because of that expression that you hooked two men?”

Liu Zhenqing: ……

It seemed that after his many dramas, his image in Zhao Haicheng’s heart had changed completely, and now he was a coquettish slut.

Liu Zhenqing revealed a look of disbelief.

Zhao Haicheng scoffed: “Unfortunately, I respected you so much in the beginning and tried to help you.”

Wearing a frightened expression, Liu Zhenqing said, “I don’t need it. You kidnapped me here when I was about to leave.”

“Oh? Leave with that guard gege of yours?!” Zhao Haicheng gritted his teeth. “It’s a pity that you can’t leave. Now that you’re on the island, you must continue to follow us unless you no longer want to live.”

Liu Zhenqing looked at Zhao Haicheng with despair: “Are you unable to let go of me?”

Zhao Haicheng was stunned and let go of Liu Zhenqing, taking a step back. He murmured at once: “Where does it look like that?”

Liu Zhenqing thought he heard wrong and glanced at Zhao Haicheng.

Zhao Haicheng seemed to suddenly come to his senses. He took a big step back, but bumped into the table.

As the scroll rolled, it was already a little loose. It unfolded instantly, and a painting of a bride appeared before Liu Zhenqing.

Zhao Haicheng seemed to freeze for a moment, staring blankly. Then he gingerly placed the painting flat on the table, looking at it carefully. Finally, he rubbed the cheek of the person in the painting, landing on the two moles.

This gesture gave Liu Zhenqing goosebumps all over his body.

Wait, Zhao Haicheng…..liked him in the past?

But before Liu Zhenqing could be amazed, he saw Zhao Haicheng’s expression abruptly change as he hit the person in the painting with his fist. The hatred carried in that force was very obvious.

Liu Zhenqing was confused. This…..this was hate.

“Do you know the person in the painting?” Liu Zhenqing was curious to death, and couldn’t help moving to the side of the bed. His body was getting a little hot, likely because of his impatience.

Zhao Haicheng suddenly came to his senses, his face changing colors. Then he scoffed coldly and said, “I know them.”

“Oh? Who is it?”

Zhao Haicheng scoffed again: “You’ll be scared to death if I tell you.”

Liu Zhenqing: ……

“He is…..Liu Zhenqing, who brought disaster to the world nine years ago!”

Liu Zhenqing: This person knew him even in women’s clothing. How familiar was he with him, ah? Why didn’t he have any impression at all?

“This painting is clearly…..” Liu Zhenqing spoke cooperatively.

“It’s just that the artist painted on women’s clothing. Never in my life will I forget his appearance,” Zhao Haicheng said with gritted teeth.

Since he was unaware that he had dressed up, Zhao Haicheng just assumed it was painted on the artist’s whim. It seemed that this had nothing to do with the first trip south, but the second.

“Isn’t he dead? Why do you still hate him so much?” Liu Zhenqing feigned confusion and said, “Is it related to your rebellion?”

Zhao Haicheng abruptly looked at Liu Zhenqing, who hastily said: “Your brother told me on the boat.”

Taking a deep breath, Zhao Haicheng said: “Of course I hate him. If not for what he did back then, how…..how could so many people have died on our island, and how could we embark on the path of rebellion?”

Liu Zhenqing skewed his eyes and said: “You’re lying. Even though I never knew that person, I also heard that he summoned 30,000 troops to root out the pirates and protect the islands. Even though others curse him, why do you, the ones he protected, curse him? And where did so many people die on an island? Captain Song said that during his command, few people died unless they privately went out to sea.”

When it came to this, Liu Zhenqing was dumbfounded.

Wrong, wrong!

The statistics of the island residents were available every year, and there was no difference from year to year. There were clearly a lot of rebels on this island. Could it be that they were all in hiding during the inspections?

Although, it wasn’t impossible.

Could it be that so many of the original inhabitants died, and the rebels just filled in the gaps? The people who came for the inspection may not have known the island residents. They just counted the number of people — according to the statistics, once the original inhabitants of the island joined forces with the rebels, the inspectors would not have noticed at all.

Then the rebels could believably live on this island as the dead islanders, so no matter how they tracked the rebels, they could never be found.

In other words, the residents of this island really did die long ago, and according to Zhao Haicheng, it was because of him?!

Thinking of this, Liu Zhenqing should have felt a chill, but his body was becoming hotter and hotter. He knew medicine. Even though he was concentrating on other things at the moment, he could still feel that something was wrong with his body.

Liu Zhenqing forced himself to calm down, and made his first judgment. Those men must have done something when he was unconscious! Truly vile! When it came to drugs, this particular one needed a partner, ah!

It seemed that the person in front of him was unaware, so there was still room to maneuver. After all, Zhao Haicheng’s attention was elsewhere now. Liu Zhenqing could only covertly inflict pain on himself to delay the effects of the drug.

Liu Zhenqing’s question was reasonable, but it infuriated Zhao Haicheng.

Zhao Haicheng suddenly hit the portrait with his fist again, as if wishing he could kill the person in it.

“You have no idea what things a villain like him could do. Had he not been deliberately using the excuse of eradicating pirates in order to seek military power from the emperor, we wouldn’t have suffered this misfortune! Before, we occasionally encountered pirates when we went out to sea, but as long as we had enough supplies, everyone could still live. But he had to make a show out of getting rid of the pirates. It was he who gave us hope and then destroyed us all. Once he was gone, we were met with brutal reprisals. You guess what kind of hell this island went through eight years ago.”

The sorrowful look on Zhao Haicheng’s face and the hatred in his eyes stunned Liu Zhenqing at once, and even the heat in his body seemed to freeze over.

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Chapter Ninety << Table of Contents >> Chapter Ninety-Two