Mountain rain is coming.
In Shibinxia Village near Ze Prefecture, villagers gathered on the threshing floor, watching soldiers enter the large house on the hillside, the noisy sounds continuing, as the landowner's wife cried out.

"...You are falsely accusing good people...You are falsely accusing—"

"...Shen Ling of the Shen family advocated for the Black Flag rebels in the private school, and privately hid banned books, clearly involved with the rebels! This family is all suspected persons, arrest them all and question them thoroughly—"

The army's actions caused widespread crying. This was not the first similar incident near Ze Prefecture in recent days. The villagers on the threshing floor were uneasy, but since it involved a wealthy family, it did not cause too much panic for the time being.

"The situation in Ze Prefecture is unstable! Bad people are gathering, and there may be trouble in the next few days. Fellow villagers, do not be afraid. We are arresting people and eliminating rebels only to stabilize the situation. There may be major events in the next few days that will cause inconvenience to your lives, but General Sun assures you that once the rebel Wang Shitong is brought to justice, the situation will naturally be peaceful!"

The soldier in charge of propaganda spoke loudly in front of the threshing floor, and then listed the crimes of the Shen family. Shen Ling, the son of the Shen family, was originally responsible for the village's private school, and liked to talk about current affairs, occasionally saying a few good words about the Black Flag Army. The villagers didn't think it was strange when they heard it, but recently, the peace of Ze Prefecture has been broken by hungry ghosts. The hungry ghost forces are said to be related to the Black Flag. The soldiers' actions to arrest the Black Flag were therefore accepted by everyone. Although they usually had a good impression of Shen Ling, who told you to collude with rebels.

The villagers' psychology is ultimately simple. Fighting the Jurchens is fighting the Jurchens, but they only want to live their own lives. If the Black Flag Army wants to burn the fire to this side, then they are naturally heinous bad people.

The soldiers escorted the Shen family, pushing and shoving them all the way to Ze Prefecture City. The villagers watched this scene, but no one realized that they might not be coming back.

Two days later is when the Ghost King will be brought to justice. As long as two days pass, everything will be fine...

In the Ze Prefecture government office, Lu Anmin walked through the long corridor with a complex and anxious expression, almost tripping when he stepped down the steps.

He was holding a scroll of rice paper, feeling anxious inside. He walked all the way to the outside of the main hall where Sun Qi was working. He saw many officials waiting where the state government hall used to be, some were generals from the army, and some were civil servants from the state government, clamoring and waiting to be received by the general. Seeing Lu Anmin coming over, the civil servants flocked up and explained the affairs of Ze Prefecture at this time.

Sun Qi is now sitting in the state government, controlling everything, but giving priority to summoning military generals. The civil servants in the state government have been blocked outside the door for a long time, and many urgent matters at hand cannot be dealt with. Among them, there are many who are asking for wrong cases to be investigated and pleading for people. Often, before they can see Sun Qi, the people in the army have already dealt with it, perhaps sending them to prison, or already starting torture near the military camp—these many people will be executed in two days.

When the Wu Dynasty still controlled the Central Plains, many affairs were always headed by civil officials. Lu Anmin governs a place, and is now the highest-ranking civil official in the area, but he is still blocked outside the door for a time. He has been running around these past few days, and has been snubbed more than once or twice. Even though the situation is stronger than people, the anger in his heart has already been accumulating. After a while, seeing several groups of generals enter and exit one after another, he suddenly stood up and walked forward abruptly. The soldiers wanted to stop him, but he pushed them away.

"Don't block me! This official is still the prefect of Ze Prefecture—even if I want to see Tiger King! I shouldn't be so despised—"

In the main hall, Sun Qi was discussing matters with several generals when he heard the commotion and stopped talking, his face turning cold. He was tall and thin, with long and powerful arms, but his eyes were narrow and sinister. His long military career made this general look extremely dangerous, and ordinary people dared not approach him. Seeing Lu Anmin for the first time, he slammed the table.

"Presumptuous! Now that the army has moved, this place is the central military camp! Lord Lu, you are so ignorant of the importance of things!?"

"General Sun, this official has not been dismissed, and is now the head of Ze Prefecture. I have important matters to see you, and I have reported it again and again. Who exactly between you and I is ignorant of the importance of things!"

His eyes were bloodshot, and he had been overwhelmed by the anxiety of the past few days, temporarily ignoring the fact that the army is actually the biggest. Seeing that he was not considering the consequences, Sun Qi waved his hand violently: "You all go down!" Before the people left, he looked at Lu Anmin: "Lord Lu, this action was personally ordered by Tiger King, you only need to cooperate with me, I don't need to explain too much to you!"

"However, after this incident, will Ze Prefecture still be needed!"

"Lu Anmin, do you know what this general is doing now!"

"Isn't it necessary to do it to this point!"

"What kind of people do you think this general is waiting for? 70,000 troops! Do you think it's just to wait for the 10,000 dying people outside the city!?"

"It's not necessary to do this!" Lu Anmin emphasized loudly, "So many people, more than 90% of them are innocent! They have relatives and families behind them—families destroyed and people dead!"

"This general's 50,000 troops dispersed 400,000 hungry ghosts! But now there are 70,000 people in this Ze Prefecture City! Lu! Da! Ren!" Sun Qi's voice pressed over, overwhelming the howling wind under the gloomy sky outside the hall, "Do! You! Know! Don't! Know!? What kind of people are we waiting for—"

Lu Anmin stared at him blankly, and then said word by word: "Families! Destroyed! People! Dead! Ah!"

"Ten years of war! Families destroyed and people dead!" Lu Anmin pointed outside, "How many families have been destroyed and people have died, General Sun, I know you have means, you beat the 10,000 refugees outside the city, you suppressed them, and killed them, they have no way to resist, and the people in the city feel at ease. I am a civil servant, but I know that after things are done, Ze Prefecture City will collapse, it will be in chaos. It has been ten years, and there is finally such a place, and you want to mess it up."

"I know you want to do things, you think I don't know the priority, but it's not necessary to do it to this extent." Lu Anmin waved his hand, "Fewer people can die, it is possible to have fewer people die. You want to amass wealth, you want to take power, but if you do it to this point, you will have nothing to take in the future..."

"What are you saying!" Sun Qi slammed his hand on the table with a bang. He stared at Lu Anmin, like a venomous snake, "Say it again, what is amassing wealth! Taking power!"

Lu Anmin was already a little scared when he said that. He had mustered up the courage to face Sun Qi for a while, and his mind was also confused, but he said some things that could not be said. He saw Sun Qi reach out his hand:

"90% innocent? You say they are innocent, then they are innocent? You vouch for them! Guarantee that they are not Black Flag people!? You are responsible for letting them go, can you afford it!? I originally thought that if I told you, you would understand, my 70,000 troops are on standby in Ze Prefecture, but you take it as a child's play—I think you are out of your mind. 90% innocent? When I came out, Tiger King said, for the Black Flag, rather kill by mistake! Never let go!"

"Hmph! A person like you is worthy of being the parent of a state! You think you are just a small official? Seeing you is a waste of this general's effort. Someone! Take him out, anyone who dares to make trouble in front of this general will be killed without mercy!"

As soon as Sun Qi said this, his deputy general brought people in, and led Lu Anmin out with his arms held up. Lu Anmin looked at Sun Qi, and finally couldn't help but struggle and said: "You are making a fuss over a molehill! General Sun! You—"

He had already been pulled to the door at this time. In the struggle, the two soldiers didn't want to hurt him too much, but just held his hands and let him retreat outwards. Then, there was a loud slap, and Lu Anmin suddenly staggered backwards and fell to the ground outside the hall.

This sudden sound was seen by many people outside, who couldn't react. The nearby corridors were quiet in an instant. After a moment, people realized that just now, the military deputy general had slapped Lu Anmin in the face, almost sending him flying out.

Lu Anmin was also stunned at this moment. He sat up after falling to the ground, and then felt the burning pain on his face. Even more embarrassing was probably the crowd of people watching around.

When all order collapses, such a thing is not surprising. Ze Prefecture had also experienced and felt such a period in the past, but the peace of the past few years diluted everyone's memory. Only this slap at this time reminded people again.

Even in the most stable and peaceful place in the Central Plains in recent years, Tiger King Tian Hu was just a rebel hunter. This is a chaotic world, not the Wu Dynasty anymore...

Lu Anmin sat there, not knowing what thoughts were running through his mind. Only after a long time did he struggle to get up from the ground. Humiliation and anger made him tremble all over. But he didn't turn back to pester him. In the most chaotic time on this land, even the residence of the biggest officials had been rushed into by rioters. Even the family members of the prefects and governors had been raped and killed by the rioters. What was that? The royal family of this country had also experienced such things. Among the women captured and sent north, there were empresses, imperial concubines, princesses, and noble women of ministers...

Actually, nothing has changed...

The deputy general returned to the main hall. Sun Qi looked at the outside, gritted his teeth and nodded: "If he can do things, let him do things! If not, take off his hat—"

Within Ze Prefecture City, most people's emotions were still stable. They only thought that it was a chaotic situation caused by the execution of Wang Shitong, and Sun Qi's control of the situation outside the city also allowed the civilians to temporarily find a sense of superiority in peace. Some people were affected because their families were involved, and they ran back and forth. In the early days, they did not receive much sympathy from everyone—do not add chaos to the situation, if Wang Shitong is killed, things will be fine.

The military camps and checkpoints outside the city, the streets and high walls inside the city, were heavily guarded by 70,000 troops, while constantly purging possible dissidents within, waiting for the enemy that might come or might not appear. In fact, most of the cities under Tiger King's command have fallen into such a tense atmosphere, and the cleansing has begun, but the most core are Ze Prefecture, where Wang Shitong will be executed, and Weisheng, where Tiger King is located.

In the prison, You Hongzhuo sat in the straw pile, quietly feeling the chaos around him, those constantly increasing "cellmates". He didn't have too many speculations about what would happen next, and he didn't know much about the situation outside the prison. He was still wondering in his heart: That night before, did he really see Mr. Zhao, and why did he become a doctor and come into this prison? Could it be that he is Tiger King's man? And if he came in, why didn't he save himself?

Perhaps it was fake...

He finally thought this way. If in this prison, Fourth Brother Kuang Wenbo could extend his tentacles in, and Mr. Zhao and the others could come in at will, wouldn't this matter seem too trivial...

The experiences and tragedies he had seen in the past few days had made him somewhat disheartened. If it weren't for this, his mind might have turned faster and realized something else.

In the increasingly tense Ze Prefecture City, Greenwoodsmen were also gathering in various ways. Some of these Greenwoodsmen who came from nearby had found organizations, some were wandering around, and many were surrounded and killed by officers and soldiers or captured into prisons in the conflicts of the past few days. However, in recent days, more articles have been written in secret around the prison.

It was already evening, the weather was bad, the wind was blowing but there was no sign of rain for the time being. In the alley behind the prison gate, several figures supported each other as they came out of the prison gate. Several carriages were waiting here. Seeing everyone coming out, a monk with a dozen people greeted them.

The people who were released were young and old, but their attire all had the aura of martial artists. Many of them had even been tortured and had injuries. The welcoming monk and his entourage clasped their hands in the greetings of the Jianghu—they also brought several doctors.

"Hero Tang, Hero Zheng, seniors and brothers, you have suffered. This incident was sudden and the government was cunning. We were unable to rescue you in time, which is a big mistake..."

The monk spoke respectfully. Among the Greenwoodsmen who were rescued, an old man waved his hand: "No need to say, no need to say, there will be a time to find this back. The benevolence and virtue of the Great Bright Sect are also remembered in our hearts. Everyone, this is not a bad thing, in this prison, we have cleared the path and figured out the points..."

"Senior Tang is right..." Everyone echoed.

"We should leave before we talk about this..."

"That's right, let's leave first..."

Amid the discussions, everyone got into the carriages and drove away. The alley became empty, and soon after, another carriage came and took another group of Greenwoodsmen away.

In a quiet small building not far away, masters of the Great Bright Sect gathered. Tan Zheng, the Hebei Heavenly Saber that You Hongzhuo had waited for for several days but never saw, was one of them. Knowledgeable and experienced, he quietly watched everything from the gap in the window, then turned around and told some information in a low voice to the man in the room who was wide and fat, like Maitreya: "'Soul-guiding Saber' Tang Jian, 'Dragon Fist' Zheng Wu, some friends from the Chaimen Fist... have been rescued, there should also be heroes of the Five Phoenix Sabers and heroes of the Lei Sect later..."

Due to the arrival of the Maitreya-like noble, such things had been going on for some time—originally, there were other small minions here making records. After hearing Tan Zheng's report several times, Lin Zongwu put down his teacup, nodded, and gestured outwards: "Go." A moment after he finished speaking, someone knocked on the door.

Tan Zheng went over to open the door, listened to the subordinate reporting the situation, and then returned: "Sect Leader, the origins of those people earlier have been found out."

"Mm." Lin Zongwu nodded.

"It is said to be the party of 'Eight-Armed Dragon King'. He couldn't continue operating on Red Peak Mountain, but he didn't expect to come to Ze Prefecture to make things difficult for us. It is said that at tomorrow's Hero Assembly, he plans to oppose us."

"Earlier, he operated on Red Peak Mountain, and this Seat thought he had made some progress, but I didn't expect him to come back to roam the Jianghu again. He is truly... of limited pattern."

Lin Zongwu said lightly and took a sip of tea. These days, the Great Bright Sect has been operating a big game in Ze Prefecture City, gathering many Jianghu heroes, but naturally there are many people who are unwilling to go along with them. In the past two days, a group of people has emerged, privately lobbying various parties, ruining many good things for the Great Bright Sect. After noticing this, Tan Zheng ordered people to investigate, and now he finally knows that it is the Eight-Armed Dragon King.

This Eight-Armed Dragon King Shi Jin was originally one of the most prominent figures in the Central Plains in recent years. When the heroes of Red Peak Mountain were at their most prosperous, they gathered 100,000 heroes. However, in the past half year, news of infighting within Red Peak Mountain frequently appeared. Roughly speaking, not long before the Hungry Ghosts were dispersed by Sun Qi, the forces under General Pingdong Li Xizhi broke Red Peak Mountain. The Eight-Armed Dragon King roamed the Jianghu, unexpectedly appearing in this place.

Tan Zheng looked at the collected information: "This 'Eight-Armed Dragon King' Shi Jin is said to have originally been a bandit from Liangshan, with the designation Nine-Tattooed Dragon. After Liangshan was broken, he disappeared. Only in recent years has he become known as the Eight-Armed Dragon King. He has spared no effort in secretly killing Jin people. According to rumors, his martial arts are quite powerful. There is private news saying that Shi Jin accompanied Tiebi Pang Zhou Tong when he assassinated Nianhan, and he was also enlightened and taught the mantle by Zhou Tong..."

"Haha..." Hearing Tan Zheng's words, Lin Zongwu laughed. He got up and walked to the window, carrying his hands on his back, "Eight-Armed Dragon King or Nine-Tattooed Dragon, this Seat has heard of his martial arts before. Back then, when this Seat was testing the world with fists, I originally wanted to meet him, but I was worried that he was a hero, and that it would damage his status in the hearts of his subordinates, so I skipped it. This is also good, Zhou Tong's last teaching... Hahahaha..."

Lin Zongwu laughed happily, and Tan Zheng came up: "Should we visit him tonight?"

"Why bother? What are we here for in Ze Prefecture? How can we face the great enemy behind this muddy water if we can't even face a mere Shi Jin head-on? Just prepare as usual, and at tomorrow's Hero Assembly, this Seat will personally meet his Eight-Cornered Mixed Copper

Staff with my fists, and pull out his dragon hide and dragon tendons! Consider it as—"

"—an appetizer for this trip!"

The wind blew through the city, and countless different wills were gathering.

In the eighth year of Wujian Shuo, June 28th. Night falls.