Hostage

The three experts besieging Old Jin paused simultaneously, all turning their gazes toward Chen Wu.

"It's you—" two voices rang out in unison.

It seemed both Yang Yuchun and Zhang Zhihe had recognized Chen Wu.

Seeing the trio hold back, Old Jin let go and retreated, falling back to Chen Wu's side. Yet, before he could even steady his footing, blood began to spill from the corner of his mouth.

Old Jin's face was as pale as gold paper; he was clearly at the end of his rope.

"I told you to leave, why did you come back up?" Old Jin's voice was incredibly weak.

"I am not the type to watch others die!" Chen Wu didn't even glance at the man beside him, his eyes locked firmly on the three experts closing in.

"Your Excellency is also a Ning-Shen expert; you should possess the demeanor of a master. How can you resort to taking hostages?" Yang Yuchun spoke up.

"Heh, when you were bullying the few with the many, why didn't you talk about the demeanor of a master?"

Chen Wu certainly didn't believe a word of such hypocritical nonsense. Instead, he flicked his sword, piercing Li Changgeng's shoulder blade and drawing a muffled groan from the man.

"Stop! If you take another step closer, you can prepare to collect a corpse!"

"Fine, fine, fine! We can talk, everything is negotiable!" Yang Yuchun hurriedly signaled for everyone to halt, waving his hands. "What do you want?"

Seeing Yang Yuchun stop, Chen Wu breathed a sigh of relief. If the other side truly didn't care about Li Changgeng's life, his charade as a Ning-Shen expert would have been finished.

If Li Changgeng weren't a Tong-Xuan expert, but merely an ordinary official, Chen Wu wouldn't have dared to gamble, no matter how high his rank. But over the past few days, he had learned from Wang Zhenyi just how precious Tong-Xuan experts were.

If an official dies, there are plenty of people lining up to take their place. But if a Tong-Xuan expert dies, they cannot be easily replaced.

According to the Academy of Sciences' statistics, only one Tong-Xuan expert emerges from every few million people, and that was only because the Great Shun possessed strong national power and a vast number of martial artists. In Gan Province, with its population of over eight million, Old Jin was the only known Tong-Xuan expert. Even the Crown Prince's Mansion could not easily afford to lose one.

"Why did the Crown Prince's Mansion mobilize so many people to hunt down a Patrol Inspector of my Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower?"

Chen Wu asked while pulling his sword from Li Changgeng's body, causing the man to grit his teeth in agony.

He was truly a Tong-Xuan expert; his bones were as hard as stone. Chen Wu's blade had struck his shoulder blade, but the bone was so dense that the sword had merely slipped through the gap between the bones. It had been quite difficult to pull out—this was likely the legendary Jade Bone.

"Naturally, it is because you stabbed Qiao Weisheng. He died at a most inopportune time, and his death caused such a stir that someone must be held responsible. Otherwise, the School of Heavenly Principle and the Investigation of Things School would be at war." Yang Yuchun spoke as if it were a matter of course.

"I didn't kill Qiao Weisheng."

"I know."

Yang Yuchun's tone was calm, as if he were discussing what he had eaten for breakfast.

This statement, however, not only shocked Chen Wu but even caused Zhang Zhihe, standing to the side, to cast a sidelong glance.

"You knew, yet you still came to hunt us down?"

"We couldn't find the real killer in time, so we had to borrow your head to appease the fury of the Investigation of Things School." Yang Yuchun's tone grew even calmer, almost matter-of-fact. "Your Yongjiu School claims to have no leader, so isn't it normal to encounter such things?"

"Haha—" This sense of entitlement ignited a nameless fire in Chen Wu. He laughed in his fury. "Then if Li Changgeng falls into my hands, it would be perfectly normal for me to kill him, right!"

"You and I are both Ning-Shen experts; let's not speak in anger." Yang Yuchun maintained his matter-of-fact tone. "Let's be direct. Your Excellency, please state your terms."

Chen Wu calmed himself. "Very well. Setting aside right and wrong for the moment, Li Changgeng is in my hands. You will let us leave."

"Agreed!" Yang Yuchun replied. "But you must release the hostage."

"We will release him once we reach a safe location."

"Impossible! General Li is severely wounded and cannot endure for long. Why not release the General first? We swear we will not pursue you." Yang Yuchun said.

"You are a man of the officialdom; what is the difference between your oath and a fart?" Chen Wu mocked.

"There is a huge difference; at least a fart makes a sound," Old Jin added.

Yang Yuchun treated the remark like a passing breeze, ignoring the two men beside him who were stifling their laughter. "Given our current situation, it is indeed hard to trust one another. But I must inform you: if General Li dies, we will have no further restraints. It would be best for Your Excellency to return the hostage as soon as possible."

"Don't trouble yourselves. Just clear the path first."

Yang Yuchun nodded, signaling the others to open a path.

Dragging Li Changgeng, Chen Wu and Old Jin did not head elsewhere, but walked straight toward the waterwheel.

Chen Wu had already planned his next move. There was a sheepskin raft by the waterwheel; once they boarded it and crossed the Yellow River, the others would only be able to sigh at the water.

This sheepskin raft was a pre-arranged transport for the contact point. The contact person should have been here acting as a raftsman to provide cover, but while the raft remained, the person was nowhere to be found.

The skins for this raft were made from the entire hide of a ram's neck, inflated and cured, known as a "Hun-tuo." Several inflated Hun-tuo were lashed together beneath a wooden frame to form the raft.

The raft at this contact point was a smaller one, using nine Hun-tuo as a base. It had only one oar, which was propped up diagonally against the bank of the Yellow River.

Chen Wu kicked out, sending the wooden oar flying into his left hand—the one dragging Li Changgeng. Then, with another kick, he struck the raft, which was on the verge of tipping over without its support, causing the base of the Hun-tuo to flip toward the Yellow River.

Splash—

Before the raft had even settled in the Yellow River, Chen Wu threw Li Changgeng onto it, then stepped onto the raft with Old Jin.

Seeing Chen Wu's group board the raft, Yang Yuchun spoke up: "Your Excellency, you can release him now, can't you?"

"Wait a moment."

Chen Wu pushed off the bank with the wooden oar, and the sheepskin raft shot toward the center of the river.

Estimating that they were now out of Yang Yuchun's attack range, Chen Wu didn't stand on ceremony. He dropped the oar, grabbed Li Changgeng with both hands, and as his Dantian Qi surged, he channeled his strength from his feet.

"Next—"

With a thunderous roar, he hurled Li Changgeng toward Yang Yuchun. At that moment, the reaction force pushed the sheepskin raft away from the bank with even greater speed.

Seeing this, Yang Yuchun leaped into the air, caught Li Changgeng mid-flight, and landed slowly.

Watching the bank recede, Chen Wu finally relaxed a little, picked up the oar, and paddled with all his might. The Yellow River surged like a waterfall, causing the sheepskin raft to pitch and roll violently.

In his past life, drifting down the Yellow River on a sheepskin raft was a popular tourist attraction, but now, Chen Wu had not a shred of leisure to enjoy it.

The Yellow River current was rapid and riddled with undercurrents, making it exhausting for Chen Wu to row.

"Chen Gawa, you've never rowed a boat before, have you?" Old Jin spoke, the weakness in his tone plain to see.

"Old Jin, save your strength. We'll talk once we're on shore."

"Haha, there's no time left." Old Jin pulled back his tattered clothes, revealing the ghastly white bones of his chest. Chen Wu looked closely and was shocked to see that a broken rib had pierced his heart, yet no blood sprayed out.

"This..."

"By all rights, I should be dead already. It's just that after reaching the Tongxuan Realm, one can borrow the power of heaven and earth, using the circulation of true qi to sustain the body. I can temporarily keep the heart dead but the qi alive," Old Jin said. "But this qi cannot last long. Once the true qi dissipates, I will surely die."

Chen Wu said urgently, "We can find a doctor. Is there a doctor in Jincheng Prefecture who can stitch up a heart?"

"It's too late." Old Jin waved his hand. "Li Changgeng's injuries are even worse than mine, but he wasn't besieged and drained of his true power, so he can hold on a while longer. As for finding a doctor to save me, it's already too late."

Seeing Chen Wu about to speak again, Old Jin interrupted once more: "Listen to me, Chen Gawa. I have only a quarter of an hour left, so listen carefully."

Although he had only met Old Jin a few times and the man had even extorted thirty thousand silver dollars from him, seeing a living life about to vanish before his eyes made Chen Wu's heart ache with sorrow.

Chen Wu said nothing, only nodding vigorously.

"The contact at the watermill defected. He forged the message to lure me into an ambush. Shopkeeper Ma is also in danger; you should go and provide support... forget it, it's definitely too late now." Old Jin paused, smiling bitterly. "Let fate decide."

"I will make sure Old Ma stays safe!"

"Heh, just do your best." Old Jin continued, "After I die, don't use a coffin. Just wrap me in a mat and bury me. We of the Yongjiu School don't care for empty formalities. A person comes into this world with nothing, and they should leave with nothing."

Chen Wu felt increasingly melancholy. He stopped rowing, letting the waves of the Yellow River push the sheepskin raft downstream.

"Chen Gawa, what stage have you reached in your martial arts? Copper Skin, Iron Sinew, Jade Bone—which one have you yet to cultivate?"

To Chen Wu's surprise, at this moment of death, Old Jin was asking about his martial arts. But Chen Wu's cultivation realm was bizarre, and he didn't know how to explain it.

As if seeing through Chen Wu's hesitation, Old Jin said, "You think I don't know? You aren't some Ningshen expert at all."

"You knew?" Chen Wu was startled.

"If I hadn't known, why would I have agreed to help you hold off Guo Xuchu? That is a world-renowned, top-tier Tongxuan expert."

"I thought..."

"You thought I was just greedy for your thirty thousand silver dollars, right?" Old Jin laughed. "You must have cursed me as an old bastard in your heart back then."

Before the embarrassment could even surface in Chen Wu's heart, a sense of sadness washed over him instead.

"Sigh, actually, you weren't wrong to curse me. I was indeed greedy for your thirty thousand silver dollars." Old Jin sighed suddenly. "The Yongjiu School has been suppressed by the imperial court for years and lacks funding. I didn't want your money for myself, but for the sake of the entire school."

"I haven't had the chance to send that money out yet. Go and take it back. Remember, there is a small mud-walled hut behind White Pagoda Mountain; that is where I live. Go inside and lift the bed, and you will find it."

"Alright," Chen Wu nodded.

"I've digressed. Let's get back to what we were saying—your martial arts." Old Jin changed the subject. "Do you know why Copper Skin, Iron Sinew, and Jade Bone are so difficult to cultivate?"

"I don't."

"The key is that these three phenomena have age restrictions; they cannot be cultivated slowly. They must be achieved before the bones and sinews finish developing and closing. Even if one later reaches the Zhoutian, Ningshen, or Tongxuan realms, if you miss that window, you will never be able to cultivate them."

"So that's how it is." Seeing Old Jin's candor, Chen Wu decided to tell him everything. "I am still missing the Jade Bone, but I don't know how to cultivate it. To be honest, I don't even know how I achieved Copper Skin and Iron Sinew. It wasn't until others told me that I realized I had already succeeded."

"Just as I thought!" Old Jin wore an expression of 'as expected.' "You are in big trouble, Chen Gawa."