Zhao Xiu and his group hurried on and finally arrived in Gaolan County before dawn. They rested by the Guanchuan River. Zhao Xiu was hot and thirsty, so he took off his coat and went to the river to drink water and take a shower.

In the moonlight, he scooped up a handful of water and drank it greedily. After drinking it, he felt the river water was sweet and cool, so he drank another handful.

"Comfortable." He looked at the full moon reflected in the water, and poems and essays by ancient people chanting the magnificence of the border came to his mind. He couldn't help but feel poetic and wanted to imitate the ancients and recite a few lines.

Got it!

Just as he was about to get going, a floating object came over, stirring up the moon in the water and shattering it, and also dispersing most of his poetic spirit.

What the hell?

Could it be that the cattle and sheep fell into the river from upstream and drowned?

Thinking about the two handfuls of water he had just drunk, Zhao Xiu felt a surge of turmoil in his lungs. He suppressed the urge to vomit and looked carefully, only to find a floating corpse lying on its back.

He finally couldn't bear it anymore and lay down by the river and vomited violently.

"vomit--"

The attendants also came down to drink water, but when they saw Zhao Xiu pouring out his heartfelt feelings into the beautiful Guanchuan River, they immediately gave up the idea of drinking water.

He stood still for a moment, then, in keeping with the bond between master and servant, stepped forward and asked with concern, "Master, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Zhao Xiu pointed into the water.

The attendant looked in the direction of his finger, "Is that... a person? Living or dead?"

The follower looked around and found a piece of rotten wood that was neither too long nor too short. He leaned over to poke it and found that it was still soft. He then called on his companions to come down and salvage it.

After much effort, they finally pulled the man ashore. The attendant sniffed for his breath, and although it was faint, there was still a trace of air. He then hurriedly said to everyone, "He's not dead yet!"

Not dead? Hearing this, Zhao Xiu's urge to vomit subsided a lot.

After examining the man, the attendant said, "There are wounds all over his body, as if they were caused by a knife. Tsk, tsk, they're all white."

"Ugh..." Zhao Xiu retched twice more, then waved his hand, "Throw away this troublemaker."

"We've already fished him out, but it's not good to just watch him die without helping, right?" The attendant twisted the floating corpse's face to take a closer look, "He's also from the Central Plains."

Zhao Xiu smoothed his throat, raised his head and took a look at the floating corpse. Seeing that the corpse was wearing night clothes and had a scabbard around his waist, he knew that he was not a serious person.

"No, no." He pointed at the human stick lying on the road. "There's already a freeloader here. Picking up another one would only add to the burden. Besides, we have important matters to attend to. Saving this unknown person might cause trouble."

The attendant thought for a moment and said, "If you can save him, then what you just drank will no longer be considered corpse water."

Zhao Xiu frowned and looked at him.

The attendant continued, "When we enter the city at daybreak, we will immediately hand him over to the authorities. We don't need to worry about anything else."

Zhao Xiu was persuaded, "Alright, carry him up." Then he said, "Change his clothes, don't let him freeze to death."

The nights in the northern frontier are cold. If you wrap yourself up in this wet state, you will die.

The follower smiled with relief, having long known that his boss was a man with a sharp tongue but a soft heart.

The crowd then carried the floating corpse to the road, and then stripped him clean in a few seconds. After stripping him clean, everyone couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"He's seriously injured."

"It's so miserable."

Hearing this, the Turkic man couldn't help but tilt his head to look. Could he be more miserable? The assassin had been soaked until he was white, and the wounds on his body were very conspicuous. There were knife wounds on his limbs, chest and back. The knife wounds were like the beaks of young birds, and the red flesh inside could be seen.

They were indeed worse off than themselves, and the Turks were convinced.

"This man was injured like this, it's lucky he didn't die."

"Not only is he lucky, he's also fortunate to have met us..." Seeing Zhao Xiu slowly climbing up, the attendant took the opportunity to flatter him, "He's met our boss, otherwise he would have been fed to the fish sooner or later."

Zhao Xiu glanced at him, then stepped forward and swept away the wet clothes on the ground with his foot, squatted down to check Brother Fu Shi's injuries, and saw that the knife wounds on his body exposed the tendons and bones, and there were also lacerations at the base of his palms, so he knew that he had a fierce fight with someone.

I couldn't help but wonder, what on earth is this man? A bandit? A spy? An official?

"If we don't treat his wound, his luck will turn bad." His feet were numb from squatting, so he stood up and stepped back, asking his followers to treat the wound of the floating corpse. However, he didn't pay attention to his feet and stepped on the corpse's clothes, almost tripping over it.

He kicked his clothes aside, and something rolled to the ground. He leaned over to pick it up and took a look. It was two small objects strung together by a string. One looked like a bird whistle, and the other was a sparrow-shaped copper talisman. Behind the sparrow talisman were two characters engraved on it. He used the firelight to make out the characters and couldn't help but read them out. "Hundred Wings."

Hundred Wrens? Sounds familiar.

The Turkic people beside him looked at him in surprise when they heard these two words.

After Zhao Xiu noticed it, he sat down next to him and asked, "Do you know this thing?"

The Turks said nothing.

Zhao Xiu took out a wolf-head waist badge from his arms and played with it in his hand. The Turkic man's eyes suddenly became fierce when he saw this.

"What do you think will happen if I hand you and this badge over to the authorities?"

"If you wanted to pay, you would have paid it long ago."

"Whether I hand you over or not doesn't depend on when, but on my mood. If I'm in a good mood, I can save you, but if I'm not, I can certainly take your life." Zhao Xiu said, waving his wolf-head waist badge. "Capturing the Turkic spies might even count as a merit and earn me some reward."

The Turks wanted to eat his flesh, but they were under control now. Even the most ferocious wolf on the grassland had to keep its tail between its legs.

"The Hundred Finch Clan is an assassin organization from your Central Plains. They primarily operate in the capital and the northwestern regions, with outposts in various locations. The whistle and talisman in your hands are their means of communication."

Hundred Wings, assassins… Zhao Xiu stroked the Sparrow Talisman, and then a flash of inspiration struck him, instantly remembering where he had heard this name before. It was at the Liuyuan Bookworm Gathering, where he overheard Liu Sizhen and Wei Yuankui mentioning the use of Hundred Wings to help transport goods.

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