Xi Zhicai, who had been waiting outside the temple, saw the group of monks being escorted out and a slight smile appeared on his lips. He then got up and walked over.

Upon approaching, Xi Zhicai bowed to Liu Biao and said, "Greetings, Commander Liu!"

"Oh, you're the director of the opera. What brings you here?" Liu Biao asked as he returned the greeting.

Xi Zhicai smiled and said, "I happened to be passing by and saw a few familiar faces among these monks, so I came over to take a look!"

"acquaintance?"

Liu Biao's expression shifted: "I wonder who the acquaintance the play master mentioned is?"

Xi Zhicai pointed at Hachi and the others: "Those are the Kushan monks!"

Coincidentally, Hachi and his companions were also looking at Xi Zhicai, who was chatting fluently with Liu Biao, with astonishment, secretly guessing the identity of this young man.

The fact that the unreasonable Liu Biao could react in this way shows that Xi Zhicai's identity was extraordinary.

Liu Biao also turned his head and glanced at the three of them. "Does the director of the opera want me to release the person?"

Upon hearing this, Hachi and the others' eyes lit up, and they looked at Xi Zhicai with hopeful expressions.

However, Xi Zhicai shook his head, "I am not the kind of person who would show favoritism. I just came here to say a few words to them!"

"If that's all there is to it, then there's no problem!"

Liu Biao smiled and gestured for him to proceed.

Xi Zhicai nodded and then walked towards the three of them.

"Young master, who are you...?"

Hachi looked at Xi Zhicai as he approached with a mixture of doubt and respect in his eyes.

"To be honest, my name is Xi Zhicai, and I am currently the Chief of the Military and Political Affairs Department of the Great Han Dynasty." Xi Zhicai also frankly told Hachi his identity.

"Military and Political Affairs Department?"

Hachi nodded slightly. Although he didn't quite understand the purpose of this government office, he could tell that Xi Zhicai's status was definitely not low.

Hachi then looked at Xi Zhicai with a pleading expression: "I wonder if Master Xi could explain this to us? We have only come here to spread Buddhism and have no other intentions. This is all a misunderstanding!"

Xi Zhicai shook his head: "You are all monks, and the fact that the White Horse Temple has secretly hoarded gold violates the laws of the Han Dynasty. Even I can't do anything about it, unless..."

"Unless something...?" Samo asked from the side.

"Unless your identities are different..."

Xi Zhicai said no more, but looked at Hachi and the other two with a smile.

"identity.....?"

Hachi and the other two were slightly taken aback, then remembered the story that Xi Zhicai had told them earlier.

But he was just a monk, not a prince or nobleman at all. How could a false identity be real?

"Alright, you can think about it carefully. If you remember your identity, you can have someone notify me at any time!"

Seeing that the three still looked hesitant, Xi Zhicai said no more, leaving only this sentence before turning and leaving.

Watching Xi Zhicai's departing figure, Hachi fell into deep thought. Although he didn't know why Xi Zhicai insisted that he admit he was a prince of Kushan, he knew that this was the only person who could help him right now.

Perhaps their life and death were entirely in the hands of this young man.

"Alright, take them all!!"

Just as Hachi was lost in thought, Liu Biao, who was ahead, shouted loudly and led a group of constables, escorting the monks into Luoyang City.

Soon, these monks were taken to Luoyang.

The people in the city were quite surprised to see that the Luoyang government and the Censorate had made such a big commotion just to arrest some monks, and they couldn't help but secretly inquire about it.

When the people learned that the monks were hiding money and plotting something sinister, they were immediately enraged.

Well, he always teaches people to abstain from this and that, but he himself is an insatiably greedy person, even more hateful than a highway robber.

"Attack them!!"

A villager shouted and grabbed a handful of rotten vegetable leaves, throwing them at the monks.

"beat!!"

With someone taking the lead, the people around them also started to move, and in no time, everything that could be grabbed from the street was thrown at the monks.

"Hey, hey, hey~ Don't throw eggs at me, they're expensive!"

"It's okay, we're in a good mood today, let these bald guys take advantage of us a bit!"

"No, I mean, if you're going to throw something away, throw your own, don't fucking take mine for fun..."

The once clean and tidy streets of Luoyang suddenly became somewhat chaotic.

Hachi and the others bent over, heads bowed, their hearts filled with desolation. No one had expected that the people of the Han Dynasty would despise them so much.

It seems I really did come to the wrong place.

Soon, all of these monks were imprisoned in Luoyang.

Because of Liu Biao's dislike for these monks, the prison where they were held was the worst place, surrounded by other vicious and desperate criminals.

These newly imprisoned monks naturally received some "special treatment".

Fortunately, Hachi and the other two knew Xi Zhicai, and Liu Biao took special care of them, not locking them up with the other prisoners.

However, the screams of the monks around them made the three of them feel bad as well.

The three sat cross-legged on the dirty, damp ground, their minds no longer on worshipping Buddha, but instead lost in thought.

The screams continued all night long, and Hachi and his two companions were tormented by these sounds all night long.

The next morning, the group of monks were brought to the main hall of the Luoyang government office.

Looking at the monks who had been tortured and were in a sorry state, Liu revealed a cold smile on his face, and then took out a detailed investigation report.

"According to investigation, the monks of Baima Temple have been secretly hoarding nearly 23,000 jin of gold, a huge amount. According to the laws of the Han Dynasty, they should be beheaded. The execution will be carried out in three days!"

"Injustice! Injustice..."

"Those were bestowed by the previous emperors, not something we kept for ourselves!"

As soon as Liu Biao finished speaking, the monks in the hall changed their expressions and began to cry out loudly that they were wronged.

Hachi and the other two stood there with fear on their faces. At first, they thought they would only be imprisoned for a while and then dismissed. No one expected that Liu Biao would actually send them to their deaths.

So, all that I've traveled all this way, over mountains and rivers, to come to the Han Dynasty, just to die?

Thinking of this, Hachi and the others simultaneously showed a look of regret and resentment.

Upon seeing the monks crying and making a scene, Liu Biao frowned and ordered, "Take them all away!"

"yes!!"

The constables inside the hall responded loudly and immediately forcibly removed the crying monks from the hall.

Back in the dark and damp cell, Hachi and the other two sat cross-legged to one side, their minds replaying the words Xi Zhicai had spoken to them.

Just then, the abbot of Baima Temple, who was imprisoned in the next cell, lay at the cell door with a miserable expression and looked at Hachi and the other two.

"Three masters, we beg you, please save us!"