After bandaging Song Zhuiyan's wounds, Zhong Qingyi tied up the "boss" and took him away. They couldn't leave him in the village, as it was full of traps, so they took the "boss" to the mountains.

This mountain is not the one that leads back to Songlin Village. The Duan Prince's fiefdom is Xifeng, a place with complex and treacherous terrain, surrounded by mountains. Whether it's the prefectural city, the town, or the village, all you see are towering cliffs.

Zhong Qingyi and Song Zhuiyan's village for the night was at the foot of the mountain, so they quickly led the people into the mountains.

They splashed a basin of water on the person to wake them up and began questioning them, "Who sent you? Why did you want to harm us?"

"...Kill me or torture me, it's up to you." This 'boss' had a look of resignation to his fate.

“If you want to die so badly, then so be it,” Song Zhuiyan said, taking a packet of medicine out of her pocket with her uninjured hand. “However, if you want to die quickly, you’re dreaming. I’ll let you taste my throat-sealing and intestinal-severing medicine, torture you for a few hours first, and then let you die when you bleed from all seven orifices and your skin is ulcerated all over your body.”

Zhong Qingyi glanced at her. When did A-Xun develop this medicine? How come he didn't know?

"Great hero, spare my life! Whatever you want to know, I'll tell you everything. I'll tell you everything!" The 'boss' collapsed to the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy.

I thought I'd have to spend a lot of time explaining, but I didn't expect them to be so easily intimidated. They gave in after just a few harsh words.

"Whose people are you? What do you do all day long besides killing, robbing, and stealing food?" Song Zhuiyan's temperament was already cold, and her words sounded even more icy.

Thinking of the explosive thing she had just thrown up from the pit, the "boss" shuddered, feeling the wound on his head widen even more. Overwhelmed with grief, he said, "We are refugees, forced to live on. We can only survive by outnumbering others, by fighting, killing, stealing, and robbing. What else can we do? That's how the world is. If you're not ruthless, you can't survive."

"You think you're in the right to kill innocent people? If you have grudges, go find those who caused this situation. You only dare to attack innocent civilians; you're no good at all," Song Zhuiyan retorted coldly.

"In this world, there's no such thing as good people and bad people. It's good enough to be a decent human being. If you can't even keep your life, what's the point of talking about being a decent human being?" The leader was quite eloquent. "We're not good people, but are you two good people? You've blown up so many of our brothers. Do you think it was easy for us to get to this point?"

He didn't say a single useful word, but instead started arguing with her. Song Zhuiyan almost laughed in anger and kicked him, "Your people first tried to knock us out with sleeping gas, then rushed in and started hacking at the bed. If we hadn't noticed something was wrong in time, we would have been chopped into mincemeat by you. And you blame me for blowing you up? I'm the one who's going to blow you up."

"Stop talking nonsense and tell the truth. If you keep changing the subject, I'll cut off your leg first." As he spoke, he pressed the blade against the man's knee, meaning he was going to cut off everything below the knee.

"Don't cut me! I'll tell you. We're actually soldiers under General Duke, just not regular soldiers. General Duke doesn't like refugees, but he also forbids them from escaping his territory. Anyone found doing so is to be killed without exception."

"We're here specifically to kill refugees and rob them on the side. What good stuff can refugees have? Duke doesn't care if we live or die. If we don't get anything, we won't have food. If we don't do these things, we'll be killed like the other refugees."

As the "boss" spoke, he burst into tears. Don't think that being a boss is so glamorous, with a hundred or so men following him. In reality, they are not even as good as Duke's dog.

They were local villagers from Xifeng. Duke declared that the refugees were not allowed to leave, and that they would be killed regardless of whether they left or not. In order to survive, they had no choice but to become executioners.

"That brutal bastard Duke deserves to die, he's guilty of atrocities!" Song Zhuiyan frowned, her expression growing colder, her thoughts unreadable.

"Shh, don't say anything like that. If this gets back to General Du, he'll suffer a terrible fate." The 'boss' was terrified by her words and looked around in panic.

"Are all your people so unscrupulous that they're all petty tattletales?" Song Zhuiyan felt a little sorry for him.

"You think it's so easy to hold onto the boss's position? You have to make some contributions." The so-called contributions are nothing more than exposing one's own people in front of Duke's men, or offering up pretty women when you see them while robbing and killing refugees. Duke is just a lust-driven bastard.

This is outrageous! I want to kill that bastard right now, what should I do?

Although they were filled with rage and wanted to tear Duke to pieces, they remained rational. Song Zhuiyan and Zhong Qingyi interrogated their "boss" and got a general idea of ​​the current situation in the Great Jin Dynasty.

It turns out that not every place is as chaotic as Xifeng, where people are struggling to survive. The Crown Prince was assassinated by Chen Wu, the former Duke of Zhenguo. The only remaining heir of the late emperor is the Prince Xian. Four years ago, the Prince Xian was severely weakened by a flood in Jiangnan, but he has now recovered.

Jiangnan is still under the rule of the wise king, and he accepts refugees. Jiangnan is suitable for farming and rich in resources. Refugees can go there to cultivate land and grow crops. In the first year, the wise king will also provide relief grain to fill their stomachs. It is said that refugees who cultivate land are exempt from taxes in the first year.

All of this suggests that a wise king is a benevolent ruler who cares for his people and understands the principle that "those who follow the right path receive much help, while those who stray from it receive little." If a kingdom loses its people, can it still be considered a complete kingdom? In that case, the kingdom will cease to exist.

After resting in the mountains for a night, Song Zhuiyan's arm stopped bleeding the next day. She and Zhong Qingyi decided to continue their journey, but they didn't know what to do with their "boss." They couldn't bring themselves to kill him, but they were afraid he would use the same trick again if they didn't kill him.

After thinking it over, Song Zhuiyan fed him a poison pill. If he didn't take the antidote within half a month, he would die from the poison.

"Can you give me the antidote? I swear I'll never harm you again. If my brothers come looking for me, I'll make them follow your orders. Although some of them might be Duke's spies, most of them will listen to me..."

"Wait, you just said that you have Duke's spies among you, so Duke already knows our whereabouts. Given Duke's nature, won't they send people to ambush and kill us right away?" Song Zhuiyan frowned and looked at Zhong Qingyi.

"What does Miss Song mean?" He wasn't too worried and would listen to her.

Song Zhuiyan whispered in his ear, "Before we find the person, let's strike first and catch him off guard."

“But you are still injured.” Zhong Qingyi said with a worried expression.

"It's alright. As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is the safest place. If we go to their territory, we won't be so easily discovered." However, we can't take the main road next; we have to sneak over there quietly.

"You're familiar with this place, you must be able to find a safe and secluded route to the nearest town, right?" Although it was a question, the tone was one of certainty.

The "boss" had no choice but to obediently lead the way in order to survive.