Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 231: First Link

Before long, Han Wubing, with bandages wrapped around his shoulder, walked in. He was not being restrained, and upon seeing the situation that was taking place, he looked utterly bewildered.

He did not look like someone who had been captured; rather, it seemed like he was recuperating inside. Furthermore, his injuries did not appear to be severe.

When he saw what was taking place at the door of the VIP room, Han Wubing exclaimed, “Big brother Sha Seven? Who’s this dark-faced man...”

Zhao Changhe’s jaw dropped.

Seventh Lord Sha, who was being held by the throat, began to laugh, and his subordinates immediately joined in.

With a stern expression, Zhao Changhe asked, “Are you alright?”

Han Wubing immediately recognized his voice and was extremely surprised. “Brother Zhao! It’s you! Uh, the thing is...”

Zhao Changhe said, “Did I misunderstand the situation? Did they actually take you in and even go on to provide you with good food and drink?”

Han Wubing said, “Well, yeah, they took me in.”

Zhao Changhe said, “But you were deceived.”

Han Wubing was stunned for a moment, and his eyes quickly looked at Seventh Lord Sha with suspicion.

It was evident that he trusted Zhao Changhe far more than Sha Seven.

Sha Seven just smiled and, seemingly unconcerned about his throat being squeezed or Zhao Changhe’s apparent intention to reveal something, simply showed a look of interest.

Zhao Changhe said, “For instance, when I arrived here, did they inform you that I was here?”

“No.”

“I knew they didn’t, otherwise, you would definitely have come looking for me.”

Han Wubing smiled.

The feeling of trust and understanding was truly wonderful.

Zhao Changhe continued, “The fact that they did not inform you indicated that their intention to provide you with shelter was not entirely benevolent. My judgment that you were captured doesn’t seem too far off.”

Han Wubing said, “You’re right. Being kept in the dark is no different from being captured.”

He quickly drew his long sword and went to stand beside Zhao Changhe. He then pointed his sword at the gang members of Kangle Gambling House, who in turn had their blades pointed at Zhao Changhe.

Sha Seven sighed. “No matter what, I still provided you with shelter, yet this is how you repay me?”

Han Wubing said, “I was already planning to leave. It was you who persuaded me to stay here to recuperate. I saw that the environment looked relaxed and did not seem that suspicious, so I stayed here temporarily. But it turns out that you were blocking information from me and had other plans for me.”

Seventh Lord Sha did not respond to this. Instead, he asked Zhao Changhe, “How did you figure it out, Young Hero Zhao?”

“Didn’t you tell me this yourself?”

“Did I?”

Zhao Changhe said, “Some punks tried robbing me while I was walking on the street right after buying some pancakes. That isn’t really the most suspicious thing about that event, though. What was really strange was that they inexplicably mentioned that Han Wubing had been forced to flee for his life, and they also mentioned your name out of nowhere. So, I came to wonder who this Sha Seven was and why they mentioned his name in such a roundabout way.”

Sha Seven asked, “What does roundabout mean? Also, couldn’t they just have been some lackeys blabbering nonsense?”

Zhao Changhe continued, “Anyway, none of the information I had mentioned Han Wubing being injured, so even if he did get injured, it wouldn’t be severe. Moreover, with his character, he isn’t one to just flee without retaliating. From my understanding of him, he would surely be hiding somewhere in the city, biding his time for revenge.”

Han Wubing smiled again.

Zhao Changhe continued, “Now, suppose Han Wubing didn’t leave, and I entered the city with such a conspicuous broad saber and got into a fight. Regardless of what mask I was wearing, he would have immediately been able to tell that I was here, so then why didn’t he come find me? The most likely reason is that he was captured. But from what I could tell from the pieces of information that I got, it was not the Ji Clan that captured him, nor was it Yan Lianping. If he was captured, it could only be another party. So who could it be? The abstract words of those robbers I encountered came to mind. It then became clear to me that you were hinting to me that Han Wubing was in your hands, and you were telling me to come find him.”

Sha Seven smiled and said, “That’s right. But why didn’t you come to me directly as yourself? Instead, you changed your appearance and even decided not to bring your saber. At first, I really didn’t recognize that this Ji Bochang was you. It was only when you made your move that I finally realized.”

“Man...” Zhao Changhe sighed helplessly. “While from your perspective, you knew that Han Wubing was completely fine, from my perspective, I thought that brother Han had been captured by you. Would it make any sense for me to just come to you for a chat? How am I supposed to know how you’re going to react once I reveal the information? So of course, I had to disguise myself first to investigate. Before coming in, I was not even planning on taking action. I just came to take a look.”

“You used your internal energy on the dice to confirm my strength?”

“That’s right. You didn’t even notice the invasion of my internal energy, indicating that your strength is quite average. However, with so many people around you, I had to still be wary of a true powerhouse being among your subordinates. I might not be able to save him by forcefully going in, but suddenly making a move to capture you could be worth a try. It’s the simplest and most straightforward option. So, I decided to go with that on the spur of the moment. Otherwise, I still have a pretty strong companion, I could wait for her and make use of her strength.”

Sha Seven rolled his eyes. “If you want to say I’m weak, then just say so. I can bear it.”

“You’re not weak, you simply underestimated me.” Zhao Changhe smiled. “But I can guess what you wanted to talk to me about.”

“Oh?” Sha Seven said with a resigned expression. “Tell me.”

“Han Wubing made a move because of the rumors about me. Back then, he caused trouble right in front of your gambling house. His actions led to the secret of him having mastered a new sword art being leaked, which then led to both Ji Yinan and Yan Lianping knocking on your doorstep as there’s no way you wouldn’t know about something that happened right at your gambling house, right?” Zhao Changhe smiled and said. “However, you graciously took Han Wubing in, wanting to extract information from him and obtain the secrets about the ancient sword.”

“Then why have I not tried to force it out of him? Why act like a good person?”

“How would I know? I always thought brother Han was caught by you...”

“...”

“Perhaps it’s because brother Han isn’t easy to mess with. Things could have gone awry if you used force, so why use force when you can just trick him into divulging the secrets? I can only see you using force if he kept his mouth shut and you lost your patience. But clearly, three days isn’t long enough for that... During this time, you discovered that I came to the city and you remembered that I was also one of the people who learned of the secrets of the ancient sword. You then passed on information to me, hoping to capture me as well.”

Sha Seven finally shook his head and said with a wry smile, “What the hell, this is really weird. In this matter, the Pinghu Association and the Xingyi Gang have been the loudest and everyone is looking at them. How were you, out of all people, able to figure out that Han Wubing’s whereabouts had nothing to do with them and that they were just diversions?”

“That’s because I have no interest whatsoever in their power struggles. From the beginning, my only goal has been to find my friend.”

There was a moment of silence in the air, and even the gang members holding their blades against Zhao Changhe seemed to waver.

After a moment of silence, Sha Seven slowly said, “What’s the point of all of you still holding your blades up? Put them down.”

Someone said, “But young master, he’s still holding you by the throat!”

“When you put your blades down, he’ll naturally let go of my throat. Since he came here looking for his friend and has seen that his friend is unharmed, why would he still want to kill me?”

The gang members looked at each other and they gradually put down their blades.

However, Zhao Changhe did not let go of Sha Seven’s throat. Instead, he tightened his grip and said, “You’re right, but now that you’ve said that, I don’t feel like letting you go. We can continue talking outside this room.”

Sha Seven’s face contorted in frustration: “You motherfucker...”

As Zhao Changhe stepped outside, he suddenly paused. “Seventh Lord Sha, did you have the place cleared out?”

“Of course!” Sha Seven replied irritably. “I’m being held by the throat. Of course we had to clear the place out to avoid anyone finding out. Otherwise, how am I supposed to continue staying in Sword Lake City in the future?!”

“So, you mean to say that there’s no one outside right now? Hmm...Zhao Changhe suddenly said, “Then, Seventh Lord Sha, how about we discuss cooperation?”

Sha Seven let out a choked sound of disbelief. “Hah! With things being as they are, how can you seriously even bring up cooperation?!”

Zhao Changhe said without a change in his expression, “Why not? Is there some irreconcilable enmity between us?”

Sha Seven said, “It doesn’t seem like there is. Why do you suddenly want to share the secrets of the ancient sword with me now?”

“I just wanted to ask you, do you want to dominate Sword Lake City? I believe that Ying Five wants you to stay in Sword Lake City for more than just the ancient sword, right?”

Sha Seven narrowed his eyes, taking a moment before responding, “Do you suddenly trust me enough to talk about cooperating on this matter?”

“As you said earlier, the conflict between those two factions and your business are two separate matters. Someone is colluding with the barbarians and spreading rumors about me, but regardless of which one it is, it’s certainly not you. So, after thinking it over, if I were to choose to cooperate with any force in Sword Lake City, I would actually choose you.”

Sha Seven sighed deeply. “From now on, if anyone dares to say that Zhao Changhe is a mere mountain bandit in front of me, I’m going to slap them so hard that even their mothers won’t recognize them!”