Mozi Jiao was also startled and took a step back, exclaiming in surprise, "Who is it?"

  Zhou Wen hastily cupped his hands and bowed repeatedly, "Moke, keep your voice down, don't call over my partner."

  "Zhou Wen, stop pretending to be mysterious. I don't even want this pearl you're giving me, goodbye!" Mozi turned around and was about to pull the door open. It's really not good to blindly trust people. In her opinion, what's the difference between a clean water pearl and a dirty water pearl? Suddenly there's a ghostly voice out of nowhere.

  "Hey, Mo Ge, Mo younger brother, wait, wait!" Zhou Wen thought to himself, this person is leaving, the last hope is also gone, then he - what should he do?

  Her dark purple eyebrows furrowed tightly as she stared at the hand grasping her sleeve. Originally, she thought the sleeves were quite useful, but now they seemed like a tail, becoming a burden with just one grab.

  "Zhou Wen, I am not your younger brother." She knew it was a human voice, not a ghostly one, but her intuition told her something was off. She pretended to be annoyed and wanted to leave, "We've only met twice, there's no deep friendship between us. This pearl, silver is indeed not a problem, but my master and I are not worthy of it, you'd better find another buyer." She turned sideways, cupped her hands, and the door of the secret room opened a crack.

  "In the lower yuan, I don't know if Mo Ge will grant me an audience?" The voice was weak, but he struggled to maintain it without rest, still polite despite the pain.

  With such a tone, she didn't have the heart to refuse.

  Mozzie let out a heavy sigh and opened his mouth with a hint of politeness, "Well... it's fine to see you again."

  I was at a loss for what to call him, as I really couldn't tell the man's age from his voice. It seemed old, yet it also seemed like it had changed due to illness. Calling him "young master" might make him sound too young. Calling him "mister" might imply that he wasn't educated enough. And calling him "old sir" might make him out to be a middle-aged uncle.

  She gently pushed the door shut, turned around and glanced at Zhou Wen who was wiping his sweat. "Boss Zhou, if you didn't play tricks on me, why would I end up like this? Being deceived once is a mistake, being deceived twice is foolishness. I really don't like your way of doing business without sincerity, beating around the bush, not getting to the point, always trying to make people dizzy and then taking advantage of them."

  Zhou Wen smiled wryly, not daring to refute a single word, fearing that if he wasn't careful, she would leave again. In his heart, however, he was grumbling, thinking that although he had deceived her once before, she had seen through him this time. As for this time, he had just thought he had tricked her into falling into his trap, but unexpectedly, she was so formidable, not greedy at all, and said she would withdraw, then withdrew immediately.

  "Mo Ge, from now on, if I dare to play tricks on you again, I'll curse my son to have no anus." Just listening to Mo Zi's oath, but isn't this oath poisonous? Zhou Wen walked ahead, muttering to himself.

  Mei Zi still didn't believe it, "Many people have made this vow, but I've never seen a child without a pimple."

  His eyes bulged, and the scolding words were stuck in his throat, stuck to his chest, making him feel suffocated, stuck in his heart, making him furious. But what people said was true, which child doesn't have an anus?

  "Making a vow is just to show one's sincere heart... not saying it for others to hear, but saying it for oneself to hear." The voice suddenly stopped, followed by a severe coughing fit that made one feel like their internal organs were about to be coughed out. "Yuanshou doesn't believe in this either, sometimes he just observes the sincerity of those who make vows."

  As they spoke, Mozi saw Yuan Cheng.

  Behind the tall screen, in the corner of a cramped room, on the floor was spread a quilt, and on it sat a person. His hair was disheveled like grass, scattered over his shoulders, covering half his face, only revealing a swollen chin and blood-stained mouth corners. His dirty clothes were stained with dark red and bright red hues, almost obscuring their original white color. On the front of his tattered short jacket was a large character drawn in black ink.

  Prisoner.

  "Ah...". Zhou Wen hastily made a bow and was about to shout, but then thought of Mo Zi being present and hadn't finished the greeting. "You'd better lie down and rest for now, I'll ask the doctor to come and treat you again after nightfall."

  "I don't need a doctor. I'm probably still going to die..." He coughed a few times, "I won't die yet. Isn't it said that evil deeds will be remembered for a thousand years?"

  He smiled faintly, and Mozi saw that the crimson color of his prisoner's uniform had deepened in several places.

  "You'd better listen to Old Zhou and see a doctor, take some medicine. Master Yuan, 'the calamity will be passed on for a thousand years' isn't used like this, it has nothing to do with your longevity." She could guess who it was.

  The first corrupt official was originally surnamed Yuan.

  It's really pitiful. Looking at him on the verge of collapse, he must have suffered a lot. It's also true that the first corrupt official won't be called that for nothing, I don't know how many people resent him.

  "You... you know?" Zhou Wen shrunk his head, his face filled with shock and terror.

  "It's hard to know. This morning, I was having breakfast at the inn and heard a fresh batch of thrilling stories about capturing escaped prisoners. Now, the whole street is filled with officials and soldiers catching fugitives, but Lord Yuan is sitting there in prisoner's clothes. I thought you would have had your skilled helpers rescue him from the city." Mozi looked at Zhou Wen, who seemed stupid and foolish at this moment. For his own benefit, he was very clever. For his life, he was very nervous. Could it be that he wanted her to see someone like this appear in his secret chamber, as if he were his guest?

  For a moment, she seemed to see sparkling eyes under the disheveled hair. However, when she looked again, there was only a bloody shadow.

  "Mo Ge, can you take Yuan Mou out of the city?" Yuan Cheng leaned against the wall, with his hands spread open on his knees, his ten fingers dry and shriveled, his fingernails black, and his joints swollen and deformed.

  "Why does Master Yuan think I can do it?" His helpers were unable to take him away, and she didn't mention the smuggling goods with Zhou Wen during their conversation.

  "Zhou Wen brought you here, using the Water Purifying Pearl to entice you. I suppose you must know the way out of the city, and have some confidence in it." Yuan Cheng coughed again, his voice even weaker.

  "Since you, sir, have spoken your mind, I shall also speak the truth. I came to Da Zhou to do some private business for my master. But this time, it's done and I'll be leaving. As for your affairs, sir, I'm afraid I won't be of much help." Although he was the most corrupt official in Nan De and his appearance after being punished was pitiful, he was still a treacherous person and a scoundrel that everyone wanted to beat up. How could she possibly help such a person?

  "Mo Ge, that Water Purification Pearl is worth 200,000 taels. I'll just charge you 5,000 taels of silver, and all you have to do is bring one more person back to Da Zhou." What a ridiculously profitable deal.

  "It's useless even if this pearl is worth millions. You want me to bring a relative of yours along? Okay. But Yuan Gong's reputation is renowned, he's above everyone else, how can I just bring him along? I'm afraid my boat is too small and the passenger is too heavy, it'll sink." Mozi still refused, this was no different from Mr. Dongguo saving a wolf, and there was also the story of the frog carrying a scorpion to prove it.

  "Mo Ge, how about this? I'll give you a pearl for free. You won't be short of silver, and your master won't suspect that you're hiding something. In the future, when there's an opportunity, you can sell the pearl to Fo Zhen Zhu and become a rich man with tens of thousands of taels of silver, rather than being a servant who runs errands for others." With a gritted teeth, Zhou Wen decided to take the risk and forget about his original investment.

  Facing such a great temptation, Mozi remained very calm and smiled, saying, "Old Master Zhou is wrong, I was born to be a runner. Even if you give me the pearl for free, I will still have to hand it over to my master."

  Don't think she's a child to be fooled. There are many people on the ship who don't speak, and although Xun Er has a relationship with her, the Xun family is loyal to Qiu San Niang. Bringing Yuan Cheng onto the ship without reason is not the same as bringing those white feathered people. The title of First Corrupt Official is too heavy. If Qiu San Niang finds out, it won't be easy to settle with just 300 taels.

  "Isn't that simple?" The first corrupt official coughed with a smile, "You help your master pay 5,000 taels to buy one, and I'll give you another one for free. How about it?"

  How?

  Whatever.

  It's all right, let's get on with it.

  Deep purple hanging head pursed lips, hiding smile.

  －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

  The plane didn't fly, it went on strike. I stayed in a hotel for a day and then took the bus, just got back to where I started from, exhausted to death, had no choice but to buy another ticket for next Saturday. It's simply exhausting and wasteful, never encountered such a thing before.

  So I'm late for the first time, sorry about that.

  There will be another update before 9 o'clock.