"Everyone has a time of falling into the plains," Lin Dai followed Fu Qinghe and Su Mei into the thatched hut, the four walls of which were full of holes. Although it was impossible to light a fire, the light in the dusk was not dim. Lin Dai looked at the man with a goatee beard, who was sitting on the ground with his hands tied behind his back, and asked with a fake smile on his face, "The two gentlemen should just resign themselves to their fate. Is there anything you want to say to us?" Just as he was about to squat down to ask about the internal affairs of Ninghai Town in detail, he saw that the goatee-bearded mans face had some unusual color, and his suspicion suddenly arose. He pressed the tip of his paddle knife against the thin-faced mans throat and shouted loudly: "Kneel down!"

  The thin-faced man didnt suspect that if he hesitated for a moment, the knife would pierce his throat. His hands were tied behind his back, and he could only fall to the ground with a thud, lying there in the mud.

  Lin Jian saw that the waistband tied to his hands was almost broken by his strength, thinking that this guy was quite powerful. He took a paddle and hit him heavily on the back of his head: "Looking for death!"

  One of them with a thick beard on one side shouted: "If you have the guts, kill us! What kind of bullying is this?"

  Lin tied a slanting face and glanced at him, smiled, ignored him, and looked at the thin-faced man: "You also say this sentence to me." With a hand, he slapped the back of his head again. The thin-faced man was so painful that his eyes were dizzy, but he didnt make a sound; Lianjin Hu Zis eyes stared wide open, knowing that saying anything else would only increase humiliation.

  Fu Qinghe grasped the wounded shoulder of the bearded man, checking his bindings. The bearded man had been shot with an arrow under each rib and in each armpit, losing a lot of blood and having no strength to struggle; it was just unexpected that the thin-faced man still had so much strength after being shot by one arrow, if not for the first arrow shooting him and making him surrender, they would have had a fierce battle. Earlier, he was so honest, but it was all fake. Fu Qinghes heart was chilled with fear: if they let the thin-faced man escape into the forest, they wouldnt have a boat to leave the deserted island immediately, and when the Ninghai Military Garrison officials returned to the island, it would be their doom.

  Lin Xian found a belt and re-tied the thin-faced man, then turned to the young man beside him and said, "Do you know how to tie it more securely?"

  The boys on both sides shook their heads.

  "A dry towel has no strength; once its wet, it has elasticity," Lin said, seeing Hu Qiao want to go out and find water, he shouted at him, "It doesnt have to be wet with water. Moreover, even if you tie it tighter, its not as good as making him unable to struggle... How can we make him unable to struggle?" He drew out his waist knife, took the knife tip and cut open a slit on each of the thin-faced mans arms, causing blood to flow onto the waistband that bound his wrists, "Let his blood flow, naturally hell have no strength..."

  Su Meng and Xiao Man had never seen such a bloody scene before. Lin Xie spoke as he taught, his face calm and composed, like an old master teaching students to write big characters in a school. If you only looked at his face, you would never guess that he was holding a knife and cutting two gashes on the thin-faced mans arms to let out blood. They watched with their hair standing on end and their spines chilled, unable to bear looking at it, and turned away. The ten young men in the grass shed also couldnt bear to look, wanting to hide, but Lin Xie sternly shouted: "Watch carefully, they dont deserve your sympathy..." Seeing that he had almost finished with the thin-faced man, he pulled his hair and made him kneel, then stood up and turned around to face the young men in front of him, saying slowly and clearly: "Im not teaching you to be cruel, but you must learn to protect yourselves, your friends, and your families..."

  Sumin listened to the side, her body trembled with fear, thinking that Lin Gongzi had risked his own life to rescue them from the pirates and soldiers, how could he be cruel? If anyone was cruel, it was these pirates and soldiers who were even more ruthless and inhumane. If Lin Gongzi had been merciful to them, how could he have successfully rescued the girls? Perhaps for himself, for friends and family, this was necessary.

  Su Meng turned her head to glance at Lin Xie, who was frowning as he watched the young men beside him, unaware of her change in expression. She felt a twinge of embarrassment for her previous behavior, thinking that although she had never treated him with contempt before, she had always thought his character and talent were far inferior, but it turned out he was also someone worthy of respect.

  Xiao Mans heart was filled with hatred towards these officials and soldiers, so she naturally felt happy that Lin Xie had taken revenge for them. She didnt think Lin Xie was cruel, but as a young girl who was born afraid of blood, when she heard Lin Xies words, she thought to herself: Does he consider himself a friend? Seeing Misss eyes fixed on Lin Xie, her heart felt confused: Is he doing this for Miss? Im just a personal maid.

  Fu Qinghe vaguely understood Lin Xies intention, so he appreciated his approach. He stood aside with his hands behind his back, thinking: When Master Hou was alive and evaluating the characters of the imperial court and the world, he said that there were only a few people in this world who could be considered "capable ministers in times of peace and heroes in times of chaos". I wonder what Master Hou would think if he saw this young man.

  Lin Mou didnt know what Su Mei and Xiao Man were thinking, but as he looked at the young people in front of him, he felt a sense of melancholy for their future fate. He saw Chen Enze biting his lip, with tears welling up in his eyes, and an expression of unwavering determination on his face, and asked, "Do you know your current situation?"

  "They are the government soldiers of Ninghai Town, they should have killed the pirates to save us, but instead they killed the pirates and took us hostage here, wanting to impersonate the pirates to extort ransom from our families..." Chen Enze said.

  "...Lin tied up his hands, letting him not continue for the time being. These young people, although they had not experienced any storms, were not ignorant of everything. He turned back, took a paddle and patted the thin-faced mans cheek, asking: "Who is the leader? You dont need to hide from us, we already know he is one of the Ninghai Town Masters, Chen Qianhu and someone named Bai Ming are also his trusted followers like you. As soon as we go ashore, we can immediately investigate his identity..."

  "Pah, do you think that just because you know my familys General Xiao Tao is going to use these 30,000 taels of silver to redeem himself, you can still try to bring down my familys general? Relying on the dozen or so merchants and local landlords in Chongzhou?" The thin-faced man knew he couldnt escape death at this point, and not wanting to continue kneeling, he spat out a mouthful of saliva, struggled to get up, but was kicked in the chest by Lin Xie and ruthlessly slammed to the ground. He no longer pretended to be meek, sat on the ground with his legs crossed, and said sternly, "Not to mention killing thirty or fifty people, robbing thirty or fifty thousand taels of silver, the Jinan Xiao family has been rebelling for seven years, what can the imperial court do about it? In the end, wont they still have to grant them a marquis title and territory to appease them?"

  "Xiao Tao Yuan?" Lin Fu turned his head and glanced at Fu Qinghe, he was not familiar with the military leaders in Ninghai Town, after all, he used to be a scholar who never left his house.

  Fu Qinghe explained: "Xiao Tao is the second general of Ninghai Town, deputy cavalry commander, and the commander-in-chief of the six naval camps in Ninghai... I didnt expect that the Xiao family had already negotiated terms with the imperial court."

  Lin tied nodded, the person in front of him was either a high-ranking general in Ninghai Army or Xiao Taos trusted aide. They should have known the news earlier than ordinary people. He turned his head to look at Su Mei, she probably knew that it was hopeless to temporarily seek justice from the Xie family for now.

  Lin Bing didnt want the thin-faced man to continue his arrogant and boastful speech before he died, so when he saw him wanting to speak again, he slapped a knife on his face, knocking out two teeth. Turning around, he said to Chen Enze, Hu Qiaoguan, Hu Qiao Zhong and other young men: "Do you think we can let them go back?"

  "It cant be done." Chen Enze said resolutely, "Theyll take the ransom and still kill us to silence us, so they wont have to worry about leaks; if we let them go back and report, our families will be in danger."

  "Why cant I be an official?" Hu Qiaoguan asked.

  "They can pretend to be pirates today, and tomorrow they will really become pirates," said Hu Qiaozhong. "If we report them to the authorities, before they go into hiding, they will surely take revenge on us by plundering Chongzhou..."

  "Report to the officials? You naive kids are really foolish, thinking that the imperial court will turn against a high-ranking general in the capital just because of the grievances of a few merchants and local landlords in Chongzhou! Even if someone in the capital speaks up for you, what can they do to my familys general?! If you want your families to be safe, its better to surrender...” The thin-faced man said viciously, but unfortunately, he didnt finish speaking. His left cheek was slapped again by Lin Fu with a paddle: "Too much nonsense!" He said to Fu Qinghe, Su Mei and Chen Enze, "Lets go outside and talk." Leaving the thin-faced man and the bearded man in the thatched hut.

  Reporting to the authorities is definitely not an option. That guy, although he looks ferocious, seems to be talking some sense... If they are going to become bandits, they will surely plunder Chongzhou first. The Chongzhou county government has only 70 or 80 armed guards, and they cant even withstand pirates, how can they withstand them?

  "What are we waiting for to report to the authorities? If we run away, they will send people to the island and know that things have been exposed. These officials are so reckless, do they still dare to sit and wait for death after knowing that things have been exposed?"

  "What should we do?"

  "Perhaps we can only surrender and be taken captive in order to protect our families; as long as our families are not implicated, what does it matter if we die now?"

  Out of the grass shed, Chen Enze and other young people were at a loss, not knowing what to do.

  A crescent moon rose from the western horizon, and Lin Xie looked at these young boys, most of whom were fourteen or fifteen years old - more than a dozen younger ones had been arranged to rest in another thatched hut. Although they had been pampered before and had not experienced any setbacks, they had already reached an age where they could understand reason and distinguish right from wrong. This time, they encountered great difficulties, being captured by pirates and government soldiers one after another as human tickets, and were still in a state of shock and worry about the safety of their families, which was really pitiful for them.

  Fu Qinghe furrowed his brow, thinking of other things; Su Mei and Xiao Man were also worried about the fate of these young people and their families. This time, they had already experienced the arrogance and recklessness of the garrison troops. If these young people returned to Chongzhou to report to the authorities, even if someone stood up for justice and fairness, how could Xiang Taoyuan and his subordinates possibly surrender? The Ninghai Garrison was in charge of the military defense of Weiyang, Hailing, Pingjiang and other prefectures under its jurisdiction. If Xiang Taoyuan led his troops to sea as pirates, not only would Chongzhou County be affected, but also the three prefectures of Weiyang, Hailing, and Pingjiang would suffer greatly. The more likely scenario was that the imperial court would turn a deaf ear to this matter in order to appease Xiang Taoyuan, and no one would stand up for justice. Chongzhou County was located within the defensive jurisdiction of Ninghai Garrison, and the fate of these young people and their families could be imagined.

  "Lin Ge, Lin Gongzi, you quickly think of a way to help them..." Xiaoman looked at Lin Xie with pleading eyes.

  "Master Lin..." Su Mei also couldnt help but speak out and beg.

  "What does Master Fu think?" Lin Xie couldnt bear to see these young men so perplexed and disheveled, so he respectfully asked for Fu Qinghes opinion.

  "Its a bit tricky," Fu Qing furrowed his brow, he originally only wanted to rescue Su Mei and Xiao Man, but now he couldnt bear to ignore these young men either. The key was that he knew he couldnt persuade Su Mei to ignore them either. He knew that Lin Xie was much more clever than him, so he said, "Whats a good plan, Master Lin? Im willing to take orders..."

  "Calling me Lin Fu is enough." Lin Fu emphasized again, showing respect to Fu Qinghe. Fu Qinghe was over 50 years old, and it was only natural for him to call him "Fu Ye". He thought to himself that he was still young, barely out of his teenage years, and it was awkward to have a man in his fifties address him as "Ye" (a term used to address someone older).

  "Please, Brother Lin, save our family!" Chen Enze was rescued by Lin and Fu Qinghe, so he naturally trusted their abilities and knew that he was young and inexperienced. He thought that they must have a better understanding of the situation than him, so he immediately turned around and knelt down on the ground to beg Lin; Hu Qiao Zhong pulled Hu Qiao Guans sleeve, and seven or eight other children also knelt down on the ground to beg together.

  "Stand up and speak," Lin Xie said sternly, unable to bear the sight of them kneeling down and begging. "Can it be that if you kneel down, Ill come up with a solution? Can it be that if you dont kneel, Ill just stand by and do nothing? Everyone, stand up and speak."

  Chen Enze, Hu Qiaoguan, Hu Qiao Zhong and other young people all stood up, looking at Lin Xie with a face full of expectation, placing all their hopes on him.

  "When pirates are always more bitter than being a general, Xiao Tao is the second commander of Ninghai Town, deputy cavalry and commander-in-chief of the six naval camps. It can be said that he is in a high position with great power. Unless its absolutely necessary, how could he bear to give up his current glory and wealth to go out to sea and become a pirate? I think they wouldnt fall into banditry unless they had no other choice," Lin Fu looked at Fu Qinghe and asked, "What do you think, Master Fu?"

  "Yes, the number of pirates in the East China Sea is not one thousand or eight hundred. Even if he were to pull out all the naval forces from Ninghai Town and turn them into pirates, how could the pirates and their backers allow him to easily establish himself in the East China Sea? Xiao Taoyuan has only enemies at sea and no foundation, its very difficult for him to become a pirate after falling into the sea. Moreover, how many troops can he confidently pull out from under his command to become pirates? He will not easily become a pirate." Fu Qinghe said.

  "You know what to do, right?" Lin Tie turned around and looked at Chen Enze and the other young men. "Well disguise ourselves as another group of pirates and kidnap you, leaving behind some fake clues. As for Xiao Taoyuan, whos worried about things being exposed, hell first send people to secretly keep an eye on your families, rather than hastily setting sail to become pirates. However, before Xiao Taoyuan is overthrown or transferred away from Ninghai Military Town, you cant return to Chongzhou - you cant reveal even a hint of weakness for them to detect. Before Xiao Taoyuan lets his guard down, you cant even contact your families."

  Su Meng only then understood why Lin Xie wanted to teach these young people "cruel" methods. These young people could not return to Chongzhou, could not contact their families, and could not even let others know that they were still alive in the world. Once the news leaked out, it was very likely to bring disaster to them and their families. If they didnt learn some "cruel" methods, how would they be able to survive in the future?

  The oldest among them was only fifteen or sixteen years old. They had been spoiled since childhood and suddenly suffered such a disaster, which is really pitiful.

  Chen Enze looked up at Lin Xie, his young face not showing much despair, and asked: "As long as we never show up again, our families will be fine?"

  "Things are hard to predict, and theres no foolproof plan," Lin Xuan couldnt forget the bullet that had shot in from outside the window. He didnt regret his choices in his past life. He furrowed his brow as he gazed at the bright, jade-like moon in the west, and a sense of grandeur arose in his heart. He patted Chen Enzes shoulder and said, "You should know that for our own sake, for the sake of our family and friends, its most important to strive with effort; sometimes even if things dont go as planned, theres no need for regret."

  Fu Qinghe let out a long sigh and turned away, as if what he had just said to Lin Xie was the key point.

  *********************************

  P.S: Collect and red tickets are welcome.