Chapter 304: The Mastermind Behind the Scenes

Actually!
When the group of water ghosts led by “Water Scab” attacked, Kai Xin gradually received several task prompts from the system. The first task was to protect Xu Hong from harm; after repelling a group of water bandits, he quickly received the second task—capturing the leader of the water ghosts, “Water Scab”; then the third task was triggered: “Uncover the mastermind behind the scenes”!
“Two choices: either reveal who’s behind you… or die!”
Although Kai Xin hadn’t encountered many such tasks in the martial world, he had accumulated enough experience to quickly grasp the key points. He even understood Water Scab’s cowardly nature from his final appearance. So, instead of wasting words, he used the most direct method to crush the water ghosts’ morale. Then, with a cold, emotionless sentence, he struck at Water Scab’s weak point.
Looking at the blood-soaked Silver Wolf Breaker Sword before him…
Water Scab shuddered and hurriedly confessed!
“It’s the imperial navy, General Yang!”
“Hm?”
Xu Hong trembled, his expression turning extremely grim.
“Nonsense!”
Kai Xin naturally noticed the reactions of Xu Hong and his group. His gaze turned cold, and the sword light on the Silver Wolf Breaker Sword surged instantly.
“Stop! It’s true! I’m not lying! It really was General Yang from the imperial navy who sent someone to contact me. I even have the token they gave me…” Terrified, Water Scab trembled as he took out a black iron plate and spilled out everything he knew, fearing the sword would be raised against his neck.
A cold river breeze blew by, and everyone on the deck was stunned into silence by Water Scab’s words.
It turned out!
Ever since the Murong family started this business along the salt route, General Yang had repeatedly sent people to secretly contact their fleet, offering protection, but the Murong family refused, claiming they had enough strength to protect themselves.
But in reality, General Yang was the dominant force of the imperial navy in this area!
He controlled both the legitimate and illegal worlds!
Those who did legitimate business had to pay protection fees; those who refused would soon be attacked by bandits, losing both money and lives!
As for those with little profit, they were left to the bandits, who would collect protection fees monthly as a sort of “amulet” allowing them to operate in this area.
The Murong family clearly wasn’t aware of this situation. By embarking on this path, they had offended General Yang!
However, the Murong family was unmatched in strength throughout Gusu, with countless skilled members, which made General Yang wary and hesitant to take action.
Moreover, the Murong family indeed had the ability to fend for themselves in the martial world!

Over the years, the Murong family’s business grew larger and larger. Sometimes, they even took it upon themselves to protect other ships, which greatly annoyed General Yang and the bandits in the Yangtze River area. Some time ago, it was heard that the head of the Murong family led a large group of experts away from Gusu to handle affairs in the capital. Not only were some of the experts from the salt ships taken away, but the family was also led by a woman. General Yang immediately conceived an idea—to have the most cunning bandits in the Yangtze River region carry out a heist.

“I’m telling the truth! Everything is true! I’m not lying to you at all!”
The bandit knelt on the deck and swore by the heavens.

Kai Xin frowned and looked at Xu Hong.
“Executive Xu, what do you think?”
Xu Hong’s face turned ashen; he sighed deeply:
“Over the past few years, I’ve been traveling on these rivers. I’ve heard many things about General Yang from various merchants. But since there were no conflicts, I didn’t pay much attention. I never expected him to dare to attack our fleet despite the Murong family’s influence! I must report this to the family head…”

“But the words of a bandit aren’t enough to convince anyone!” Kai Xin glanced at the bandit.

Xu Hong nodded silently, expressing regret.
“That’s right. Neither the imperial court nor the martial world will believe a bandit’s words. Even if we report this to the family head, it’s unlikely they can deal with a high-ranking official from the court. Besides…” He stopped speaking, noticing Xu Hong’s unwilling expression. Kai Xin understood what he meant: although the Murong family was powerful, they were still a noble family without official positions. As descendants of a former dynasty, their status was extremely sensitive. Acting rashly against a high-ranking official would be like inviting trouble upon themselves.

Just then!
Ding!
System prompt:
“Use the bandit as a hostage to lure General Yang out! Gather evidence of General Yang’s collusion with the bandits!”

As soon as the system prompt sounded, the bandit cautiously raised his head:
“Hero, I’ve told you everything I know. Now, can I go?”

“Let you go?”
Kai Xin smiled:
“If I let you go, how will I know if what you said is true or not?”

Hearing this, Xu Hong looked surprised:
“Executive Kai Xin, do you mean…”

“The bandits who fled earlier will surely spread the news here. General Yang will definitely know that the bandit is in our hands.” As he spoke, Kai Xin took the black iron token from the bandit’s hand and sneered coldly, “Tell me, can General Yang still remain in control of the situation?”

“Lure them out of their lair?” Xu Hong’s eyes lit up, only to show concern soon after. “But that Yang guy is said to be a master himself, and his guards are also highly skilled, at the Life and Death Realm level—very difficult to deal with.”
“What about Yang?” Kai Xin asked.
“At the peak of the Life and Death Realm!”
Hearing Xu Hong’s answer, Kai Xin immediately felt relieved. “Then there’s no problem.” In his view, dealing with a group of warriors at the Life and Death Realm wasn’t too difficult.
Yet…
Kai Xin was wrong! Completely wrong!
About ten miles ahead, the river narrowed suddenly, and a large expanse of reeds appeared ahead of the fleet. The river was less than two ship lengths wide.
…
“Move aside! Hurry up and move aside!”
At the entrance of Reed Town, a group of armored soldiers forcefully dispersed the many players gathered there, unfurled some paper, and posted a notice in the most prominent spot at the entrance!
A call for volunteers to join the militia!
The content read:
“There are hundreds of cunning and ruthless pirates who have raided an entire fleet of salt ships and are about to pass through this town! Now, I, the general, am urgently recruiting brave men with a desire to uphold justice and eliminate evil to serve as militia members and launch an ambush on the pirates at Reed Marsh!”
Anyone can join!!
If the mission is successful, one shipload of salt (worth a million taels of silver) will be awarded as reward to all those who kill pirates. (Specifically, 3,000 taels of silver per head.)
Such notices were also posted in several nearby towns…
At the same time, all players within dozens of miles in several towns received a system prompt:
“Do you want to respond to General Yang’s call and join the militia to ambush the pirates at Reed Marsh? You will receive 3,000 taels of silver for each pirate killed, and 10,000 taels of silver for each expert at the Life and Death Realm killed.”
The towns were in an uproar!