With Zi Lan Xuan burned down, as a counterstrike, Han Fei and the others decided to target the Emerald Tiger—one of the Nightfall's Four Fierce Generals and their primary source of funds—starting from his financial roots. As a result, New Zheng in Korea fell into an unexpected calm.
Nanyang was Korea's border region, yet it remained one of the few prosperous counties left in the country. The Emerald Tiger's main stronghold was also established there.
As a merchant, the Emerald Tiger had his own calculations. He wanted to win over Han Fei, emulating Lü Bu Wei's maneuvers. So, believing he had bribed Han Fei successfully, he agreed to Han Fei's wager.
"How much do you know about the Iron Blood Alliance?" Li Hai Mo asked, looking at Dong Jun and Hei Bai Xuan Jian.
"Among the Seven States, the only forces capable of building such a vast organization, aside from Luo Wang, are the Mohists and the Farmers," Hei Bai Xuan Jian replied.
"It's unlikely to be the Farmers. Though they have many disciples, most are common folk—they couldn't muster enough experts to deploy across the Seven States. So, it has to be the Mohists," Dong Jun said.
Li Hai Mo nodded. Mohist disciples were scattered throughout the Seven States, led by local wandering knights-errants. Their sword techniques were renowned worldwide, and they placed great emphasis on keeping promises. Thus, the Iron Blood Alliance could only be backed by the Mohists. By intervening right away to claim a twenty percent share of the wager, this was one of the Mohists' sources of income.
To assassinate someone, Luo Wang had to dispatch experts from Xianyang. But for the Mohists, it only required a word from the local Mohist leader. That was why Han Fei had said, "Knights-errant use martial prowess to defy prohibitions." The world's two great prominent schools were none other than Confucianism and Mohism. The Confucians became prominent by controlling scholars and thus the courts. The Mohists, however, owed their status to their vast network of wandering knights-errants.
"The Mohist leader in Korea is named Shen. He's kept a low profile within the Mohists, but his swordsmanship is exceptional—he's one of the few true experts they have now. He also has a close friend, Jing Ke, the last disciple of Wei's great general. Jing Ke's swift sword has already made a name for himself in the jianghu," Dong Jun explained.
Li Hai Mo nodded. He'd encountered Jing Ke twice—once in Yan and once outside New Zheng. It was Jing Ke who had provoked the conflict between Dong Jun and Lao Ai, then struck with a single sword that gravely wounded Lao Ai. He just wasn't sure if Jing Ke had joined the Mohists yet.
"So, in this wager, the Mohists want the Emerald Tiger to lose—that way, they maximize their gains," Li Hai Mo said.
"With Marquis of Blood Clothes Bai Yi Fei stationed at the border, Han Fei and the others are seizing the opportunity to strike at the Emerald Tiger. At the same time, they're using the Mohists to eliminate Ji Wu Ye's Hundred Birds spies!"
Li Hai Mo couldn't help but admire Han Fei. He might not know which of the Hundred Schools backed the Iron Blood Alliance, but enlisting their help to evade the Hundred Birds' surveillance and secretly transport grain into Korea was enough. Moreover, Han Fei had guessed that the Iron Blood Alliance would be eager to handle this task for him—without needing to spell it out. As long as their leader wasn't a fool, they'd eliminate the Hundred Birds spies, ensuring Ji Wu Ye and his allies remained unaware that the grain had already been smuggled into Korea.
"Brother Shen, are you all planning to interfere in Korea's affairs?" Jing Ke asked, now clad in Iron Blood Alliance armor, glancing at the similarly attired Han Shen beside him.
"It's not us interfering—they invited us themselves. We're only responsible for ensuring the wager's fairness and that the terms are upheld," Han Shen replied.
Jing Ke rolled his eyes. If not for the Hundred Birds corpses underfoot, he might have believed it. But just for upholding the wager, did they need to help transport the grain? Or eliminate the Hundred Birds scouts sneaking in to investigate?
"Escorting grain is another source of income for us Mohists. We're in charge of protecting the shipment—to ensure its safety, taking out some suspicious riffraff is only natural. Besides, look—they're carrying fire starters and fierce fire oil. Clearly habitual arsonists and killers," Han Shen added, anticipating Jing Ke's thoughts.
Jing Ke was speechless. The Iron Blood Alliance—which was the Mohists—had accepted the role of wager overseers. Then, they'd taken on the task of helping Wei transport grain into Korea—still the Mohists. After that, they'd agreed to Han Fei's request to reroute into Korea—again, the Mohists. But Han Fei had no idea all three jobs were handled by the same group under Han Shen. In essence, for this one wager, the Mohists were pocketing at least forty percent of the profits.
"After scheming against the Emerald Tiger, the next target will be Ji Wu Ye. So, Han Fei and his group will find ways to assassinate him. Brother Jing Ke, you could give it a try—the reward would be substantial," Han Shen suggested.
"That assumes I can even kill him. Ji Wu Ye is guarded by at least a hundred armored soldiers even at the start, and his horizontal training makes him impervious to ordinary blades. If he were that easy to assassinate, he'd have died countless times by now," Jing Ke said. After all, he'd trained under Wei's great general—he had some sense. He was a martial fanatic, not an idiot.
"What do you think of the Daoists striking to kill Hei Bai Xuan Jian and capturing the Yin-Yang School's Dong Jun?" Han Shen suddenly asked.
"Marquis Chang Xin Yan Ri appeared in Korea out of nowhere, the Qin King is also in Korea, along with Luo Wang's Hei Bai Xuan Jian—two Celestial Unity experts. It would be strange if the Daoists didn't send two of their own to protect Qin King Ying Zheng. Besides, Human Sect Leader Wu Chen Zi is famously doting on his wife. With Heavenly Sect Leader Xiao Meng showing up, do you really think Human Sect Leader Wu Chen Zi wouldn't be there?" Jing Ke replied.
"Then why did the Daoists also strike and gravely wound the Marquis of Blood Clothes?"
This was what puzzled the Hundred Schools. The Daoists had sealed their mountain, so their disciples no longer meddled in jianghu affairs. Capturing Dong Jun could be seen as a factional dispute, and killing Hei Bai Xuan Jian as protecting Qin King Ying Zheng—both understandable. But gravely wounding Marquis of Blood Clothes Bai Yi Fei? That they couldn't fathom. Was this support for Han Fei? Or were the Daoists emerging from seclusion?
"Rumor has it the Marquis of Blood Clothes struck first, only to get countered and severely injured," Jing Ke said.
He found the whole thing baffling too. Knowing Daoist experts were present, yet still provoking them—Marquis of Blood Clothes Bai Yi Fei, I, Jing Ke, respect you as a true man. Snatching someone from the hands of a super boss who could capture Dong Jun—could he be from the Yin-Yang School?
"So, does that mean the Marquis of Blood Clothes might be from the Yin-Yang School?" Han Shen mused.
If so, they'd have to inform the Ju Zi immediately. Given Bai Yi Fei's cultivation, he was at least an elder-level figure in the Yin-Yang School—best to eliminate him quickly.
"I think you should be more concerned about what the Farmers' Shen Nong Hall Zhu Family is up to. They've vanished since the last battle. And the Confucians have been unusually quiet too," Jing Ke reminded him.
The Mohists knew how to fish in troubled waters for gains—would the Farmers just stand by and watch? And what about the Confucians controlling Korea's court under Zhang Kai Di? The Confucians had a saying: "He who steals a hook is executed; he who steals a state becomes a lord." They either stayed out or made grand moves. The Tian clan's usurpation of Qi was a major Confucian ploy, and current Korea was even weaker than Qi back then—so what the Confucians planned was worth watching most.
Han Shen glanced at Jing Ke, then patted his shoulder. "Do you know why the Mohists are hailed alongside the Confucians as the world's two great prominent schools?"
Jing Ke blinked, shaking his head in ignorance.
"Because the Mohists never meddle in court affairs—we only handle jianghu disputes. We've learned too many lessons, so our rule is to stay out of the court. For instance, this time, we only acted because we were invited to oversee fairness. And every intervention starts with them approaching us," Han Shen explained.
The Mohists' foundation lay in local wandering knights-errants, not the courts; in benefiting the people, not war machines. That's why they'd thrived as one of the two great schools. The second-generation Ju Zi, Qin Hua Li, had led the entire Mohists in an assault on Wei Yang to block Qin's reforms, devastating them and splitting off the Qin Mohists. From then on, avoiding court politics allowed reunification.
Later, the Mohists' downfall came when Yan Dan became Ju Zi, dragging them into ruin. Otherwise, with the Qin Mohists' existence, Ying Zheng wouldn't have ordered the destruction of the Mohist mechanism city—after all, even the Qin palace was built under Mohist supervision.
"The Mohists advocate universal love, non-aggression, exalting the worthy, and identifying with superiors. But at its core, it's about righteousness!" Han Shen continued. Righteousness was the true heart of Mohism.
Their non-aggression wasn't against all wars, but unjust ones. So, after Qin's Changping victory, when attacking Handan, the Mohists backed Zhao. Later, when Lord Xin Ling's alliance assaulted Qin and breached Hangu Pass, the Mohists blocked them with mechanisms there. Ultimately, the Mohists existed for righteousness. This time, aiding Han Fei was because the Emerald Tiger had turned all of Nanyang's people's livelihoods into his wealth-hoarding scheme—so the Mohists and Han Fei aligned perfectly to sanction him.
"Each of the Hundred Schools acts within their own principles—that's their way of survival. Cross the line, and the consequences are dire," Han Shen said.
When the Confucians crossed it, with Zhang Liang's ambush on Ying Zheng at Bo Lang Sha, the Little Sages' Manor was destroyed—their greatest blow since founding. When the Mohists crossed with Jing Ke's Qin assassination, they perished too. Violating one's survival principles brought unbearable fallout.
"I get the reasoning, but... after killing so many Hundred Birds members, won't Ji Wu Ye react?" Jing Ke asked exasperatedly.
You spout all this philosophy, but I haven't seen you hold back. By your logic, you shouldn't have pursued the Hundred Birds—just guard the grain. But now, how far have we chased them?
Han Shen fell silent for a moment before speaking. "Because he glanced at me one too many times. I suspect he recognized me, and his eyes screamed revenge—so I figured we couldn't let him escape."
"That makes sense!" Jing Ke agreed. What you say is so reasonable—at this point, not killing him would be a disservice to the sword in my hand.
"Mo Ya and Hong Xiao are coming too. Should we take them out as well?" Jing Ke asked, spotting the approaching Mo Ya and the other Hundred Birds leader, Hong Xiao, in the distance.
"Can't kill them—not worth the effort!" Han Shen replied.
Dealing with small fry was fine, but killing Mo Ya and Hong Xiao would truly pit them against Ji Wu Ye—not worthwhile. Mainly, there was no guarantee of taking them down.
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