The 18th year of the Da Yong reign: The beginning of the story involves rescuing revolutionaries.

Amidst the farewells of the guards, Wang Zhi left the warehouse and disembarked from the ship.

The docks in Liuzhou County were still bustling with activity, with large numbers of laborers carrying goods. The air was thick with the salty, damp smell of sweat.

The Southwest United Chamber of Commerce members were also unloading a batch of goods here.

The dock was still heavily guarded by militia members, who were strictly checking travelers, not even sparing the filthy laborers.

Everything looked exactly the same as when Wang Zhi had left a few days ago.

However, upon closer inspection, some differences can be observed.

Especially those militia soldiers, everyone had a stern face, full of bitterness and resentment, as if everyone owed them seventeen or eighteen taels of silver.

The group leader, whom they had dealt with quite a bit in the past, would occasionally crack his whip in the air, making a sharp cracking sound.

Clearly, at this critical juncture, no one would dare to provoke the group leader.

They became increasingly rude to passing travelers, wishing they could strip them naked and search them, though they didn't know what the point would be. Could rebels really turn into fleas?

If they inspected people like this, they certainly didn't overlook the goods leaving Liuzhou County.

Many traveling merchants slowed down their journey into Liuzhou County.

Perhaps the head of the militia was tired from the inspection, so he went to sit under a shed set up by the dock, crossed his legs, picked up the tea on the table and drank it all in one gulp, chewing on the tea leaves as he went.

Suddenly, one of his men, a militia trainee, stumbled over: "Commander, back, back..."

"Go back, go back, go back! We haven't caught any rebels, what's the point of going back?" The militia leader was just looking for a place to vent his anger, and he raised his hand to lash out with his whip, but then he heard the militia trainee immediately say, "They're back! Chief Wang is back!"

As he spoke, the soldier pointed to the cargo ship behind him.

The leader looked closely and saw a man dressed in black, with a lame man beside him. It was none other than Wang Luoyun, the leader of the Daxing Gang, who had returned.

"Good, you dare to come back." The leader put away the whip that was about to fall, stood up abruptly, so much so that he knocked over a stool, and walked forward without caring. "It's good that you're back."

"Go quickly to the county government office and inform the magistrate; I'll go and deal with him."

"Yes." The soldier replied, turned around, boarded a fast horse on the dock, and headed straight for the county government office.

Upon seeing Chief Wang, the leader felt as if he had seen a relative, and his heart, which had been in turmoil for days, finally settled down.

Even from a distance, he called out, "Chief Wang, I thought you would never come back."

"Commander Zhao, Lord Zhao." Wang Zhi hadn't expected to be stopped at the dock. He clasped his hands in greeting and casually replied, "How could I? Liuzhou is my hometown that I think about day and night, and there's also my Daxing Gang."

"So, did you go on a study tour, a spring outing, or a period of growth, and finally decide to return to your hometown?"

The group leader walked up to Wang Zhi, speaking in a sarcastic tone.

Hearing this, Wang Zhizhi frowned and snorted, "Long time no see, Commander Zhao, you've got quite the airs of an official. What, do I need to inform you where I'm going?"

Zhao, the commander, was speechless. He seemed to realize that the man in front of him was a formidable figure from the commoner realm, but not wanting to lose face immediately, he could only say indifferently, "Chief Wang, you misunderstand. It's just that the magistrate has been very worried about you these past few days."

"I, the gang leader, will handle things with the county magistrate; you, Zhao Kejun, need not trouble yourself." Wang Zhi called him by his name and then ignored him, walking forward with Zhang Dafa.

Watching Wang Zhi's departing figure, Zhao Kejun rolled his eyes, spat on the ground, and muttered to himself, "You'll get what's coming to you. What's with the smugness?"

Suddenly, Zhao Kejun revealed a meaningful smile, as if he had thought of something. He thought to himself, "I really look forward to seeing your expression when you return to your guild territory."

It's a pity he has to stay at the dock, otherwise he would definitely have followed along to join in the fun.

At this moment, Zhang Dafa was the most surprised. Leaning on his cane, he asked, "I never asked you what you did or what your name was before I followed you to Liuzhou County. I never expected that you would be the leader of the Daxing Gang. I heard that this gang oppresses the people, extorts huge sums of money, and is the government's lackey and the yamen's lackey."

The words weren't exactly kind. Anyone with a modicum of emotional intelligence wouldn't say such things when living under someone else's roof.

However, he was Zhang Dafu, the one who publicly humiliated Miss Shen, even breaking his leg and nearly losing his life as a result. Wang Zhi could understand, and asked, "What, regretting it?"

"Once you're on the pirate ship, it's too late to regret it." Zhang Dafa pursed his lips.

"Hahaha, don't worry, I can't harm you. Some things you hear are just appearances. You know me, the chivalrous hero who resolutely took action to kill the river bandits."

"Besides, didn't you come with Bai Mian Momo? When did you become someone who came with me?" Wang Zhi turned his head to look at Zhang Dafa, who was limping and walking slowly, and revealed an amused expression.

"Oh yeah, I came for the white flour buns." Zhang Dafa raised an eyebrow, as if he had figured something out, and his mood immediately improved.

As the two were talking, Wang Zhi realized that he had been overlooking something unusual: there were very few pedestrians on the main street. This was not only true near the remote dock, but also on the main road of the county town.

This was rather strange, so he hurriedly said, "Dafa, ask someone on the street for directions to Qingfeng Restaurant. Wait for me there; I have important business to attend to."

After saying that, he took off running at breakneck speed.

In front of the Daxing Gang's territory.

Zhou An, heavily pregnant, held the Xiyou E-class second-generation Mauser pistol in his hand. He led all the officials and constables, who lined up in two rows, holding firearms and broadswords, and completely surrounded the territory of the Daxing Gang.

Meanwhile, in the surrounding streets and alleys, a large number of onlookers had gathered, and some had even climbed onto the rooftops, squatting on the tiles with their arms crossed.

"Lord Zhou, you invited three of our gang's flag leaders and several brothers to your yamen, saying you wanted to ask them some questions, but they haven't been released yet."

"Since that day, you've surrounded our gang for two days. What are you trying to do now?" Li Quanfu walked out of the gang's gate with his hands hanging naturally at his sides, seemingly unafraid of bullets, his eyes staring at Zhou An with wolf-like eyes.

He then put his right hand behind his back, clenched it into a fist, and his internal strength and blood were circulating throughout his body.

With the gang leader away these days, he has been carefully dealing with the county magistrate, Zhou An, and others.

But now, he feels that things have gotten out of his control.

Upon hearing this, Zhou An snorted coldly: "Li Quanfu, you know what you have done. Several days ago, the county magistrate entrusted your Daxing Gang with the important task of searching for the Xinzhonghui rebels. Catching them is a great achievement."

"But now, you haven't handed over the people yet, so the county government has reason to suspect that you are colluding with rebels and secretly letting them escape."

"Even your gang leader fled a few days ago to escape punishment."

"Now that the county magistrate is going to arrest you all and imprison you before the provincial inspector arrives, so why don't you surrender?!"

Before Zhou An could finish speaking, he suddenly raised his gun.

He was wary of Li Quanfu, who was merely a commoner and a martial artist, and wanted to strike first.

While Wang Luoyun is away, we'll seriously injure Li Quanfu, and the rest will be nothing but chickens and dogs.

All I heard was...

boom--