A divine healer, a general, a young marquis! Who can rival them!

Although Yang Hu publicly exposed the frame-up, and the troublemakers were apprehended and punished, the matter was far from over.

The middleman hiding in the shadows, masked, handing over the money to hire a killer, and that sum of money of dubious origin, ironically became a new clue in Yang Hu's hands, one that he could follow to find the source.

"We need to trace the middleman who made the contact, the method of paying the money, and which account the money for the murder came from." As night fell, Yang Hu carefully recounted the confessions of the men who had confessed to Qin Ying, who was disguised as a medicine boy.

"A mere clerk in the central army," he tapped his finger lightly on the table, "dared to so blatantly hire someone to frame a medical officer who saved the entire battalion's lives and was highly regarded by Captain Chen. He would never dare to do this without someone backing him up, cleaning up his mess, and silencing the gossip."

Qin Ying's hand, which was hanging in her sleeve, slowly clenched, her knuckles turning slightly white.

She had seen far too many of these insidious and despicable tactics—hiring murderers and framing others—in the military and in the imperial court. It was precisely this method that had framed her father and her entire family years ago: first, smear them with dirty water; then, fabricate charges; and finally, wipe them out completely.

"You mean," she said in a very low voice, "that the person above that document, the one who truly controls everything, has their eye on you."

"Hmm." Yang Hu nodded slowly, his eyes calm as still water. "Leaking military supplies, wiping accounts, damaging morale, hiring thugs to frame people... each and every one of these things, though seemingly scattered, actually exudes the same sinister aura and comes from the same hand."

He paused for a moment: "A mere clerk couldn't possibly orchestrate such a large scheme or bear such a heavy responsibility. The person above him holds a high-ranking position, has deep roots, and extends his reach far and wide, with his henchmen covering even the prefectural government and this central military tent. It was this very hand that dared to write your name as 'fighting to the death for your country' and manage to deceive everyone back then."

Upon hearing this, Qin Ying's eyes surged with overwhelming hatred.

The flame of the oil lamp was lowered by the wind blowing through the tent.

These days, he spends his days treating the wounded and sick throughout the camp, and his nights, by the light of this solitary lamp, meticulously piecing together the threads of that bloodsucking undercurrent. The logbooks of military supplies, the records of allocations, the signatures of those handled, the money for hiring murderers… seemingly unrelated clues are being connected bit by bit in his hands.

He laid out the paper, filled with names and details, and with a few new clues added, under the lamp, and traced it back another layer. From the inferior weapons that led to their deaths on the city wall, to Section Chief Zhao of the quartermaster, to the clerk in the central command tent who bought the murderers, and then to the hand hidden deep behind the clerk, whose shadow had never been revealed... the veins of this bloodsucking channel gradually became clearer, but its source remained deeply locked in the thick fog.

"The more eager he is to act," Yang Hu pointed his finger at the blank fog, "the more it shows that what I found has hit his sore spot. He's afraid."

Qin Ying looked at him quietly.

This young woman in her early twenties showed no fear in the face of that overwhelming force that could manipulate events and frame even her entire family as rebels. Instead, she displayed the calm and certainty of a hunter eyeing its prey.

"But this pool is bottomless, too dangerous." She couldn't help but say softly, a rare hint of worry flickering in her usually cold eyes. "You are an outsider medical officer, with little influence and power in this camp. He has been entrenched here for years, and he has a hundred ways to harm you."

Qin Ying paused, then continued, "You were only able to escape this frame-up today because you remembered the medical records and had Commandant Chen backing you up. But what about next time? What if he resorts to any means necessary, tampering with your medicine, or finding a pretext to imprison you..."

She couldn't continue. These past few days of walking side by side had made her understand better than anyone what losing this person meant.

"He'll come again next time," Yang Hu said, his tone unusually calm, almost cold. "I know that better than you do."

He stared at the flickering oil lamp and said, word by word, "But have you ever thought about it? Every time he comes, he has to use more manpower, spend more shady money, reveal more flaws, and leave more clues for me to follow. These few rascals today are just a piece of that clue he handed over."

The principle is sound, but this game of chess is extremely dangerous. One wrong move could lead to utter ruin.

He raised his head and looked out the window at the heavily lit and heavily guarded central command tent, his gaze deep and thoughtful.

"He thought he was hunting me, removing this thorn in his side." A faint but cold smile appeared on Yang Hu's lips. "Little did he know, every time he made a move, every time he handed over a knife, he was illuminating an inch of the path leading to his own lair for me."

The more anxious he is, the calmer I become. He is eager for quick success, but I have plenty of patience.

Qin Ying stared at him blankly.

At that moment, she suddenly realized that the young man who had pulled her out of her predicament was never passively taking a beating or struggling to survive.

He was setting up a much larger scheme. He was using himself as bait, his identity as a medical officer, and his act of checking accounts as a hook, gradually provoking the most hidden and patient hand to make its move. The more the other party made their move, the more traces they revealed; the more they revealed, the brighter the path to the source became.

This is the hunter's lure to the prey, a fight where the hunter uses himself as bait.

What courage, and what danger!

"You're taking a huge risk." Her voice trembled slightly.

"Dangerous," Yang Hu readily admitted, his gaze unwavering, as calm as a deep pool. "But in this world, what monumental case can be overturned without taking risks?"

He looked at her and said, word by word, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained. The heroic souls who died unjustly in this city, the blood feud of the entire Lu family, and the injustice you have been smeared with and cannot wash away... If there is to be a day when justice is served, there must be someone who dares to wade into the deepest and most dangerous muddy waters, who dares to touch the scales of that all-powerful hand that controls everything."

"Now that I've encountered this person, and now that I have the ability," he said, looking at her and enunciating each word clearly, "there's no reason for me to back down."

He paused, looked at her, and softened his voice.

"Besides, I'm not alone."

Qin Ying's heart skipped a beat.

These five words, spoken lightly, flowed like a warm current through her heart, which had been hanging in darkness for over a year and was almost frozen.

Yes, she wasn't alone in suffering the cruelty of this world, and he wasn't alone in wading through these muddy waters. On this perilous road, at least they had each other.

Outside the window, the night was deep, and the lights in the central command tent were blindingly bright. The hand hidden deep within was still dreaming of its all-powerful ambition, completely unaware that every move it thought it had made was being watched and remembered by a pair of calm eyes, becoming evidence that would later uproot it inch by inch.

She believed him. If there was anyone in this world who could pull the hand hidden deepest in the fog out of the fog and clear the name of the Lu family’s blood feud, it was this young man in front of her who was silent but held the hearts of everyone in the camp in his hands.

The game is far from over, but danger lurks everywhere. The player who plays black has already gained the upper hand with his extraordinary courage and composure.