No strange things are allowed to evolve!

In short.

The boss sighed:

"You'd better spare me. I'm not interested in your so-called business. I just want to run my business well. I just want everyone who comes to me to buy medicine to pay for it so that I can pay the empire's taxes."

My family is counting on me. I don't want them to go hungry because of me, and then become like those suffering people you described. And then I doubt you'd come back to help me and my family, would you?

Gandhi was speechless.

"Alright, leave now. I wish you success in your career; that's the only thing I can do for you." The boss gave him the order to leave.

After a long silence, Gandhi had no choice but to leave the shop.

Once on the street, he sighed helplessly to Jiang Shu, “Many people are numb now. I can’t even see a glimmer of hope in their eyes. They don’t think about anything else besides making a living, and they have no ideals at all. It’s a great tragedy.”

Jiang Shu glanced at him.

"But we can't entirely blame them. Everyone has ideals, and that time is usually during childhood and adolescence, because only then are there no worries."

Gandhi paused for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "The Empire has brought trouble, turning our people into mindless, living corpses."

"Who knows?"

As they were talking, a commotion on the street ahead caught their attention.

A young girl from the Kingdom of Zhu is being harassed by two imperial police officers.

Although the passersby and shopkeepers around knew that the so-called girl stole their property as a pretext to get her to leave with the two men and then pay some price in exchange for a private settlement, after all, who would steal from two policemen in broad daylight, especially a young and naive girl?

However, everyone tacitly chose to remain indifferent and watch from the sidelines.

"Let's go." Gandhi turned his head away reluctantly. "Let's leave this place."

But Jiang Shu remained motionless.

Achieve mission objectives while fulfilling the Empire's directives.

Isn't this the opportunity?

Chapter 326 Saving India

Seeing that Jiang Shu not only ignored his advice to leave this place of trouble, but instead walked towards the place where the conflict had occurred, Gandhi was stunned at first, and then chased after him, anxiously grabbing Jiang Shu.

"What are you doing? Get out of here!"

But Jiang Shu did not stop walking at all and continued to walk straight ahead.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"You're not trying to stand up for her, are you?"

“I know you’re angry, but don’t forget there’s more than just the two of us here. If we clash with the Empire now and they search the whole city for us, what will happen to the others?”

"Calm down. These kinds of things happen all the time. Don't let one person's impulse cause you to miss the chance to save others who are in the same situation."

"We must endure this now!"

Gandhi's anxious whispers were rapid and tense, as if he feared that Jiang Shu might do something impulsive.

He wasn't worried about Jiang Shu's safety; he had witnessed Jiang Shu's abilities in prison, and these two patrolling policemen would certainly be no match for him.

He was just worried that Jiang Shu's move would plunge the entire westward-bound team into a deep predicament.

But Jiang Shu did not stop. He just turned his head to look at Gan Diyi once, and then continued to move forward.

His eyes were so firm, as if to say: I know all that you're saying, but I also have my reasons for taking action, I also have... my own difficulties.

Seeing that he couldn't stop Jiang Shu, Gandhi's heart sank to the bottom.

He sighed helplessly, already prepared to meet Jiang Shu at any time, rush back to the team's base, and lead everyone out of the city before the empire began a city-wide manhunt.

He was in despair because he wasn't sure he could get everyone away safely, and even if they did, he knew the road ahead would be very difficult.

But he doesn't have time to think about that now.

In such a short time, Gandhi only had time to consider how to extricate himself from the situation unscathed.

As soon as Jiang Shu makes a move and attracts the police's attention, he will take the innocent girl away from the scene first, and then they will split up and meet at their destination.

Even if the Imperial Police receive reinforcements, they probably won't be able to stop Jiang Shu. As long as he can get back to the group before everyone leaves the city, that will be fine.

If there's really no time...

A hint of regret appeared in Gandhi's eyes.

Then I guess I'll have no choice but to abandon him.

Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly noticed something.

"Hmm, what is he trying to do...?"

Under Gandhi's questioning gaze, Jiang Shu had already circled behind the two policemen, squatted down in front of him and all the onlookers who were watching coldly, and began to grope the policemen's bodies.

Of course, the two policemen didn't notice.

Their attention was now entirely focused on the girl who was terrified, her face pale and numb with fear, unable to think straight.

"This is the only way you can avoid being sent to jail. Just come home with us, have a few drinks, and keep us company, and this matter will be settled."

"Well, madam, our terms are already quite generous. But we can't guarantee that a beauty like you won't encounter any terrible guys or get hurt in prison."

They harassed and threatened the girl with great enthusiasm, completely unaware that their weight was gradually decreasing.

"What? Why are you acting like a victim? We're the victims, you're the one who stole from us, so why are you making it seem like we're the ones in the wrong?"

"But speaking of which, a beautiful girl like you must be doing this kind of lowly work because you're really short of money, right? Well then, let's be kind and give you all the valuables you stole from us. As long as you do as we say, you won't have to go to jail and you can keep all the valuables. How about that? Aren't we generous enough?"

The two brothers talked and smiled at each other.

This guy, who was clearly terrified and had never seen much of the world, agreed to this condition in order to avoid going to jail. In that case, it would be considered an admission of theft, and no one would blame them even if something happened afterward.

If you didn't steal anything, why were you willing to settle this privately?

So the worst-case scenario is that public officials pay for prostitutes.

But this was nothing to India, which was under imperial rule.

Paying for prostitution is something that, compared to his colleagues, would be considered saintly.

Their skill was so evident that these two were repeat offenders.

Seeing that the girl was hesitant to respond, the two became somewhat impatient and urged her to nod quickly.

However, there were others present who were even more impatient than the two of them.

That's Jiang Shu.

He didn't know what the problem was.

They've already stolen so much stuff, so why didn't the two policemen react at all?

He even began to suspect that they might have actually been robbed by that seemingly harmless girl.

Given their level of vigilance, they might even be able to steal something from a newborn baby.

At this moment, the crowd who had previously watched indifferently and were used to it, as well as Gandhi who had been prepared to give up on Jiang Shu at any time, were all dumbfounded, their minds blank, and they had completely given up thinking.

Because Jiang Shu not only actually stole something from the police, but he stole quite a lot.

Just then, a cool breeze blew by.

The two policemen couldn't help but shiver.

"What's going on? Why is it suddenly so cold?"

One of the policemen instinctively tried to tighten his collar, but...

"Huh?" The policeman looked down and his mind went completely blank: "Where's my collar? No, where are my clothes?!"

Not only were their clothes gone, but their pants and socks were gone too; all they were left with were two pairs of slightly yellowed white underwear.

The two immediately panicked, their faces flushed with embarrassment.

At this point, they hadn't realized the seriousness of the situation, and the policeman who discovered it later even gave his colleague an awkward look.

His companion instantly understood what he meant.

Could it be that we've been feeling too stressed lately, so we've unknowingly taken our clothes off?

His companion frowned.

This is not impossible.

Their specialty is interrogating attractive prisoners by subtly and quietly undressing themselves while asking questions. By the time the prisoners realize what's happening, it's often too late, and they usually end up half-heartedly complying.

Could it be that this time he has become so skilled that he didn't even notice it himself?

Although it's not a bad thing, it doesn't seem like a good thing at this time and place.

After regaining their senses, the two decided to get dressed first. It didn't matter what they did in the interrogation room, since it was their own territory, but going out on the street would at least tarnish the Empire's reputation.

So, while looking down to search for their clothes, they glanced around with warning eyes, trying to shut up the onlookers.

But it was just as fate would have it that they looked back.

Suddenly, they saw Jiang Shu, who was holding a pile of rags, looking at the two of them with an innocent and pitying expression.

The two then realized that it wasn't that their strip interrogation skills had reached perfection; rather, it seemed that their clothes had been stripped off and torn to shreds!

"You bastard! What have you done?!"

The two instinctively tried to draw their guns, but embarrassingly, the guns had already been removed from their clothes and were now in Jiang Shu's hand.

Fortunately, Jiang Shu had great respect for the empire and its laws.

If a police officer asks for a gun, how can he refuse?

Then he handed over a bunch of parts.

The two policemen stared silently at the dismembered guns, a sense of powerlessness washing over them.

One of them couldn't help but angrily question, "Do you think we're stupid? There aren't any bullets in here! How are we supposed to use them?"

Upon hearing this, his companion looked at him in horror, as if he were a stupid monster.

"Didn't you notice...?"

He felt utterly hopeless about having such a terrible teammate:

"Were our guns all broken? I don't even know how they got smashed into such oddly shaped pieces."

Upon hearing this, his companion looked at him in horror, as if he were a stupid monster.

"That's a spring!"

"Excuse me." Jiang Shu handed over a few more bullets.

They were also dismantled; the bullets, cartridge cases, and gunpowder were all separated.

Realizing that they couldn't threaten the man in front of them with the most intimidating and lethal weapon of the time, whether it was because they were out of bullets or the gun had been dismantled, the two policemen calmed down.

"Who exactly are you, and why are you doing this?"

They stared coldly at Jiang Shu, relying on the empire as their greatest backing, and questioned this guy who looked like he was not to be trifled with:

"Are you trying to stand up for her?"

Jiang Shu shook his head.

A famous, non-cuckolded martial arts character once said that the more beautiful a woman is, the more likely she is to lie.

Therefore, Jiang Shu did not assume that the girl was not a thief.

Moreover, even if we take a step back and say that it's the worst thing that's done, simply labeling someone as a good person or a victim is actually a form of disrespect.

"She" should not be defined.

Jiang Shu did this simply because he was inspired.

It turns out that as long as you steal from the Imperial Police, you'll get into trouble, but it won't necessarily lead to a major conflict.

This would give the empire a reason to punish Gandhi's forces without causing their complete annihilation—isn't that exactly what they wanted?

Then he started stealing.

However, as Jiang Shu continued stealing, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the two policemen.

If both of them are such imbeciles, then the girl might actually be a thief.