Chapter 38: Every Drink and Every Peck is Predestined

Su Xiaoxi dragged the limp Tang Zheng to the bank. Although she had grown up by the canal and was a skilled swimmer, she was still exhausted.

"Tang Zheng, wake up." Su Xiaoxi called Tang Zheng's name while patting his cheeks, but the latter's eyes were closed, his face pale, and there was no response at all.

"Tang Zheng, wake up."

She pressed Tang Zheng's abdomen with both hands, trying to push the water out of his stomach, but it was in vain.

"Don't scare me."

A flash of panic crossed her eyes. She lowered her head and kissed Tang Zheng's lips, starting to perform artificial respiration, but Tang Zheng still couldn't give her any response.

A tear spilled from Su Xiaoxi's eye socket and fell onto Tang Zheng's forehead.

"Wait for me, I'm going to call for help."

Su Xiaoxi scrambled to her feet, preparing to call for help.

However, she had only run a few dozen steps when she heard a gust of wind above her head, and then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a dark shadow, and her neck was suddenly strangled from behind.

The opponent's arm was like a steel hoop. Su Xiaoxi tried to pry it open with both hands, but the opponent didn't budge.

She felt she couldn't breathe more and more, her face flushed red, and even the veins on her neck bulged. The strength in her body was fading rapidly.

At the same time, a rush of footsteps came from behind, and Lin Zuo was seen rushing over with his Embroidered Spring Blade.

"Stop!" Yagyu Ichiro held his Tachi against Su Xiaoxi's neck and shouted loudly: "Otherwise I will kill her."

Seeing this, Lin Zuo frowned and couldn't help but slow his pace.

"Using a woman as a shield, Yagyu Ichiro, you really have no dignity."

"Less talk!" Yagyu Ichiro shouted desperately: "If you don't want her to die, throw down your blade."

This time Lin Zuo did not answer, but his fingers gripping the hilt tightened, showing his inner unrest.

"I don't have much patience. Throw the blade, otherwise..."

As he spoke, Yagyu Ichiro's blade cut a small wound on Su Xiaoxi's neck, and a drop of fresh blood flowed down, looking exceptionally striking against her fair skin.

"Stop!" Lin Zuo finally shouted these two words.

Outsiders all said the Embroidered Uniform Guard were cold-blooded, but Lin Zuo knew that the Embroidered Uniform Guard were also human, living, breathing people.

At least for him, he couldn't stand by and watch a friend be killed.

"Whoosh"—the Embroidered Spring Blade in his hand flew out, easily crossing the distance of twenty or thirty meters, the tip deeply embedding itself into a large tree nearby, the hilt vibrating and buzzing.

"Let her go."

"Hahahaha." Yagyu Ichiro suddenly let out an arrogant laugh, and at the same time, he chopped the back of Su Xiaoxi's neck with his hand, and she collapsed to the ground, falling unconscious.

"You Chinese have a saying, 'cause and effect circulate, retribution is never wrong.' I don't understand retribution, but I believe in cause and effect." Yagyu Ichiro held his Tachi and walked toward Lin Zuo step by step: "The Buddhist scriptures say, 'Every drink and every peck is predestined.' Ten years ago, your master died at my hands because he wanted to save a girl, and today you made the same stupid choice as him. Isn't this the so-called cause and effect?"

Lin Zuo just sneered: "A person like you is worthy of talking about cause and effect?"

The next moment, the two fought again, but this time, Yagyu Ichiro had a weapon in hand, while Lin Zuo was unarmed. The balance of the battle, which was originally close to evenly matched, began to tilt.

After exchanging several moves, Lin Zuo had a clear judgment in his heart. His and Yagyu Ichiro's strength were originally on par. Without a weapon, he could at most hold him off, but it would be difficult to defeat him.

Thinking of this, Lin Zuo changed his strategy, gradually shifting from an offensive posture to defense. His body dodged nimbly in the blade light, starting to stall for time until reinforcements arrived.

Unfortunately, his opponent Yagyu Ichiro was also battle-hardened. Lin Zuo's change was felt by him immediately. A faint, imperceptible sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth, and in the middle of the fight, he suddenly turned around and slashed at the unconscious Su Xiaoxi.

This was completely unexpected to Lin Zuo, but if he did nothing, Su Xiaoxi would inevitably be decapitated.

"Stop!"

Lin Zuo shouted loudly, pouncing toward Yagyu Ichiro from behind, but just as he approached within two meters of Yagyu Ichiro, a sense of alarm flashed in his heart.

Yagyu Ichiro turned suddenly. The Tachi that had already been slashed halfway suddenly reversed, passing through his ribs and stabbing straight at Lin Zuo's abdomen.

This strike was insidious and too sudden. Plus, Lin Zuo was anxious to save Su Xiaoxi, and his forward momentum was too strong. It was too late to dodge, so he could only lean his body slightly.

The gleaming steel blade passed through the left side of his abdomen, bringing up a spray of blood.

The sharp pain made Lin Zuo's vision go black, but holding onto the idea of seeking life in death, he did not retreat but advanced, continuing to rush toward Yagyu Ichiro, while stabbing at Yagyu Ichiro's eyes with his right index and middle fingers as a sword.

The latter was shocked, withdrew his blade, and tilted his head back. Lin Zuo's fingers touched his eyelids, but ultimately, because of the distance, he couldn't go any further.

Clang, clang, clang—Yagyu Ichiro retreated six or seven steps, looking at Lin Zuo with lingering fear.

His eyes were swollen, and the corners of his eyes were even torn, spilling drops of blood.

Just a little bit more, and his eyes would have been ruined.

In this instant, his back was covered in cold sweat, not knowing if it was from fear or the excitement of escaping by luck.

Afterward, a smile began to appear on Yagyu Ichiro's face, becoming more and more obvious, more and more crazy.

"Ten years ago, the god of luck favored me once. I didn't expect that ten years later, the god of luck would still be on my side."

He raised the blood-stained Tachi in his hand again. This time, looking at Lin Zuo, it was like looking at a lamb to be slaughtered.

He would not allow such a dangerous opponent to live in this world.

Looking at Lin Zuo, his abdomen was pierced by the Tachi, and blood was gushing out. The clothes below his waist were completely dyed red.

The desperate struggle just now aggravated his injuries. Although he was still trying to stand, he was already swaying.

"I am truly unwilling!" A strong sense of frustration and annoyance welled up in Lin Zuo's heart. He was not afraid of death, but failing to avenge his master might be the biggest regret of his life.

He felt the strength in his body disappearing rapidly. The surrounding temperature dropped suddenly, and the world seemed to be covered with a thin veil. The surging river, the fire-ships on the river, the shouts from afar, and the wind blowing past his ears all became blurry.

If there is a next life, I must kill Yagyu Ichiro and avenge my master.

Is there a next life?

Vaguely, he saw Yagyu Ichiro screaming and raising his blade to slash at him, and he, let alone dodging, found it extremely difficult even to lift his arm to block.

Then so be it.

A bitter smile appeared on the corner of Lin Zuo's mouth. He looked straight at the Tachi slashing toward him and Yagyu Ichiro's ferocious face, facing the arrival of death calmly.

However, Yagyu Ichiro's body suddenly paused, then stiffened.

The latter's body swayed twice, his knees softened, and he knelt down on one knee, relying entirely on the Tachi in his hand to support himself so he wouldn't fall.

Then Yagyu Ichiro turned his body with difficulty, wanting to look back, but it seemed he couldn't even perform a simple action like turning his neck.

Only then did Lin Zuo discover that twenty meters behind Yagyu Ichiro stood a somewhat familiar figure, stretching out one hand and maintaining a strange pose.

Tang Zheng!

It was actually him.

Because he was blocked by Yagyu Ichiro's body earlier, he hadn't discovered him at all. He didn't know when Tang Zheng had arrived here or what he had done.

A strange feeling welled up in Lin Zuo's heart, not knowing if it was relief or a sense of being unburdened.

Yagyu Ichiro let out two wheezing breaths from his throat, and the whole person finally collapsed to the ground, unable to bear the weight. After struggling twice, he stopped moving completely, and a pool of blood slowly spread out from beneath him.

And in the position of his heart, a small arrow made of refined steel, which Lin Zuo was very familiar with, was inserted. The arrowhead had already deeply pierced into Yagyu Ichiro's body, with only a small part of the tail exposed.

That was the Sleeve Arrow his master had left behind. Lin Zuo had always carried it with him, and just before the battle started, he had given it to Tang Zheng for self-defense.

It was fortunate he did.

Then Lin Zuo felt his vision go black and finally fainted, unable to hold on any longer.

Before losing consciousness, the last image that flashed through his mind was what Yagyu Ichiro had said to him earlier—"The Buddhist scriptures say, 'Every drink and every peck is predestined, cause and effect circulate, retribution is never wrong.'"

That is so damn right!

In this battle, the Zhenjiang Prefecture government soldiers, led by Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander Lin Zuo and Prefect Zhou Yunqing, wiped out more than three hundred Japanese pirates and River Bandits, sank seven enemy ships, and killed the bandit leader Yagyu Ichiro. In the following ten-plus years, the Jiangzhe coastal area was free from the harassment of River Bandits.

Afterward, Zhenjiang Prefect Zhou Yunqing followed the clues and uncovered more than ten officials related to the water transport corruption, all of whom were sent to the Capital to be tried by the Dali Temple. For a time, the official atmosphere around Zhenjiang Prefecture was cleared.

Subsequently, because of his merits in wiping out the River Bandits and thoroughly investigating the water transport corruption, Zhou Yunqing was rewarded by the Emperor and promoted to Junior Minister of the Dali Temple.

Water Transport Supervisor Commander Su Shanhe was also rewarded and promoted to Vice Prefect of Zhenjiang Prefecture. He wrote a memorial recording the hardships of the Zhenjiang Prefecture water transport workers and presented it to the Emperor. The Emperor sympathized with the public sentiment and exempted the Zhenjiang Prefecture water transport workers from all taxes for the current year. Su Shanhe was thus supported by all the water transport workers.

As for Lin Zuo, the blade wound in his abdomen fortunately did not hit any vital organs. After recuperating and receiving treatment in Zhenjiang Prefecture for more than a month, he finally regained his ability to move.

Because the Emperor summoned him urgently, he needed to set off for the Capital immediately.

On the day of his return, Tang Zheng and Su Xiaoxi both came to see him off. However, this time, their hands were held together, and when they occasionally looked at each other, they appeared affectionate.

Seeing this, besides being happy, Lin Zuo actually felt a little envious.

As expected of his master's son, he was much better at pleasing girls than he was when he was young.

"Brother Lin, your injuries haven't fully healed yet, are you leaving already?" Su Xiaoxi asked with concern.

Lin Zuo smiled bitterly: "I have official business, I cannot delay any longer, there is no other way."

"It's fine, the Embroidered Uniform Guard have strong bodies, he will be full of energy again soon." Tang Zheng comforted the reluctant Su Xiaoxi from the side: "Besides, we can go to the Capital to see him in a while."

Looking at Tang Zheng's cheeky appearance, in whose eyes he could vaguely see the shadow of his master Tang Xiao, Lin Zuo suddenly felt a bit mischievous and said: "Tang Zheng, I will give you one more choice: stay here and spend your days with Miss Su, or come with me to report to the North Government Division of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. You choose."

"Ah?" Tang Zheng was stunned. He first looked at Lin Zuo, then at Su Xiaoxi, and finally gave Lin Zuo a cheeky grin: "Can I bring Miss Su to report?"

(The End)