David Green had a few sharp words with Emily Scott yesterday. Today, seeing that William Thompson really wasn’t dead, he felt he’d lost face, so he deliberately said, “Heh, all day long it’s Brother William this, Brother William that. Little girl, are you trying to marry him or what?”

　　Emily Scott had been in a good mood, but hearing this, she immediately wilted.

　　She was just a little girl, thinking that William Thompson was good-looking and easygoing. Plus, the two of them practiced Mongolian and Jurchen together, so she had a sincere friendship with him. Liking him was just a child’s kind of liking, no different from how she liked Li Bai.

　　But with David Green saying that, it suddenly sounded like romantic feelings between a man and a woman.

　　She’d never thought about romance before; at her age, she was still naive, but… not entirely ignorant.

　　It was precisely this little bit of awareness that made her feel both embarrassed and annoyed, feeling ashamed, and at this moment, she really disliked David Green.

　　But as a descendant of Jin captives, she certainly didn’t dare argue with anyone. She could only lower her head, not respond, looking as if she’d done something wrong.

　　Actually, shouting loudly last night that William Thompson wasn’t dead was already one of her rare moments of assertiveness. Afterwards, she was scolded by Andrew Scott, who said, “You’re a captive, how dare you talk back to a military officer? Do you want to die?”

　　Now, David Green’s words made the atmosphere awkward, so Andrew Scott quickly tried to smooth things over with a smile: “Of course not, of course not. With Qiao’er’s status, how could she ever hope to marry Young William…”

　　“Li what ‘young lord’? He’s just a condemned prisoner.” David Green replied offhandedly.

　　Emily Scott disliked him even more, lowered her head further, and tears welled up in her eyes.

　　David Green wasn’t truly malicious; he’d just argued last night and wanted to regain some ground today. Seeing Emily Scott lose her spirit, he actually found it boring.

　　“Boring. I was just joking, why are you all pulling such long faces?”

　　William Thompson then smiled at Emily Scott and said, “Don’t mind him, he just can’t keep his mouth shut.”

　　He wasn’t some kind of pervert—how could he be interested in a little girl like her? Even though he was only four years older, he’d never thought about what might happen in the future.

　　By his standards, he only liked girls who were fair-skinned, beautiful, and long-legged. Emily Scott was skinny, small, and dark.

　　With William Thompson’s calm attitude, the mood eased a little.

　　David Green added, “Alright, it’s my fault for running my mouth. Little girl, why are you crying? So sensitive. I’ll get you more meat to eat next time, okay? Go on, go out with your grandfather for now. I want to have a word with William Thompson.”

　　Once the Scott grandfather and granddaughter left the tent, David Green and William Thompson exchanged updates.

　　“……”

　　“No spare key?” William Thompson looked at the shackles on his feet and said, “Then could you at least find me a piece of wire?”

　　“Let’s be serious,” said David Green. “I thought even if you didn’t die, you wouldn’t come back. Why didn’t you take the chance to escape?”

　　“I thought about it. My conclusion was I had to come back. Otherwise, what, become a bandit? Never mind anything else—if the wound on my foot isn’t treated in time, I’ll be crippled soon, maybe even die from infection.”

　　David Green said, “If that’s all you have to say, I can’t fully trust you.”

　　“I’m just telling the truth,” said William Thompson. “What, do you want me to swear loyalty or something?”

　　David Green didn’t answer, just stared at him.

　　William Thompson picked up an egg, tapped it, and slowly peeled it.

　　“Let me put it this way: I only play on the biggest stage—the battlefield. Here, the authorities are the biggest power, and you’re with the authorities. Of course I’ll listen to you, I won’t run, I won’t turn bandit. So just go get me a piece of wire, alright?”

　　“Fine…”

　　David Green walked out of the tent.

　　The reason he asked William Thompson all this was because he sensed that William Thompson was a bit… how to put it…

　　William Thompson had explained how he escaped from the cormorant’s hands, but David Green noticed there was one thing he hadn’t mentioned—

　　It was possible to strangle the cormorant with the iron chain around his neck, but the chain was only just long enough to wrap twice around a person’s neck, not enough to pull the head out.

　　William Thompson didn’t have a key, nor did he drag the cormorant’s body back.

　　So how did he get the cormorant’s corpse off the chain?

　　A sixteen-year-old boy, smashing someone’s neck with a rock by the river—what kind of mindset was that?

　　Thinking of that scene, David Green shook his head and muttered,

　　“Damn, that’s vicious…”

Chapter Eight: The Water Stronghold

　　The next day, William Thompson heard James Brooks’s voice coming from outside the tent.

　　“Damn it, if I ever catch those bird-brained monkey bastard water bandits, I’ll chop them to pieces…”

　　Hearing this, William Thompson knew that John Foster hadn’t caught those water bandits.

　　Outside, the sounds of footsteps and conversation were constant and scattered. Before long, John Foster lifted the curtain and entered William Thompson’s tent, looking him up and down with sharp, scrutinizing eyes.

　　William Thompson recounted once again how he’d encountered the water bandits and escaped with his life.

　　John Foster was a meticulous man, asking even more detailed questions than David Green.

　　In the end, he looked at William Thompson and said, “From the time I met you until now, ten days, and you’ve killed five people.”

　　“That’s not right.”

　　“What’s not right?”

　　“We’ve known each other for eleven days.”

　　William Thompson had wanted to say he’d only killed four people, but changed his words at the last moment.

　　John Foster thought for a moment, then nodded.

　　William Thompson asked, “You didn’t find those water bandits?”