Old Zhang pulled the taser out of his bag and showed it to us. We were surprised by how cleanly it was cut in half—even the battery was cut clean through! Even lasers wouldn’t have the ability to do this. This proved how extraordinarily skillful the swordsman was.

A thought suddenly came to me—could it be that this mysterious swordsman was the same person who helped me last time with Cao Mou?

Old Zhang then showed us the button that was cut off his shirt and exclaimed, “This button was made of copper, but look at how cleanly it was cut in half! Thank heavens that man didn’t try to cut my throat, or else my head would’ve rolled off my neck while I was still standing!”

“I think he was sending a message here,” I stated. “Which would’ve been easier—cutting a tiny button in half, or slitting your throat and...