Chapter 357. Raiding the White Horse Cave (1)

Zhou Xuchuan took a digestive medicine and went to see Li Yicai.

"Great Hero, a letter from the Martial Alliance has arrived. I still haven't opened it."

"Thank you."

"Your complexion doesn't look good." Yi Cai looked worried as he stared at Zhou Xuchuan's face. "Who is it that is disturbing the Great Hero? Just say something. I, the Merchant King, Li Yicai, will absolutely—"

"Elder Wu Qu."

"Let's just throw a banquet to cheer you up, Great Hero and the Esteemed Elder!

Ahem!

"

"You really are a master of redirection..."

Li Yicai changed his attitude at breakneck speed.

Zhou Xuchuan opened the Martial Alliance letter and checked its contents.

"

Hmm...

"

"What's it about?"

"It says that they've received an answer from Hainan Island."

"

Oh!

What does it say?"

"They say that they would help, but that it would be difficult for them to do so right now. They'll send their forces after they've wiped out the Eastern Pirates, who have been gathering in the nearby waters."

Zhou Xuchuan kneaded his temples in a bout of headache.

"The Eastern Pirates rampaging in the South Sea have disappeared, so now, the Eastern Pirates from the East Sea are the problem," Li Yicai commented.

According to what I heard from Fang Jun, there aren't many members of the Dark Heavens Association among the Eastern Pirates of the East Sea.

They probably don't have the influence to move an entire fleet, so this must be a natural move for the Eastern Pirates to take over the empty territory. Ha... the plan is a bit messed up now thanks to those pirates.

The large-scale eradication of the Eastern Pirates was supposed to take place a few years later. Zhou Xuchuan remembered it happening in his previous lifetime, and there were so many problems at the time that the Imperial Navy eventually handled them.

Things eventually became quiet for a while.

In other words, it meant that they would be on the rise until the Imperial Navy came forward.

Thus, they had made a reasonable decision.

"It looks like you'll be staying here for a while, then. If you need anything, just let me know."

"No, I can't do that." Zhou Xuchuan placed the letter on the table and stroked his chin. "The Gold Will Merchants haven't been able to use the Yangtze River recently because of the bandits, right?"

"Yes. We even put up a huge bounty on the bandits, but when it became known that they had joined hands with the Dark Heavens Association, there haven't been many daring enough to challenge them.

"Even among those who have done so, most of them have failed."

The Dark Heavens Association had come to dominate the Yangtze River with the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest, and in return, the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest gained power, wealth, and background as a faction of the Dark Heavens Association.

Even though they were the famed Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest, they were, in all intents and purposes, still a bunch of bandits. In other words, most of them were low-level warriors.

However, the Dark Heavens Association had dispatched a master for their sake.

"That's why I've been carrying around a doll made of straw and have been hammering nails into it four times a day before going to bed. The curse should take effect someday, shouldn't it? Those horrible dogs in the—"

Zhou Xuchuan could sense murderous intent in Li Yicai's eyes.

The Gold Will Merchants had suffered more than one or two losses, courtesy of the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest.

They had shortened the time required to transport goods by using the various rivers of the Central Plains.

However, after the alliance between the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest and the Dark Heavens Association was made, they had to either travel through land or go back to transporting things via the East Sea.

"I can't just slack off because I have the time. I have to handle things in advance before the war truly starts."

"By handle, you mean...?"

"The territory of the Nine Water Gangs is so vast that it'll be impossible for me to cover all of them, but a part of it shouldn't be a big problem."

A deep smile tugged at Zhou Xuchuan's lips.

***

Hubei, Yichang...

Yichang was a port city located in the central western part of Hubei, and it was the entrance to the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River. Despite being in Hubei, it was one of the places not under the influence of the Wudang Sect or the Zhuge Family.

If one went upriver to the northwest, one would find the den of the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest, Chongqing.

Yichang was a city built on the Yangtze, so it was greatly influenced by the Nine Water Gangs.

As expected, near Yichang, there was a Gang of the Nine Water Gangs, the White Horse Gang, and they served as a managing gang of the entrance to the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.

The White Horse Gang's base was in a large stalactite cave nearby.

"Boss!"

"What?!" the White Horse Gang Boss exclaimed, answering his subordinate's call. He had a bald head, a fierce face, and a well-trained, slender figure.

"They say that several boats have been found hidden in the nearby river basin. What should we do?"

"And around them?"

"

Huh?

"

"If there are boats hidden, there must be people who want to ride them. Aren't there any merchant companies coming in this direction? Surely you're not trying to say that you didn't know that, even though this has already happened more than once or twice?"

The bandit could hear the anger in the White Horse Gang Boss's voice.

"O-of course not!"

The bandit's face turned pale.

The boss is a crazy bastard who threw someone into the sea, turning him into fish food because of a mistake he had made a while ago.

The weather wasn't hot, but the bandit was sweating profusely.

"A-a group of carriages presumed to be from a merchant company were also discovered half a day away. We couldn't really take a closer look at them, as they were far away, but their escort seemed to be around the Second Class to First Class warriors!"

"

Hmm,

good."

The White Horse Gang Boss nodded with a satisfied smile.

"W-what should we do?"

"The hell you mean, what should we do?! If there isn't just one, but several ships, then that means the merchant company is planning to sneak across the gorges. They'll probably aim for the night to avoid being seen.

"Take them out when they cross over."

"Understood!"

"

Hmm,

now that I think about it, I haven't seen any merchant companies for a while. I guess they must be getting tired of taking the long way around, and they must've decided that it's time to try sneaking across.

"It's a good thing I kept an eye out."

If one wanted to go south from Hubei, one had to go through the Yangtze River, no matter what direction one went. If one couldn't cross the river, one would be forced to circle around in a wide detour.

"

Um,

Boss..."

The White Horse Gang's bandit looked at the White Horse Gang Boss's expression.

"What else?"

"Didn't the Stockade Boss tell us before not to plunder them and just destroy the ships so they can't cross?"

"You stupid fool!"

The White Horse Gang Boss's scolding fell on the bandit.

"Why the hell would we follow the orders of that bitch?"

The White Horse Gang Boss had been competing with Hong Xialang for the position of Stockade Boss not too long ago. His ill feelings from back then still lingered, which meant that he wouldn't easily obey orders from his "superior."

"Crossing the river without permission from the Master of the Yangtze River and the Master of the Three Gorges is an obvious act of defiance.

"They should pay a proper price for it, but if we just destroy the boats, people will laugh at us for being scared before the fight has even started! That is just ridiculous!" the White Horse Gang exclaimed, his voice echoing throughout the cave. "It's been quiet and boring lately, so this is really great.

"Good. I should show you a good example."

The sun set, and night came. The only light was the moonlight streaming in through the clouds.

Slooosh.

The Three Gorges were notorious for their strong currents, but the waters near Yichang were relatively calm. A little far away from Yichang, about seven boats were taking turns trying to cross the river beneath some lights.

The fog before them made everything an inch ahead of them invisible. Fortunately, the fog lifted about half an hour later, revealing a group of people.

"Stop!"

Woosh!

A fireball floated over the river. The group of people was a group of pirates holding torches. The pirates were riding on two medium-sized warships. Once counted, they numbered roughly sixty.

The seven skiffs that had been rowing forward stopped.

"And where do you think you're going on this night when there isn't even that much moonlight?" Among the pirates, a middle-aged man with a large build holding a short spear chuckled and shouted, "We're the White Horse Gang's—"

Squelch!

"...Huh?"

The middle-aged man blinked, and a thin line of blood was drawn on his cheek.

"Something just passed us by..."

BOOM!

The middle-aged man's voice was soon drowned out by a loud noise.

His eardrums ruptured as the other ship that had stopped on the water about a zhang away exploded.

"

AGH!!

"

"

Aaargh!

"

Screams erupted from the pirates on that ship. The torches they were holding were swallowed by a column of water that shot up from below like an ascending dragon.

The warship that was remodeled at great expense to be able to respond to the imperial navy was torn to pieces and smashed into smithereens.

"..."

The pirate's head, which had turned to the side, returned to its original position. When he faced forward, his expression had changed.

We're screwed.

A chill ran down his spine, and he trembled. He felt something amiss.

A trap?

The middle-aged man hurriedly checked the seven small boats. Yes, there were escort warriors, but there weren't that many of them. As the reconnaissance had reported, their cultivations were merely at the Second Class Realm.

He wondered if the merchants were disguised, but it didn't really seem right, as there were pot-bellied regular people who had never cultivated among them. More than anything, there were boxes and large packs with them, and they seemed to be the merchants' transport supplies.

He racked his brains and darted his gaze around to figure out what was happening.

"Leave this side to me and cross the river!" A young, ominous voice echoed from somewhere. The middle-aged man instinctively tried to find the source of the commanding tone, but he felt something strange.

The voice came from very far away.

At the very least, it wasn't coming from the seven boats right in front of him.

He mustered his qi to expand the range of his perception.

"

Uh, huh?

"

The middle-aged man and the rest of the White Horse Gang's swarm of thugs sounded dumbfounded as they exclaimed. The source of the voice was farther away than they had expected.

It was coming from the land across the river.

It seemed like something had been shot over from where the skiff had departed.

A man standing in a martial artist's attire was standing on the gravel in the distance. The man was clearly a Daoist, but it was too far away to tell what sect he was from.

However, they could clearly see that his index finger was bent.

A Flicking Finger Art? It's surprising enough that he hit us from that distance, but does that thing really have enough power to destroy a ship? He has to be a master.

Gulp.

The middle-aged man swallowed his saliva with a frightened face.

Wait a second. Land? Moreover, at that distance?

The middle-aged thug's expression brightened again.

"You brats, get in!"

His dazzling speed of judgement stood out.

Splash!

On the only remaining warship, a group of thirty-something pirates threw themselves into the river without any hesitation.

"

HAHAHAHA!

What sort of idiot is that?! You should have just kept your mouth shut and shot your Flicking Finger Art from far away!"

An expert was terrifying, but underwater, pirates like them were more terrifying. Those martial artists of the land were nothing more than fish food underwater.

Not only was it late at night, but there was even little moonlight, as the moon was covered by the clouds. In other words, even if the descendant of the Archery God were to come, they wouldn't be able to shoot them down.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Do you know who we are? We're the rulers of the Yangtze River, the Nine Water Gangs' White Horse Gang! Moreover, I'm the White Horse Gang's Vice Boss!"

The Vice Gang Boss laughed loudly, arching his back.

"

Tsk, tsk,

you talk too much."

The Daoist jumped up and down like he was doing warm-up exercises. He stepped forward with his left foot and put his right foot back. Then, he bent his back slightly, seemingly ready to jump forward at any moment.

"

Whew...

"

The Daoist took a deep breath and let it out.

Meanwhile, the clouds passed by, and the moon was finally revealed, illuminating the Daoist's sleeve and face.

"

H-huh?

" The Vice Gang Boss was startled when he saw the engraved pattern on the Daoist's sleeve. It was a plum blossom. "M-Mount Hua Sect?"

The Mount Hua Sect was famous for its swordsmanship. It wasn't that they didn't have any finger arts, but they didn't have many masters who could display such miraculous might.

He's young.

No, what really concerned him was the Daoist's appearance. At most, he seemed about twenty-five years old. There really weren't many masters who had reached that level at such a young age.

"W-wait..."

Gulp.

The middle-aged pirate raised his voice in hopes of finding someone.

"What's your name?"

"Zhou Xuchuan!"

Splash!

The Vice Gang Boss threw himself into the river.