novelraw Chapter 140: Capsized and Murder
Chapter 140: Capsized and Murder
Five three-masted cargo ships, heavily laden with goods, split the green waves and sailed downstream toward Rongcheng County.
The ships rode low in the water.
They were fully loaded with tea and porcelain wares.
The vessels bore the banner of the Yulong Gang. At the bow and stern of each ship stood several inner and outer disciples of the gang, poles in hand and swords at their waists, watching both banks and the surrounding waters with vigilance.
After traveling more than twenty li, the waterway ahead suddenly narrowed, and the current grew turbulent.
One of the cargo ships waiting in line ahead suddenly emitted a harsh cracking sound—the keel had split. Immediately, cries of alarm and desperate shouts for help erupted from the vessel.
“The ship is capsizing!”
“Help!”
The inner disciple at the very front of the convoy frowned slightly and hurriedly shouted to the helmsman, “The channel ahead is blocked by a capsized ship! Slow down! Slow down!”
“Boss, the current is too strong here! We cannot reduce speed!” The helmsman’s face turned deathly pale.The outer disciples steering the vessels were familiar with the water conditions in this stretch. Panic spread among them.
“This is bad!”
“We are going to crash into it!”
“Turn! Turn the ship!”
Their voices quickly grew shrill with terror.
“Turn the rudder!”
“Signal the ships behind to slow down! Otherwise they will all crash!”
“It is too late…”
“We are finished!”
“The cargo is done for!”
Although the first cargo ship desperately veered to one side, the raging current forced it sideways into the stricken vessel ahead.
BOOM!
Everyone leapt into the water in advance.
Crates of cargo spilled into the river, further clogging the narrow pass.
“Help! Glub… help!”
Several men had just surfaced when the second cargo ship barreled sideways into the wreckage.
BOOM!!!
With the chain of collisions, the Yulong Gang disciples aboard the remaining ships turned ashen, feeling as though the sky had collapsed.
If the convoy’s cargo was lost, they would all be held accountable.
At that moment, several blossoms of blood surfaced from beneath the water—unnoticed by anyone.
As the remaining ships rammed heavily into the blockage, the entire pass became completely jammed.
Whether merchants from the convoy or the Yulong Gang disciples escorting the goods, all struggled desperately to swim toward the shore.
Only then did someone notice something wrong beneath the water.
Blooms of blood kept rising.
“Enemy attack!”
“There is something in the water!”
“Yulong Gang disciples, fire the signal flare! Call for reinforcements!”
The man shouting was suddenly cut across the throat by a black-clad figure who appeared behind him. The motion was swift and clean. His artery was severed, and blood dyed the river red.
“Signal flare!”
Another man pulled out a flare, only to find the gunpowder inside completely soaked. He opened his mouth in horror to say something, but a powerful force dragged him into the water.
The flare slipped from his grasp, spiraled into the whirlpool, and a cloud of blood soon bloomed where he had been.
Beneath the water, shadowy figures darted swiftly, hunting down the remaining inner and outer disciples of the Yulong Gang.
Blossoms of blood continued to spread.
Fewer and fewer Yulong Gang disciples remained moving in the water.
Until the last one was stabbed to death near the shore.
Not a single Yulong Gang disciple made it onto land.
A group of black-clad men, daggers clenched between their teeth, climbed ashore with cold, vicious gazes.
They turned and surveyed the scene.
From merchants to Yulong Gang disciples, more than thirty corpses floated to the surface, carried by the current into the wreckage-clogged pass, rising and falling in the water.
“Why is one missing?”
The leader of the black-clad men glanced over his subordinates and realized that the eighteen who had come had become seventeen. His pupils contracted sharply. He scanned the waters repeatedly, yet found no trace.
“Damn it!”
“There is no time!”
“Withdraw!”
At his command, the dozen or so black-clad men vanished with haste.
Not long after, a pair of frightened eyes quietly emerged from among the floating corpses.
Then a second.
Then a third.
Three inner disciples of the Yulong Gang had survived.
Fei Zai.
The other two were the brothers Hall Master Wangchuan had assigned to assist him.
Four of their group had entered the water; two had died. Their achievement was that, working together beneath the surface, they had killed one black-clad attacker and left his corpse wedged beneath the wrecked cargo ship.
Relying on 《Water-Submerged Breath Regulation Art》, the three of them had survived.
Yet they dared not climb ashore.
They scanned their surroundings in terror, their vigilance extreme.
Only when Yulong Gang disciples on ships further behind realized something was wrong and fired signal rockets did more than a dozen fast boats rush in from the Water Stronghold.
He Haisheng, Lin Xun, and several other martial artists arrived with a large force, sealing off the disaster area. Only then did the three survivors drag the corpse of the black-clad man ashore and report.
He Haisheng’s face was as dark as thunder.
The convoy under his hall’s escort had been attacked, and so many brothers had died.
No matter what, he would suffer heavy losses.
“Investigate the identities of the dead immediately! I want to know who is targeting our Yulong Gang behind the scenes! Even if I must scour heaven and earth, I, He Haisheng, will drag them out!”
His killing intent surged.
…
Fei Zai remained at the hall to recount the incident.
The other two inner disciples swiftly boarded a fast boat and returned to the Huishui County dock to report to their Hall Master.
The entire Yulong Gang had already entered a state of high alert, as if startled by every sound of wind and cry of crane.
Upon receiving the carrier pigeon message from the Gang Leader, Wangchuan personally took command of the hall, increasing patrols. Soon after, he saw the two disciples from his hall rushing toward him.
“Hall Master!”
“Something has happened in the waters near Rongcheng County!”
“We…”
The two recounted everything they had seen and experienced in the convoy, in meticulous detail, then added, “These black-clad men are highly skilled in underwater combat. They all carried Hundredfold Steel Daggers and practiced ‘Underwater Killing Techniques.’ At least three of them were full-fledged Martial Artists!”
Wangchuan and Wang Yuehui listened carefully to the report.
Wangchuan drew in a sharp breath.
“They really made their move there.”
“Hmph! Five ships, eight inner disciples, twenty outer disciples! Not to mention the merchants and crew—no survivors. They were ruthless.”
“It is fortunate that you survived and left us with one of the killers. Now we have a lead and a direction. The next step depends on whether the authorities and the Gang Leader can solve the case and uncover the true culprit.”
Wang Yuehui nodded, worry in his eyes.
“If the true culprit is found, then the losses will naturally be borne by them. Those who must be arrested will be arrested; those who must be killed will be killed. But if the killers were merely hired desperadoes… then we will still have to compensate the merchants for their cargo. After all, they paid protection fees.”
Wangchuan sighed.
No matter what, the Yulong Gang’s reputation had already suffered.
“Yuehui, withdraw four hundred taels of silver from today’s accounts and provide pension compensation to the families of the two fallen brothers. As for you two—this time you have rendered merit. A reward of one hundred taels of silver each.”
The two inner disciples beamed with joy and clasped their fists.
“Thank you, Hall Master!”
“Thank you, Hall Master!”
Men of the Jianghu lived with their heads tied to their belts, licking blood from knife edges. They had long grown accustomed to life and death, with little time for sentimentality.
They had completed their mission.
If the sky collapsed, someone taller would hold it up.
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