Heavenly Dew

Heavenly Dew. Bang bang bang.

Cloud Plates and gongs sounded in unison.

Standard-issue hard boot soles collided, scraped, and pressed against the deck, creating a chaotic clamor.

All the military men, officials, and merchants hurriedly threw on coats and ran onto the deck, spinning about like headless flies and asking what had happened and why the alarm had been raised.

"Lord Liang was attacked?"

Upon learning the reason, everyone present shuddered in alarm. An uproar erupted, concern, fear, panic, and all manner of tangled emotions surging forth.

"Who? Who did it?"

"Is Lord Liang all right? I want to see him! I want to see him!"

"Light the lamps, light the lamps! Light every torch!"

"Was it the Ghost Mother Sect? Or did Northern Court or the Southern Border envy Da Shun's talent?"

"Is the assassin dead?"

Liang Qu, Subordinate Fifth Rank Hengshui Commandant, county baron, Sixth Rank Upper Cavalry Commandant, Da Shun's Hunting Tiger record holder, a formidable contender for the True Image record, a talent seen once in a century—the highest-ranking person in the fleet.

If something truly happened to him, none of them would escape unscathed!

Damn it.

How could there be an assassin? Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! The military men soaked torches in lamp oil and struck flints.

Sparks burst forth.

Clusters of torches pierced the night, their orange glow swaying in the river wind.

Countless faces flickered between light and shadow as they moved forward over gangplanks between ships.

On the deck of the leading Treasure Ship.

Drip!

Blood splashed open.

Amid the swaying of the Treasure Ship, it grew into a dark-red branch, its thick bloody scent drilling into their nostrils.

"My lord, y-you're hurt?"

A military man held a torch in one hand and supported Liang Qu with the other. Looking down in the