Hidden Crisis

It had to be said: none of those who managed to stand out from the crowd were easy to deal with.

The Great River Three Heroes: Young Master Yun was noble and dashing, every inch a young lord; Young Master Peng was unruly and unrestrained, yet scheming. Only the last one, Young Master Meng, had never been seen. Rumor had it that he had little interest in the gang leader's position and was not currently with the gang either, having apparently gone out to roam the martial world.

In other words, the only ones who could compete for the gang leader's position now were Young Master Yun and Young Master Peng.

No wonder he was so hostile toward him. Given the merits Lin Xiao had accumulated and his abilities, he was very likely to become a threat to him in the future.

Speaking of which, he had chopped off Lan Xinghe's head. Given Lan Xinghe's position in the Iron Boat Gang, that was at least two Great Merits. Adding the previous four, he would have six Great Merits in hand by then.

These so-called Great Merits were gang contributions. They were not the usual measure of merit or contribution, but were divided into Minor Merit and Great Merit. Merits could be exchanged for various things within the gang, including martial arts manuals.

Lin Xiao had kept all his merits, waiting until he had digested the martial arts he currently possessed before using them to exchange for various martial arts within the gang and arm himself.

At the same time, this was one of the reasons he had not left with Yin Sha Maiden and had remained in the Great River Gang. Although leaving with her meant having meat and steamed buns every day, obtaining any more martial arts manuals afterward would be difficult.

Lin Yong had taken the initiative to reveal all this to him, clearly wanting to attach himself to Lin Xiao. Lin Xiao naturally would not refuse. Although he had no intention of competing for the gang leader's position, having more subordinates was never a bad thing. He had far too few underlings at present.

After breakfast, Lin Xiao set out with his men. He first went to helm leader Zhang Dayuan's place and obtained a token, then used it to requisition a Medium Warship from the Water Fortress. His men, along with Lin Yong and several of his own subordinates, boarded the ship, and they began patrolling the stretch of river assigned to him.

This was a Middle Wing Warship, roughly a dozen meters long. The ship originally had more than twenty boatmen rowing it. Together with his dozen or so men, the boatmen were also members of the branch helm and could take up blades to defend themselves in battle.

Standing at the bow, Lin Xiao felt the river wind, mixed with damp water vapor, rush against his face. It was refreshing and invigorating.

The Lin River was the main transport waterway of Linjiang Prefecture. This place was the hub where Linjiang and Qingshui met, and ships could be seen passing across the broad river from time to time.

Lin Yong pointed at the passing ships and introduced them:

"Those with our gang's flag hanging at the bow have already paid their taxes and can be allowed through. Those with our gang's large flag hanging in the middle of the ship belong to us—they're our own people. As for the rest, regardless of what kind of ship they are, stop them all if they don't have our gang's flag."

"What if it's a ship from another gang?"

"The same applies. If a ship from another gang also has our gang's flag, let it pass, no matter how many gangs' flags it has hanging."

"Oh, right. If it's an official vessel, don't stop it."

"Oh!"

He was not that foolish. No matter how powerful the Great River Gang was, it was ultimately only a martial-world gang. Compared with the authorities, it was still far weaker.

Patrolling was actually extremely boring. After standing at the bow for a while, Lin Xiao lost interest. He ordered his men to patrol while he and Lin Yong slipped into the cabin to drink tea.

This era was actually quite dull. The only interesting thing was playing with women, but where would they find women to play with while on patrol? All they could do was drink tea or play chess. Unfortunately, Lin Xiao did not know how to play chess, and neither did Lin Yong.

The first day of patrolling ended in this boredom. Then came the second day, and the third. Since he had only just arrived at the Water Fortress, Zhang Dayuan could not arrange for him to go straight to the front line. He had to spend at least a few days there first.

One night, in an extravagantly decorated room somewhere in the Water Fortress, Young Master Peng, Shi Zhongyu, was reading a book while draped in a fur robe. Suddenly, his ears twitched. He turned his head and saw a masked woman who had appeared before the window at some unknown point, her tight-fitting clothes accentuating her delicate curves.

He seemed to know the woman. Turning his head back, he continued reading and asked casually:

"What is it?"

The woman came behind Young Master Peng, suddenly opened her arms, embraced his back, and whispered:

"The gang leader has ordered me to kill someone."

Shi Zhongyu paused. Without turning his head, he said:

"Lin Xiao?"

She nodded.

"He cut off Protector Lan's head. The gang leader wants his head too."

"Then I can't help you. He's highly valued by the gang now, and Zhang Dayuan assigned him a patrol route not far from the Water Fortress. On top of that, considering his martial arts, your chances of succeeding aren't high."

"No. You can help."

"I can't—"

Shi Zhongyu suddenly turned his head and saw a completely naked body displayed before him. The woman's delicate curves and snow-white skin were dazzling. When she caught his hand and pressed it against a soft mound, his breathing grew hurried.

"Shi Lang, help me this once."

His answer was a ferocious beast pouncing down and pinning her beneath him. Before long, the room filled with heavy panting.

"I can only help you move him somewhere a little farther from the Water Fortress."

"That will be enough."

"Make your move three days later."

"Mm..."

Three days later, early in the morning, Lin Xiao ate breakfast while looking over that day's transfer order. Perhaps because he had become familiar with patrolling, the stretch of river he had patrolled these past few days had been getting closer and closer to the junction of the Three Gangs. Today, it was directly adjacent to that area. Beyond it lay the place where the Three Gangs clashed, and the local branch helms of the Three Gangs would occasionally fight there.

This suited him just fine. Being close to the battlefield meant that, once a fight broke out, stragglers might flee over. Those were mobile Potential Points.

He had not obtained any Potential Points for many days, and his cultivation had remained stuck in place without much improvement.

His aptitude was poor to begin with. Without Potential Points, he might not be able to advance his two internal arts even after ten years of practice.

The warship set out again. His men stood spiritedly by the rail, bragging and shooting the breeze. They had been living quite comfortably lately. Lin Xiao had little need for money, and whenever merchants gave them small gifts during patrols—or when they obtained spoils—he kept none of it, leaving everything to his subordinates. In return, he naturally gained their loyalty.

The warship traveled downstream and soon reached the stretch of river assigned for that day. In the distant, mist-shrouded waters, the river suddenly widened dramatically. A tributary flowed into the Lin River there, and where the two waters crossed, the river's width reached three or four kilometers. The three gangs had each built a small Water Fortress at one of the three corners of the intersection.

These were the three gangs' forward outposts in the area. Fleets and experts were stationed there year-round. The one currently stationed there was Headquarters Guardian Fist Swordsman, Qi Kun.

At that moment, warships of all sizes were continuously sailing out of the three Water Fortresses. They formed up outside them and gradually drew closer. It seemed they were preparing for a battle.

Lin Yong smiled beside him and said:

"Luck is on our side today. Normally, you can only see a battle of this scale once every month or two. You'll get to see how such a battle is fought. If you run into one in the future, you'll have some experience."

Lin Xiao asked:

"For a battle of this scale, how far does it usually go before it ends?"