What, are you telling me how to do my job?

When Li Xian sheathed his sword, the crowd on the deck finally snapped back to reality as if waking from a dream.

The Yunzhou junior officer let out an incredulous shriek.

"You actually dared to kill Lord Zhu?!"

He pointed at Li Xian like a madman, saying, "You're finished, you're dead for sure! Our Yunzhou Demon Suppressing Division will never let you off—you're dead!!!"

The Yunzhou Prefectural Army men, however, turned pale, knowing full well that they likely wouldn't leave this boat alive today.

Li Xian curled a faint smile at the corner of his mouth and said lightly, "Our grain ship was attacked by a swarm of Pig Dragons. The Yunzhou Demon Suppressing Division and Prefectural Army fought desperately but ultimately couldn't prevail, perishing in the bellies of Demonic Evil—truly lamentable!"

"Hall Master Li, what do we do now?"

After the Boat Captain had arranged for the last corpse to be thrown into the river, he came to Li Xian's side and asked cautiously.

Before even entering the Yangzhou river region, he'd heard this man had a fierce killing intent, but he never imagined it would be this fierce.

He'd slaughtered the Yunzhou Demon Suppressing Division crew without a second thought, and right at the critical moment of a Demonic Evil attack.

Just moments ago, this Hall Master Li had effortlessly killed every last person from Yunzhou on the ship.

After the killing, he had the Boat Captain's men toss the bodies into the river to feed the Pig Dragons.

Now there was no evidence left.

Oh, no—there were still plenty of witnesses on board.

Brother Xin whispered in Li Xian's ear, "Hall Master, should we take care of them too..."

As he spoke, he cast a dangerous glance toward the Boat Captain and his men.

The Boat Captain, old and shrewd as he was, caught on instantly—they didn't trust him.

He dropped to his knees at once, weeping and begging for mercy.

"Hall Master Li, spare my life! I swear I'll never breathe a word of what happened today!"

"Oh? And how will you guarantee that?" Li Xian asked with interest.

He'd only acted on a whim, testing the waters.

"I..." The Boat Captain was momentarily at a loss for words.

His expression shifted, and finally, as if making a grave decision, he suddenly pulled a dagger from his waist, let out a roar, and drove it toward his own palm.

He intended to prove himself through self-mutilation.

A sharp clang rang out as the Boat Captain's dagger was knocked away.

"Hall Master..."

"Hall Master Li, you..."

The Boat Captain stared at Li Xian in astonishment.

The one who had struck was naturally Li Xian. Spotting the Boat Captain's intent, he casually flicked an object, sending the dagger flying.

"No need for self-harm. Keep your hands and use them to steer my boat properly," Li Xian said with a smile.

The Boat Captain was overjoyed and kowtowed frantically.

"Thank you, Hall Master Li, for sparing my life! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Alright, get up. There's still real work to do."

Li Xian walked to the ship's railing and looked down at the Pig Dragons below, who were full and satisfied yet still refused to leave. He asked with confusion, "What's the deal with that big one?"

When the bodies had been thrown overboard earlier, many Pig Dragons had scrambled to feed and hadn't chased after them.

Only one exceptionally large Pig Dragon, leading a few Subordinates, had been relentlessly tailing the grain ship.

From the look of it, there seemed to be some deep-seated grudge.

"I have no idea what's going on," the Boat Captain said, looking bewildered.

"Did you guys kill its wife or cubs?" Li Xian guessed casually.

At those words, the Boat Captain seemed to recall something, and his expression turned odd.

"A few days ago, Lord Zhu got the urge to fish and told us to find a spot. We found one, but accidentally wrecked a Pig Dragon's nest. A lot of the dragon eggs were crushed by our grain ship."

No wonder then.

That was a deep grudge indeed—no surprise it wouldn't let go.

That Lord Zhu really was a calamity that lingered for a thousand years, leaving a mess even in death.

"Looks like I'll have to draw my sword one more time," Li Xian said with a smile.

The sword left its sheath!

The silver-white sword light appeared once more.

Everyone on the deck once again experienced that bone-chilling, body-numbing icy sensation.

Impressive—this Line of Heaven Swordplay actually came with a built-in control effect.

Li Xian had chosen this sword technique precisely because of that point.

His family's Returning Wind Willow Leaf Saber had become too weak to be of any use, and Li Xian didn't want to rely solely on his fists every time he fought someone, so picking a sword technique was necessary.

This Extreme Cold Line of Heaven Swordplay was said to be immensely powerful with a strong sword intent, but mastering it was as difficult as climbing to the heavens.

Thus, very few people had ever practiced it.

But for Li Xian, those shortcomings were no problem at all.

He spent only one night, using Proficiency Points to max out the technique to its highest level.

Now that he used it, the effect was indeed extraordinary.

That Sword Qi poured down, sharp and unmatched, cleaving the oversized Pig Dragon—whose nest and offspring were already gone—cleanly in two at the waist.

This Pig Dragon was pitiable indeed: first Lord Zhu destroyed its home, and now it had lost its life.

But no matter how pitiful, why did it have to provoke Li Xian?

Now it was gone.

After the largest Pig Dragon died, the remaining ones lost all courage. With a roar, they dove into the canal and vanished from sight.

"Whew..."

"Great, those Demonic Evils are gone!"

"We're saved!"

The boatmen who had narrowly escaped death clapped and cheered below.

Li Xian sheathed his sword.

"Alright, I'll leave the rest to you, Boat Captain."

The Boat Captain said respectfully, "Hall Master Li, please rest assured."

"Mm."

Li Xian nodded, then turned and left.

"Hall Master Li, we shouldn't have let the Boat Captain and the others go just now. None of the people on deck should be spared."

Back in the room, Brother Xin whispered this into Li Xian's ear.

Li Xian looked at him with a half-smile. "Oh? Are you teaching me how to do my job?"

When a leader speaks to you like that, you'd better watch out.

Brother Xin's face turned pale, and he immediately realized he had made a fatal mistake.

He hurriedly knelt down, speaking urgently, "I'm sorry, Boss Li, I was confused for a moment. It was my fault. I'll slap myself, I'll slap myself..."

He began kneeling on the ground, slapping his own face, one slap after another, each one loud and sharp...

Li Xian didn't stop him. He just watched with a faint smile as Brother Xin slapped himself, until his mouth was swollen and blood was streaming down...

Wan Cai pleaded for him on the side. "Hall Master Li, since this is his first offense, please let him off this time."

"Mm, stop." Li Xian said indifferently.

Brother Xin finally stopped. Half his face was swollen, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, a miserable sight.

Li Xian rested his chin on one hand and waved dismissively. "A-Cai, take him back to rest."

"Yes!"

After the two left, Li Xian stared silently at the empty room for a long time, finally letting out a soft sigh.

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