Early morning. Mist still clung to the Angry River docks.
Lu Chen sat in a side hall of the War Hall, holding a cup of hot tea as he calmly regarded the three old men standing before him.
Wang Xiaoliu had found them in a nearby fishing village.
All three were dark-skinned and weather-beaten, their faces creased like dried orange peel, their hands covered in calluses and scars.
They stood stiffly, not daring to raise their heads, trembling all over.
In their eyes, the young lord seated above them was the Deputy Hall Master of the Black Water Gang, a living King of Hell who killed without batting an eye.
"Don't be nervous."
Lu Chen set down his teacup and softened his voice. "I only wanted to ask you a few things."
"As long as you answer honestly, the silver on the table is yours."
Lu Chen pointed to the three ingots of silver on the table.
The old men's eyes widened, their throats going dry.
Each ingot weighed ten taels—enough to feed and clothe their families for several years.
"P-please ask, my lord. This old man will tell you everything he knows!"
The bolder of the three spoke in a trembling voice.
Lu Chen nodded. "You've fished the Angry River all your lives. How much do you know about what lies beneath it?"
The three old men exchanged glances.
"My lord..." the bolder one hesitated. "The Angry River is unfathomably deep. Some places have no bottom at all. We fishermen only dare cast our nets in shallow bays and eddies. We'd never go near the middle of the river."
"Oh? Why not?" Lu Chen pressed.
"The current in the middle is fierce!" The old man grimaced. "And... and there's something foul down there."
"Something foul?"
"Water Ghosts!" cut in the toothless old man beside him, his eyes full of terror. "You don't know, my lord—the riverbed in the middle is their lair! On rainy days, you can hear sobbing from the center of the river. It chills you to the bone!"
Lu Chen's brows drew together.
He'd encountered Water Ghosts before, and killed them, too.
But that wasn't the point.
"What else is down there besides Water Ghosts?" Lu Chen leaned forward. "Have you ever seen any strange stones? Or... buildings?"
"Buildings?"
The three old men froze.
Who would build a house underwater?
Lu Chen was beginning to lose hope when the old man who had been silent at the back suddenly lifted his head.
He looked the oldest of them all, with a back hunched like a shrimp. One eye was blind, and the other held a cloudy glimmer.
"My lord... are you asking about the Dragon Palace?"
The blind old man's voice was hoarse, like two cracked roof tiles scraping together.
"The Dragon Palace?"
Lu Chen's heart stirred. "Tell me more."
The blind old man took a deep breath, as if sinking into memory.
"That was forty years ago... I was young then, and foolish enough to think my swimming skills made me invincible. I went with a few companions to explore the middle of the river for treasure."
"Legend had it that the Dragon King's palace lay beneath the Angry River, filled with gold and silver."
"During the dry season, we dove beneath the whirlpool at the deepest point in the river's middle, the place called Ghost's Worry."
As he spoke, the old man began trembling violently, his face contorted with terror.
"We... we really saw it..."
"In the pitch-black depths, there was a vast stretch of ruins! Fallen stone pillars, shattered walls... and... and a gigantic Stone Gate!"
"That gate was carved with all kinds of strange beasts. They looked alive!"
"Just as we were trying to get closer and see clearly, a whole swarm of shadows suddenly surged through the water... so many Water Ghosts! They were packed together like a school of fish!"
"My companions... they were all dragged away! Only I... only I managed to hack off the leg they'd grabbed and escape..."
The old man rolled up his trouser leg.
A huge chunk of flesh was missing from his left calf, leaving a horrifying hollow, as if some beast had torn it away.
Lu Chen studied the scar, his expression grave.
Ruins, a Stone Gate, a swarm of Water Ghosts.
They matched the marked location on the fragmentary map of Profound Nether Hand with astonishing precision!
The so-called "Dragon Palace" was very likely the ruins of the vanished Profound Nether Sect.
Or perhaps one of its strongholds.
Since Netherworld Stone was an associated ore, it had to be near the ruins.
Before you continue