Crossing the River

Shen Yi pondered for a moment:

"If it were me."

"I would definitely ambush you on the way back to Broken Blade Hall. So, this next stretch of road is the most dangerous."

Qin Jianghe held a different view on this:

"This is close to Broken Blade Hall's territory."

"Unless the entire Broken Blade Hall has turned traitor, the other side would never dare to act so blatantly."

Shen Yi curled his lip.

He never placed his hopes on others.

And he was always in the habit of preparing for the worst.

"Leave now, or wait until nightfall?"

Qin Jianghe narrowed his eyes slightly:

"Leave now!"

With that, he strode down the hillside.

Shen Yi quickly followed.

Looking at a mountain makes you run to death.

The Broken Blade Hall on the plain seemed not far away.

But due to the rugged mountain roads and dense thickets.

It took Shen Yi and Qin Jianghe more than two hours to barely get out of the foothills and onto the plain.

In the distance.

The surging Source River stretched across their path.

There were almost no pedestrians along the way, but there were many boats on the river. The lands south of the Yangtze River were mostly used to traveling by boat.

The two walked along the river for half an hour.

Finally, they saw the ferry terminal.

At the pier.

Several ferries of varying sizes were moored, and the boatmen in their straw raincoats were chatting idly on the pier.

Seeing Shen Yi and Qin Jianghe approaching.

They all cast scrutinizing glances.

Shen Yi looked around and asked an elderly boatman nearby, "Old man, how much does it cost to cross the river?"

The boatman looked at the two men with their sabers, exuding the air of jianghu, and said somewhat timidly in a low voice:

"Five, five wen."

Shen Yi glanced at Qin Jianghe, who was asking another slightly younger middle-aged man.

Then he gestured "five" to Shen Yi.

The boat fare was the same.

Shen Yi asked:

"Old man, are you all villagers from around here?"

The old boatman nodded:

"Yes, we all live off the water."

"We carry passengers when there are people, and fish when there are none. Our ferry fares are all the same, you can go with anyone."

Qin Jianghe nodded slightly to Shen Yi.

The results of his inquiries were similar. The boatmen were all familiar old acquaintances, with no new faces.

Qin Jianghe glanced at the moored awning boats.

He pointed to a relatively spacious one:

"Let's take this one then."

This boat did not belong to either of the two men who had just spoken with Qin Jianghe and Shen Yi.

As a precaution.

Qin Jianghe still went for a surprise move.

Whoosh.

A small, monkey-like youth stood up from the group of boatmen, his eyes gleaming with joy:

"Esteemed guests, that's my boat."

"You two get on board first, I'll be right there."

Shen Yi and Qin Jianghe stepped onto the boat and sat inside the awning.

The young boatman untied the ropes.

And leaped onto the bow.

Shen Yi took out five copper coins from his pouch and handed them over.

The young boatman snatched them up, counted them carefully again, and then happily took up the oars, shouting loudly:

"Esteemed guests, we're setting off now!"

So far, everything was normal.

Swish, swish.

The river water parted to both sides as the awning boat moved through it.

"Esteemed guests, there's freshly brewed wine in the awning."

"If you don't mind, you can warm yourselves up."

Shen Yi didn't have any particular attachment to wine.

But he glanced at Qin Jianghe, who, from the moment he entered the awning, had been twitching his nose and staring intently at the wine gourd hanging on the curtain.

The aroma of the wine wafted out, making Qin Jianghe's heart itch.

"Want a drink?"

Qin Jianghe gulped, chuckled dryly, and said:

"Young friend, you don't understand, Old Qin here just loves this stuff."

"I haven't had a drink in the last two days, and my craving is acting up."

Shen Yi stroked his chin.

Wondering if Qin Jianghe would really drink a random boatman's wine on a ferry.

If he did, he would just consider that he saved an idiot.

Qin Jianghe, seeing Shen Yi's idiot-like gaze, quickly explained in a rough voice:

"Hey, hey, what's with that look?"

"I can still tell what's important."

"If I want to drink, I'll wait until I get to a tavern in Clear River Town to drink my fill, don't take me for a fool."

Shen Yi folded his arms.

Said "Oh," and looked away.

At this time, the boat was halfway across.

Through the bamboo-woven curtain, Shen Yi could already see the scenery of the riverbank.

Near the shore, the aquatic plants gradually became lush.

The young boatman smiled:

"Esteemed guests, we'll be ashore soon."

Suddenly.

A shui sound rang out, almost imperceptible.

The young boatman's voice stopped abruptly.

With a plop, the sound of something falling into the water came from outside.

Shen Yi's expression tightened, something was amiss.

Splash.

The sound of water came from both the front and the rear!

Two dark figures leaped out of the water, one after the other.

Jumping onto the decks at the bow and stern of the awning boat.

The two drew their blades, ready to burst into the awning.

With a crisp bang.

A fierce blade energy suddenly shot out from the awning.

Drawing a circle around itself.

Clang! The two dark figures were forced back half a step, and the entire awning was lifted off its frame by the blade and fell into the river.

Qin Jianghe, holding the Sunken Gold Blade, stood back-to-back with Shen Yi.

Shen Yi looked at the situation.

He originally thought the young boatman was suspicious, but he turned out to be just a sacrifice in the ambush against Qin Jianghe.

At this moment, two figures appeared from the front and behind.

Both were soaked, with lean and sturdy builds.

They had just blocked Qin Jianghe's saber strike with swift reactions, showing no strain, clearly experts in underwater combat.

Qin Jianghe's expression turned solemn.

"The Four River Devils?"

"These devils are really going all out!"

Four Devils?

That meant there were two more.

Just as Shen Yi's thoughts turned to this, A booming, resonant sound came from beneath his feet.

Two gleaming long spears instantly pierced upwards from the bottom of the boat, and Shen Yi and Qin Jianghe swiftly dodged.

The silver spear tips grazed past their noses.

They were almost skewered.

"Qin Jianghe, prepare to die!"

The two devils on the boat also seized the opportunity, slashing down and up with their unadorned sabers, seemingly intent on cutting the two men into pieces.

Shen Yi drew his saber.

He poured his inner energy into it with all his might, meeting the attack with a horizontal slash.

With a bang, The saber shattered into fragments of varying sizes, which, under the impetus of Shen Yi's inner force, shot towards the opponent like a rain of arrows.

"Ah!"

The man's body was riddled with countless bloody holes from the saber shards.

Even his eye was pierced by a broken blade, and he flew backward, falling into the river.

Meanwhile, Qin Jianghe exchanged several clanging blows with the saber-wielding devil behind him, his wounds already splitting open, his face pale.

The river water gurgled as it poured in through the holes in the bottom of the boat.

The boat would sink in a few breaths.

But the Four River Devils were even more impatient. Shen Yi sensed a surge of energy churning beneath the boat.

He quickly threw the hilt of his saber, forcing back Qin Jianghe's opponent with a clang.

Then, grabbing Qin Jianghe's arm, he leaped with force.

Almost the instant the two men jumped, Boom!

Two streams of energy instantly pierced through the bottom of the awning boat, twisting with force, and the entire boat cracked and snapped in two.

Shen Yi hooked Qin Jianghe's arm.

With a twist and a throw, Shen Yi flung Qin Jianghe towards the riverbank.

"Get up there first!"

Shen Yi himself fell diagonally towards the Source River.

In the river, two lithe figures, like swimming dragons, cleaved through the water, while the other two swam towards the shore.

The danger was not yet over!