Eliminating the Traitor

Two hours later, the sky began to brighten.

Lu Cheng cupped a handful of cold water and splashed it on his face, washing away his look of joy.

The Fish Spearing Technique had truly exceeded his expectations.

He had originally intended only to polish his spearing method one last time, but he never imagined that in his high spirits, a mere half-night of practice would yield the progress of several days!

[Fish Spearing Technique]

[Grade: Mortal]

[Realm: Proficient (97/100)]

His proficiency had jumped from ninety-two to ninety-seven in one go!

He was truly only a hair's breadth away from Perfection.

Now, with the fish spear in hand, every movement felt as natural as an extension of his own arm, without the slightest obstruction.

This would be a great boon for what he had to do next!

He set down the spear, composed himself, and lit the fire to cook.

When the daylight was in full bloom, Lu Cheng finally packed his fishing net, took his spear, and stepped out of his house.

As he passed Old Man Ge's courtyard, he slowed his pace for a brief moment before continuing on.

Usually, Old Man Ge would be waiting in the yard at this hour, but today the gate was shut tight, and the yard was deathly silent.

Only after Lu Cheng's figure had vanished did the closed gate creak open.

Old Man Ge stood inside, fully dressed, his expression complex.

Behind him, an old woman leaned against the doorframe of the inner room, her face sullen:

"Hmph, what an ungrateful wretch. Not only did we save him, but we even took him fishing. Now that he can catch Silver Sturgeon, he just..."

"Enough, shut your mouth and go cook!" Old Man Ge cut her off with a sharp rebuke before closing the gate and turning toward the inner room. "What's the point of all this nagging? We've caught plenty of fish following Lu Cheng these past few days; catching Silver Sturgeon is his own skill."

The old woman was not convinced and retorted, grumbling at Old Man Ge:

"Cook, cook, we aren't even going out on the boat, what's the point of eating? It's a waste of grain."

"You!" Old Man Ge pointed a finger at her, but said nothing. He sighed, walked past her into the room, and lay back down.

The old woman watched him, but eventually headed to the kitchen.

Before long, cooking smoke rose, drifting against the mist toward the Dragon Whisker River.

"This is bad, Master You, that brat is rowing so slowly—he must have spotted us!"

On the turbulent Dragon Whisker River, a small fishing boat rocked in the current.

The man rowing the boat let out a low shout toward the cabin, jolting You Lanchuang from his daze.

You Lanchuang's eyes snapped open, and he threw off his quilt to sit upright, only for his head to strike the cabin roof with a loud "thud."

Ignoring the pain, You Lanchuang scrambled out of the cabin and squinted into the distance.

A hundred yards ahead, another small boat was drifting slowly along the river.

Because of the great distance, the turbulent water, and the heavy wind, even the sharpest eyes couldn't make out the person on the boat.

Yet, You Lanchuang stared intently for a long while before slapping his subordinate on the head with a fan and hissing coldly:

"What are you shouting about? You're jumpy as a cat."

"It's only natural he's rowing slowly. The brat has only been on the water for a few days; it's a miracle he learned to cast a net at all. How could he possibly row smoothly? He's likely just exhausted."

"But just in case, slow down. As long as we can keep his boat in sight, that's enough."

"Wait until he stops to cast his net, then we'll follow."

With that, he retreated back into the cabin, rubbing his bruised head.

To discover the location where Lu Cheng caught the Silver Sturgeon, he had moved his bedding from his home to the boat overnight.

He had spent the whole night listening to the crashing waves, and between the shock and the collision just now, his temples were throbbing with pain.

His subordinate had it even worse; not only had he been on lookout since before dawn, but he was now stuck rowing.

Both mentally and physically, he was at his breaking point.

Now that he was being used as a punching bag for You Lanchuang's frustration, he cursed the man viciously in his heart.

But there was no help for it; he didn't dare disobey.

Gritting his teeth and cursing silently, he put his strength into the oars.

About two quarters of an hour later, the thug suddenly noticed that Lu Cheng had stopped for some reason.

The two boats were now less than fifty yards apart, close enough to see one another.

As the thug panicked, not knowing what to do, You Lanchuang's vicious whisper drifted from the cabin.

"Speed up, ram straight into him, flip his boat over!"

"Huh?"

"Huh what? He's already cast his net, which means the Silver Sturgeon is right here. Why keep him around?"

Hearing this, his subordinate stopped dawdling and threw his weight into rowing, the boat's speed instantly increasing by more than thirty percent.

You Lanchuang sat in the cabin, letting out a low, cold sneer:

"Hmph, what's the use of casting a good net if you're still just a fledgling?"

Back in the day, he had followed Lu Zhongyou just like this, hoping to find the spawning grounds of the Silver Sturgeon.

But the two of them were discovered by Lu Zhongyou not long after, and he had spent the entire time leading them in circles on the river.

Realizing they had been played, the pair had attacked Lu Zhongyou directly.

Yet Lu Zhongyou remained as unyielding as ever, refusing to reveal the Silver Sturgeon waters no matter what.

It seemed, however, that Lu Cheng did not possess the same level of insight as Lu Zhongyou.

"Little bastard, you still want to make money off me? Heh-heh-heh-heh, today I'll send you down to reunite with your dead father!"

The fifty-zhang distance vanished in an instant.

"BOOM!"

The two boats collided.

You Lanchuang's boat carried two grown men, sitting much deeper in the water than Lu Cheng's.

The bow of his boat smashed into the stern of Lu Cheng's, lifting it high into the air until it stood nearly vertical, tail-up and head-down.

Yet, under the force of such a violent impact, You Lanchuang's side didn't fare much better.

His own hull lost its balance as well.

Though it didn't capsize, it slid out from under Lu Cheng's boat while spinning wildly.

Buffeted by the violent upward thrust of the river's buoyancy, the boat rocked and pitched in every direction.

The man rowing had been prepared, but how could he possibly keep his footing on a boat undergoing such a violent collision?

He let out a shout and tumbled straight into the river.

Fortunately, these men made their living on the river and were strong swimmers; he quickly surfaced and grabbed the gunwale, narrowly avoiding being swallowed by the churning water.

Once the boat stabilized, You Lanchuang stumbled out of the cabin.

Holding a folding fan in his left hand, he pointed at Lu Cheng's empty boat and laughed triumphantly:

"Heh-heh-heh-heh, little bastard, go feed the fish for me! Heh-heh-heh-heh..."

"Master You, pull me up, Master You!"

The man's voice came from the stern.

You Lanchuang turned his head to look, cursing excitedly:

"Useless trash, falling in like that."

He glanced once more at the empty boat, which was stabilizing two zhang away, snorted, and walked to the stern, leaning over to reach for the man.

But just as he bent down, he saw a dark shadow streak rapidly beneath the surface of the river.

Alarm bells rang instantly in You Lanchuang's heart.

There was no time to think; he blurted out a "Watch out!" and jerked his body back from the edge.

The words had barely left his lips when a flash of light pierced through the river like lightning, slicing right through the spot where You Lanchuang had been leaning.

A cold sweat instantly broke out all over You Lanchuang.

That spear had grazed his scalp.

Had his reaction been even a fraction of a second slower, his soul would have already departed for the afterlife.

Back beneath the water, Lu Cheng cursed his luck, never expecting You Lanchuang's reaction to be so swift.

Though he knew You Lanchuang would be on guard now, he was unwilling to let this opportunity slip away.

Hardening his heart, he struck again.

Twisting his legs, he kicked off the water to surge upward, his right hand gripping the spear in reverse, ready to strike with all his might the moment he broke the surface.

But just as Lu Cheng was about to emerge, a streak of black light plunged down even faster.

You Lanchuang was truly a veteran of countless brawls; even after walking through the gates of hell, he had not panicked.

Seeing that the shadow beneath the water hadn't vanished, he instantly guessed Lu Cheng's next move.

He grabbed the spear from the cabin and thrust it downward.

By now, the momentum of Lu Cheng's ascent was spent, and it was far too late to change direction or dodge.

In this crisis, he had no choice but to intercept the blow with the spear in his hand.

With his perfected [Swimming] technique, Lu Cheng could do more than just cut through the waves like a fish.

He could also harness the power of the water to augment his own strength.

Coupled with his near-perfect Fish Spearing Technique, he finally succeeded in intercepting the offensive from You Lanchuang.

The two spears crossed, their forces colliding to stir up a string of bubbles.

Lu Cheng was startled by the swift reaction of You Lanchuang above the water, immediately realizing that not only would this fail to kill him, but a single slip could lead to his own undoing.

Without a moment's hesitation, he used the force of the clashing spears to propel his body rapidly away from the spot.

Just as Lu Cheng's body flashed aside, that fish spear followed closely, stabbing down once more.

It was faster, heavier, and struck from an even more treacherous angle than the first.

Had Lu Cheng been stubborn and attempted a third strike, he would surely have been impaled by this blow!

Having failed to score a hit, You Lanchuang quickly thrust his spear three more times in rapid succession.

But Lu Cheng had already departed; how could he possibly land a hit?

Seeing the black shadow vanish completely, You Lanchuang stood motionless with his spear, watching the water beneath the boat with focused breath.

Only after confirming there were no further anomalies did he slowly lean back against the boat's canopy, remaining on high alert.

"Diao the Fourth, there's a ghost in the water, you better..."

Halfway through his sentence, You Lanchuang realized his subordinate had already vanished into the spray.

On the gunwale where he had been climbing, a large patch of red appeared—clearly fresh blood spat from a mouth.

It turned out that Lu Cheng, while underwater, had finished him off at some point.

Although the shadow had remained submerged from start to finish, You Lanchuang knew it had to be Lu Cheng.

As the contempt in You Lanchuang's heart vanished, a shadow of dread quickly took its place.

This boy was truly terrifying; both his aquatic skills and his temperament were beyond comprehension.

You Lanchuang gasped for air, his chest heaving like a bellows running at full capacity, whistling incessantly as he cursed inwardly:

"What a ruthless Lu Cheng!"

"Where the hell does a mere youth get such ability?"

"Could it be that the dead ghost Lu Zhongyou has possessed him?"

Otherwise, how could one explain how a weak scholar who only knew how to read two months ago suddenly possessed such prowess?

Looking at the turbulent water and the glaring crimson on the gunwale, You Lanchuang was filled with shock and rage.

At the same time, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Leave!

If he didn't leave now, he, Master You, might just end up dead on this river!

"Damn it, capsized in a ditch, a dragon trapped in the shallows."

"You little bastard, you just wait for me; if you have the guts, never step foot on land again."

You Lanchuang suppressed his racing heart, holding the spear in his right hand to stay alert while his left hand gripped the oar.

But the boat hadn't traveled far before a "crack" sounded from beneath his feet.

He turned his head to see three barbed blades piercing through the bottom of the hull.

The panic in You Lanchuang's heart instantly overwhelmed his rage.

Lu Cheng was scuttling the boat!