Ming Province was a transit hub for goods traveling between north and south.
Its dense network of waterways reached in every direction.
Wealthy merchants and great traders flocked there like clouds, goods piled mountain-high, and cargo boats traveled day and night. All this also nurtured wave after wave of river bandits.
The two bands led by One-Eyed Owl and Skinny Monkey, whom Hong Yuan had once slain, ranked only in the lower-middle tier. They dared attack only small convoys or lone merchant vessels with weak escorts.
The River-Overturning Dragon Society, however, was a truly formidable band of marauders. Its infamy spread throughout Ming Province, and mere word of its approach struck terror into countless merchant convoys.
The River-Overturning Dragon Society normally plundered the stretch of river along the border between Cloudridge Prefecture and Linjiang Prefecture. This time, like a school of sharks scenting blood, it had come at the first whisper of opportunity.
Dozens of swift boats surged out, splitting left and right to surround Hong Yuan's black-canopied boat.
Five or six sturdy river bandits stood on each boat, bristling with murderous intent and whooping wildly, all holding assorted weapons.
Some carried water-parting daggers, steel sabers, and spiked clubs; others held fishing nets, heavy bows, long and short forks, flying claws, and poisoned throwing darts...
As the dozens of swift boats split apart, more than ten enormous red centipedes suddenly shot out from their midst, surging forward as though leaping across the water.
These were centipede boats painted red, named for the rows of oars along either side that gave them a centipede's shape.
Longer and wider than ordinary swift boats, each centipede boat carried nearly twenty river bandits. A few rowed rapidly while the rest brandished weapons and roared, creating a terrifying spectacle.
These bandits' weapons were more uniform