The Yellow Dragon River was Qinghe County's lifeline, and also a blade hanging over everyone's heads.
During the years Xu Qing grew up in Blackwater Bay, he had heard countless legends about this great river.
Standing in the courtyard, he looked toward the hazy gray sky in the south, and the image of that river slowly rose in his mind.
The three-thousand-li Yellow Dragon River surged forth from the towering mountains of the northwest like a truly enraged yellow dragon, cleaving through countless peaks and ravines as it roared all the way east into the sea.
At its widest, the river spanned dozens of li. Green mountains faced each other across its banks, while its waters were muddy as slurry, sweeping along silt and shattered stones from upstream in a vast, majestic torrent.
Even in the dry season, the river remained fiercely turbulent. During the rainy season, muddy waves soared to the heavens, capable of uprooting even trees thick enough for two men to embrace.
Old fishing families often said that the Yellow Dragon River held three perils: hidden reefs, rapids, and river bandits.
The hidden reefs lay concealed beneath the riverbed, unseen and untouchable. A boat that struck one would be punctured through.
The rapids lay around several bends, spiraling as they dragged everything downstream. No matter how skilled a swimmer was, they could not escape.
As for the river bandits, there was even less to say. They entrenched themselves on several small islands in the middle of the river, appearing without shadow and vanishing without trace. No matter how many times the authorities tried to wipe them out, they could never be fully eradicated.
The Yellow Dragon River had countless tributaries, spread across Qinghe County like a great net.
One tributary branched northward. The current gradually slowed, the