Ten Thousand Fish Paying Homage

After only a few words, the cabin erupted into noise.

Su Ziji could not help feeling surprised. Before he even entered the cabin, Ye Buhui came out in a huff.

"What happened?" Before Su Ziji could ask, he heard the chess players shouting. After hearing only a few sentences, his face hardened.

For the sake of harmony, exchanging greetings was normal enough, but that did not mean they had to endure grievances and curses.

Hearing things like "Only women and petty men are hard to raise" was already mild. Some even cursed outright, directly attacking Ye Buhui for lacking the bearing of a proper young lady.

Why were these chess players so lacking in character? Even if they resented her victory, fine, they need not congratulate her. But what was with those twisted faces, that savage look as though they were about to explode on the spot?

By contrast, those who were not chess players remained relatively composed, awkwardly trying to stop them—they too were baffled. It was not as if there had never been female chess players before, so why was the reaction this time so extreme?

"Buhui, let's go!"

Seeing the steward of the pleasure barge awkwardly write Ye Buhui the document admitting her to the Round of Sixteen, Ye Buhui finally let out a breath of relief. With that document, she could enter the Capital City competition directly.

If not for this, why would she have been willing to hold her temper and listen to those people spout sour nonsense?

"Alright, Su Ziji, let's go." Ye Buhui had no desire to linger either and immediately agreed.

Su Ziji swept his gaze across the crowd, bidding farewell only to the handful of chess players, including Zheng Yingci, before leading Ye Buhui outside.

Like everyone else's boats, theirs was moored around the pleasure barge. When Su Ziji came out, he had already signaled the boat farther away, and they could board and leave at once.

Before leaving, he still could not hold back. Turning to Zheng Yingci, he said, "These people are Examination Students, even Cultivated Talents, yet at the slightest setback their faces fill with hatred. If the academic officers saw this, would they still dare to select them?"

What officials needed was official bearing. With such an attitude, were they planning to drag the government down to its death with them? Who would dare appoint them as officials? Even gangs might not want this sort.

After throwing out those words, he boarded the boat without another pause and left.

"This..." To be honest, Zheng Yingci felt extremely awkward after hearing that. He looked at those dark-faced people, their expressions so ferocious that they seemed ready to bite Su Ziji and Ye Buhui to death. It was truly strange.

Though reason told him that, as he watched Su Ziji and Ye Buhui board their boat, Zheng Yingci frowned in silence. The strange emotion he had just suppressed surged up again.

Why did he always feel as if he had forgotten something?

"Brother Su..." Zheng Yingci unconsciously followed after them, seized by the urge to board the boat and get to the bottom of things, only to be grabbed by someone.

Turning around, he saw a scholar he knew looking at him in confusion. "Brother Zheng, didn't we agree to go drinking later? What are you doing?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

Remembering that he had already promised to drink with these people, Zheng Yingci could only restrain himself. Though their family backgrounds were inferior to his own, they had their own outstanding qualities. The Zheng Family had always been willing to befriend such people. Once drawn in, even if they could not be used by the Zheng Family, they could still become the Zheng Family's wings and feathers. No matter how impatient Zheng Yingci was, he could not truly abandon them and continue chasing Su Ziji for an explanation.

Yet in that brief moment of distraction, the small boat carrying Su Ziji and Ye Buhui had already moved more than ten meters away and was speeding toward the distance.

By the time he wanted to call them back, it was already too late.

As though something had drifted far away from him, Zheng Yingci watched their receding backs with a feeling of loss.

It was not only that boat that left. Another pleasure barge departed as well—Hu Xiyan's barge. It was a large, two-decked vessel, each deck containing ten cabins, with its own cook. Hu Shijiu sat waiting happily for the dishes to arrive. Though there was no Zhengde Braised Chicken now, there was meat, and that was enough for this little fox.

Though the sky was overcast and fine rain fell without end, it was clearly already morning. Three waterways converged here, yet the current was calm and gentle, and the scenery stood alone in its beauty. Hu Xingzhu could not help asking, "Miss, you promised to take Little Nineteen to the prefectural city for Zhengde Braised Chicken. Is that really all right?"

"Little Nineteen's cultivation is too low. If she goes to the prefectural city, I'm afraid there will be trouble."

"As long as she doesn't show her face in public, it will be fine." Hu Xingzhu was Third Aunt's chief maid. She followed Hu Xiyan not only to serve her, but also to keep her from crossing the red line. Hu Xiyan still had to give her some face, so she answered thus. As she spoke, she brushed a hand over her hair, but her eyes were filled with shock, along with a sense that it was only natural.

At a glance just now, deathly aura had coiled around the entire pleasure barge. Apart from one or two people, every chess player had black qi shrouding their faces, their deathly visages laid bare. Influenced by them, even ordinary people had been tainted with ominous signs.

"Is this Against-the-Wind? Once Heaven condemns, no prayer will avail!"

Hu Xiyan did not dare alter Heaven's Will at all, but others were one thing—Hu Shijiu had to be taken away.

Fortunately, there had not been the slightest hitch in taking her away. It seemed that she and her party were not the targets of this calamity.

But after they had traveled another few hundred meters, Hu Xingzhu suddenly cried out and pointed at the lake. "Miss, look! There's a strange phenomenon."

Hu Xiyan turned back to look, and her mind was immediately drawn in.

On the tranquil lake surface lay a sheet of golden light. At the front was a school of golden carp, their scales a brilliant yellow-gold and their eyes lively. Behind them came carp of every kind, though their coloring was far less pure.

Farther away were schools upon schools of other fish, with even shrimp and turtles joining to make up the numbers. The entire lake appeared filled with fish, likely numbering a hundred thousand.

The lake surface shimmered with rippling light. Ten thousand fish rose from the water, rings of ripples spreading out as their tails swayed. It was an awe-inspiring sight.

"This is Ten Thousand Fish Paying Homage." Hu Xiyan immediately looked toward the water. "Could it be... could the Dragon Palace of Coiling Dragon Lake be awakening?"

Straight down several dozen meters, there should have been nothing but silt. Yet after passing through a membrane, one could see ruins stretching out below. Broken palace halls lay everywhere, but at that moment, specks of insignificant golden light emerged.

The golden light flowed swiftly along a line, gradually spreading until it finally formed an array diagram. Once it did, faint water ripples slowly rose from a ruin at its core, as though a tiny canopy of sky had been propped up.

A huge shell swam inside. Its surface was covered in marks, as though it had suffered much damage. It swam in with great difficulty, and once nourished by the place, it transformed in the blink of an eye into a palace maid.

Had Hu Xiyan still been there, she would naturally have recognized her as the Shell Maiden she had encountered before. Now, however, the Shell Maiden wore tattered clothes, and the jade pendant that had once adorned her was gone. Yet she paid no heed to any of it. Entering within, she kowtowed toward a stone platform, her voice trembling with excitement. "Young Lord, you've awakened."

On the stone bed lay a young girl with two delicate little horns growing from her forehead. She broadly resembled the form used by the Dragon Lord, but she was so thin that she was skin and bones, practically a skeleton.

"Hungry!" The instant she opened her eyes, that was the first thing she said.

In the past, hundreds had attended her, and food had never been lacking. But now, after feeling around, the Shell Maiden could only produce a single steamed bun. Ashamed, she said, "Young Lord, after the Lord vanished, the Dragon Court scattered. I heard that part of it relocated to the distant sea, and the Divine Shrine no longer receives Incense Offerings."

"This is the only one—a steamed bun offered by someone unknown. Please fill your stomach with it first!"

The little Young Dragon said nothing. She took it and swallowed it in a single bite, making the Shell Maiden's eyes redden as she nearly burst into tears.

A dignified Young Dragon had actually fallen to such a state. If the Sealing Recess had not been lifted, she likely would truly have starved to death within a few more years.

After eating the steamed bun, the Young Dragon glanced around, a blank look appearing on her face.

Her father had sealed her away. In the moment before she fell asleep, this had still been a prosperous Water Palace, with countless Monsters coming and going. But now it was only ruins, and of the Monsters who had followed her, only the Shell Maiden remained.

"So desolate."

"But it's all right. Master will definitely come to see me!"