Attack

Grain Rain had come again.

The golden crow sank westward, and the evening glow melted the lake into shattered gold. The setting sun plunged into the western mountains, splashing scarlet flames across the sky. The thin mist drifting over the water was edged in gold, rippling into a thousand layers of talisman-like patterns.

A white egret skimmed past, its wingtips scattering the reflected clouds and startling the stars lurking beneath the water into flickering light.

Caw, caw-

Hearing the white egret's cries, Chen Jianghe stepped out of the cabin.

The white egret landed on the bow, a Letter Tube hanging from its slender leg. It cawed insistently at Chen Jianghe, seemingly reminding him to give it two fish.

The big blue fish had only been raised for a little over three months and were still tiny, so the white egret's demand for two was reasonable.

Chen Jianghe's gaze sharpened. With a sudden flick of his hand, two silver threads formed from magical power plunged into the lake, then hauled out two scrawny big blue fish.

After retrieving the letter, he returned to the cabin.

"More people died?!"

This was a letter from Gao Peiyao, telling him what had happened after the Yun Household Flying Boat went to Linyun Mine.

The Yun Household's eldest master had indeed been killed by the Bai Household.

The Bai Household made no attempt to conceal it. They openly admitted it and even declared war on the Yun Household. Fighting had broken out the very day the Yun Household Flying Boat arrived at Linyun Mine.

Three elders at the ninth level of Qi Refining had accompanied the Yun Household Flying Boat. They had suffered no losses in this clash and had instead come out well ahead.

They had severely wounded one of the Bai Household's elders and seized several hundred spirit stones, reaping a rich harvest.

As for the further casualties among the Yun Household's direct descendants, those had occurred not at Linyun Mine, but on the way to Qinghe Market.

"A party of seven direct descendants of the Yun Household, along with over a dozen collateral descendants, were all murdered? Was this really the Lan Household's doing?"

Gao Peiyao's letter said that the person who had slaughtered the Yun Household's party bound for Qinghe Market was that Late Qi Refining Stage cultivator from the Lan Household.

During his recent trips to the harbor market to buy daily necessities, he had also heard some news about the Lan Household.

The Lan Household had victimized over a hundred fisher-farmers, including a senior fisher-farmer, and obtained more than eight hundred spirit stones.

Afterward, the Yun Household had not simply stood by.

First, they had sent two elders at the ninth level of Qi Refining to lead a party to intercept and kill the Lan Household along their escape route.

Then they had issued a Foundation Establishment Immortal Clan's wanted order against the Lan Household.

Of the Lan Household's thirty-odd members, only two had escaped. One was the powerful cultivator at the Ninth Level of Qi Refining who had been planning to reach Foundation Establishment.

"Only one of the direct descendants killed was at Qi Refining, Seventh Layer. The rest were all merely at the mid Qi Refining stage. It really could have been that powerful cultivator at the Ninth Level of Qi Refining from the Lan Household."

In the past, the Lan Household naturally would not have dared offend the Yun Household.

Even cultivators at the Late Qi Refining Stage treated Foundation Establishment Immortal Clans with the utmost deference, because Foundation Establishment Ancestors were far too powerful for them to contend with.

But with only two of the Lan Household's thirty-odd members left, what did a powerful cultivator at the Ninth Level of Qi Refining have to fear?

He might not be able to defeat a Foundation Establishment Ancestor, but surely he could kill the Yun Household's mid Qi Refining descendants?

Moreover, the Yun Household's Foundation Establishment Ancestor could do nothing about this powerful cultivator at the Ninth Level of Qi Refining from the Lan Household. The Tian Nan Region was so vast that he could simply hide after each attack, leaving them nowhere to even begin searching.

On top of that, the Yun Household's Foundation Establishment Ancestor was injured and nearing the end of his lifespan, making him even less likely to act rashly.

If he expended too much magical power and abruptly died, it would be a devastating blow to the Yun Household.

As long as the Yun Household's Foundation Establishment Ancestor remained alive, he was a deterrent to the jackals and wolves watching hungrily from outside.

Even the Bai Household of Qiyun Mountain dared not launch a full-scale attack on Mirror Moon Lake.

If the dying Foundation Establishment Ancestor traded his life for one of theirs, the Bai Household would suffer a terrible loss.

Thus, all they could do was remain on guard against the Lan Household's remnants.

"A thief can steal for a thousand days, but who can guard against a thief for a thousand days? The Yun Household's best option right now is to keep their weaker direct descendants on Heart of the Lake Island."

The Yun Household's current situation was like that of a great ship sailing across the ocean. Though highly stable, it could still capsize.

In the open stood the Bai Household of Qiyun Mountain, while the Lan Household's remnants launched sneak attacks from the shadows. Rumble!!!

A tremendous roar shook the shattered gold from the lake's surface. His fishing boat rocked violently, and Chen Jianghe gripped both oars, magical power surging from his knuckles to steady the hull.

He looked toward Port No. 2. A streak of crimson flight light tore across the sky, and the faintly visible bluestone gateway exploded with a crash. Flood-dragon-shaped waves of fire instantly swallowed the market.

The pressure of a powerful cultivator at the Ninth Level of Qi Refining bore down until the lake water boiled. Amid a sudden flash of golden light, he saw dozens of cultivators pierced through the chest by black iron chains and flung into the lake, staining a stretch of water red.

"Someone's launching a sneak attack on a Mirror Moon Lake port!"

Chen Jianghe rowed his fishing boat as far as he could toward the part of his Aquaculture Waters farther from the port.

His Five-One-Two Aquaculture Waters were a long way from Port No. 1, but very close to Port No. 2—only four or five li away.

The fire dragon rampaged through Port No. 2. Charred wood splinters mixed with beads of blood pattered into the water, and the aroma of roasted meat drifted through the air.

There was a splash.

Chen Jianghe jumped straight into the lake and dove toward the bottom. He did not want to watch this sort of spectacle for even another moment.

Was it the Bai Household? Or the Lan Household's remnants?

Sensing Chen Jianghe's presence, Xiao Hei swam happily over, making "woo, woo" sounds at him.

Xiao Hei began circling his hair as it swayed in the water.

He had entered the water so hastily that he had forgotten to cast the Water-Avoidance Spell.

Chen Jianghe promptly cast the Water-Avoidance Spell, grabbed some water plants, and planted himself firmly on the lakebed.

After a while, he saw streaks of light flash across the lake's surface from below. These were probably the Yun Household's Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators flying past on their swords.

He did not leave the lakebed immediately, choosing instead to remain hidden.

The Five-One-Two Waters were too close to Port No. 2.

From the lakebed, however, he could not see what was happening outside.

Five days later.

Only when most of the magical power in Chen Jianghe's dantian had been depleted, and the hunger in his belly had become unbearable, did he cautiously rise from the lakebed.

He poked his head out and carefully surveyed his surroundings.

The blood had long since been diluted away.

There was no longer any activity around Port No. 2, though he could see thick smoke billowing.

"It was probably that Late Qi Refining Stage remnant of the Lan Household. He knew the Outer Waters steward was stationed at Port No. 1, so he attacked Port No. 2 instead."

If it had been the Bai Household, they would not have acted alone. At least three to five Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators would have come, destroying the entire port in an instant.

Chen Jianghe returned to the cabin and wrote three letters. Then he whistled from the bow, summoning a white egret.

He had the white egret deliver them to Zhou Miaoyun, Gao Peiyao, and Yu Daniu.

The three letters had identical contents.

There was therefore no harm in sending them together, and it would save him four undersized big blue fish. It did, however, earn him what looked like a contemptuous glance from the white egret.

When Port No. 2 was attacked, he had fled to the lakebed and knew little about what had happened.

Had the Yun Household's Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators managed to stop the person who attacked Port No. 2 from escaping afterward?

Or had they killed the invading enemy?

Chen Jianghe had no idea.

He needed to learn what had happened, so he could only ask his three allies.

Yu Daniu's and Gao Peiyao's waters lay on either side of his, and both could also make out the situation at Port No. 2.

What if their curiosity had gotten the better of them, and they had stayed on the lake's surface to watch, unafraid of being caught in the crossfire?

(End of chapter)