Heluo Fish

The next person to board was a woman of about twenty.

Her face was white as jade, her lips rouge-red, and her expression cold and haughty.

Her full breasts and buttocks stretched her loose, scarlet palace gown into pronounced curves.

The moment she boarded, she drew the eyes of every man in the cabin. They could not help stealing sidelong glances or staring openly.

Chu Xisheng was a respectable man. His eyes did not stray as he gazed appreciatively at the scenery ahead.

Just then, he heard a sharp slap beside him.

Startled, Chu Xisheng looked over.

He discovered that a middle-aged man dressed as a wealthy gentleman had been slapped by the middle-aged woman beside him.

The woman glared, her eyes wide with fury. "Where do you think you're looking?"

The middle-aged man flushed with shame and looked annoyed, but ultimately withdrew his gaze, daring to be angry but not to speak.

Chu Xisheng shook his head slightly. This man's lust really knows no bounds. His wife is right beside him, yet he still dares let his eyes wander.

Then he saw both Chu Yunyun and Lu Luanli looking at him strangely.

Chu Xisheng froze for a moment, realizing that the two girls had probably misunderstood.

He gave a dry cough. "The scenery on this river is lovely."

Lu Luanli snorted and cast a slightly disgruntled glance at the woman in palace dress.

What's so pretty about this woman?

A load of excess flesh hanging off her body. It would be terribly inconvenient for practicing martial arts or fighting.

Chu Yunyun silently took out a large steamed bun and took a big bite.

They had hurried out to catch the ferry and had not had time to eat the meat buns they bought.

After boarding, the woman in palace dress swept her gaze across the cabin and frowned deeply.

The boat was already packed, with people seated in every corner.

Several men hurriedly wiped the planking beside them, trying to make room for her.

The woman in palace dress ignored them. She simply walked to the bow and gazed at the river ahead with her hands behind her back. Her robes fluttered as though she might ride the wind away.

The ferry soon left shore, sailing against the current with the wind at its back.

The Divine Splendor River was particularly broad, measuring a full ten li across.

Only when their boat reached midriver could they faintly make out a bustling town on the opposite bank.

Lu Luanli leaned against the side of the boat, chatting animatedly with the Chu siblings.

Working undercover at the Zhengyang Martial Academy, she usually had no one even to chat with, so whenever she caught Chu Xisheng, words poured from her mouth like a cascading river.

Chu Xisheng obliged her. He found it very interesting to listen to Lu Luanli boast, critique the martial arts of the world's major sects, and recount anecdotes about the many figures on the Heavenly Ranking and heroes on the Earthly Ranking.

Chu Yunyun usually disliked discussing such things with him. Even when she occasionally taught him basic facts about the major sects, the martial world, and the imperial court, her accounts were dry and dull.

Chu Yunyun, meanwhile, was completely uninterested. After finishing her buns, she stared absently at the river.

Only when Lu Luanli mentioned Qin Muge did Chu Yunyun's expression shift slightly, and she turned to look.

"Qin Muge's death really was a pity. Of everyone in the past thirty years, she probably had the best chance of breaking through the boundary between mortal and divine and reaching the transcendent grades. I remember the Martial Discourse Tower only raised her to sixth on the Heavenly Ranking in March, and then disaster struck her in April. The cause of her death was baffling, too. One trip back to the Capital City, and she suddenly died of illness.

"The Imperial Court's Imperial Medical Academy claimed that Qin Muge advanced too fiercely and relentlessly in her cultivation, and then fought numerous major battles after taking command of the Northern Pacification Army, leaving her with severe hidden injuries and exhausting her vital essence. But not many believe that. There are rumors in the martial world that Emperor Jianyuan coveted Qin Muge's God-Defying Banner and the Blazing Emperor's treasure, and feared Qin Muge's martial strength and the Northern Pacification Army, so he laid a death trap in the Capital City-"

"That's impossible!" A husky, resonant female voice suddenly carried over from a distance, interrupting Lu Luanli.

Chu Xisheng raised his swordlike brows slightly and looked toward the bow, discovering that the woman in palace dress was looking their way with a cold smile.

"His Majesty is an unrivaled, illustrious sovereign. In the thirty years since his accession, he has not only recovered all of Great Ning's territory, but waged campaigns north and south, expanding its borders by seventeen thousand li. His Majesty is now in his prime, and his dominion is not yet secure. Why would he put away his bow before all the birds have been shot?

"Besides, this April coincided with the Ice Sea Hornfolk's rebellion, throwing the entire north into turmoil. Emperor Jianyuan would have even less reason to sever his own arm over such elusive things as the God-Defying Banner and the Blazing Emperor's treasure."

Lu Luanli frowned, looking displeased. "Who are you? What business is it of yours what we fellow disciples discuss?"

"My name is Xie Zhenqing!" The woman in palace dress lifted her chin. Standing at the bow, she looked down her nose at Lu Luanli. "I simply cannot stand ignorant babblers passing on baseless rumors and ruining His Majesty's reputation."

Lu Luanli let out a laugh, her competitive spirit roused.

But just as she was about to argue back, Chu Yunyun's expression suddenly sharpened, and she pulled Chu Xisheng and Lu Luanli swiftly toward the middle of the boat.

At that very moment, an enormous cone of water erupted from the river and slammed into the hull, striking precisely where the three of them had been sitting.

The cone of water struck with savage force, pulverizing every plank in its path and sending splinters flying.

Then several tentacles stretched out of the water and smashed into the deck, nearly breaking the flat-bottomed riverboat, some eight zhang long, into several pieces. White surges of water shot skyward on both sides of the boat.

Some of those seated along the sides lost their footing and were thrown straight off the ferry.

The people aboard were thrown into panic.

"Is that a Heluo Fish?"

"Damn it, how could there be a Heluo Fish here in the Divine Splendor River?"

"We're done for! We're done for! We're at least five li from shore. With a demon fish wreaking havoc, we're all going to die!"

Chu Xisheng frowned deeply. The so-called Heluo Fish was one of the demon fish that ran rampant in this world.

The Great Ning Classic of Mountains and Seas described this fish as having "one head and ten bodies, a voice like a barking dog, and flesh that cures abscesses."

It was a demon fish shaped rather like an octopus, with one head but ten bodies. It made a sound like a barking dog, and eating its flesh could cure abscesses and swellings.

"Demon!"

The boat owner roared, drawing his saber and trying to cut off a Heluo Fish tentacle sweeping toward him.

But the next instant, the tentacle struck him with a thud and sent him flying, landing in the river three zhang away.

Chu Xisheng narrowed his eyes slightly, but his mind instead grew calm.

Judging by the Heluo Fish's strength, its Demon Power was eighth grade at most.

Either Chu Yunyun or Lu Luanli aboard this boat could deal with it easily.

But the next instant, he was dumbfounded.

Chu Yunyun's delicate brows knitted slightly. With both hands clenched into fists, she calmly stared beneath the river's surface. Lu Luanli, meanwhile, feigned fear and hid behind Chu Xisheng. Clutching his sleeve with one hand, she said timidly, "What do we do? Senior Brother, it's so scary-"

We're done for, Chu Xisheng thought. Neither of them wanted to expose her identity in full view of everyone.

Just then, the riverboat shattered with a boom. The broken hull and the hundred-odd passengers aboard were all swept beneath the river by an enormous wave.

Only Chu Xisheng leaped nimbly up and landed on a large piece of floating timber.

Once he had steadied himself on the plank, however, he discovered that Chu Yunyun and Lu Luanli were nowhere to be seen. The Demon-Forged Lightsteel Blade he had been carrying was also missing.

Meanwhile, beneath the river's surface, Chu Yunyun was looking ahead with a peculiar gleam in her eyes.

Five zhang ahead of her, Lu Luanli was swimming rapidly toward the Heluo Fish, holding Chu Xisheng's Demon-Forged Lightsteel Blade.