A great villain came to Deer Island

That spring, the refugees from Old Turtle Island had been registered as residents of Deer Island for a year.

Spring rain rustled down, and the peach trees the young man had planted beside Old Turtle Pit actually bloomed.

An old cultivator visiting the island master of Deer Island saw the peach blossoms in the spring rain and went over to take a look. Afterward, he took the boy guarding the peach trees as his disciple, saying he would bring him to the Starsea Alliance Main Altar.

The young man hovered around the old cultivator for several rounds and said a great many things. Growing impatient, the old cultivator snapped at him a couple of times before taking the boy away.

Such a chance to win a cultivator's favor could only be encountered, never sought.

The same had happened to Du Yueyi's younger sister back then. She had gone hunting one day and failed to return for days; a long search had turned up nothing.

Du Yueyi had thought her lost, until Island Master Huo came in person and said a friend of his had taken her sister away, and that she had found her immortal opportunity.

"Such are the strange workings of chance in this world. You needn't grieve. You'll have a chance to see that little brother of yours again someday." When the young man came to her door, Du Yueyi offered him a few words of comfort.

Du Yueyi had heard that the boy's parents had died early, and that he had no siblings and no one to rely on. The young man had looked after him a good deal, so the boy regarded him as his own elder brother.

After the old cultivator took the boy away, the young man had been terribly reluctant to part with him, crying mournfully, "My brother!" Overcome, he had even recited a poem, saying something incomprehensible about burning beanstalks to boil beans. Only after a long while had he recited the rest, adding something about his brother leaving him behind.

Using beans and their stalks, placed inside and outside the pot, to represent the torment of brothers being separated was rather strained, but at least it rhymed. He had just barely avoided disgracing the people of Old Turtle Pit.

"When will he write? That's hard to say. My sister was taken away six years ago, and not a single letter has come. I really am afraid... afraid my sister will become someone like Fairy Xin..."

"What do you mean, like elder sister, like younger sister? You certainly know how to sweet-talk me. But my sister really is well-behaved, and she doesn't like talking to people much."

"The island master's selection?" Du Yueyi had kept the young man for a meal. After a little light wine, he brought up another subject.

This selection was the island master of Deer Island's choosing of people qualified to cultivate, and there were quotas for it.

Deer Island belonged to the Starsea Alliance, but it was remote, produced little, and lay off the busy trade routes. There was little profit to be squeezed from it, so ordinary cultivators were unwilling to come.

Island Master Huo drew a stipend from the Starsea Alliance, but he did not simply sit watching all day. Every year, he had to submit a fixed tribute to the alliance.

It consisted mainly of Deer Island's specialty, Nightlight Grass, with quotas for Dragon-Pattern Clam Pearls, Raimei Angelfish, and other things as well.

Tending Nightlight Grass would not get anyone killed, but gathering clam pearls and catching Raimei Angelfish meant going to sea, and that meant deaths. A voyage might cost more than one or two lives; an entire boatload might be lost.

Catching Raimei Angelfish, for instance, was so dangerous that many people died doing it every year.

Naturally, the island master did not do these things himself. These bitter, exhausting tasks were directed by the island's thirteen mortal powers.

Nor had the island master ever said what the quotas were. In any case, deliveries were required every month.

These thirteen mortal powers conscripted fishermen for labor, though they paid wages too. Exploitation, of course, remained the mainstay.

Deer Island lacked grain, and these thirteen powers controlled all the grain shipped in from overseas, holding the island's livelihood in their hands.

Even if fishermen caught Raimei Angelfish or the like, they had no channel through which to offer them as tribute. They had to hand them over to the thirteen families.

"Immortals helping improve grain varieties? I've never heard of it. Now that you're in business, you must understand: if those people could fill their bellies by farming, who would go to sea for us? Who would risk their lives for us? How would we complete the tasks the immortal master assigned? Would we have to go to sea ourselves and do that lowly, dangerous work?"

"You're just starting out, so you go to sea often. In the future, go as little as you can."

Du Yueyi taught him sincerely, holding nothing back.

Since the thirteen families worked for the island master, he naturally had to keep them appeased.

The candidates for selection were discussed and nominated by these thirteen families. This was the preliminary selection.

There were ten preliminary candidates. How many remained after the selection depended entirely on the island master's wishes. Even those rejected, however, could gain some benefits, and might even embark on cultivation; they simply lacked the qualifications to join the Starsea Alliance for the time being.

According to legend, when the Starsea Alliance was first founded several thousand years ago, anyone with spiritual roots could embark on cultivation. But that rule had disappeared over the past two thousand years. People now relied on introductions from the various islands, after which they entered the alliance and were registered.

Of course, the Starsea Alliance also offered rewards for bringing capable rogue cultivators into the alliance.

In any case, the arrangement now was for the families to nominate candidates and the island master to make the final decision.

In the young man's words, it was a cultivation nomination system.

"Thirteen powers, but only ten preliminary candidates. Brilliant," the young man muttered.

"Don't make reckless comments." Du Yueyi had noticed that the young man had little reverence for cultivators, perhaps because of what had happened with Fairy Xin Li.

The young man then asked further about the intricacies of the preliminary selection. Du Yueyi found him particularly pleasing that day, and with a few cups in her, she spoke more and more.

To enter the preliminary selection, one needed an aptitude for cultivation. The thirteen families then discussed and compromised to settle on the candidates.

"That's where the difficulty lies. The selection happens once every three years, and we spend all three years arguing."

"I've heard some large islands have great clans with a thousand years of history. They don't need to go through selection. So long as their younger generation has the aptitude, they can all ascend to immortality."

"Ah, our thirteen families don't really count as great powers. Deer Island is remote. It only formed a little over three hundred years ago, was opened up just two hundred years ago, and we mortals only settled here a little over a hundred years ago. We're far behind the other large islands."

"And none of the previous groups taken away through selection have ever returned."

"Yes. Preliminary candidates can only be nominated by the thirteen families. It won't be easy for you to get a share... Forgive your big sister's bluntness, but your business is small now, so no one bothers with you. You won't be allowed to grow big. Our thirteen families were the first to come to Deer Island, and we control the all-important grain supply. We can suppress you whenever we want. We won't add another family to compete for the places."

"What are you smiling at? Stick with your big sister, and no one can bully you. If you really want to... next year's preliminary selection is certainly out of the question. So is the one after that. Perhaps in seven or eight years. Save up more clam pearls and fish bones over the coming years, and I might be able to lobby for you then. But..."

"What do you mean, seven or eight years is too long, and you must seize the day? Will you be nearly dead in seven or eight years? Don't talk such nonsense. You look very sturdy to me. Have you found yourself a sweetheart?"

"Re... rebellion? That's never happened. But brawls between groups happen often. Deaths? On the boat that day, did Fairy Xin care about human lives? Did she care about your body? Yes, yes, she never slept with you. In truth, so long as the tribute isn't delayed, the island master won't spare us mortals a glance."

"Overturn the table? Who could overturn it? You'd be better off worrying about Deer Island sinking."

"What are you thinking? What do you mean, there's plenty you can do? Hehe, you want to protect me? How? Tell your big sister..."

"If you're willing, drink what's left in this cup..."

"You?"

Slightly tipsy, Du Yueyi recalled that Fairy Xin Li had played with, used, and sampled this young man, and could not help saying a few things that crossed the line.

Yet the young man actually pretended not to understand. Saying something about a man having to strive for himself, he fled like a wisp of smoke.

"Being with me would do you more good than a hundred voyages!" Feeling she had lost face, and now unbearably ashamed as well, Du Yueyi flung down her chopsticks.

Du Yueyi had meant to trip the young man up and teach him whose sky hung over Deer Island, only to find he had gone to sea.

Half a month later, the young man returned. The haul was good, but three of his fellow villagers had died.

Grief-stricken, the young man swore to support the dead men's parents, wives, and children until their children came of age.

He also established a rule: from then on, one-tenth of the proceeds from every voyage had to be set aside as security silver.

The people of Old Turtle Pit naturally trusted him, but the other boat owners and fishermen did not. They all treated it as a joke.

Half a year later, Du Yueyi discovered that the young man was not merely boasting. He was earnestly carrying out that security silver scheme.

Seafarers and boat owners on Deer Island therefore wanted to join his fleet, but the young man refused and instead proposed another method.

Any boat owner or fisherman who went to sea could pay one-twentieth of their monthly income and receive support in old age. If they died, their sons and parents would be supported.

Most of Deer Island's fishermen operated independently and were often conscripted by the thirteen families to go to sea. The young man said that if they paid every month, he would stand up for them whenever they were bullied, had their wages docked, or had their death compensation withheld while serving on voyages for the thirteen families.

Boat owners already earned little and would now have to pay extra, so naturally few believed him. Only a dozen or so households paid and received contracts.

Unexpectedly, just a month later, an old man fell overboard while sailing with the Kong Household.

But many members of the Kong Clan itself had also died, and they did not want to pay the compensation. The young man immediately went to the Kong Household.

The young man was soundly beaten. After nursing his injuries for two days, he went back to demand justice and was beaten again.

This happened three times, and he still failed to obtain the compensation.

The young man simply paid the old man's son out of his own pocket.

The old man's son knocked his head against the ground with repeated thuds, but the young man helped him up.

"We're family! This is what I ought to do!" the young man said.

After this, everyone on Deer Island who made a living from the sea came to Old Turtle Pit to pay security silver.

"If I pocket so much as a fraction, may I die in this life with nowhere to bury my body!" the young man swore before Old Turtle Pit.

"I never thought you'd come up with this way to make money." Du Yueyi wanted a share, but the young man said it made no money and even produced the accounts.

Seeing that it actually lost money, Du Yueyi left it alone, though an inexplicable unease lingered in her heart.

Sure enough, before long, the young man's prestige grew so great that he could lead Deer Island's boat owners and fishermen in challenging the thirteen families. Today they demanded higher pay for going to sea; tomorrow they said every meal at sea had to include white rice; the day after, they wanted pork added too.

He even incited the fishermen not to go to sea to work.

The thirteen families tried dividing them and buying them off. These methods had some effect, but not much.

"This is excellent. They've helped us identify the rotten elements! Helped us clean our ranks! It proves they're afraid of us!" The young man wore ragged clothes and looked like a fisherman, stinking and without a shred of respectability.

But he could remember every fisherman's name.

Du Yueyi had not spoken to the young man for months, and had only seen him from a distance a few times.

"Big sister, we won't touch your shops or warehouses this time. The Kong Household has gone too far..." The young man came to her door again, reeking of fish.

This time, the Kong Clan, one of the thirteen families, had bought a blue Qiang False Dragon caught by a fisherman. But the fisherman said the price was unfair and demanded more grain and rice, with the young man there to witness it.

The Kong Clan was already sick of the young man's troublemaking. With the preliminary selection approaching, they urgently needed such goods, so they lost their temper and seized the fisherman's fish.

The fisherman was hot-tempered too. His ribs were broken in the struggle, and his daughter-in-law fell amid the chaos, resulting in two lives lost in one body.

The affair blew up. The young man gathered eighty percent of the island's fishermen and arranged to go to the Kong Household at dusk to demand justice.

He always washed off the fishy smell before coming to see me in the past. And I once wanted to share a little pleasure with him. I must have lost my mind!

"You're leading an assault on the Kong Household. Aren't you afraid they'll retaliate later? Aren't you afraid the island master will intervene? What exactly are you trying to do? Has a Jellyfish Worm burrowed into your brain?" Du Yueyi asked with a frown.

"I've already informed every family that we're only targeting the Kong Household this time! I also asked Zhao Waizui to deliver twenty Dragon-Pattern Clam Pearls to Chaolong Mountain. This is the last time. Afterward, I'll give each family a token of appreciation too." The young man had even arranged his follow-up measures. "Besides, big sister, without the Kong Household, there'll only be twelve families left. Won't that mean one fewer competitor for the selection places? That's a good thing!"

"May the one who first made burial figures be left without descendants!" Du Yueyi was furious, feeling that the chair beneath her had become a little unsteady.

"I offered my heart..." Before the young man could finish his mangled verse, Du Yueyi had already shut the door.

She kept people watching him, and soon learned that the young man had led his "family" in tearing down the Kong Household's gate, plundering its wealth, and emptying its warehouses. In the end, he had even burned its residence to the ground.

That was not all. While the fishermen were still carried away, the young man led those thousands of people to burn down three more families.

Of Deer Island's thirteen families, only nine remained.

And from beginning to end, the island master indeed never appeared.

"Why does this villain seem so practiced at this sort of thing?" Du Yueyi recalled her first meeting with the young man. Only two years had passed, yet it felt like a lifetime ago.