Green Snail Island lit up like day.
Firelight converged on the island from every direction, forming an almost complete ring of fire on the lake.
On the side of the island, beneath a crevice in the rocks they had scouted out beforehand.
Splash~
Ye Xingge and Hongyu surfaced at the same time. With the rock face directly overhead, they could only poke their heads out. The robe still covered them, and their gasps rose and fell:
"Hu, hu..."
Seeing the flames blazing across the lake and several experts skimming over the water in pursuit toward the southern side of the island, Hongyu's eyes shone with excitement.
After all, even as the eighth-ranked expert of the Second Rank, she had spent most of her time under the protective wings of her elders. By the time she ventured out into the world, she was already a peerless expert.
She had rarely experienced anything as thrilling as being frail and feeble, matching wits and courage at the bottom of the jianghu, and striking it rich overnight.
Ye Xingge was just as excited, but this was clearly no time to pop the champagne at halftime!
The two had taken down Gold-Chasing Gentleman and looted a golden legendary item, along with all the treasures he had on him. Their haul was already as good as it could get.
But Ye Xingge wasn't some knife runner who had entered with nothing but Ravine-Leaping Tiger.
He had also brought a divine weapon, several renowned weapons, and Great Yu'er.
If he failed to escape, he would be delivering Black Dragon Island a massive windfall. Once Jiang Jinjiang finished off the last group, his net worth would surpass Chu Hannu's on the spot, and he might be so excited that he would call Ye Xingge his foster father a couple of times.
Seeing the army closing in, Ye Xingge didn't hesitate. He first swallowed a pill to heal his injuries and replenish his Qi, then stuffed one into Great Beauty's mouth before pulling out the green bamboo he had prepared under the rocks.
The bamboo was as thick as a thumb and nearly two meters long, and he had already hollowed it out.
When Ye Xingge came ashore, he had known there would be no returning to the boat. He had planned to escape underwater all along. Now he picked up the bamboo and blew out the water inside, then submerged to test it. Once he confirmed he could breathe through it, he rummaged through his robes again:
"Didn't Gold-Chasing Gentleman have a Water-Repelling Pearl?"
Hongyu deftly cut open the hem of her skirt and wrapped it around the wound on Ye Xingge's chest:
"He did. That blue pearl used to be Flying Cloud Fort's treasure. But I can't use it. The Flower and Moon Pendant also belongs to water among the five elements. If I replace it, the Heaven-Observing Pavilion will be able to see me wearing the Water-Repelling Pearl, and I'll be exposed straight away."
"It's all right. I have a way."
Ye Xingge hadn't counted on fighting his way out with stolen goods. Getting his hands on the robe and the Water-Repelling Pearl had been a pleasant surprise.
He first took the deep-blue pearl from his robes, sank beneath the water, and raised his Qi to try it.
The inside of the pearl trembled. It was as though a "Qi membrane" had separated his right hand from the water: he could feel the pressure, but no longer the wetness. The effect spread upward until it covered his whole body, including his mouth and nose.
He tried breathing in. His internal power consumption abruptly increased, like water being drawn from his Qi sea, but he could indeed breathe.
Splash~
Ye Xingge surfaced with a glimmer of delight in his eyes. Rather than use the old-fashioned method of breathing through the bamboo, he trimmed it into a foot-and-a-half-long tube, sealed both ends, and made two small holes in its side. He also cut off a one-inch length of bamboo and kept it ready.
When he was done, he put one end in his mouth and brought the other to Great Beauty.
Hongyu was already in his embrace. Seeing this, she understood what he meant and first said:
"Swim straight out through the mouth of the lake."
With that, she put the other end of the bamboo tube in her mouth.
Splash~
Seeing that the vanguard had already reached Green Snail Island, Ye Xingge wasted no time. He held Great Beauty close and sank into the water with her. Thanks to the Water-Repelling Pearl's miraculous effect, he could breathe in and pass air to Great Beauty through the bamboo tube.
Hongyu swam alongside him, holding the robe over them with both hands. As the two sank to the bottom of the lake, they blended into their surroundings, with only the occasional bubble rising from the water...
Gurgle~
Meanwhile, on Green Snail Island.
A corpse missing half its head lay among the vegetation, surrounded by a large pool of blood.
Hall Master Qian Zhong crouched beside the corpse with several disciples at his side. After briefly examining its chest and the saber wounds, he looked thoroughly astonished and doubtful:
"His heart and lungs were badly injured by the Ravine-Leaping Tiger Jian. Was this man killed by Gold-Chasing Gentleman?"
Huang Guan, the strategist who had been a guest on the island earlier, had also come over. He stood nearby with the Black Banner Saber in his hand:
"The one killed was Gold-Chasing Gentleman. It looks like a group set a trap and ambushed him here, then turned on each other after succeeding. One of them used nothing but Heaven-Observing Pavilion weapons. This situation is a little hard to fathom..."
Jiang Jinjiang had already gone after the two fleeing Third Rank experts. As hall master, Qian Zhong didn't understand what had happened either, but he knew Gold-Chasing Gentleman was dead. That meant the divine weapon and all of Gold-Chasing Gentleman's treasures must have fallen into this group's hands.
Since they had turned on each other, the two sides were unlikely to have left together. Qian Zhong considered this for a moment, then rose and looked out over the lake:
"Gold-Chasing Gentleman had items for repelling water and concealing himself. Another group may have escaped by water. They can't swim quickly. Go get the revealing powder and drag nets, seal off the surrounding five li, and make sure you find them."
The nearby gang members had discovered that Gold-Chasing Gentleman, who had been on the run for years, had met a violent death and dropped a pile of treasures. Their eyes burned as they answered in unison:
"Yes."
The strategist Huang Guan, meanwhile, had kept his eyes on the Black Banner Saber. After pondering for a long while, he asked an attendant:
"That Ye Xingge-didn't he also use the Black Banner Saber to kill Yang Tuyan?"
Huang Guan and the others had come secretly from Yong Capital and couldn't travel by express post, so they had set out yesterday. They still knew nothing of the commotion at the theater last night.
But Yang Tuyan was a deathsworn Huang Guan had recruited from Eight Pillars Hall, so he had naturally learned the details of what had happened in Linyang.
His attendant, however, glanced over the lake, where an army seemed to be closing in, and sounded doubtful:
"That man is just a little shopkeeper from Qingxi. By rights, with us crossing the river and Luo Xuanqing withdrawing her team, he should only have reached the capital yesterday afternoon.
"Now we've only just arrived at Forgetful River Mouth, and this has already happened. The timing doesn't seem to match..."
Huang Guan thought that made sense. He stuck the saber back into the ground:
"Before dawn, the Eight Great Sects of the Cang River will hear the news and come running. The imperial court still needs the Fate-Robbing Saber to scheme against Later Zhou, so the Heaven-Observing Pavilion will also send people tomorrow. Jiang Jinjiang won't be able to keep a lid on this. Even Chu Hannu may be startled into coming out. Let's leave first. Our proper business comes first."
"Yes."
Gurgle~
A few bubbles rose from the bottom of the lake. The unbroken expanse of firelight cast the reflections of countless boats onto the lakebed, and the poles rising and falling in succession looked like a bamboo forest from afar.
Holding Great Beauty, Ye Xingge crawled almost flat along the lakebed, the green bamboo in his mouth as he carefully avoided the boats' poles.
Hongyu kept her eyes on the water above them, stopping immediately whenever she spotted anything amiss.
This was the outer edge of the seven-hundred-li Dongyuan Lake, where the water was only two or three meters deep. The boats arriving were packed so densely that some passed directly overhead, just two meters away. They could even faintly hear voices:
"Hurry up! Those behind, keep up..."
"Damn it..."
Fortunately, although the Dust-Returning Robe was damaged, its concealing effect remained. The two blended into the lakebed, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
But Green Snail Island was over forty li from the mouth of the lake. Afraid of being discovered, they couldn't swim too fast. After two quarters of an hour, the two had only made it two or three li.
Ye Xingge wasn't worried. As long as he could breathe underwater, he would find his way out sooner or later; it would merely take half a day or a full day.
But soldiers could be blocked by generals, and floods by earthen dams.
Even if Gold-Chasing Gentleman had never shown his face, people in the jianghu still knew what he could do.
After traveling for an unknown length of time, the two suddenly spotted clouds of mist in the water ahead, giving off a faint glow in the night.
The fish swimming through them were clearly visible, and their tracks could still be seen even after they left the clouds.
Hongyu frowned at the sight and quietly patted Ye Xingge to signal that they should go around.
Ye Xingge had seen this stuff before too. The glowing clouds were called "revealing powder," a specially made fluorescent powder that clung readily to clothing and bodies.
It was usually used against experts skilled in qinggong and concealment. Once scattered over a wide area, it was hard to remove after it stuck; anyone moving would become a large white spot, with nowhere to hide at night. It could also be used to track birds, beasts, fish, and insects.
Forgetful River Mouth was a major port in the jianghu and had a considerable stock of such goods. Black Dragon Island was lavish enough to send out more than a dozen fast boats to scatter it back and forth across the lake.
Drag nets had also appeared in the lake. Working in pairs, the boats dragged great nets more than ten meters long across the lakebed, while people at the back of the boats poked at suspicious spots with long poles.
There appeared to be more than a hundred such groups. It looked as though they had commandeered all the nets from the fishermen along the shore.
Seeing this inescapable net, Ye Xingge didn't dare let his guard down. He held Great Yu'er a little tighter, observed for a moment, and set his sights on a small boat.
The boat was moving quickly and was probably a sailboat. It trailed a long, glowing tail behind it, sweeping sideways across a broad area.
Once Ye Xingge had determined its course, he sped up a little and swam into its path. Then a splashing sound approached from afar.
When the boat's black shadow covered them and it was directly overhead, three meters above, Ye Xingge seized the chance and rose to its hull. He quietly drove the White Tiger dagger into the bottom of the boat with one hand.
Splash~
The fast boat sailed on the wind. As its hull met the sharp blade, the White Tiger dagger cut into the wood, hooking the two of them onto it and pulling them along faster against the stern.
Though the maneuver made no sound, the added drag and weight were bound to change the boat's speed.
Gang members who spent their days on the lake were bound to have a good feel for their boats. Muffled voices soon came from the fast boat's deck:
"Did something get caught on the bottom of the boat?"
"Did it?"
"Go down and take a look..."