Chapter 1006

Opportunities vanish in an instant. Yu Zecheng tapped his fingers on the tabletop a dozen times, then suddenly remembered his original intention:

Originally, he only planned to attack Zhu Xiuer amidst the chaos. As long as the Bailong people pinned down He Xiao and the guard team, the Beijia team could make their move. What did that have to do with whether He Xiao lived or died? Now that the situation was looking excellent, why was he being indecisive instead? Taking a step back, even if there were other accidents, the men he brought were powerful enough; what kind of situation could they not handle? If he missed tonight, when would he have another chance? He had been hunting Zhu Xiuer for over half a year and had even requested reinforcements from Lingxu City; was he just going to watch it escape?

In a few more days, he would have to send another military report. How would he explain it to the State Preceptor? That because he was worried the Island Master was faking his death, he remained inactive and missed Zhu Xiuer?

Such a ridiculous excuse would only be called shirking responsibility by his superiors, right? Not to mention sending it to State Preceptor Shuangye, he couldn't even bring himself to write it.

"Attack!" Yu Zecheng finally gave the order. "Intercept Zhu Xiuer!"

￥￥￥￥￥

White Wave Shanzhuang.

Wang Xingyi was standing on the second floor of the guest house. When Fang Canran came up, he saw his martial uncle gazing toward the pier, his hair slightly damp.

"Suoding Island is very lively tonight." No one could ignore the explosions from the direction of the pier earlier.

Fang Canran was ashamed: "It seems I didn't come at a good time."

"No, you came at exactly the right time." Wang Xingyi stroked his beard and smiled. "Sea voyages are always dull; I thought this time would be no exception. Hmm, hurricanes, Emperor Flowing Nectar, riots—it's rarely this interesting."

Fang Canran felt embarrassed; the State Preceptor's perspective was indeed different from his own.

He wondered if He Xiao could handle all this mess tonight. The State Preceptor would certainly scrutinize his performance tonight to make an assessment.

Should one say he was lucky, or unlucky? Just then, several rough roars came from afar:

"He Lingchuan is dead! He Lingchuan is dead! I killed him!"

"I killed him—I chopped off his head!"

Aided by the wind, the roars carried straight into White Wave Shanzhuang and into the ears of the two men.

Wang Xingyi glanced at Fang Canran, surprised for once: "So fast? He Xiao seems to have just left the Hot Spring Cottage."

"This..." Fang Canran was also stunned. "That can't be right?!"

A person who could blast through the Xushan barrier and escape the joint pursuit of the Hundred Battles Heavenly God and State Preceptor Qingyang had just walked out of the Hot Spring Cottage only to have his head chopped off by rioters?

What a sick joke! The killer was gloating, not looking like someone with deep schemes.

If He Xiao were really killed by such a person, cough, he would die with his eyes wide open, right?

Wang Xingyi beckoned, and three guards flashed out from behind him. He turned back and whispered a few words. The guards nodded in acknowledgment, changed into plain clothes, went downstairs, and dashed out of White Wave Shanzhuang.

Fang Canran knew that State Preceptor Wang had sent them out to gather information.

After all, they were guests here; if Suoding Island really changed hands, the State Preceptor's group of over a hundred people would have to deal with the sudden change in the situation.

Other guards began to set up formations and barriers within the villa to prevent external enemies from coming to the door and launching a sudden, fierce attack.

￥￥￥￥￥

When the pier exploded, Wanqi Feng had already led his clansmen past Ding Lake and continued moving southwest.

There was no wind-shielding barrier on this road, and the cold, icy rain lashed wildly at people's faces. The ground was slippery and the road conditions were poor; the Bailong warriors could not walk fast on such a night road.

The sound of the explosion traveled with the wind to this point. Everyone looked back together and saw fire soaring into the sky from the direction of the pier, with black smoke curling up.

"Why did it start early?" Wanqi Feng certainly knew that the explosion at the pier was the signal for his side to act; he was the one who had arranged for his men to place those gunpowder barrels.

But the Emperor Flowing Nectar hadn't descended yet, and the pier had already exploded; this did not match the original plan.

His premonition had come true; this ambush was truly full of variables.

His subordinate asked him: "Young Master, what should we do?"

Wanqi Feng stared at the soaring fire, a battle raging in his heart.

After a long while, he said: "Continue on our way, go to the southwest beach!"

Since he had broken with his uncle, he had only one goal: lead the Bailong clansmen and leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.

However, not long after, another signal arrow went up in the rear, bursting into green and red fireworks.

The fireworks did not last long because the wind was very strong.

But this Bailong team still saw it: "Young Master, Young Master, look!"

"No way?" Wanqi Feng stared at the direction where the fireworks rose; that was the Qingyun road section, the position where his uncle had set the ambush. "They actually succeeded?"

The distance was too far, and he couldn't hear Wanqi Song's wild laughter, but he could understand the meaning of the fireworks:

He Xiao had been taken down!

This sneak attack... succeeded? Wanqi Feng found it hard to believe.

Was his own worry purely superfluous?

The key was, what now? According to the original plan, after his uncle took down He Lingchuan, he would occupy the pier, warehouses, commercial and residential areas, and the Hot Spring Cottage, quickly taking over the entire island and defeating and subduing the Yangshan guard team on the island.

Without his four hundred main forces, his progress definitely wouldn't be fast.

Rainwater dripped continuously from his chin. Wanqi Feng wiped his face twice and finally made up his mind: "Everyone turn around, go to the pier!"

Between leaving the island and fighting, he still chose the latter.

He knew very well that if they missed this opportunity, the wind and waves would only get bigger later, and the ships wouldn't be able to go out to sea.

￥￥￥￥￥

Eastern part of Suoding Island.

A black shadow emerged from the fir forest and jumped onto the cliff like a swing, intending to enter the main road from here.

This was a spider the size of a small hill, covered in sharp spikes.

This mountain road was also one of the main island-circling roads of Suoding Island, connecting the northern pier and the eastern shipyard, and there were many houses along the way, so it also enjoyed the protection of the wind-shielding barrier.

However, Suoding Island had issued a notice in advance that all residents must stay at home tonight and not go out, so this road was quiet, without even a ghost in sight.

The Cave Spider Queen took two more steps, then suddenly stopped and said in a muffled voice: "Stop hiding, come out."

The surroundings were silent.

The Cave Spider Queen was very patient, standing motionless.

Sure enough, more than a dozen figures emerged from the dense forest by the side of the mountain road, and the leader was none other than Ye Qing.

Yu Zecheng had issued the attack order, and he had led the team to ambush here.

Zhu Xiuer wanted to rush to the eastern shipyard, and taking this road was the fastest and easiest way.

"Island Master He is dead! Zhu Xiuer, if you surrender obediently, we won't make things difficult for you..."

Before he could finish speaking, many cave spiders jumped off Zhu Xiuer, varying in size, rushing toward the Beijia people like a tide.

Some sprayed silk, some spat acid, and some jumped seven or eight feet, heading straight for people's faces.

The small ones were no bigger than coconuts but contained potent poison; whether sprayed or bitten, the wound would swell up like a bun, filled with pus inside, and one could hear the sound of water when shaking it.

The large ones were as big as calves, able to grapple with people, and their shells were ridiculously hard.

Zhu Xiuer started fighting without a word, not giving them any time to persuade surrender or say polite things.

(End of chapter)