Chapter 910: He Wants to Be an Island Master

Sunlight cannot penetrate the seawater; they only need to hide in the deep water areas and wait for a cloudy day or nightfall to return to the ships or the shore.

Qiu Hu was also gazing into the distance, and suddenly said, "A few of them died on the shore."

With their eyesight, they could barely see a few small black dots on the beach, motionless.

Those were not reefs; those were Yin snakes.

Qiu Hu muttered, "Isn't that a bit too fast?"

Once the Yin malevolence dissipated, the weaker Yin snakes were the first to be unable to hold on.

"Without the energy of Yin malevolence, these things will likely find it hard to survive."

Zhu Zhu Xiuer cast the Wind-Calling Art a few more times, and the boat slid out several miles in an instant, leaving Dragon Spine Island blocked by other islands.

Everyone stood by the side of the boat, ready for battle.

But the heavens were kind; the cloud bank blocking the sun drifted away after a dozen breaths, and sunlight returned to the earth—

Although no longer dazzling, it was still enough to scorch the Yin snakes.

Under these circumstances, the Yin snakes would not surface.

After more than two quarters of an hour, the small boat reached safe waters, and its speed finally slowed down. Zhu Zhu Xiuer said, "They have probably gone back."

Yin snakes usually do not stray too far from Dragon Spine Island.

He He Lingchuan had heard from Lu Xun that some of the larger Yin snakes could venture into other waters, but without a leader to organize them, they usually would not stray far from Dragon Spine Island.

Their arrival had likely disrupted the Yin snakes' formation. These things did not look very intelligent.

The setting sun was about to dip below the horizon, the light gradually dimming, and the surrounding sound of water was gurgling, exceptionally tranquil.

Zhu Zhu Xiuer asked He He Lingchuan, "Why do you want to go to the island?"

Surely he wasn't bringing them here for an island tour?

"The Yangshan Archipelago is a nice place, if not for the malevolent energy and the Yin snakes," He He Lingchuan said, stroking his chin. "We should have a foothold of our own."

After leaving the Yuan Kingdom, he had been thinking about the future.

Upon landing on this new continent, the most urgent matter was not to drag the Lu family to court or to reclaim the Lu family's ancestral property—he shouldn't even think about those two things before he had established a firm footing—but rather how to stand firm and develop and grow.

If you want to arm-wrestle with the master of this territory, you must first train yourself into a powerhouse.

He and his head steward Ding Ding Zuodong had discussed it repeatedly; the conventional route was to first go to Does Bailie to buy a large mansion or estate, then invest in business, and gradually manage and expand.

But this presented two problems:

First, the Does Bailie territory had undergone hundreds of years of continuous development, so land prices were not low, and estates with produce were even more expensive. No matter what industry one set up, land taxes, deed taxes, and other miscellaneous items were unavoidable.

Ding Ding Zuodong had calculated for him that buying an estate with fertile soil and water covering fifteen qing would cost a total of 15,500 silver taels, several times more expensive than in the Yuan Kingdom! And that was just for one estate.

So, buying land, houses, and estates now carried a strong suspicion of being a sucker.

Secondly, the business environment in Does Bailie was currently poor. The authorities already had precedents of fining foreign capital and forcibly suppressing the purchase of foreign merchants' goods; who knew if they wouldn't target He He Lingchuan's industry in the future? What if, just as the business started to improve, he was harvested like a leek? Therefore, when He He Lingchuan heard that the Yangshan Archipelago was unmanaged and practically abandoned, he was greatly tempted.

What's so great about being a landlord?

He wanted to be an island master! As long as he secured this archipelago, everything on the islands would belong to him, to be developed however he pleased; who would dare to collect exorbitant taxes from him?

Seeing him daydreaming, Tao Ran quickly reminded him, "Young Master, there are pirates on the outer islands."

"As long as it hasn't reached the point of collusion between officials and bandits, pirates are a minor problem; we can persuade them to leave." When it came to suppressing bandits, He He Lingchuan was a professional.

Water bandits and pirates, although their living environments were different, their organizational structures should be much the same. He believed that the composition of the pirates here had to be simpler than the Longchuan water bandits, right?

"Indeed." Qiu Hu and Tao Ran exchanged a glance, not asking what they should do if the pirates refused to leave.

Did their group look like kind-hearted, pious people?

Thinking about the future planning and development of these islands, he felt a little excited.

He He Lingchuan stretched his back: "Then it's settled; once we return to the port, we will..."

With a splash of water, something leaped out of the water and crashed directly into him.

This was exceptionally abrupt; no one was prepared, and the force of the impact was so great that the two people and one demon nearby all heard a muffled "thud."

He He Lingchuan was knocked off the boat and fell into the water along with the attacker.

Seawater could block spiritual sense, and the people on the boat were caught off guard, unable to rescue him in time.

But they also saw the true face of the attacker—it was actually a giant Yin snake!

This thing was three zhang long, its entire body covered in scales that were black and shiny, and it made a huge splash after falling into the sea.

It used its four arms to tightly clamp onto He He Lingchuan, opening its mouth to bite at his neck. Its upper jaw structure was similar to that of a snake; although the pair of fangs were not as long as real snake fangs, they could still pop out like switchblades to deliver a kiss of death to its opponent.

But it was fortunate that it was long; the front half was in the water, while its tail was still outside.

Zhu Zhu Xiuer, after all, had thousands of years of fighting experience and reacted extremely quickly; a handful of red spider silk was sprayed out, sticking to its tail.

The Yin snake's scales were smooth and covered in seawater, making them naturally difficult to stick to. But Zhu Zhu Xiuer had caught countless bizarre opponents, some of which were even slipperier than Yin snakes, with shells that couldn't even hold water droplets. Therefore, this type of red spider silk was prepared specifically for them, touted as being able to stick to anything, and could even be fired through water.

After the spider silk was sprayed out, it formed a net, and with a light tightening, it actually got stuck in the crevices of the Yin snake's scales.

Like snakes, Yin snakes generated scales directly on their skin, and there were tiny folds between the scales, but when they closed, not even a strand of hair could be inserted.

However, the thickness of a single strand of Zhu Zhu Xiuer's spider silk was not even one-tenth of a human hair!

"My Lord!" Qiu Hu stepped on the gunwale and leaped up, drawing his hand axe in mid-air and hacking directly at the Yin snake.

The Yin snake was pulled by the spider silk and twisted wildly in the water; one look and it was clear it was attacking its prey.

With Qiu Hu's axe strike, the opponent happened to lunge forward violently, and the axe hacked directly into its back instead of its neck.

Black blood splattered everywhere.

It actually gave up defending, exposing its entire back to Qiu Hu. Qiu Hu fell into the water, but it didn't care, only exerting force against He He Lingchuan.

This was truly fighting with all its might.

Qiu Hu poked his head out of the water and swung his axe again, finally hitting its hind neck.

With just one strike, it was severed to the root, with only a bit of skin and flesh still attached.

But the Yin snake's body continued to twist incessantly, splashing water everywhere.

Qiu Hu wanted to rip its head off, only to discover that it was still biting down hard on a shield: the moment He He Lingchuan was pounced on, the Soul-Capturing Mirror had transformed into a round shield, blocking the Yin snake's attack. The latter opened its mouth wide, and every lunge was so fast it was hard for the naked eye to discern, but He He Lingchuan held the shield horizontally, and somehow managed to block it every single time.

If this had been anyone else, their mind would have been blank the moment they were dragged into the water, and they would have been bitten long ago.

(End of chapter)