Chapter 944: Attack on a Rainy Night

I don't know where a few more gusts of wind blew from, dragging clusters of dark clouds across the sky. In the blink of an eye, a rainstorm arrived.

That could no longer be called a downpour; it was a deluge—as if the Old Heavens were holding a giant washbasin and pouring it onto the ground without end.

Once it rained, the island seemed to be cut off from the world, with visibility on the water surface less than fifteen zhang.

Yue Pinghe had drunk some wine and taken a nap, but he suddenly woke up at the Hour of the Rat, remembering something: "Right, have Min Tianxi and the others returned?"

His subordinates asked one another, and soon someone came to report: "I heard they returned to the dock an hour ago. The brothers patrolling the sea encountered their ships returning; both ships went back, and their lights were very bright."

Yue Pinghe kicked out as soon as he lifted his leg: "You had news and didn't know to report it to me?!"

The man clutched his leg, kneeling halfway in pain: "You, you were asleep, and I intended to report it to you tomorrow morning; it, it wasn't any major matter either."

"Is it a major matter, or is it up to you to decide?" Yue Pinghe rubbed his eyes and thought about it; it really didn't count as anything major, so he kicked him again. "Then did they lose any men? Did the one surnamed He return too?"

"They were all laughing and talking, looking very relaxed," the man replied with a bitter face. "There was a youth standing at the bow of the ship, looking less than twenty years old, but Dao Master Huang, Dao Master Min, and several fierce-looking fellows were all standing behind him. That should, that should be the one surnamed He."

The fact that the Yangshan Islands had a new master had recently spread throughout Blade Harbor. Everyone had initially rolled their eyes and watched for a joke, but now they had torn off the "big sucker" label from the new island master and changed it to "inscrutable."

Because more gossip had spread everywhere, saying that the two factions of pirates who dominated the Yangshan Islands had actually submitted to this new island master!

Those who heard the rumors for the first time all said: Impossible, absolutely impossible!

How could a pirate menace that even the official authorities were powerless to resolve be easily subdued by a young newcomer?

This was unreasonable.

Even if the pirate who came to report the news didn't recognize He Lingchuan, looking at his bearing and the attitude of the two pirate leaders toward him, he could guess that it was He Lingchuan, the legendary new island master.

"Does the Yin Serpent really have no way to deal with him?" There were many legends about this new island master, the most widely circulated being that he could drive away baleful energy. But no matter how many times he heard such news, Yue Pinghe felt it was biased.

He wasn't some ignorant country bumpkin; could a young man easily deal with something that even ancient immortals wouldn't want to touch? But the Yin Serpent's attitude toward He Lingchuan was what puzzled him the most.

"I heard they killed many Yin Serpents when they went out to sea last time," the subordinate said. "Perhaps they intimidated the remaining Yin Serpents?"

"There is a big guy that survived from ancient times deep in Dragon Spine Island; that is not something an ordinary person... no, that is not something a human can deal with." Yue Pinghe frowned and thought for a long time. "What exactly did the one surnamed He go to Dragon Spine Island to do? Could it be he didn't provoke it?"

If he had provoked the King of Yin Serpents, how could those two boatloads of people have returned unscathed?

"Scout again!"

"Yes." The confidant agreed, preparing to send people to inquire again early tomorrow morning.

Yue Pinghe yawned, and just as he leaned back on the couch, sleepiness surged up again.

Raindrops tapped, the wine had him slightly tipsy, just the right time for a good sleep.

Before he drifted off, his last thought was:

The one surnamed He seems to truly have some ability. When Min Tianxi comes to negotiate on his behalf later, should he adjust his strategy and lower his conditions? If he didn't know how to size people up, he wouldn't have climbed to this position either.

Near dawn, the wind and rain gradually subsided.

Yue Pinghe dreamed that he had led men to hijack a large ship, with countless gold, pearls, and beauties on board. He was just hesitating over which string of precious bracelets to wear—the gold-inlaid jade one or the silver-chiseled ruby one—when he suddenly heard a deafening shout:

"Enemy attack, enemy attack!"

Yue Pinghe was startled and was about to hide the treasure chest behind the bed when his arm was violently shaken:

"Dao Master, wake up!"

He sat up in a shock, discovering that hijacking the ship and seizing treasure were all a dream, and that someone attacking his door was reality! Yue Pinghe grabbed his subordinate by the collar: "Stay calm, who has attacked?"

"The First Faction and the Second Faction! They took advantage of the rain to land on the island from the west; our brothers didn't notice..."

"Trash!" Yue Pinghe hurriedly donned his armor and grabbed the long saber by his pillow. "How far have they attacked?"

"The outer gate of the main stronghold can't be held. Those few charging at the very front are very powerful, and there are great demons assisting them..."

"Tell everyone to retreat and defend the second gate, hold them off for me!" Yue Pinghe's heart tightened. "What great demons?"

"A spider about the size of a house!"

Yue Pinghe cursed: "The one surnamed He!"

The process of Min Tianxi being subdued by He Lingchuan a few days ago had long since reached him. The one surnamed He had a powerful helper, which was this giant spider demon.

It was said that it could take on more than a dozen giant serpents alone without falling behind.

Why did He Lingchuan suddenly attack? Yue Pinghe was both shocked and angry; wasn't it agreed that Min Tianxi was coming to negotiate?

Just as he rushed out, another pirate with a blood-covered face rushed in to report:

"Boss, the second gate has been breached!"

Damn it. The sturdiest main gate and the most well-defended second gate were both breached in such a short time? Yue Pinghe's heart cried out in alarm, and he tried to steady himself: "Go to the Centipede Cave! Everyone retreat to the Centipede Cave and board the ships!"

The island was named after this Centipede Cave; the cave led directly to the seaside and was a natural, hidden harbor. Even a wily rabbit has three burrows; the Third Faction pirates had secretly stashed several ships of various sizes there in preparation for emergency escapes.

When Yue Pinghe rushed out with a group of confidants, he happened to see his own men retreating in disarray, while arrows rained down from the opposite side, forcing everyone to dodge everywhere.

The sturdy second stronghold gate didn't know what had smashed it open; one of the doors had even fallen off and was being trampled underfoot by the crowd.

The enemies charging at the very front were indeed all fierce, and Yue Pinghe recognized the two scoundrels Min Tianxi and Huang Zhao at a glance.

Especially that fellow Min Tianxi, who usually liked to shrink to the back during robberies and fights, saying something about a commander not appearing lightly, but wasn't he now charging in the very first row? Was he trying to curry favor with his new master? Yue Pinghe felt his teeth itch with hatred.

There were indeed great demons in the enemy's ranks, and not just one, but two!

The giant spider reported by his subordinate was among them, but the other was a giant ghost-faced ape standing a zhang tall!

This thing had a suit of bony, hard armor that was impervious to blades and arrows; flying arrows hitting it were like sticking into a steel plate. It grabbed the broken stronghold gate from the ground as a weapon, smashing many people flat with loud bangs.

Yue Pinghe also saw it casually grab a pirate and throw him into its mouth; the man's screams came to an abrupt end, and then fresh blood sprayed from the ghost ape's mouth, as if Yue Pinghe himself had bitten into a plump, juicy tomato.

This scene of devouring a living person terrified quite a few of the Third Faction pirates; no one wanted to die so... miserably.

Fortunately, Yue Pinghe's few roars after appearing still acted as a stimulant, and the momentum of his side's collapse temporarily slowed. There was no lack of brave and fierce men among the crowd, and they responded to Yue Pinghe's orders, turning back to block the opponent's attack.

Amidst the chaos of battle, Yue Pinghe suddenly locked eyes with a youth.

This person stood tall and upright with a sharp, piercing gaze; with a casual point of his finger, several orders were issued, and the rhythm of the attack was easily manipulated by him.

A cold arrow flew from somewhere, aiming straight for his face. The youth didn't even move his eyelids, and the big man beside him knocked the arrow away with a flick of his bronze staff.

Yue Pinghe had never met He Lingchuan, but at first glance, he understood that this was the new master of the Yangshan Islands, the mastermind behind tonight's attack on Centipede Island! "Retreat!" he stared hatefully at He Lingchuan. "Everyone go to the Centipede Cave, steady and solid!"

The Third Faction pirates obeyed his command and indeed fought while retreating.

Qiu Hu smashed a fierce pirate's skull with two strikes of his staff and said to He Lingchuan: "They don't lose their formation while retreating; these pirates aren't much worse than the Black Water City Army."

He Lingchuan gave a bitter smile. Had the Black Water City Army of the Yuan Kingdom become a unit of comparison? After all, they were local troops; no matter how lackluster, they were still better than ordinary pirates.

However, the Third Faction pirates moved and retreated with order and attacked and defended with method. Facing the joint attack of the First and Second Factions, apart from the initial panic, their performance was quite commendable.

This quality reminded him of the fierce bandits who had once occupied Immortal Spirit Village and fought fiercely with He Chunhua's army.

On the contrary, the coordination between his own First and Second Factions was unfamiliar, and coupled with fighting on away ground, they did not exert their numerical advantage.

Fortunately, he had already investigated this problem beforehand. Huang Zhao and Min Tianxi both admitted that although the two pirate factions had cooperated many times in the past, it was always to intercept and rob ships, and their opponents were mostly guards hired by merchant caravans, not well-trained official soldiers.

In other words, they were very experienced at looting together, but had no precedent for formal combat.

He Lingchuan didn't really care; if they lacked experience, they could train.

He commanded unhurriedly and didn't mind the Third Faction retreating toward the Centipede Cave.

The more problems exposed in battle, the easier it would be to adjust them later. Besides, these hundreds of pirate soldiers were not easily obtained, and they would be his main foundation for a long time to come; he couldn't bear to see too many of them injured.

Tonight the rain was sudden and the wind sparse, so He Lingchuan immediately changed his mind and decided not to return to Blade Harbor.

After the heavy rain, mist filled the sea surface, and visibility was less than ten zhang; wasn't this the best time for a sneak attack? So he ordered Min and Huang to gather their troops and launch a surprise attack on Centipede Island before dawn.

The attacking side extinguished their ship lights beforehand and approached Centipede Island hidden in the thick fog. By the time the sentries on the island discovered the abnormality, the enemy had already reached the island and attacked the stronghold gate at the first opportunity!

If this gate had remained, the losses on He Lingchuan's side would have inevitably increased.

Even though both gates were now smashed, there were still many mechanisms in Yue Pinghe's stronghold, and they were triggered one after another, truly injuring many of Min and Huang's men.

Especially as the Third Faction pirates fought while retreating, two of their sorcerers chanted incantations and then struck their staves against the stone wall by the roadside simultaneously.

The terrain here was excellent; two giant rocks above intersected to form a triangular angle with the ground, and the Third Faction pirates escaped through this angle.

In front of the giant rocks were several man-made stone walls; usually, one couldn't tell what they were for, only feeling they were superfluous. But now that the two men struck them like this, the stone walls shook a few times and suddenly split into three stone giants that stood up, blocking this narrow passage tightly!

These stone men moved clumsily and were hard to injure, but each was over a zhang tall with a body as wide as a wall; once they sat down in front of the passage like a human pyramid, the pursuers couldn't get through.

(End of chapter)