Chapter 96: The Oriole Behind (1)

On the second-deck deck of the Freedom Hall flagship, the core subordinates of Freedom Hall, led by the four Immortals including Duoyan, stood in battle formation. Bai Shu'er led the crowd in observing the battle on the lake from afar, her lips always carrying a faint, silk-like smile, as if she were admiring the spectacular scene of her own warships being destroyed, making it impossible for others to fathom her true intentions.

Yan Ling observed her from the side for a long while, finally unable to help asking: "The opponent's move of using the cross-current and side-wind is extremely brilliant; it has destroyed many of our warships. Does the beauty not feel a pang of heartache?"

Bai Shu'er said as if nothing had happened: "All the troops on those ships once belonged to the You Dynasty's jurisdiction, and furthermore, they were the old subordinates of the rebellious Xianshi. To end it all at once, is that not satisfying? Why should I feel heartache?"

A gust of lake wind rolled in, blowing her soft sleeves and ribbons to flutter in the wind, circling in the air; she was more beautiful than a bewitching immortal, and no one would have expected her to be so ruthless.

Yan Ling secretly called it formidable, thinking that the gang members who had previously operated the oil-fire boats and were now lurking in the water without a trace must be the elite combat force loyal to her. This act of cleaning house and laying out a plan to kill the enemy was indeed clean and efficient. Looking back, he warned in shock: "Be careful, they are charging over!"

Bai Shu'er cast a glance at him with infinite charm, "You are nothing but impatient. If I don't let you broaden your horizons, do you think I am afraid of that little slut?" As she spoke, her slender hand gave an instruction, and Lv Yi's flute music changed accordingly, whistling three times in succession, piercing through the opponent's drums and horns.

Although Fang Feibai and the others did not know the meaning of the Freedom Hall signals, they were all veterans of many years of military life with incomparable combat experience. Just by the turns in the flute music, they could infer that the opponent was about to launch an attack. Looking out over the lake, they saw no signs, and their hearts could not help but tighten.

An undercurrent surged from the bottom of the water. Just as the Chu army helmsmen discovered the anomaly, a series of loud "Crack!" sounds erupted, and fire and wood flew from the bottom of the ships. Violent waves churned on Ranxiang Lake, and the sound of explosions continued incessantly. Dozens of warships were almost all destroyed by the underwater secret mines specially made by Freedom Hall, tilting and capsizing one after another.

The soldiers on the ships were all proficient in water, and even if they fell into the water, they could save their lives. However, the floating oil on the water surface rolled in with the undercurrent, and the sinking ships were instantly swallowed by flames, causing roaring fires to erupt on the lake, quickly merging into one. Cries of agony rose one after another, a tragic sight to behold. The Freedom Hall soldiers who carried out this mission were all equipped with Water Lungs for breathing and had long since cleverly used the counter-current at the bottom of the lake to withdraw from the battlefield, returning safely without a single casualty.

The three main flagships of the Chu army, due to their iron armor protection, did not suffer fatal damage, and the propellers at the stern turned, approaching the enemy at an even faster speed.

The Freedom Hall warships, taking advantage of the wind with full sails, suddenly changed direction before rushing into the smoke-filled center of the lake, escaping to the southwest periphery.

Zhao Yu stood prettily at the bow, her beautiful hair fluttering in the wind. Turning a blind eye to the tragic battle behind her, she said in a deep voice: "Hmph! Do you think you can escape like this? Generals, please prepare yourselves. We will use the speedboats to forcibly board the enemy ships and must capture and kill Bai Shu'er, Ye Xuanshang, and Yan Ling!"

She raised her hand to give the order, and the two escort ships on the left and right cut outward first, both splashing up urgent waves, then turned back from the sides of the center route, using their sharp bows to ram the intercepting Freedom Hall warships.

Other Chu army warships that had rushed out of the sea of fire also reorganized their formation, inserting themselves into the center of the enemy fleet with the speed of a thunderbolt.

The group had been on the battlefield for a long time, and by now, how could they not understand that she intended to use this naval force to drag down the entire combat power of Freedom Hall, leaving them no time to support the battle on the main flagship? As long as they, the most threatening fresh force, caught up to Freedom Hall, even a master like Ye Xuanshang on the enemy ship would have no possibility of escaping unscathed under the surprise attack of the Shao Yuan Lord Mansion's elite forces. Fang Feibai was the most meticulous, and he immediately knew that Zhao Yu must have received a secret order beforehand to show no mercy to Ye Xuanshang.

Both sides gradually climbed to the limit of their speed, and the distance between the ships was pulled to within thirty zhang.

Sweeping across the dark, boundless lake islands ahead, Bai Shu'er suddenly leaned close to Yan Ling and asked: "Ahead is Linhuanjiao. Do you want to accompany me and play with them?"

Yan Ling leaned against the side of the ship in a grand manner, laughing: "Whatever the beauty wants to do, I am at your disposal. This young man will follow your orders!"

Bai Shu'er pouted with charm and actually turned to enter the helm room to steer the boat herself. Yan Ling was stunned, then leaped in to see how this resourceful beauty would act.

More than ten narrow speedboats were lowered from the Chu army warships, and Zhao Yu and the others used their internal energy to propel the boats, constantly closing in.

As everyone controlled their boats forward in this way, the difference in skill was immediately apparent.

Fang Feibai took the lead, his narrow boat rushing through the waves, his white warrior uniform fitting him tightly and fluttering, graceful and composed, chasing the enemy ship like a shooting star. Xiao Luchen kept pace with him, not falling behind in the slightest. "Soul-Snaring Rope" Kuang Tian was slightly behind the two on the left, his demeanor relaxed and his breath steady, clearly not using his full strength and not wishing to compete with the young people. Zhan Xing and Yi Qingqing, the couple, were a step further back, with Shan Qi and Feng Yun following closely beside them. It was Zhao Yu, whose internal strength was comparable to theirs, who cleverly used the flow of the lake waves to continuously increase her speed, crossing a wave crest and suddenly surging ahead of Fang Feibai, taking the lead.

Fang Feibai shouted: "Good!" His internal energy rose, and he suddenly surged out, keeping pace with her to maintain the lead.

Just at this moment, a long whistle sounded from the center of the lake. The whistling sound came from far to near; just a moment ago it was across the lake island, and in an instant, it approached. A small boat on the lake broke through the waves and arrived. Just looking at the momentum, one knew that the person steering the boat was not easy to deal with.

Xianqing and Biehe, two of the three Immortals who had defected from Freedom Hall with Zhao Yu, whistled in unison, and more than ten speedboats behind them turned rapidly with the wind, intercepting the newcomer head-on. The soldiers on the boats were all equipped with flying blades and crossbows, steering through the waves, ready to strike.

Both sides were moving extremely fast, and the small boat entered range in an instant. The sound of mechanisms exploded simultaneously. Countless sharp arrows sprayed like rain, almost completely sealing off the night sky in front of the small boat, the "shish" sounds of force ringing incessantly. The star-like waves rippled open, and the small boat rushed onto a wave crest at high speed, suddenly leaping into the air, shooting obliquely outward along the water's momentum, breaking into the gaps of the enemy formation at a speed faster than the incoming arrows. The timing and force were handled with exquisite precision, and the arrows filling the sky missed completely. The small boat fell back into the lake, skimming across the surface of the water, actually arriving first despite starting later, shooting across the middle of the speedboats driven by the Jun Mansion masters.

Yi Qingqing drew her sword and shouted, the Yao Sword shaking out ten thousand sword flowers first, flickering along with the flying waves at the bow, covering the small boat!

Someone in the whistling sound laughed aloud, and a torrent shot out from the bottom of the water, a thousand points of cold light meeting the sword light. The clear whistling continued endlessly, and a piece of flying, brilliant mysterious cloud rolled toward the silver halberd that Zhan Xing had struck like lightning. Using the force of the small boat's charge, it cleverly pulled, and the halberd tip suddenly veered toward the oncoming Feng Yun. Then, a jade hand with a slight turn of the wrist sent several rays of brilliance toward Shan Qi.

Water light burst between several ships!

The jade face of the incomparably enchanting woman was glimpsed, and a light laugh rang in the ears. The small boat passed through the interception of the four people at an unbelievable angle, the wooden oar at the stern suddenly slapped into the water, and the lake water exploded into the sky, pressing toward the four narrow boats with the powerful and domineering innate true Qi.

The small boat's speed increased sharply under the reaction force, shooting toward Zhao Yu in front!

The two people on the boat were extremely brilliant in both martial arts and strategy, and their coordination was seamless, immediately disrupting the enemy's formation.

Seeing the Freedom Hall flagship enter Linhuanjiao, Bai Shu'er stomped her foot slightly and pouted softly: "Ah! This wretch!" Her pretty hand suddenly moved to the left, and the ship carved out a splash of white waves, turning direction along the edge of the lake island where the reefs stood, heading back toward the enemy ships. The angle was so brilliant that Yan Ling was left dumbfounded.

Seeing the small boat rushing over, Fang Feibai shouted "Well done," pushed his palms forward, and a great force sent Zhao Yu out several meters to meet the Freedom Hall warship. At the same time, the force from his feet penetrated, and the speedboat suddenly sank to the right while moving at high speed, accompanied by waves over half a meter high, and together with Xiao Luchen from the left rear, they attacked the small boat with great tacit understanding.

Someone on the boat laughed loudly, and the small boat flew upward with a "whoosh," passing between the two.

Sword Qi crossed the sky!

The double hooks behind Fang Feibai arrived in his hands, and Xiao Luchen's chain spear thrust out.

"Clang!"

A long sword appeared from the moonlight and water light, blocking the joint offensive of the two in the blink of an eye, fighting to a draw. The sword light flashed, and muffled groans came from the two boats one after another as the three ships brushed past each other! The small boat passed through the enemy boats like a gale, its speed not decreasing in the slightest, still chasing Zhao Yu. From the moment the small boat appeared, the original offensive strategy of the Jun Mansion had been completely broken, and they were constantly restrained by the opponent, falling into a passive situation.

The oncoming Freedom Hall flagship, with full sails and the wind, relied on its huge and sturdy hull to ram the first two boats without fear. Kuang Tian and Zhao Yu bore the brunt. Zhao Yu, who had lived by the sea since childhood and was extremely familiar with water, used the wind direction and counter-current to turn her boat, missing the flagship by a hair's breadth. When she climbed into the air, she made a sharp turn and landed back on the wave crest, light and steady; the brilliance of her use of force was breathtaking.

The flagship suddenly turned, its towering hull shifting half a zhang in a situation that should have been impossible, carrying a giant wave like splashing snow, ramming toward Kuang Tian's small boat, yet not splashing a single drop of water onto the small boat steered by Ye Xuanshang, which was already close by.

Yan Ling clapped his hands repeatedly in the helm room, gasping in admiration at Bai Shu'er's brilliant boat-steering technique.

Kuang Tian shouted, soaring into the sky before the wild waves could cover him, leaping above the flagship. The waves fell away, and the narrow boat shattered into countless fragments.

A slender, enchanting shadow on the small boat also shot into the air, her dark sleeves like clouds, flying across the night sky in a posture of unparalleled grace, appearing above the flagship at the same time as Kuang Tian.

A flash of a whip appeared in mid-air, and the world-famous Soul-Snaring Rope appeared in Kuang Tian's hand, shaking out circles of force to meet his opponent!

With her sleeves fluttering, the woman opposite laughed clearly: "Old General, such a fiery temper!"

A sleeve wind shot into the layers of Qi circles, "Bang" hitting and scattering the whip shadow, accurately and correctly tapping the tip of the Soul-Snaring Rope, causing beautiful ripples to rise. Sending it urgently in mid-air, it seemed as if she wanted to shake Kuang Tian off the ship. Kuang Tian thought to himself, you are a mere woman, yet you dare to fight so hard, and he snorted, his force penetrating the long whip, exerting his full strength to counter-shock the opponent. Unexpectedly, the mysterious sleeve released and retracted instantly, suddenly brushing the side of the whip and pulling it to the side. With the spitting and swallowing of true Qi, she actually used a discharging force to throw him, along with his whip, onto the deck.

Kuang Tian's cultivation was no lower than Zi Rao's, but being pulled down by her with the combined force of her side, he could not steady himself in mid-air and stumbled onto the deck, his chest feeling so uncomfortable he almost vomited blood. Who would have thought that a flash of cold light would appear before his eyes? It was the four Immortals including Duoyan attacking together, using the Soul-Snaring Rope's ultimate move to whip, and only then did he block the four Immortals' natural joint attack, having no gap to attend to anything else.

Zi Rao had long since leaped from the mast, using the force to spin her sleeves and shoot, meeting Zhao Yu who had just jumped onto the ship.

At this time, the whistling sound on the lake rose again. One could see several figures leaping and falling between the boats, the sound of force clashing like exploding waves coming over. It was Ye Xuanshang driving the boat to break into the enemy formation, the Guili Sword fighting four with one, engaging in close-quarters combat with Fang Feibai and the others!

Bai Shu'er steered the flagship again, stirring the speedboats led by Shan Qi and Feng Yun into chaos. With a swing of the stern, she spotted the gap between Xiao Luchen and Yi Qingqing and charged, ensuring they would not have time to dodge.

Giant waves rushed toward the enemy boats, and Bai Shu'er suddenly let go of the helm and grabbed Yan Ling, "No more playing, let's go!"

A subordinate immediately took over the helm to prevent the flagship from losing control. Yan Ling had thought she was going to help in the battle, but to his surprise, she dragged him away from the helm room, through a secret passage, and straight to the lower deck. Entering the bottom cabin, they arrived in a secret room where, unless the ship was destroyed and they died, there was no need to worry about being discovered. He asked in surprise: "What is this for?"

The fire-starter in Bai Shu'er's hand lit up, and she made a "shh" gesture to him, while moving to fiddle with the mechanisms in the room, glancing upward, "That master above is not to be trifled with. Anyway, those people can't do anything to the Third Young Master, so wouldn't it be better for us to hide and be at leisure?" As she spoke, she pushed a copper tube in front of Yan Ling.

(End of chapter)