Chapter 1194

Yan Tianlu strode over angrily, shouting: "You bastard, how dare you scheme against me!"

Luo Qianfu's eyes were blinded by the poisonous sand; at this moment he could not see, he cracked his mouth open and burst into mad laughter, while laughing fresh blood trickled down from the corner of his mouth, a horrifying sight. He hoarsely said: "Yan Tianlu, I never thought you wouldn't die even like this……"

Yan Tianlu said: "Come clean, who exactly is behind this plot? Otherwise I will surely exterminate your Luo clan root and branch!"

Luo Qianfu laughed hysterically: "You'd better worry about yourself instead!"

"What did you say?"

Luo Qianfu said with a sinister grin: "You know it in your heart!" He suddenly reached out and grabbed the soft sword, intending to thrust his throat onto the blade's tip, but Hu Xiaotian promptly pulled the soft sword back; nevertheless the soft sword still sliced Luo Qianfu's palm skin. Originally such a wound would not be fatal, but Yan Tianlu had once poisoned the soft sword; the toxin entered Luo Qianfu's blood through the wound, and in an instant his body went into violent convulsions, and he died on the spot.

Hu Xiaotian secretly regretted that he hadn't yet had time to ask about the method to rescue the flying eagle, never expecting Luo Qianfu to die just like that.

Yan Tianlu hated this sworn brother who betrayed from within to the extreme; killing him like this still wasn't enough to appease his hatred. He stepped forward, grabbed Luo Qianfu's hair bun, drew his waist dagger, and severed Luo Qianfu's head at the root, placing it into a leather sack.

Yan Nujiao, who had just come from her hiding place to meet Yan Tianlu, seeing the scene before her, couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine; she stopped in her tracks and for a moment dared not approach.

Yan Tianlu smiled at Yan Nujiao and said: "Nujiao, don't be afraid! Such scoundrels deserve to be chopped into ten thousand pieces." He then turned to Hu Xiaotian: "Kid, you didn't keep your promise; you said you'd protect Nujiao in the underground cavern, yet now you've brought her here to court danger."

Hu Xiaotian hehehed: "Old man, it's you who didn't keep the promise, right? You agreed to meet up with us, but you sneaked away instead."

"Escaped? You don't even see what place this is—who could force me to flee?" Yan Tianlu said arrogantly.

Hu Xiaotian also saw that he had recovered his vital energy; from his move against Qianfu just now one could tell that Qianfu's three cold arrows hadn't entered his body, probably because he was wearing armor, yet he had triggered the poison sand with his internal energy, which rebounded onto Qianfu—all relying on his own internal strength. Hu Xiaotian couldn't help but wonder how Yan Tianlu had recovered so quickly in such a short time; it seemed the Lord of Python Flood Island still had many unknown secrets.

Yan Tianlu said: "Leave this place quickly; reinforcements will arrive soon." He lifted his head to glance at the night sky. Xia Zhangming, riding a snow eagle, was still soaring in the air, and then he gave Hu Xiaotian a deep look, saying: "Kid, it seems you've put a lot of thought into Python Flood Island."

Hu Xiaotian smiled: "I don't provoke others if they don't provoke me; if it weren't for the old man bullying people too much, I wouldn't have come all this way just to catch the wind and rain."

Yan Tianlu laughed heartily, nodded, and said: "Are you interested in coming with me to settle accounts with Lu Qingyuan?"

Hu Xiaotian guessed the intention behind his invitation. Yan Tianlu's internal injuries probably hadn't fully healed; otherwise, given his proud nature, he would certainly not ask for help from an outsider like me. Hu Xiaotian smiled: "Are we just going to walk over openly like that?"

Yan Tianlu laughed: "You got that saying wrong; Python Flood Island has always been under my command."

Lu Qingyuan was still in the memorial hall; the news that flocks of birds were flying chaotically from Flying Fish Cave had reached his ears. Lu Qingyuan vaguely felt something was off. Since Yan Tianlu disappeared, his heart had never been at ease. Although he had spread false news of Yan Tianlu's death, making the bandits on the island believe it and temporarily seize the island lord's position, in the short term there was absolutely no way to replace Yan Tianlu's standing in the bandits' hearts.

A pirate, panicked, rushed into the Hall of Brotherhood, gasping: "Report…… island…… island lord, big…… big trouble!"

Lu Qingyuan's face darkened, and he snapped: "You bastard, don't you see what place this is? If you disturb the island lord's spirit, I'll take your head!"

The pirate trembled: "Island lord…… the prisoners in the jail are rioting, they've killed the guards, and now they have completely taken over that area."

Lu Qingyuan's heart jolted: the jail held over a thousand prisoners, and those prisoners were not ordinary folk but newly captured Dakang soldiers: "Really?"

"Absolutely certain!" the pirate lowered his voice: "They're also shouting loudly, saying…… saying……" He looked at Lu Qingyuan with fear in his eyes.

Lu Qingyuan said: "Just say it!"

The pirate said: "They say the island lord and the fifth chief conspired to kill the chief."

Lu Qingyuan grabbed the pirate's collar in one motion, frightening him into swallowing the rest of his words, and roared: "You dare spout nonsense!"

The pirate trembled: "Island lord, please see clearly; these words are definitely not mine, but those prisoners are shouting them, and now many people have heard."

At this moment, the fourth chief, Chiang Xingquan, walked in from outside, happened to see the scene, and couldn't help but start slightly: "Sixth brother!"

Only then did Lu Qingyuan release the pirate, still angry: "This brat is truly hateful, daring to spread rumors and confuse the masses."

Chiang Xingquan said: "A riot has broken out in the prison; it is now under the control of the prisoners led by Hu Zhongyang."

Lu Qingyuan asked: "Fourth brother, what else have you heard?" He inwardly stayed alert; Chiang Xingquan had been kept in the dark from start to finish—could it be that he too suspects me?

Chiang Xingquan said: "The elder brother's corpse is still warm; at a time like this, the island's greatest taboo is spreading rumors. Hu Zhongyang knows Python Flood Island inside out; I think all these rumors are nothing but fabrications he deliberately concocted to sow discord among the troops." He glanced at Yan Tianlu's corpse in the crystal coffin and added: "Our brotherhood is stronger than gold; especially at times like this we must stand united."

Lu Qingyuan nodded heavily: "Fourth brother, let's first quell the prison disturbance, then we'll talk."

Outside, another cry rang out; the two glanced at each other and walked out together, only to see outside the law enforcement elder Yang Zongtong leading a group of people escorting three individuals inside. Lu Qingyuan hurried forward and shouted: "Elder Yang, what happened?"

Yang Zongtong let out a long sigh and said: "Island lord, the fifth chief has been killed!" As he spoke, he shook open the leather sack in his hand, and a blood-soaked head rolled out.

Everyone exclaimed in unison, looking at the head; although it was covered in blood, its outward shape still unmistakably identified it as Luo Qianfu's.

Lu Qingyuan felt a chill run through him; what frightened him was not just Luo Qianfu's death, but that his killing proved one thing: the lord of Python Flood Island, Yan Tianlu, was not dead at all. He couldn't help recalling the confident words of Tang Jiu Cheng, owner of the Falling Cherry Palace, who had said that even if Yan Tianlu didn't die after being struck by his three arrows, his meridians would surely be damaged and his martial arts ruined.

Chiang Xingquan snapped: "Who killed the fifth chief?"

Yang Zongtong pointed at the three people before him and said: "It's them!"

Lu Qingyuan pressed his lips together, his eyes full of vigilance as he gazed at the three figures ahead; the one in the middle was burly, his outline resembling that of the island lord Yan Tianlu. Seeing Lu Qingyuan look at him, that person's gaze met his without fear.

Lu Qingyuan nodded: "Drag them out and behead them!" After he spoke, no one moved; evidently his words had no effect.

Chiang Xingquan stared, dumbfounded, not knowing what had happened for a moment.

Lu Qingyuan instantly understood; he coldly stared at the opposite few and said: "What? Planning a rebellion?"

The burly man in the center laughed loudly, shook his arms, broke free of the ropes, raised his hand, and tore off the mask on his face—it was none other than the lord of Python Flood Island, Yan Tianlu. The onlookers saw the island lord appear alive, each shocked beyond words; their gazes turned to the crystal coffin, which clearly held a corpse.

Yan Tianlu shouted: "Lu Qingyuan, Lu Qingyuan, you actually colluded with outsiders to harm me! After all my trust in you, treating you like a brother, you repay me like this—what crime do you deserve?"

Seeing the elder brother appear, Chiang Xingquan blinked hard; if the person before him really was Yan Tianlu, then who lay in the crystal coffin?

Lu Qingyuan sneered: "Elder Yang, as a law enforcement elder you harbor ulterior motives; where did you find this impostor? Dare to impersonate my elder brother!" Being sly and deceitful, he immediately confused right and wrong, calling a deer a horse.

Chiang Xingquan looked at Yan Tianlu ahead, then at the corpse in the crystal coffin, and was completely bewildered.

Yan Tianlu coldly said: "Lu Qingyuan, you think joining forces with the Falling Cherry Palace can kill me, seize my island lord's position, dominate Python Flood Island, and deceive its tens of thousands of brothers? You overestimate yourself and underestimate me." He stepped closer to Lu Qingyuan.

Lu Qingyuan was no ordinary person; he stood calmly, not retreating a step, and gazed at the ever-approaching Yan Tianlu: "Who exactly are you? Why do you impersonate my elder brother?"

Yan Tianlu said: "You wretched beast! Even at death's door you still dare to spout nonsense!"

Lu Qingyuan proclaimed loudly: "Brothers, you must not be deceived by this person's appearance; he is by no means the chief. Elder Yang Zongtong, you colluded with external enemies, impersonated the chief, intending to overturn Python Flood Island—what crime do you deserve?"

Yang Zongtong said: "Lu Qingyuan, stop quibbling; everyone knows in their hearts who is real and who is fake. The crystal coffin clearly holds the impostor you found. If you don't believe us, let's open the coffin and examine the corpse now. The island lord's chest bears a flood dragon tattoo, and the left eye of that flood dragon is a innate red mole—do you dare to prove it publicly?"

Lu Qingyuan shouted: "What's there to fear! Come on! Open the coffin!"

A cold smile curled Yan Tianlu's lips; he believed Lu Qingyuan had no way out, and the so-called coffin opening was merely a stalling tactic—but opening it would also do, for before all the brothers he would completely expose Lu Qingyuan's plot. Yan Tianlu paused and said: "Open the coffin; I'd like to see how else you'll try to weasel out."

Third Update delivered, seeking a few Monthly Ticket votes; there will be more updates tonight! (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to come.)