Chapter 579

Hu Xiaotian

Not at all! Two people walked hand in hand to the rail opposite a ship, Wu Jing Shan lowered his voice and said: "Is something not quite right somewhere?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "Prepare for a rainy day! Guard against the unexpected!" He looked up, only to see Princess Anping standing on the opposite deck; their eyes met, and in that instant Long Xi Yue felt an indescribable emotion surge in her heart, a myriad of feelings flooding her chest, leaving her speechless.

Hu Xiaotian's heart tightened involuntarily; suddenly he felt a strange sensation of parting between life and death. Seeing Zhou Mo and Zhan Peng both guarding Princess Anping behind her, his heart instantly calmed. With these two good brothers looking after her, even if trouble arose, they could ensure her safety. At this critical moment of life and death, we must keep a clear mind and must not be entangled by romantic feelings. Wen Boyuan harbors ill intentions; nine times out of ten he will scheme on the ship the Princess is boarding.

Although Wu Jing Shan found it strange, he never thought Wen Boyuan would harbor ill intentions toward Princess Anping. He stroked his goat beard and said: "Sir Hu, why aren't you staying by the Princess's side?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "There are two ways to protect someone: one is close personal guard, the other is to watch the danger and not let it get a chance to approach her."

Zhou Mo

Hu Xiaotian said: "Perhaps I'm being overly cautious, but for the Princess's safety, it's better to be careful than careless."

Upon hearing Hu Xiaotian say that, Wu Jing Shan grew more suspicious, stroking his goat beard, thinking to himself: "Why won't Wen Boyuan share a boat with the Princess? Why does Hu Xiaotian insist on boarding this ship? Could Wen Boyuan truly have a plot regarding boarding? Hu Xiaotian must have seen through something; otherwise he wouldn't be here monitoring Wen Boyuan's actions." Thinking this, Wu Jing Shan couldn't help but feel a headache. Had he known this assignment would be so tangled, he should have feigned illness to avoid it; now he's caught between a rock and a hard place.

With the sound of the anchor being weighed, the two ships left Qinglong Bay dock. Slowly sailing toward the opposite bank of Yongjiang River, the bright red sun suddenly dimmed, the wind grew much stronger; not only did it not blow away the thin mist on the river, it drove the upstream mist down along the water, gathering in Qinglong Bay, as dark clouds completely covered the sun in the sky. The sky grew considerably darker, the gathered clouds lowered, giving a feeling of breathlessness.

Wen Boyuan walked toward the bow; for every step he took, Xiong Tianba followed with a step. A pair of eyes stared at him tigerishly.

Xiong Tianba

Xiong Tianba said: "The ship isn't yours; if you can stroll around, why can't I?"

Zhangyu

"How would you know I'm looking at you if you don't look at me? My eyes are on my own head; I look at whoever I want!" Xiong Tianba widened his eyes. Before boarding, Hu Xiaotian had given him a task: to keep a firm watch on Wen Boyuan. Although Xiong Tianba isn't the sharpest, he is always responsible in his work; whatever he promises, he sees through.

Wen Boyuan was furious. Not only Xiong Tianba, but also his twenty warriors; whenever Wen Boyuan made any move, they followed him like shadows. Dealing with this dim-witted brute was truly impossible; he couldn't very well start a fight in front of so many people. He waved his hand, had his men bring a chair, and sat down at the bow. Xiong Tianba still wanted to get close, but was blocked outside by a wall of Wen Boyuan's warriors, and he shouted: "What are you doing? Still afraid of being seen? Peeing on the deck?"

A group of warriors hearing his nonsense could barely keep from laughing.

"You have your schemes, I have my ladders over the wall." Xiong Tianba wasn't truly stupid; he made a gesture, two subordinates squatted down, and Xiong Tianba sat on each of their shoulders, letting them lift him up so he could look over the wall of men and stare at Wen Boyuan; the other warriors followed suit.

Xiong Tianba shouted loudly: "Brothers, keep your eyes peeled for me, my uncle Hu said, whoever dares to be unfavorable to the princess, I'll twist this dog's head off!" While speaking, he stared fixedly at Wen Boyuan.

Wen Boyuan's face flushed red with anger, he forcibly suppressed his anger; every grievance has its source, every debt its owner—the reason Xiong Tianba dares to be so arrogant is entirely because of Hu Xiaotian. He coldly glared at Hu Xiaotian, his gaze like a blade, wishing he could stab dozens of transparent holes in this bastard's body.

Hu Xiaotian pretended not to have seen him, hands resting on the rail, gazing at the large ship sailing nearby. Although the two ships were close, the fog grew thicker, and in everyone's eyes, the outlines of each other's ships began to blur.

Wu Jing Shan sighed: "Why is the fog rising again?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "I've long heard that the weather in Qinglong Bay changes unpredictably; now it seems true. However, Sir Wu need not worry, the water here is calm, there won't be any big waves."

Wu Jing Shan said: "Then that's good!"

At this moment, Xiong Anmin walked over; Hu Xiaotian pointed at the misty river surface and said: "Sir Xiong, where are we now?"

Xiong Anmin said: "We should be nearing the middle of the river soon; you two Sirs need not worry, the climate of Qinglong Bay is like this. Now with clouds and fog obscuring, maybe it'll clear up soon and become pleasant weather."

Wu Jing Shan said: "It seems the princess's ship has slowed down." He had been monitoring the other ship's progress.

Xiong Anmin explained: "The fog is too thick; the two ships cannot get too close, otherwise a collision would be troublesome."

Hu Xiaotian looked toward the distant river; the fog grew thicker, and standing on the deck he could no longer see the river surface.

At this moment, suddenly hearing a sound from the opposite side of the ship, Hu Xiaotian hurriedly followed the sound over, only to see what seemed to be flickering light and shadow upstream; Xiong Anmin also came over, he furrowed his brows and guessed: "Perhaps it's a fishing boat coming to fish."

The warriors on the deck began shouting in unison, shaking their red lanterns, sending a warning to the distant fishing boats, lest those few fishing boats, unable to see direction, accidentally collide with the large ship.

Wen Boyuan gripped the rail with both hands, straining his eyes to finally make out the blurred outlines of three fishing boats upstream; he loudly said: "Archers, get ready; as long as they dare to approach, kill them without mercy!"

Fifty archers nocked their fire arrows, all aiming at the three fishing boats upstream.

Those three fishing boats did not continue to approach them, maintaining a parallel course; everyone gathered on the deck, each person watching those three small boats, expressions becoming very solemn.

Wu Jing Shan said: "Perhaps they are just fishing boats."

Hu Xiaotian said: "With such thick fog this morning, who would go out fishing?" He anticipated that something would happen today, so any condition on the river seemed suspicious to him.

At that moment, the three fishing boats suddenly changed direction, drifting downstream with the current and wind, heading straight for the large ship.

Wen Boyuan roared: "Fire!"

In an instant, the fifty archers lit their fire arrows and shot them all at the three small boats; the arrows hit their marks, the three fishing boats burst into flames, lighting up the fog-covered river surface, yet the arrows did not stop the boats' momentum; the burning fishing boats continued to surge sideways toward the large ship.

Moreover, dozens of warriors rushed forward with long poles, using the poles to fend off the burning fishing boats, preventing them from nearing the hull.

The ship carrying Princess Anping was downstream, with our ship blocking the front, so for now there was no worry of being struck by the fishing boats.

The poles successfully halted the fishing boats' downstream momentum; the burning fishing boats slowly sank in the water. Nobody dared to be careless, they silently watched the upstream situation, when suddenly a miserable cry rang out; a warrior fell stiffly onto the deck; upon looking, they saw the warrior's brains burst, his skull pierced by a fist-sized stone.

Everyone looked at each other, bewildered as to how a stone could suddenly fly; then they looked up, but the sky was filled with clouds and mist, making it impossible to see above; at that very moment, miserable cries erupted one after another, stones rained down from the sky, small like eggs, large like bowl rims, like a torrential downpour from heaven.

Hu Xiaotian originally thought the mishap would be with the ship itself, but he never expected the real attack to come from the air; the sudden assault caught everyone off guard; those on the deck had no time to dodge, and even if they reacted, there were few places to hide; in an instant, dozens of warriors were struck and killed on the spot by falling stones from high above, while the number injured reached over a hundred; the scene filled with miserable cries.

People panicked, seeking shelter; many rushed frantically toward the cabin, the resulting crowd jammed the cabin door, preventing entry; a millstone-sized stone fell from the sky, striking just above the cabin, with a loud crack, wood chips flew everywhere, actually piercing the cabin.

Wen Boyuan panickedly ordered the archers to shoot upward; clouds and mist obscured vision, they could not see targets above, only able to fire blindly; nevertheless a few arrows hit their mark, a huge vulture struck by an arrow fell from high altitude with a boom, smashing onto the deck in front of Hu Xiaotian, splattering blood and flesh, feathers flying everywhere; Hu Xiaotian stared in shock, finally realizing that a Beast Tamer must be driving these giant birds to pick up stones and launch them from above; even an egg dropped from height could kill a person, let alone these hard stones. Under gravity, these falling stones are no different from cannon shells, their lethality immense.

Boom! Another loud bang, a stone as big as a washbasin fell from the sky, striking the deck; the thick, sturdy deck proved as fragile as paper before it; the stone pierced through without obstruction, leaving a black hole about five feet in diameter.

Recently my writing condition has been poor; Zhangyu decided to calm down and settle, to sort out the context from scratch, so as to plan the story's future development; the update speed will definitely be affected; since I cannot guarantee speed, I will no longer beg for votes; for these two months I will temporarily stop competing for rankings, naturally there will be no annoying vote‑begging Single Chapter! Zhangyu hopes to regain a pure writing state, for only then can I produce texts more satisfying to everyone; I hope everyone understands. (To be continued~^~)