Chapter 674: Aftermath

It's definitely this De Si technique!

As soon as I got close to the Tulip, the Gou Die began to heat up and pointed the direction.

Li Yan had already suspected it—just now, the spell controlling the fish was tied to this De Si.

Now it's clear.

Li Yan truly didn't understand Western magic.

But he knew one thing: the rules of this world never changed; no matter the sect or school, they were all fundamentally the same.

As long as you disrupted the altar, you could break the spell.

The Soul-Cutting Flying Knife shot out with a whistle, its blade flashing through the air, spinning once—blood sprayed everywhere.

The De Si screamed and collapsed, both hands cleanly severed.

Li Yan didn't rush to kill him.

First, this man's identity was important—he likely had ties to opium and the Jianmu organization; many things needed questioning.

Second, his Yin Si mission wasn't just to eliminate him, but to uncover the origins of these foreign demons.

After cutting off the De Si's hands, Li Yan didn't hesitate—he rolled sideways.

Outside the cabin, many pirates were firing all kinds of firearms.

Their weapons were strange and varied—some rusted, others wildly different in design, even homemade junk, clearly gathered through repeated sea battles and raids; compared to the standardized firearms of Great Xuan, they were far inferior.

Yet with so many of them, the gunfire never ceased.

In an instant, smoke filled the air, and wood splinters exploded.

Because Li Yan had pierced the hull, water kept surging in, plunging the cabin into chaos.

He pulled open the oilcloth-wrapped flintlock pistol at his waist and prepared to return fire.

But just then, he frowned—his nose caught the scent of sulfur.

The smell didn't come from the firearms—it came from behind him.

He spun around, aiming his pistol at the De Si.

At this moment, the red-haired foreign sorcerer's condition had turned strange.

He knelt in the altar now flooded with water, his body jerking spasmodically, emitting faint black smoke.

The sulfur smell surged from him; the whale-oil lamps on the tables burned abnormally fierce.

He's been backlashed!

Li Yan instantly understood why, and his brow furrowed.

Many spells and altars rely on ghostly and divine power, manipulating the gangsha qi to function.

After losing control and backlashing, they're often influenced or possessed by the sha qi.

But the sulfur smell emanating from this man was unnaturally strong.

In just a short time, it had already affected the surroundings.

Not only did the whale-oil lamps burn fiercely, but coins and forks scattered in the water began slowly rising.

And the De Si's original emerald eyes had turned completely black.

Cold, furious…

Not a human gaze at all.

Gurgling nonsense, the man suddenly spoke a string of words.

Li Yan narrowed his eyes and immediately pulled the trigger.

He had no idea what the man was saying—but it certainly wasn't anything good.

Boom!

In an instant, countless scattered pellets shot out.

His flintlock pistol, modified by a Jinzhou alchemy master, had greater power and two types of ammunition magazines.

Single-shot rounds concentrated damage; buckshot covered a wide area.

Combined with the new gunpowder, its destructive force in this enclosed space became terrifying.

Heavy wooden tables and cabinets bolted with iron corners exploded instantly, wood splinters flying everywhere.

The wooden walls, built from planks, were riddled with honeycomb-like holes; several pirates outside were sprayed with blood and flung backward.

As for the De Si—he simply exploded, his body and remains obliterated.

Yet Li Yan didn't lower his guard.

After the De Si died, several thick streams of black smoke separated from his corpse.

They were yin-sha qi—somewhat like the qi of the Netherworld, but reeking of strong sulfur.

These black smokes rolled and surged; one tried to lunge at Li Yan but was driven off by the qi of the "Dragon-Snake Talisman" and the "Thousand Thoughts" bracers; the rest whistled out and plunged into the bodies of several pirates.

They trembled violently, their eyeballs turned black, and a cold, frenzied killing intent rose instantly.

So troublesome?

Li Yan didn't hesitate—he gripped the Gou Die.

He'd originally wanted to spare the De Si for interrogation, but since the man was dead, there was no need for restraint.

"Heaven has its order, Earth has its law; Yin Si binds souls, the living must retreat!"

As he chanted the incantation, fierce winds erupted, darkness spreading rapidly.

In the darkness, the clinking of chains and the clatter of armor sounded.

Alongside them came a furious, guttural roar.

It spoke an unknown tongue, mixed with beastly howls, forming a strange echo.

Li Yan quickly formed a hand seal and listened intently.

His divine ability could hear the speech of ghosts and gods.

He hadn't had time to activate it earlier, but now he heard it clearly.

"Is this a demonic qi?"

"Not quite—it carries incense qi too."

"Must be a foreign demonic deity—capture it and take it back first…"

The Yin Si troops moved swiftly; within a few breaths, the darkness vanished entirely.

Inside the cabin now, silence reigned—only the broken hull leaked water steadily.

Li Yan frowned, quickly formed a hand seal, and drew a deep breath.

At the same time, footsteps came from above.

It was Lu San, having eliminated the pirates on deck with poison bees, along with Sha Li Fei and others, bursting in.

"Young Master Li, what happened?"

Seeing the floor littered with corpses, Sha Li Fei was startled and asked urgently.

Li Yan said grimly: "We were tricked. These red-haired foreigners were bait—Kong Hui and Yu Wenhai aren't on board. San'er, send the falcon aloft—see if you can trace their path. The rest of you, search the ship for any clues…"

After assigning tasks, everyone moved at once.

After searching, they discovered the Tulip had been severely damaged—many of its keel joints were rotted through; even if they hadn't breached it, the ship had no capacity for long voyages—it would have sunk mid-journey.

Clearly, using the Tulip to sabotage the dock and create chaos had been planned long ago.

Everyone had divine abilities and quickly uncovered numerous clues.

In a hidden cabin, stacks of full crates of Fushou ointment…

In a secret room at the stern, bound and tortured martial artists—apparently used to test Fushou ointment—all dead…

In a hidden compartment in the captain's cabin, unburned letters…

Meanwhile, the falcon Lidong spread its wings and soared into the night sky.

Below, the dock was a scene of utter ruin.

On the shattered blue-stone pavement, oily water flowed; bamboo baskets from fried cake stalls lay overturned in mud; steamed buns coated in fermented tofu were crushed into black sludge; the Cao Bang's "Flying Tiger Flag" floated in the river, its corner stuck with half a fried river shrimp…

"Ah~ my silk!"

A merchant rushed over, wailing as he crawled over piles of goods—his sky-blue Suzhou silk was soaked in blood and mud…

A porter lay pinned under a camphorwood crate, half his lower leg twitching outside…

The cedar doors of the salt warehouse were shattered into slats; official salt sacks torn open by the blast; salt guards in their blue uniforms lay on their backs, chests ripped open, white flesh exposed, right hands still clenched tightly around blue cloth salt measures; even the salt-carrying donkeys had burst bellies and intestines, half their bodies embedded in earthen walls…

Fortunately, beyond lay rows of workshops and factories.

They hadn't been attacked; amid the clamor, countless people rushed forward with torches to help.

The falcon Lidong didn't care about any of this.

It circled in the night sky, scanning the Jinmen dock, Suansuan City, and surrounding rivers.

Alas, even the river was in chaos—there was no trace of the fleeing enemies…

……………

The next day, nearing noon.

Over two hundred li from Jinmen lay Tongzhou City.

This was the terminus of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal's grain transport.

The city housed multiple grain transport offices, including a second-rank Director of the Granary Complex and a fifth-rank Director of the Grain Office, responsible for inspecting, transferring, and storing grain, subordinate to the Ministry of Revenue, solely managing military rations for the capital—hence called the "Little Ministry of Revenue."

Grain from the south, transported via the canal to Tongzhou, was stored in the Western, Southern, and Central Granaries.

The earthen dock outside the East Gate and the stone dock outside the North Gate were the main unloading points.

From there, grain passed through the Tonghui River and was transferred to the capital.

This place is essentially the capital's granary.

At noon, the sun blazed fiercely, turning the surface of the Tonghui River into a sea of golden scales.

Cargo boats lined up and passed through Tongyun Bridge, the boatmen's chants interwoven with the jingling of camel bells on the shore.

At the Shiba Wharf, dockworkers, bare-chested, shouted orders as wheelbarrows rolled over reed fluff caught in the cracks of blue stone slabs.

Camel bells tinkled as they entered through the New City Gate; the camel caravan from Zhangjiawan carried Jingdezhen blue-and-white porcelain. Shops lined the streets, stocking goods from north and south alike, even foreign merchants from the Western Regions and overseas traders—its bustle rivaled that of Jinmen.

In a guesthouse in Dongcheng, the half-opened sliding window of a private room faced the street.

A middle-aged scholar leaned against the window frame, stroking a jade thumb ring on his thumb.

His features were ordinary, his demeanor unremarkable—he looked no different from a down-on-his-luck scholar.

Only when he glanced sideways did a flicker of red light flash in his pupils.

Opposite him sat another middle-aged scholar, his features grim, brows tightly furrowed.

He was none other than the Third Master of the Jinghai Gang, Yu Wenhai.

Compared to the scholar across from him, Yu Wenhai's attire was luxurious, his bearing distinguished, yet he sat half on his chair, spine rigid, head slightly bowed, chopsticks untouched—clearly tense and restrained.

"Master."

Looking at the scholar across from him, Yu Wenhai asked cautiously: "Those things are wasted… If we'd moved swiftly, we might have slain the Twelve Zodiacs. Now, with this uproar, our base in Jinmen may be ruined."

The scholar across from him cast a cool glance. "So, you're reluctant?"

Yu Wenhai startled, immediately lowering his head. "Disciple is wrong."

How could he not be reluctant?

Though he'd joined the Jinghai Gang from the start with no good intentions, over the years he'd painstakingly plotted, won over numerous nobles, and leveraged the gang's power to fully control Jinmen.

All his years of effort were destroyed in an instant.

Originally, he'd planned to gather experts and even summon military firearms to deal with Li Yan and the others.

But his master had directly activated the Tulip, a card he simply couldn't understand.

The scholar across from him was naturally "Ran Du," Kong Hui—now renamed Kong Zizai.

"We've lost our chance at the Jizhou Cauldron."

Kong Zizai lifted his chopsticks, took a bite of white-river vinegar fish, chewed slowly, and spoke casually: "The Jizhou Cauldron will pass through the dragon vein the day after tomorrow. Those people are already suspicious—Commandant's Office and Xuan Sacrificial Office will surely send reinforcements. Killing it would be useless."

"The game in Jinmen is already a dead end. Rather than lose it, better to use it for greater purpose."

Yu Wenhai, confused, bowed respectfully. "Please, Master, guide me."

Kong Zizai gazed out the window at Tongzhou City. "Word has come from the capital: the 'Jianmu' matter has been discovered by the Xuan Sacrificial Office. All major Xuan sects are now investigating. All our prior plans and setups will be compromised."

"Reverse the Dao's movement—when used correctly, even a dead position can become the opening move."

"If we strike the Jinmen workshops, we'll only kill a few people and provoke the merchant guilds to cause trouble."

"Redirect the calamitous water to those red-haired foreigners—the court will grow wary."

"The maritime merchants of Fujian and Yuezhou, seeking profit, collude with red-haired foreigners to smuggle and conceal information about the Southern Seas. Find an opportunity to leak this intelligence to the inland faction—they've been suppressed lately and won't miss this chance."

"Master, brilliant!"

Yu Wenhai suddenly understood and quickly flattered: "The capital still needs Master to lead."

Kong Zizai's gaze turned suddenly icy. Only when Yu Wenhai was drenched in sweat did he speak: "Don't sow discord. Zhao Qingxu in the capital can do what I cannot. Stirring court strife is to help him."

His expression grew complex. "This journey to the capital—Zhao Qingxu must lead. Don't cause trouble."

"Word has come from that side: the Qiankun Academy has discovered something extraordinary…"

Suddenly, the clamor outside the tavern fell silent.

Dust swirled at the head of Tongyun Bridge as a large cavalry unit galloped down the imperial road.

They wore black robes—all members of the Commandant's Office—and civilians along the way scrambled to hide.

Not only that, troops from the Tongzhou Garrison swiftly entered the city, sealing off every street.

The lead officer of the Commandant's Office strode forward, eyes brimming with murderous intent:

"By the Emperor's decree, all foreign merchants are to be thoroughly investigated. Any resistance will be met with immediate execution!"

No sooner had he spoken than Commandant's Office members and garrison soldiers stormed into shops, arresting people.

"So it begins…"

In the private room, Kong Zizai smiled faintly. "Court struggles—even the Emperor can't control them. Let's go. The capital is waiting."

He rose, settled the bill, and left the guesthouse with Yu Wenhai.

A strange thing happened: though soldiers filled every street and checkpoints blocked key thoroughfares, the two men walked boldly past—everyone ignored them, as if they were ghosts in broad daylight, swiftly leaving Tongzhou…

…………

"Report, sir: all Jinghai Gang members have been thrown into prison."

"Zhou Kang of the Navy Camp hanged himself in shame…"

"Many at the workshops have become addicted—those captured say the people who gave them Fushou Paste made them worship Maitreya Sect…"

"All merchants linked to Mendes have been arrested…"

In the Jinmen Commandant's Office hall, Tian Battalion Commander listened to his subordinates' reports, his brow throbbing.

He hadn't expected that despite his haste, something had still gone wrong.

The cannon attack on the Sanchahe Wharf had sparked a major uproar at court.

Add to that the recent tax rebellion at Linqing Customs, and court infighting was inevitable.

"What the hell are these bastards trying to do?!"

Fuming, Tian Battalion Commander slammed his fist on the table and ordered his men to handle the aftermath.

As for himself, he rose quickly and went to the Commandant's Office courtyard.

Li Yan and the others were gathered there.

On the table lay piles of documents recovered from the Tulip.

Kong Shangzhao held the documents, reading and copying them.

Li Yan had never expected that this odd scholar from Luzhou, from the Kong family, had studied foreign scripts.

He picked up a translated page, his expression turning grave.

It contained records of Mendes exchanging magical techniques.

Babalos, the Seventy-Two Demons of Solomon…

(End of Chapter)