Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 71
>Chapter Title: Water Bandits
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“Water bandits.”
Li Huowang revealed the identities of the people on those small skiffs.
This was nothing but a trap, one that lured everyone in before robbing them all at once.
“Heh, this place sure has some simple folk.”
Li Huowang stared at them and muttered to himself.
He also noticed that the water bandits weren’t just young, able-bodied men. There were old folks, women, and even half-grown kids among them. It looked like a time-honored family business.
“Swish~”
An arrow shot over and clanged against the gunwale, making the dozens of people on the boat panic even more.
“Folks, young and old—just toss your bundles, luggage, gold, silver, and jewelry into the water, and us good men of Hengshan Lake, who rob the rich to help the poor, swear we won’t lay a finger on you.”
“But if we find you’ve hidden even a single copper coin, heh heh~ then you’ll have to pick between drowned noodle or sliced noodle.”
Hearing the boatman’s threat, the panicked crowd stirred up again.
Many began hurling their luggage and bundles into the water.
Running into highwaymen on the road, you could still try to flee. But out here in the middle of the lake? You were done for.
Even jumping in the water, you couldn’t outswim these guys who knew how to handle themselves in it.
Li Huowang eyed the small skiffs circling on the lake surface. He stepped forward and called out to the boatman.
“Friend, take us honestly to shore, and I’ll pretend none of this happened.”
The boatman’s brows furrowed slightly as he sized up Li Huowang again. His voice dripped with contempt.
“Hey, brother, drop a name?”
“Speak properly. Take us to shore.”
Li Huowang’s tone grew irritated.
“Hey! Brothers, get a load of this! He’s a total greenhorn who doesn’t know squat! Probably hasn’t even grown pubes yet! Hahaha!”
“Hahaha!!”
The water bandits erupted in laughter.
“Kid, you think being a Taoist makes you hot stuff? I’ve chopped up seven or eight Taoists just like you!”
“I’m telling you, this lake is Yuan family territory. Even a dragon has to coil up here! Even a tiger has to crouch! The Jade Emperor himself would have to pay a toll!”
The boatman’s threats drew cheers from the water bandits, who whooped, clapped, and whistled.
Some were already divvying up their spoils in advance.
“Dad! I want that white-haired girl as my wife! She’s a real looker!”
“No way. You can have your fun with her, but no marrying a freak like that. I don’t want my grandson looking like some monster.”
“Then I’ll let Dad have her first. Once Dad’s bored of her, she’s mine.”
“Haha, good son! Such a filial boy!”
“Jingle jingle jingle jingle~”
The piercing bell rang out, sending ripples across the water surface.
Eyes flashing with killing intent, Li Huowang pulled a packet of dirt from his bundle and dumped it into his mouth. “Ji ya mu!!”
The rapidly forming Wandering Lord shot toward the small skiffs, lunging at the water bandits.
Faced with this unknown entity, the panicked bandits instinctively fired arrows and swung blades, but it was useless.
Any flesh the Wandering Lord pierced went rigid in an instant and plunged into the water.
Soon, more than a dozen corpses were floating on the surface.
The bandits clearly hadn’t expected to provoke someone so formidable. They wailed for their parents and jumped into the water to flee.
“Senior Brother Li! The boat’s leaking! There’s a water ghost under us drilling holes in the hull!!”
As Li Huowang shifted his fingers, the Wandering Lord dove underwater. Moments later, several corpses of half-naked water bandits slowly floated up from the depths.
Taking advantage of this brief window, the other bandits had fled clean away, leaving only unmanned skiffs and bodies bobbing on the waves.
The people were gone, but the trouble was far from over.
“Hurry and bail the water! Stuff the holes with your clothes!”
Li Huowang quickly directed the others in self-rescue efforts.
This was the middle of a massive lake. If the boat sank for real, not even a dozen Wandering Lords could save him.
After a frantic scramble, the holes were finally plugged.
But before Li Huowang could catch his breath, Bai Lingmiao tugged his sleeve from the side and pointed toward the distant reed beds.
Under the red sunset, small skiffs emerged once more. The people on board had bloodshot eyes, staring unblinkingly at the dozens of corpses on the water.
An old man with a white beard and hunched back was helped forward by the boatman to stand at the prow. His quavering, aged voice carried far.
“Esteemed sir, that’s dozens of Yuan family lives you’ve taken!! If you’d just given your name earlier, us rough folk never would’ve dared block you. Or are you just in a foul mood today and itching for some blood?”
Li Huowang had no patience for the man’s prattle. He asked the others behind him who was good in the water, to fetch the bamboo pole used for poling that was drifting nearby.
The boat had to keep moving. Staying adrift in the middle of the lake wasn’t an option—especially as dusk deepened.
The old man’s voice grew thick with grief and fury.
“What’s done is done. No point in words now. Our lives may be cheap, but you think you can kill so many of the Yuan family and just walk away? I’m afraid it won’t be that easy!!”
The old man’s odd words far off caught Li Huowang’s attention, but he couldn’t make out details in the growing dark.
“Who’s got sharp eyes? Tell me what they’re up to.”
Li Huowang stayed cautious. In a hellhole like this, better safe than sorry.
The one-armed man beside him squinted hard into the distance, blinking and straining for a while before speaking.
“They seem to be... kowtowing. Looks like they’re worshipping something—high-ranking, too. They’ve got the full three animals: pig, cow, sheep. Oh shit! Momma mia! That old guy just tossed two newborns not even a month old into the water!”
Hearing this, Li Huowang’s heart clenched. He shook the bell in his hand again without delay.
Whatever they were doing, that unnatural behavior screamed trouble. This wasn’t the time to skimp on three months of lifespan.
The swiftly forming Wandering Lord hurtled toward them at top speed, but halfway there, it abruptly wheeled back.
The instant it retreated, the entire large boat shuddered violently beneath Li Huowang. Creaking groans of straining wood came from below.
“Something’s under the water!”
“Boom!!”
With a deafening crash, the whole boat was flung into the air by some colossal force, then slammed back down onto the lake.
The already rickety vessel couldn’t withstand such abuse. It shattered into pieces on the spot.
Li Huowang tumbled into the lake. The icy water jolted him alert, and he snapped his eyes open.
In the pitch-black, muddy chaos of the lake bottom, something vague and indistinct crawled and writhed.
“Swoosh!”
Seven grotesque eyes, gleaming with unnatural sheen and shifting constantly, snapped open, staring straight at Li Huowang.
(End of chapter)