Chapter 157
Chapter 157
The beasts who had just died had kidnapped this woman and were holding her captive in the watchtower. What should he do? Kill her to silence her? Jin Hui considered it several times but couldn't bring himself to do it. He simply cut the cloth gagging her. The woman was exceptionally beautiful. The corners of her mouth were turned up slightly, as if in a smile, and though her eyes weren't large, they were captivating. Dressed in silk, she clearly came from a good family.
“Don’t try to run. I’ll get you out of here in a little while.”
Jin Hui spoke to her, then cut the ropes that bound her hands.
“You didn’t see anything I’m about to do. When I’m finished, I’ll take you somewhere, and your fate will be decided by someone else.”
As if she had lost her mind, the woman crawled toward the dead soldiers of the watchtower, picked up a stone from the ground, and began to savagely bash the heads of the three Zhu Clan warriors. Then, she raised the stone in her hand and tried to smash it against her own head, choosing death. She was a woman of fierce character. In that instant, Jin Hui’s heart trembled, and for reasons he couldn't explain, his entire body felt paralyzed. He quickly kicked the stone from her hand and struck the back of her neck. The woman immediately fainted. Fearing she would try to kill herself again, Jin Hui swiftly tied her up once more. Worried she might wake up and bite her tongue to commit suicide, he even gagged her with a cloth.
*As the saying goes, the water is only as clear as its source. From top to bottom, there isn't a single decent person in the Zhu Clan! What I, Jin Hui, am doing is eliminating a scourge for the people.*
Hot blood surged through Jin Hui’s veins. The image of the beautiful, wounded woman trying to crush her own skull replayed endlessly in his mind.
*Beasts, you absolute beasts!*
He channeled all his strength into digging a large hole in the Zhu Clan’s reservoir dam. The hole was made large and deep. Jin Hui pushed a large crate into it. Without removing the oilcloth still covering the crate, he found the attached fuse and immediately lit it. Then he sprinted back into the watchtower. He slung the woman over his shoulder and pushed his lightness technique to its absolute limit.
*Faster, faster!*
In just over a minute, Jin Hui covered a distance of two li. He then mounted a horse and galloped madly toward a nearby mountain. He didn't know what was in the crate, but anything made by Goya was bound to be dangerous. Goya always created things that were terrifying and deadly. In a short time, the fire on the exceptionally long fuse reached the crate. And then, the heavy rain pouring from the sky stopped. For a fleeting moment, the world fell silent. And then,
*RUMBLE!*
A tremendous roar echoed as the ground vibrated. It was as if a giant had torn the Zhu Clan's reservoir dam apart with its bare hands. Countless stones were launched into the air, and the entire dam exploded, leaving a massive hole. The reservoir, filled by a day and a half of torrential rain, transformed into a colossal flood, surging out of the dam like a great water dragon, rushing madly to sweep away the Zhu Clan's manor, fields, towers, and pavilions. It possessed the power to destroy everything in its path.
Jin Hui was completely dumbfounded. He knew the secret weapon Master Goya had made would be powerful, but he had never imagined this. Its destructive force was truly terrifying. The dam had been built with layers upon layers of stone, making it incredibly sturdy—so much so that it could have stood for hundreds, even thousands of years without issue. Human effort alone could never have destroyed it like this, no matter how long they dug. It would have taken hundreds of the strongest warriors, using tools, several hours just to make a single hole. Yet Goya, with just one secret weapon, had not only punched a massive hole in the dam in an instant but had utterly demolished it… It was beyond the imagination of any ordinary person. Was there truly nothing Master Goya couldn't do?
What followed was an even more horrifying spectacle. The floodwaters, soaring high into the sky, soon became like tens of thousands of horses galloping across the plains, sweeping everything away. Its destructive power was beyond belief. The entire ground shook so violently that the warhorse Jin Hui was riding trembled and collapsed, refusing to move another step. Jin Hui dismounted, held the woman in his arms, and ran madly toward the mountain peak. The violent shaking must have woken the beautiful woman.
The surging floodwaters raced down the mountain valley and then descended upon the foothills below. The water rose with astonishing speed, its descent accelerating. Watching the scene, one couldn't help but feel how insignificant human power truly was.
At that moment, the sky began to brighten. The masters of the Zhu Clan were still dreaming sweetly in their beds, but the servants were beginning to stir for their day's work. The entire estate was filled with nearly a thousand people, including servants, maids, and tenant farmers. When they heard the massive explosion, they rushed outside, only to witness a terrifying scene. A raging flood was bursting forth from the mountain valley.
“Flood, there’s a flood!”
“Run, everyone, run!”
Countless servants and tenant farmers dropped whatever they were holding and ran for the mountain peaks. Had they been ordinary farmers or villagers, they might have returned home to save their property, but as slaves, they had nothing to their names, nothing worth saving. If they had anything at all, it was perhaps a few hidden pennies. The servants in the manor scattered, running frantically toward the peaks on either side. There was still enough time to escape. The great flood was still several li away.
Zhu Wentai, son of Viscount Zhu Nanting, was sound asleep with a concubine in his arms when he suddenly felt the ground shake violently.
*An earthquake?*
He shot up in bed and opened the window. At that moment, a towering flood was surging from the mountain valley with a force that seemed to cover heaven and earth. Everything caught in its path was obliterated. The Zhu Clan’s brewery, stables, and various workshops were all swept away by the flood. The buildings were torn to pieces, and upon seeing this, he didn't even bother to dress before sprinting madly toward the mountaintop.
*RUMBLE. CRASH.*
Finally, the immense flood reached the Zhu Clan's estate. The deluge, having already turned much in its path to rubble and ruins, now swept over the clan’s magnificent and lavishly built gardens and mansions. The carved railings and jade staircases, even the small bridges over flowing streams, were completely shattered. Pavilions and towers were reduced to ruins in an instant. Flower gardens, storehouses, and houses were all swept away in the blink of an eye.
This flood was not just the water from the Zhu Clan’s reservoir but also the immense volume of rainwater collected in it, and it even seemed to have drawn in water from the Nu River. Its power was therefore immense, rising higher and crashing more fiercely than the famed raging tides of the Qiantang River.
The heir, Zhu Wentai, and the Viscountess stood on the mountaintop, trembling from head to toe as they watched the scene unfold.
*It’s all over. Everything is over.*
After giving up their fief, the Zhu Clan had only this manor left. Now that the manor was destroyed, everything had collapsed. The Zhu Clan’s hundred-year legacy was buried in the flood. Zhu Nanting’s wife stared blankly at first, then began to wail.
“Oh, heavens! Why do you treat our Zhu Clan so cruelly?”
***
Having changed horses six times, Thirteen finally arrived at the Gushui Embankment. This land was close to the sea. To be precise, the sea level had risen in the past, and the saltwater had flowed backward, submerging the land. When the seawater later receded, the land turned into alkaline soil. Nothing would grow there, so people could not farm and live in this place.
Along the way, Thirteen had been prepared to face many enemies, ready for battle at any moment. He hadn't asked for the specifics of his mission, but he understood in his heart that this was a critical matter concerning the life and death of the Count of Xuanwu's Estate. It wasn't for others; he was fighting desperately so his own parents could live out their later years in peace.
*Shen Lang, I’ll show you just how capable I, Thirteen, am. You’ll surely regret summoning me only to cast me aside without a mission.*
He was prepared to slay gods if he met gods and slay buddhas if he met buddhas. But reality was different from his ideals. Thirteen didn't encounter so much as a ghost on his way; he arrived at his destination so smoothly it was almost disappointing. Once at the Gushui Embankment, he measured the location for the hole. Then, he began to dig with all his might. After digging a deep hole, he pushed a large crate into it. He then used a flint to light the long fuse attached to the crate and ran like mad to get away. Not long after Thirteen had left…
*BOOM!*
A loud explosion roared. A large gap was torn in the Gushui dam, as if ripped open by force. The floodwaters of the Nu River reservoir, finding the large opening, began to pour out. With the heavy rain having already stopped, the water level of the Nu River reservoir continued to fall.
***
At the Jinshu Dam, north of the Count of Xuanwu's Estate.
The rain had stopped. Five hundred elite warriors were scattered about; some patrolled to sweep away any potential enemies, while others headed for the watchtower on the dam to eliminate the Count of Xuanwu's defense force. The last hundred-plus warriors went to demolish the dam. But there was no one around, and the watchtower on the dam was empty. Strange. There should always be people in the watchtower. It was especially odd for it to be unguarded on a day of torrential rain. The empty watchtower could only mean that the Count of Xuanwu's warriors had spotted them and fled beforehand.
“They’ve spotted us. Move quickly and start digging at the dam.”
At Zhu Nanting’s command, over a hundred warriors, holding various tools, began to frantically dig at the dam. Zhu Nanting was overly ambitious, intending to immediately dig a hole two or three zhang wide. He divided his men into two groups and set them to work. It was easy enough to make a small hole in such a sturdy stone dam to place explosives, but creating a gap several zhang wide with human strength alone was an incredibly difficult task. The dam was extremely thick, well over ten meters.
“Faster, faster, faster.”
Zhu Nanting shouted, and the warriors struck the dam desperately. They used all their strength to chip away at the stones on the dam, piece by piece, throwing them into the reservoir. Viscount Zhu Nanting was delighted. At this rate, they would be able to create a large hole in the dam in less than a few hours. But just then, the surface of the reservoir suddenly rippled. Someone spoke up.
“Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Why does the water level seem to be dropping?”
In truth, the water level was dropping so gradually that it was barely visible to the naked eye. But after a few minutes, the water-level markings clearly showed it had dropped, and a short while later, the surface began to churn rapidly. This was because Thirteen had blown up the Gushui dam, and the water was being discharged in that direction. The dropping water level became obvious. With two large drainage channels now created, the warriors continued to dig at the dam like madmen. But the water level was dropping faster and faster, even faster than they could dig.
Viscount Zhu Nanting said in alarm, “What is this? What’s happening?”
*The rain has stopped, but the water level shouldn't be dropping this quickly.*
Someone beside him said, “Perhaps someone has created a drainage channel somewhere else?”
Hearing this, a chill ran down Viscount Zhu Nanting’s spine, and his heart clenched. He imagined a terrifying possibility, and his head began to throb.
“Let's go, let's go, let's go!”
Viscount Zhu Nanting shouted frantically. Qiu Xiao, the young lord of Raging Tide City, asked him, “Why are we leaving before the job is done? Even if the water level has dropped, we should still dig through the dam. Even if the flood isn't as torrential, it will still be enough to submerge the Count of Xuanwu's fief.”
“It’s impossible, impossible. Someone has dug a drainage channel at a lower point on the dam, and the water level will drop below the dam itself. At this point, it will be blocked by the mountain valley and be useless. We won't be able to submerge the Count of Xuanwu's Estate.”