Easily Countered

All along the way to the Hot Springs Retreat, Moqi Feng's heart had been fraught with dread, fearing nothing more than receiving catastrophic news. Now He Lingchuan had personally delivered two pieces of news: The good news was that Moqi Song was still alive. The bad news was that his uncle was in He Lingchuan's hands. As for how it had happened, that hardly seemed to matter anymore. A carriage was already waiting outside. "Get in." Lü Qiuwei and Wang Fubao followed them inside. Once both sides sat facing each other, the carriage set off. The guard detail followed behind, flanking the carriage on either side. The road was deserted, surrounded only by the patter of falling rain, devoid of any bystanders. Lü Qiuwei and Wang Fubao kept their eyes locked on Moqi Feng, silently warning him with their glares not to make any reckless moves. He Lingchuan brushed water droplets from his shoulder. "What did you want to say to me?" His relaxed demeanor only put more pressure on Moqi Feng. Moqi Feng cleared his throat before speaking: "Please release Moqi Song and give us a few ships so we can leave Suoding Island. We promise we will never come near the Yangshan Archipelago again." He Lingchuan was not at all surprised by his demand, nor was he inclined to accept his promise. "Half an hour ago, weren't you planning to take my life? What, now that you see you can't win, you want to dust off your backside and scurry away?" Put simply, his response boiled down to two words: Keep dreaming. "I pulled more than three hundred clansmen away halfway through; otherwise, you wouldn't have taken down my uncle so easily," Moqi Feng said heavily. "What's more, I can help you find all the gunpowder kegs at the docks and warehouses, sparing you any lingering threats!" Merchants demanded a stable and safe environment. If the Yangshan Archipelago could no longer be associated with "safety," who would ever want to berth ships and do business here in the future? "Oh? What do you mean by that?" "You should know very well that the earlier explosion at the docks wasn't caused by the gunpowder kegs we hid in the warehouse." Moqi Feng was already certain that the true culprit behind the explosion was none other than the island master looking surprised before him. What infuriated him most was that afterward, this man still intended to pin the blame on the Bailong people. He Lingchuan raised a finger to his lips and shushed softly. "You can't make reckless accusations. Do you have proof?" "..." "Dirty things that don't belong in my warehouses were cleared out long ago." Warehouse security was tight; Suoding Island had specifically hired several dens of rat monsters to search for contraband, and the scent of gunpowder could never escape their noses. It was only because of tonight's special operation that Lei Ni and the others had refrained from startling the snake in the grass. "However, just to be sure nothing slipped through the cracks," He Lingchuan said leisurely, "while you and Yu Zecheng were playing weiqi, I sent men to the docks and locked Moqi Song and his subordinates inside the warehouses." Moqi Feng froze. As the realization sank in, his eyes gradually rounded in horror. "Y-You..." There was a complete set of wine vessels on the table, and the celadon wine pot was full. He Lingchuan casually poured wine. "Moqi Song is indeed in my hands, alive and well." He poured a cup for Moqi Feng as well. "His hundred-odd men, plus the hundred you stationed at the docks, have all been brought under my control. I have four warehouse complexes with a total of eleven storehouses—large, medium, and small. Into every complex and storehouse, I crammed a few Bailong." Suoding Island had been prepared all along. When a large fleet docked, Lei Ni and Guan Ke ordered the Bailong at the piers to help haul cargo. The fleet consisted of twenty vessels of varying sizes. Once berthed, half the laborers went to move freight, swarming like worker ants. Tonight was so busy that even the pirates and guards had been put to work carrying heavy loads. Even though the Bailong had slipped in undercover, before receiving the order to strike, they still had to work the docks. Guan Ke and Lei Ni deliberately opened a new large storehouse and assigned the Bailong to move the cargo together inside. Once most of the Bailong hauled the first batch of large items in, they slammed the storehouse doors shut behind them! The remaining forty-odd men were alarmed and attempted to resist, but completely encircled by the guards with blades and spears aimed at them, they had no choice but to throw down their weapons and surrender. Only after capturing them did Lei Ni detonate another jetty and an empty storehouse under construction, creating false signals to mislead the Moqi uncle and nephew as well as the Beijia people. Moqi Feng swallowed hard. Every single word He Lingchuan spoke was bad news to his ears. "If you don't believe me, feel free to send someone to test it." The moment He Lingchuan saw Moqi Feng in Nuanxiang Chamber, he knew what the kid wanted to do. Negotiate? Heh. Yu Zecheng wanted to negotiate with him, and Moqi Feng wanted to negotiate with him too. Tonight was truly a night of negotiations. It was just that Moqi Feng's so-called "bargaining chips" were simply too easy to dismantle. Moqi Feng stared, unable to utter a peep for a long time. How could he have been so stupid? Island Master He told him to play weiqi and he actually played, leaving the man all the time he needed to make arrangements unhurriedly! And yet, before Moqi Feng even had the chance to state his purpose or propose conditions upon entering Nuanxiang Chamber, Island Master He had already seen right through him and devised a countermeasure within just a few breaths. Such insight, such execution—the man had toyed with him in the palm of his hand with utter ease! Moqi Feng felt as if every breath he drew into his lungs was pure ice. "Your chips aren't enough." He Lingchuan raised an index finger and wagged it at him. "You really shouldn't have stepped in front of me!" In this final sentence, the sharpness finally began to show. He Lingchuan sighed. "Surrender. Otherwise, I will have Moqi Song and those two hundred Bailong men beheaded, every last one!" Moqi Feng swallowed hard, cold sweat dripping down him. "For the next two days, your three hundred-plus men will be trapped on this island with no wings to fly away. With a little effort, I can wipe them all out as well." He Lingchuan crossed his legs. "Even with a demon immortal dispatched, the Beijia people still fell before me. Do you really think you stand a chance?" Moqi Feng's gaze froze. A demon immortal? To hunt down the Burrow Spider Queen, the Beijia people had actually mobilized a demon immortal? He hadn't witnessed it personally, but given how Beijia had previously vowed with utter confidence that they would capture Zhu Erniang, they must have brought along some formidable weapon. "If you lead your people in surrender right now, further bloodshed will be avoided, and I will even give you a choice," He Lingchuan said leisurely. "Six hundred lives hang on your decision. You'd better think it through." Moqi Feng parted his lips several times to speak, but deep down he knew he lacked any standing to negotiate. His chips had vanished long ago; all that remained were vulnerabilities. "Send a message to your men. Summon them to the newly built Shimen Warehouse." Shimen Warehouse sat just behind the supply post, less than a hundred zhang away. Construction was essentially finished, waiting only for a coat of paint before it could be put to use. Moqi Feng hesitated for quite a while before asking for the carriage to halt. He poked his head out and blew a whistle—one long blast, three short. Before long, a Bailong man emerged from the tall grass. He crept cautiously toward the carriage, listened to Moqi Feng's orders, nodded, and turned to slip away. The wheels rumbled and the rain pattered softly, as if these were the only sounds left in all of heaven and earth. Neither Moqi Feng nor Lü Qiuwei uttered a sound. With his elbow resting on the low table and two fingers propping up his temple, He Lingchuan closed his eyes to rest. It had been a hectic night—fighting one moment, playing mind games the next. At long last, there was a fleeting pause to catch his breath.