Min Tianxi wiped the sweat from his brow. Provoking an ancient monster like that had weighed on him with immense pressure. "Alright, the king of the yin hui should have received the signal."
The signal was that He Lingchuan held the Heavenly Order Gold Scroll and was capable of communicating with it normally.
Where there was communication, there could be negotiation.
"Very well. Turn the ship around."
At He Lingchuan's command, the vessel swung about and set course for Blade Harbor.
Min Tianxi asked in bewilderment, "Young Master, are—aren't you going to negotiate terms with the king of the yin hui?"
Hadn't He Lingchuan demanded the precious scroll precisely to communicate with the creature? Now that they had come all this way, he was turning around to leave without so much as a single word of negotiation?
He Lingchuan gave him only one sentence in reply:
"The time isn't ripe yet."
Min Tianxi desperately wanted to ask how long they would have to wait. But the throbbing pain in his little finger reminded him of his new station, so he rubbed his nose, kept his mouth shut, and went off to help take the helm.
When the ship had traveled more than a hundred zhang, the roar of the yin hui king echoed from behind them once more.
This time, everyone could understand its confusion even without holding the precious scroll.
First, they drained the island's yin fiend energy, then signaled an intention to negotiate, and then immediately turned around and left... Just what in the world had these humans come here for?!
He Lingchuan sat down once again to drink his wine, not even bothering to look back. "Pay it no mind. We go our own way."
They had set out early in the morning, and after so much commotion, the sun had already begun its descent toward the west.
The Yangshan Archipelago was treacherous by night, and not even he cared to linger at sea.
As for the king of the yin hui, it was still brimming with fury and vigor. Evidently, cutting off its supply of yin fiend energy was not yet a fatal blow.
That was why He Lingchuan said the time was not ripe.
On the return journey, Lingguang changed the dressing on Min Tianxi's wound once, as his injured hand had been splashed wet by seawater again.
He Lingchuan patted the chair beside him, bidding him sit for a second time.
This time, Min Tianxi sat upright and stiff as a board.
"Relax a little." He Lingchuan leaned casually against his own chair. "Do you understand now why I bought the Yangshan Archipelago?"
"I understand." Min Tianxi replied without hesitation. "You can dispel the yin fiend energy. The Yangshan Archipelago won't be a forbidden wasteland anymore, and it can be developed and managed normally. The Lu family is still mocking you in secret, completely unaware that they are the biggest suckers in history!"
He and his pirates had previously scoffed at He Lingchuan, writing him off as a spendthrift profligate, but now he naturally wouldn't dare bring that up again.
Seeing was believing.
The yin fiend energy, which had stumped even immortals for millennia, had been thoroughly tamed by this youth in a single encounter. The yin hui, which had terrorized the Yangshan waters and devoured countless humans, had been reduced by him to dried salt fish under the sun. After his initial shock at witnessing all this, Min Tianxi was completely and utterly won over.
In that moment, he understood that there would likely no longer be any place for pirates to gain a foothold in the Yangshan Archipelago.
Consequently, his frame of mind was far more at peace now.
Following a strong master was infinitely better than being hounded away like a stray dog.
"It's good that you can see that." He Lingchuan swirled his cup. "What about the other pirates? Do you think they'll see it?"
Min Tianxi opened his mouth to reply, then suddenly realized what was being asked, and swallowed hard.
The young master was asking whether he could persuade the other pirate channels to submit.
If they refused to submit, they would be exterminated.
And if they refused to submit, Min Tianxi would be forced to serve as the vanguard against them.
"Milord, please allow me to speak with them first."
He Lingchuan wasn't surprised. "How confident are you?"
"Huang Zhao, the master of the First Channel, has always been on good terms with me. Persuading him shouldn't be difficult," Min Tianxi said after some thought. "Yue Pinghe, the master of the Third Channel, is ruthless, sinister, and full of petty schemes. I've heard he's broken his word several times. I have no confidence when it comes to him.
"Still, both the First and Third Channels have been thrown into panic by the yin hui. Huang Zhao was attacked again just the night before last, losing another dozen men. He's already considering leaving the archipelago to make a living elsewhere..."
The yin hui were slaughtering people in every corner, and the pirates had assumed it was a natural disaster—an irresistible calamity of heaven. But Min Tianxi now knew that this was a damn man-made disaster!
At that thought, a shudder ran through his heart.
Right. This, too, was likely part of Young Master He's design—using the yin hui to force the pirates into submission.
After all the twists and turns, both the yin hui and the pirates were dancing in this man's palm.
"Since Huang Zhao already intends to leave, he should be easy to persuade." He Lingchuan smiled faintly. "Handle that matter first."
"Yes!"
"Furthermore, why didn't you broadcast the fact that the yin hui wouldn't attack the Second Channel's territory?" He Lingchuan asked. "Wouldn't it have been the perfect opportunity to expand your strength if other pirates came flocking to join you?"
Min Tianxi wore a bitter grimace. "That would only have yielded short-term benefits. I feared the authorities would demand explanations and seize my treasure once word got out." Just like you did, Young Master He!
He Lingchuan chuckled. "So you understand the danger of cherishing a jade that brings misfortune. You're not entirely simple-minded, then."
Min Tianxi offered an awkward, sheepish smile, unsure whether that was meant as praise or a jab.
He Lingchuan continued, "Having been a pirate chief for so many years, you must have channels for fencing stolen goods in and around Blade Harbor, right?"
He understood all too well what it meant when rats and snakes nested together.
"Uh, yes, yes, I do."
"Then fetch me one hundred jin of Shaoling ore," He Lingchuan said with utter reasonableness. "I'll cover the cost."
Those who fenced stolen goods were usually the same crowd who sourced specialized supplies—the so-called fixers.
"Allow me to handle the expense as a token of my respect..." But seeing He Lingchuan frown, Min Tianxi instantly changed his tune. "Right, of course, understood!"
He was growing increasingly adept at reading his young master's expressions.
"Within six days."
Min Tianxi agreed readily: "No problem at all."
After sailing with the wind for two hours, He Lingchuan's ship returned to Fishbone Reef. From afar, they could already see that the pirates of the Second Channel were still waiting there.
Their boats were present as well, and two more had been added to the count.
Everyone turned to look at Min Tianxi, who gave a dry laugh. "The lads were worried about me, so they went home to gather reinforcements. Please forgive me, Young Master!"
And that was only because time had been short, coupled with the fact that half of the Second Channel's men happened to be out at sea today; otherwise, even more ships would have arrived.
"Forgive you for what?" He Lingchuan said with an amused scoff. "Your subordinates are loyal enough. They didn't abandon you and run off." Instead, they had actually sailed back to round up more men.
Sure enough, as soon as He Lingchuan's group moored their vessel and stepped onto Fishbone Reef, a large crowd leaped down from the three pirate ships in a clamorous rush, surrounding them so tightly that not even water could trickle through.
He Lingchuan swept his gaze across them and estimated roughly three hundred men.
There wasn't even enough space to stand on Fishbone Reef, forcing many pirates to stand in calf-deep water, while around a hundred others remained aboard the ships brandishing glittering weapons to bolster their comrades' morale.
One pirate, whose face was still bruised and swollen from Qiu Hu's beating earlier, now shouted boldly on the strength of their numbers, "You there, surnamed He! Release our channel master, or else—"
Qiu Hu shot him a look, and the pirate instinctively shrank back, trying to vanish into the crowd.
He Lingchuan glanced behind him at Min Tianxi. "Over to you."
Min Tianxi stepped out from the group and positioned himself right along the boundary between the two confronting sides—a tiny space of barely two square meters.
Qiu Hu lowered his gaze to conceal his murderous intent, his right arm hanging loose by his side as his fingers twitched faintly. This brigand had been arrogant at first and had even tried to play petty tricks after being captured aboard the ship, but the young master had overlooked it. If this pirate chieftain dared to go back on his word now and violate the blood oath he had just sworn, Qiu Hu would unleash a lethal strike without hesitation, ensuring the treacherous wretch paid the ultimate price.
Chapter 910