The ghost ape wanted to charge in and scrap with them, but the stone golems refused to fight it at all. With a clattering crash, they crumbled into piles of rubble, blocking the passage so tightly that not even a mouse could squeeze through.
"Now that's a divine ability used just right," He Lingchuan even found the leisure to praise them.
Indeed, there were no useless divine abilities under heaven; it all came down to the occasion.
"Can we bypass it?"
"We can!" Min Tianxi hadn't even had time to wipe off the blood splattered across half his face, giving him an exceptionally savage look. "But taking the detour will add a quarter of an hour."
"Doesn't matter, let's take the detour." Playing quarry workers here served no purpose; going around was far more convenient.
The so-called long way was actually skirting around the foot of the mountain to approach Centipede Cave's sea outlet.
This outlet was quite hidden, fronted by a vast rocky shoal where one could easily twist an ankle.
By the time the five hundred men rushed breathlessly onto the rocky shoal, they saw two fast ships sailing out from the belly of the mountain, gliding swiftly toward the open sea.
Min Tianxi's intel had been spot-on: taking the long way around indeed added a quarter of an hour.
That quarter of an hour had been enough for Yue Pinghe and his men to leap aboard the vessels moored inside Centipede Cave, cast off their moorings, and row away from the shore.
These pirates were all seasoned sailors, getting the boats moving in no time flat, leaving the island behind as they hit open water!
The fast ships swept past the rocky shoal, less than thirty zhang away from the shore. But catching up on foot was out of the question, so He Lingchuan and the others could only slow their pace.
Yue Pinghe stood at the bow, pointing toward the shore and cursing loudly:
"Min Tianxi! Huang Zhao! You two bastards, you ass-kissing running dogs! I always treated you like brothers, yet the moment you cling to a backer, you turn around and bite me? Watch out that this little brat doesn't turn right around and butcher the two of you, chopping you into seventeen or eighteen pieces to feed the fish!"
Dawn had yet to break, and Yue Pinghe's lusty cursing echoed across the rocky shoal.
The more he swore, the more energized he became, and the pirates aboard the ships jeered and catcalled along with him.
Hearing their curses turn increasingly vile and unbearable, Qiu Hu raised his bow and loosed an arrow.
With a sharp whistle, the pirate swearing the filthiest and loudest was struck, the arrow piercing straight through his mouth.
This brought both sides to their senses, and archers on either side raised their bows to trade shots.
The rocky shoal was completely open, devoid of cover, putting those ashore at a disadvantage in an archery duel. Everyone ducked behind Zhu Daniang and the ghost ape, while He Lingchuan commanded, "Fall back twenty paces."
Seeing their pursuers fall back, a burst of laughter erupted from the pirate ships.
Huang Zhao spat on the ground. "Look at the smug mug on that bastard Yue."
Watching the pirate ships sail grandly away, Zhu Daniang raised a claw and dabbed her mouth. "What's the rush?"
In truth, when the two sides were within thirty zhang of each other, she could have spewed spider silk to snare the hulls. The silk of a Mother of the Crypt was far stronger than mooring ropes; tethered to a few boulders, the vessels might not have moved an inch.
Yet He Lingchuan specifically forbade her from doing so.
For one, boarding actions easily caused heavy casualties, and with no retreat left, the cornered beasts would fight desperately to the death. For another, there was still the main event of the night.
Watching Yue Pinghe's ships draw farther away, with only laughter and jeers drifting back on the wind, Qiu Hu asked for instructions: "Young Master, it's about time."
He Lingchuan nodded, casually fished out a flute, brought it to his lips, and began to play.
The moment the flute sounded, Min Tianxi and the others nearby felt the fine hairs on their backs stand on end.
It was far too fierce and sharp—like a knight-errant raising his brows as his sword left its sheath, like a brave warrior setting forth never to return, carrying the clamor of slaughter across ten leagues.
Yet within its rousing intensity lay a note of tragic grief, and beneath its resonant ringing hid mournful sorrow. The more one listened, the heavier one's heart grew, until tears welled on the verge of falling.
The morning breeze blew, carrying this dirge far out over the surface of the sea, as if piercing through the darkness before dawn.
This was one of the earliest tunes He Lingchuan had learned, for it was "Heroic Spirits", played by the soldiers of Panlong City for their fallen comrades. Whenever a great battle ended, someone would play it beside the battlefield to see the heroic spirits off.
It was also one of the fundamental tunes every citizen of Panlong City had to learn, even included in the curriculum for children.
For Panlong City, the ethos of seeking life in the face of death had to be cultivated from childhood.
He Lingchuan's sudden performance of this tune now was certainly no idle whim.
As the notes of the flute drifted across the sea, the water to the left of the pirate ships suddenly erupted in a great splash. A dark, colossal behemoth leaped from the sea, crashing down heavily onto the deck. Snatching two pirates who were still dazed and bewildered, it gave a flick of its tail and slid back into the water.
It was a yin hui, four zhang long.
Immediately after, four or five more yin hui surfaced to attack, either leaping onto the ships to snatch men or rocking the hulls from below. The vessels pitched and rolled as if struck by a category-seventeen hurricane. How could the pirates keep their footing? Several tumbled overboard on the spot, while the rest staggered about like drunks.
"Yin hui!" Yue Pinghe roared. "Get the pole-forks! Quick, grab the pole-forks! Throw the demonic sound mines!"
Quickly smearing medicinal sap onto the spearhead, he grabbed a spear and hurled it, driving it deep into one of the yin hui.
Infused with true force, the spear plunged a foot into its flesh. Hissing in agony, the yin hui whipped around and lunged straight at him.
Coexisting in the waters of the Yangshan Archipelago, they were neighbors who went unseen day after day, but whenever they crossed paths at sea, an "exchange" was inevitable. Through years of practical experience, the pirates had developed methods to counter the yin hui: for instance, pounding white flame grass and black yu bugs together yielded an antivenom against yin hui venom; the best weapons to fight yin hui were pole-forks and spears smeared with white flame grass juice; and demonic sound mines could detonate underwater, unleashing powerful acoustic shockwaves to stun the beasts.
The pirates moved with impressive speed. No sooner had Yue Pinghe finished shouting than several heavy mines were tossed into the sea. Sinking a zhang beneath the surface, they detonated violently, blasting powerful shockwaves and sonic pulses in all directions.
These demonic sound mines were tailor-made specifically for yin hui; detonated underwater, they usually stunned nearby creatures, and after suffering a few blows, the others would flee.
The problem was that the yin hui besieging the ships were all elite specimens, more than twice the size of their ordinary kin. Normally, having just one such beast among a pack was extraordinary. But per He Lingchuan's request, the force dispatched by the king of the yin hui for this first deployment was composed entirely of giant hui. These demonic sound mines could, at best, make their ears ring; after shaking their heads, they continued to attack unabated.
Watching the two pirate ships teeter on the verge of destruction under the onslaught of the yin hui, the onlookers ashore cheered aloud even as a chill ran through their hearts.
Island Master He could actually summon an army of yin hui!
It seemed the pact he had struck with the king of the yin hui went far beyond mere peaceful coexistence.
At the same time, everyone felt a secret relief: the yin hui army was truly terrifying, but fortunately, they were on their side.
Amidst the lingering strains of the flute, amidst the screams of men and the roars of the yin hui, one ship was flipped right over by more than a dozen yin hui working together, plunging upside down into the sea.
As for the other, a gaping hole was gouged through its hull...
With that, the song came to an end.
As the final note curled away and faded, the slaughter on the sea concluded at the very same moment.
No one knew what to say. Island Master He hadn't lifted a finger, simply standing on the beach playing his flute, yet the Third Channel pirates' escape had vanished like soap bubbles?
Where in the world could one find such an effortless pursuit?
Chapter 924