Only because Bailie had offered pay too generous to refuse had they risked ferrying passengers in hurricane weather and illegally landing on the island.
Yet Bailie had never mentioned this job came with the risk of losing their heads!
Seeing these fierce brutes draw steel at the slightest provocation, the boat skippers grew terrified. What if the Bailong people only returned right as the hurricane made landfall and forced them out to sea?
Having their throats slit was death, but setting sail then was death all the same!
Huddled together, they discussed the matter: they couldn't stay here any longer.
However, the Bailong had left a few guards behind. Hearing them whispering, one sauntered over. "What are you muttering about?"
Eyeing the blades at their hips, the skippers quickly forced chuckles. "Nothing, nothing. We're just having a bite to eat."
Terrified of being exposed, the Bailong forbade lighting fires, so everyone could only chew on cold dry rations.
In this cursed weather, the more they ate, the colder they felt.
Just then, a skipper pointed toward the water. "They ran! They got away!"
Crowding toward the mouth of the cave, they saw two fishing boats already pulling away from the beach, heading out to sea. Even if the Bailong guards leaped down now to intercept them, it was too late.
"Aren't those Third Huang and Pockmark Li?" Everyone sighed in frustration. "Those crafty bastards ditched us and slipped away!"
While they had dithered here, the other two had already taken action.
The boat skippers on the shore watched the departing vessels with open envy. The Bailong guards gripped their steel sabers and barked at them, "You thinking of running too? Get back inside the cave, every last one of you!"
If they hadn't shouted, it might have been fine, but hearing the command only stirred the skippers' thoughts.
Right—there were only five guards, but over twenty of them. If everyone leaped down together to launch the boats, how many could five Bailong guards stop?
Men who spent their lives battling wind and waves possessed plenty of nerve. With that thought, they began exchanging stealthy glances.
The Bailong guards sensed something amiss and were about to shout curses when someone pointed out to sea and shrieked, "Capsizing! They're going over!"
Everyone rushed back to the entrance. The two boats attempting to flee had already been tossing violently in the swell, and now something seemed to be darting back and forth across their decks. With no one at the helm, the craft swung broadside and fishtailed. Unable to withstand a couple of crashing waves, both flipped over.
The men exchanged glances, faces turning pale.
"Third Huang is a master at handling a boat! How could he capsize that easily?!"
"Didn't you see something on his deck?"
"Yin hui! It's yin hui!" someone gasped, white as a sheet. "Why are those foul things out even in a hurricane?!"
"They aren't supposed to be anywhere near Suoding Island!"
"With those things in the water, our boats won't get anywhere!"
Forget it, forget it. That extinguished any lingering thought of sneaking out to sea.
No matter how fierce the waves were, taking a gamble still offered a fighting chance. But with yin hui lurking beneath the surface, who would dare jump into the sea to seek death?
As they babbled in agitation, the Bailong guards looked increasingly grim.
Just then, fresh visitors arrived on the beach.
The guards stiffened in alarm, but quickly realized the newcomers were their own—elites from Moqi Feng's retinue.
"How are things here?" the elite asked. "The young master says to get ready. We might depart at any moment."
Even while heading to reinforce the docks, Moqi Feng hadn't neglected his retreat, dispatching men to check on the boats.
"Depart at any moment?" The guard forced a wry smile. "I'm afraid we can't leave at all!"
"Waves too rough?" The elite frowned. "Weren't talismans affixed to the hulls? In this swell, they should still barely hold up, shouldn't they?" After all, the hurricane had not made a direct landfall yet.
Every vessel participating in tonight's operation bore a Steadfast Navigation Talisman.
The talisman came in a set of eight: the primary talisman was affixed to the main cabin, while the seven secondary ones were placed around the hull. They allowed a ship to behave like a tumbler toy, righting itself after being battered by wind and waves.
Without these, what seafaring boat would dare venture out in such weather? They wouldn't make it two hundred zhang before being overturned.
The Lu family possessed no such treasures; the sets of Steadfast Navigation Talismans had all been supplied by the Beijia people. Backing an uprising took more than words; it required material support.
Before the guard could answer, a boat skipper nearby shouted, "There are yin hui beneath the water dragging boats down! Go one, die one; go two, die a pair! They're far more terrifying than any storm!"
The other boatmen chimed in one after another. "We're not going out to sea! Kill us if you want, but we won't go!"
The guard said to the elite, "Two boats ventured out just now and both were dragged down by yin hui—ships destroyed, everyone dead! Those things seem to be circling right around here!"
With yin hui attacking ships, heading out to sea was gambling with their lives. What was more, the wind and waves were growing more violent by the minute. By the time the young master arrived, sea conditions might already be entirely unfit for sailing.
Great as the Steadfast Navigation Talismans were, their power had limits. Against the boundless, savage might of the ocean, who dared claim a talisman crafted by mystics could endure to the very end?
Hearing this, the elites nodded, instructed them to hold their posts, and turned to leave. A development of this magnitude had to be reported to Moqi Feng as soon as possible.
***
After sending his orders through the bronze tray, Yu Zecheng rose abruptly and pushed open the door.
With He Xiao dead, there was no need for him to sit here and keep up appearances.
He had sat idling in his room for half the night, bored to death. A man who had fought through countless rounds of slaughter on the battlefield, he felt his hands itching with impatience at the thought of his subordinates intercepting the Burrow Spider Queen on eastern Suoding Island.
With one disturbance following another outside, the guests at the Hot Springs Retreat had naturally noticed. By now, they had all left their quarters and crowded outside to watch, panic and unease hanging thick in the air.
The Hot Springs Retreat's guards had hurried in to maintain order. When the guests asked what was happening outside, the guards merely claimed Qingyun Road was dangerous and the docks were in even greater turmoil, insisting that staying within the retreat was their only safe course.
Such words were hardly reassuring, and many people rushed outside in a frantic bid to reach the docks and flee by boat.
Yu Zecheng and his two companions blended into the crowd heading out.
Yet before they reached the gate, several figures darted in from the side and blocked their path.
"Where might Master Yu be headed? We have prepared a special late-night supper for our distinguished guests tonight." The two blocking the way were men of Mount Rong: Lü Qiuwei and Du Xiaoyi. Lü Qiuwei beamed with smiles. "Every guest receives a tender leg of young lamb roasted to perfection, paired with twenty-year-old Chunshan wine—a true Blade Harbor heritage brand! And afterward, a bowl of brown sugar lotus seed soup to cleanse the palate..."
"Out of the way." One does not strike a smiling face, so Yu Zecheng offered a smile of his own. "I'm stepping out for a walk. Just send the supper to my room."
Lü Qiuwei let out a dismayed gasp. "It's perilous outside! You are an honored guest from Beijia. If anything were to happen to you out there, how could we ever bear the blame?"
"Anything happen?" A guard behind Yu Zecheng couldn't help chiming in. "Even your island master He Xiao is dead, and you're talking about something happening to us?"
Lü Qiuwei's smile never faltered. "I only attend to my assigned duties. How could I possibly concern myself with outside affairs?"
"Your assignment is me?" Yu Zecheng stared at him. The longer he looked, the heavier his heart sank. Their lord was dead; how could his subordinates possibly act like this? "Move aside. I have no desire to kill anyone tonight."
Du Xiaoyi blew a shrill whistle, and men moved to guard every door and window of Nuanxiang Chamber.
Chapter 990