The End of the Line

Instead, it was the outer pier and an empty warehouse under construction that had blown up. No one was near these structures, and they were completely inconsequential tonight. Who would specifically pick these places to set off an explosion? Moqi Feng closed his eyes and let out a heavy breath. "Island Master He!" The only one who could do something like this was Island Master He. Moqi Song was lying in ambush along Qingyun Road and couldn't see the exact location of the explosion; he would only assume their own buried powder kegs had been detonated early. The Beijia people likely had informants planted here, but they didn't know which warehouses the Bailong had placed the powder kegs in. Why would the Beijia people bother with such trivial details? As a result, a tiny misalignment between the two factions' coordination was exploited by He Lingchuan. The moment the docks exploded, the entire sneak attack was forced forward. With the Bailong making their move, the Beijia people saw their opening and naturally besieged the Burrow Spider Queen. Hadn't this chain reaction already been set in motion? Lying on the hilltop in the drenching rain, Moqi Feng figured out the crux of it all. His confidant was still asking, "My lord, what do we do now?" They had ridden in under the cover of rain, originally intending to reinforce their clansmen. But now, barely any of their people could be seen at the docks, and Moqi Song's force, which should have arrived before them, was nowhere in sight. The rain was cold, but Moqi Feng's heart was colder still. Indeed, what should they do now? After hesitating for a moment, he instructed his men, "Send two men to sneak into the docks and find out where our people are." The two hundred men originally stationed here shouldn't have vanished without a trace. "Find two fast runners to scout along Qingyun Road as well." His uncle was supposed to be here but hadn't shown up; a terrible foreboding filled his chest. More than half an hour later, the scouts sent to the docks had yet to return. Instead, the elites sent to check their escape route at the southwest beach came back, bearing grim news. "Yin hui are guarding the southwest beach?" Moqi Feng muttered. "It seems we fell into a trap long ago. We've never been out of it from the very beginning!" The yin hui were there specifically to cut off their retreat! Their current predicament was that so many of them were stranded on Suoding Island, unable to return to the mainland—unable to return to Baisha County! Having rushed about through wind and rain for most of the night, everyone was drenched and freezing; someone sneezed several times in a row. By the looks of it, the hurricane was bearing straight down on the Yangshan Archipelago. On this night of howling winds and torrential rain, they didn't even have a shelter over their heads. No matter how resolute these Bailong men were, they couldn't help feeling the despair of being at the end of the line. Seeing the terror and despair in their eyes, Moqi Feng's expression grew solemn. The hurricane would rage for at least seven or eight double-hours, and without ships, there was no way for their four hundred stowaways to leave. Once discovered by the Yangshan Guard, Qiu Hu wouldn't let them off easily. If Island Master He had orchestrated the explosion at the docks to bait the Bailong tribe and the Beijia into acting, his men were likely already scouring the entire island for Bailong people. With over four hundred of them gathered in one place, they were far too large a target, and they couldn't go anywhere brightly lit. Could they really evade the search? Even if they could, and even once the hurricane passed, they still couldn't leave without ships. How would Island Master He deal with them then? Heh, wasn't this what they called catching a turtle in a jar? Someone suggested, "Young Master, let's seize a ship at this dock and head out to sea!" Even if yin hui were in the water, surely they wouldn't blockade the ships at Suoding Dock? "Right! As long as we're fast enough, seizing a ship will be a piece of cake!" "Before the guards can react!" another warrior chimed in. "The ships berthed at the eastern docks are all large vessels; just one could hold all of us!" Moqi Feng asked faintly, "Which of you knows how to sail a ship?" At this question, everyone went silent. They had spent the first half of their lives inland, living on horseback. Wielding blades and shooting bows were their strengths, but as for handling a ship... They hadn't learned that. A small skiff they might manage to pole along, but when it came to steering a large ship carrying two to three hundred passengers, they truly hadn't the foggiest idea. Someone else suggested, "We could go to the southwest beach and bring the boatmen over." "Even if someone could sail them, the large ships that docked were moved into the drydocks long ago. This is hurricane weather! Did you think they'd still be moored out at the pier? The drydocks are locked down with iron chains," Moqi Feng said, shaking his head. "We can't leave." Even if they could seize a ship and sail it, against the ferocious winds and towering waves at sea, they wouldn't make it a few li before feeding the fishes. Otherwise, why had all the seafarers rushed to land on Suoding Island? Wasn't it to take shelter from the storm? Then... what should they do? Everyone looked at one another, feeling thoroughly disheartened. "Negotiate." A spark flashed in Moqi Feng's mind. "Negotiate with the one who calls the shots on Suoding Island!" "Uh... negotiate with what?" Did they have any bargaining chips? "The powder kegs at the docks and warehouses are still there!" A sharp glint entered Moqi Feng's eyes. "As long as that man named He doesn't want the guests to suffer catastrophic losses, that's our bargaining chip!" They had no desire to overthrow He Lingchuan; all they wanted was to return to the mainland after the hurricane passed. That wasn't an unreasonable demand, was it? Then the next question was who to talk to. If He Lingchuan had arranged all this in advance, then the likelihood of Moqi Song successfully slaying him was very slim. Island Master He was still alive. "I have to negotiate with Island Master He." A murmur of surprise rippled through the men. Just then, the scout sent to check Qingyun Road returned, panting heavily. Their original plan was to ambush He Lingchuan along Qingyun Road, but now people were coming and going; aside from patrol guards, there were plenty of traveling merchants. The scout hadn't seen Moqi Song or the hundred-plus clansmen anywhere, but he had overheard passersby mentioning "Island Master... Island Master... shuanglu." The Island Master was He Lingchuan—what did that have to do with shuanglu? The scout was sharp. His eyes darted around, and seizing a gap between guard patrols, he slipped onto the tree-lined road and tapped the shoulders of two traveling merchants from behind. "Gentlemen!" The two turned around and saw a tall, burly man in Yangshan Guard uniform smiling at them. "Huh?" "What was that you just said about the Island Master?" "Oh, the Island Master is playing shuanglu with someone over at the Hot Springs Retreat. We just watched two games in a row." The scout was stunned. "Wh-when was this?" "Right now. When else?" The two pointed back toward the Hot Springs Retreat. "Go take a look and you'll see." The scout froze upon hearing this, then rushed back to report to Moqi Feng. When Moqi Feng heard the report, the last sliver of hope in his heart vanished. Sure enough, Island Master He had been digging a pit for him and his uncle all along, and his uncle had jumped right in. He didn't know whether his uncle was dead or alive now, but Moqi Feng wasn't optimistic about his prospects. He lay on the crest of the hill, gazing down at the brightly lit docks. Suoding Island was the Yangshan Archipelago's most vital port of trade. Island Master He certainly didn't want disaster here, which was why he had staged a fake explosion ahead of time. Looking at it from this angle, Moqi Feng seemed to have some leverage after all. He took a deep breath. Time to go negotiate. He told the men, "Stay here and wait for my signal. Don't follow me."