Chapter 464: A Small Boat
Yangjiang County is a large city by the sea, located in the south. It is both the domain of the Heroic Gate and home to branches of the Lingxiao Palace, as well as alliances formed by various local gangs. There are many people carrying swords and knives on the streets, making it a place full of mixed elements.
Near the city’s docks, there is an inn. Since the docks here lead directly to the capital and other coastal areas, it has become a stopover for many martial artists. Many players also like to rest here, eat, and look for opportunities to gather information or trigger quests.
One day…
The inn was visited by an old woman with a peculiar outfit, a beautiful and elegant girl, and a young girl with a terrifying purple scar on her face. This group immediately attracted the attention of countless martial artists!
The inn soon became crowded.
“Grandma Golden Flower…”
“As expected, Zhou Zhiruo and A Li are here too. Grandma Golden Flower wants to hire a boat to set sail.” Whispers filled the inn as everyone’s eyes shifted between the three of them.
Grandma Golden Flower paid no attention to the stares of the people in the inn. She thrust her huge golden walking stick into the inn and called out, “Waiter!”
“Here I am.”
A seemingly clever waiter bowed low and approached her. “Sir, would you like to stay for a while or just rest?”
“This is for you,” Grandma Golden Flower said, taking out a golden leaf. “Find me a boat and a helmsman. I want to set sail. If you do well, the rest will be your reward.”
“Thank you! I’ll definitely take care of this for you,” the waiter replied, his eyes widening with joy. He quickly put away the golden leaf and rushed out of the inn.
Grandma Golden Flower bent over and coughed. A Li stepped forward immediately, helping her catch her breath while handing over another golden leaf and ordering the innkeeper to prepare food and steamed buns.
“Sure, sure! I’ll take care of it right away!”
The innkeeper held the golden leaf in both hands and rushed to serve them as if they were his own elders.
Inside the inn, many people watched them coldly.
…
“Brother Night Rain, they’re here!”
At the docks not far from the inn, a group of men in simple clothes were waiting for work when they heard this call. They turned their attention to a burly man in the crowd. It was the waiter from the inn who had received the golden leaf!
“Good job!”
The man at the lead was named Night Rain with the Wind. He was tall and robust, with thick brows and large eyes that sparkled with vitality. Hearing the words, he stood up laughing, his bold spirit as that of a free-spirited man fully evident.
“Brothers, let’s get to work!”
The group quickly prepared a large ship for sailing and waited aboard.
Before long, Granny Golden Flower, Zhou Zhiruo, and A Li arrived at the dock under Xiao Er’s guidance, followed by a group of martial artists.
All of them were there for Granny Golden Flower, including many members of the Beggars’ Sect and representatives from the six major sects. Among them were many experts—knowing that Xie Xun and the Dragon Slaying Sword were on Lingshe Island, none wanted to give up.
“Cough! Cough, cough, cough…”
As soon as Granny Golden Flower reached the dock and before boarding, she suddenly stopped and bent over, coughing violently!
Hundreds of players behind her also halted in their tracks.
Some clever ones ordered their men, “Go prepare the ship.”
At that moment, Granny Golden Flower’s expression darkened. She suddenly turned around, shaking her head as she glared coldly at the crowd of martial artists behind her. “I’m returning to the island and don’t want too many people following.”
As she spoke, her tone shifted suddenly, and her icy murderous intent made the martial artists turn pale, realizing the situation was dire.
“Run!”
It was too late…
Granny Golden Flower’s hunched figure suddenly soared high, reducing the distance of dozens of meters to nothing in an instant as she flew above the crowd!
She swung her walking stick through the air, creating a golden arc of light.
A tremendous force swept through like a landslide!
The martial artists felt an overwhelming force rushing toward them. Many spat blood, lost consciousness, and collapsed…
After just a few strikes, at least sixty or seventy people lay dead on the dock!
The martial artists fled in panic.
Crack! Crack!
Several who tried to flee had their heads “crowned” by Granny Golden Flower’s staff and crashed to the ground.
Standing on the dock, Night Rain with the Wind took a deep breath and exchanged a serious look with his brothers on the ship.
“Cough! Cough, cough, cough…”
Seeing the others fearfully stay far away, Granny Golden Flower began coughing violently again. With A Li’s help, she boarded Night Rain with the Wind’s ship.
The ropes were released!
The ship broke through the water’s surface and sailed out into the sea.
Only after Granny Golden Flower’s ship disappeared into the distance did people start boarding other ships near the dock, cursing angrily:
“Hurry! Hurry!”
“Set sail! Don’t lose track of her!”
“Go ahead, do you think this ship has an engine?”
“What are you talking about?”
On the dock, there were quite a few people, but they all belonged to different factions and refused to yield to each other. Many glared angrily at one another over a single boat: “I’ll be on this boat first!” “I claimed it first!” “Damn! Go back and deal with your own problems!” Suddenly, the sound of swords being drawn filled the air; the once calm river surface near the dock was quickly disrupted. Plung! Players fell into the water one after another; chaos reigned on the dock! Several boats moored nearby were destroyed in the struggle, and all participants received system notifications of money deductions. The situation was utterly chaotic. At that moment, a man slowly stepped out of the tavern where Old Lady Jinhua was resting. Dressed in a green robe and wearing a conical hat, he appeared extremely plain yet exuded the aura of a scholarly martial artist. “Who dares cause trouble here?” A loud shout rang out! The leader of the Jinyiwei, clad in splendid robes, appeared outside the dock. His long curved sword with silver trim looked extremely noble and imposing. Standing near the dock, he pointed at the fighting martial artists and shouted loudly, “Someone! Take them all to jail!” Boom! Hundreds of Jinyiwei soldiers rushed out from all directions, followed by groups of Six Gates arresters wearing shackles. The sheer scale of their force panicked the people on the dock, who then remembered they were inside the city. Fighting here and being seen by the Jinyiwei and Six Gates meant it was impossible to board a boat and set sail. “Quick, hide!” “Dive!” Plung, plung—the sound of people falling into the water echoed continuously. Some smarter ones used their light-footed skills to swim away, avoiding the fate of those who panicked and were overpowered by the Jinyiwei soldiers. Despite the chaos on the dock, someone noticed that the man in the green robe and conical hat seemed to have anticipated everything. Moving slowly through the crowd, he actually reached the boats that hadn’t been used yet… “Head to Lingshe Island.” “Sure.” The boat captain turned sorrow into joy, quickly untied the ropes, and set sail. Whoosh! The water parted… Without looking back, he stood proudly at the bow of the boat, moving farther and farther away from the dock!