Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 217: Chapter 54: Fiery Cauldron Sir’s Underling, Calming Sea Salamander!

“Speak.”

“I’ve heard that Tianbao has been quite busy lately, first breaking through Humen, indirectly leading the Red-haired Men to attack Guangzhou, and then capturing the leader of the Three Flags. Now, the Five Flags Alliance is in total disarray, and a few days ago, he even went to Guangyi Island. Afterwards, the Red Flag Gang stirred up trouble, turning Jiangzhe and Fujian upside down, and there were even some disturbances in Japan, as if they were searching for something.”

“Guangyi Island? That Tianbao kid is quite clever, huh? Knowing that after Mrs. Shi’s death, Red Flag could not pick a rival for me, he thought to ally with the descendants of Wupozi. As for the commotion that followed, it might just be the conditions put forth by Wupozi, which doesn’t bother me. I’m not afraid of him, even if he makes his intentions clear.”

Zhang He then remembered something, “You mentioned he hit Humen a while back. I recall that was around the same time An Ming and his men set sail, wasn’t it?”

“Right, they encountered Heavenly Mother Crossing the Sea then.”

The subordinate responded.

...

Zhang He had a calm exterior, but his heart was somewhat agitated.

Not long before, his trusted man, Ruan Anming, had vanished during Heavenly Mother Crossing the Sea, and the very next day, the British showed up at his door, demanding something called the “Furious Heart”. He had heard that Yishi also encountered trouble. Heaven have mercy, both groups had not even a single plank of their ships floating back, who knew who was taking the fall for whom.@@novelbin@@

Heavenly Mother Crossing the Sea was a sea of competing sails, anyone could be involved, and it was even possible that the British, himself, and Yishi were all decimated by the strange creatures from the crossing, which would make perfect sense.

However, logically speaking, in Heavenly Mother Crossing the Sea, all things float, and there was no reason anything lost couldn’t be salvaged; so there must have been others cleaning up the battlefield at that time.

Fighting the British in confusion surely had solidified the reputation of Demon Thief, but the lost ships couldn’t be replaced.

Tianbao returning from Humen and the total annihilation of Ruan Anming’s men occurred back-to-back.

“Although there’s no solid evidence, I can’t shake the feeling…” Zhang He frowned, “I’m carrying the can for Tianbao. By the way, where is the Red Flag Gang’s ship now? Where are his men?”

The subordinate calculated for a moment, “They should still be shy of Shuiwei Gorge.”

Zhang He chewed on a piece of betel nut, his words muffled and unclear:

“Haven’t passed Shuiwei Gorge, does that mean they haven’t tasted Cai Qian’s wrath yet?”

…

At this moment, the fleet of the Red Flag Gang had already reached the Ryukyu Islands, not far from the Tianbo Division anymore.

Everyone perked up, energized.

Lin Yuanfu stayed alone in a cabin. Although Lady Dan had followed him, she showed little interest in the affairs of the South Seas. She was somewhat excited during the days of Heavenly Mother Crossing the Sea. Later on at Lantau Island, she hardly made an appearance unless Li Yan called for her.

“Tianbao, there’s a fleet of ships ahead, densely packed. Not sure what’s happening.”

Someone came in to report.

“Let’s go, take a look.” Li Yan slapped his thigh.

Li Yan, Cha Xiaodao, Xue Ba, and Gu, several people stepped out of the cabin, only to find that the report was accurate. They were at a strait, but it was blocked by a dense crowd of sails of all sizes. These ships were of various styles; the crews exchanged covert signals, and without saying much more, they were all pirates.

Black Rider Ghost stood at the bow, his shoulder bearing a haughty and plump old man with a long white beard, who was leaning in to listen to the conversation of the surrounding pirates.

“What kind of skill is this, floating on water?”

“Zhang Gang’s punches, thirty years of effort, haven’t budged an inch!”

Li Yan found it strange as the Spirit of the Duck, a tall ship, came in, and other vessels made way.

“Are those the Red Flag Gang’s people?”

“The main man has arrived~”

Under the gaze of the scattered pirate factions, the Spirit of the Duck headed straight for the mouth of the gorge.

Contrary to Li Yan’s expectations, the man blocking the strait and keeping so many pirates at bay was a dry, black, and skinny old man with a bulbous nose and triangular eyes.

If there was anything unique about this man, it was that he sat on the sea without a boat or raft; the water didn’t cover his feet, and he floated without sinking. A bamboo pole floated in front of his toes.

Noticing the approach of the ship with Red Sails, he stood up.

“Are you from the Red Flag Gang, Tianbao the Dragon Head?”

“I am, may I ask who you are?”

Li Yang spoke loudly.

The skinny old man chuckled, “I’m just a clerk from the Tianbo Division, Dragon Head Tianbao, you can call me Yan Laosi.”

Li Yan narrowed his eyes, recalling that pair of fierce eyes which had seen through his “A Fleeting Glimpse.”

The woman, she seemed to be called Yan Ajiu.

“Are you waiting for me?”

“Exactly, exactly.”

Yan Laosi tucked his hands into his sleeves, appearing completely at ease, “Well, it’s like this, ah, my boss, see, he’s invited all the Dragon Heads here because he wants to discuss how we can all work together to drive the red-haired men out of Guangdong. But normally, you Dragon Heads have longstanding grudges, and with this trip, it’s certain you wouldn’t come without a sizeable retinue. Once there are more people, friction is bound to happen, and if a fight breaks out, then what’s there to discuss?”

“So? Cai Qian wants me to leave my ship here and go in alone? You think we would agree to that?”

Li Yan said with a wry smile.

“That’s right, I said exactly that to the boss,” Yan Laosi spoke with a full Shandong accent, wrinkling his face as if it were orange peel, “I told the boss, hey boss! When you’ve invited a bigshot Dragon Head with a reputation to protect, it’s good enough that you’ve extended an invitation, but if you don’t let them bring their crew into the Tianbo Division, they definitely won’t agree. What if they slap you twice, pow, pow, aren’t you just asking for your guys to get beat up?!”

“Bro, which part of Shandong you from~”

Cha Xiaodao was amused by Yan Laosi’s mannerisms.

“Jiaozhou Bay, Jiaozhou Bay.”

Yan Laosi replied with an ingratiating smile while Li Yan’s expression grew increasingly unfriendly.

“Later, ah, the boss gave me a trick. He said, if they’re not happy, there are only two reasons: either they don’t trust Cai Qian to ensure their safety, fearing that bringing too few of their own they might get stabbed by a foe. Or they’re afraid that Cai Qian will trap them; in a nutshell, they feel that bringing more men brings more safety.”

“Old man, no need to beat around the bush. Speak plainly.”

“Ei, ei,” Yan Laosi straightened his back, raising an arm, “Tianbao Dragon Head, if you trust my boss, one boat, fifty men, I’ll let you pass. If you don’t trust him and want to bring more, that’s also fine.”

He pointed to the fishing rod floating beneath his feet, “I shall stand on water, using this fishing rod as the boundary. No matter what move you use, if you make me take a few steps backward, for every step away from this rod you bring one more boat, fifty men over, two meters, two boats, a hundred men, and so on.”

Li Yan suddenly understood; so the pirates’ earlier comments about not moving an inch referred to this.

No sooner had Yan Laosi finished speaking, Xue Ba tossed out a flying rope over ten meters long. His intended target wasn’t Yan Laosi, but the fishing rod beneath his feet.

“Old man, keep your word! A boat for every step back, right?”

Xue Ba smirked, tugging the rope back. The rope strained taut but didn’t move an inch.

“Correct, a boat for every step.”

Yan Laosi’s feet were planted on the fishing rod, and no matter how hard Xue Ba pulled, he didn’t move an inch.

Li Yan patted Xue Ba’s shoulder and motioned forward with his hand, “Don’t bother with him, let’s just sail over.”

The men of the Red Flag looked only to Li Yan for leadership, they didn’t care about anything else—huge two-masted floodgates boats, tens of meters long with double decks, weighing hundreds of tons just barreled towards Yan Laosi.

The pirates present clicked their tongues in amazement, not for nothing is Tianbao of the Red Flag known to be domineering. When he decides to cross, how can you stop him?

A dark shadow gradually covered Yan Laosi’s face. The Spirit of the Duck was charging right over!

Yan Laosi’s face remained calm as he lifted his arms, retracts his fist and then thrusts it violently forward!

“Bang!”

People on deck stumbled side to side, Lady Dan inside the cabin opened her eyes.

The wiry and dark old man’s arms bulged with muscles, veins twisted, and with five fingers pressing on the ship, he didn’t budge, he single-handedly stopped the Spirit of the Duck in its tracks!

“Tianbao Dragon Head~ why not turn your boat around and try from a distance, one more time?”

Li Yan looked down, eyeing the grinning old man with narrow, sharp eyes like knife blades.

A Fleeting Glimpse provided some information.

[Fiery Cauldron Species · Calming Sea Salamander]

Category: Demon Kind

Comprehensive Evaluation: Ten Cities Peak!