Chapter 96: Chapter 96

At the docks, boats of every class were packed hull to hull — light warboats, tower ships, armored rams.

Masts rose like a forest, sails furled, swaying gently in the morning wind.

Water bandits in black house colors moved in packs on patrol, sabers at their hips, spears on their shoulders — every one of them tall, lean, and battle-hardened.

Along both flanks of the island, watchtowers rose high.

Sentries stood atop them, eyes sweeping the lake with sharp vigilance.

“Chenjian Wu’s foundation… is far more vast than I imagined.”

Shen Xiuhan hovered motionless beneath the surface, his azure bubble merged seamlessly with the lake water, all but invisible.

Just moments ago, two Chenjian Wu bandits on a bamboo raft had poled directly over his head — the bamboo shaft breaking the water with rhythmic creaks — yet they hadn’t detected a thing. Chatting and laughing, they paddled away.

He swept a rapid scan of his surroundings, then turned his gaze toward the direction where the golden light-points pulsed.

‘Damn… this is going to be difficult. Judging by the angle, even if it’s not in the heart of Dongyi Island, it’s not far off. Getting to it means going ashore.’

Shen Xiuhan frowned, a headache forming.

The island was crawling with eyes. Its defenses could only be called airtight — layers upon layers of open sentries and hidden lookouts.

On top of that, any number of Hidden Strength and Manifest Strength experts held the fort.

At his current cultivation, trying to slip into the island’s interior without raising an alarm was pure fantasy.

“Forget it. Mark the lay of the land for now and plan at leisure.”

Shen Xiuhan sighed and began working through his options.

‘When I get back to Changyun County, I need to find a way to obtain an identity that can stand up to scrutiny — then walk onto the island in broad daylight. That would vastly improve my chances of reaching the inheritance.’

With that thought, Shen Xiuhan cast one last lingering look at the distant silhouette of Dongyi Island, then turned the bubble and prepared to sink into the deep water, retracing his route.

Just then —

A sudden eruption of shouting broke out at the Dongyi Island docks.

Shen Xiuhan turned instinctively.

A middle-aged man in black martial attire strode out from the island.

His face was a slab of coarse, brutal features. Slung across his back was an unmistakable nine-ring thick-spined saber.

Behind him followed four or five towering, qi-blood-steeped brutes.

THUD-THUD-THUD!

At the dock, forty or fifty water bandits dropped to one knee in unison.

The crash of armor and weapons merged into a single thunderous chorus.

“Greetings, Fifth Chief!”

‘Fifth Chief…’

Shen Xiuhan’s gaze sharpened. A piece of intelligence flashed through his mind.

“Chenjian Wu’s Fifth Chief… Tang Jin!”

Over a month ago, he had used Intelligence to learn this man’s details.

That day, when the Mei Hall cook’s youngest son went missing, the child had been secretly transported to Fish Island — the very stronghold this “Blood-Fiend Saber” bandit personally commanded.

“What’s he doing here?”

Shen Xiuhan mulled it over but found no answer.

Why would the old villain leave his Fish Island lair and suddenly turn up on Dongyi Island?

In the distance, Tang Jin barked something with murder on his face, then slashed a hand through the air.

At his side, the handful of hardened fighters immediately vaulted aboard a massive tower ship.

The kneeling bandits sprang up with a roar, swarming like wolves onto the surrounding warboats.

Banners unfurled with a boom. Oarsmen pulled in unison.

One ship after another cleaved the lake surface, surging forward in a wave of killing intent — the look of a full-scale sortie.

Shen Xiuhan watched coldly for a moment, but did not follow.

He guided the bubble straight down into the deep shadows and headed for Yunyi Island.

Behind him, the outline of Dongyi Island faded into the morning mist until only a blurred silhouette remained.

…

A quarter of an hour later.

In a reed marsh at the edge of Yunyi Island.

SPLASH!

The surface broke, and Shen Xiuhan shot upward like a sleek fish.

Hands braced against the gunwale, he flipped himself onto the black-canopied boat in one clean motion.

Water droplets trailed from his hair, pattering against the deck in a fine staccato.

He swiped the moisture from his face and bent to grab the mooring rope trailing over the side into the water.

But.

The instant his fingers closed on the rope, his heart sank.

The weight was wrong.

Far too light.

SHRRR…

A limp, severed length of rope came up from the water.

The iron fish-basket that had been tied to its end — along with the sixty-or-seventy-jin, ferociously powerful second-tier Ink-Bone Green Fish inside it — had vanished without a trace.

Shen Xiuhan didn’t get angry. He smiled instead, a blade of cold light flashing through his eyes.

‘Interesting… very interesting. Stealing from the king of hell himself — someone has the nerve to touch what belongs to me.’

His gaze sharpened. He pinched the soggy stump of rope between his fingers and examined it closely.

The break wasn’t clean. It hadn’t been made by blade or sword. Instead, the cut was riddled with small, uneven grooves — as though something with sharp, serrated teeth had gnawed straight through it.

Before he could think further, a man’s voice drifted up from the boat’s cabin behind him — utterly without warning.

“Excuse me, friend — might you be looking for this?”

BOOM!

Shen Xiuhan went rigid.

In a single instant, every hair on his body stood on end. A bolt of ice raced up his spine to the crown of his skull.

How was this possible?

He had already broken through the Sinew Tempering barrier. His five senses were razor-sharp — within a radius of several zhang, he could detect a falling petal or a drifting leaf.

Yet someone had crept aboard his boat without a sound, and was sitting in the cabin right behind him — close enough to touch.

And he hadn’t sensed so much as a breath or a flicker of qi-blood.

SWISH!

Shen Xiuhan whipped around like a caged tiger unleashed.

His right hand curled into a claw, qi-blood roaring to its limit within, muscles locked, veins bulging — coiled and ready to kill.

In the cabin behind him sat a bold-featured, handsome young man with sharp brows and starlit eyes.

He wore a blue shirt washed so many times it had faded to near-white. A few flecks of mud clung to the hem — yet nothing could hide the innate gallantry in his bones.

The young man sat smiling, dangling a grass rope from one hand. Tied to the end of it was the missing iron fish-basket. Through the gaps in the weave, the Ink-Bone Green Fish could be seen gently flicking its tail.

Seeing Shen Xiuhan whirl around, bristling with killing intent —

The handsome youth showed no fear. Instead, he offered a slightly apologetic smile, gesturing toward the fish-basket beside him.

“My apologies, friend. I happened to be passing through when a spirit pet traveling with me sensed something of value in the water. The greedy little thing took it upon itself to dive down and gnaw through the rope.”

“I waited here for the owner to return so I could explain what happened, return the goods in person, and offer my regrets.”

His tone was sincere, his manner open and unaffected. It didn’t seem like a lie.

But as Shen Xiuhan studied his features, he found himself momentarily frozen in place.

‘This man’s eyes and brow… why do they look so much like Xiao Wen from the outer court?’

While Shen Xiuhan stood in wary uncertainty —

From behind the young man’s left shoulder, a fuzzy little head poked out.

“Squeak squeak squeak, chitter-chitter…”

It was a large, plump rat.

Its body was covered in grey down, but a ring of golden markings traced its back. The long tail behind it was solid, gleaming gold from root to tip — as though cast from pure metal — flashing with light at every flick.

The creature was brimming with intelligence. Two black-onyx eyes spun in their sockets, perched on the young man’s shoulder, its front paws flailing as it squeaked furiously at Shen Xiuhan.

The handsome youth cocked his ear and listened. The candid expression on his face gradually shifted to one of bewildered disbelief.

‘A rat with a golden tail… truly bizarre. The one that gnawed through the rope and found the treasure fish underwater must be this little thing.’

Shen Xiuhan narrowed his eyes, studying the strange rodent. A nagging sense of familiarity stirred in his chest.

‘Odd… I feel like I’ve heard of a golden-tailed rat somewhere before.’

He racked his brain, but the exact source wouldn’t come.

No matter. Shen Xiuhan wasn’t about to waste effort on it. If memory failed, he could always ask the cheat.

His gaze focused. A thought stirred.

【Today’s Intelligence has refreshed!】