48: Chapter 45 Heluo Fish 48: Chapter 45 Heluo Fish Following her onto the boat was a woman in her twenties.
Her face was as white as jade, her lips like rouge, with an air of cold arrogance.
The front and back of her dress swelled outward, creating a significant arc in her loosely fitted bright red palace attire.
As soon as the woman boarded, all the male gazes in the cabin were drawn to her.
They couldn’t help but sneak peeks or even stare blatantly.
Chu Xisheng was a respectable man; he didn’t look askance and instead watched the scenery ahead with appreciation.
Just then, he heard a ‘smack’ from nearby.
Chu Xisheng was startled and glanced over.
He saw that a middle-aged man dressed as a wealthy merchant had been slapped by the middle-aged woman beside him.
The woman glared furiously: “What are you looking at?”
The middle-aged man’s face flushed with shame and annoyance, but he ultimately didn’t dare to retaliate and retracted his gaze.
Chu Xisheng shook his head slightly, thinking that the man truly had the audacity of a lecher, daring to let his eyes wander even with his wife right beside him.
Then he noticed Chu Yunyun and Lu Luanti beside him, both giving him odd looks.
Chu Xisheng was taken aback, realizing that the two girls might have misunderstood.
He cleared his throat, “The scenery on the river is quite nice.”
Lu Luanti snorted with a hint of annoyance in her eyes as she glanced at the woman in palace attire.
She thought to herself, what’s so good about that woman?
A bunch of excess flesh hanging on the body is extremely inconvenient for practicing martial arts or fighting.
Chu Yunyun silently took out a large bun and took a big bite.
They had rushed out the door to catch the ferry and hadn’t had the chance to eat their purchased meat buns yet.
After boarding, the woman in palace attire scanned the cabin and couldn’t help but furrow her brow.
The boat was already packed full, with every corner filled with people.
A few men quickly wiped the plank beside them, trying to make space for her.
Yet the woman in palace attire paid no attention, instead, she simply walked to the bow, stood with her hands behind her back, and gazed at the river view ahead.
Her clothes billowed as if she could ride the wind away.
The ferry quickly left the shore, traveling against the wind and current.
The ‘Shenxiu River’ was exceptionally wide, with a span of ten miles across.
Only when their boat reached the central part of the river could they barely make out a bustling town on the opposite side.
Lu Luanti leaned against one side of the boat, talking animatedly with the Chu siblings.
Working undercover at Zhengyang Martial Arts Hall, she usually had no one to talk to, so every time she caught Chu Xisheng, she would talk nonstop.
Chu Xisheng was gracious; he listened to Lu Luanti boast, critique the martial arts of various great sects, and talk about the deeds and anecdotes of the many individuals on the Heavenly List and heroes of the Earthly List, finding it very interesting.
Chu Yunyun usually didn’t like talking about these things with him, and when she occasionally shared information about the various sects, Jianghu, and court common knowledge, it was dry and dull.
Chu Yunyun, on the other hand, was completely uninterested; after finishing her bun, she stared out at the river, lost in thought.
It wasn’t until Lu Luanti mentioned the three words ‘Qin Muge’ that Chu Yunyun’s expression shifted slightly, and she looked back.
“It’s such a pity about Qin Muge, this woman was indeed the most likely in the past thirty years to break the limits of the divine and enter the super-grade.
I remember in March the Debating Martial Arts Tower had just raised her ranking to number six on the Heavenly List, but then in April, Qin Muge met with trouble.
The cause of her death was also mysterious, falling violently ill after returning to the Capital City.
The statement from the Imperial Hospital was that Qin Muge practiced too fiercely and bravely.
After taking command of the Northern Peace Army, she also went through many battles, resulting in severe hidden injuries that depleted her Life Essence.
However, few believe this statement.
There are rumors in Jianghu that Emperor Jianyuan coveted the Rebellious God Flag and the Liehuang Treasure in Qin Muge’s possession, and also feared her martial prowess and the Northern Peace Army, so he set up a lethal plot in the Capital City—”
“That’s impossible!” A hoarse yet magnetic female voice abruptly cut through the air, interrupting Lu Luanti’s words.
Chu Xisheng’s eyebrows rose slightly as he looked toward the bow to find that the woman in palace attire was looking back with a cold smile.
“Our current emperor is an extraordinary ruler.
In his thirty years on the throne, he not only fully recovered Daning’s territories but also led campaigns to the south and north, expanding Daning’s lands by seventeen thousand miles.
Now in his prime, with his great enterprise not yet secured, why would he do something as foolish as destroying the bow once the birds are gone?
And in April of this year, it coincided with a rebellion by the ‘Jiao Clan’ in the Ice Sea, which caused the entire Northern region to be in turmoil, and Emperor Jianyuan would not have severed his arm over something as ethereal as the Rebellious God Flag and the Liehuang Treasure.”
Lu Luanti couldn’t help frowning and expressed displeasure, “Who are you?
What business is it of yours what my fellow apprentices and I discuss?”
“I am Xie Zhenqing!” The woman in palace attire lifted her chin proudly, standing at the bow, she gazed at Lu Luanti: “I simply cannot stand idly by while some ignoramuses spread rumors and tarnish His Majesty’s reputation.”
Lu Luanti couldn’t help but let out a ‘heh’ of laughter, provoked into a competitive spirit by the other party.
However, just as she was about to retort, Chu Yunyun suddenly became very serious, and dragging both Chu Xisheng and Lu Luanti, they rushed towards the center of the ship.
At that moment, an enormous water spout surged up from the surface and collided with the side of the ship, hitting precisely where Chu Xisheng and the others were seated.
The momentum of the water spout was fierce: it splintered all the wooden boards it passed, scattering chips of wood in all directions.
Subsequently, several tentacles stretched out from the water, slamming onto the deck, nearly breaking the flat-bottomed sand ship, that was about eight zhang long, into several sections.
Silvery waves rose high on both sides of the sand ship.
Some people sitting on the bulwark lost their balance and were directly tossed off the ferry.
Panic ensued among the people on the ship.
“Is that a Heluo Fish?”
“Damn it, since when does the Shenxiu River have Heluo Fish?”
“It’s over, it’s all over!
We’re at least five li from the shore.
With the demon fish causing chaos, we’re all going to die.”
Chu Xisheng furrowed his brows.
The so-called ‘Heluo Fish’ was one of the demon fish that roamed this world.
The Daning Classic of Mountains and Seas describes this fish as ‘having one head and ten bodies, its cry like the barking of dogs, eating it cures carbuncles’.
It was a demon fish resembling an octopus, with one head and ten bodies, whose cry sounded like a dog’s bark.
Eating its meat was said to cure abscesses and carbuncles.
At that moment, the owner of the sand ship let out a loud shout, drawing his sword in an attempt to sever one of the sweeping tentacles of the Heluo Fish.
But the next instant, the ship owner was knocked into the air with a ‘thud’ by a tentacle, crashing into the river three zhang away.
Chu Xisheng’s eyes narrowed slightly, his mind becoming calmer.
Based on the strength of this Heluo Fish, its demonic power was, at most, Eighth Rank.
And on this ship, whether it was Chu Yunyun or Lu Luanti, either could easily handle it.
However, the next moment, he was stunned.
Chu Yunyun’s delicate eyebrows knit slightly, her fists clenched, calmly staring down below the river’s surface.
Lu Luanti, feigning fear, hid behind Chu Xisheng.
Grasping the sleeve of Chu Xisheng’s garment, she said in a timid voice, “What should we do, eldest apprentice brother?
Chu Xisheng thought to himself that it’s over; neither person wanted to reveal their identity in front of everyone.
Just then, the sand ship ‘exploded’ into pieces.
The shattered hull and the more than one hundred passengers on board were all swept beneath the river surface by a gigantic tidal wave.
Only the nimble Chu Xisheng leaped onto a large floating plank.
Once he steadied himself on the plank, he realized that both Chu Yunyun and Lu Luanti had vanished.
Even his ‘Magic Refining Light Steel Blade’ was nowhere to be seen.
Meanwhile, beneath the river’s surface, Chu Yunyun was staring forward with a curious light in her eyes.
Five zhang ahead of her, Lu Luanti was swimming rapidly towards the Heluo Fish, armed with Chu Xisheng’s ‘Magic Refining Light Steel Blade’.
PS: Promoting a book by a friend, “I Really Hate the Child of Destiny.”
When big winds stir and clouds fly, where can one find a fierce warrior to travel the world far and wide.
The Child of Destiny, is always an annoyance at any time!
Just picture this – you, as the respected Young Master of the Longevity Sect, delightfully enjoying songs and dances, when suddenly the Child of Destiny comes knocking at your door, blatantly demanding your head!
This book is also known as “Starting Off With Control Over Heavenly Tribulation, Slashing the Child of Destiny to Death.”