Chapter 76 The Tiger King Goes Underwater to Catch the Assassin!
The lake was shrouded in mist at night.
The giant ship named "Wan'an" is quietly moored.
The ship was brightly lit, reflecting the surrounding lake water in a shimmering display. Colorful ribbons fluttered gently in the night breeze, and the faint sounds of string and wind instruments drifted from deep within the cabin, creating a festive scene of peace and prosperity.
However, on the unnoticed top deck, the atmosphere was quite different from this peaceful scene.
Chu Chongjin, Mu Fang, Yan Ziche, and Xiao Beichen were gathered around a huge geomantic map spread out on a wooden table, each with a different expression.
The map is marked in detail with cinnabar and ink, showing the structure of the Wan'an ship, the hydrology of Jinghu Lake, and the surrounding terrain.
"Is everything set up?" Chu Chongjin's voice was soft, yet it carried an undeniable penetrating power, drowning out the distant music.
"Your Highness, everything is ready." Xiao Beichen stretched out his finger and traced it across the blueprints one by one, his voice steady and powerful.
"As you instructed, the hull, especially the part below the waterline, has been completely covered with reinforced iron sheets, which are sufficient to withstand ordinary impacts and penetrations."
"The cabin is equipped with triple hardwood panels, which will buy us enough time even if the outer layer is breached."
He pointed to the dozen or so red dots marked on the map.
"All the crossbows we brought have been installed and tested, and placed in twelve concealed windows to ensure that the firepower can cover 360 degrees without any blind spots."
"The bottom of the ship is of utmost importance. I personally selected thirty elite Xuanjia soldiers who were the best swimmers and organized them into three shifts to patrol underwater in turn. Any living creature that tries to approach from underwater will not escape their eyes."
"Good." Chu Chongjin nodded slightly, his eyes showing satisfaction.
He raised his eyes and looked at the distant shoreline swallowed by the night.
"We must accept this generous gift that Sikong Ming went to great lengths to send, and not let his good intentions go to waste."
Yan Ziche adjusted his small glasses on the bridge of his nose; the lenses reflected the light from the lamplight, and his tone carried a lingering worry.
"Your Highness, I still think this is too risky. What if Sikong Ming doesn't take the bait, or what if he guesses our intentions and has other plans..."
"He will," Chu Chongjin interrupted him, his tone resolute.
His gaze seemed to pierce through the endless darkness, landing on the murky surface of the lake.
"Sikong Ming is now a gambler who has lost everything. The dam project has failed at the last minute, and he desperately needs an opportunity to turn the tide and severely damage our foundation in Jiangnan."
“We’ve put all the prominent figures in the Jiangnan literati community on this gambling table. The stakes are so high that he can’t refuse. He has no reason not to bet.”
Mu Fang stood silently to the side, not participating in the discussion, but his gaze would occasionally and uncontrollably drift toward the dimly lit room on the top floor of the ship.
That was Mu Yu's bedroom.
For her safety, she was specially placed in the highest and most central position on the entire ship.
Only a dim, calming lamp was lit in the room, its light filtering through the paper windows, creating a soft and tranquil atmosphere.
Mu Yu, clutching her exquisite mechanical lark, lay on her side on the soft bed, but her sleep was not peaceful.
Her little brows were tightly furrowed, as if she were having some troubles in her dream, and she occasionally let out a few indistinct murmurs from her cherry-like mouth.
"It itches...it's so itchy..."
"There are bugs biting me..."
"The big ship...the big ship is leaking..."
She rolled over uneasily, her chubby little hands flailing wildly in the air, as if trying to chase away something unseen.
The tiger king, sleeping on the soft carpet at her feet, suddenly opened its eyes in the darkness, its eyes as if carved from the finest amber.
It pricked up its ears, twitched them carefully, and caught every tiny sound in the air.
From deep within his throat came a very low, extremely threatening snort, like suppressed thunder.
It stood up silently, and its massive body moved without making a sound.
Its huge tiger head was pressed against the door crack, its nose sniffing hard and repeatedly.
The air was filled with a few lingering scents that didn't belong to the ship or any of the guests.
It was the fishy smell of aquatic plants at the bottom of the lake, the putrid smell of old silt, and a faint... extremely faint scent.
The tiger king did not roar as a warning, knowing that would alert the people on the boat and scare them away.
It simply turned around quietly and, with its enormous head, gently, with a hint of eagerness, nudged the edge of Mu Yu's bed.
"Waaah..."
Mu Yu, still half asleep, felt uncomfortable from the force and mumbled softly, "Big cat, stop it... I'm sleeping."
The Tiger King nudged again, this time with significantly more force.
Mu Yu was finally fully awakened. She opened her eyes groggily and rubbed them.
"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice still nasal from just waking up, her little face full of confusion.
The Tiger King stopped nudging her and instead pointed stubbornly to the bottom of the boat with its nose, its snorting becoming more pronounced and rapid.
Although Mu Yu was blind, she had a strange telepathic connection with the Tiger King, and she could clearly feel the anxiety and vigilance he was conveying.
She imitated the tiger king, puffing out her small nose and sniffing hard.
"Huh?"
In an instant, her little face turned serious, and all sleepiness vanished.
"There are so many black bedbugs!"
"They're gnawing on the belly of our ship! Right down there!"
Her little finger pointed to the floor, her tone full of disgust and certainty.
"They even had teeth, sharp and hard, trying to bite through our boat!"
Almost at the same moment Mu Yu finished speaking, the dark hull of the Wan'an ship was filled with light.
Four shadowy figures dressed in tight black aprons were moving silently forward, clinging tightly to the massive keel of the ship.
Their movements barely created any ripples in the water, clearly indicating that they were top-notch athletes who had undergone countless hours of rigorous training.
They were the most elite "water ghosts" under Sikong Ming's command, specializing in underwater infiltration, assassination, and sabotage missions.
The leader surveyed the surroundings and, after confirming that there was nothing amiss, gave a brief hand gesture to the three people behind him.
The four immediately understood each other and dispersed, each searching for their designated targets.
Their target was not the hull itself, but the key tenon structure connecting the rudder and the control stick.
Once this place is destroyed, the massive "Wan'an" will become an uncontrollable, unsteerable target, drifting aimlessly on the lake, at the mercy of their hidden pre-arranged schemes.
The leader took out a short chisel made of finely refined steel from a waterproof pouch at his waist. The chisel was black and did not reflect any light.
His eyes were cold, devoid of any human emotion.
He precisely aimed the tip of his chisel at one of the thickest and most crucial mortise and tenon joints.
Just as he raised his chisel, mustered all his strength, and prepared to deliver a fatal blow...
A huge black shadow suddenly pounced out from the deeper shadows beside him without warning!
"puff!"
It was a dull thud as a sharp weapon pierced flesh.
It is the Tiger King.
It had somehow managed to silently slip into the water from the top-floor bedroom and pinpoint the assassin's location.
This beast, which usually appears lazy and like a big cat in front of Mu Yu, is a true aquatic overlord underwater, moving swiftly and deadly.
Its open jaws didn't bite the victim's vitals, but instead bit the water ghost's wrist, which was holding the chisel, with perfect precision.
"Crack!"
The crisp sound of bones cracking echoed muffledly in the water, sounding particularly terrifying.
Before the water ghost could even let out a scream, the excruciating pain in his wrist made his body stiffen instantly, and then he choked on a mouthful of lake water.
The other three water ghosts were terrified at the sight, completely unprepared for such a ferocious ambush underwater.
They reacted immediately, and without hesitation drew their short blades, specially designed for underwater combat, from their waists, and stabbed at the Tiger King from three directions simultaneously.
However, although they moved quickly, someone was faster than them.
Just as they made their move, dozens of even more agile black figures shot out like arrows from the shadows at the bottom of the ship; they were the Xuanjia Army water ghosts who had been lying in ambush there.
A large net woven from strong steel wire was laid down, trapping two of the assassins.
The cold blades drew deadly arcs in the dark water, precisely parrying and counterattacking.
The entire process, from the Tiger King launching its attack to the end of the battle, took less than ten breaths.
Of the four top underwater assassins on whom Sikong Ming had placed great hopes, one had his wrist crippled, while the other three were subdued and captured alive.
With a "splash," water splashed everywhere.
Xiao Beichen emerged from the water carrying a water ghost that was bound like a rice dumpling with cowhide rope. He used one hand to push off from the gunwale and cleanly flipped himself onto the deck.
"Your Highness, Your Excellency, we've caught four sneaky mosquitoes." He grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth that stood out conspicuously in the lamplight.
Mu Fang and Chu Chongjin immediately walked over.
The water ghosts, thrown heavily onto the deck, were soaking wet and in a sorry state, but they all kept their mouths shut and showed no fear in their eyes, looking as if they were about to be slaughtered.
“They are suicide soldiers.” Mu Fang made this conclusion with just one glance, based on his years of battlefield experience.
“We can’t get them to talk.” Chu Chongjin nodded, not surprised at all.
Just then, a soft footstep sound came, and Mu Yu, wearing a small white nightgown, was carried by Yan Ziche, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, and came to the deck.
"Father, Ninth Brother, it's them! It's them!" Her little finger pointed at the four prisoners lying on the ground, her little face puffed up with anger.
"They smelled terrible, like rotten iron that had been sitting out for a long time!"
She sniffed hard, and her little nostrils twitched adorably, as if she were trying to discern something more carefully.
Then, a confused expression appeared on her little face.
"Huh?"
"Why does this smelliest bug have a sweet smell?"
"It's like... osmanthus candy that's been sitting out for several days, a little sour and a little cloying."
She tilted her head, trying hard to search her olfactory memory bank.
"This smell... I feel like I've smelled it somewhere before..."
"It smells a little like that of the wicked second prince, but it's not quite the same."
"The Second Prince is like the stench of a muddy pond, stench that's raw and unadulterated. This... is stench that's sickeningly sweet, suffocatingly sweet."
Chu Chongjin and Mu Fang exchanged a glance, both seeing an undisguised seriousness in each other's eyes.
They had anticipated that Sikong Ming's influence in Jiangnan was deeply entrenched. But this peculiar scent pointed to no ordinary martial artist or assassin.
Could it be that besides the forces on the surface, he has planted other, deeper pawns?
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