Chapter 25 Conflict

Sailing in the middle of the night, listening to the sound of the waves beating against the boat, naturally the melody resounded through the heart of the man standing alone at the edge of the boat. There are hundreds of small boats not far away, full of people chasing after the lone boat. The lonely boat sailed steadily towards her destination, and did not realize the danger lurking behind her.

The man took a bite of a drumstick, chewed the meat slowly, and said, "Fire."

A wave of hundreds of fire arrows flew toward the boat, hitting the boat in various directions.

A flash of fire flashed from the corner of Xue Horan's eyes. He jumped onto Yongzheng and rolled the two of them off the roof. Both of them landed on their feet.

When Rao Zhengsheng saw the wave of fire arrows, he grabbed Yuan Xiurong and flew behind the pile of rice sacs. Rao Zhengsheng looked at Yuan Xiurong, "You stay here, don't move."

Rao Zhengsheng quickly went back to the bedroom and went straight to Dong Lanying. He shouted, "Lanying, get out now. Everyone get out now. The boat is on fire."

The martial artists stepping out of their compartment.

"What's the matter?"

"Why wake us up?"

Rao Zhengsheng said, "The boat is on fire."

Yong Taihua, "How could it be?"

Rao Zhengsheng, "A wave of fire arrows shot at us. We might deal with pirates." He quickly walked to the last room and opened the door. "Hao'er, we should go now." Rao Zhengsheng found an empty room without Xue Horan and Yongzheng. "Horan!"

By the time Rao Zhengsheng came out from the lower compartment, the sleepy martial artists were completely awake. Some martial artists tried to put out the fire by throwing burning rice sacs into the river. Rao Zhengsheng found Yuan Xiurong and Dong Lanying.

Rao Zhengsheng said, "I can't find Horan or Yongzheng."

Dong Lanying, "Not good. We have to find Horan." Dong Lanying shouted. "Horan!"

Rao Zhengsheng panicked. His heart burned with worry. He still remembers the last time Xue Horan was bullied by his classmates. They want him to take off his clothes to check if he is a boy or a girl. For Rao Zhengsheng, Xue Horan is a precious jade that only he can wear it around his neck. He quickly rushed to the stern.

The man wiped his greasy mouth and said, "Sink the boat."

Twenty boat raised their ballistas at the boat and shot out arrows and darts at the bottom of the boat. The boat was hit hard and it slowly tilted to one side.

One of the man said, "Chief Jiang, we broken through."

Jiang Koshing, "Get on the boat, kill as many as you want, and drown the rest, but make sure there are survivors to spread the words across Central Plains. Those stupid useless people killed one of us…they were the one who declare a war against the Seventy-Two Islands."

Yong Taihua, "Who are these people?"

Rao Zhengsheng, "They are member of the Seventy-two Islands."

Yong Taihua, "What are they doing here?"

Rao Zhengsheng, "No idea, but we have to leave here now. This boat will sink in less than an hour."

The northerner martial artists who could not swim began to panic. They chattered around the boat.

"I don't know how to swim."

"What will happen?"

Rao Zhengsheng said, "Those who can't swim must grasp something that can stay afloat, such as door panels or something that can float."

Dong Lanying said, "If they attack us, we will attack them and take their boat, but we will wait for them to attack us first."

Yong Taihua said, "Remember, we have better martial skill than they are." He turned to his juniors. "Protect Yan yisheng."

Suddenly, twenty Seventy-two Island members flew into the boat. Jiang Koshing stepped forward and asked "Who killed Li Fu?"

Rao Zhengsheng, "Li Fu, is he dead?"

Jiang Koshing, "Leader Li died not far from the burning house." He threw the sword directly in the middle of the floor. When we found him, this sword was still pierced in his abdomen."

Li Kong Bai picked up the sword, and the number four was written on it. Li Kong Bai, who had lost two of his beloved disciples the day before was not very pleased, and a bit irritable. He pointed at Jiang Koshing, "Where is Ru'er?"

Jiang Koshing mocked, "Ru'er? Who is Ru'er?" He looked at Li Kong Bai. "So do you know the owner of this sword?"

Li Kong Bai, "This sword belongs to my fourth disciple Yang Ru, and his whereabouts are unknown. If you had his sword, it means you have captured him. If you don't return him to me, Huangshan will never let the Seventy-two Islands live in peace."

Jiang Koshing laughed, "Ha…ha…ha…ha…stupid old man, when the Central Plains martial artists killed Li Fu, second leader of seventy-two Islands…they already declare war with the Seventy-two Islands."

Rao Zhengsheng said, "You really think that the Seventy-two Islands can really fight against the six sectors, four clans, and four households of Central Plains. You might be large in number, but their strength and technology will provocatively defeat you."

Yong Taihua added, "The reason why we choose not to disturb you is because we don't want to cause trouble to the innocent people living on those islands, but if you want to declare war on us..." He looked straight at Jiang Koshing. "We, Central Plains has no problem accepting your war."

Jiang Koshing grinned, "Boy, what is your name, when you die, I will bring your body back to your family for funeral."

Yong Taihua said, "Yong Taihua of Sword Village. Son of Yong Gui, first disciple of Mu Dishi."

Hearing the name Mu Dishi, Jiang Koshing hesitated, and his arrogance also eased. He said, "Since you are a disciple of Mu Dishi master of Killer Strings, you take your people on one of our boat and leave. I can be an enemy of anyone, but it is definitely not Master Mu...Yong gongzi, this way."

Yong Taihua said, "I came with all these martial artists, and I plan to leave with them."

Jiang Koshing said, "Not an option."

Yong Taihua said, "You let us go, or fight us."

Jiang Koshing, "Very good. Mu Dishi is dead long ago. If you see your shifu in the underworld, remember to tell him that you died voluntarily." He sighed. "Kill them all without leaving a trace of life."

Rao Zhengsheng, "Remember not to stay away from me."

Yuan Xiurong smiled at Rao Zhengsheng. She said, "Just like when we practice."

Rao Zhengsheng smiled, "Yes, treat it like our practice inside the Yuan Manor."

More Seventy-two Islands members rushed onto the boat and began to attack the martial artists on the sunken boat.

Rao Zhengsheng, "Yong-xiong, grab a boat and let those who can't swim get on the boat." He slit the throat of a charging man. "Lanying…" He didn't see Dong Lanying. "Lanying…"

Dong Lanying went straight to Jiang Koshing and started fighting with Jiang Koshing. Dong Lanying stabbed her sword at Jiang Koshing. Jiang Koshing jumped back, then jumped onto Dong Lanying's sword. She flipped the sharp blade up, Jiang Koshing flipped forward and fell behind her. He released a nine section chain whip at Dong Lanying. In order to avoid the chain whip, she whirled in the air and flew to the roof.

Jiang Koshing refused to let go of this opportunity. He hurriedly jumped behind Dong Lanying and fanned the pointed end of the chain whip to Dong Lanying, but Dong Lanying raised the sword and wrapped the chain whip around Dong Lanying's sword, giving Jiang Koshing a chance to kick Dong Lanying's belly. Jiang Koshing kicked sent Dong Lanying from the roof to the other side.

Dong Lanying fell on the rear deck not far from Xue Horan and Yongzheng. Xue Horan kicked one of the men away and rushed towards Dong Lanying.

Xue Horan, "Shijie…"

From above, Yongzheng saw Jiang Koshing jump down. He rushed forward, kicking Jiang Koshing's sole hard, kicking Jiang Koshing back to the top of the compartment. Yongzheng flew up and kicked Jiang Koshing's chest, but Jiang Koshing blocked Yongzheng's three kicks with his forearms. He released his chain whip wrapping Yongzheng's left arm, but Yongzheng's three kicks were still strong enough to knock Jiang Koshing back to the edge of the roof.

Jiang Koshing immediately loosened the chain whip that was tightly wrapped around Yongzheng's left arm. Jiang Koshing yanked Yongzheng forward and hit Yongzheng's right chest. Yongzheng used his light internal skill to condense Jiang Koshing's internal strength to the palm of his right hand, and hit Jiang Koshing's lower abdomen fiercely. The blow from Yongsheng's fist caused Jiang Koshing to fly from the roof to the floor of the front deck, sliding all the way to the edge of the front railing. Jiang Koshing vomited a mouthful of blood.

All the young and old martial artist on the front deck turned to see who had defeated Jiang Koshing. The martial artists saw a young man holding Jiang Koshing's chain whip under the moonlight. The reflection of the firelight made the young man standing motionless like a demon who had just awakened from hell.