Chapter 331: Do You Dare Leave Your Name Behind

Inside the Ouyang family’s fleet, a group of guards watched the battle with grim expressions.

“I didn’t expect someone would try to hijack the ships the moment we entered Sanhe Commandery.”

“They’re bullying us because the Ouyang family has no power in Sanhe Commandery!”

“Hmph!”

“Let’s just hope the Sanhe Commandery hall of the Caobang can hold the line. Otherwise, the heavy cargo on our fleet will have no choice but to sink to the bottom of the river.”

For the moment, the Ouyang family’s people were still speaking in a relatively relaxed tone.

That was because the Caobang clearly held the upper hand in the clash with the attackers.

Even though the enemy had prepared smoke in advance, the smoke did not affect the fighting beneath the water.

The Caobang had already arranged for men to slip into the river ahead of time.

The enemy had no way to get close.

When it came to fighting on the water, no gang or bandit force could compare with the Caobang.

Splash!

A corpse floated up from the river and was slowly shoved aside by the advancing fleet.

Then more and more bodies began rising to the surface.

The Ouyang family’s guards watched closely.

“Most of the dead aren’t Caobang disciples.”

“So the Sanhe Commandery hall does have some strength after all…”

“Of course.”

“When it comes to water battles, it’s very hard for the Caobang to lose.”

“The man leading the Sanhe Commandery side has some skill. With one large ship and a dozen smaller ones, he has completely blocked the assault coming from the Water Stronghold.”

The Caobang’s large vessel, the very one Wangchuan was currently aboard, had planted itself firmly along the flank of the passing fleet. Together with more than a dozen smaller boats, it sealed off the enemy’s avenue of attack.

A rain of arrows suppressed them.

The water fighters formed a defense.

In the places Wangchuan and the others could not see, inside the Water Stronghold, more than a dozen martial artists above the second rank were floating dead on the surface of the river, their bodies stained red with blood.

Clang! Clang!

The strongest among them, a leader, was now locked in battle with a woman dressed in tight water gear.

“Who exactly are you?”

“Why are you killing my gang’s men?”

“There’s no such person as you in the Caobang!”

This fourth-rank martial artist was both shocked and furious.

He had originally led his people into ambush here and planned to trap the Caobang fleet with smoke. Then they would quickly spread boats loaded with tung oil across the river and set the Ouyang family’s fleet and the Caobang fleet ablaze, dealing the Caobang a savage blow.

But to his surprise…

The moment the thick smoke billowed out, he ran into this female fiend.

Taking advantage of the dense smoke, she burst out from the water and in one fierce charge killed several boat captains, slaughtering the very men responsible for the next stage of the plan.

The operation had gone terribly wrong!

Naturally, this fourth-rank martial artist was driven into a murderous rage.

Yet his opponent was also at the fourth rank, and her movement technique was exceptionally refined. She carried herself with the unmistakable bearing of a disciple from a famous sect.

“I was entrusted with this task, so I will carry it through. If you retreat now, you may still live.”

Bai Jingtang’s voice was cold and clear. She exchanged dozens of moves with him in rapid succession, but neither side could gain the upper hand.

As she fought, she also kicked the smoke-producing straw into the river.

As the smoke gradually thinned and the view began to clear, the man on the other side no longer dared to remain. Gnashing his teeth, he said, “If you have the nerve, leave your name behind. I’ll repay this one day…”

Bai Jingtang gave a cold, mocking snort.

“If you have the nerve, you leave your name first!”

“…”

The man was struck speechless.

Attack the Caobang fleet and then leave his name behind? So the Caobang could put a bounty on his head?

Whoosh!

He said nothing more. Pulling back from the fight, he turned and rushed deep into the Water Stronghold.

With their leader gone…

The men in the water and on the boats swiftly lost the concealment of the smoke and became living targets for the Caobang.

From afar, Bai Jingtang saw two familiar figures standing tall upon the great ship, and a smile like spring sunlight melting snow touched her face.

Then she turned away.

Bai Jingtang began searching the corpses of the martial artists.

She was the reinforcements Wangchuan had brought in at the last moment.

After receiving Wangchuan’s call and learning that there was an escort mission worth one hundred taels of gold, Bai Jingtang, who happened to be short of money, accepted without the slightest hesitation.

Only…

Under Wangchuan’s arrangements, she did not need to rendezvous with the fleet. Instead, she operated as a hidden line, secretly scouting the ruins of the Yulong Gang’s Water Stronghold and the narrowest stretch of the downstream waters.

Bai Jingtang had mastered 《Water-Submerged Breath Regulation Art》 and 《Underwater Killing Techniques》, and she also possessed the strength of a fourth-rank martial artist. Reconnaissance, infiltration, and assassination tasks were all well within her capabilities.

And so…

The water battle at the Yulong Gang’s Water Stronghold came to pass.

Bai Jingtang knew that as long as she prevented the tung oil from spreading across the river and being set aflame, the fleet would remain safe.

Wangchuan, meanwhile, knew that if the danger at the Water Stronghold grew too great, Captain Bai would find some way to notify him.

Working together from within and without, they resolved the crisis at the Water Stronghold with remarkable ease.

In the end, more than a hundred corpses of “river bandits” were left behind there.

The fleet paid only the price of three dead disciples and a dozen or so wounded before calmly leaving those waters.

By the time the fleet entered Huishui County territory, the Ouyang family was very pleased with the Caobang’s performance in Sanhe Commandery.

There were many warning boats on the river along the way.

Everything was orderly and precise.

The earlier ambush seemed not to have shaken the Caobang in the slightest.

“As expected of the number one gang on the water.”

“The Caobang’s strength truly lives up to its reputation.”

“With the Caobang protecting us, things are much easier for us.”

Near dusk, the fleet entered Heilong County territory…

By the usual rules, the fleet should have docked before nightfall.

But at Wangchuan’s insistence, the fleet continued onward and, by evening, followed the ships clearing the way into the Sanjiang Branch Helm.

In Wangchuan’s view, only once the fleet had reached his own ground would he have absolute control.

And besides—

The Sanjiang Branch Helm clearly had several times the manpower of Heilong County!

The docks of Hejiang Town blazed with lights!

Space had already been prepared there for the fleet to come ashore.

The Caobang disciples had also fully armed themselves and taken control of the entire dock, presenting a forceful scene of military strength and strict vigilance.

The slight displeasure the Ouyang family had felt earlier immediately vanished into nothing.

When escorting cargo by ship, safety was what mattered most.

Since the Sanjiang Branch Helm had made such thorough reception and defensive preparations, what more could they possibly say?

On the ship, Wangchuan saw Bai Jingtang, who had already changed clothes.

“Sis!”

Bai Yuhui hurried over, his face bright with excitement.

Bai Jingtang looked him up and down with unconcealed fondness.

“Not bad. You’re more mature than before. Being a hall master these past days clearly wasn’t wasted on you.”

Then she turned to Wangchuan.

“Wangchuan, thank you for looking after Yuhui.”

“My junior brother should naturally be looked after. Besides, he has worked hard himself.”

Wangchuan smiled.

“I haven’t even had the chance to thank Captain Bai yet. We made it through today’s battle at the Water Stronghold without incident entirely because of you.”

From the brothers who had been responsible for cleaning up the battlefield afterward, he had already learned that several of the small boats at the Water Stronghold had been loaded with jars of tung oil.

If all that tung oil had drifted onto the river, it might not have destroyed the fleet outright, but it would certainly have caused tremendous trouble and losses.

Bringing in Captain Bai as hidden reinforcement had been exactly the right decision.

“I took your money, so naturally I dealt with your trouble.”

Bai Jingtang smiled faintly.

“If you have another high-paying job like this in the future, call me anytime.”

A single mission for one hundred taels of gold—where else was she going to find such work?

Wangchuan nodded.

“Definitely.”

The Caobang was short of manpower right now, and a helper with the strength of a fourth-rank martial artist was not easy to come by.