When it came to speed, a ferryboat couldn’t match the Yangtze River Channel League’s swift ships—or even an ordinary vessel. Especially in weather as foul as today’s.
Hoooooosh! Splash!
The ferryboat rocked in the fierce wind and churning current.
Its small hull offered little resistance to the elements. Veins bulged along the arms of the old boatman gripping the oars.
As befitted an experienced boatman, he had guided the ferryboat skillfully despite the bad weather. But the closer we came to our destination, the more violent the current grew, and he was nearing his limit.
This is probably as far as he can take us.
It would have been insane to come this far relying on nothing but a single ferryboat and an old boatman.
I rolled my neck from side to side and stepped forward.
“Shall we begin?”
At those words, three people opened their eyes. They had been circulating their qi without moving an inch despite the rocking hull.
“I’m ready, Benefactor.”
“To use one of the Beggars’ Sect’s finest arts for something like this… Master would certainly have a thing or two to say if he saw me.”
“Captain, what should I do?”
Cheongpung, Gung Gibang, and Hyuk Mujin had replenished their qi. I quickly gave them their orders.
“Cheongpung, follow me to the stern. Gung Gibang, take the bow. Mujin, protect the boatman. I’ll call when I need you, so move the instant I do.”
As the three took their positions, the old boatman, who had been struggling at the oars, blinked.
“E-excuse me, what exactly are you talking about…?”
Before he could finish, a fierce blast of palm force shot from Cheongpung’s hands and slammed into the water.
Boom! Fwoooooosh!
“Waaaaaagh!”
The so-called palm-force booster.
The ferryboat was far smaller and lighter than even the sleek-hulled swift ships. It soared through the air.
The boatman’s scream mingled with the wind tearing past us.
Using that scream as my signal, I stepped forward.
Now.
Whoooosh!
Just as the airborne ferryboat was about to drop back onto the water, I drew up the internal energy filling my dantian and sent it surging into my palms.
Boom! Booooom!
My Flame Divine Palm had now reached eighty percent mastery. Its heat made the surrounding air blaze, and the descending ferryboat leaped upward again like a flying fish.
The boatman’s eyes bulged. He pointed ahead with a trembling finger.
“Reefs! There are reeeefs ahead!”
Did anyone really think the Dongting Fisherman would establish one of his secret refuges somewhere easy to reach?
The route we were taking was too narrow for ordinary vessels to enter. The current was also unusually strong, making it difficult for a light boat like a ferryboat to escape once it was caught in the flow.
Once the current swept a boat away, it would be easy for it to crash against one of the reefs scattered throughout the passage.
“You fucking bastards! I told you I wasn’t coming!”
The old boatman’s heartfelt scream rang out. At that exact moment, I shouted a name.
“Gung Gibang!”
“Got it!”
Gung Gibang answered energetically and flung his sleeves, which were little more than rags.
The Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms—said to be passed down to only two people among the Beggars’ Sect’s hundred thousand disciples, the Sect Leader and the Successor Beggar—erupted through the air.
Kwoooooo-boooom!
Palm force poured down like a rainstorm, shattering the reef that towered like an iron wall into countless fragments.
The second and third reefs that appeared beyond it could not withstand the might of the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms either.
Kraaaaaash!
The ferryboat broke through the scattered fragments of reef and landed on the surface.
Spray surged up on both sides of the hull, and several fish that had leaped from somewhere slapped the old boatman across the cheeks.
“Gah… Uhhh…”
He was completely out of it.
I shook the drooling boatman by the shoulder. His eyes had gone half vacant.
“Wake up. Stay with us.”
“Ugh… Uhhh. You fucking…”
“This isn’t working. Mujin.”
“By your command.”
Hyuk Mujin rolled up both sleeves and planted a solid slap across the boatman’s face.
Smack!
The boatman’s eyes snapped back into focus.
“Gah! What was that—”
Smack!
“…I-I’m already awake.”
“Stop.”
“Yes, sir.”
Nothing brought someone to their senses like a good slap across the face.
I turned to the boatman as he rubbed his reddened cheeks.
“Where do you think we are?”
“No matter how honored you gentlemen may be, treating a man like this is—”
“Mujin.”
“By your command.”
“I’ll check immediately, sir.”
The boatman sprang to his feet and looked around.
The channel was barely wide enough for two or three ferryboats to pass side by side.
Sheer cliffs loomed on either bank, and violent currents churned across the water. Thick fog hung over everything.
The old boatman narrowed his eyes and carefully examined the area before nodding.
“Yes. This is the first of the places you mentioned.”
According to the Lower District Sect’s information Honglan had relayed to us, there were five likely locations for the Dongting Fisherman’s secret refuge.
We had reached the closest of them.
That was certainly good news, but it was too early to celebrate.
“Getting here quickly is all well and good, but… how are we supposed to find it now?”
At Gung Gibang’s question, I scanned our surroundings.
“I don’t know. The information Young Lady Hong gave us wasn’t exact, either. We’ll have to search the area thoroughly.”
“Ugh. This is going to take forever.”
“Don’t jinx us. Just be grateful Young Lady Hong’s information got us this far.”
A secret refuge wasn’t called a secret refuge for nothing.
Honglan’s information had not included its exact location, but merely narrowing down the Dongting Fisherman’s hidden retreat to this area was already a major gain.
Even if the first location turned out to be a dead end, something would eventually be caught once we drew the net tight enough.
Unless it jumps out on its own before we catch it.
As I carefully surveyed the area, my face suddenly began to prickle.
I glanced aside. Four pairs of eyes had been staring at me strangely, but they immediately darted away.
“What?”
“W-what do you mean? I was just… thinking it was nice that you were still thinking about Young Lady Hong in the middle of all this.”
“Ahem. Captain, you have my full support.”
“Ah, youth is a fine thing. I was popular with the ladies myself until about thirty years ago. They used to call me the Fisher of Women’s Hearts on Dongting Lake. Hahaha.”
“…”
It was obvious what they were all thinking.
I was inwardly clicking my tongue when my eyes happened to meet Cheongpung’s. He flinched like a bird that had been shot and frantically waved both hands.
“No! No, Benefactor! I wasn’t thinking about anything!”
“What on earth were you thinking about? I haven’t even said anything yet.”
“Really, I wasn’t! I swear I wasn’t imagining Young Lady Hong and Benefactor falling passionately in love, getting married, having two children, and living happily ever after! Or imagining myself living next door and visiting Benefactor all the time!”
“…”
“Gasp!”
Only then did Cheongpung realize his mistake. He clapped both hands over his mouth, but it was already too late.
He imagined all that in the space of a few seconds?
At that rate, he could quit being a martial artist and become a novelist.
His pen name could be Huashan Divine Dragon. If he published under Huashan’s name and got Sword Saint Mae Jonghak to write a blurb, his books would sell like crazy.
Of course, if he made me the protagonist, he would get the shit beaten out of him just as quickly.
“Good grief. What is wrong with you people…? Never mind. Forget it.”
There was no point wasting my breath. I sighed and quickly issued new orders.
It wasn’t because my face had somehow grown hot, or because the faint scent clinging to Honglan’s silver hairpin kept tickling my nose.
…Really.
“Cheongpung and Gung Gibang, use the Wall Lizard Technique to search the cliffs. Mujin, take the boat around and search below. We don’t know what might appear or when, so don’t let your guard down for a single moment.”
At my serious tone, the faint smiles vanished from everyone’s lips.
If the Dongting Fisherman really was here, a fight would be unavoidable.
I did not know exactly how powerful he was, but if a Supreme Peak master of the Dongting Fisherman’s caliber launched a surprise attack, Cheongpung and I were probably the only ones who could properly respond.
“Remember this. If you let your guard down, you die.”
Of course, we would do everything in our power to prevent that from happening. But in the world of martial artists, life and death could be decided in an instant.
Everyone nodded gravely. I was about to turn away when Hyuk Mujin suddenly spoke.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re searching together. Did you think I was going to sit around and have fun by myself?”
“No, that isn’t what I meant. Weren’t you planning to remain on the ferryboat?”
“Cheongpung and Gung Gibang have the cliffs covered, and you’ll be searching below, so I need to look somewhere else.”
“Somewhere else? Where else is there to…”
Hyuk Mujin stopped mid-sentence.
“Don’t tell me…”
“That’s right.”
I looked down at the churning river.
“We have to search underwater too. If it were anyone else, I might not consider it, but this is the Dongting Fisherman’s refuge. It’s a perfectly reasonable possibility.”
“But you’ve never learned water arts, have you?”
“Hmm. Probably not.”
At my confident answer, Cheongpung and Gung Gibang—who had been about to climb the cliffs with the Wall Lizard Technique—each added a warning. Even the old boatman, holding his oar aloft like a weapon, joined in.
“Benefactor, my grandfather once told me that you must never fight a master of water arts underwater.”
“I agree. You haven’t learned water arts, so you couldn’t possibly search this entire stretch by yourself. And if your opponent is the Dongting Fisherman, you should avoid it all the more.”
“I know you are an exceptional martial artist, honored sir, but the water here is deep and the current is fierce. One wrong move, and you could truly be in grave danger.”
I couldn’t find a single flaw in any of their arguments.
A battle between Supreme Peak masters could be decided by the smallest detail.
And the difference between fighting on land and fighting underwater was as vast as the difference between heaven and earth.
The martial arts I’ve learned are particularly vulnerable underwater too.
Most of the Fire Gate Clan’s martial arts were based on Scorching Yang Qi—in other words, fire qi.
By their very nature, they could not display the same power underwater as they could on land.
That was also why Jeok Cheongang hated the Yangtze so much. He knew that if a life-and-death duel broke out there, he would be fighting at a disadvantage.
“…”
Hmm. I take that back. Thinking about it again, he probably just hated water itself.
Regardless, it would not have been particularly surprising if the Dongting Fisherman had established a secret refuge underwater, away from other people’s eyes and footsteps.
He was a master of water arts who could breathe like a fish and move even faster than one.
But I hadn’t volunteered without a plan.
My entire swimming career consisted of a children’s swimming class I had taken when I was seven. There was another reason I had decided to enter those deep, raging waters.
I’ve never used it before, but… if the description is accurate, this should be more than possible.
I exhaled briefly and removed my shirt and shoes.
Before Hyuk Mujin could recover from his surprise and stop me, I leaped straight into the river.
Splash! Whoooooosh!
The water was as cold as ice, yet crystal clear.
Schools of brightly colored fish swam together. Far below, unidentifiable aquatic plants swayed in the depths.
And then… at last, the sound I had been waiting for rang out.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
System
The Water Rescue Worker Title’s effect has activated!
The special Skill embedded in the Title has been applied!
Water Rescue Worker’s Webbing has been generated!
Water Rescue Worker’s Gills have been generated!
The special Skill will remain active for 24 hours and cannot be used again for one week!
The martial arts you have learned are incompatible with the surrounding environment. The power of Fire Gate Clan martial arts is reduced by 20 percent underwater!
As the System notifications appeared, my body began to change.
Shhhhhhh.
A faint light visible only to me swept over my entire body. Transparent webbing formed between my fingers and toes.
This is…
Even underwater, I felt as light and mobile as I did on land.
My vision grew even clearer. When I exhaled the breath I had been holding, the cold water turned into air and rushed into my lungs.
This works even better than I expected.
I had never imagined the Water Rescue Worker Title I’d earned by completing the sudden Quest The Tragedy of Dongting Lake would prove useful so soon.
This should be more than enough.
Grinning, I began to swim smoothly.
My transparent webbing sliced through the fierce current, propelling me into the distance faster than a fish.
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