Chapter 71 - 70: Are His Legs Beautiful?

Chapter 71: Chapter 70: Are His Legs Beautiful?

Faced with the Black Shark Gang’s provocation, the Public Security Bureau members on board could no longer restrain themselves.

Their knuckles were white, and fire burned in their eyes. They were itching to pull the trigger right then and there.

But without an order from Lu Jing’an, no one dared to move.

And Lu Jing’an clearly had no intention of opening fire.

At least, not right now.

"You’ve come at just the right time."

His voice wasn’t loud, but it cut through the river wind as clearly as ice scraping across sheet metal.

"Go back and tell your chieftain."

"Seven days from now, in Yin Mountain County..."

Before he could finish, the water bandit in the fedora—the one who’d come to deliver the "gift"—brazenly interrupted.

"Seven days is no good! That’s when our Dragon King..."

"BANG!"

The gunshot cracked, overpowering the sound of the river’s waves.

The water bandit’s right hand was blown clean off at the wrist.

Blood and bone fragments splattered as the severed hand dropped directly into the water.

It immediately attracted a school of fish.

A scream still caught in the man’s throat, Lu Jing’an slowly lowered his gun.

His eyes, seen through the dissipating gunpowder smoke, were exceptionally calm.

"I wasn’t finished," Lu Jing’an said coolly. "Don’t interrupt me."

"You... You dare shoot me! From now on, all of the Lu Family’s cargo..."

"BANG!"

A second shot followed immediately, sending his fedora flying.

A patch of his scalp, hair and all, was torn away. The searing pain made his entire body go rigid.

Lu Jing’an remained standing where he was, the hem of his suit perfectly still.

Lu Jing’an’s expression was cold, his tone icy. "I said, don’t interrupt me."

This time, no one dared to make a sound.

There was only the sound of heavy panting, the soft patter of blood dripping onto the gunwale, and the mournful lapping of the river against the wooden boat.

"In seven days, have your chieftain come see me in Yin Mountain."

Lu Jing’an spoke each word with chiseled clarity.

"If he doesn’t come..."

Lu Jing’an paused, his gaze sweeping over their pale, twisted faces.

"Then there will no longer be a Black Shark Gang on the Canglan River."

With that said, Lu Jing’an gave a slight nod to the men at his side.

"Open fire. Treat it as target practice. Just don’t kill them."

The squad, who had been holding back with great difficulty, instantly pulled their triggers. Bullets rained down on the small, slipper-shaped boat like a downpour.

The water bandits ducked for cover inside the cabin, paddling for their lives.

They scrambled into a dense thicket of reeds, and in the blink of an eye, all that remained were swaying reed tassels and the slowly dissipating gunpowder smoke.

Lu Jing’an raised his hand. The muzzle of his gun was still warm.

’But the shooting wasn’t the important part. Cause and Effect Following Sound has already quietly locked onto the three of them.’

Through invisible threads of sound, every waterway deep within the reed marsh, every turn, and even every panicked breath was reflected into his perception as clearly as if in a Heart Mirror.

’This is the secret route the Black Shark Gang often uses.’

’I can set up a trap specifically for this secret route.’

’Of course, I won’t ignore the other waterways either.’

’I’ll make this reed marsh completely transparent to my Water Patrol Bureau.’

The Black Shark Gang!

Their Water Stockade!

After escaping with their lives, the three men took a winding path across the river.

They finally sailed into a treacherous bay interwoven with hidden currents.

The Water Stockade stood here, its wooden towers built out over the water.

Covered bridges linked the structures, and figures could be seen moving on the watchtowers. It was a veritable fortress on the water.

The currents here were treacherous, hiding dangerous whirlpools.

No ordinary merchant ship ever came here, making it the perfect lair for water bandits.

The injured water bandit, his wounds hastily bandaged, was dragged before the chieftain.

Countless rumors circulated in the Jianghu about the Black Shark Gang’s chieftain.

Some said he was eight feet tall, with a green face, long fangs, and a rosary made of human skulls around his neck.

Others said he was a rakshasa incarnate who ate human flesh and whose name alone could stop a child from crying at night.

The man himself, however, was the complete opposite of the legends.

He was less than five feet tall, with a short, small frame.

Sitting on a wide chair made from four human leg bones, his toes couldn’t even touch the ground.

The chair was crudely carved. The ends of the leg bones still bore the charred marks of a violent break, as if they had been ripped right off their owners.

This was because he hated nothing more than people whose legs were longer than his.

"Chieftain... that Lu Jing’an, he has no respect for you at all!"

Broken Hand Water Fudo knelt on the floor, weeping and wailing.

He recounted what had happened, embellishing the story and putting special emphasis on the cold look on Lu Jing’an’s face as he repeatedly told him not to interrupt.

The chieftain’s eyes narrowed as his finger tapped rhythmically on the armrest of his human-bone chair.

"’His legs... are they long?’ he asked suddenly, his voice as coarse as sandpaper."

The water bandit froze for a second, then a venomous glee flashed in his eyes. "Long!"

"Not only are his legs long, he’s also incredibly handsome, with skin as white as snow-dusted porcelain!"

"If you made a chair from his legs, Chieftain, it would be... no, it would *definitely* be the most magnificent one in our entire stockade!"

A dry, cackling laugh escaped the chieftain. His shriveled face crumpled into a knot, but a greedy light gleamed in his eyes.

"Good. Then those legs are as good as mine."

He slowly rose from his chair, and a ferocious aura suddenly erupted from his diminutive frame.

A black mist seemed to rise faintly from his body. Clearly, the chieftain was also a cultivator.

He just didn’t seem like an orthodox cultivator.

This wasn’t surprising.

To survive this long on the river, you had to have some real skills.

How else could someone last this long?

Water bandits without any real power were either wiped out by the Public Security Bureaus of the three counties or crushed by other water bandits.

Only the capable survived.

"Send out the order."

He grinned, revealing a mouthful of mottled yellow-and-black teeth.

"From this day forward, any ship belonging to the Lu Family—if you see one, you seize one."

"I want all the cargo. As for the people... leave no survivors."

"He wants me in Yin Mountain in seven days, does he?

When the time comes, I’ll send my men to meet him with the heads of the Lu Family.

He didn’t like the gift I sent? Fine. I’ll send him something fresher."

The water bandit with the severed hand grimaced through his pain, joining in with a savage grin.

Just then, the chieftain suddenly turned his head, a dark look in his eyes.

"Since Lu Jing’an dared to make such a threat, he won’t be targeting just my Black Shark Gang."

"Go. Spread the word."

"Anyone who dares to meet him in Yin Mountain in seven days is a mortal enemy of the Black Shark Gang."

"I want this entire Canglan River to know—"

"—who the one and only Dragon King of these waters is."

Meanwhile, Lu Jing’an stood on the bow of the ship, his eyes fluttering open.

’Just now, I was following those three water bandits.’

’They thought they were moving fast.’

’But they never would have imagined it.’

’Thanks to the entry, I was following them the entire time.’

’I followed them right into their Water Stockade.’

’I followed them right to their chieftain.’

Lu Jing’an muttered to himself:

"The Black Shark Gang’s Water Stockade is hidden quite well."

"But now that I’ve found it, things will be much easier."

"If he doesn’t show up in seven days, then the Black Shark Gang will cease to exist."

"After all, I’ve already made the threat. I can’t very well not follow through."

Discovering the Black Shark Gang’s Water Stockade hadn’t actually been part of his plan.

But finding it was a welcome development.

"Full speed ahead."

Lu Jing’an gave the order for the Ironclad Ship to continue its patrol.

’The four great scourges of the Canglan River.’

’I’ve already encountered two of them.’

’Two more to go.’