I pressed my hand on the hilt of my knife and said, "You guys go first. I'll catch up!"

"Mr. Li…" Old Liu desperately grabbed me. "You can't go down there. Let me go! I've fought that fish for so many years. Even if I can't kill it, I can escape. You're our backbone; you can't go down."

Just as I was about to push Old Liu aside, I saw Old Qu lift up the water vat and quickly walk towards the escape boat. "I'll go!"

"Stop!" My roar had barely started when Old Qu slashed the ropes holding the boat, falling into the water with it.

After a short while, I saw Old Qu paddling the boat towards the surface. His voice carried over from afar, "Mr. Li, let me take this trip! At least Zhuangzi and the others have something to look forward to, but I've lost everything. I'm not skilled enough to avenge them, but if I can do something, I'll do it!"

"Mr. Li, I know that in your eyes, everything in Fish Basket Village is karma. Without the cause of those who came before, there wouldn't be today's result."

"I don't see it that way! My home is gone, my wife and children are gone, and all I have in my heart is revenge. I just want to give them closure."

"I know you don't owe us anything, and I'm not qualified to ask you to avenge us. I only hope you can save the village for the sake of us risking our lives."

Old Qu paddled faster and faster, standing tall on the boat, staring straight ahead.

I couldn't see Old Qu's expression, only the back of a figure wearing a blue shroud. His figure would soon be frozen between the river and the sky, dyed red with blood, and submerged by water.

I watched Old Qu's back slowly wave and said, "Tell Zhao Zhuang to set sail as soon as possible. None of these people can die in vain."

As I spoke, Old Qu had already stopped the boat in the middle of the river. He took down the old hunting rifle, held it with both hands, and stood straight on the boat, like a warrior with a sword, staring at the river waves.

In the next moment, the black fish's dorsal fin broke through the water from below, sliding towards the boat like a long blade.

Old Qu raised the old hunting rifle and aimed it at the fin, firing. As the crimson gun-sand sprayed out, Old Qu threw the gun into the water, shoved his hands into his pockets, clenched his fists tightly, took half a step back, and used his body to block the water vat containing the dragon fish's corpse.

The black fish leaped out of the water, heading straight for Old Qu to devour him.

The clothes on Old Qu's body, however, expanded as if inflated as the black fish emerged from the water. Half of his body seemed to expand in a circle, and even his head seemed to shrink into his shoulders, leaving only his waist and below exceptionally slender.

The black fish suddenly turned its body in the air, biting towards Old Qu's waist.

Two rows of serrated teeth cut horizontally into Old Qu's body. Old Qu's blood spurted from both sides of the fish's mouth. Amidst the loud tearing of skin, Old Qu suddenly roared and grabbed for the black fish's eyes with both hands.

The moment Old Qu reached out, I clearly saw a layer of golden powder on his hands. It was either a secret medicine or a poison. He was using a secret medicine to stimulate his last bit of potential.

Old Qu's hands, like steel hooks, grabbed into the black fish's eye sockets. The black fish instantly went mad with pain, throwing Old Qu into the sky and tearing him in two.

Old Qu, who hadn't breathed his last, shouted while spinning in the air, "Mr. Li, the village is counting on you, thank…"

Before Old Qu could shout out the word "you," he fell into the water. Scarlet blood gurgled to the surface, and Old Qu disappeared into the river that had trapped him his entire life, locking him in for eternity.

The sorcerers on the boat solemnly bowed slightly in the direction of Old Qu's sinking without saying a word, then returned to their positions, because they knew that they might end up buried at the bottom of the river like Old Qu. Old Qu had only taken the first step. The instructions Old Qu left behind still needed them to complete with their lives.

After being severely injured by Old Qu, the black fish was rolling up and down in the river, unable to approach the warship for the time being.

Zhao Zhuang on the bow shouted loudly, "Listen to me, full speed ahead, full speed ahead…"

I grabbed two spirit talismans from my body and raised my hand to strike them into the cabin. The spirit talismans exploded with smoke and flames, and the ghosts in the cabin screamed miserably. I used my internal force to raise my voice and shout, "Full speed ahead! If anyone disobeys, I'll immediately turn them into ashes."

Seeing that I had murderous intent, the ghosts in the cabin immediately stood up and pushed the warship at full speed.

The warship, which had been stagnant, instantly exploded with amazing power, and also exploded with a madness like a final burst of glory.

As the warship wildly charged into the monstrous waves, Zhao Zhuang shouted sharply, "Turn left. Full rudder! Keep charging!"

Under the sudden turn of the warship, white waves overturned on one side of the hull. I could only see the surging river water boiling into the sky, and could only hear the hull screaming miserably, but I couldn't see where the warship was heading as it rode the wind and waves.

Zhao Zhuang's hoarse roar came one after another. The warship was advancing rapidly on the verge of collapse. Pieces of broken planks flew up, and the warship was also disintegrating at an accelerated rate.

"Charge—charge hard. Turn left—" Under Zhao Zhuang's roar, the warship suddenly changed direction, but an undercurrent of unknown origin pushed the hull forward horizontally. The hull could no longer withstand the impact of the river water and finally began to completely collapse.