Chapter 1 Departure

A team of fast horses galloped on Suzaku Avenue, heading straight for Chongde Gate.

On horseback, Ye Chuxiao asked, "This trip to Hedong is a full three thousand *li* away. Are we really going on horseback? Won't our crotches be rubbed raw?"

Jin Sanniang heard this and said, "You'll naturally find out when we leave Shenjing City."

Then she teased, "If you're rubbed raw that easily, then this older sister won't be interested in you anymore."

The other three, upon hearing this, Zhao and Qiao both revealed knowing smiles. Only Cui Yu remained expressionless, and it was unknown whether he didn't understand, or understood but kept it bottled up inside.

The fast horses galloped, and coupled with the early morning hour, there weren't many pedestrians on the city streets. The group of five left Chongde Gate in just half an incense stick's time.

The guards at the gate, seeing their Six Fan School uniforms and the waist tags they displayed, didn't stop them, allowing them to leave the city on their own.

Three to five *li* outside the city, Jin Sanniang took the lead in reining in her horse.

"Dismount!" The five jumped off their horses one after another.

Jin Sanniang took out a golden whistle and blew it. The five horses, which had previously seemed ordinary, now raised their heads and neighed.

In an instant, the muscles all over their bodies swelled up, and raging black flames burned all over them. Curved, sharp, black horns protruded from their heads, making them appear fierce and ferocious.

The neighing began to sound particularly cheerful, as if this were their true form.

"You probably don't know, but our Big Sister Jin is also a Beast Master. These horses were all personally bred and trained by Big Sister Jin, and they have the divine power to travel three thousand *li* in a day and fifteen hundred *li* at night," Zhao Si whispered to Ye Chuxiao.

Ye Chuxiao nodded upon hearing this.

Jin Sanniang was a Golden Badge Constable of the Six Fan School, so how could she not have some skills up her sleeve?

The five 'changed' to the black flame horned horses that had their seals released and set off again.

At this time, the speed of these five horses could hardly be described as swift as the wind, they were simply too fast.

Moreover, the sharp horns on their heads also had the effect of cutting through the wind. The five fast horses charged forward in a cone formation on the official road, even faster than lightning.

Galloping like this, by dusk, the five had already arrived at the bank of the Han River. Once they crossed this endless Han River, Hedong would be on the other side.

A refreshing breeze blew across the river, and the setting sun floated up and down the great river, creating golden-red waves.

The river was vast, beating against the green mountains and embankments on both sides, and just listening to the sound made one feel open-minded.

At this time, there were no ferries on the river, but in the distance, there were still some scattered fishing boat lights, faintly visible in the gradually darkening twilight.

Jin Sanniang glanced at Cui Yu and nodded.

Cui Yu took out a talisman from his bosom, folded it quickly, and in the blink of an eye, he folded it into the shape of a small boat.

He unfolded the small boat and placed it in the palm of his hand, blowing a breath of air on it.

The small boat floated onto the river surface, following the breath of air blown out.

The talisman paper boat, falling into the water, swelled up upon encountering water.

In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a large ship large enough to accommodate more than ten people.

This ship not only had a deck and cabins, but also a paper figure boatman standing at the bow, looking dull and stiff, but the work in his hands was not sloppy. He quickly punted with a long pole, bringing the boat to the shore so that the five could board immediately.

Jin Sanniang raised her horse badge and put away the five horses.

Then the five boarded the ship together.

Before the boat could leave the shore, they heard someone shouting not far away.

"Wait! Boatman! Please wait!" A group of three people, bypassing a mountain, appeared within sight.

Among the three, the frail-looking man and a young maidservant were supporting a pregnant woman who looked like she was about to give birth.

The frail man, after seeing Ye Chuxiao and the others, immediately stepped forward, cupped his fist and said, "I am Bai Mingjian from Hedong. My wife is pregnant and has difficulty moving. I hope to return home as soon as possible, lest we spend the night in the wilderness. I apologize for stopping the boat. Please forgive me."

Jin Sanniang's gaze swept back and forth over the three of them.

Then she nodded slightly and said, "Since that's the case, then come aboard! There are places in the cabin for your wife to lie down comfortably."

The man was overjoyed and immediately cupped his fist and bowed slightly.

Then he helped his wife onto the boat.

After the three boarded the ship, the paper figure boatman set sail.

The ship made of talismans slowly left the shore, and as the waves surged, its speed became faster and faster.

In the blink of an eye, it reached the center of the river.

"Ah!" A shrill scream suddenly came from the stern of the ship.

Immediately afterwards, a man's panicked voice followed: "Quick! Stop the boat, my wife... my wife has fallen into the water."

The five people, who were in the cabin and on the deck at the bow, didn't move.

Seeing the man wailing miserably, Zhao Si, with a gloomy face, walked to the stern with a pumpkin hammer in his hand.

After two muffled thuds, two more splashes were heard.

Then Zhao Si returned to the cabin again.

At this time, a thick fog suddenly rose in the middle of the river.

Under the shroud of thick fog, the talisman ship also lost its direction.

The unintelligent paper figure boatman stalled at this time, standing at the bow of the ship, shaking the oars haphazardly, letting the boat spin in the middle of the river.

At the same time, a 'bang bang' sound came from the bottom of the ship, as if something was chiseling the boat.

Cui Yu pinched a hand seal and chanted the Golden Iron Spell to reinforce the talisman ship.

"Damn it, those妖 (yāo) people, they didn't die! I'll jump into the river and kill them again," Zhao Si said angrily, rolling up his sleeves.

"Si, don't be impulsive," Jin Sanniang said.

Then, from the seemingly large chest of her clothes, she took out a small crystal bottle.

Inside the bottle, two small black fish were swimming, very clever and cute.

Jin Sanniang opened the small crystal bottle and poured the two small fish in the bottle into the river water.

Before long, big waves rolled around the talisman ship.

Amidst the rolling waves, one could vaguely see huge black fish spines and shimmering scales.

The waves became more turbulent and rapid.

But after a while, the sound of chiseling the bottom of the boat stopped.

The river seemed to return to tranquility.

But the thick fog did not dissipate, but instead became even denser.

In the dense fog, dim red lights were vaguely visible, sometimes near and sometimes far.

After a moment, they suddenly realized that a huge multi-storied ship, hanging full of red lanterns, had directly collided with the talisman ship.

*Pa!*

The two ships collided head-on.

The protective Golden Iron Spell on the talisman ship shattered instantly.

A trace of pain appeared on Cui Yu's face, obviously suffering from the backlash of the earth's energy.

Qiao Wuqi grabbed the two curved bow pieces from behind, spliced them together to form a bow, and strung the bowstring with a pull of his finger.

He cut his finger, dripping blood to form an arrow.

Drawing the bow and shooting the arrow, the blood arrow carrying strong *yang* energy shot towards the multi-storied ship, which looked hazy in the thick fog and was very strange.

The blood arrow fell on the multi-storied ship and turned into blood-colored flames.

But this multi-storied ship seemed to be alive, and it naturally sprayed out a burst of water mist, quickly extinguishing the blood-colored flames.

"Not a ghost ship, but a solid object," Qiao Wuqi quickly judged.