Chapter 924: Patrolling the Island

Chapter 914: Island Patrol

He added, "If Yu Liang were here—he's one of my subordinates—he could observe the celestial phenomena and predict wind and rain more accurately than us."

The clouds were thick, and He Lingchuan felt a little skeptical.

But for half a cup of tea, he could wait.

As everyone conversed, the gray mist covering Dragonspine Island seemed to be guided, drifting towards the boats on the sea.

It was a vast and unpredictable spectacle.

Just like the clouds in the sky.

The clouds seemed to be pushed away by an invisible hand, and after several dozen breaths, they mysteriously vanished.

The sky was clear, the sun shone unobstructed on the land, the sea sparkled with golden waves, and the island was lush and green—a sight of indescribable beauty.

The pirates had indeed not been mistaken; within half a cup of tea, the clouds had parted, revealing a perfectly clear sky.

He Lingchuan smiled. "This truly is heaven's help." Then he instructed his subordinates, "Sail to Dragonspine Island as quickly as possible."

Min Tianxi shook his head repeatedly. "No, no. The Yin Vipers can avoid sun damage by staying underwater. They're also very good at attacking from below!"

At that very instant, a Yin Viper surged out of the water and lunged fiercely at a pirate.

Speak of the Yin Viper, and here it comes?

He Lingchuan decisively ordered, "Turn around, let's go!"

The roar sounded a little... angry?

Min Tianxi was greatly alarmed. "That's a Yin Viper's cry! No, wait, that's the Yin Viper King's cry!"

Both Yin Vipers and Yin Fiends are afraid of light. With the sun protecting this boat, what was there to fear?

The boat stopped approaching, partly due to He Lingchuan's order, and partly out of fear of the stench emanating from the viper corpses on the shore.

While ordinary creatures decompose naturally within a few days of death, there were no scavengers to consume the viper corpses. No one knew how long they would lie there rotting.

It was only early afternoon, broad daylight, the time of day when yang energy was strongest.

No sooner had he spoken than there was a thud from the bottom of the boat, as if it had struck something, causing the hull to sway at least thirty degrees.

They had been expert sailors and seafarers since childhood, their skills far surpassing He Lingchuan and the Rongshan people. Once the boat was in their hands, it seemed to gain a soul, not only doubling in speed but also executing unintentional arcs and angles with remarkable grace.

How much Yin Fiend energy had Young Master He absorbed along the way? Had the deaths of the Yin Vipers truly been orchestrated by him?

Seeing it with their own eyes, the pirates could finally confirm that there was indeed something wrong with the Yin Fiends on Dragonspine Island. Their gazes at He Lingchuan had shifted from initial shock to incomprehension.

This was a case of specialized skills. The young master had deliberately arranged the previous battle on Fishbone Reef instead of on the ships, proving his foresight.

Ordinary Yin Vipers were usually ten feet long; these were rare behemoths.

"Are there other mineral resources in the archipelago?"

"Oh, I don't know about that. It was before my father was born," Min Tianxi answered truthfully. "It's quite a shame, Thundergod Island isn't small."

"There seem to be some copper and iron ores, but I'm not entirely sure," Min Tianxi asked cautiously. "Do the island's mineral resources also belong to Young Master He?"

"Everything produced on the surface, underground, and in the sea—agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fisheries, and minerals—all belongs to me," He Lingchuan said, pointing at him. "Including you."

Steward Yang said that Rainie knew, but he guessed Min Tianxi would know more.

Otherwise, the wind direction would soon change, making sailing twice as difficult.

If he became an islander, he would naturally belong to the island lord.

The Yin Fiends on the sea surface had long vanished, and everyone could clearly see Dragonspine Island's long, narrow coastline and steep cliffs from a distance.

A pirate pointed at the beach and shouted, "Dead bodies!"

Qiu Hu said, "The light is very strong right now."

He Lingchuan nodded. "Last time we came, we almost wiped out the Yin Viper's lair. It's not surprising for the Yin Viper leader to send subordinates on regular sea patrols."

Had Wang Fubao not pulled him back in time, the pirate would have been snatched away in an instant.

Without needing his prompting, five pirates voluntarily joined the ranks of the sailors.

Sure enough, when the Yin Viper appeared, everyone's faces changed color. Xiang Lian gasped, "It's that big?!"

"When I was young and mischievous, I made a bet with a friend—Rainie's father, actually—and sailed close to Dragonspine Island. The weather that day was just as good as today, and standing at the bow, I heard that sound. Soon after, my father arrived and immediately told me to turn around and leave, saying that the Yin Viper leader on the island was beyond human power to defeat," Min Tianxi said quickly. "Young Master He, we should leave too!"

At that moment, there was another loud thud from the bottom of the boat, and the hull shook violently. A pirate at the rail nearly toppled overboard, but Wang Fubao grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back.

Before long, Dragonspine Island was in sight.

"I've heard from my elders that the Yin Fiend energy in the Yangshan Archipelago is like a tide; sometimes it expands, sometimes it contracts, but the intervals are very long. In the past sixty years, the range of the turbid Yin Fiend energy has actually expanded," Min Tianxi explained. "Thundergod Island used to be outside the Yin Fiend's covered area, allowing people to mine there. Later, the Yin Fiends enveloped it, and the mine was left idle."

As per He Lingchuan's request, the boat stopped about half a li from the shore.

Qiu Hu unconsciously glanced at them a few more times. On land, he alone could fight seven or eight of them, but at sea, a few of him combined wouldn't be as skilled at handling the boat as they were.

Their ability to sail directly and approach Dragonspine Island today was indeed lucky.

"What about the remaining reserves?"

Min Tianxi offered a particularly strained smile.

The creature didn't fully emerge, but the part that appeared above the water was twenty feet long, and its chest, even unexpanded, would still require a person's full embrace.

"How so?"

He Lingchuan knew that as long as he approached the coast, the island's Yin Fiends would continuously overflow, so he wasn't in a hurry. Instead, he just chatted with Min Tianxi: "Do you know if the Yangshan Archipelago produces Shaoling ore?"

At this distance, the human eye could already discern many things.

"There have been no signs of Yin Vipers entering the water from the shore," he continued to observe. "Most likely, there were already Yin Vipers patrolling in the water."

"Shaoling ore?" Min Tianxi thought for a moment. "Oh, that's on Thundergod Island. Others can't go there, but Young Master He, you can."

Apart from that, the scenery of Dragonspine Island that everyone saw from the shore was truly top-notch.

Dragonspine Island's beach, originally as white as moonlight, was now speckled—the small dark spots were the remains of Yin Vipers.

Just then, a long roar came from the island.

It was like an infant's cry or a night owl's hoot, but exceptionally sharp and loud. Though far away, everyone felt a pang in their heart and found it quite unsettling.

Yin Viper remains had appeared in Blade Harbor over the past few days, but their numbers were child's play compared to what was here.

"Have you heard it before?"

Fortunately, everyone had a stable stance, preventing them from falling backward.

The monster was in and out of the water in less than two seconds, but He Lingchuan had already seen gray smoke rising from its body and heard faint sizzling sounds.

This was a reaction to being scorched by sunlight; if it had dared to linger on the boat, it would have been incinerated in an instant.

Before he finished speaking, there was a gnawing, crunching sound from the bottom of the boat, like rats gnawing on wood, amplified tenfold.