Chapter 941: 越 Ping's Background

**Chapter 931: Yue Pinghe's Wealth**

The Soul-Snaring Mirror clucked several times in its master's arms. Oh, he was putting on an act again!

Faced with the threat of the man-eating Yin Hui, the pirates in the water had no choice but to swim towards the stone beach. He Lingchuan's men effortlessly captured dozens of prisoners.

The gradually sinking pirate ship, with no escape, soon waved its flag and surrendered.

He Lingchuan's condition for their surrender was that they tie up Third Master Yue Pinghe before the ship sank; otherwise, everyone on board would perish with him.

As soon as the condition was stated, silence fell over the other side.

Soon, roars and curses erupted from the ship.

He Lingchuan didn't bother to distinguish whose voices they were; he merely put away his flute and said to those beside him:

"Alright, the battle is over."

Before they sank, both ships were dragged ashore by the Yin Hui.

The defeated pirates disembarked one by one, then were forced to kneel on the stone beach, heedless of the sharp stones digging into their feet.

They knelt in five neat, yet dejected, rows.

The first to be escorted down was a bruised and swollen Yue Pinghe. He was covered in bloodstains and hogtied.

Qiu Hu pushed him in front of He Lingchuan and ordered him to kneel.

Yue Pinghe gritted his teeth, refusing to kneel, but Qiu Hu kicked him behind the knee, instantly forcing him down.

Now, he was left to gaze up at the amiably smiling Island Master He.

"Why!" Yue Pinghe spat out a mouthful of bloody foam. "Why did you offer them amnesty, yet launch a sneak attack on me?!"

Among the three pirate factions of the Yangshan Archipelago, he was not the weakest. Why was Min Tianxi offered recruitment and Huang Zhao treated courteously, while he was suddenly attacked?

Yue Pinghe was indignant.

"Because of you," He Lingchuan said with a smile. "Your reputation as Third Master is simply too poor. I asked many people, and they all said you couldn't be trusted."

To be cautious, he had his Rongshan disciples gather intelligence in Blade's Edge Port. The feedback was largely consistent: Yue Pinghe's character and trustworthiness were indeed poor. Even his own pirates, after getting drunk in taverns, would complain to them that their boss was terrible to work for.

What's the point of keeping untrustworthy, two-faced people around?

If such a person were in his own camp, He Lingchuan would have to constantly watch his back.

Fusheng emerged from the void, and He Lingchuan gripped it, twirling it in a blade flourish.

As soon as the blade appeared, Yue Pinghe's arrogance vanished. He nudged his chin toward Huang Zhao and hastily argued, "That's slander! I've always had a grudge against him; he's just slandering me behind my back. You absolutely mustn't believe him."

While on the ship, he still had the courage to fight.

After being tied up and brought ashore, with his knees pressed against the pebbles, he knew courage was useless. Only the clever adapt to circumstances.

Huang Zhao didn't refute him; he simply spat on the ground. With himself standing and Yue Pinghe kneeling, what was the need to refute anything this man said?

"Then what should I believe?" He Lingchuan asked him. "What will you offer as a sign of sincerity?"

Yue Pinghe swallowed. "I control three treasure hoards. Island Master He, if you take me in, mountains of gold and silver will all be yours! From now on, I will serve you faithfully and dedicate myself completely!"

"You've hidden so much money?" He Lingchuan asked curiously. "How much exactly?"

"Thirty thousand... no, fifty thousand taels!" Yue Pinghe heard his gentle tone and became even more candid. "It's my savings from the past thirty years, and I'm willing to offer it all to Young Master He!"

On the stone beach, the pirates exchanged dismayed glances.

Good heavens! They all knew their boss secretly saved money, but they had no idea he had accumulated so much.

Thirty to fifty thousand taels! They might not have accumulated that much money even after years of piracy. How did their boss secretly amass such wealth?

He Lingchuan pointed at them. "Do your subordinates know?"

The gazes from his men were unreadable, making Yue Pinghe's face tingle. He gritted his teeth and said, "No, they probably aren't... not entirely clear."

His public admission of illicit wealth accumulation would undoubtedly make it difficult to lead his subordinates in the future. But for now, staying alive was paramount; he understood his priorities.

"Hmm—" He Lingchuan slowly nodded, then changed his tone. "Not enough."

This amount of money wasn't enough to buy his life.

Yue Pinghe's heart sank, and he was about to plead further, but He Lingchuan pressed his shoulder and whispered in his ear:

"Your men aren't important, and your money isn't important either. But your absence, that's quite important."

Thirty to fifty thousand taels? Ha, tell that to someone else.

Yue Pinghe's face instantly went white.

He Lingchuan straightened up, patted his shoulder, and smiled amiably at him. Then, a cold glint flashed in his hand.

Most people hadn't even reacted, but Yue Pinghe's expression had already frozen, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Qiu Hu instantly straightened up.

He hadn't even clearly seen He Lingchuan's strike.

A few breaths later, a head rolled onto the stone beach, and blood from the neck spurted three feet high.

Third Master Yue Pinghe thus perished on his own Centipede Island.

He Lingchuan propped his blade on the ground and declared, word by word: "Yue Pinghe, leader of the Third Pirate Faction, committed murder and plunder, brought calamity to the region, and caused endless harm. I, He, act on behalf of Heaven. From this day forward, no pirates shall stir up trouble or plunder ships in the waters of Yangshan; otherwise, they shall meet the same fate as the scoundrel Yue!"

As his last word was spoken, the fresh blood on the blade had just finished dripping.

His gaze was like lightning, piercing straight into people's hearts. The pirates he swept his eyes over, whether Min's or Huang's subordinates or the captives on the ground, all lowered their heads, daring not to meet his gaze.

He Lingchuan, with the intimidating power of his killing, awed the entire scene. He then ordered his men to collect and bury Yue Pinghe's remains and had the Yin Hui drag the two ships back to the hidden dock within the mountain for major repairs.

As a lord, he didn't have many ships under his command yet, so they shouldn't be wasted.

Qiu Hu specifically removed all storage devices from Yue Pinghe's body and handed them over to He Lingchuan.

At this point, the Yin Hui's mission was complete. It hissed a few times, made several splashes on the sea surface, and swam back to Dragon Spine Island without looking back.

Yes, He Lingchuan had just signed a pact with the King of Yin Hui, and in the blink of an eye, he urged it to fulfill its obligations, sending Yin Hui to assist him in suppressing the pirates.

Tonight, with the Earthly Fiend Yin Vein erupting, these creatures had come after absorbing their fill of fiendish energy. They were brimming with strength, unlike their sickly state of previous days.

Min Tianxi and Huang Zhao exchanged glances, both seeing the hidden fear in each other's eyes.

Although He Lingchuan didn't mention it, it was clear to anyone with eyes that these Yin Hui had been summoned by him to assist.

Island Master He could summon and dismiss these fiends of the Yangshan Archipelago at will; everyone was both astounded and utterly impressed.

With Yin Hui assisting, who would dare to challenge the archipelago in the future?

Stability was assured; everything would be stable from now on.

He Lingchuan personally saw the change in everyone's expressions and noted that their addressing him as "Island Master He" was finally heartfelt. He knew his intended effect had been achieved.

If you have good cards in hand, you should reveal a little to your opponent at the appropriate time.

A fierce battle ended, and then came the part the pirates enjoyed most —

Plundering the spoils of war.

In fact, the Third Faction originally had two strongholds. One was recently raided by Yin Hui, so Yue Pinghe had gathered all his men on Centipede Island, only for He Lingchuan to wipe them out completely.

The Third Faction pirates also had a treasure vault, located in a cave deep within their stronghold. While not impregnable, it wasn't easy to break through multiple barriers and get in.

However, this time He Lingchuan led his forces to attack under the cover of night, breaching the stronghold so quickly that Yue Pinghe fled without even having time to secure the contents of his vault.

He Lingchuan then called for Yue Pinghe's trusted aides and opened the treasure vault in full view of everyone.

Inside, there were indeed gold, silver, jewels, and various magical artifacts, but they didn't even fill half the floor space.

Dozens of Third Faction pirates were also present, and a slight commotion arose at first glance, not because they coveted the treasures, but because the amount of treasure was far less than expected.

"So little?" He Lingchuan stroked his chin. "It seems Yue Pinghe secretly created a personal stash and was constantly enriching himself."

He walked into the treasure cave and used Fusheng to draw a line on the ground.

"The treasures outside the line," he announced, "will be a reward for all personnel who participated tonight. As for how to distribute it—" He glanced at Qiu Hu and the two pirate masters, "—you will report to me after discussing it among yourselves."

Oh, the three largest piles of treasure were all designated for them, and everyone instantly broke into smiles.

Weren't they fighting tooth and nail just to make a living?

The new boss wasn't stingy; everyone felt relieved.

Next, the group escorted the prisoners back. Meanwhile, Ding Zuodong, who had come with the ship, took two newly recruited stewards to inventory the remaining assets in the vault and assess the value of assets on Centipede Island.

Before He Lingchuan rewarded his subordinates, the total value of items in the vault was less than thirty thousand taels, which still didn't match Yue Pinghe's claimed personal assets.

However, in an inconspicuous box, Ding Zuodong discovered over a dozen land deeds and business contracts corresponding to properties and shops in Mou State, Qing State, Blade's Edge Port, and several other small countries.

Pirates usually preferred to plunder gold and silver jewelry, then goods, and least of all these contracts. Selling them involved high risk, a long cycle, and inconvenient transactions.

But none of these were problems for He Lingchuan; he could simply hand them over to Ding Zuodong to manage.

In addition, the buildings on Centipede Island were not valuable, but the dock within the mountain contained seven intact large ships, thirteen small boats, and some dinghies and fishing boats.

Although not all were cargo ships, these were all things He Lingchuan needed.

The future business and transportation of the Yangshan Archipelago would depend on shipping; how could they manage without these basic means of transport?

Ding Zuodong grinned from ear to ear as he looked at these items:

"The remaining treasures in the vault should be worth over seventeen thousand taels," Ding Zuodong began. "These land deeds and shops—" He hesitated for a moment, as he wasn't very familiar with prices in Mou State and other small countries. "—let's make a conservative estimate of nine thousand taels for now."

He Lingchuan hummed in acknowledgment. Buying the Yangshan Archipelago cost eighty thousand taels, and eliminating Yue Pinghe brought back twenty-six thousand. This was truly a good business deal.

Now, he once again had over two hundred and forty thousand taels.

"And these ships..."

He Lingchuan smiled. "The ships don't need to be valued; they're all useful. We're not selling them."

Furthermore, eliminating Yue Pinghe brought an unexpected bonus: Min Tianxi specifically reminded He Lingchuan that Centipede Island housed many shipwrights and boat builders whose shipbuilding and repair skills were exceptionally superb and renowned throughout Blade's Edge Port.

Since the Third Faction pirates had been annihilated, these people naturally became He Lingchuan's spoils of war.

These were exactly the talents He Lingchuan urgently needed.

He was the island master and needed a fleet. The more ships, the better; the larger the ships, the better.

The island surprisingly also had many tools for extracting palm oil, and seven to eight hundred barrels of extracted oil were stored in another cave in the stronghold. The quality was very good, and it was said they were originally due for delivery in five days.