97: Chapter 97 Daytime Expulsion, Nighttime Evidence Collection

Xue Mingyuan's words drifted over the reef wall, half-scattered by the sea breeze.

Lu Changyuan did not reply immediately.

He first scanned the positions of the three treasure ships opposite him.

The one in the middle was the largest, its Spirit Cannon muzzles facing forward but uncharged—the Array Patterns on the surface of the cannon barrels were still dim.

The two on either side were slightly smaller, with guards standing in loose formations; on the decks, some were moving wine jars, while others were tuning zither strings.

A hunting configuration. Not here for a fight.

"Uncle Hu."

"Present."

"Form up. Deterrence formation."

Lu Hu turned and raised his right hand.

Fifty Sword Ray Cavalry simultaneously reined in their mounts, the sea horses treading through the waves as they converged from a fan shape into three horizontal rows.

Each row had sixteen or seventeen riders, with ten zhang of space between each row.

The first row of cavalry drew their swords—the blades reflecting a cold white light in the setting sun.

The second row of cavalry pressed Evil-warding Talismans against their chests, the talisman paper emitting a faint golden glow upon contact with their body heat.

The third row of cavalry kept their hands on their crossbows but did not raise them—the rule of the deterrence formation: the weapon is in the hand, not aimed at the target.

As the fifty riders of the second-tier military formation spread out over the sea, the rhythm of the waves within a hundred zhang changed.

The splashes under the sea horses' hooves went from chaotic to orderly, with a unified breath between the sound of each hoofbeat.

The Spirit Cannon muzzles on the three treasure ships opposite hesitated for a moment.

It was not charging.

It was the gunners looking back at Xue Mingyuan.

Lu Changyuan rode forward two steps.

"Blue Moon Island Lord. Deputy Envoy for the Transport of Anti-Demon Supplies in the Outer Sea for the Zhenhai Military Warehouse. Holder of the Xuangui Island Military Talisman."

His voice was not loud, but every word was crystal clear, "This sea area is designated as a defense zone of the Zhenhai Army and is not within the jurisdiction of the East Sea Governors Office. Your Excellency is flying the flag of the East Sea Governor, you have crossed the boundary."

Xue Mingyuan was stunned for a moment.

He truly had not expected that the person opposite him was not an ordinary Loose Cultivator.

But his mouth reacted faster than his brain.

"The Zhenhai Army cannot control this Young Master's hunting!"

A middle-aged man in a deep blue martial outfit behind him leaned in and whispered something into his ear.

The voice was kept very low, but Lu Changyuan, separated by several dozen zhang, saw the man's lip movements—he was saying the three words: "Cavalry," "Second-tier military formation," and "Withdraw first."

Xue Mingyuan's expression changed.

He waved his hand to dismiss the songstresses and zither players, but he was still shouting, "Big deal, just fifty horses? This Young Master has three ships and a row of Spirit Cannons—"

"Your Spirit Cannons are not charged." Lu Hu interrupted him, his voice more than twice as loud as Xue Mingyuan's, "By the time you finish charging them, my men will already be on your ship."

Xue Mingyuan opened his mouth.

The Late Foundation Establishment Stage guard captain behind him leaned in again, this time saying something longer.

After listening, Xue Mingyuan's expression became completely unpleasant.

"Fine. You are ruthless." He turned and walked toward the stern, waving his hand as he went, "Let's go! Change locations!"

The three treasure ships began to turn.

The speed was not fast—hunting ships were not warships; they had a deep draft and a large turning radius.

The sterns churned up a large patch of white foam as they lumbered away toward a small reef island dozens of miles away.

Xue Mingyuan shouted from the stern, "You just wait!"

Lu Changyuan did not reply to him.

He had Lu Hu record the entire process just now—the sounding line data, the Cold Gale Mist hydrological records, the opponent's ship numbers, flags, and the number of Spirit Cannons—all into the military register.

Page by page, written clearly with charcoal sticks.

"Young Lord," Lu Hu said after finishing the last stroke, "He will definitely bring reinforcements back when he returns."

"Let him." Lu Changyuan said, "We will get a good look at who exactly the reinforcements he brings are."

The sky darkened much faster than on land.

The sunset glow on the sea faded from orange-red to dark purple, and it was completely black in less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick.

There were no stars in the night sky of the Cold Dragon Abyss—the Cold Gale Mist covered the entire firmament, leaving only a circular hole directly above the Abyss Mouth where a few sparse stars could be seen.

Xue Mingyuan's three treasure ships were anchored next to a palm-sized reef island about forty miles away.

The lights on the ships became three bright yellow dots in the night, flickering on and off.

Lu Changyuan stood on the reef wall, gazing at those three points of light.

"Uncle Hu."

"Present."

"Take thirty brothers. Change into black clothes. No armor—armor will reflect light."

"Return before dawn?"

"Do not kill anyone." Lu Changyuan turned to look at him, "Search his ship cabins. The Storage Pouch in the cabins, the cargo in the hold, the letters on the tables and in the cabinets—take everything that can prove what he has been doing in this sea area. Knock out the guards on duty, but don't injure their vitals."

Lu Hu nodded.

He did not ask why—having followed him for so long, he knew this kind of thing was more useful than a direct fight.

If they fought, the other side could go back and say they were "bullied by others."

But with evidence in hand, the other side wouldn't know what you had.

Thirty cavalrymen took off their Cold Iron light armor and put on the black night-traveling clothes they carried with them.

The sea horses were all left at the camp—the sound of sea horse hooves carried far over the water.

The men used Spiritual Qi to tread on the water; their footsteps were much lighter than horse hooves.

Lu Hu gave each person a short-term Breath Concealment Talisman—not high-grade goods, but they could mask Spiritual Qi fluctuations below the Early Stage Foundation Establishment for about an hour and a half, which was enough.

"Go."

The thirty men spread out close to the surface of the sea, like thirty black fish sliding into the night.

Lu Changyuan remained at the camp.

He took the black turtle egg out of his protective pouch and placed it on his knees.

The patterns on the eggshell were brighter in the night—the pale gold had turned into dark gold, and the pulsation was still in the same direction, at the same frequency.

But there was an indescribable feeling—it was as if the egg knew something was happening tonight; it was no longer urging him, waiting quietly.

Over an hour later.

A very light sound of water came from the sea.

Lu Hu returned.

He was soaked through, his hair plastered to his forehead, but his eyes were very bright.

In his left hand, he carried three bulging Storage Pouches, and in his right hand, he held a stack of letters half-soaked by seawater.

He spread the items out on the reef rock in front of Lu Changyuan.

"Young Lord. The bottom of that young master's cabin—" He caught his breath, "Was piled with half a cabin's worth of Ore."

"How much?"

"I didn't count carefully. But just looking at the quantity, it's at least over a hundred thousand Spirit Stones. The grade is not bad—not worse than what our Xuangui Island mines produce."

Lu Hu opened one of the Storage Pouches and poured out a small pile of Ore samples.

The surface of the dark blue Ore had fine silver patterns, originating from the same source as the texture of the Cold Iron Mine.

"He is not here for the first time."

Lu Hu picked up the stack of letters, "There were also sea charts in the cabin—hand-drawn, marking at least six mining sites in this sea area. Most are on the periphery of the Cold Dragon Abyss. There were also large quantities of hunting supplies—tents, spiritual food, spiritual wine, beast-repelling incense. This young master has treated this sea like his own backyard."

Lu Changyuan picked up the letters. He flipped through them one by one.

Most were internal correspondence documents of the East Sea Governors Office, the content mundane—on such and such date, purchased a certain amount of spiritual food; on such and such date, allocated a certain amount of spare Spirit Crystals for the Spirit Cannons.

When he flipped to the third letter, his hand stopped.

At the signature of this letter, there was a hidden seal.

The hidden seal was not engraved—it was printed with a certain special spiritual ink, which would emit a very faint purple-blue layer when viewed against the light.

The pattern on the hidden seal was a sea bird with spread wings, with three small characters pressed under the wings.

Lu Changyuan had seen this pattern before.

Xu Sanlan.

That veteran who stood out from the supplementary quota veterans, the first to say the three words "Old Seal Bid Case" to him.

On a list of the Sealed Fleet he had handed over, there was a merchant firm whose hidden seal pattern was exactly the same as the pattern on this letter.

A sea bird with spread wings. Three characters under the wings.

Lu Changyuan placed the letter on the reef rock and pressed it flat with his palm.

The sea breeze kept flipping the corners of the paper up, and he kept pressing them back down.

"Uncle Hu."

"Present."

"These letters—are not spoils of war." He tucked the few letters with hidden seals into his robes separately, "These are clues."

Lu Hu stopped smiling.

He glanced at the Young Lord's action of putting away the letters and knew that this matter was much heavier than those hundred thousand-plus Spirit Stones' worth of Ore.

"What about the remaining Ore?"

"Seal it and record it in the military register." Lu Changyuan stood up, "Distribute the hunting supplies according to military merit—the brothers who went out tonight will each get an extra share."

"Yes."

Lu Hu turned to make arrangements.

The lights on the reef were extinguished one by one, leaving only the bonfire in the center of the camp still burning.

The sea breeze poured in from the direction of the mist zone, blowing the flames back and forth.

Lu Changyuan sat alone for a while.

He took out the list of the Sealed Fleet that Xu Sanlan had given him from his robes.

The list was so old that the paper had yellowed and become brittle, with several corners crumbled.

The list was densely packed with the names of dozens of merchant firms, and next to each name was stamped a hidden seal.

He found one of them—a sea bird with spread wings, with three characters under the wings.

It was exactly the same as the hidden seal on Xue Mingyuan's letter.

He folded the two items together and put them into his robes.

Then he looked up at the sea to the northwest.

The lights on Xue Mingyuan's ships were still on—forty miles away, three bright yellow dots were still flickering.

"Let him wait." Lu Changyuan said to himself.

He stepped out the bonfire and turned to walk into his tent.