Chapter 52 On Lake Suiyang, Ambush on All Sides

Early the next morning, Chi Pengjin learned that Su Yi had captured a demon cultivator from the Yuanmo Sect.

To prevent Wen Xiang from causing any more trouble, Su Yi deliberately left the woman's dislocated arm unset and sealed her acupoints. With her current meager internal energy, it would take several days for the points to unlock naturally.

Although, based on Xie Lingyuan’s account and her own investigation, this Yuanmo disciple seemed to have no major misdeeds, Su Yi remained wary. After all, by her position, Wen Xiang was a diehard adherent of the Yuanmo Sect, and one could never trust the devious ways of the demonic sects.

Su Yi instructed everyone that, except during mealtimes, no one was to interact with the prisoner. Ever curious, Chi Pengjin took the opportunity to tag along with Sun Wei during meal delivery to sneak a look.

No sooner had this happened than Su Yi heard of it. When she arrived, Chi Pengjin was standing just outside the cabin, watching Wen Xiang eat.

The boy was obedient enough—he didn't strike up a conversation.

Inside the cabin, Wen Xiang struggled with her chopsticks, her swollen, aching joints forcing her to eat slowly. When she noticed Su Yi, humiliation and anger flashed across her face. Rather than continue, she set the chopsticks down and fixed him with a cold, defiant glare.

“Brother Su, this young lady is really beautiful. Is she really a demoness from the demonic sects?” Chi Pengjin asked.

Su Yi ruffled the boy’s hair. “Pengjin, you’re still young, so you might not know the old saying: the prettier a woman is, the more likely she is to deceive you. Especially these heartless demonesses—never talk to them. The moment you do, you’re already caught in their web.”

“Oh, I see, Brother Su,” Chi Pengjin replied earnestly.

“Silence!” Su Yi’s comment struck a nerve, and Wen Xiang couldn’t help but snap at him.

“You see, Pengjin? The demoness is furious because the truth stings. Let’s not bother with her,” Su Yi said, leading the boy away.

“Alright, Brother Su.” Chi Pengjin quickly followed.

Wen Xiang was left behind, so angry she could spit blood. As Su Yi walked off, his voice floated back: “Looks like the demoness has had enough to eat. Sun Wei, take away her tray.”

...

Bidding farewell to Lu Xiangling and the others who’d come to see them off, the three warships and a double-decker barge cast off from the water fort, heading south toward Lake Suiyang.

At the river mouth, the waters widened, flowing steadily until they seemed to merge with distant mountains and the open sky. The lake stretched vast and boundless, its azure surface rippling to the horizon, distant peaks appearing and vanishing in the shifting light—a scene of ever-changing grandeur.

This was Lake Suiyang.

Having grown up in Luodu, Chi Pengjin had never seen such a magnificent lake. Staring at the endless, mist-shrouded waters, he held his breath and whispered in awe, “Is this really a lake? Isn’t this what the books call the sea?”

...

“Haha, you jest, Young Master Chi.” Pang Xian approached, his booming laughter tinged with admiration. “Lake Suiyang spans a thousand li, its expanse endless. It’s the lifeblood of countless families along its shores. To them, it’s no different from the sea.”

“Commander Pang, how many days will it take us to cross this great lake?” Chi Pengjin asked.

Pang Xian frowned. “With the prevailing winds this season, six or seven days at least,” he replied.

“That long?” Chi Pengjin exclaimed. Though the scenery was impressive, he suspected he’d tire of it before long.

“Pengjin, why so anxious?” Su Yi asked, clapping him on the shoulder. “Eager to see your homeland?”

“Not exactly,” Chi Pengjin shook his head. “Just feels a bit stifling to be on a boat for so long.”

He turned to Su Yi. “Brother Su, do you think those demon cultivators will give up, or might they try to pursue us?”

Before Su Yi could answer, Pang Xian interjected. “Young Master Chi, you worry too much. How could those demon scoundrels dare chase us? Do they have a death wish? No matter how skilled, faced with the imperial navy, they’re powerless. If those clowns dare come, I’ll see to it they never return.”

Su Yi merely smiled.

Three days into their voyage across Lake Suiyang, it was midnight, the moon high above.

A few clouds drifted across the night sky, veiling half the moon. A fine drizzle began to fall, threading silvery lines onto the lake, blurring the reflections as far as the eye could see.

“Stay sharp! Mind your steering. If you hit a reef, I’ll have your hide!” a gruff officer barked at his men from the forward cabin.

Within the vastness of Lake Suiyang, the Turtle Islets were a notorious hazard. Hundreds of islands and reefs dotted the waters for miles around. The navy knew these waters well, but at night, in the dark, a careless moment could mean disaster.

The ships furled their sails and slowed, inching cautiously through the maze.

A sentry on the lookout yawned, rubbing his eyes and thinking of a quick nap, when his comrade nudged him sharply. “Look! Over there!”

He followed the pointing finger. Far off, amid the shadow of a solitary islet, a small light flickered.

As they watched, more points of fire appeared in the shadows.

“Look there—more lights!”

“And over here, too!”

...

“Damn it! There are boats following us from behind as well!”

In the rain, tiny points of light appeared one after another on the water, encircling the fleet. The cover of rain, darkness, and the islands had hidden these unfriendly vessels until they drew within a few miles—only then did the sentries spot them.

“We have enemy contact! Sound the alarm!”

As the rapid clang of alarm gongs rang out, the sleeping soldiers roused at once, quickly donning their armor and arming themselves before assembling on deck under their officers’ orders.

“What the hell is going on in the middle of the night?” Pang Xian stormed onto the foredeck, his face black with anger, cursing freely.

“Damn it all, who dares pull the imperial navy’s tiger’s whiskers? Tired of living, are they?”

The moment the alarm sounded, Su Yi, who had been meditating in his cabin, opened his eyes. “They’re here.”

Chi Pengjin and the others awoke as well and joined Su Yi at the bow.

“What’s the situation?” Su Yi asked.

“We’re surrounded on all sides,” Pang Xian replied, his face grim in the torchlight. “The waters around Turtle Islets are treacherous, and our ships are too large and slow to outrun them. We’ll have to fight our way out.”

Confusion flickered across his face. “Where did those demon sect scoundrels get so many boats and men? Could they have allied with the lake bandits?”

“That can’t be. The imperial navy sweeps Lake Suiyang every year; there haven’t been any significant bandit forces here in ages. Where could they have mustered so many men?”

Though it was hard to make out the enemy in the darkness, Pang Xian’s seasoned eye could judge from the number of boats visible that there must be at least a thousand men.

His own three warships were sturdy and well-armed, the soldiers well-equipped, but as the saying goes, even an elephant can be bitten to death by enough ants. The navy was used to fighting with superior numbers, driving bandits to flee at the mere sight of their flags—never before had they been so brazenly ambushed.

Pang Xian’s face grew even darker as the reality sank in.