Fragrance rises to dance

Chapter 10

Just when the outcome was hanging in the balance, and the ship was in grave danger of being sunk, crashing into the sandbar, or navigating the treacherous bends, someone suddenly laughed from above and asked, "Does anyone like fish soup?"

Saint Incense? Bi Qiuhan, Weng Laoliu, Nan Ge, and even Wan Yuyuedan were all slightly shocked. When did he get on the mast?

Both sides were stunned and looked up. They saw a young master in fine clothes with a bright smile sitting high on the mast, holding a long rope that was hanging over the top of the first mast. "The big fish is here!" he said, pulling the rope and jumping straight down, laughing as he pounced on Bi Qiuhan.

With a whoosh, the rope snagged the mast, and Shengxiang jumped down, pulling on one end. The other end of the rope was pulled up sharply, and with a loud crash, a large, wet mass was hung on the mast. The weight caused the ship to rock violently a few times, and the mass even made sounds, emitting a series of coughs and cries for help.

"Oh shit……"

"What is this thing...?"

"There's a ghost!"

...

For a moment, both sides stared in astonishment at the large mass hanging on the mast. It was a large fishing net. Inside the net were seven or eight burly men dressed in wetsuits, and a garment embroidered with gold thread shimmered in the sunlight—clearly Sheng Xiang's attire.

Everyone suddenly realized that Shengxiang had laid a large fishing net under the boat, with a piece of clothing hanging inside. The man who came to salvage the boat had vaguely seen someone under the hull and groped his way up to ambush him, but unknowingly fell into the net. Seeing that the man was hooked, Shengxiang tightened the net, attached a rope to the mast, and then pulled it down sharply, lifting the man from the net onto the mast. If casting the net to catch the man was a trick, then this rope-pulling jump was real skill. The man in the net was much heavier than Shengxiang; the fact that Shengxiang could pull him up meant that his jump had a strength of at least eight or nine hundred pounds.

Bi Qiuhan naturally understood why Shengxiang had lunged at him. As soon as Shengxiang lunged, he swiftly took the rope from Shengxiang's hand, wrapped it around the bow of the boat, and tied the men securely to the mast. Shengxiang wasn't good at holding his weight; he might be able to pull hard, but it was absolutely impossible for him to hold onto seven or eight men for an extended period. Bi Qiuhan knew that this pampered young master would definitely let go once he couldn't hold on any longer and wouldn't exert himself for long.

Suddenly, his own brother climbed onto the mast. The archers on the beach were stunned. The ship had already broken through the bend and the treacherous shoals, and the danger had been averted.

"Stop, everyone! May I ask if you are Yi Shanqing, the White Crane of Liaodong?" Nan Ge shouted at one of the men fighting with him from the stern of the boat.

One of the men in gray who had fought with him froze, "The one surnamed Yi hasn't mentioned that name for over ten years, you are...?"

Nan Ge stopped, staring at the man in gray, her eyes slightly moist.

“You…” the man in gray suddenly pointed at Nan Ge, “you…”

"Brother Yi, it's me. Don't you recognize me?" Nan Ge smiled wryly, then raised her head, took a deep breath, and let out a loud whistle. The clear whistle pierced through the clouds and seemed to shake the whole world, breaking the sky and splitting the sun, making people's ears ring.

“It’s you.” Yi Shanqing said sadly, “More than ten years have passed, and you don’t even recognize Brother Nan. But your howl has remained unchanged for more than ten years.”

The two appeared to be friends from over a decade ago, perhaps even having gone through life-and-death situations together, yet now they were facing each other with swords drawn on this ship. Even seasoned veterans of the martial world couldn't help but sigh with melancholy; this was the nature of the martial world…

"Isn't it a good thing that the two of you have been reunited after so long?" A gentle voice came from the dock. "It seems that Master Yi is not deliberately making things difficult for us. There must be something fishy going on here."

More than a decade ago, Yi Shanqing and Nan Ge were in their prime, each confident in their martial arts skills and capable of making a name for themselves. But when they met again more than ten years later, Yi Shanqing was a bandit king in a mountain stronghold, while Nan Ge… the suffering she endured over those ten years was unimaginable to most. The contrast between their youthful dreams and their current destitution was heartbreaking.

"Hey, you two, stop thinking about how embarrassing it was." Sheng Xiang, sitting at the bow, pulled out a bag of sunflower seeds from his pocket and casually cracked a few. "The guys on the mast are waiting to come down. You, yes, I'm talking about you." He pointed at Yi Shanqing with the sunflower seeds. "Are you the leader of this group?"

This was the first time Yi Shanqing had ever seen someone point at him with melon seeds and say, "I'm talking about you." He was a little embarrassed and replied, "No, I am the second chief of Baiyu Village on the Han River."

"Where is the boss?" Shengxiang asked, munching on a melon seed.

"Here," the yellow-clad man who had joined forces with Yi Shanqing to fight Nan Ge said coldly.

This man was thin and sallow-faced, tall and wiry like a skeleton, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to "White Fish." Shengxiang passed a melon seed to him, asking, "Who sent you to intercept the ship?"

"Shengxiang, you mustn't speak to Chief Gu like that," Bi Qiuhan interrupted. Gu Yinfeng of Baiyu Village on the Han River was notoriously eccentric, and Baiyu Village was considered a local tyrant on the Han River. If Shengxiang spoke to him like that, and Gu Yinfeng's eccentric temper flared up, the situation today would be difficult to manage.

Shengxiang ignored his instructions and glared at him with her big eyes, saying, "When I'm speaking, Xiao Bi, don't interrupt."

Bi Qiuhan suppressed his temper, "Shengxiang! The martial world has its own rules..."

“I know, the martial arts world has its own rules.” Sheng Xiang nodded matter-of-factly. “I didn’t say there weren’t any.”

You… Bi Qiuhan was almost driven mad by him. Not knowing how to respond, she could only pretend she hadn’t heard him and ignore him.

"The rules of the martial arts world also say that it's impolite to interrupt someone's speech," Shengxiang continued rambling on.

"You still interrupt me just the same way." Bi Qiuhan couldn't take it anymore. Instead of reflecting on his own mistakes, Sheng Xiang accused him of interrupting him. It was completely absurd and upside down!

"Alright, alright, Qiu Han," Wan Yuyue said with a smile. "From now on, whatever Sheng Xiang says goes."

"Yes." Bi Qiuhan was startled. He must have made a fool of himself just now. Arguing with Shengxiang was the most pointless thing in the world.

Who is this young man in blue? Why is Bi Qiuhan so respectful to him? Gu Yinfeng wasn't angry, but said in a sinister tone, "I received news that Dead Man's Dam recruited several experts today to disrupt my White Fish Village. Since we knew about it, we couldn't just wait for them to come and challenge us, so we struck first. It seems the news was false, and we've all been fooled."

Nan Ge laughed and said, "Fortunately, no one is seriously injured. A few of Brother Gu's brothers were hurt, but at least no one was killed."

Gu Yinfeng glanced at Nan Ge, then coldly said to Yi Shanqing, "Your good brother!"

Yi Shanqing said awkwardly, "Boss, Brother Nan's martial arts skills have always been superb..."

"I'm not angry," Gu Yinfeng said coldly, then glanced at Bi Qiuhan. "Are you Bi Qiuhan, the leader of the 'Seven Sages' Butterfly Dream,' also known as the First Sage?"

Bi Qiuhan nodded. He had been in the martial arts world for ten years, and people in the martial arts world called him and several other young heroes with outstanding character and martial arts skills "Seven Sages of the Butterfly Dream". However, the seven sages may not have had any real relationship with each other.

“You’re really angry, kid.” Gu Yinfeng said mercilessly, his eyes unblinking, looking like a skeleton. “Who are you, kid?” he asked, looking at Wan Yuyuedan. “I think you’re someone important on this ship.”

Wan Yuyuedan remained seated in the cabin, still relaxed. Upon hearing this, she blinked slightly and said, "My surname is Wan Yu."

"And—" Gu Yinfeng's gaze was about to fall on Shengxiang, who had been sitting at the bow of the boat, but he suddenly realized that he had disappeared.

Not only Gu Yinfeng, but even Nan Ge and Bi Qiuhan didn't notice when the sacred incense disappeared.

“He went to take a bath.” Wan Yuyuedan was still very perceptive and patiently explained, “He said he jumped into the river and got all dirty. He changed his clothes in a hurry but didn’t take a bath. Now he’s going to take a bath.” He smiled as he spoke, as if he was very happy.

"Wait a minute, what is he going to use to take a bath?" Old Man Weng, who had been annoyed at being lured away from the boat, suddenly blurted out, "Could it be..."

Wan Yuyue nodded again, "He used the water that was boiled at the bottom of the boat."

Old Liu looked dejected, and Bi Qiuhan asked in surprise, "What's wrong?"

"That's water from the smoldering stove," Old Man Weng said, both amused and exasperated. It turned out the stove on the boat was rarely used; to cook, the fire had to be preheated, and only when the stove and pot were hot could food be cooked. Shengxiang had taken the hot water from the smoldering stove to bathe, and by the time they cooked dinner, the stove would be cold. Reheating it would mean waiting until dawn! That meant they wouldn't be able to eat dinner. Everyone on the boat, except Shengxiang and Wanyu Yuedan, probably understood this. Hearing this, they exchanged bewildered glances, secretly amused. Shengxiang had been incredibly clever at catching people with his nets, and the people of Baiyu Village had been somewhat unpredictable about him. Now, besides finding it hilarious, they had completely forgotten his earlier feat.