The sky over the rivers and lakes is very clear - Chapter 175
Having made up his mind, he said, "Great hero Rong Lin!"
"Please allow me to!" Maple Snow Color and the Scarlet-Clad Monk corrected him in their minds at the same time.
“A month ago, I was passing by a place by boat. When we stopped to rest, I saw a group of people killing another group of people. The victims included men, women, and children. The killers were a group of men in black—very similar to the people who killed the fat man last night.”
The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear - Part One: The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear - Chapter 5 (7)
Maple Snow and the scarlet-robed monk exchanged a glance, their expressions turning serious: "Explain yourself clearly!"
Zhu Huihui smiled wryly and said, "I...I can't really explain it clearly!"
Yes, he did witness the massacre firsthand, and not just him, but everyone on the ferry at the time did.
However, they did not know why all of this happened, when it happened, or when it ended—because they escaped in time after being discovered by the murderers and the boat captain was stabbed in the abdomen with a flying knife.
Although he managed to escape with his life, the sight of blood and flesh splattered everywhere, limbs flying off, the horrific screams, and the beach littered with bits of flesh and bones still haunts him and often wakes him up in nightmares.
So, when he saw those men in black appear at Yanhe Pagoda, he immediately guessed that they were probably there to kill him—because he had seen them kill someone, so they wanted to kill him to silence him!
The fat brothers were simply unlucky; they just happened to come looking for trouble at the same time.
However, this sentence must absolutely not be said, otherwise, if these old men get angry, they might make you pay with your life for the two fat guys, which would be a loss!
My heart sank: if that were true, the others on the ferry at the time were probably in great danger as well…
Where is that place you're talking about?
Zhu Huihui shook her head and said, "I only know it was on the Hulan River, but I don't know the exact location. I remember that although the water wasn't very wide, the current was very rapid, and there was no one on either bank. Our boat was moored in the reeds not far from the shore, and the incident... happened on the beach on the opposite bank."
The monk in scarlet robes clapped his hands lightly: "Bring me the map of the Hulan River!"
Before long, a burly man in red handed a sheepskin scroll to the table.
The monk in scarlet robes unfurled the scroll and looked at it together with Feng Xuese.
Even when Zhu Huihui was pinned to the ground, she wouldn't stay still and craned her neck to look up, but unfortunately her neck wasn't long enough and she couldn't see anything.
"The middle and lower reaches of the Hulan River are slow-moving and wide, flowing through densely populated areas. The upper reaches, however, stretch for 720 li, are winding and mountainous, with dangerous shoals and rapid currents, and are devoid of human habitation in six places..."
The monk in scarlet robes pointed at the map, then looked up at Zhu Huihui and ordered, "Have him come over!"
The two burly men in red released their grip and stood respectfully to one side.
Zhu Huihui jumped up from the ground, glared at the two big men, patted the dirt off his body, and then mustered his courage to approach the table.
Maple Snow Color and the Scarlet Monk both gave him a cold look. He immediately and tactfully stepped back a little and looked at the map from a distance. However, after looking at it for a long time, he still couldn't understand what the winding lines on it represented. He stared at it for a long time without saying a word.
The monk in crimson robes shook his head, and Feng Xuese couldn't help but sigh. This little rascal is utterly useless!
Seeing the undisguised contempt and disappointment, Zhu Huihui, despite her thick skin, felt a little hurt and said, "I'm not so useless! I remember boarding the ship in Minhua County. We were supposed to go to Guiming Prefecture, but then that unfortunate thing happened. The captain was killed, and everyone was terrified and rowed downstream to escape. Later, we arrived at a dock in Xujiaji and got off the ship."
Maple-colored fingertips traced the map downwards as she slowly said, "From Minhua County downstream to Xujiaji, it's nearly 120 li by water. If the wind and current are favorable, it'll take a day—what kind of boat did you take? How many people were on board?"
Zhu Huihui said, "It was a wooden boat. Besides me and Huahua, there were eleven other people on board, including a boat captain, but he was killed."
The monk in scarlet robes immediately ordered his men, "Go and check that ship."
Long-distance waterways are fraught with treacherous shoals and waves. Officially registered passenger boats usually have a captain, along with several rowers, helmsmen, and so on. Boats operated by only one person are mostly private boatmen who are experienced on the water, familiar with the river, and daring.
Feng Xuese asked again, "How long after your ship left Minhua County did this happen? How long did it take to get from the accident site to Xujiaji?"
The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear - Part One: The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear - Chapter Six (1)
Zhu Huihui thought about it carefully and said, "We set sail from Minhua County at 3:45 AM. When the boat was en route, a woman said she needed to urinate, so the boatman moored the boat in a place where the water was calm and the reeds were lush. At that time, the sun had just passed its zenith. We had been traveling for about three hours. It took us about an hour to get from there to Xujiaji."
Based on what he said, Feng Xuese calculated for a moment, then pressed her finger on a point on the sheepskin map and said, "It should be around this location!"
The monk in scarlet robes glanced at it, a cold smile appearing on his full lips, and said, "Tiger Tide River Dragon Sorrow Rock!"
Longchou Rock on the Hulan River is not a waterway that ships usually pass through. It is located in a bend in the mountain of a tributary. Due to the treacherous mountain shape and the fact that there are almost no people around, it is indeed a good place to kill.
Maple Snow Color hummed in agreement.
A mysterious assassin in black, five massacres of entire families, the murder of the chivalrous brothers who vowed never to eat or drink, a riverbank massacre—and many more unsolved cases...
These seemingly unrelated individual events suddenly became intertwined, linked together by the black-clad assassins and their cruel, arrogant, yet sophisticated and difficult-to-detect killing methods.
But what do these assassins in black represent?
What lies hidden behind these events?
The sky was gray, the air was damp and cold, and a thick white fog filled the courtyard, making everything around seem hazy.
The doors and windows of the main hall were all tightly closed, and there was no light, making it feel very oppressive. Only the outlines of people could be vaguely seen.
Everyone held their breath, watching the person sitting in the center, waiting for him to make his final decision.
After a long silence, the man spoke, his voice low and deep: "Jie Tian Shui Yu, Feng Xue Cheng, Shen Bing Jie, and Chi Yan Tian, now, except for Shen Bing Jie, three of the four great martial arts families have been drawn into this matter?"
"Yes!" a tall man replied respectfully.
"In the current martial arts world, the four great families are the leaders. Among them, Jietianshui Island reigns supreme in the eastern seas, controlling 720 islands and most of the rivers and waterways in the east. Its power has always been very strong. The leader, Fang Jianwu, took over the family business at a young age. He appears gentle and refined, but in reality, he is quite capable. Under his rule, Jietianshui Island's reputation has spread far and wide overseas. In the past ten years or so, the people along the eastern coast have lived in peace and prosperity, which is closely related to the Fang family's well-ordered rule."
"The Blazing Flame Heaven is the overlord of the Western Heaven, with immense wealth and astonishing strength. Wherever the Blazing Flame Banner passes, the underworld obeys its orders. Young Master Xi Yeyan has been traveling the world in recent years under the name 'Master Kongkong,' and has a very close relationship with the Snow-Colored Young Master of Maple Snow City;
"Maple Snow City stands majestically in the south, painstakingly built up by the Feng family over generations. The current city lord, 'One Sword Maple Light Color,' and his wife, 'Full Sleeves of Thousand Snowflakes,' are known for their low-key nature, seemingly indifferent to worldly affairs. However, among the four great families, Maple Snow City is the most enigmatic. Based on the information we currently possess, we still cannot accurately assess its true strength. Especially the young city lord of the Feng family, known in the martial arts world as the Snow-Colored Young Master, Feng Xuese. He rose to fame at the age of nine and is hailed as a martial arts prodigy rarely seen in the past three hundred years. Although he comes from a distinguished family, he dislikes ostentation, roaming the martial world alone with his sword, meeting countless martial arts masters, making friends all over the world, and enjoying an extremely high reputation!"
“Each of the four great families is already extremely troublesome, let alone the fact that they have always been closely connected and supportive of each other, with the younger generation of heirs being particularly close. Now that three of the four great families have been drawn into the mess, the Deep Ice Realm will likely get involved soon as well… If this continues, this matter will become extremely difficult…”