Chapter 765: Chapter 54: Barbarians Chapter 765: Chapter 54: Barbarians “Your magic is taught by the Five Dragon Sect Leader, called the Five Dragon’ Trail Vajra Secret Method?”

With the foundation of a Gaoli ghost and the magic taught by the Sect Leader of the Five Dragon Sect, Hong Liangyu was already one of the top practitioners among the Five Dragons. The remaining four were no match for him. In the entire Five Dragon Sect Church, aside from that Sect Leader, there was no one else who could capture Li Yan’s attention. This uprising sect that had gathered a force of thousands in mere three months seemed nothing more than a rabble to him.

However, Li Yan was very interested in the so-called “Five Dragon’ Trail Vajra Secret Method.” Even a Code of the Six Ministries level would require an ordinary native to devote decades, or sometimes even decades of hard work, to reach the level of Hong Liangyu. Even if Hong Liangyu was extraordinarily talented, it was impossible to improve so much in just two months – to reach the Eight Extremes Peak, the pinnacle that humans could achieve with this fruit.

“Yes, although I only have a fragmentary scroll of the Red Dragon, each of us Five Dragons has a part of the mantra. We practice it ourselves and teach it to the soldiers under our command. With this secret method as a foundation, not only does magic improve by leaps and bounds, but learning other magics also progresses as much in one day as it usually would in several months of hard training. To be frank, I’ve never seen such a miraculous magic before.”

Seeing Li Yan’s interested expression, Hong Liangyu pursed his lips and said, “As long as you have a way to repel the Tiger Vein Token Soldiers in the county town, I will share the content of my scroll with you.”

“Of course, that’s not a problem. But I have another question for you. How did you join the Five Dragon Sect Church?”

Hong Liangyu’s face stiffened, and then he replied, “What’s there to ask? One day, a few brothers from the gang came to drink with me. At the table, they talked about the Five Dragon Sect Church. They had no way out under the government crackdown and were all prepared to defect to the Sect Leader. They asked if I would join too. I was staying at my brother’s and sister-in-law’s place, putting up with their disdain, and had long been thinking about starting over, so I simply left with the three brothers.”

“What about your brother and sister-in-law?”

“…”

“Hmm?”

“How would I know? I’ve not seen them since then. I only agreed to tell you about the Five Dragon Sect Church – what does this have to do with it? You can’t defeat the Tiger Vein Token Soldiers, can you? Are you deliberately changing the subject?”

Hong Liangyu asked with a hint of anger and embarrassment.

Boom, boom, boom~
Suddenly, thunder rumbled overhead, and dark clouds rolled across the sky.

“I was just asking casually. Let’s go to sleep. We’ll talk about the Tiger Vein Token Soldiers tomorrow.”

Li Yan didn’t take it to heart; he truly was just asking casually.

The three found a cave in the woods to shelter in. The night passed without words. Hong Liangyu was restless, slept in a heavy daze, and had a night filled with nightmares. In his dreams, he saw mountains of corpses and seas of blood, the angry spirits demanding his life, which left him crying bitterly. Crying for his brother and sister-in-law, Liangyu felt apologetic, and suddenly he woke up from his dream to find Li Yan and Saint Watson staring straight at him–especially Saint Watson, who was kept awake by Hong Liangyu’s commotion and now bore a face full of complaints.

“Why are you looking at me? Didn’t you promise me yesterday…”

Li Yan waved his hand to interrupt Hong Liangyu, “Come with me.”

And so, the three set off. Li Yan boldly led Hong Liangyu straight into the county town, finding a tea stall to have a drink. The town was sparsely populated, people hastened along the streets, and on the main road, large groups of soldiers ran to and fro carrying bamboo stretchers, with moaning that did not cease.

“Old man, what’s going on here?”

Hong Liangyu couldn’t resist asking, grabbing the arm of the tea peddler.

The old vendor draped a towel over his shoulder and spread his hands: “Last night, a strange rain fell in the south of the city, right by the wall where the barracks are stationed. I heard the rain was pitch black and reeked terribly. By the next morning, the County Magistrate had summoned doctors from the surrounding area to the barracks.”

He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention before whispering, “I heard there’s a plague in the barracks. The soldiers Governor Yang brought in have all fallen ill, each too sick to leave their beds. A few couldn’t hold on and died last night.”

Hong Liangyu’s eyes reddened. He gripped the man’s arm, “What about the General Zhu Xianghu?”

He spoke fiercely, startling the old man who withdrew his arm, “How would I know.” Assessing Hong Liangyu’s attire and build, which didn’t seem respectable, he quickly ran away.

“…”

Li Yan poured a cup of tea for him, gesturing an invitation to drink.

————————-
“The situation is basically like this: Cai Qian from the Tianbo Division and we arrived in Borneo one after another. He’s already well-established here so we are a step behind.”

Cha Xiaodao was briefing Zheng Xiu about the situation in Borneo, since she had just arrived. His attitude toward her was fairly proper, and nominally, Zheng Xiu was the head of the South Seas pirates. With his personality, he wouldn’t act high and mighty in front of a young girl.

Besides, this was a critical moment for the reestablishment of the Red Flag, which was a cash cow for him and Li Yan. Cha Xiaodao didn’t want to create unnecessary complications or a rift with Zheng Xiu.

“Also, there was a conflict on the island between the natives and the Treasure Ship King’s men not long ago. Lin Ajin and Cai Qian went to negotiate, which resulted in a brawl on the spot, causing many casualties on both sides. My people found out that the Treasure Ship King has already rallied all the Han forces on the island of Borneo, planning a decisive battle with the natives. However, he didn’t inform us. It’s clear that he doesn’t regard us as warmly as he does Cai Qian. It seems our medicine was given to him for nothing.”

Zheng Xiu shook her head, “There are too many of our people. It’s no wonder Uncle Lin Ajin feels uncomfortable. In this regard, Cai Qian has indeed done better than us.”

What Zheng Xiu brought to the island was the Red Flag’s most elite force, over eight thousand strong, most of whom were able-bodied men capable of both farming and fighting, with substantial assets. The Red Flag’s majority of firearms were on the Divine Tower Ship. Even if Zheng Xiu were to start a battle with the Treasure Ship King immediately, she was seventy percent sure of victory.

Bringing such a big force suddenly to someone else’s doorstep, Lin Ajin’s lack of a reaction was already taking into account the life-saving Soul-Capturing Golden Soup.

Cai Qian had done it much better, having already established a presence on Borneo long ago. The people he had left behind, including women and the elderly, numbered only slightly over thirty. Besides several experts with the surname Yan, there were only two to three hundred people on the ship this time. Although both parties’ aim was to root themselves in Borneo, Cai Qian’s approach was softer and less likely to be resented by the Treasure Ship King.

“Uncle Cha, there are Red Hair troops on the island as well, aren’t there?”

Zheng Xiu’s address of Cha Xiaodao implied a seniority out of respect, since she also referred to elders like Xu Chaoyi as uncles. Xiaodao was happy to take advantage of Li Yan’s influence.

“Yes, but not many. They coexist peacefully with the Treasure Ship King, and there have even been cases in the past where Lin Ajin and the East India Company’s mercenaries have joined forces to exterminate native tribes.”

“The East India Company didn’t value Borneo in the past, but there have been rumors lately that oil has been discovered on the island. The foreign devils won’t remain indifferent, and I don’t think it will be long before they send more troops. By then, the island will become even more chaotic.”

Cha Xiaodao also agreed with Zheng Xiu’s assessment. He coughed and finally couldn’t help but gesture with his eyes toward the figure standing behind Zheng Xiu: “I say, Xiu’er, who is he?”

Cha Xiaodao was referring to Ruchika, who stood behind Zheng Xiu dressed in traditional Fujian attire but still unable to hide his exotic allure.

“My name is Ruchika, a Catholic. I encountered a shipwreck at sea, and Grand Alliance Leader Zheng saved me. Now I’m his secretary and Spanish teacher.”

Ruchika gave an extremely standard western salute to Cha Xiaodao.

Cha Xiaodao asked Zheng Xiu with a half-smile, “Spanish. Wasn’t Suo always teaching it?”

Zheng Xiu’s expression remained unchanged, “This man used to follow the Holy Scholar. I found him useful, so I keep him by my side.”

“Very well.”

Cha Xiaodao nodded and smiled cheerily.

“I would like to take the initiative to visit the Treasure Ship King. To have an open and frank discussion with him.”