Witch Wind

Chapter 27 The Taoist Priest is Here (Part )

After filling up with coal and water in Xiaolongqiu Town, the moonlight in this world was exceptionally bright. As long as there was a moon, there was no problem traveling by land or water. Even though the tugboat was a little slow, the fleet turned a river bend in the early morning of the second day, and the front was suddenly clear. In this world, the Dayu River, one of the two major water veins, had arrived.

It started to drizzle towards dawn.

The light blue morning sun rose slowly from the east, and the wild sunlight instantly dispersed the few remaining water clouds in the sky. Suddenly, the sky was clear without a single cloud. The sunlight could not wait to rush to the earth, but at sunrise, Xing Tianli felt as if it was the noon of a hot summer.

The river before us was mighty and over twenty miles wide.

And just on the left hand side of Xing Tianli, the Jing River, which flows into the Yangtze River, is about five miles wide.

The blue sunlight fell on the blue waves, like sparkling glass, and schools of fish could be seen floating in the river. Occasionally, a large fish like a porpoise would poke its head out from the riverside, holding a mouthful of river water, and staring furtively at Xing Tianli and his group who were standing on the boat.

In the sky, large flocks of water birds flapped their wings and circled high in the sky.

Occasionally, a large bird would fold its wings and fly almost vertically from the air toward the water surface. When it took off again, it would hold a fish, at least a foot long, in its mouth and flap its wings happily as it flew away.

On the river, white sails are dotted and fishermen are singing along.

There are a large number of ships, either going upstream or downstream. There are clear buoys on the river, dividing the waterway into three lanes, upper and lower. The fleets are all in their positions, and water transportation is extremely busy.

Occasionally, you can see steam-powered passenger ships that are 40 to 50 meters long and fully armored, "crunching" across the river. The decks of the passenger ships are crowded with all kinds of guests. On every passenger ship going downstream, the guests are calling their friends, making loud noises, with smiles on their faces and some kind of indescribable longing.

On the passenger ships sailing upstream, there were fewer passengers showing their faces. Occasionally, a few passengers would smoke and chat on the deck, but they were also quiet and silent, making no sound.

Such a scene is busy, lively and full of vitality.

However, a loud whistle suddenly sounded, and an armored frigate, protected by two inland gunboats in front and behind, was like three mad wild dogs. It did not sail steadily along the waterway marked on the buoy, but passed at high speed in the waters not far from the shore.

The ships were moving very fast, especially the frigate, which had a very large tonnage. According to Xing Tianli's judgment, its tonnage was at least around 3,000 tons, which was more than half the tonnage of the two frigates sent by Yingjishi to garrison Xiaoyandang Lake.

Such a large ship was running at high speed, and the waves it created rolled towards the shore. Many fishing boats that were working were unable to dodge and were scattered by the waves. Some small fishing boats were directly overturned by the waves.

"What the hell?" Xing Tianli shouted angrily.

Joems had already woken up, with the help of Xing Tianli's 'Requiem Spell', the aftereffects of his soul-searching and soul-controlling were relieved a lot. He stood up refreshed, glanced towards the three ships, and couldn't help but curl his lips.

"Look, the flag with eight demon dragons swallowing the sun and stepping on the sea, this is the warship of the Dongyun Island Alliance." Joems spit on the river with disdain: "The dwarves of Dongyun Island, you Dongguo people call them 'dwarf island slaves', ambitious destroyers of order, no one likes them!"

Shrugging his shoulders and spreading his hands, Joems said helplessly: "But, after all, they are a new force rising in the East. They are strong, powerful, and unscrupulous. They are really a terrible country and a terrible ethnic group."

Joms lowered his voice and chuckled, "Do you know? There are at least two million young women from the Dongyun Island Federation working as prostitutes in your country. All the money they earn is sent back to their country. More than half of the battleships of the Dongyun Island Federation in the past few years were purchased from us Yingjishi with the money earned by these poor women!"

Xing Tianli stared intently at the three Dongyun ships that were getting closer and closer.

The Ingish gunboat he was on sounded a low whistle, and a sailor standing at the lookout post above the mast sent a set of flag signals forward.

The three Dongyun ships suddenly slowed down, changing from reckless villains to polite gentlemen. They blew their whistles to salute the three small Yingji gunboats in a friendly manner, and sailors in white uniforms ran onto the deck, stood in a row with their waists straight, and bowed deeply to this side.

"Yes, it's very short!" Xing Tianli curled his lips.

He noticed that among these Dongyun sailors, the tallest was only about four feet two or three inches tall, while the shortest was only about four feet or four feet one inch tall.

The two fleets passed each other, and the Touno sailors standing on the deck kept bowing deeply, and they remained extremely respectful until the Yingjishi transport fleet had gone more than a mile away.

"He looks very respectful!" Xing Tianli whispered.

"No one believes their obedience! Ten years ago, they used such an obedient attitude to graciously invite the high-ranking officials of your Eastern Country's Black Borneo Expeditionary Force to a banquet. During the banquet, their combined fleet raided the Black Borneo Expeditionary Force, wiped out the main fleet of the expeditionary force, and wiped out 300,000 main ground forces of the expeditionary force!"

With trembling fingers, Joems took out a pure silver cigarette case, and tremblingly took out a long cigarette and handed it over.

Xing Tianli waved his hand to indicate that he didn't smoke.

Joems put the cigarette in his mouth, lit it, and took a deep puff.

The wind from the river whistled, blowing away a wisp of green smoke. Joems sighed, "Black Borneo, a land of flowing gold and silver, a fertile land of flowing honey and milk. Gold, silver, copper, as well as tungsten, lead, zinc, aluminum, and natural graphite... Oh, of course we can't forget those precious spices that are more valuable than gold, and those precious natural dyes, lapis lazuli, ruby, sapphire..."

"Good Virgin Mary, that's a piece of heavenly land where anyone can turn into a millionaire with just a hoe."

"The territory of Black Borneo is more than thirty times larger than the mainland of those damned dwarfs, the Dongyun Island Federation."

"You, the East Country, spent twelve years of hard work to conquer Black Borneo. But before you could reap the fruits of victory, these dwarves took away what was rightfully yours in just one night!"

Li Kuisheng was one of the few survivors among the 300,000 main forces of the Black Borneo Expeditionary Army.

Xing Tianli's biological father in this life died in battle in Black Borneo.

Xing Tianli tapped the guardrail with his fingers, making a crisp sound. He whispered, "Dongyun, I hate short people."

Joems laughed obscenely: "But, their women are very good. You know? They are well-behaved and obedient, just like the most gentle cats. You can put forward any conditions to them, I mean, any conditions!"

"The gentlemen of Pinghai City, no matter which country they come from, will have at least one Dongyun lover; and the nobles of your Dongguo will keep several Dongyun concubines or maids."

"The Dongyun people have a very famous 'Mono no Awaikan' in the concession. You can go and see it when you have time. The food there is very exquisite, and the drinks are not bad either. Most importantly, they will introduce a top-notch oiran every quarter, and her virginity can often be auctioned at a sky-high price."

"It seems that the courtesan of last season was bought by a big shot in your East Country and given to the Governor-General of Jiangdong Province. The buyout price of a woman was a terrifying 200,000 taels of silver. Merciful Mother of God!"

Jomus murmured in admiration, "What a terrifying fortune. It's enough for me to buy a small castle and two top-notch small manors in the suburbs of the capital."

Ahead, a menacing ironclad ship suddenly rushed out.

The tonnage of this ironclad ship was only about one-third of the previous Dongyun frigate, and the hull was mottled, as if it had been there for some time. Especially the main gun at the bow, a solitary main gun with only a four-inch barrel facing this side.

The Tounom frigate that just passed by has two gun positions at the bow, front and rear, and each position has two five-inch main guns.

In comparison, this ironclad ship looked even more shabby.

The Iron Cross, Sword and Shield flag fluttered in the wind on the mast. The ironclad ship rushing straight towards them blew a loud whistle. Some sailors raised signal flags and hung small flags to represent danger and to indicate readiness to fire.

"These religious idiots from the Kingdom of Saint Norman!" Joms screamed in exasperation, "What do they want to do? They want to attack the official ships of the great Kingdom of Ingis in public?"

"They are breaking the rules. They are destroying the order of the nobility!"

"What we did, without witnesses or eyewitnesses, is legal and reasonable... This is the universal rule among nobles. They want to attack us in broad daylight, in front of so many witnesses? Are they crazy?"

Xing Tianli’s eyes suddenly widened.

Is this the unspoken rule of the hundreds of countries in the Far West?

'No witnesses, no eyewitnesses' means 'legal and reasonable'?

No wonder, the night before yesterday, the Ingish people ambushed the reinforcements of the Kingdom of Saint Normandy and the Holy Mother Church without hesitation, sank all the ships, and killed everyone!

It turns out that if there is no evidence after death, it is reasonable and legal?

I learned it!

Joems, what a considerate and kind teacher!

As the ironclad warship of the Kingdom of Saint Norman approached, suddenly, from behind the ironclad, a high-pitched whistle sounded straight into the sky. Two cruisers of astonishing size, fifty or sixty feet long from head to tail, with a tonnage of at least ten thousand tons, spewed black smoke and caught up with the ironclad warship at a speed far exceeding that of the ironclad warship of Saint Norman.

The two cruisers raised huge waves, and were still two or three miles away from the Saint-Norman ironclad ship in front. Three secondary guns on the side of the ship were loaded with blank shells and fired one after another. The dull sound of the guns broke the tranquility of the river. Passenger ships and cargo ships on the river waterway dodged, the big birds circling in the sky screamed and fled, and the fish chasing each other on the river suddenly sank into the deep water.

The ironclad ship of the Kingdom of Saint Norman suddenly turned, drawing a huge arc on the river, and cleared the way for the fleet to pass.

Joemus laughed wildly and waved his fist towards the ironclad ship. "Hey, you landlubbers from Saint Norman, the navy of the Kingdom of England is invincible wherever there is water!"

"Hey, these poor landlubbers!"

Joems explained to Xing Tianli with a beaming face that the Kingdom of Saint Norman was one of the most powerful countries in the Far West, but it was a landlocked country surrounded by mountains and hills, without even a slightly larger river that led directly to the ocean. For hundreds of years, the Kingdom of Saint Norman had been trying to gain access to the sea, but its neighbors were also extremely powerful, and the Kingdom of Saint Norman had tried every means but failed.

In the end, he could only rent a naval port from a neighboring country, with which he barely built a naval fleet and caught the last train of the great voyages of the hundred nations in the Far West. Relying on his strong army, he also managed to seize some colonies.

But the Kingdom of England is a powerful island country, and sea power is the foundation of their country.

Their navy is far more powerful than that of the Kingdom of Saint Norman.

Just as Xing Tianli saw, the Kingdom of Yingji could easily use two new cruisers to deter its opponents, while the Kingdom of Saint-Norman could only take out an old-fashioned thousand-ton ironclad ship, which could only escape in disgrace after a slight noise.

Two English cruisers came up, one on the left and one on the right, protecting the transport fleet as it went downstream.

Xing Tianli narrowed his eyes and looked at the two huge ships that were extremely well maintained, with their hulls polished to a glossy finish without any signs of rust - first of all, the three main gun turrets at the bow and stern, each of which was equipped with a triple-mounted ten-inch main gun!

Ten-inch main gun!

Xing Tianli's face looked very ugly. What kind of cultivation level does it take to be able to fight against such a big guy?
However, he quickly thought of the pit bull that blew itself up the night before... Well, even small nuclear bombs have come out, so what's a mere ten-inch naval gun with a caliber of 330 mm?
The fleet moved downstream at a very fast speed.

Gradually, a large number of houses appeared on both the south and north sides of the Yangtze River.

When the river gradually widened to about 30 miles, the northern bank of the river was already made of stone slabs, reinforced concrete, neat and tidy, like a long gray-white dragon crawling; some key areas of the southern bank of the river also showed signs of stone slabs and concrete reinforcement.

The docks are neatly arranged, and long piers extend into the river. Ships of all sizes are docking or leaving the docks.

Jiangnan still has black tiles and white walls, a typical Jiangnan residential style of the Dayu Dynasty.

In Jiangbei, high-rise buildings are everywhere, with buildings with spires and domes of all colors standing side by side. The roads along the river are bustling with traffic, and the city is extremely prosperous.

Xing Tianli subscribes to the newspaper of Pinghai City Concession all year round.

He knew that in Pinghai City, Jiangnan was a civilian area under the jurisdiction of Pinghai City, Jieshi County, Jiangdong Province, while Jiangbei was an international concession led by several powerful countries in the Far West.

Along the river bank, a large piece of land that is one hundred miles long from east to west and twenty miles wide from north to south, as well as some surrounding areas, are all under the management of the Board of Directors of the International Concession, which implements the "International Law" accepted by all nations. Several major powers have stationed naval fleets and large numbers of ground forces to maintain the security of the concession.

In the concession, even if the governor of Jiangdong Province committed a crime, he would be tried according to the laws of the concession.

Of course, if someone violated the laws of the Dayu Dynasty, even if he was a murderous thug, as long as he could escape into the concession, the laws of the Dayu Dynasty would no longer be able to punish him.

The fleet docked.

This dock controlled by the Ingish people is very large, and a large passenger ship has been lined up at the dock.

The tugboat at the rear slowly approached the nearest pier. The escorting White Lotus men shouted loudly and drove the numb-faced men and women on the cargo ship at the rear down. They lined up and directly boarded the waiting passenger ship.

Xing Tianli watched this scene quietly.

The men and women moved slowly, and occasionally the sound of crying could be heard.

On the dock, there were more than a thousand British soldiers in red and white uniforms lined up. Looking along the dock, there were more than fifty large and small ironclad warships flying the British royal flag at the berth nearby.

Xing Tianli refused the good intention of Joems to send several sailors to escort him, got off the gunboat alone, and walked along the pier to the dock.

He looked behind him again.

Thousands of men and women are boarding the ship.

Magical power surged throughout Xing Tianli's body, his purple Taoist robe moved without wind, and his five fingers tightly clasped the Tongtian Miaozhu.

After a long silence, he shook his head gently - with his current strength, what could he do? Even if he could slaughter all the Yingji people present and leave these men and women in the Great Jade Dynasty, what would that do?
They lost their land and their support, and they were complete refugees.

The only fate they would have if they stayed in the Great Yu Dynasty was starvation to death.

At this moment, Xing Tianli was extremely annoyed at his own incompetence. He also felt unprecedentedly disgusted with the Dayu Dynasty he was in.

After standing for a long time, Xing Tianli turned and left.

"My father in this life, I suddenly understand you." Xing Tianli said softly: "Also, uncle, I understand you too."

"Indeed, the Xiangliu White Viper?"

“Are you an idealist?”

"I hope you are. If you just want to use my uncle as a sharp knife, you will definitely regret it!"

"In this age of the last dharma, you are all fish struggling to survive in a dried-up pond. Only I, the only witch, am left!"

"Time is on my side."

Xing Tianli walked past the dock where the Yingji soldiers were lined up, and walked down a short escalator to the road above the dock. Just where he came up, a uniquely shaped car was parked here, and a middle-aged man in a neat suit was holding a camera and taking pictures of the fleet on the river.

car!

camera!

The man in uniform taking crazy photos!

Xing Tianli inexplicably felt an extreme sense of absurdity in his heart.

He glanced at the busy man, and the man glanced at the suitcase in Xing Tianli's hand, threw the camera on the back seat of the car, and hurriedly came to Xing Tianli.

The man directly took out a small-denomination banknote issued by the Royal Bank of Ingish. The iron-gray banknote was inlaid with white and red lace. In the middle of the oval rose wreath, the slightly wrinkled old face of the Queen of Ingish was smiling brightly.

"Hey, sir, did you come here on the Ingish ship?"

"Are you familiar with the Ingish?"

"You know, why are they transporting so many people these days?"

"Hey, do you know the inside story? If you do, name a price... Hey, sir, as long as you say a few useful things, you can earn some extra money, why not do it?"

The man shook the banknotes in his hand and grabbed Xing Tianli's sleeve.

Xing Tianli looked at the man deeply.

This guy had black hair, and his eyes were an extremely blue color, almost black, with a fascinating light hidden deep inside. Under the sunlight, the man's eyes actually had a fascinating and strange feeling.

How interesting! I just arrived in Pinghai City and met such an interesting person.

Xing Tianli stopped and snatched the small bill worth one or two taels of silver from the man's hand: "Is that all? It's not enough!"

(End of this chapter)