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"General, do we need to be this hurried?"

On the river surface, a large boat carrying over a hundred people traveled at an astonishing speed, like a fish at sea, completely unlike any speed a boat should have.

But in fact, those who are familiar with the Sea God’s Guard know that the Sea God’s Guard possesses the ability to make river water, and even sea water, assist the boat in accelerating.

With several Sea God’s Guard aboard a small fast sailboat, it could have the instantaneous speed of a flying bird, which was extremely valuable whether for scouting, helping merchant ships to retreat in crisis situations, or escaping a vortex.

However, only insiders knew that this act of accelerating a fast boat on the sea surface consumed a tremendous amount of spiritual power and was generally not used unless in an emergency situation.

After all, every bit of Divine Power belonging to the Divine Path Sect was precious, and nobody would use it for fun, let alone like now, using it for half a day at a stretch!

At the current speed, even the Fifth Rank Sea God’s Guard could only control a small fast sailboat at most, and the longest duration they could maintain was two hours at best. As for a new boat the size of a fortress like the current one, there was only Tian Heng in the entire force who could maintain such speed with Divine Power!

And many devoted deputy generals knew that even though their lord now held the position of Sea God, such excessive consumption for half a day was almost unbearable.

"It’s not urgent... I’m afraid it would cause a big problem!" Tian Heng’s face did not look so good.

After receiving the information from Chen Qing, he did not delay.

After briefly holding a meeting, he gathered his subordinates and set out.

As the situation in Nanming Prefecture was unclear, the more strength he could bring, the better.

Therefore, after confirming the wishes of his subordinates, he took along almost all the personal soldiers of the Fifth Rank and above!

However, the boat had not traveled for two hours before he received a flying letter from Chen Ying, and he only then barely came to understand the situation there.

An important character appeared in Lyuzhou who needed protection, while the likely target of the attack was Lumings’s legitimate wife!!

And what’s more critical is that, as the flying letter mentioned, the boat from Lyuzhou had already set off half a day earlier...

This news almost choked him to death!

You’re telling me to come and protect after you’ve already set off?

This dire situation made him unhesitatingly consume Divine Power to boost the speed of the large boat, making it race along its way.

The key was that he couldn’t go any faster if he wanted to...

The distance was too far. If a small fast boat were used, it would fall apart in less than two hours.

It was also fortunate that this new boat was the latest Diamond Dragon Bone Framework ship designed in Yunzhou; otherwise, with the Divine Power sustained for half the day, a large ship of the past would have collapsed long ago!

Tian Heng truly wanted to explode Chen Ying’s head. Knowing the danger, couldn’t they let someone wait in Lyuzhou first?

Inside Lyuzhou, there were the Ghost Doll, Wei Gongcheng, the Divine Minister of the Underworld and Murong Yunji. Even if Lumings came in person, he would be able to protect that so-called key character. But at sea, it was a different story!

"Since it’s an important character, there must be the War God Army guards, right?" The deputy general beside him frowned. "If I remember correctly, Weichi Feipeng is in Lyuzhou, isn’t he?"

Tian Heng shook his head: "If it’s as Chen Ying wrote in the letter, then even Weichi Feihu himself would not necessarily be able to protect her if that person came!"

"That person?" The surrounding deputy generals were stunned, the smarter ones immediately guessing, "Sir, are you saying?"

"Hmm..." They would confront the situation soon, so naturally, Tian Heng had to give everyone an understanding: "It’s probably her, that madwoman!"

"Hiss..." A group of people immediately took a cold breath: "That woman...."

In the Capital City’s nobility circle, very few knew about the Lu Family matriarch, but those who did, none were without trepidation!

Back then, the Lu Family, a remote family from the north, made their name in the Central Plains not only thanks to Lumings, a once-in-a-millennium prodigy of the Lu Family, but also with the support of the King of Qin and... the backing of that legitimate wife.

Very few knew that the Lu Family... had a top-notch assassination team with a glorious record.

Back then, how prestigious was the Zhou Family when it possessed the bloodline of the ferocious beast Taotie?

At their peak, even the Siao Family had to avoid their edge temporarily.

But when competing with the Lu Family for the cities of the East and West Seas, that terrifying assassination squad of the Lu Family nearly killed off all the legitimate descendants of the Zhou Family with top-tier bloodlines!

And the methods were extremely brutal. The great-grandson cherished by the head of the Zhou Family was turned into a Man-Eating Flower, losing both his body and his reason, becoming a monster that knew only to devour flesh. Even now, that woman still had him as a trump card at her disposal!

Back then, the Family Head of Zhou was driven to madness. After a few rash attacks, Lumings caught him off guard, annihilating him in the city of West Sea. With that battle, the Lu Family transformed into the top family in the east, facing the Siao Family to the north and south....

Back then, Tian Heng had witnessed with his own eyes how the legitimate descendants of the Zhou Family were captured and tortured. Even when they were on his side, he thought that if he had to face this woman one day, it would be hard to sleep and eat!

Who would have thought that his words would come true and he would actually encounter her one day!

"Are you afraid?" Tian Heng asked everyone.

"For a direct fight, who’s afraid of that madwoman?" Several vice generals immediately turned red with suppressed anger: "But... but that woman has no honor! If she were... if she were..."

"If it’s about harming one’s own family, right?" Tian Heng said gloomily.

That was probably the real reason most people feared that woman from the Lu Family. She was adept at assassination and deception, and most frightening of all was her lack of morality, targeting others’ wives and children as vulnerabilities, aiming for their soft underbelly.

Moreover, her methods were extremely brutal. The variety of terrifying tortures she devised made death a mercy people could not attain. Worst of all was her malicious nature, often willing to target children just a few years old!

This group, including Tian Heng, had a weakness: their families were not in Jiangnan and had not yet relocated there, especially Tian Heng’s family, which had already moved to the Capital City with the Lu Family.

Should they become enemies... they would be almost right within the grasp of that madwoman!

At that thought, everyone involuntarily shuddered.

"My lord, we are all still okay... but the key is you.

.." one of the vice generals said, "If we move fast enough, we can just go back to our hometowns and bring our families over here. If worst comes to worst, we can publicly announce a break from our families. No matter how outrageous the other party is, they wouldn’t dare assassinate members of prominent bloodlines without cause. But for you, my lord..."

Tian Heng lowered his head. As the Family Head of the Tian Family, a simple declaration of severance wouldn’t suffice...

"I’m not afraid..."

Everyone: "...."

Tian Heng took a deep breath, "When I signed the contract with His Majesty at the beginning, he assured me that he would reclaim my Tian Family from the Imperial Court. At first, I thought it was just a child’s boast, but after half a year in Jiangnan, I can feel it—His Majesty can do it."

"Since I believe he can reclaim the Tian Family from the Imperial Court, then... I can’t be scared just because of a madwoman.

That woman may be strong, but what really makes people wary are her unscrupulous methods.

However, if..." Tian Heng lifted his head, "she dies here, we won’t have so many concerns! "

Die here?

Everyone was stunned; this idea hadn’t been seriously considered by many before.

But many knew... that woman was skilled in assassination and even more so in escape techniques.

She had committed so many evil deeds and yet always got away unscathed. Was it because other families had never specifically targeted her?

No, it was because, over the years, no one had succeeded in capturing her!

"My lord...."

Everyone looked at Tian Heng, but at that moment, he wasn’t looking back at them. Instead, he was concentrating, using his Divine Power to speed up the ship.

No one spoke further, because they all knew that at this moment... the person under the greatest pressure was their lord....

-----------------------------

"What’s wrong, Ke’er?"

Inside the large boat, from dinner time onwards, Yun Yuye noticed that her daughter seemed off.

"Did you eat something that upset your stomach?" Yun Yuye stepped forward, rubbing her little one’s round belly and suddenly glared angrily. "I told you to eat less. What kind of image is this for a young girl?"

The culinary delights of Jiangnan were tempting. Ever since Chen Qing took control of Jiangnan, a variety of novel ingredients kept appearing, delighting many wealthy gourmets to no end, and even the common folk were eating to their fill.

If she hadn’t been strict, the little girl would have turned into a little pig already.

But in Lyuzhou, different ingredients were popular, especially that Jadeite Chicken on the table earlier. Cooked to perfection, it looked like a statue made from gems, even the chicken bones were crystal clear. The taste was so delightful that it melted in your mouth and made the taste buds tingle.

She couldn’t resist and ate more than half of it herself, so how could she scold the girl?

Now the girl must be suffering from overeating, right?

With this thought, Yun Yuye turned to Shen Yuan. "Master, do we have anything on board for digestion?"

Shen Yuan immediately frowned. "It’s my oversight. I should have brought along a classmate from the medical college."

But as the two discussed, Ke’er looked at them with a pale face and shook her head. "It’s not my stomach... it’s something outside!"

"Outside?" The two of them were startled. "What’s outside?"

"Outside... there’s something!"