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墨書 Inktalez
The sea surface was dark, with a distant black horizon resembling a thin line to the west. In the east, however, there was an endless expanse of water. Small islands dotted this narrow sea area, resembling giant whales surfacing.
Next to one of the islands were numerous tiny dots. Upon closer inspection, there were no less than a thousand warships. It was midnight, and most soldiers had fallen asleep, resting against the waves. The lights on the masts flickered as the ships swayed, illuminating only a short distance. Across the water, patrolling soldiers cast weary glances at the approaching ships before continuing to sway by the railings.
The lights reflected in the water looked like many shiny sea serpents. It was a starless night in deep autumn; only this stretch of sea had light, while other places seemed immersed in pitch-black ink.
At some point, the wind began to pick up, causing the tied sails to flap against the masts, creating a loud noise that echoed across the waters.
The conversation between two patrolling veterans drifted through the wind.
"The wind has turned south."
"Yeah, it's been over an hour."
"We need to be on guard against a surprise attack from the Song Army."
"Forget it, Old Li. Are you a true Jin person? What does it have to do with us! Just keep your eyes open; once dawn breaks, we can go below deck for some rations and sleep!"
"That's true. Who wants to be a soldier if they weren't forcibly conscripted? Especially fighting against our Song Dynasty!" The Han veteran dressed in Jin Army attire muttered quietly, his frustration evident.
"Yeah, let them fight however they want! As long as we survive and can fill our bellies, that's all that matters."
"Sigh... this world..."
The waves crashed against the ship's sides, splashing water and growing louder.
Suddenly, both veterans jolted and pointed at the distant sea surface, whispering in shock, "What is that!"
Hundreds of wind-filled warships sliced through the dark sea surface like arrows, with the fastest vanguard warships already entering the illuminated area. Their bows were lined with sharp blades and drawn bows ready for action. The yellow and white flag fluttering atop their masts bore a large character: "Song."
"The Song Army has indeed come to raid!" The two veterans exchanged glances; their first reaction was not to sound the alarm but to quietly slip back into the hold.
As they passed by the snoring Jin Army soldiers, both felt a sense of schadenfreude. "The Song Army grandfathers are here to take your lives!"
Suddenly, the sea area lit up as bright as day, with countless rocket-like fire arrows shooting towards the Jin Army warships. The arrows were wrapped in sulfur and nitrate, crackling in the air, and when they hit the golden ships, they exploded into large bursts of sparks, resembling a thousand pear trees in bloom. In an instant, the deck was engulfed in a Fire Sea. The sails were soaked in Tung Oil for waterproofing, and within moments, the mast was ablaze like a giant torch.
Smoke filled the air and sparks flew everywhere. The Jin Army, just awakened from their slumber, shouted as they rushed out of the cabins, only to be forced back by the raging fire on the deck.
The flames spread rapidly, turning this sea area into a Fire Sea. The Song Army had already gained the upper hand before even engaging in close combat. The wind fueled the flames, and the fire enhanced the wind's ferocity, resulting in cries of despair and splashes as members of the Jin Army fell into the sea.
After a prolonged chaos, a large warship suddenly emerged from behind the Jin Army, prominently displaying a large banner with "Wanyan," signifying it was part of the central fleet of the Jin Army. A rhythmic gong sounded from the ship's stern. Hearing the gong, the unburned warships finally regained their composure and quickly raised anchor and set sail towards the other side of the island.
The Jin Army warships were all high-quality fast ships, unlike the makeshift fleet of the Song Army. Within a short time, thirty percent of the unburned warships had escaped from the Fire Sea, hastily following Wanyan Zhengjianu's flagship towards the western waters of the small island.
On an inconspicuous small ship within the Song Army fleet, Commander Li Bao grew anxious during this battle and shouted, "We can't let Wanyan Zhengjianu escape! Shoot arrows!"
The fire arrows shot off into the distance, creating a spectacular trail of flames across the sky but fell short and splashed into the sea.
Wanyan Zhengjianu was overjoyed and ordered his subordinates to escape this sea area at all costs. Seeing that his main fleet of warships was pulling further away from the Song Army, a chilling gust of wind suddenly howled across the sea surface. Everyone involuntarily shivered; even the roaring flames on his ship were pushed down several feet.
Standing at the bow of his ship, Wanyan Zhengjianu felt an unexpected chill that made him sneeze. He sensed that this cold wind was sweeping in from the bow direction and squinted to look ahead.
It was too dark; aside from the range illuminated by lights, everything else was pitch black. The warships seemed to be navigating through thick ink.
Suddenly, without warning, there was a thunderous crash as his massive warship collided with something and became stuck, unable to move forward even an inch.
Wanyan Zhengjianu nearly toppled into the water at that moment; fortunately, one of his subordinates caught him just in time. However, in that instant, he saw something large and black rolling past in the water at the bow—something with scales as thick as barrels!
The sound of drums grew closer behind him; each beat felt like it struck at Wanyan Zhengjianu's heart. All Jin Army warships were trapped by an unknown monster in this sea area and could not advance at all.
Wanyan Zhengjianu's face turned pale with cold sweat as he cried out, "Heaven has abandoned me!"
********
High above in the sky, Li Hong scoffed: "What do you mean heaven has abandoned you? It's clearly me who's going to bring your downfall!"
After preparing to hatch all the eggs from his treasury, Li Hong was reminded by Little Fei that some species of Ancient Beasts required extremely special environments for hatching. If such conditions were not provided or if no preparations were made—blindly moving them out from their large jars set up by Ancient Gods—could be very dangerous. It could lead to failures like last time when Little Earth almost hatched but ultimately failed.
After a considerable amount of time spent inventorying, Li Hong recorded all the items needed for hatching various exotic beasts. Soon after, he took Black Abyss out of Temple City and began gathering these items throughout Middle-Earth. Among them was a Water Attribute Dragon Egg, which Black Abyss mentioned would have a significantly higher chance of successful hatching if placed on Fluid Sand.
Li Hong went to the East Sea to collect Fluid Sand, but unexpectedly witnessed an impressive naval battle where a smaller force was defeating a larger one. Seeing the main force of the Jin Army attempting to escape, he frowned and gave Black Abyss a few instructions while still watching the spectacle from above with his arms crossed, muttering, "I’m not interfering in mortal wars; I’m just observing. As for those Golden Dogs crashing into Black Abyss, hum! Black Abyss is fishing in the water; if they insist on colliding with him, that’s their own problem!"
Although somewhat self-deceiving, Li Hong insisted on this viewpoint, and no one bothered to intervene.
After coming out this time, Li Hong realized that the Song and Jin nations were at war again. However, for some reason, he noticed that his mindset had changed significantly; he became somewhat indifferent and even lost interest in visiting Lin'an Court. It wasn't until he encountered the situation while collecting Fluid Sand that he felt slightly mischievous. Deep down, Li Hong truly did not wish to unleash a massacre on mortals; he only instructed Black Abyss to block the Jin Army's escaping warships.
The Song Army fleet quickly caught up, revealing a bizarre scene. The main ships of the Jin Army were stuck in a patch of pitch-black water, unable to advance even an inch. Li Bao felt both joy and anger as he laughed loudly, "Grandpa Yue has manifested! Come and take your life!"
He set up a boarding plank towards the Jin Army's ship and was the first to jump onto Wanyan Zhengjianu's flagship. The sounds of battle cries and screams filled the air as blood mist enveloped the area; a brutal close-quarters combat ensued between the two armies.
At this point, the outcome of the battle was already certain. The Song Army had already burned down seventy percent of the Jin ships, while over there was still a raging Fire Sea; meanwhile, Wanyan Zhengjianu saw that thirty percent of his main force that was about to escape could no longer move forward at all. This was a massive psychological blow, leaving Wanyan Zhengjianu feeling utterly despondent. As he saw a shining steel blade coming toward him, he steeled himself and did not dodge but instead met it head-on.
With a crunching sound, his helmet split in two as the steel blade embedded itself squarely in Wanyan Zhengjianu's forehead, causing blood to gush forth instantly. His eyes widened in shock, yet he could see nothing at all as he fell completely into darkness.
With a loud crash, he collapsed onto the deck like a mountain falling.
A roar erupted: "General Li has killed the Golden Dog General! The Golden Dog General is dead!"
"Victory! Victory!"
The Jin Army's momentum had completely dissipated; they were left at the mercy of the Song Army.
Seeing this unfold, Li Hong communicated a few words in Dragon Language. The smaller Black Abyss jumped up and asked in Dragon Language, "How did I do?"
"Not bad! Let's go and collect Fluid Sand somewhere else," Li Hong said as he rubbed Black Abyss's head before they both floated away.
This naval battle ended in a great victory. Aside from three thousand conscripted Han troops, all one hundred thousand of the Jin Navy were annihilated, with countless supplies and weapons captured and six commanders beheaded. The four-pronged invasion army led by Jin Dynasty Emperor Wanyan Liang suffered its first defeat here.
It was only ten days later that Wanyan Liang learned of this terrible news from the Song Army. In fact, there wasn't much support for this invasion among officials and commoners in the Jin Kingdom. Now hearing that one army had been wiped out, morale began to waver. To reassure his troops while still harboring ambitions, Wanyan Liang told his subordinates that if he had personally led the army, it would not have ended this way! There were still three armies remaining, especially his own seventeen thousand troops who were the backbone! As long as they worked together with determination, victory over Song was inevitable!
These words finally had some effect; dissenting voices began to quiet down.
However, what Wanyan Liang never expected was that just a month later, when the situation seemed to be improving and countless Song Army generals were watching their banners fall and fleeing in panic, he would encounter a formidable rival. This rival was not a military general but merely a frail scholar from the Song Dynasty who had come to reward the troops.
The battle at Caishi Rock made Yu Yunwen famous throughout history and led to Wanyan Liang's downfall. Amidst the cries of defeat, Wanyan Liang was killed by his subordinate Wanyan Yuanyi, while at that moment, the Royal Family's Wanyan Yong had already ascended to the throne during the emptiness of the Central Capital.
As various items were being gathered throughout Middle-Earth, when Li Hong returned to Temple City, it was already the end of the year.
Before he could even set down his belongings, Li Hong summoned Chuxuan and others, passionately recounting the events of Wanyan Liang's military campaign against Song and his subsequent defeat and death, speaking with great enthusiasm.
Chuxuan listened quietly until he was sure Li Hong had finished. He then looked at Li Hong and asked, "Sixth Senior Brother, you told us that during the battle at Chen Family Island you let Black Abyss go into the water to catch fish; what about the battle at Caishi Rock? What tricks did you pull there?"
Li Hong laughed heartily, "How could that be! I really just watched the show; that Yu Yunwen, tsk tsk, is indeed a capable person!"
Chuxuan smiled slightly and chose not to ask further.
Meanwhile, in a certain luxurious palace, Li Xiaolou was furious, and the room looked as if it had been hit by a tornado, completely in disarray.
One could hear Li Xiaolou shouting angrily, "Foolish pig! All this effort wasted! If I had known it would turn out like this..." He swallowed his words and did not finish.
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