161: Chapter 161 War

The battle continued for another quarter of an hour.

Lin Tian could no longer remember how many arrows he had fired; he only knew that the three fingers on his right hand had been cut by the bowstring, leaving two thin, bloody gashes that stung fiercely every time he drew the string.

The body of the cold moon bow, originally ice-cold, was now burning hot from his grip, and even the wild ox tendon on the bowstring was emitting a faint, charred smell.

Three empty quivers were piled at his feet, and only a few scattered arrows remained in the fourth.

The flock of White Birds in the air finally could not hold on any longer.

The last few White Birds circled twice over Fish Pond 6, likely seeing the layer of their companions' corpses floating on the water's surface, and finally gave up. Letting out a series of sharp, mournful cries, they flapped their wings and flew off toward the forest.

The group of Black-Armored Lizards in front also began to retreat simultaneously, leaving behind a dozen corpses and disappearing into the darkness of the dense forest, dragging their mangled tails and broken-clawed legs as they limped away. The roars of the Vicious Beasts in the mountain forest gradually faded, leaving only the wailing of the night wind passing through the treetops.

Captain Ma plunged his long saber into the ground; the blade was covered in fragments of Black-Armored Lizard scales and viscous blood.

He gripped the hilt with both hands, panting heavily, his face splattered with streaks of blood that dripped down his chin.

Behind him, Chen Lang crawled out of the water, soaked to the bone. His clothes were torn in several places by the long beaks of the White Birds, and faint traces of blood were seeping out.

The other team members were no better off; some were clutching their arms, some were limping, and others were leaning against tree trunks, panting so hard they could not even speak.

The seven members of Team 6 were all wounded, but none had died. In the scale of tonight's battle, this was already a small miracle.

Lin Tian slung his empty bow over his back, walked to the old willow tree on the bank, and slowly slid down to sit with his back against the rough bark. His face was deathly pale—not from injury, but because his Internal Energy had been completely exhausted.

His Dantian felt empty, and a sour, aching fatigue permeated his entire body. He laid the autumn water sword across his knees, closed his eyes, and regulated his breathing for a few moments. Only when the stifling tightness in his chest eased slightly did he open his eyes again.

As his gaze swept over the lake shore, his brows furrowed slightly.

On the surface of Fish Pond 6, dozens of White Bird corpses were floating, their feathers stained dark red by blood, swaying gently with the ripples.

On the lake shore, the corpses of Black-Armored Lizards lay scattered in disarray. A few were not yet fully dead, their tails twitching slightly, and their sharp claws scratching futilely against the gravel ground.

Team 6 was fortunate—they were injured, but not mortally. However, when he looked past the boundary of Fish Pond 6 toward the other ponds, he saw far fewer torches lit on the banks than usual. Although the sounds of battle had ceased, they were replaced by waves of low groans and urgent cries.

Corpses were being carried away.

They were not the corpses of Vicious Beasts, but of humans. Lin Tian saw several guards rushing past with stretchers from the direction of Fish Pond 5. The faces of those on the stretchers were covered with white cloth, and on their dangling wrists, they still wore the copper rings of the Yunhai Fishery.

He recognized that copper ring; every fishery guard had one, engraved with their own identification number.

He shifted his gaze and saw a large crowd gathered around Fish Pond 7. The torchlight illuminated their faces, flickering between light and shadow, all wearing expressions so heavy they seemed capable of dripping water.

Something major had happened at Fish Pond 7.

Just as dawn was about to break, Field Master Zhou arrived.

He was followed by several Elders of the fishery, and the group walked along the lake shore from east to west, stopping at every fish pond to inspect the battle damage.

When they reached Fish Pond 7, Field Master Zhou stopped for a long time—so long that the Elders beside him dared not speak to urge him on. Then he crouched down, personally picked up a torn Yunxia flag from the muddy water, folded it, and handed it to the attendant behind him. When he stood up, there was no expression on his thin face, only a faint, fine vein pulsing at the corner of his eye.

"Clean up the battlefield. Cut off useful Materials from all Vicious Beast corpses and store them; burn the rest. Send the wounded to the infirmary, and for those seriously injured, use my token to request an alchemist from the Sect. Wrap the fallen brothers and place them in the side hall of the bamboo building; handle their arrangements according to the Sect's compensation regulations." His voice was not loud, but it reached the ears of everyone clearly amidst the chaotic battlefield.

The guards silently began to clean up the battlefield; some dragged away the Vicious Beast corpses, some knelt to wipe the blood off their blades, and others walked by with their heads down, holding the belongings of their fallen comrades.

Field Master Zhou turned and walked toward the bamboo building. Several Elders followed closely behind him, their footsteps hurried.

In the main hall of the bamboo building, the incense in the copper burner had gone out at some point, leaving only a pile of cold ash.

Field Master Zhou sat on a meditation cushion, with the Elders lining up on both sides; no one spoke first.

Field Master Zhou remained silent for a long while, then extended a finger to stir the cold ash in the incense burner. Watching the gray-white powder crumble between his fingertips, he spoke, his voice slightly lower and hoarser than usual.

"Something is not right." He brushed the incense ash off his fingers and looked up, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the Elders. "I have been at the Yunhai Fishery for nearly twenty years. Vicious Beast attacks are commonplace; they happen every month. But tonight's formation… it's not right. What level of Vicious Beast is the Black-Armored Lizard? Its scales are at the Middle Stage of the Fourth Rank; ordinary blades can't even leave a mark on them. These beasts usually hole up in the deep mountains and rarely come out, yet when they do, a dozen appear at once. And those White Birds—who has ever seen Black-Armored Lizards and White Birds attack in coordination? One crawls on the ground, the other flies in the sky, yet they cooperated like a trained Human Race army. Are these still just wild beasts?"

An Elder with white hair and beard nodded, his tone grave: "Field Master is right. Vicious Beasts have their own territories; different species usually fight each other upon meeting, and it is absolutely impossible for them to coordinate like this tonight. The Black-Armored Lizards attracted the defensive line from the front, while the White Birds bypassed the defense from the air to strike directly at the fish ponds—this is not the instinct of beasts; this is someone commanding and coordinating from behind the scenes."

Field Master Zhou tapped his fingers lightly on his knees, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes: "Investigate. Send out the fishery's scouts and have them search deep along the Taixuan Mountain Range. See if a Beast King has appeared in the vicinity, or if some reckless person is manipulating the Vicious Beasts from behind the scenes. Regardless of the situation, it must be investigated thoroughly. The Yunhai Fishery provides a vast amount of Treasure Fish to the Sect every year and is one of the most important properties of the Qixia Sect. If anyone dares to target the fishery, they are going against the entire Qixia Sect."

"Yes." The Elder cupped his hands in acknowledgment.

Another Elder stepped forward, his expression even more troubled than before. He weighed his words carefully before speaking: "Field Master, Captain Qiu of Team 7 has fallen. Fish Pond 7 suffered the heaviest losses tonight. In order to protect the pond, Captain Qiu held off the siege of three Black-Armored Lizards alone, only to be ambushed from behind by a White Bird, which pecked through his neck." He paused, his voice dropping another notch. "Team 7 is now without a leader; shouldn't we select a new captain as soon as possible?"

Field Master Zhou remained silent for a long while. Captain Qiu was someone he had personally promoted, a cultivator at the Late Stage of the Fourth Rank who had been at the Yunhai Fishery for over six years. He was a man of few words and solid actions. If he hadn't fought to the death to hold off those three Black-Armored Lizards tonight, the losses at Fish Pond 7 wouldn't have been limited to just one death; the entire pond of Treasure Fish would likely have been decimated.

He let out a long sigh, the breath forming a small cloud of white mist above the cold incense burner before quickly dissipating. "Select a captain." He enunciated the three words slowly, as if chewing on a stone that wouldn't break. "Another headache. Before tonight, all ten captains were in place, and everything was fine. Now that a position has opened up, once the news reaches the Qixia Sect, those Peak Masters and Elders will start pulling strings again. Go write a battle report; detail the situation of tonight, including Captain Qiu's death, and send it back to the Sect tomorrow morning. As for the candidate for the new captain—follow the rules: let them recommend, have the Elder Council review, and I will make the final decision."

When the news reached the Qixia Sect, it was exactly the afternoon of the next day.

Qixia Sect, Council Hall. The Peak Masters and Elders of each peak were holding their monthly routine council meeting, and an Elder from Bixia Peak was reporting the month's Medicinal Pill production, when suddenly, hurried footsteps sounded outside the hall.

A deacon Disciple walked quickly into the hall, holding a battle report sealed with the Yunhai Fishery's wax seal, and knelt on one knee to present it with both hands.

The Sect Master took the report, opened it, and glanced at it, his expression changing. He handed the report to the attending Elder beside him, and as the Elder read it aloud to everyone, the entire Council Hall fell silent.

Last night, the Yunhai Fishery suffered a large-scale Vicious Beast attack; Black-Armored Lizards and a flock of White Birds attacked in coordination, the largest scale in nearly five years. Several guards were killed, material losses were sustained, and Captain Qiu of Fish Pond 7 fought bravely and died in the line of duty.

"Captain Qiu is dead?" Peak Master Chen of Chixia Peak was the first to react. His voice was not loud, but everyone in the Council Hall heard it clearly.

There was not much sadness on his crimson face; instead, he raised his brows slightly, as if he had caught a scent of something.

The attending Elder finished reading the last line and closed the report. The Council Hall remained silent for less than three breaths before it exploded into a buzz of conversation.

No one cared anymore about why the Vicious Beasts were acting abnormally; no one asked why the Black-Armored Lizards and White Birds had joined forces.

The gazes of the various Peak Masters and Elders clashed in the air, and in every look hid the same message—the position of Captain of Team 7 was open.

A captain at the Yunhai Fishery received two Treasure Fish a month and managed the manpower and resource distribution of an entire fish pond. Within the Sect, this position was more lucrative than most idle Elder posts. More importantly, whoever's person sat in the captain's seat meant they had bitten off a piece of territory that belonged solely to them on the fat meat that was the Yunhai Fishery.

Although Fish Pond 7 was not the largest, it still raised several hundred Treasure Fish, ranging from three to five years old. The distribution rights to these fish alone were enough for a Peak Master to exchange for a vast amount of Cultivation resources for their Personal Disciple.

The last time a captain position was vacant was two years ago; for that position, several Peak Masters argued for nearly half an hour at the Elder Council meeting, and it was only settled after Bixia Peak took a step back. Now, another position had opened up.

The moment Peak Master Su Hanyan heard the news, her fingertips tapped the armrest of her chair unconsciously.

A few days ago, she had just told Lin Tian that the captain position would not change easily and to focus on his Cultivation and wait until he reached a Breakthrough to the Fifth Rank.

Now, only half a month later, a captain's position had opened up.

Team 7 was not Zixia Peak's territory, but who said Team 7 couldn't become Zixia Peak's territory?

She stood up from her chair, the clamor of the Council Hall automatically filtering into a buzzing background noise in her ears. She strode out of the hall, her mind revolving around only one thing—writing a letter.

A letter to Field Master Zhou, and a letter to Lin Tian.

Arriving at the corridor outside the hall, she picked up a brush and dipped it in ink. Her purple sleeves spread out over the stone desk, and she finished both letters in one go.

Before the ink was dry, she folded and sealed them. She caught the gray-feathered carrier pigeon from the pigeon coop—the one specifically used for sending letters to the Yunhai Fishery—and tied both letters to the pigeon's legs. With a flick of her hands, the pigeon fluttered up into the sky and flapped its wings, flying off in a northwesterly direction.