On the lake, only three dilapidated small boats floated silently.
The boats were about three meters long, extremely simple and primitive in design, with a few reeds still fluttering on their awnings, and the entire boat swayed slightly with the wind, looking as if it could fall apart at any moment.
Looking at the boats, Xiao He felt that if he stood on one, he could sing a rendition of “The Boatman’s Love” at any moment, then rock the oars and spin in circles in the middle of the lake.
It was hard to imagine that their group of six would soon be distributed among these three small boats, then engage in a desperate struggle.
Xiao He was now worried that before they even started filming, the boats would crack just from them stepping on them.
Immediately after, he heard Director Lin earnestly instructing the crew members from Latvia beside him: “This boat awning can’t withstand any force. When the actors step on it, you must control your strength and absolutely not let anyone step through the awning. We still have to return it later!”
The crew member nodded repeatedly and earnestly: “Understood, Director Lin.”
Xiao He: ...As expected!
Looking at this crude and temporary makeshift crew, he sometimes really wanted to sigh.
This crew was truly the least like a crew among all the crews he had ever encountered!
Director Lin Yipeng was truly a miraculous existence.
-
“Heh, it’s really something that Chai Xiang thinks so highly of me, to actually send you guys.”
Jiang Rushuai leaned lazily against the boat’s gunwale, casually watching the Xiao Zhou drifting towards him.
On the Xiao Zhou, the thief catchers, dressed in various attire and carrying different weapons, emerged from the boat awning, looking intimidatingly at Jiang Rushuai: “Jiang Rushuai, if you don’t want to die, hand over what you have. Otherwise, don’t blame us, your peers, for disregarding past acquaintance.”
“Hmph, in the past, you captured thieves for rewards, for the stability of the Jianghu, and for the righteousness in your hearts. But now you know what I carry, yet you block my path. Don’t speak of any damn acquaintance; beasts driven by profit, do they even deserve the word ‘dignity’?”
As Jiang Rushuai spoke, the precious sword in his hand left its sheath, carrying a sharp edge with unstoppable momentum—
“If you want to fight, then fight! Stop being so hypocritical!”
As he finished speaking, the black-clad swordsman tapped his toes and flew out first, the precious sword in his hand like a fierce cold gleam, stabbing like lightning towards the burly man with the hammer in the middle.
“Zheng—”
The burly man leaned back and swung his hammer, powerfully deflecting the black-clad swordsman’s attack. At the same time, the samurai with a topknot beside him drew his blade and slashed horizontally, shouting fiercely: “Jiang Rushuai! Don’t speak so grandiosely! Who in the Jianghu doesn’t know you sell your life for money? In this struggle, both you and I are merely pawns. You are nothing more than a dog under the powerful. How are you any better than us!”
The coldness in Jiang Rushuai’s eyes intensified, but he did not speak, merely continued to make his moves, and the two sides began to fight fiercely.
There were a total of four thief hunters who came, all renowned experts, some of whom were even as famous as Jiang Rushuai. Even Jiang Rushuai, who had prepared early, felt strained after several fierce battles.
But just at this moment, another light Xiao Zhou silently approached the two boats.
A dark shadow, carrying a bloody wind, quietly entered the battlefield.
The samurai with the saber turned sideways to intercept the mysterious person’s attack, but suddenly felt a chill on his wrist.
The expressionless, cold-blooded killer flipped his wrists without blinking, blood and clothing fragments splattering wildly. Accompanied by the samurai’s scream as he clutched his arm, everyone looked over, only to see the samurai’s exposed stark white bones. The right arm that had been holding the saber had instantly turned into that ghastly sight!
The older black-clad thief hunter gasped, recognizing at a glance whose handiwork this was: “It’s the Bone-Stripping Blade Shen Jue! How could he appear here?”
Hadn’t Shen Jue retired from the Jianghu years ago? Why—
Thinking of the rumors in the Jianghu, everyone was startled, but before they could say anything more, the merciless killer was already rotating the hilt of his blade, slicing away the flesh from the neck of the screaming samurai.
In an instant, of the person’s head and body, only the stark white bones supporting the skull remained.
A living person, in the blink of an eye, turned into a bloody, half-human, half-bone form.
This shocking sight was enough to terrify the others.
Only Jiang Rushuai laughed heartily, his tone joyful and casual: “I knew you’d come! It’s all up to you!”
Shen Jue waved the Bone-Stripping Blade in his hand, letting the blood on the blade splatter onto the nearby water, his gaze calm, looking at the thief catchers as if looking at livestock to be slaughtered on a chopping block, his voice without the slightest fluctuation: “Mm.”
Then the two exchanged positions—
Shen Jue leaped forward, jumping into the center of the thief hunters’ encirclement. The Xiao Zhou shook violently, splashing a large amount of water, while Jiang Rushuai lightly tapped his toes, as if stepping on the water droplets, landing gracefully on the Xiao Zhou from which Shen Jue had come, drifting a few feet away in an instant.
“Don’t leave—”
The older thief hunter wanted to give chase, but the next moment Shen Jue blocked his path: “Your opponent, is me now—”
Shen Jue brandished the Bone-Stripping Blade in his hand, with the posture of one man holding off ten thousand, keeping the remaining three on the boat.
Watching Jiang Rushuai’s figure gradually drift away with the Xiao Zhou, the older thief hunter gritted his teeth and said to the other two: “Kill Shen Jue first, or none of us will be able to leave!”
The three exchanged glances and decisively launched their killing moves at Shen Jue, but Shen Jue showed no sign of fear. The Bone-Stripping Blade in his hand, true to its name, emerged with flesh and blood every time. The originally stable Xiao Zhou began to rock back and forth, large ripples were stirred on the water, gradually mixed with crimson blood, spreading outwards with large circular waves to the farther reaches of the water...
After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the lake returned to tranquility. The young cook, covered in blood, emerged from the boat awning, leaped to the bow, sat cross-legged, put down the bloody Bone-Stripping Blade, and closed his eyes to rest, allowing the Xiao Zhou to continue drifting with the current.
And following the direction from which the Xiao Zhou drifted, several stark white bones flashed in the water, finally floating with ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) the ripples and slowly sinking to the bottom of the lake, never to be known again...
-
Filming ended, and the Xiao Zhou swayed gently to the shore.
Xiao He, suspended by the wire, lightly leaped from the boat. Only when his feet were firmly on the shore did his tensed nerves slowly relax.
Phew—
It’s finally over.
Xiao He had not been seasick before.
But his experience of being a flying man in the air on the boat these past few days made him experience what top-tier torment felt like once again.
“Not bad, you’ve worked hard during this period.”
Lin Yipeng raised his hand and patted Xiao He’s shoulder, his expression very relaxed.
With this scene over, everyone’s subsequent work would be much easier.
Xiao He exhaled a long breath: “I don’t think I’ll want to be on a boat for a very long time.”
Lin Yipeng spread his hands: “Oh, don’t say that. I still hope to cooperate with you again in the future.”
Xiao He paused, then chuckled softly, not taking Lin Yipeng’s words to heart, only saying: “Alright, I’ll be waiting.”
