Trembling

“You...!” Wang Jindao was furious.

He was never a man of many words. Blocked by Tang Jin's sophistry and twisted logic, his face turned livid, and he was temporarily left speechless.

Beside him, Li Han, the Team D Patrol Envoy who was the first to arrive, let out a cold snort and said chillingly, “Since Chief Tang is not entering the fray, then what is the purpose of bringing such a massive crowd to our Yunyi Island today? It can't be... that you came all this way just to admire the scenery!”

“Admire the scenery? No, no, no...”

The corner of Tang Jin's mouth curled up, a cruel smile appearing on his face.

“I came today because I want to invite the brothers on this island to test their skills against my Chenjian Dock men. By the rules of the underworld, the members of our two factions will step forward and 'match punches'!”

After saying this, Tang Jin burst into loud laughter, seemingly looking forward to this punch matching immensely.

At his laughter, the pack of water bandits behind him, fierce as wolves and tigers, also broke into wild laughter, their voices filled with bloodthirsty excitement.

Punch matching!

Hearing these two words, the faces of Wang Jindao and Li Han instantly turned grim!

This so-called punch matching was a death match... There were no rules! No restrictions on weapons, no boundaries for the arena, and they had to fight until one side drew their last breath or until one's limbs were crippled, completely stripping them of their ability to fight back!

To put it bluntly, it was a legitimate way to commit murder under the guise of a “friendly duel”!

Since Tang Jin had already explicitly demanded to “match punches,” today's matter could not be resolved peacefully!

“Shameless!”

Wang Jindao gritted his teeth in anger and said, “You keep calling it a punch match, but with you, Tang Jin, standing right here, where is the fairness in that?!”

“Fairness?”

Tang Jin's face suddenly turned cold.

“In this world, might makes right, and that is fairness! Cut the chatter. Don't even think about avoiding these three matches today, or else don't blame my brothers here for starting a bloodbath... Who among you is first!”

As he spoke, the masked man beside him took a step forward and tore off the black cloth covering his face!

“It's Tu Xiaotian?!”

Once they saw his face clearly, a wave of shock and horror swept through the crowd, and everyone's face turned pale!

This man was none other than the Ninth Chief of Chenjian Dock!

Two and a half years ago, this man, along with the now-deceased Qu Bushi, had assisted the Second Chief of Chenjian Dock, 'Blood Dhuta,' in surrounding and attacking Ji Guannan on this very island!

Back then, he was already a notorious bandit who had broken through to the Bone Tempering Rank, and he would only be stronger now!

With him stepping up to match punches, who on Yunyi Island besides Ji Ning could possibly be his match?

For a moment, despair spread among the guards like a plague.

Cold sweat poured down Li Han's temples. He turned his head and hurriedly whispered to his confidant, “Has anyone been sent to wake the Garrison Master? Why is there still no sign of him?”

The guard's face was white, and his voice carried a crying tone as he said despondently, “No... Even after firing three Cloud-Flint Arrows, the back mountain remains dead silent. So I sent two men to knock on his door. They should have arrived by now...”

Hearing this, Li Han breathed a slight sigh of relief.

In a situation like this, Ji Ning had to show up to keep things under control. Only with him present would these water bandits refrain from acting so unscrupulously.

However, Li Han did not expect that every single word of his would fall into Tang Jin's ears!

Tang Jin had been in the Anjin Rank for four years and had already opened three major acupoints: the Taichong acupoint, the Guanyuan acupoint, and the Tinggong acupoint!

Breaking through the Tinggong acupoint in particular had made his five senses far sharper than ordinary people. Any slight rustle within several Zhang was like a whisper right next to his ear.

The corner of Tang Jin's mouth curled into a playful smile, his gaze drifting toward the distant bamboo forest.

Right at that moment, a wave of panicked commotion erupted among the guards behind them.

Wang Jindao and Li Han instinctively spun around, their eyes nearly splitting with rage in the next second!

Behind them, on the wooden boardwalk, a man as thin as a bamboo pole but with extraordinarily long arms was walking over slowly.

A large bluish birthmark covered his face, making him look like a menacing mantis.

“It's... it's Pang Yi!”

“The Sixth Chief of Chenjian Dock, Pang Yi!”

“We're finished... Tang Jin, Pang Yi, Tu Xiaotian... Three chiefs came all at once. We're completely finished this time!”

The guards were pale with fear. Some even felt their legs go weak and began looking around, searching for a way to escape.

Pang Yi grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. In his left and right hands, he carried two blood-drenched guards whose limbs had been broken.

Screaming in agony, the two were thrown heavily like dead dogs right at the feet of Wang Jindao and Li Han.

These two were precisely the guards who had just been sent to the back mountain to wake Ji Ning!

“...”

Wang Jindao and Li Han instinctively exchanged a glance, feeling their hands and feet go cold as their hearts plunged into the abyss.

They had even sent someone to block the path to the back mountain. Clearly, they had come fully prepared... Today, they had no choice but to match punches! Otherwise... never mind Tang Jin, Pang Yi and Tu Xiaotian alone would be more than enough to slaughter them all!

In their despair, another sudden turn of events occurred!

A sudden, arrogant shout echoed from far behind them: “Who dares to run amok on my Yunyi Island?!”

In the next moment, accompanied by the rapid fluttering of robes cutting through the wind, eight figures landed one after another on the blue stone steps of the dock!

A crisp sword chime rang out across the area.

Holding a three-foot-long, cold-gleaming sword, Ji Yuande stood proudly at the very front. With his chin slightly raised, he put on the full air of a leader!

Meanwhile, Shen Xiuhan quietly brought up the rear with the guards of Team A and Team C.

The arrival of these two teams of reinforcements slightly eased the nearly collapsed morale.

Shen Xiuhan glanced left and right. He did not see Ji Ning in the crowd, nor did he see Deng Shan or the others, and he couldn't help but feel a bit puzzled.

Shen Xiuhan's eyes flickered.

Under the cover of the crowd, he quietly reached his hand into his robe.

His fingertips brushed against a piece of warm jade—it was the 『Four Seas Heart-Linking Disc』 gifted to him by Xiao Wu.

Without hesitation, Shen Xiuhan pressed his thumb against the center of the circular disc, channeling his blood qi into it. He pressed his fingertip precisely onto the nearest deep-blue light dot!

One breath. Two breaths.

By the third breath, the surface of the disc suddenly began to vibrate.

The vibration grew stronger and stronger, even making Shen Xiuhan's finger feel slightly numb.

Shen Xiuhan was secretly amazed.

This method of communication, which required only a bit of blood qi and could completely ignore distance, was truly wondrous!

Looking up, he glanced at the blood mist that had not yet fully dispersed in mid-air, letting out a sigh of relief in his heart.

With Ji Ning coming out of seclusion to hold the fort, the enemy would definitely be wary of the ironclad agreement set by the several Huajin Rank experts, which would make them hesitate to act rashly to avoid triggering uncontrollable consequences!

But when Shen Xiuhan looked at Ji Yuande ahead, a trace of speechlessness flashed in his eyes.

At the same time, Ji Yuande had also learned about the confrontation with Chenjian Dock from Wang Jindao.