Chapter 44: Little Crocodile (Monday Vote Request)

When Kou Li had left the gambling ship, he had made a pact with the then-prisoner Crocodile: if the latter ever escaped and wanted revenge against Lu Zhixiong, he was to leave a sign at a certain place—Wolf’s Head Hollow. Yet, during the past two months, Kou Li had visited Wolf’s Head Hollow multiple times, never catching sight of the man, and had started to suspect he hadn’t escaped at all and had perished on the ship.

He never expected to encounter him under these circumstances—Crocodile was in the midst of being hunted down.

“Speak. What is your relationship with Lu Zhixiong? Why are you being chased by pirates under Zhu Baozai? Think carefully before you lie; you look like a man with nowhere left to run.”

Crocodile’s face twisted with inner struggle. At last, he let out a bitter laugh and spilled out his story like beans from a sack.

In Guangcheng, the Dragonhouse clan, or Egg People, always selected a new chieftain when the old generation passed. Among the younger men, whoever was most respected and famed would likely be chosen. Of the candidates that year, Crocodile had been the favorite. When Master Lin Xian had first built his martial school in Guanchao, it was Crocodile who, against all opposition, helped these outsiders establish themselves, with the promise that the next generation’s chieftain could become Lin Xian’s disciple and that Egg clan members could join the school.

In the following years, as Lin Xian’s reputation soared, Crocodile’s standing within the clan rose as well, making him the almost certain successor.

“…That shipment of sea goods was worth a fortune. I and dozens of brothers personally escorted it, but we ran right into pirates. After a fierce fight, the others were all drowned, and I alone was captured. Probably because I could fight, I was sold to the Water Dragon Gang. Only later did I learn that those pirates were in fact supported by the Water Dragon Gang, and our ambush was due to someone leaking the news.”

“So the one who betrayed you was Lu Zhixiong?”

“Yes. Not just him, but also the previous chieftain—he’s the chieftain’s nephew. If I died, he’d certainly succeed to the position.” Crocodile’s eyes burned with a furious fire. “And He Niang—he took her for himself as well!”

“So, all this time you’ve been scheming for power—and clearly, you failed,” Kou Li said calmly. Power and women were a man’s lifeblood; to lose both, no man could accept that.

“It’s true. I rallied some old brothers from the clan, friends who owed me their lives, and planned one last gamble. Damn it! Pirates again! Guangcheng is almost a pirate den now. Many clansmen are forced into piracy as soon as they come of age, and those trained in the martial school have become Black-faced Xiong’s enforcers!”

“So it’s true,” Kou Li thought, recalling what Jiang Shuiyuan had told him—the Egg People had indeed become pirates in every sense.

“When we tried to retake our home, a dozen pirate ships cut off the river route. They even flew the government’s flag, wore armor, fired guns—so many died. I can’t accept it! I won’t accept it!” Crocodile cried in despair.

“So you truly have nowhere left to run, which is why you’ve come to me,” Kou Li said. There was no such thing as trust without reason; but right now, this man was the most useful ally he could acquire.

“I want you to trust me, completely. Aside from me, you have no further use to anyone else.”

“Who are you, really?” Crocodile asked, red-eyed and panting.

“All you need to know is that Lu Zhixiong is my problem too. Both of us need to fix our problems. I need information now—tell me everything…”

It was some time before Kou Li’s frown eased. “One last question. It’s true, piracy is hugely lucrative, and as you said, Lu Zhixiong is adopted by Zhu Baozai and has strong support at sea. But your Dragonhouse clan isn’t like other pirates hiding on islands—you live under the government’s eye. If you grow too powerful, the army won’t stand idly by. What gives Lu Zhixiong the nerve to act like this?”

Crocodile hesitated before answering, “I heard a rumor at sea. After the Qinghai campaign, Zhu Baozai might be considering accepting an imperial pardon.”

“He wants to become an official—murder, arson, and then a pardon. That’s certainly one way. In peaceful times, even if you wanted to rebel, you wouldn’t get far. An official, the Dragonhouse, the government—” Kou Li’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Maybe Zhu Baozai took you in to use you as a vanguard, testing the government’s limits. After all, your clan’s reputation is bad. If the authorities accept you, it might make the great pirate let down his guard.”

“If that’s the case, Lu Zhixiong is even harder to deal with,” Crocodile’s face changed drastically. Once draped in the cloak of authority, who could touch him except by breaking all bounds and becoming a true outlaw? Even Zhu Baozai, with his hundreds of ships, hasn’t dared set foot on shore in decades.

You could rampage at sea, kill officials and men, but the moment you set foot on land, the authorities could take you down instantly. Clearly, that wasn’t the life Crocodile wanted.

“But this is good. If he weren’t doing this, we’d have no chance at all,” Kou Li’s eyes glinted with a strange light. “First, you need to create a stir. You don’t have to actually fight, but you must make it known to outsiders that you were betrayed by Lu Zhixiong, that he’s a usurper with no legitimacy.”

“What’s the point? No one will stand up for me, and they won’t let me live,” Crocodile frowned.

“It’s risky, and it might alert them. But as long as you’re alive, they’ll be nervous. Lu Zhixiong, Zhu Baozai—they’ll hurry their negotiations with the authorities. When that happens, you and I can…”

Crocodile’s face shifted as he listened to Kou Li’s plan; his voice turned hoarse. “If we do this, we could doom every clansman!”

“That’s right. But you could also become your people’s savior. What matters more—your power and position, or your clansmen’s safety? Think. Think carefully.” Kou Li’s words, like a devil’s whisper, sent Crocodile into a fierce inner struggle.

Just as Crocodile hesitated, Kou Li’s ears twitched. The rustling of fallen leaves masked footsteps, but he still caught the faint scrape of blade against scabbard.

Ten paces away, two men in black appeared, flanking them. They wore conical hats, wooden clogs, and at their waists hung curved long swords, much like the tachi of Kou Li’s previous life. Both killers were short and stocky, faces hidden, but their murderous aura was overwhelming.

With a flash, the blades gleamed. A white light stabbed at Kou Li’s eyes, forcing him to shut them. At that instant, the assassins darted forward—one tachi thrust for his chest, the other swept for his throat.

The sword-light blazed like snow; the explosive force in that moment was something even the instructors at the martial school might not match.

A tearing sound.

Thuds, splatters.

Three bodies collapsed together.

Kou Li glanced down at the fresh wound slashed from chest to belly and murmured softly, “That was close.”

Two dull thuds as the assassins hit the ground. Yet there wasn’t a mark on their bodies.

At the same time, Kou Li slapped the ground—there were two crisp cracks as he reset his dislocated shin bones, transforming from cripple back to normal. If not for his reflexive use of a strange technique from the Three Soul Palms, dislocating his lower legs and dropping his height, he would have been in real danger from that blade.

In terms of footwork and boxing, the assassins were perhaps merely average students, but their sword strikes were truly vicious.

“Bladesmen from the Country of Wa. I’ve heard Zhu Baozai once swore brotherhood with a feudal lord from there, and employed many Wa bladesmen. These killers must be theirs.”

“The Country of Wa…” Kou Li murmured. Though the world had changed, that island nation off the coast of the central empire remained as ambitious—and as perilous—as ever.

“We can’t stay here any longer. Have you made up your mind?”

Only now did Crocodile seem to return to his senses. Ambition and fury filled his eyes as he ground out, “What is mine—I will take back with my own hands!”