The incense had burned out, but time continued to march forward.
Bathed in the golden glow of the sunset, Ziqing was held in Jun Beiyue’s warm embrace, facing the damp sea breeze, gazing at the sunset over the ocean. She wasn’t sure whether she was falling into the tenderness of his arms or into the beauty of the scene before her — but either way, the tension she’d felt earlier had quietly vanished, replaced by a sense of calm, as Jun Beiyue’s deep, sensual voice spoke softly beside her ear, telling her of the dreams of his childhood.
In that moment, Ziqing forgot entirely that they had come here for a decisive battle, forgot the formidable merfolk navy not far away, forgot the Empress of Dongqin and Yelu Chenyi waiting nearby to expose them.
She didn’t know why it was like this — she hadn’t even noticed herself falling under his spell. Perhaps this was the greatest sense of security Jun Beiyue could offer her.
Even if the sky were to fall and the earth to crumble, she could remain oblivious, quietly nestled in his arms, basking in his warmth.
Time slipped away, bit by bit. The Empress of Dongqin and Yelu Chenyi, unable to see any real spectacle, grew increasingly impatient, while Prince Nanzhao watched with great interest, trying to glean some clue from what he saw.
Based on his understanding of the Jiao chieftain, that old chieftain had always been an extremely cautious man. Facing an opponent like Jun Beiyue, there was no reason he wouldn’t rule out sending the Black Jiao troops underwater for a sneak attack.
A single stick of incense was more than enough time for the Black Jiao troops to silently sneak beneath Jun Beiyue’s ship — and destroying that ship would take no more than the blink of an eye.
So why was there still no movement at all?
Not only was there no movement from Jun Beiyue’s side, there was no movement from the Jiao clan’s side either.
It wasn’t that there was no movement from the Jiao clan’s side — it was that they didn’t dare make any movement carelessly.
“Chieftain, still no word from them!” a guard reported — already the third time he’d come to report this.
“How is that possible! Did you send men over?” the young Jiao chieftain demanded first.
“Three batches of men have already been sent. None have returned, and no word has come back at all!”
The moment these words were spoken, the Jiao chieftain was instantly alarmed. The merfolk could send messages underwater through calls and cries — if there was truly no word at all, it could only mean something had happened to the merfolk sent out.
“Father, could it be that someone is helping them underwater?” the young Jiao chieftain blurted out in shock, voicing the fear in his heart.
If someone truly was helping Jun Beiyue underwater, it would have to be one of the merfolk — and a traitor to the clan at that. This was something that could utterly destroy the Jiao clan’s standing in Nanzhao.
They absolutely could not allow such a thing to happen!
“This old man will go down himself. I want to see exactly who dares to help Jun Beiyue so brazenly!” The Jiao chieftain, furious and anxious in equal measure, was about to leap into the water without another word. But just then, a Black Jiao warrior suddenly surfaced, crying out in alarm, “Chieftain, young master, something’s happened! They’re poisoning the water beneath and around the ship — we’ve lost many men!”
“What!” the Jiao chieftain cried out in shock.
“An entire unit of Black Jiao troops has been wiped out. I barely managed to escape. The poison is black as ink, staining the water below completely black, and it’s spreading this way — we can’t go back into the water!” the guard said, rushing straight out of the water and onto the ship without further ado.
The Jiao chieftain stood frozen for a long moment before coming back to his senses, stamping his foot and cursing furiously, “Jun Beiyue, you’re despicable!”
Poisoning the water — did he really think that would win him the fight?
This was nothing short of wishful thinking. The Jiao chieftain made an immediate decision. “Everyone, move out! Attack!”
If they couldn’t rely on underwater sabotage, then a direct confrontation was the only option — naval warfare came down to firing arrows, boarding and slaughtering, or simply overwhelming the enemy with superior numbers and ramming them.
The Jiao chieftain, without reflecting on the fact that he himself had struck first with underwater tactics, instead grew furious over what he saw as Jun Beiyue’s despicable poisoning. Too angry to consider anything else, he gave the order for the entire fleet to attack.
In an instant, considerable commotion stirred across the sea’s surface, waves crashing over waves.
What had been calm waters suddenly grew turbulent, the rising swells causing Prince Nanzhao, who had no idea what was happening, to rise involuntarily to his feet. The Empress of Dongqin and Yelu Chenyi, by contrast, seemed considerably more composed, lounging lazily as they watched everything unfold ahead with cold eyes.
Jun Beiyue wanted to prove Da Zhou’s naval strength — very well, they would watch closely to see just how “strong” it truly was.
They waited for Jun Beiyue and Han Ziqing to be knocked into the sea, reduced to bedraggled, drowned rats. They waited to hear how Jun Beiyue would explain himself to Prince Nanzhao. Yelu Chenyi waited to kick him while he was down, to ask why the merfolk had helped Jun Beiyue. The Empress of Dongqin waited to uncover the culprit who had helped kill Xuanyuan Zhaoxi, waited to salvage Dongqin’s honor.
Every one of them was secretly gloating, secretly thrilled.
Prince Nanzhao watched without blinking, equally excited and tense. He knew something must have gone wrong underwater — otherwise the Jiao chieftain would never have ordered a full-scale attack.
From the look of things, it seemed he could indeed rule out any collusion between the Jiao chieftain and Jun Beiyue. Could it be — could the guardians of the Isolated Island’s ruins have helped Jun Beiyue instead?
This was precisely what Prince Nanzhao truly feared.
He absolutely could not allow the guardians of the Isolated Island’s ruins to have any connection with Jun Beiyue whatsoever!
Unlike the merfolk naval fleet advancing in full force, Jun Beiyue’s ship remained utterly still. He still held Ziqing in his arms — and if one ignored the surging chaos all around, and simply looked at the quiet deck of their ship from a distance, one had to admit, it was the most heartwarming sight in the world.
The iron-blooded god of war, a prince tempered through countless battles, had turned as gentle as silk wrapped around a finger, cherishing the woman he loved, spending the most precious moments of his conquest of the realm accompanying a woman to watch the sunset. This moment, this scene, seemed to still the clamor and vanity of the entire world.
Not far away, rising and falling with the waves, Baili Weisheng floated along, watching all of this from a distance. His gaze finally settled on Jun Beiyue’s face, lingering there for a long, long while, before the corner of his lips slowly curved into a sinister smile. Silently, rising and sinking with the waves, he soon vanished without a trace.
As one side advanced while the other remained still, with the merfolk warships drawing closer, the Empress of Dongqin and Yelu Chenyi couldn’t help but rise to their feet as well, growing more and more tense.
The Jiao chieftain and the young Jiao chieftain stood at the bow of their ship, gauging the distance. Behind them, on the decks of several ships, bows were already fully drawn, loaded with fire arrows.
The moment the Jiao chieftain gave the order, ten thousand arrows would fly at once.
Faced with such a display, Ziqing couldn’t help but shift her attention. She watched silently — though she wasn’t entirely sure why the Black Jiao hadn’t destroyed their ship, and though much remained unclear to her, the man behind her gave her enough sense of security that she could watch the spectacle unfold with an easy mind.
Suddenly, the Jiao chieftain raised a flag high into the air!
Instantly, a sharp twanging sound rang out — clearly the sound of bowstrings being drawn taut in unison. The critical moment had finally arrived.
“Fire!”
The Jiao chieftain roared. But at that very moment — “BOOM…” — the first blast erupted from beneath the sea. No one could make sense of what was happening; the arrows were still nocked on the strings when the second blast followed, then the third, the fourth… “BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”
Waves surged skyward, columns of water shot into the air, and the great ships either split apart and sank or were capsized and swallowed by the waves.
In an instant, the entire fleet fell into chaos, everyone thrown into panic. The sound of the mines, the roar of the waves, ships toppling and breaking apart, screams, cries for help — all mixed together into one deafening, chaotic uproar!
Amid the chaos unfolding before them, Jun Beiyue remained as gentle as ever. “So, woman — this view of the sea isn’t bad, is it?”