“I’m ready anytime.” Qiao Mu waved a hand and shifted her gaze.

“So, Sister Hua, what else do you know about the Three-Ring Formation?”

“Very little.” Tang Xiaohua handed over the book in her hands.

“The Three-Ring Formation isn’t a single formation — it’s made up of three separate formations, and there’s no fixed content to it.”

“Depending on which formations are chosen, the Three-Ring Formation changes each time. Its content is entirely up to whoever lays it out.”

“You could say the Three-Ring Formation is three formations, or you could say it’s just one.”

“Because once the one laying the formation grasps the method, deploying all three formations at once can raise the effect by a full three tiers.”

“I’m not Chen Hong, so I don’t know exactly which formations she chose.”

“But the formation on the river — that one, I think I know.”

“Tell us!” Qiao Mu’s anxious manner already gave off the feeling of someone stuck on a sinking ship.

“The formation on the river isn’t difficult. We just need to keep the boats steady and push straight through.” Tang Xiaohua curved her lips slightly.

“This battle against Chen Hong — no matter what happens, I won’t back down.”

“Right now our people surround Huangsong Village from three directions. If she wants to flee on her own, her only option is north, across the Songjiang River.”

“She won’t get that chance.” Feng Jiu’er looked at Tang Xiaohua, a hint of pleasure crossing her expression.

“Zhao Yusheng has already led men up to Songjiang. Unless she’s learned to swim underwater.”

“So does that mean we should get ashore first?” Qiao Mu looked between the other two at the table.

“We managed to cross Black Pond — what’s one measly river to us?”

“Right. Settle on the method, and attack right away.” Feng Jiu’er nodded.

Two nights later, in the depths of night, war drums suddenly sounded on the river separating the two forces.

The sound rose and fell, sometimes loud, sometimes faint, but it rang out for half the night.

Not until dawn broke did fifteen boats set out from the shore.

All around, various small boats stood ready on standby.

The departing boats moved in groups of three, arranged in five columns, and every boat carried spare dry logs.

Even if someone truly fell into the water, they wouldn’t die simply from being unfamiliar with swimming.

Worst case, they could cling to a log and paddle back — over this distance, no one would die.

On the front three boats:

In the middle boat stood Feng Jiu’er and Yu Jingfeng at the very front, with the Longqi Army’s higher-skilled brothers behind them.

On the left boat, Long Shiyi and Qiao Mu stood at the bow, with more Longqi Army brothers behind them.

On the right boat, the lead was Yue Jianfei and his wife, along with a good number of brothers from the Yue family’s forces.

The fifteen boats advanced at the same speed, and every person standing on them held their head high, faces showing no fear.

If they could just reclaim this village, their plan to seize Li City would be complete.

“Careful, everyone! There’s a whirlpool ahead,” Long Shiyi called out loudly.

Long Shiyi had spent two full days scouting every stretch of this river, back and forth.

The whirlpools appeared in strange, unpredictable places — there was no telling where a particularly large one might form.

It could even be said that wherever their boats went, that’s exactly where the strong whirlpools appeared.

This matched exactly what Tang Xiaohua had predicted — this formation caused whirlpools to grow larger wherever the current ran fastest.

Wherever a boat passed, there would be current — it made no real difference where they went.

Since that was the case, there was no need to waste time picking a particular spot; the nearest route would do.

“Understood!” The group’s response rang out, loud and clear.

Feng Jiu’er wasn’t worried their voices would carry to the enemy’s ears.

The previous midnight, Tang Xiaohua had cast a formation — a method her master had taught her long ago.

It could be called a formation, or it could be said not to be one at all — to a true formation master, it was nothing more than child’s play.

Tang Xiaohua remembered her master saying she’d only ever teach this method to her alone.

Someone as ambitious as Chen Hong would never take such a small trick seriously.

The war drums, horn calls, and shouts of the brothers that had rung out for half the night before — all of it was Tang Xiaohua’s doing.

The point of it all was to throw the enemy’s morale into disarray.

The boats reached the center of the great river, the whirlpools drawing ever closer, and the vessels began to sway.

Standing in the middle, Yu Jingfeng raised a banner, and the people on the front six boats simultaneously lowered their center of gravity, planting their stances firmly.

The swaying boats quickly steadied.

But ahead, the waves churned more and more violently.

Above the whirlpools hung a thick layer of fog, making it impossible to see clearly ahead.

The boats pressed forward and began to sway again.

Yu Jingfeng roared, “Everyone, brothers — close your eyes!”

If you couldn’t see, the fear would lessen too — this was something Feng Jiu’er had told everyone before they set out.

Hearing Yu Jingfeng’s words, all the brothers fell silent and strained to keep the boats steady.

On every boat, only those standing at the very front — the ones with the strongest martial skill — kept their eyes open, staring into the thick, layered fog.

The boats began entering the whirlpools, swaying more and more violently, but everyone kept fighting to hold on.

If they could just push through, they would break this formation of both dense fog and whirlpools.

Once the formation broke, the brothers behind could catch up, and this battle would already be half won.

Chen Hong truly was clever, choosing a spot like this — the terrain worked entirely in her favor.

With so many of them, once they got past the riverbank, what more could she possibly do?

The whirlpools on the river grew larger, and the wind above grew wilder.

The middle boat still looked to be holding up all right, but the two flanking boats were starting to look less than promising.

“Yu Jingfeng, go help Qiao Mu and Long Shiyi.” Feng Jiu’er said, steadying her own stance while surveying the surroundings.

“Miss Jiu’er.” Yu Jingfeng turned his head, thick brows drawing tightly together.

“Go.” Feng Jiu’er’s tone left no room for argument — if things continued like this, both flanking boats really might capsize.

If one boat went down, their formation would scatter, and everything might be lost in an instant.

“Understood.” Yu Jingfeng didn’t dare defy the order.

Given that the current was strongest in the middle, and the whirlpool there would be the largest, they had arranged their most capable brothers on the middle boat.

They hadn’t expected Chen Hong’s formation to be this fierce — even though the brothers on the flanking boats weren’t weak either, they were still showing signs of losing their footing.

“Yang Sheng, receive your order!” Feng Jiu’er’s voice rang out again.

She used her internal energy to project her voice — almost everyone on the boat could hear her clearly.

“Yang Sheng awaits your command.” Yang Sheng’s eyes snapped open.

“Take the eight brothers at the front and go help on Elder Brother Yue’s boat.” Feng Jiu’er continued.

“Understood.” Yang Sheng nodded and accepted the order.

The distance between the boats wasn’t far, and thick hemp ropes had been strung between them as well.

The departing brothers made their way across along the ropes and reached the other boat in just a few moves.

After Feng Jiu’er’s arrangement, the situation on the three boats stabilized somewhat.

But the stronger the whirlpool, the slower their forward progress became.

Right now, it truly could be described as every step a struggle.

Time trickled by, and the brothers’ internal energy was steadily draining, yet the boats’ pace remained painfully slow.

“Hold on!” Yu Jingfeng’s booming voice carried into everyone’s ears.

“We’ll get through this soon — brothers, you must hold on!”