Unparalleled medical and martial arts skills, saving the CEO's fiancée at the start.

Suddenly, one by one, the white lanterns in the middle of the river lit up, like many lifeless eyes opening from the fog.

The people on the large ship moved, raising a white banner on a long pole, which spun in the wind.

Someone brought out a pitch-black wooden tray covered with a red cloth, under which bulged out, as if it contained something extremely heavy.

Wen Jiuhong walked up from the stern of the ship, having changed into a dark black robe with a white hemp rope tied around his waist.

He walked to the seat of Elder Jiu, knelt on one knee, and raised his hands outstretched.

"As you command." Wen Jiuhong's voice was not loud, but it seemed to glide across the water's surface, and even Ye Chen, who was hiding behind the reeds, could hear it clearly.

Old Jiu slowly stretched out his hand, which was so thin it looked like a piece of withered bone, with extremely long knuckles.

He lifted the red cloth, picked up a palm-sized black iron plaque, and pressed it into Wen Jiuhong's palm.

Just as the iron plate was about to touch Wen Jiuhong's palm, Ye Chen moved.

Like a cormorant that had been gathering strength in the fog, Ye Chen darted out from among the reeds, his toes lightly touching the water's surface several times, and he actually stepped on the half-submerged paper money and pieces of wood as he rushed towards the large ship.

Someone on the ship spotted him and exclaimed in surprise, but Ye Chen had already thrown out three silver needles, knocking down the two lantern bearers closest to him.

He wasn't interested in fighting; he had only one goal: the black iron token that hadn't yet fallen into Wen Jiuhong's hands.

Aygul and the Five Shadows followed closely behind, like two intangible shadows, circling around the sacrificial boat from the other side.

Jiang Ruoxi did not board the ship.

Following Ye Chen's instructions, she led the ghost servants and Song Tiezhu's men from the side of the breadbox towards the small boats with knife-wielding men, knocked down the lantern bearers, and threw the lanterns into the river one by one.

Chaos erupted on the large ship.

Wen Jiuhong reacted extremely quickly, hiding the black iron token in his sleeve and retreating like a snake.

Ye Chen wouldn't let him escape. He drew his Ku Zhao sword, and a dark and cold light shot straight after Wen Jiuhong's back.

Two men in black robes rushed to block Wen Jiuhong's path, but Ye Chen slapped them down into the water with a single sword stroke.

Old Master Jiu remained seated, showing no sign of panic. Instead, he leaned back in his chair as if he were watching a play from the audience.

Ye Chen and Wen Jiuhong chased each other for seven or eight steps at the bow of the boat, each sword aimed at the sleeve where Wen Jiuhong had hidden the token.

Forced into a corner, Wen Jiuhong stopped retreating and pulled out an extremely thin iron chain from his sleeve, which became entangled with Ye Chen's sword.

The two men each held one end, and as they exerted their strength, the boat swayed.

But then the Five Shadows did something that no one expected.

Instead of helping Ye Chen, he lunged at Elder Jiu.

A gray shadow, like smoke, loomed straight at the seat.

The two old men behind Old Man Jiu also moved, like two pieces of dried corpses that sprang out from behind the chair, their movements extremely fast.

Despite fighting two opponents alone, the five shadows were still able to gain half an inch of space.

He reached out to grab at Old Man Jiu's chest, but Old Man Jiu casually brushed it away. The five-faced figure was like a piece of paper blown away by the river wind, and he was thrown several feet away, blood appearing at the corner of his mouth.

But his grab tore a corner of Old Man Jiu's dark red robe.

During the fight, Ye Chen caught a glimpse of a dark blue dove tattooed on the left shoulder of Old Man Jiu's robe.

The bird's eyes were extremely large, as if it were alive.

"Your father's life was given to feed this dove." Wu Ying climbed up from the deck, spat out a mouthful of blood, and laughed coldly and cruelly.

"Ye Chen, the token is in Wen Jiuhong's sleeve. You take the token, and I'll risk my old life to stop Elder Jiu. Don't let that old bastard get his blood on the token. If he does, the Black Water will just change its head again. No matter how many Wen Jiuhongs you kill, it won't matter!" Upon hearing this, Ye Chen flipped his wrist and slashed his sword against Wen Jiuhong's iron chain.

The iron chain snapped into several pieces, and Wen Jiuhong's expression finally changed.

Ye Chen's left hand moved like lightning, grabbing his right arm.

Wen Jiuhong struck out with his palm, and the two palms collided, each taking a step back.

But Ye Chen seemed to have gone mad, and before he could even take a steady step, he rushed forward again, striking Wen Jiuhong's elbow with his sword sheath.

Wen Jiuhong groaned, his right hand lost its strength, and the black iron token slid out of his sleeve.

Ye Chen leaped to snatch it, and Wen Jiuhong also tried to grab it at the same time.

The two men's fingers touched the metal plate almost simultaneously, but one hand was faster, reaching out from the side and deftly grabbing the plate.

It's Jiang Ruoxi.

She had somehow boarded the large ship, her hair loose in the river breeze, her face displaying a calm demeanor that only grew stronger with fear.

Holding the black iron token, she turned and ran towards the ship. Wen Jiuhong tried to chase after her, but Ye Chen kicked him in the shin, causing him to stagger.

Ye Chen stood behind Jiang Ruoxi, his voice coming through the mist, cold and loud: "This token belongs to Ye tonight."

After Ye Chen finished speaking, he held the Kuzhao Sword horizontally in front of his chest. The lightless blade on the sword actually revealed a very faint layer of blood color under the white lights of the entire ship.

The sword drank in the river wind and white mist, as if it had been awakened by the old soul that had not dissipated for twenty years.

Old Master Jiu finally stood up from his chair. He was extremely thin, but when he stood up he was extremely tall, and his shadow spread across the sail like a giant bird spreading its wings from the mist.

He stared at Ye Chen, then suddenly let out a "ha," his voice sounding as aged as if it had risen from the mud at the bottom of a river: "Good, good offspring of Ye Changfeng."

After saying this, he turned and walked towards the stern of the boat.

The five shadows tried to stop them, but were forced back by the two old men.

Ye Chen wanted to give chase, but saw that Elder Jiu had only taken one step before he disappeared into the river mist like a piece of cloth being swept away by the wind.

The large ship began to move rapidly away from the shore, and the small boats whose lights had not been turned off scattered like startled birds.

Wen Jiuhong was also dragged into the fog by the two men in black robes, and disappeared in a moment.

Only scattered paper money, broken white banners, and white lanterns still swirling on the water remained on the river surface.

Ye Chen did not give chase.

He knew that tonight's commotion had torn away the outermost layer of Blackwater's defenses.

The order fell into Wen Jiuhong's hands, and the water sacrifice was not completed.

The old man's society has truly come to the surface.

Jiang Ruoxi walked to his side and placed the black iron token in his hand.

The talisman was unusually heavy and ice-cold. There were no words on it, only half a dove was carved on it.

Ye Chen grasped it, then looked up at the lanterns drifting further and further away in the mist, and whispered, "Let's go back to shore first."

The group retreated quickly, and by the time the Blackwater boats returned, only a few pieces of water-soaked rags remained in the middle of the river.

Guipu and Song Tiezhu led their men down the waterway, while Han Song met them on the upstream bank.

When the group returned to Medicine King Valley, it was almost dawn.

Su Qinghan was squatting by the herb field picking dew-covered grass when she saw Ye Chen and the others return. She glanced at them briefly and said, "Bring me the token so I can take a look."

Ye Chen handed over the black iron token.

After reading it, Su Qinghan smiled faintly: "You've bitten off Elder Jiu's heart. He will come in person next. You need to rest and recover in the valley. Don't miss any of your training."

Jiang Ruoxi was so tired she could barely stand, but she still straightened her back and said softly, "We'll wait for him."

Ye Chen reached out and put his arm around her shoulder.

The mountain breeze blew in from the valley entrance, gradually dispelling the fishy smell from the river on the group.

The sky was already shining brightly, as if to wash away all the gloom of the past few days.

But they all knew that an even tougher battle was yet to come.