Early morning, hundreds of miles away from the Great Xia Imperial City.

A nameless mountain peak stood there.

Not far from the foot of the mountain, there was a vast, frozen lake.

At this moment, on the frozen lake, two figures, one large and one small, were holding fishing gear. Clad in brown straw rain capes, they stared nervously at the lake’s surface.

"Dad! When are we finally going to catch a Golden Blood Fish?!"

A nine-year-old child, holding a fishing rod and sitting on a wooden stool, spoke in a tender voice. His fingers were stiff and purple from the cold.

The sound startled the birds hunting for food nearby.

HUSH!

Beside him, a middle-aged man of about forty hastily placed a forefinger to his chapped lips.

"Yun’Er, be quiet, or you’ll scare the Golden Blood Fish under the lake!"

"Look!"

The man patiently explained to the child, pointing at the lake’s surface as he lowered his voice. "The Golden Blood Fish love to gather and feed at the crack of dawn. This is the easiest time to catch them..."

"Oh!"

The child nodded, only half-understanding, then widened his eyes and stared at the lake’s surface without blinking.

The cold morning wind swept a deep, biting chill from the surface of the ice, blowing over them.

Even though the child had bundled himself up tightly, he couldn’t help but shiver.

After a while, the child noticed that the early morning chill had dissipated quite a bit.

And in the middle of the lake, one by one, fish shimmering with golden light slowly emerged from the water.

Swaying Golden Shadows!

The child’s face lit up with excitement, and he was about to cheer and tell his father beside him.

Ooh~

The middle-aged man immediately covered the child’s mouth and whispered in his ear.

"Yun’Er, don’t make a sound."

The two of them stared wide-eyed at the center of the lake.

There, the morning mist veiled the area like a light gauze.

One by one, the golden fish leaped and cheered, twisting their bodies and sending up splashes of water!

These golden fish gathered together, the entire school connecting head to tail, resembling an awakened Golden Dragon!

Golden Blood Fish!

They really appeared!

Although his father’s hand covered his mouth, it couldn’t hide the astonishment in the child’s eyes!

The middle-aged man was just as surprised.

He had been a fisherman his whole life; no one understood the value of a Golden Blood Fish better than him!

On the market, the price of a single Golden Blood Fish was, at the very least, several taels of silver!

If it was large enough and of good quality, it could even fetch the high price of several dozen taels of silver!

He wasn’t greedy and didn’t need many. Just one!

Just one!

Then, his family of three would have food for the month, and the child’s tuition for his private school would be covered!

The early morning sun rises, the golden fish leap!

They just had to wait for the early morning sun to rise in the east. Under its brilliant rays, the Golden Blood Fish would break through the lake’s ice and begin to feed!

That would be the best time to catch them!

The thought flashed through his mind and was gone.

The two figures, one large and one small, kept their eyes glued to the center of the lake.

"CHIRP! CHIRP! CHIRP!"

The calls of the Golden Blood Fish were incredibly clear in the early morning mountain ravine.

As time passed...

The ice on the lake’s surface grew thinner and thinner, showing faint signs of cracking!

The middle-aged man quickly grabbed the patched-up fishing net beside him and slowly stepped forward, preparing to capture the Golden Blood Fish!

His expression was one of extreme excitement.

The child at his side, small hands clutching a small green fishing net, followed closely behind.

But just as the two were about to reach the school of fish...

BOOM!

A sudden explosion echoed from the sky!

Startled, the school of fish scattered completely!

"What!!"

Just when success was within their grasp, it all fell apart at the last moment. The two of them, stunned, stood frozen to the spot.

Before the two could figure out what was happening...

They heard a violent roar, growing louder as it approached!

Reflected in their terrified eyes...

...they saw people on the mountain path beside them!

A group of people wielding greatswords, straddling black horses, their blades stained with blood!

Bandits!

A dense, dark mass of them—all bandits!

And these people...

...were the Blood Thieves, who killed without batting an eye!

On the frozen lake.

The child hid in the middle-aged man’s arms, his eyes filled with terror, trembling uncontrollably.

The middle-aged man held the child tightly in his arms, his mouth agape, his face trembling!

Tears streamed from his eyes.

"Kill them."

A one-eyed man in a black robe, who appeared to be the leader, glanced at the two on the frozen lake, then spoke with a completely flat expression.

"Yes!"

A young bandit wielding a silver iron blade, his Cultivation at the Tongxuan Realm, accepted the order with a savage grin.

SHK!

With a flash of the blade!

Blindingly bright blood dyed the heavens!

Splattering across the frozen lake!

Two bodies, one large and one small, fell limply onto the frozen lake.

Curled up together.

"Move on!"

The one-eyed man didn’t even spare them a glance as he gave the cold command.

"Yes!"

To the sound of a deafening response, the powerful black horses galloped forward with fierce speed!

Kicking up countless pieces of rotten wood and shattered stones from the mountain path!

Sending them flying everywhere!

RUMBLE RUMBLE!

Wherever this horde of Blood Thieves passed, not even a blade of grass was left alive!

Soon, they arrived at a large village at the foot of the mountain!

This was the same village where the father and son from before had lived.

In the village.

Wisps of smoke curled into the air, a picture of peace and quiet.

"Lan Hua! You don’t have to trouble yourself! It’s just a small thing, I can do it!"

The one who spoke was a limping, middle-aged woman.

She revealed a set of yellow teeth, and her fingers were bent and crooked, as if from some illness that prevented them from straightening.

"It’s no problem! I can handle this bit of work!"

Sister Lan was a warm-hearted person. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, lifted a large basin of clothes from the ground, and said with a chuckle.

"Sister Yun! Don’t you worry. When my husband gets back, I’ll make sure he helps you fix that chair!"

Before leaving, Sister Lan put down the large wooden basin, took the other woman’s crooked hand with her own rough, blistered ones, and comforted her gently.

Just then, a group of bandits appeared from out of nowhere!

Waving butcher knives, they charged in viciously!

"Ah! Who are you!?"

"Damn Blood Thieves! I’ll fight you to the death!"

In an instant, screams! Roars!

Mixed with the sounds of blades slitting throats and cleaving through blood and bone!

Shattered the village’s silence!

"Kill the men and children! Take the women!"

The one-eyed man commanded coldly, looking at the blood-soaked scene around him.

In the time it takes to burn a single stick of incense, the large village of several thousand had been massacred. Aside from a few surviving women, now bound and crying their hearts out, everyone else had been killed.

"Continue!"

The one-eyed man had a few of his men guard the women, then continued to lead the rest toward the next village!

The bloody slaughter continued.

...

「Morning, inside the Great Xia Prison.」

"What! The Black Water Thieves!?"

Murong Hai’s eyes narrowed upon hearing his subordinate’s report!

He was holding an official document that had just been submitted.

The document stated:

At dawn, hundreds of miles away on Blood Wind Mountain...

...the thousand-strong Black Water Thieves massacred thirteen villages, killing tens of thousands!

Among them, three thousand children!

And plundered countless wealth!

"Damn it!!"

Murong Hai slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet, his face a mask of fury!

These Black Water Thieves were once rampant, burning, killing, and looting throughout the Great Xia Dynasty, committing every evil imaginable!

After they had been uprooted, they had actually made a comeback!

He immediately gave an order for the Martial Artists of the Prison Suppression Bureau to be ready to mobilize at a moment’s notice!

A moment later, Su Bai also learned of the news.

’The Black Water Thieves?’

After learning what these bandits had done, Su Bai’s expression darkened.

He immediately split off a Divine Sense incarnation and sent it to the location of the chaos!

Some time later.

Su Bai’s Divine Thought Incarnation looked at the blood-stained corpses on the ground, and at the two figures, one large and one small, huddled together on the frozen lake.

His face was grim.

"Fuck!"