Chapter 362

Chapter 362: The Truly Terrifying Family

Lou Yun immediately realized he’d slipped up. After all, the Nine Clans had only been attacking isolated individuals or vessels traveling to and from Divine Weapon Island without launching any major assaults targeting the Lou Family directly. Naturally, no one could have guessed their true aim was the Lou Family itself!

Lou Yun naturally couldn’t reveal anything about Huangfu Hao. He gave a cold laugh, "Do you think all of us in the Lou Family are fools? Doesn’t each of your clans have some ancestral decree about annihilating our Lou Family? Previously, only one clan at a time troubled us—the most you ever sent were four clans. But now all Nine Clans have shown up! Doesn’t that make things obvious?"

Yu Zili was visibly stunned by Lou Yun’s words. He lowered his head again and murmured, "Yes, our coalition this time aims to destroy your Lou Family. But the Lou Family now resides on Divine Weapon Island, protected by formations crafted by a formation expert. None among the Nine Clans understands formations, so we could only set ambushes on the periphery, waiting for chances to strike anyone isolated."

"The item you’re holding is called an amphibious pouch, stitched from some creature’s hide with special methods. It stretches to fit one or two people and stores enough air for a person’s breath for at least five hours. Of course, we magical weapons masters can last longer. So we took turns hiding underwater in these amphibious pouches, only emerging to ambush passing ships!"

Yu Zili cooperated fully, spilling everything he knew without hesitation.

Lou Yun toyed with the amphibious pouch, thinking how something so unimpressive could serve such a vital function—no wonder they’d remained hidden without detection by Divine Weapon Island’s inhabitants.

"By the way, was that six-tailed giant snake and the horned tiger fish your Yu Family’s doing?" Lou Yun suddenly recalled his previous ordeal in these very waters.

Yu Zili nodded. "Yes. Our goal was to stop you from falling into the trap set by those four clans!"

Their interference wasn’t to help Lou Yun, but out of fear he’d perish in that trap, denying the Yu Family any gain.

"Then why not kill that six-tailed giant snake instead of going to great lengths chasing it off?"

This question had puzzled Lou Yun and his companions back then. Now that he finally had a Yu Family member within reach, he wasn’t letting the opportunity pass.

"This…" Yu Zili’s face clouded with hesitation again.

Lou Yun didn’t rush him. Clearly, the reason involved some Yu Family secret.

After a long pause, Yu Zili clenched his teeth and confessed, "I’ve already said so much—what does it matter now? We didn’t kill it because we’re waiting for it to grow ten tails and evolve into a dragon!"

"Can a six-tailed giant snake really transform into a dragon?" Although aware of the legends about the Ten-Tailed Snake, Lou Yun remained skeptical.

"Yes!" Yu Zili declared firmly. "Despite dragons never appearing on Spirit Weapon Star, they truly existed in that other world—long, long ago. Dragons aren’t ordinary demon beasts. They’re divine beasts, higher beings than humans! If this six-tailed giant snake grows ten tails and ascends to dragonhood, our Yu Family will spare nothing to control it. Then the Yu Family will reign supreme!"

His eyes glowed passionately as he rambled, forgetting his captivity. Even if the snake turned dragon later, it held no relevance for him now.

Lou Yun felt a chill at the revelation. His perception of the Yu Family shifted. While most of the Nine Clans led low-key, reclusive lives unknown to outsiders, none compared to the Yu Family’s extreme isolation—they dwelled deep beneath the ocean!

This demonstrated unmatched resilience and patience no other eight clans possessed. They bided time for the snake’s dragon metamorphosis, enduring millennia underwater with unwavering dedication. And at the faintest opportunity—exactly as Yu Zili described—they’d seize it by any means necessary. Once successful, the Yu Family would soar like dragons themselves.

Such a family was truly terrifying—like venomous snakes coiled in dark corners, jaws gaping, ready to strike the moment prey drew near.

The thought rattled Lou Yun enough to shiver. Another idea surfaced: should he destroy the Yu Family alongside the Xiao Family?

He had no immediate answer. Additionally, he’d made a pact with Huangfu Hao—representing the Nine Clans—to eliminate the Xiao Family and two supreme experts from that world first. Thus, he set the Yu Family issue aside for now. Yet, Yu Zili’s words cast a shadow over his mind. He swore if that dread resurged around the Yu Family, he’d obliterate them without mercy.

Lou Yun’s expression shifted darkly as he pondered this. However, Yu Zili remained lost in reverie, oblivious.

Taking a quiet breath, Lou Yun regained composure. Watching Yu Zili’s dreamy gaze, he shook his head softly and asked again, "Yu Zili, where exactly does your Yu Family reside underwater?"

The question jolted Yu Zili back to reality. After snapping from his trance, his face stiffened, then hardened with resolve. He shook his head firmly. "Clan Head Lou, I answered all your other questions. But I refuse to divulge any Yu Family sanctuary—even if it means my death!"

Lou Yun hadn’t expected an answer anyway. Strangely touched, he saw everyone has boundaries—for Yu Zili, family was sacrosanct. Had hostilities not existed or had the Yu Family not evoked such horror, Lou Yun might’ve spared him. Now, that wasn’t an option.

Lou Yun reflected briefly. Finding nothing left to ask, it was time to end Yu Zili.

He rose and coldly observed the prisoner. "I planned to shatter your magical weapon and execute you. But in recognition of your candid responses, I’ll grant an alternative death."

Before Yu Zili could respond, Lou Yun signaled two sailors to hoist him up, tie a massive rock to him, and pitch him into the vast sea.

Lou Yun watched Yu Zili sink swiftly and stated icily, "Since your Yu Family lives beneath the waves, I’m sending you home."

Only when all traces of Yu Zili vanished did Lou Yun turn from the ship’s edge.

Though he didn’t slay Yu Zili directly, he reasoned the heavily injured man couldn’t survive without treatment. Bound tightly and weighed down by the rock, he surely drowned.

But fate defied expectations. As the boulder dragged Yu Zili deeper into lightless depths, a faintly glowing leaf—half a palm’s width—appeared at his lips.

This was the Yu Family’s magical weapon… a leaf!

Yu Zili clenched the leaf between his teeth. Summoning his last shreds of spiritual energy, he blew against it—emitting a mournful, haunting wail.

Soon, two enormous shadows streaked toward him: tiger sharks!

The leaf’s sound altered sharply. One tiger shark halted Yu Zili’s descent while the other chomped through his bindings.

Freed, Yu Zili pressed a hand to the shark beneath him. Instantly, a soft light radiated from his palm!

Under this glow, the violently thrashing beast gradually grew sluggish, its head drooping. With one final whimper, it became a corpse sinking into the abyss.

Yu Zili—barely alive moments before—now floated spiritedly mid-water, faint light gathering in his eyes. A smirk curled his lip. "Lou Yun, I must thank you after all. But you didn’t know: our Yu Family can’t die in water!"

He raised the leaf again and blew a new rhythm. Trembling with fear yet bound by compulsion, the remaining tiger shark approached. Yu Zili’s palm settled onto its head.

Lou Yun, completely unaware of deep-sea events, focused elsewhere: his mind projected a grand island surrounded by four large patrol vessels.

This island was the Divine Weapon Island he’d built himself!