Bu Giok Cu, who was only ten years old, was already showing clear signs that she would grow up to be a beautiful woman. However, as the only daughter of the village head, she was extremely spoiled. Despite her pampering, Giok Cu was not lazy and smart, nor was she naughty.
Unlike Giok Cu, Si Han Beng was quieter, and even though he was only twelve, Han Beng acted like a grown-up. This was because from childhood, he grew up in a poor family, forcing him to help his father with his work, whether fishing or working in the fields.
His body was also tall, large, and strong, having been accustomed to hard work since childhood. He had a handsome face, inheriting the features of his mother, who was a beautiful woman despite being a villager.
The atmosphere in the Death Whirlpool area became increasingly quiet as the night wore on. Tension seemed to be building among the martial art world figures who were fighting over the dragon.
The tension of waiting for the dragon to appear, compounded by the tension from the fight and mass murder that had occurred earlier that evening, gripped everyone's hearts, and many of them were now preparing themselves on the riverbank.
They believed the rumors or legends that the dragon appeared at midnight, so they were ready on the riverbank with their boats, awaiting the arrival of night.
The moon had risen, a full moon that made the river's surface appear golden. It was late at night, and even though midnight was still two or three hours away, boats were already starting to float outside the area of the Death Whirlpool.
According to legend, a young dragon would emerge from the center of the whirlpool and swim out of the current, seeking to fish in calm waters. Fish were not found in water swept away by the whirlpool's current. Unable to determine which part of the whirlpool the young dragon would land, the boats simply floated around the area.
The full moon was already high when two boats were seen, rowed slowly and carefully, gliding calmly beyond the dangerous whirlpool.
These were the boats carrying Si Kian and Bu Hok Gi's family. Si Kian's boat was rowed by Si Kian himself, assisted by Han Beng, while Bu Hok Gi's boat was rowed by his servant and by Bu Hok Gi himself.
They rowed slowly, their eyes cautiously watching the several boats milling about the area. The full moon was bright enough for the passengers of the two boats to see that the area was surrounded by countless boats.
However, the boats remained still, as if waiting for something, and only a few were milling about. Suddenly, a scrambling sound was heard, and the many boats that had been stationary all moved.
This surprised and frightened Si Kian and Bu Hok Gi. They stopped their boats, which had been left huddled together, afraid that other boats would notice them and get involved in the commotion.
Bu Giok Cu had been happily fishing, oblivious to all of this and focused on the tip of her fishing rod.
A commotion broke out near the whirlpool when one of the martial art figures noticed a luminous object on the surface of the water. The light shimmered like some sea creature that appears in the middle of the night, emitting a kind of light from its body, like shrimp and other types of fish.
And the martial art world character then clearly saw that swimming against the current of the whirlpool was a blackish snake or eel-like animal, as big as an adult's arm and approximately one and a half meters long.
"Dragon... a young dragon...!" he shouted unconsciously in shock, excitement, and tension. If he hadn't panicked, he would have kept quiet so no one would hear him and would have secretly tried to catch the long-awaited animal.
He rowed his boat, gliding close to the snake-like animal. However, when he reached out to catch it, the animal evaded him and swam back into the whirlpool. The martial art world character chased after it in his boat, unaware that the animal was still swimming toward the center.
He only realized this when suddenly his boat was swept away by a very strong current and the animal disappeared. He stared wide-eyed as his boat lurched forward, out of control. He tried to row with all his might, but his strength was too great to withstand the force of the current dragging his boat along. He began to panic.
"Help me...!" He shouted shamelessly as his boat was dragged into the whirlpool, whirling around, its circumference getting faster and narrower. He was so scared that he jumped from his boat and tried to swim. But it was no use, his body was dragged along, and he could only screaming for help several times, as his boat was sucked into the center of the whirlpool!
However, his shout about the young dragon had already attracted the attention of all the figures. They were completely unconcerned about the fate of the person sucked into the whirlpool.
Their attention was entirely focused on the shiny object that had swam by and then vanished.
Suddenly, two boats carrying eight brave men, members of the Seven Stars Clan in Cin-an, appeared busy. Two of them were using nets with long bamboo handles and seemed to have successfully captured the much-hyped young dragon. Within their nets, a long, shimmering object appeared, trying to escape.
Seeing how the eight members of Seven Stars Clan had apparently succeeded in capturing the "Young Dragon" many boats approached them. Seeing this, the members of Seven Stars Clan readied their weapons, and the leader of their group shouted,
"We are from Seven Stars Clan, and we have captured this young dragon. We rightfully own it. Please, our brave friends, leave us alone!"
However, a tall, fat man with a dark face jumped from his boat onto the boat of the Seven Stars Clan people. Two members of the Seven Stars Clan who had greeted him with machetes were knocked off their boat by the fat man's kick, and with a single strike, he snatched the net.
With incredible speed, he jumped onto his own boat. However, as he was about to flee in his boat, carrying the net that encased the gleaming snake, a soft snap was heard.
"Leave the young dragon" a black beam shot swiftly toward the collar of the fat, black-faced man. That extremely skilled man tried to block it, but a second beam struck him on the shoulder. He collapsed in his boat, the net slipping from his hands into the water.
That man, who had collapsed in his boat, was unable to move. His face turned blue, and he died instantly from the secret weapon, the needle, unleashed by Thousand Poison Devil, the beautiful woman who had killed Green Hill Five Dragons in the tavern!
Before Thousand Poison Devil could catch the snake in a net thrown some distance from his boat, another boat glided by, and a tall, thin man grabbed the net and quickly pulled the snake out of the way.
Suddenly, he screamed; the snake had bitten his arm. As soon as it hit him, he jerked away, and the snake shot into the water and disappeared!