(This chapter contains some setting details about the Yuqing Sect)
On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, a sudden hailstorm struck the southern coastal regions, thwarting the Chu Kingdom Court's newly issued land reclamation decree. Following the hail, pirates began to cause trouble. Fortunately, the coast had long been fortified and cleared, so the losses were not too great.
The Court's troops mobilized in the coastal cities on the second day of the pirate sightings and soon engaged them in battle. Both sides suffered wins and losses. On New Year's Eve, a band of pirates suddenly appeared outside a small town fifty li from Jinhuai City. Not content with looting the town, they also massacred its entire population of over two thousand people.
When the battle report reached the Emperor's desk, he flew into a rage and ordered the Ministry of Justice to conduct a thorough investigation, which led to another wave of mass arrests in Jinhuai City.
