The wind came urgently at night, and it was deep winter. Although this group of river bandits were familiar with water and all had some martial skills, and had wrapped themselves in oilcloth in advance, they were still terribly cold. With great difficulty they waited until the fleet passed by. They had originally thought that what awaited them would be the warm charcoal braziers and exquisite food on the large ship, the boudoirs of beauty-maintaining young ladies, and the rugs in their rooms that were said to be so soft one’s entire body could sink into them. But when they emerged from the water one after another, they discovered that what was waiting to receive them wasn’t Blind Eye and Flower Lady at all, but this terrifying scene of rows upon rows of densely packed government soldiers standing there.
Lin Sheng wasn’t stupid. He had been able to serve as the big chief for so many years relying on more than just his martial skills. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have immediately agreed to that noble person’s deal before, and thought up the idea of planting informants on the ship in advance to avoid making a commotion and alarming the authorities, so as not to add trouble for the noble person.
“Big Brother!” The fat-faced Left Chief asked him through chattering teeth: “What do we do?!”
The firework had been set off, but the ones receiving them on the ship weren’t Blind Eye and Flower Lady at all. They must have run into some trouble. With so many government soldiers… if they fled now, there should still be time. The Right Chief had always been clever and was the brain trust of this bandit group. At this moment he couldn’t help but panic, his eyes staring fixedly at Lin Sheng: “Big Chief, at this critical moment don’t be confused, don’t display the bravery of a common man… As long as the green mountains remain, there’s no fear of lacking firewood. As long as we brothers are still here, things can still be salvaged.”
As long as they didn’t meet with trouble and could escape from here, there would still be countless dangerous shoals and undercurrents ahead, plenty of opportunities—there would always be a time when they could succeed.
The moment his words ended, all the rows of lamps on the ship lit up at once. Even wearing night clothes, those of them clinging to the ship’s rail were completely exposed before everyone without any concealment.
Too late! In a flash, Lin Sheng made his decision to jump into the water and escape. The Right Chief was right—they didn’t have enough manpower. If they got trapped here, everything would be finished. But when his eyes inadvertently glanced downward, his hand that had already released the ship’s rail gripped the hull again tightly, and he shouted loudly: “No, don’t go down! They have people below too!”
The Right Chief looked down incredulously following his gaze, and indeed saw ripples spreading in circles. Following that, heads emerged one by one, like bamboo shoots after spring rain, more and more of them.
This was unbelievable! Even if all the people on this ship were added together, there shouldn’t be this many people! What exactly was the background of this group? The Right Chief had no time to think deeply, because the naval forces lying in ambush below had already made their move. Now they either had to jump into the water for a great battle, or first run onto the ship. The Right Chief’s mind spun rapidly. After thinking it over, he felt the ship was still safer—the people on the ship were all wearing armor. Although they looked numerous, they were all gathered around the outside. Actually, upon careful estimation, there weren’t that many. The brothers had already been in the water for a very long time. If they went back into the water to fight now, they would inevitably lack stamina, and it also wasn’t so easy to manage…
Someone shouted: “Quick, get on the ship, get on the ship! These bastards have bows and arrows!”
All the river bandits clinging tightly to the hull immediately scrambled to climb onto the ship. Some didn’t even have time to struggle before being kicked down into the river by those who reacted quickly. More struggled with all their might to climb up to the bow.
But just when they thought victory was at hand and they could board the ship for a great battle, those government soldiers who had seemed to be idly watching the excitement all along opened the nets in their hands. Those nets covered the sky and earth, netting them all in the center like fish in a trap.
Some wanted to struggle. After all, they had come to kill and rob, so they all carried sharp weapons like daggers and knives in their hands. But after cutting through the nets, they realized something was wrong, because these nets weren’t meant to trap them at all. The soldiers quickly pulled the nets back, then heavily smashed them down at them again.
It wasn’t until the barbs on the nets pierced into their flesh, into their thighs and arms, that they understood what these people were doing with the nets. All these nets had sharp small knives attached. When the nets were pulled and smashed down horizontally, those knives rained down on people’s bodies. They weren’t fatal, but being smashed repeatedly again and again, they were already exhausted just dealing with and dodging these knife-laden nets.
Those who couldn’t hold on released their hands one after another, falling into the water with a splash. But there was a large net in the water too—it turned out that these naval forces lying in ambush in the water weren’t waiting to fight them either, but had come to net people.
The oilcloth wrapped around their bodies had long been punctured by the knives until it couldn’t be more torn. Having already stayed in the water all night, their bodies were somewhat stiff to begin with. Now, having been stabbed bloody by those knives above, falling into the bone-chilling river water, they no longer had the strength to struggle and move. Like fish that truly could no longer jump, they were pulled net by net toward the shore.
Fortunately, Lin Sheng’s martial skills were good. He clung tightly to the hull like a gecko, nimbly dodging, looking at the large nets above his head and below his feet, biting his teeth hard.
He still didn’t understand why even now—why Blind Eye and Flower Lady hadn’t come out to receive them according to plan. They had clearly received Blind Eye’s letter just yesterday, and in the letter Blind Eye had said everything was proceeding according to plan, everything was normal.
But now what should have been a ship full of sleeping lambs waiting to be slaughtered had suddenly turned into man-eating hungry wolves. He dodged another wave of attacks in a sorry state, finally feeling he could bear it no longer.
But in the end he still had reason. The Right Chief’s words were still in his ears—he was going to be an official in the future, he was going to be an official in the future! If he rushed onto the ship in a moment of anger now, although he could certainly kill a few soldiers, it would be completely useless, because he himself would die even more miserably.
When a person died, there truly would be nothing left. Moreover, right now he didn’t even know who was on the ship at all. He didn’t even know if the life that noble person wanted to buy was on the ship or not—how could he go throw away his life?!
He seized the right moment and swiftly moved from the bow to the stern, picked the right timing, chose a turbulent current, and leaped down—in such a dangerous and urgent place, it wasn’t suitable for setting up an ambush. Those naval soldiers wouldn’t spread nets here either. Their original plan should have been to set up an ambush in that slightly calmer current ahead. If it were here, those naval soldiers couldn’t hide—they would very likely be swept away by the water before the ambush succeeded.
Fortunately, he had bet correctly. There was no net waiting for him below. Although the current was turbulent, having grown up here for many years, he knew that as long as he went around this bend, there would be a place to catch his breath.