The most furious was Yun Ye. That bastard Xi Tong had become addicted to playing with Fujiwara. There they were clashing back and forth with mo-sword against flail, comparing strength. The surroundings felt like they’d fallen into a blacksmith’s shop—clanging endlessly without stop. The armored soldiers wanting to clear the deck had to be extremely careful. This was clearly a matter of one crossbow bolt, yet those bastards deliberately passed over Fujiwara to busy themselves with other matters.

“Eating one’s own flesh raw—this is a true warrior. He can only be killed face-to-face, not die under a hidden arrow.” Liu Renyuan specifically abandoned his command position to run over for a look, left this sentence in Yun Ye’s ear, then hurried back.

The pirates receded like a tide, regrouping in the distance. By the looks of it, they planned to come again, leaving only Fujiwara remaining on the Princess fighting with all his might.

The entire person had long become a bloody gourd, both feet riddled with holes. Kindhearted armored soldiers specially cleared a section of deck without caltrops for him and Xi Tong, letting them kill each other to their hearts’ content.

Fujiwara suddenly jumped outside the battle circle. Xi Tong didn’t pursue either, stopping his blade without attacking. Fujiwara was seen bowing to those several armored soldiers who’d helped him clear the area, solemnly saying a phrase. He threw away the flail in his hands, pointed at another armored soldier’s mo-sword to express he very much wanted that blade—he wasn’t accustomed to using a flail. What most shocked Yun Ye was that the damned armored soldier actually took a hemp cloth, wiped his mo-sword, and tossed it to Fujiwara.

Yun Ye looked left and right, discovering that besides himself, everyone else seemed unsurprised, watching the two people in the arena with respectful faces, completely forgetting that Fujiwara had just killed several of their companions. Two were missing an arm. The armored soldier kicked into the ocean, because he had floating wood on him, had just been fished up and was angrily planning to settle accounts with Fujiwara. When informed by his companions of Fujiwara’s actions just now, he immediately forgot his hatred, standing aside to watch the battle with a face full of honor.

Only now did Yun Ye realize Liu Renyuan hadn’t come down to watch blacksmithing earlier—he’d specifically come to tell him he shouldn’t use tricks to kill Fujiwara, or it would invite hatred.

Fine then. Yun Ye found a place to sit down. You’re all fucking warriors, martial men. Only this old man is a despicable villain. Then let’s see how this warrior gets played to death by Xi Tong.

Fujiwara bowed and saluted Xi Tong. Xi Tong, holding his blade, returned the courtesy equally. Yun Ye was very worried Fujiwara’s mo-sword would take the opportunity to chop down. As it turned out, nothing happened. Fujiwara had just eaten half a jin of his own flesh—now full of spirit, he attacked first. Gripping the mo-sword’s handle with both hands, rotating his body, he chopped hard toward Xi Tong. Xi Tong similarly twisted his waist to exert force. A sharp sound of metal clashing rang out. Xi Tong only used waist strength, not yet receiving Fujiwara’s strike that gathered his whole body’s force, and retreated three steps.

Mo-sword combat most heavily relied on momentum. One blade failing meant every blade would fail. Fujiwara rotated his form, his feet constantly alternating, chopping blade after blade toward Xi Tong. Xi Tong had no choice but to meet each strike with full force. Each blade received meant retreating one step. Before long, he’d already retreated to the ship’s rail. Xi Tong roared loudly, forcefully kicked off the rail, and his body didn’t retreat but advanced. Two blades clashed—the sound actually covered the rainfall. Yun Ye, standing on the bridge, helplessly looked at a blade tip at his feet. Just now when the two blades clashed, Fujiwara’s sword had actually broken off a section and flew toward the bridge, blocked down by Liu Jinbao beside Yun Ye with a shield. That damned Xi Tong—this was completely giving the enemy a chance to eliminate his own commander.

Who knew what Takayama Yoko was thinking—she actually sent a small boat with two Wa people wearing high caps carrying a bolt of white hemp cloth to the Princess. Liu Renyuan actually allowed them to board.

Those two fellows, upon boarding, knelt in the heavy rain watching Fujiwara and Xi Tong fight. The heavy rain at sea came quickly and left quickly too. That dark cloud left, and the heavy rain stopped. Speaking of strange—when Xi Tong’s mo-sword stabbed into Fujiwara’s chest, a rainbow actually appeared. Fujiwara looked at his mo-sword shortened by half, sighed deeply, and fell face-up on the deck.

“You’re a good man. This time I won through my weapon. In terms of combat skill, you’re not beneath me. That the land of Wa actually has a hero like you—Xi Tong admires you!”

After hearing Xi Tong’s words, Fujiwara looked at the vivid rainbow in the sky, smiled silently, and moved no more.

The two Wa people said not a word, continuously checking Fujiwara’s pulse. When they confirmed Fujiwara had died, they wrapped Fujiwara’s naked body in hemp cloth, shouldered his corpse, and descended the rope ladder off the ship. Throughout this process, not one person came out to obstruct, nor did anyone plan to hack those two Wa people to death.

Actually, saying it this way wasn’t accurate. Yun Ye very much wanted to hack those two Wa people to death. Warrior spirit was the chief culprit that harmed Wa people. Now it seemed the Great Tang’s warrior spirit appeared even more severe than the land of Wa.

Xi Tong watched Fujiwara’s corpse carried away by the small boat, also threw down his long blade, and looked at the rainbow saying: “May your soul follow this rainbow bridge to reach heaven.”

After saying this, he walked into the cabin with hands behind his back, a grandmaster’s appearance—very nauseating. Clearly both his hands’ tiger mouths had already torn, yet he still had to maintain his prestige undimmed.

Takayama Yoko’s fleet already had people planning to flee. Over a dozen warships desperately fled toward the ocean depths. The Chengqian received Yun Ye’s order, hoisted sails, and chased after them. That was the pirate group of the Mai Tiechui and Mai Tiezhang brothers. By the looks of it, they didn’t plan to follow Takayama Yoko anymore.

If the mountain won’t come to me, I’ll go to the mountain. The Princess and Qingque slowly pressed toward Takayama Yoko’s fleet. What remained here were either Wa people or Goguryeo people. They had no way to flee and couldn’t flee.

Yun Ye looked strangely at Takayama Yoko’s ship, which actually had someone hanging from the mast. Other ships were all retreating, but Takayama Yoko’s ship was slowly advancing. This woman’s brain couldn’t have short-circuited—wanting to use one ship to block his two giant ships, right? Yun Ye didn’t plan to let these Goguryeo and Wa ships floating on the sea go—didn’t plan to let a single one escape.

Other ships ran very fast. Over thirty warships had already hoisted full sails and raced along with the wind. Most outrageous was that as they ran, ships continuously headed in different directions.

No matter how capable the Princess and Qingque were, they couldn’t possibly catch back all the scattered fleeing vessels one by one. Takayama Yoko’s ship continuously approached. In Yun Ye’s telescope, a veiled woman stood upright at the bow, her phoenix crown gleaming brilliantly in the sunlight.

Yun Ye didn’t believe Takayama Yoko would be so righteously heroic—never believed it. Moving the telescope to the mast again, he discovered an acquaintance—truly someone about to be sun-cooked. Face and body were covered everywhere with cracked bloody wounds. Most miserable was a thick needle stuck through his mouth.

Qiu Ran Ke! So this guy was here. He’d made Yun Ye worry for a long time, thinking this fellow was hiding in the shadows ready to strike him at any moment. Turns out he’d been schemed against and was in such a miserable state.

The two ships finally drew close. Liu Renyuan raised flags ordering the opposing ship to stop, not to approach. Ever since the Lingnan naval forces popularized flag signals, they quickly became the common language for merchants on the ocean. No need to worry they couldn’t understand. But Takayama Yoko’s ship still continuously approached. Liu Renyuan decisively ordered an attack.

All crossbow bolts with gunpowder—believing after one round of attack, this largest pirate ship would be destroyed seventy to eighty percent. Who would have thought, the drapery on Takayama Yoko’s ship was lifted by someone. Judging by their clothing, they were all Great Tang people. Two bare-chested large men were wildly hacking and killing.

Liu Renyuan hurriedly called off the attack. As the two ships crossed, the pirate ship suddenly extended countless grappling hooks, tightly hooking onto the Princess’s rail. At the same time, this large ship burst into roaring flames. Some bare-chested pirates were hammering large iron spikes with iron chains behind them, wanting to use this method to connect the two ships.

The hull seemed to have been splashed with much oil. Roaring flames immediately climbed up the rail. The Tang people on the pirate ship ran around like headless flies, loudly pleading for rescue.

Powerful crossbows shot and killed those pirates trying to nail spikes to the rail at the first opportunity. Although one or two succeeded, as the large ships crossed, they were also pulled apart by their respective enormous forces.

The Princess’s rail caught fire—probably wildfire oil. If not for the water pumps on board, it really would be very dangerous. That vicious woman Takayama Yoko planned to trap him even in death—Yun Ye thought furiously.

Unfortunately, he still thought wrong. There truly was a woman at the bow, but that woman wasn’t Takayama Yoko—it was a Wa woman, firmly bound by Takayama Yoko to a wooden post, with loose clothing draped outside, looking as if she’d rather die than submit.

Qiu Ran Ke was rescued from the mast by Gou Zi. This guy’s wounds had all rotted. Who knew how many days he’d been hung? His body was covered in white salt alkali, his skin cracking inch by inch. The whole person was like made of clay—after being sun-dried for several days, he cracked.

Yun Ye soaked him in water and ignored him. This wasn’t his friend—this guy should be an enemy. The Tang people on the ship were truly genuine Tang people, without any falsehood. All were merchants who specifically did near-sea business, captured by Takayama Yoko and now used as bargaining chips to block Yun Ye’s pursuit.

Yun Ye looked at the charred rail. This time could be called severely damaged—all due to his own carelessness. Sailors hung on the rail under Old Tie’s command, dismantling two severely damaged rail boards, preparing to replace them with new ones. Wooden planks burnt crispy by the great fire couldn’t withstand the assault of wind and waves.

After transmitting signals, large numbers of merchant ships sailed out from the strait. What greeted them was a sea surface like a boiling pot. Countless sharks swam back and forth below the water surface because there were too many corpses here. Watching a shark swim past the ship’s edge with a human leg in its mouth—even Old Feng, who’d seen great scenes, felt his scalp tingle.