Mo Zi didn’t know if it was because she’d slacked off on training these past six months, but the moment she hit the water, from feet to head, it felt like being stabbed with needles all over, her teeth chattering and grinding. But she still struggled to remove her cumbersome cloth clothing and pants. The close-fitting whale-skin suit she’d changed into earlier immediately allowed her hands and feet to move freely, and her long-trained body quickly adapted to the freezing water temperature.

Fei Xia first cursed “his mother,” every word trembling. Then cursed again “grandmother’s bear,” every word steady. He too wore tight whale-skin clothing.

This whale skin was something Mo Zi had asked Ruimu, Xiang, and Wang Lang to bring from the South Sea—one large sheet, which she gave to Lu Ju to sew into six close-fitting garments. Because both the material and the style Mo Zi requested were too peculiar, Lu Ju marveled over them for ages, pondered for seven or eight days, and spent two months before finally completing them. Lu Ju said half-complaining, half-proud, that these were the ugliest yet most eye-straining and mentally taxing garments she’d ever sewn—if they could even be called garments.

Mo Zi had only recently received them. She and Zan Jin each got one, and the other four went to the three Chou Yu brothers and Old Guan. They’d only tested them in the water twice before, and who knew they’d come in handy today.

Mo Zi held onto a plank, paddling with one hand, looking around—it was truly chaotic. Though they’d already agreed on groups of five helping each other, somehow these soldiers were floundering like ducks that had fallen in water. Of course she didn’t know they were new recruits, only thinking that Great Zhou’s naval soldiers were completely unreliable and so forth.

Just then, she heard a whistle across the water.

That Xiao Wei, Young General Xiao, was still on the ship, gripping the tilted mast, shouting, “Don’t panic! According to the earlier groupings, five people together swim toward Hongyu. Personal guard—”

A dozen or so shouted in unison.

“You swim the perimeter, and if you see anyone who can’t hold on, rescue them!” Only after Xiao Wei heard his guards answer affirmatively did he let go and plunge into the water, creating a huge splash.

“Bit of a general’s bearing,” Fei Xia rarely evaluated people, so this was fair.

Mo Zi nodded and began paddling forward, joking, “Born general material, just doesn’t mesh with our energy.”

“That’s also innate.” Fei Xia hit the nail on the head again.

Mo Zi maintained steady arm strokes, water droplets hitting her face with ice-cold numbness and pain. “Lucky today the wind’s favorable and ice formed upstream, so the current’s not fierce—otherwise we’d have to swim in the river. This Young General’s luck is much better than mine.” Luck was all innate. This person had capital for pride.

“If Brother Mo were better to yourself, your luck would definitely exceed others’.” After Fei Xia said this, he grabbed Mo Zi’s plank with one hand and, relying solely on both feet, swam over ten meters in one breath.

Mo Zi didn’t try to be tough, willing to be support. The swimming ability of these three brothers was the best she’d ever seen, with no one else comparable. Put in the present, they’d have possibilities of taking Olympic gold, silver, or bronze medals. Speed, diving, and strength—perfect.

The two didn’t look at those swimming slowly beside them. After all, this was water that could freeze people to death. No matter how cold-resistant, staying immersed the whole time would still end up like the Titanic. Moreover, they couldn’t stop—once stopped, it would be difficult to start swimming again.

But ahead was seven or eight hundred meters, not seventy or eighty. Soon, Mo Zi discovered she’d overestimated herself. After swimming about four hundred meters, her paddling speed slowed down. She could feel the water temperature on her skin drop low again, penetratingly cold. Later, she realized what she’d overlooked—this body’s constitution. Though strengthened through later effort, it was innately insufficient, and years of training hadn’t targeted endurance. Fei Xia alone might be able to swim to shore, but she couldn’t keep up with him and would become a burden.

“Fei Xia, swim to shore by yourself first.” Her teeth trembled slightly.

Fei Xia didn’t let go of the plank.

“I’m not planning to die young—I’m telling you to go call your two brothers into the water to take turns carrying me a stretch, so you don’t exhaust yourself to death and I don’t drown. Tell Chou Yu not to complain. Once this is over, I’ll treat them to drinks, as much as they want.” Especially this kind of death would make people think her foolish. Sacrificing her own life for Great Zhou’s sailors. But the truth was, she’d overestimated her winter swimming ability and then gotten carried away. So, nobody’s perfect—absolutely right. Don’t laugh at her—everyone has moments of overconfidence. If she could do it over, she’d squeeze out those extra soldiers who got on the Yongfu and return to the ship herself with Fei Xia. Sigh—suffering for nothing!

“The Yongfu has left shore. Let’s rest a bit. Brother Mo, talk less, conserve strength.” Though Fei Xia was fat with thick fat and great buoyancy, even he was having some difficulty.

“Fei Xia, you can consider it weight loss. Go, swim to the Yongfu, switch with Shui She or Chou Yu. I might get frost sickness, but I definitely won’t lose my life.” This much she could guarantee.

Fei Xia confirmed with his eyes, and after she nodded solemnly again, he instructed her to hold tight to the plank, then swam toward the Yongfu. Because he knew Mo Zi was right.

Mo Zi watched Fei Xia swim away. She herself didn’t stop, swimming while looking around. She was still a leader after all. Of the forty-plus people, more than half were floating far behind, a dozen or so were not far from her but had also slowed down, struggling through the water. Only four heads, though their swimming speed couldn’t match the fastest Fei Xia, could compete with her, and the distance was getting closer.

After seeing clearly, it was Xiao Wei and his personal guard. But, it must be stated, those swimming well were those three strong soldiers—Xiao Wei was just along for the ride. He wore a sour face, not knowing who’d offended him.

“Stop!” After Xiao Wei’s line of sight met Mo Zi’s, he issued orders.

But no one stopped, swimming past Mo Zi.

Mo Zi noticed both his arms were firmly clamped by his guards.

“I told you to stop!” Xiao Wei raged.

But his voice, and his head, gradually grew distant.

Mo Zi blinked. Ha! This was what noble status meant. Subordinates so loyal and devoted, even if forced, they’d protect his life.

No resentment in her heart. The era was like this, so she could only be a small person, because small people could plan for themselves as a matter of course. Look at her—act for country and people once, and bring misfortune on herself once. If she truly froze to death, would that shipful of people she rescued shed tears? No. They wouldn’t even know who she was but would definitely be grateful for their Young General’s brilliant martial prowess. In the eyes of some sanctimonious people, she’d become more and more common. Yet, being common meant she could be herself, living life as she pleased.

After Mo Zi smiled, she continued swimming. Swim an inch and it’s an inch, swim a foot and it’s a foot.

After Xiao Wei boarded the Yongfu, seeing Shui She swimming toward Mo Zi dozens of zhang away, his heart eased slightly. At the same time, he flew into a rage at the personal guards who’d carried him aboard and refused to drink the hot soup they brought him.

Chou Yu heard those guards say something about being commanded by the old prince, only responsible for Second Master’s safety, others not within their protection, please don’t make things difficult for them. These words made him purse his lips, about to mock them sarcastically, but his boss, wrapped in a blanket drinking hot soup, stopped him.

“Brother Mo is urgent, you prepare to go in the water to replace Second Brother.” Fei Xia had recovered.

Chou Yu thought this was right and looked over the ship’s side. “Eh, Big Brother, something seems wrong over at Brother Mo.”

Fei Xia hurriedly stood to look. Not only was something wrong with Mo Zi, but those waiting to be rescued in the water were also not quite right, suddenly drifting toward the river mouth.

Xiao Wei, disregarding his whole body’s freezing cold, jumped up and immediately looked toward the river surface, his face color changing instantly. The river surface that had seemed calm suddenly surged with layer upon layer of waves, rising and falling more and more, enthusiastically slapping toward the stone cliff on one side.

Old Guan at the helm roared, “Disaster! The wind direction changed!”

At this time, what was most feared was the wind changing direction. Originally going against the current, ordinary vessels already struggled. If not for today’s favorable wind, the breached ship couldn’t have come in, and the Yongfu rescuing people wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.

“What do we do?” Chou Yu shouted anxiously.

“Old Guan?” Fei Xia calmly solicited the elder’s opinion.

“Fei Xia, you two brothers handle the sails, I need to increase speed. When approaching Shui She, throw a rope—hopefully we can intercept Brother Mo before the river mouth.” Old Guan knew that once the river rushed into the main waterway, it could wash people to the river bottom. In warm weather it would be one thing, but on this freezing cold day, once washed in, they wouldn’t come back up.

Xiao Wei heard this with eyes nearly splitting, concern in his heart, but what came out of his mouth was, “Save them all for me!”

Chou Yu most hated Xiao Wei’s official tone. While pushing the mast, he sneered, “Young General Xiao has such formidable personal guards with considerable ability—why don’t you lead them down to rescue people yourself? What gives you the right to command us? We only listen to Brother Mo. What are you? The court is just a bird in my eyes! Let me tell you, we three brothers fear neither heaven nor earth, and even less death. Save them all? All those green sprouts together aren’t worth my Second Brother’s and Brother Mo’s lives.”

Xiao Wei was suddenly speechless to refute. He understood—impulsiveness wouldn’t save anyone.

Actually, Mo Zi detected the water flow change earlier than Old Guan and the others. Though silently groaning inwardly, she didn’t forget to issue a warning to the others behind her, telling them the wind direction had changed. The wind was now blowing toward one side’s cliff—there it was bare, steep stone walls with nothing to grab onto, and below were uneven submerged rocks. The water sometimes had whirlpools, even more troublesome.

Once life was urgently threatened, her stiff, exhausted hands and feet forcibly warmed up. Combined with her mastery of water, in the just-rising swift current she could actually continue forward, and soon saw Shui She coming with the current. She couldn’t help but rejoice greatly, swimming with all her might toward Shui She.

Just then, her shoulder suddenly grew heavy. Startled, she looked back—it was a soldier with an ashen complexion, whitened lips, already frozen terribly, yet like grasping a life-saving straw, he gripped her entire arm tightly and wouldn’t let go. And another soldier embraced the tail of her floating plank, gasping heavily.

She was already relying on a bit of mental strength to hold on, yet was treated as a strong expert who could save lives, clutched to death. The one hanging on her arm made her left shoulder unable to float above the water surface. The one embracing the plank made the board sink into the river. Her feet paddled desperately, but she could feel the whirlpool’s force trying to pull her down.

What to do?

She tried to reason with them kindly. The two who wanted to completely rely on her ignored her, instead urging her to hurry and swim.

“Brother Mo, get clear!” Shui She arrived, bringing fists.

Mo Zi instinctively dodged.

The soldier gripping her arm took Shui She’s punch to the face, groaned dully, yet didn’t let go, glaring with bloodshot eyes wide open. “Want me to die? No way. If we die, we die together.”

Shui She delivered another punch, using cruel force.

That soldier instantly passed out, released his grip, and sank into the water.

The one embracing the plank cried out, “Save me, I don’t want to die yet!” After shouting, he actually moved first, kicking Mo Zi in the water.

Mo Zi felt pain and instinctively fought back, kicking in return.

And Shui She struck again. The second soldier painfully released the plank, was swept by waves toward the cliff, wailing, hit the wall, disappeared.

The water, like ice, seemed to pierce through her lungs—couldn’t exhale, couldn’t inhale.