“Women cannot board the ship.” A’Zhu stretched out his hand to block Mo Zi.
Chouyu and Ding Gou simultaneously snorted with laughter.
“What are you laughing at? Women bring bad luck—not allowing them on ships is our ship boss’s rule.” A’Zhu glared.
“If she doesn’t board the ship, who will your boss discuss business with?” Chouyu said leisurely.
A’Zhu looked at Mo Zi, then at the others, and sneered mockingly, “You all look like proper men, yet you let a woman lead you by the nose—truly disgraceful.”
Chouyu retorted, “Disgrace to your mother—what does it have to do with us?”
A’Zhu was not good-tempered. Pointing at Chouyu’s nose, he said, “You little bastard, you dare curse my mother—are you looking for death?”
Smugglers not only weren’t afraid of offending clients, they weren’t afraid of high officials and nobles either. As they would say, with their heads tied to their waistbands, even the emperor had to step aside.
“You can curse other people’s mothers, but others can’t curse yours? Who is your mother anyway? The Queen Mother of the West?” Chouyu had never been easy to provoke. Among the three brothers, his temper was the most stubborn. “So what if I’m looking for death? You’d have to have the ability to take my life.”
A’Zhu threw a punch without any warning.
Mo Zi took the opportunity to flash past and stood on the sampan looking down. “Chouyu, we’re guests. Breaking hands and feet is fine, but leave them their lives.”
Jianghu matters were resolved through jianghu methods. Humility was useless—whoever had the stronger fist was in the right.
Before A’Zhu’s fist could touch Chouyu’s clothes, four thumping sounds were heard. Chouyu had already landed four punches to his stomach, plus a flying kick to his chest, and he immediately fell to the ground groaning.
Seeing this, A’Zhu’s companion also came forward to fight.
Zan Jin wanted to intervene, but Chouyu shouted that the fight wasn’t satisfying enough and told everyone not to interfere—let him have his fill of fun. His body spun continuously like a top, playfully dodging the opponent’s attacks, then lightning-quick jabbed at the man’s eyeball. The man howled and covered his eye. Chouyu then struck the man’s pressure points repeatedly, making his whole body tremble and go numb, finally kicking him into the water with lingering satisfaction.
A’Zhu crawled up with undying treacherous intent, wanting to launch a sneak attack.
But Chouyu had already noticed. He moved toward him instead, grabbed his arm, pulled it backward, and forcibly dislocated that arm.
One flailed in the water, one rolled on the shore—it was quite lively, attracting many onlookers from across the way.
The sampan trembled slightly. Mo Zi turned her head and saw a dark, sturdy young man standing at the other end of the plank, staring at her expressionlessly, then walking down and stopping before her.
“You’re the one who wants to discuss business with me?” The dark man’s eyes were gloomy.
“Yes.” With the fighting on both sides, she was the victor, so her face was full of smiles. “May I ask the ship boss’s honorable surname—how should I address you?”
The dark man didn’t answer her.
He struck out, with whooshing wind all aimed at her slender neck.
The wind stopped.
A small sword sealed his throat, while two others were positioned left and right against his neck.
Mo Zi held the small sword, smiling as she stepped forward. Zan Jin and Ding Gou also stepped forward simultaneously. The three moved as one body.
The dark man was astonished that their movements were so fast he couldn’t see them clearly, but being the ship boss after all, he didn’t blink, his expression cold and hard.
“Your honorable surname?” Mo Zi applied slight pressure, and he could see his neck’s skin against the sword edge, the blade already honed thin by Zan Jin. “I’m not very familiar with controlling my strength yet. If you make me ask again, I might accidentally slit your throat.”
“Wu Cheng.” The dark man’s voice was somewhat hoarse from the pressure.
“Boss Wu.” Mo Zi saw more than ten people with knives and staffs rushing down from the ship. They hesitated, advancing and retreating because Wu Cheng had swords at his neck. “I came with sincere intentions—there’s no need for swords and blades.”
Wu Cheng cursed inwardly—who exactly was holding swords against him? And three of them at that?
“Although it looks like your brothers suffered losses, they were the ones who started the conflict. When skills are inferior, to blame the innocent again—isn’t that not quite right?” Mo Zi pressed her advantage relentlessly, the sword in her hand colder than Wu Cheng’s expression.
“What do you want?” Wu Cheng swallowed, his Adam’s apple rolling past the blade edge, making him nervous. The woman said she wasn’t familiar with controlling her strength, yet her hand was as steady as a veteran’s.
“To discuss business, of course.” Mo Zi raised her chin toward Wu Cheng’s subordinates. “Tell your people to all calm down and put away their knives and staffs. As long as you show friendliness, naturally we won’t treat you this way either. Better hurry—your brothers are making too much commotion. It won’t be good if officials and soldiers are attracted.”
Wu Cheng shouted, “Put away the weapons, it’s just a misunderstanding.”
Those gang members didn’t listen at first, but when Wu Cheng shouted a second time with urgency in his voice, they reluctantly withdrew their weapons.
Seeing Mo Zi still not withdrawing, Wu Cheng raised his eyebrows challengingly. “Miss, don’t tell me you want to go back on your word?”
“No. I’m just thinking whether after all this commotion, Boss Wu, you’ll still be in the mood to hear me discuss business. What if you hold a grudge, and after I board the ship you turn hostile—can we six people even get off the ship alive?” She laughed softly, yet without a trace of fear.
“Since it’s a misunderstanding, I’m not petty either. Harmony brings wealth—how would I casually take people’s lives? Rest assured, once Wu gives his word, even a team of four horses can’t pull it back. Even if the business doesn’t work out, I absolutely won’t settle accounts with you again.” Swords and blades were blind, and the other party was a woman—emotions could rise unpredictably. His wife was like that—fine one moment, then suddenly going crazy.
Mo Zi signaled Zan Jin and Ding Gou to withdraw their swords, but she didn’t assist. “Boss Wu, don’t be afraid. I’m a woman but I also keep my word. I’m just telling you—I’ve already decided that regardless of your intentions, I’m boarding this ship for certain. Your whole shipful of people together would just let my people warm up a bit. So, if you want to fight, I welcome it wholeheartedly.”
Wu Cheng accidentally snorted, habitually domineering. He believed the other party wasn’t that formidable—it was just three against one, and he had been a step slow.
“You don’t believe me?” Mo Zi’s voice became quite cheerful. “I’ll show you.”
She turned to Ding Gou and said, “Go take down that flag from the top of the mast for me.”
Ding Gou leaned close to Mo Zi’s ear. “You treating me like a performing monkey?”
Mo Zi raised an eyebrow, her face showing shrewdness. “I’ll add a hundred taels for you.”
Ding Gou’s figure flickered, drifting out like a wisp of light smoke, passing over everyone’s heads. He kicked off the ship’s side and flew straight up the mast, climbing with a few grabs to reach the top, and retrieved the flag. Gathering his energy and turning, he pulled against the tip of the mast, borrowed the elastic force to drop directly in front of Wu Cheng without even panting, tossed the flag onto the sampan, and just like that added another hole.
Everyone’s eyes went straight.
The ship gang didn’t belong to any martial arts faction. There were no masters taking disciples, nor self-created martial arts. Each worshipped their own masters and learned their own skills, and most gang members were just ordinary people who could fight and had some strength. Wu Cheng knew some boxing techniques, which on this ship counted as the best kung fu, but compared to Zan Jin and Ding Gou, it was heaven and earth.
Mo Zi moved the small sword away and returned it to its sheath. After her hard practice, she could now sheath the sword without looking. Quite pleased with herself, she thought she had some of the bearing of a female knight-errant.
“Boss Wu, please board the ship.” Once she felt pleased, she got a bit carried away and reversed host and guest.
But Wu Cheng had been intimidated by Ding Gou’s skill in retrieving the flag and had no time to fuss about it. He let her lead him by the nose for quite a while. Only after boarding the ship did he recover some courage by virtue of superior numbers, consoling himself that the other party merely had good lightness skills. What the ship gang compared with people was never martial arts prowess, but the ability to sail ships and tread water. Moreover, if he got serious and waved his hand to call up a hundred brothers, even great heroes would have to call themselves bears. Of course, not right now.
Settling into the main cabin, Wu Cheng, with the intention of sending people away quickly, didn’t instruct anyone to serve tea.
Mo Zi, fearing being drugged, also didn’t care about tea or water. She directly repeated what she had said to Qiao Laosi and asked if he could bring her ship into Yuling territory.
In the past, Wu Cheng would have called this absurd, but the person before him made him have to choose his words carefully. “Since you have Qiao Laosi as a guarantor, I won’t hide things either. We do smuggle some goods for people, but we’ve never brought people, let alone ships. There’s no such precedent. Besides, what the situation is like over there—Miss, you haven’t been, so you don’t know. There’s simply no peaceful place. Vagrants and bandits, Daqiu soldiers and Yuling soldiers—anyone with a bit of strength is as fierce and brutal as wild beasts. They rob when they see money, plunder when they see grain. If they saw a fine young lady like you, encountering Yuling soldiers to claim you would still be lucky. Encountering Daqiu soldiers, they wouldn’t treat you as human.”
Mo Zi frowned upon hearing this. “What Yuling soldiers also rob civilian women? Besides, Yuling has been occupied—why are there still soldiers?”
“See, Miss, you don’t understand. Yuling soldiers are the Crown Prince’s subordinates, responsible for collecting grain and taxes. The great Marshal Wu stationed in Yuling by Daqiu commands the Daqiu troops, specializing in suppressing those with ill intentions and remnants of Yuling’s former officials, while simultaneously assisting Yuling soldiers in stabilizing the region. When they say ‘assist,’ it means Daqiu people managing Yuling people. Even when we go there, we unload and return the same day—who would dare linger? You want to sell rice—have you found a buyer there?” Wu Cheng saw Mo Zi’s expression was blank and understood. “Then do you have someone acting as an intermediary? If you have neither, going there would be seeking death. Not only would your rice and grain be eaten for free, but I’m afraid you—” Such a beautiful young lady would meet an even more tragic end.
“Are there no connections to be made locally?” Wu Cheng was clearly very familiar with Yuling’s situation. Truth and lies mixed in his words, but there was always something to listen to. “Don’t local officials or commanders want to rake in silver? Could it be that all the wealthy people in Yuling are dead?”
Yuling merchants had no low status and were famously prosperous among the four kingdoms. A batch had fled during the war, but more than half had pledged allegiance to Daqiu. Better to offer up a small portion of money than to lose all their property in panic and become poor.
“There are some, but you have to find the right connections. Without power or influence, and coming from Great Zhou at that, even more people will want to eat you for free.” By this point, Wu Cheng, wanting to scare off the other party, spoke only the truth.
“You needn’t worry about these things—we have our own plans.” Mo Zi offered another enticement. “Boss Wu, I’ll just follow your ship. You don’t need to assign many men—Qiao Laosi can be on my ship. If we fall behind or something happens, you don’t need to help. I also guarantee that this route of yours for making money won’t be leaked—I’m only making one trip. If you see me sailing on your route in the future, I’ll submit to whatever you do. If you don’t believe me, we can write a document as proof. As long as you agree, once we enter Yuling, I’ll present two hundred taels of gold. You don’t need to be responsible for my ship, but you also can’t deliberately shake us off or have other schemes. Otherwise, don’t blame me for not warning you in advance. Daring to go to Yuling, we’ve also taken life and death lightly—at worst it’s mutual destruction.”
Hearing her threat, Wu Cheng relaxed inwardly. After all, she was a sheltered young miss who didn’t understand worldly ways. With some money and having hired one or two skilled fighters as escorts, she thought she could walk sideways.
His gaze swept over the other party’s people once, and a plan formed in his mind.