The silent night enveloped the seemingly ordinary fishing stronghold, also concealing the ferocious side unknown to outsiders. It looked so peaceful and tranquil, which also covered up the impending killing intent.

Nearly all the able-bodied young men from Yang Pond Water Stronghold had set out, so naturally many people were worried and afraid, unable to sleep through the night. It was just that ordinary households were reluctant to waste lamp oil and candle wax. Even if they tossed and turned unable to sleep, few households in the stronghold lit lamps.

Aside from the most impressive residence in the middle of the stronghold, the vast majority were plunged into darkness.

Around the circular stronghold wall, only a bonfire still burned at the northwest corner. Two men still clutching blades sat before the bonfire dozing off. The others had all sneaked off to hide in a woodshed at the western corner of the stronghold wall, fast asleep.

The stone-built stronghold wall was high and steep, but had very large gaps. With the aid of rope hooks, Han Qian and twenty-four others silently climbed atop the wall, only then discovering the top surface of the stronghold wall was two paces wide. Who knew if this was a military fortress from a previous dynasty that had been abandoned and occupied by fishing households, or if it was the result of several generations of these fishing households’ management.

Jiangnan West Circuit had still been in complete chaos in the early years of Tianyou. Only these past few years had things become slightly more peaceful. Currently the court faced tremendous military pressure in the north and heavily taxed local areas, temporarily lacking the strength to rectify local public security. The fact that Poyang Lake had dozens of such solid water strongholds wouldn’t surprise Han Qian at all.

At this time a pale fish-belly white had already appeared on the eastern mountain peaks. If they delayed further, the sky would brighten.

At this moment an able-bodied young man with his head wrapped in a cloth towel pushed open the woodshed, muttering something, walked to below the stronghold wall, pulled out his member from his pants, and relieved himself with a long satisfying stream.

The broken door leaking wind creaked in the breeze. The dim oil lamp hadn’t yet been extinguished. Han Qian saw eight or nine people sleeping on the ground in disarray inside.

After the water bandit who had gotten up to urinate returned to the woodshed, Han Qian signaled Lin Zongjing and Guo Nu’er to lead twenty people sliding down the stronghold wall via rope hooks to surround that woodshed, while he, along with Zhao Wuji, Tian Cheng, and Gao Shao, crouched low and crept toward the two night-watch water bandits dozing by the bonfire over a hundred paces away.

At fifty paces distance, Zhao Wuji and Gao Shao drew their longbows. Two arrows left the strings like two sharp winds cutting through. The two night-watch water bandits jerked their heads around in alarm. One was shot in the face, the arrowhead penetrating through the back of his skull as he fell with a muffled sound. One was shot in the chest by an arrow, falling into the bonfire screaming and convulsing, scattering burning wood and mercilessly tearing apart the silent night.

Gao Shao raised his hand and shot an arrow into the water bandit’s chest—his archery was definitely not poor. He then followed up with another arrow, finishing off the life of that water bandit struggling in the bonfire pile. But he hadn’t expected that Zhao Wuji, despite his young age, would actually have the courage to shoot directly at the vital face area, completely unworried about shooting off-target due to nerves.

The water bandits in the woodshed heard the screams from the stronghold wall and knew something had gone wrong. Grabbing up long spears, blades and swords, they were about to charge out, but Lin Zongjing and his group had already pressed close to the woodshed. Raising blades and shields, they hacked toward them, forcing the water bandits back into the woodshed unable to emerge.

Han Qian picked up a long spear from the stronghold wall and speared a vigorously burning old tree root from the bonfire pile, hurling it toward the woodshed roof.

The woodshed was topped with dried thatch, extremely flammable. In moments fire and smoke rose up.

This group of water bandits soon realized the woodshed had been set on fire and frantically tried to kill their way out. Gao Shao and Zhao Wuji stood atop the stronghold wall repeatedly nocking and shooting arrows, relieving pressure on Lin Zongjing and the others, sealing the dozen-plus water bandits inside the woodshed.

Tian Cheng at this time also learned by example, picking up another long spear and directly flicking burning wood from the bonfire pile one after another toward the woodshed.

This side was over thirty paces from the woodshed. Han Qian had speared the firewood with the long spear and thrown it together with the spear to land precisely atop the woodshed roof. But Tian Cheng merely hooked the spear blade under the firewood and flicked upward—the burning wood traced an arc through the air, accurately landing atop the woodshed roof.

Tian Cheng’s hands didn’t stop. In just a few breaths he flicked out over ten pieces of firewood, thoroughly igniting the woodshed’s thatched roof. This skill was clearly far more refined than Han Qian’s.

At this time the entire fishing stronghold boiled with activity.

Even though aside from the ten water bandits remaining on guard here, the stronghold only had the old, weak, women, and children, at this moment there were still thirty or forty sturdy women, old men, and half-grown youths who grabbed blades and clubs, or even more crude implements like only vegetable knives, pitchforks, and pot lids, charging over from the streets and alleys.

Very unfortunately, the able-bodied water bandits left to defend, surrounded in the woodshed unable to emerge, were burned until they shrieked. Even if someone scrambled out over the wall in wretched disarray, illuminated by firelight, they were merely excellent arrow targets in Zhao Wuji and Gao Shao’s eyes.

Those old, weak, women, and children wielding crude weapons, before Lin Zongjing, Guo Nu’er, and other elite scouts equipped with blades, shields, and full armor, were merely small monsters delivering experience points.

Very quickly, over ten people were mercilessly cut down at the alley entrance leading to the woodshed, leaving several pools of blood. The others no longer dared charge forward, fearfully retreating backward.

Han Qian at this time climbed down from the stronghold wall. Leading Zhao Wuji, Gao Shao, Tian Cheng, Lin Zongjing, and the others, they formed a wedge formation, setting fires along the way as they killed their way toward the most impressively built residence in the middle of the fishing stronghold.

Although people still tried to charge over to intercept them along the way, Han Qian mercilessly slew them all.

The large residence’s courtyard wall was built high and thick, the residence gate tightly shut, but this posed no obstacle whatsoever to Han Qian and his group.

Han Qian had Lin Zongjing and Guo Nu’er ram the gate from the front while he, along with Zhao Wuji, Gao Shao, Tian Cheng, and others, used rope hooks to climb in from the rear courtyard. After cutting down two old men wielding blades, they charged to the front courtyard.

At this time Lin Zongjing and Guo Nu’er had rammed open the front courtyard residence gate and charged in, just as they cornered a rather beautiful blade-wielding woman, a child about ten years old, and a little girl of five or six in the corner of the courtyard. On the ground, three armored sturdy women had been cut down in pools of blood, with several short bows fallen on the ground.

“I won’t ask which group of heroes you are. As long as you spare Niu’er and Rui’er’s lives, take whatever wealth and goods are in the residence as you please. When my family’s master returns, he definitely won’t pursue today’s matter,” the woman said, holding a sharp cattle-slaughtering knife, having hastily donned only half a leather armor, now protecting the youth and little girl at her side while staring at Han Qian.

Han Qian looked toward that woman, clicking his tongue with considerable regret. If he had faced such a sudden crisis half a year earlier, he might have already been scared into pissing and shitting himself. This woman still had the courage to negotiate conditions with them—truly not simple.

“There are still two oar-canopied boats in the river branch west of the stronghold. Sir, we can completely abduct these three people!” Tian Cheng saw the killing intent surging in Han Qian’s eyes and leaned over to quietly advise.

If they still followed the original route wading back, these three people would be complete burdens—they couldn’t leave anyone alive. They had just waded over, taking a full hour for six or seven li. Wading through water, they fundamentally couldn’t go fast, let alone bringing prisoners.

Han Qian glanced at Tian Cheng, pondered for a moment, then stared at that woman and said:

“If you want to live, don’t struggle, then obediently show us where the wealth and goods are hidden! Your family’s master truly became so greedy he stopped caring about his life—tricked by our superior to go raid that old dog Han Daoxun. Seeing flames shooting skyward here, it will take two or three hours at least before he can rush back…”

Guo Nu’er stepped forward and seized the blade from this woman’s hand. Han Qian walked over, reached out to pinch the woman’s rather smooth and tender chin, staring into her shocked and beautiful eyes as he said sinisterly:

“If you deliberately delay and play tricks with us, every tea-time interval I’ll stab your son and daughter once. Let’s see who can outlast whom?”

Tian Cheng and Gao Shao exchanged glances. They knew this mission was to impersonate the Department of Operations’ secret agents raiding the camp, breaking the trust relationship between Ji Kun and the water bandits. But hearing Han Qian completely indifferently open his mouth to call his own father an old dog still felt strange.

The woman wanted to preserve her children’s lives. Under her guidance, Han Qian and his group quickly found a string of keys and opened the storehouse in the residence’s northwest corner.

This storehouse was probably the most solidly built in the residence—stone walls plastered with glutinous rice paste, iron-clad heavy wooden door, with very solid iron locks. Without keys, even with an axe it would take a good while of chopping to smash it open.

However, upon opening the storehouse and seeing much grain but little money inside, Han Qian was somewhat disappointed.

Stacks of hemp sacks filled the storehouse, totaling over a thousand large bags, probably containing two to three hundred thousand catties of unhulled rice.

A small fishing stronghold where fishing households, besides privately storing money and grain, originally made their living by fishing—yet the bandit chief leader’s own residence actually stockpiled so much rice, making one suspect this group of water bandits was planning rebellion.

It seemed this group of water bandits’ leader was still a water bandit with considerable ideals and aspirations, not a salted fish!

At this time people still continuously tried to approach, blocked by arrows shot by Zhao Wuji and Gao Shao, hiding in alleys and lanes.

Han Qian then ordered Guo Nu’er and the others to set fire to all the dwellings in the stronghold. Through the fire’s momentum, they drove those stronghold residents who looked old and weak yet still had fierce bearing to the outer perimeter.

Han Qian climbed a ladder to the roof and could see quite a few twelve or thirteen-year-old youths crouched in the darkness wielding vegetable knives and wooden spears, ready to charge out like venomous snakes at any moment.

This was truly a bandit nest where generations had been bandits.

Besides this, the storehouse contained over two hundred long spears, over ten sets of armor, twenty strong bows, three large hemp sacks of copper coins plus fifty or sixty cakes of gold, as well as cinnabar, cloth, and other goods plundered from who knows where.

After sweeping clean the three large sacks of copper coins, gold and silver and other precious metals, as well as bows, armor, and other fine weapons, Han Qian again ordered firewood brought to stuff into the storehouse. Carrying over two buckets of lamp oil to pour over it, he planned to start a fire to burn the storehouse as well.

Besides some remaining long spears and silk cloth that couldn’t be carried away, the storehouse also stockpiled two to three hundred thousand catties of grain—enough for all the men, women, old and young of this fishing stronghold to eat for two or three years doing nothing.

Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, and others, who themselves or whose family members had contracted the disease and been forced to wander homeless enduring hunger daily during those years, had special feelings for grain. Even if they couldn’t take this grain and cloth away, they were reluctant to set fire and burn it to ashes.

“If it really were Ji Kun’s men luring bandits from their den and raiding their nest, would they burn it or not?” Han Qian stared at the hesitant Tian Cheng and others, asking in a suppressed voice.

Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, and the others remained silently speechless, thinking that if it truly were Ji Kun’s men raiding the stronghold, even if they didn’t slaughter all the men, women, old and young in the stronghold, they would necessarily consider the possibility of the main group of water bandits counterattacking upon returning to the stronghold. Or being even more ruthless and merciless, waiting for the main group of water bandits to return to the stronghold before leading official troops over to suppress them—how could they possibly allow them the possibility of fortifying the stronghold for defense?

“…” Han Qian glanced at Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, and the others, took a torch from Guo Nu’er’s hand, and threw it toward the lamp-oil-soaked firewood, watching as flames quickly leaped up.