The dancing girl took the pirate’s hand and left the tavern. Outside, the wind was strong, and coconut trees swayed wildly in the moonlight like countless demon claws.
Seeing no one around, the pirate reached to touch the two big coconuts, but the dancing girl spun away to avoid him.
“Don’t be hasty—let’s find a secluded place and I’ll show you enough,” the dancing girl said, pulling the pirate toward a cluster of reef rocks by the beach. The rocks were covered with parasitic shellfish. The larger ones had been cracked open by beachcombers who extracted the meat directly. The pirate was barefoot, and stepping on the exposed broken shells hurt his feet.
The pirate said: “Beauty, this place isn’t suitable. Aren’t you bothered by how uncomfortable it is? Even my feet can’t stand it, and you’re dressed so lightly—when we do our business, your back will get cut bloody.”
The dancing girl pouted coquettishly: “What a fool! The sound of rising tide waves will mask the noise of our activities, preventing anyone from hearing and coming to disturb us. As for pain—you’ll be the one lying underneath as a cushion while I dance on top for you.”
A top-tier beauty who would take the active role! The pirate was overjoyed and didn’t mind the shells on the rocks, following the dancing girl deeper into the reef cluster.
“Here, this is the place,” the dancing girl said, crouching to pull out a coil of rope from under a rock. “Let’s play a game. You lie down first and do as I say, then I’ll show you the good treasure.”
The pirate lay on a large rock: “Come on.”
The dancing girl spread her red skirt and straddled the pirate’s belly.
Oh! This beauty was quite direct! Just… too heavy.
The dancing girl used rope to bind the pirate’s hands and feet, with connecting rope between them. She stood up from the pirate’s belly, then pulled hard. The pirate’s body suddenly curled up, hands and feet bound together like a Mid-Autumn Festival crab tied up to prevent it from running around when steamed.
The pirate immediately couldn’t move, his hands, feet, waist and back painfully cramped: “Beauty, I did everything you said. The treasure—show it to me quickly, then untie me.”
“Wait,” the dancing girl sat beside him, loosening her clothing and reaching inside, rummaging around. Her two breasts began bouncing wildly, giving the pirate’s eyes a feast: truly good treasures!
The dancing girl pulled out something black and fuzzy, and her left breast immediately deflated—it was a coconut.
She pulled out another thing, and her right breast quickly deflated too—also a coconut.
The pirate’s mouth gaped in surprise, wide enough to stuff a coconut into.
The dancing girl sighed with relief: “Finally I can take out these two coconuts. So hard, heavy, and uncomfortable. This island doesn’t produce wheat or steamed buns, so I had to make do with coconuts.”
The dancing girl removed her veil, revealing a handsome face—it was Wang Daxia. He was nineteen now, his Adam’s apple increasingly prominent. Nan’ao Island was hot and no one wore high collars, so he’d kept his face veiled to hide his male identity.
“You’re—a man!” the pirate shouted: “Help! Someone’s robbing me!”
Wang Daxia picked up a coconut and struck the pirate’s chest hard: “Shout all you want—even if you scream yourself hoarse, no one will hear you. The tide is rising and ocean waves mask all sounds.”
Crack! The pirate felt sharp pain in his chest—the coconut had broken one of his ribs: “Hero! Take my money pouch! I only ask to keep my life!”
Wang Daxia said: “I told you, I came to show you treasures, not take your life. If you cooperate, I’ll let you go. If you refuse to confess, I’ll use this coconut to break your bones one by one.”
The pirate was covered in cold sweat from pain: “I’ll cooperate! I’ll definitely cooperate!”
Wang Daxia produced a golden seal about half a palm in size—an official seal inscribed with “Deputy Commander of Jiangxi Regional Military Commission.”
“You’ve seen this before,” Wang Daxia said.
The pirate shook his head: “Never seen it.”
Wang Daxia picked up the coconut and struck the pirate’s foot. The pirate screamed—three of his toes were smashed!
Wang Daxia set down the bloody coconut: “I’m not a patient person. I said I’d break them one by one, but I broke three at once. Don’t blame me—blame yourself for lying and angering me.”
“You traded this golden seal with a Frankish merchant in Macau, exchanging the seal for ten muskets and a crate of gunpowder.”
“This Frankish merchant was doing illegal trade, smuggling a ship of blue-and-white porcelain disguised as a grain transport. He was detained by General Yu’s men (Yu Dayou). The Frankish merchant bribed General Yu with gifts including clocks—and this golden seal.”
Wang Daxia put down the seal and picked up the coconut again: “See, I’ve helped you remember everything. Now you should cooperate and explain the seal’s origins clearly, right?”
“I’ll tell! Don’t hit me anymore!” the pirate cried: “It’s not mine! Boss Wu—Wu Ping gave it to me! He wanted to recruit soldiers and needed weapons, so he gave me a pile of gold, silver, and jewels to trade with Frankish merchants in Macau for weapons.”
Wu Ping was a major pirate who had risen in the past year, a Fujian man who started as a collaborator for Japanese pirates. Each time he’d guide the pirates or act as an inside man opening city gates. After the pirates finished looting, they’d give him some things and send him away for next time’s cooperation.
Later, accumulating some wealth, he recruited desperados and became a pirate himself, always striking when the iron was hot, taking what other pirates left behind. Because he was cunning and didn’t stick his neck out, he was never targeted by the Qi or Yu armies for elimination.
After major pirates like Xu Hai and Wang Zhi were eliminated, “the survivor became king.” Wu Ping grew powerful this year, occupying Nan’ao Island, buying ships and weapons extensively, absorbing pirates scattered by the Qi and Yu armies. He quickly gathered nearly twenty thousand men and over four hundred ships, becoming Nan’ao Island’s uncrowned king.
Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou loved eliminating the tallest trees first. After Wu Ping established himself on Nan’ao Island, they joined forces to clear him out. But Nan’ao Island was surrounded by water, easy to defend and hard to attack. Both sides had been fighting for three months with mixed results.
The person Wang Daxia sought was on Nan’ao Island, so he disguised himself as a pearl diver with spies from the Qi and Yu armies to infiltrate the island.
Pirates traveled in groups, making it difficult for Wang Daxia to act. He had to return to his “old profession,” disguising himself as a beauty and using honey traps to lure pirates away for individual questioning.
Learning the seal came from pirate chief Wu Ping, Wang Daxia repeatedly struck bones with the coconut. The answer never changed, so it seemed true.
The pirate cried: “Can you let me go now? I truly haven’t hidden anything.”
“Good, I’ll send you on your way—to the western paradise!” Wang Daxia struck the pirate’s head with the coconut, knocking him unconscious. The tide had risen to the rocks, and a wave swept down, carrying the bound pirate into the ocean.
Wang Daxia found spies from the Qi and Yu armies: “I want to stay on Nan’ao Island and fight pirates with you. When do we act? Please keep pirate chief Wu Ping alive—I have urgent matters to ask him.”
Wang Daxia was someone both Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou had personally instructed their subordinates to “take special care of.”
Yu Dayou’s connection needn’t be mentioned—it was for Lu Ying’s sake. Lu Ying’s father Lu Bing had even used private funds to bribe Yan Shifan and save Yu Dayou’s life, so Yu Dayou owed them gratitude.
As for Qi Jiguang: A year ago, when attacking Xinghua City, Wang Daxia—this male beauty who brought disaster—had used his looks to enchant King Ming and beheaded him. Qi Jiguang had personally witnessed the red-clothed beauty jump from a bridge directly onto a pirate ship, killing one person every three steps with blood on every blade, pursuing and blocking fleeing pirates.
So when Wang Daxia sought Qi Jiguang’s help, Qi Jiguang assisted as readily as Yu Dayou. With everyone’s help, Wang Daxia could search for needles in the ocean and find clues about his father. This official seal was major progress, leading him to trace the trail to Nan’ao Island.
Three days later, the Qi and Yu armies launched a general offensive, killing over fifteen thousand pirates on Nan’ao Island. Wu Ping tried to escape by ship to Annam but was captured alive by Wang Daxia’s men.
Wang Daxia bound Wu Ping to a chair, placed the golden seal before him, and lit a candle in broad daylight.
Wang Daxia held the candlestick, first using the candle to burn off Wu Ping’s eyebrows, asking: “Remember anything now?”
Now Wu Ping was not only not “Ping” (peaceful), he didn’t even have eyebrows. Eyebrow-less Wu Ping shook his head: “No.”
Wang Daxia slowly used the candle to singe Wu Ping’s eyelashes one by one. Each eyelash emitted a burnt smell like red-hot needles stabbing Wu Ping’s eyes.
After burning about ten eyelashes, Wu Ping couldn’t endure it anymore and confessed the seal’s origins.
From being a collaborator to forming his own small group, Wu Ping was born at the wrong time. Pirates were being beaten by the Qi and Yu armies—the Qi army in Fujian and Zhejiang, the Yu army in Guangdong.
To survive and avoid these two formidably powerful government forces, Wu Ping took an unconventional path, not operating along the southeastern coast but raiding Jiangxi during New Year when every family had surplus money.
Based on veteran pirates’ experience, Jiangxi garrison troops were just farmers who could only till land, with poor fighting ability. Seven pirates could take a county seat, loot freely, and escape unscathed.
Moreover, an informant had approached him, saying a large official ship from Nanchang, Jiangxi, was traveling under government pretense but was actually a money shop’s ship transporting silver—robbing it would be pure profit.
Wu Ping immediately intercepted and robbed the silver ship on the Yangtze River. But he’d trusted the wrong informant—this was truly an official ship, and a poor official at that. The most valuable thing was this golden seal.
Wang Daxia desperately restrained the urge to thrust the candle into Wu Ping’s eyes, asking: “What about the people on the ship?”
“All dead,” Wu Ping said. “That honest official even dared fire cannons at us in resistance. Finally we shot him twice and killed him. We killed all survivors and sank them with the ship in the Yangtze. Having killed an official, we couldn’t possibly leave anyone alive.”
Though he’d already guessed this outcome, hearing the killer personally confess it, Wang Daxia’s heart still felt stabbed by needles.
His hand holding the candle trembled violently, drops of wax falling on Wu Ping’s face.
Wang Daxia used the candle to ignite Wu Ping’s clothes: “Last question—who was the informant? Where did you meet, what did he look like, what accent did he have? Speak quickly—when you finish, I’ll help put out the fire.”
After a year of harboring hatred, Wang Daxia had naturally learned the methods of Eunuch Wang, the Eastern Depot director from his previous life.
Author’s Note: The iron triangle is about to reunite.