The government troops’ assault was ferocious and merciless. In the torrential downpour, the eight-ox crossbows positioned in sealed small rooms unleashed their full power. Countless water bandits fled in all directions, screaming and shouting, utterly helpless against the attacking government forces. The heavy rain had soaked their bowstrings, making it impossible to draw their bows and thus unable to retaliate. The leather cords on the catapults suffered the same fate. Several fierce bandits piloting small fire ships attempted to burn the government fleet, but before they got far, the torrential rain drenched their small boats completely. In the seamless expanse of water and sky, forget burning others—they couldn’t even burn themselves. They could only be shot down one by one by the government troops’ powerful crossbows into the raging lake waters.
“Abandon the first water fortress and retreat three li to avoid the enemy’s sharp edge.” Liu Fang’s orders were continuously transmitted, but few could execute them. Those people brought by Han Zhe were unruly and rebellious, paying no heed whatsoever to Liu Fang’s commands. Only those few young fierce bandits faithfully accepted the orders, leading their subordinates to make way for the water bandits eager to charge out, slowly retreating to their own second water fortress.
“Young Master, forces one, three, seven, and twelve have charged out of their defensive positions and are boldly attacking the government troops. This is a trap—they’re going to their deaths! Young Master, please order them to turn back. If we delay, it will be too late for regrets. The government warships have already formed a circular formation and are closing in. The first water fortress cannot stop their giant vessels. Please issue the order, Young Master!”
Seeing that the situation was already beyond his control, Liu Fang could only kneel on one knee, requesting Han Zhe to issue the command. When generals don’t obey orders, a battle is already half-lost before it even begins.
Han Zhe said with a light laugh, “It doesn’t matter. We’ll just watch. The government troops are also merely probing. The heavy rain affects them too. Even if they prepared dry bowstrings before the attack, they should be soaked by now. We have superior numbers—some casualties don’t matter. Let’s watch a bit more. It’s already good that they can take the initiative to attack.”
Liu Fang was stunned for a moment, then immediately closed his mouth and accompanied Han Zhe on the high platform, gazing out at the distant battle. But watching was futile—the silvery curtain of rain blocked their vision. They could only hear the water bandits’ loud shouts and calls, while the government troops’ side was eerily silent. Apart from the occasional war drum, no one made a sound. This was even more oppressive than loud battle cries.
Seeing that the first water fortress was already packed with bandit ships, a white-bearded old general on the government warships nodded and said to the other commanders, “That’s enough. The heavy rain is about to stop. Cast the fire oil and burn these people, then we’ll return. The Marquis forbids us from killing all the water bandits, saying they have great use. Killing too many of such enemies is also uninteresting.”
As a deep drum beat sounded, the catapults on the government’s large ships fully activated. The oil cloth covering them was removed, and soldiers quickly placed fire oil jars in the baskets. In an instant, countless jars were hurled onto the water fortress palisades and shattered. Some jars flew over the palisades and fell onto the docks. Black fire oil mixed with rainwater flowed everywhere. Not conducting fire attacks in rainy weather—this was common sense even idiots knew. The government troops’ foolish action drew countless jeers and mockery. Even Han Zhe showed a slight smile.
After the ignited fireballs were hurled into the water fortress, the government troops paid no heed to the battle results and immediately set sail and departed, leaving behind a sea of flames…
Han Zhe’s eyes were as cold as water. Liu Fang lowered his head and sighed. The other water bandits were all shocked and at a loss. The rain diminished, becoming like mist and smoke. When the fireballs fell into the water fortress, great fires ignited. The first water fortress had become hell—nowhere to hide, nowhere to take cover. Even the lake surface was burning fiercely. Thick black smoke blotted out the sky and sun. Pressed down by high-altitude winds, it spread across the lake surface. From within the rolling black smoke came countless heart-wrenching coughing sounds that tugged at one’s heartstrings.
“Scholar Han, do you know where the government troops obtained so much fierce fire oil? I’ve heard this substance only exists in overseas lands. Transporting it thousands of miles to Great Tang costs a fortune. Why does Yun Ye have so much stored?”
“This old servant doesn’t know. From what we’ve seen today, the heavy rain still suppressed the fire oil’s power, but the lethality of this thick smoke remains formidable. It differs greatly from the fierce fire oil this old servant has seen before.”
Han Zhe nodded. Only after strong winds dispersed the smoke did he point at the water fortress and say helplessly, “Those four men are not suitable to be commanders. You should select a few others from among the rest and let them serve as deputies.”
Liu Fang expressionlessly acknowledged the order. After seeing Han Zhe off, he immediately began preparing rescue operations. The lake water was churning violently and quickly broke up the large oil-covered water surface into scattered fragments. In the water fortress, only sporadic flames still burned, though the wooden palisades of the water fortress still blazed fiercely.
There were many corpses floating on the water surface. The water bandits used hooks to fish up the bodies and pile them on the docks. The four blue-robed burly men who had led the assault kept pointing at the corpses and saying something, their expressions very natural without a trace of awkwardness. When the fire had first ignited, they had jumped onto small boats and hastily left, completely unconcerned about how many had died.
Water bandits were also human. Seeing so many comrades dead, even if there had been no affection between them in the past, they now felt the sorrow of the rabbit mourning the fox’s death and shared grief for their kind. Seeing the whips in those men’s hands, they dared to be angry but not speak. They could only lower their heads and continue clearing the corpses and dragging away damaged boats.
Liu Fang walked over with four young water bandits and said to the four blue-robed burly men, “By the Young Master’s order: You four underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly. Your positions as commanders are revoked and replaced by Chen Jia and the other three. You will serve as deputy generals and await further disposition.”
The blue-robed men were momentarily stunned and wanted to get angry, but hearing it was the Young Master’s order, they merely cupped their hands perfunctorily, acknowledging they had heard. The water bandits cleaning the battlefield changed their expressions and continued working. The four young water bandits paid no attention to the departing blue-robed men and directly commanded their own subordinates to speed up the cleanup. The sky was now showing signs of clearing. If the government’s large ships returned, it would surely be a disaster.
Han Zhe paid no mind to this setback on the battlefield. He was in the mountain cave inspecting the preparation progress of the angry-faced corpse. San Feng Zi now looked like a work of art, laid out on a stone table, completely naked without a thread of clothing. All his body hair had been shaved off. His well-built physique, coated with glossy tung oil, displayed a bronze-colored aesthetic beauty. Someone was using putty mixed with tung oil to slowly smooth over the wound areas until not a trace of scarring could be seen.
Han Zhe grabbed a handful of gold powder to test its texture. Not bad—ground very fine. Mixed with fish glue, this gold powder could be applied to the corpse’s body. Then, dressed in clothing and positioned in a cross-legged sitting posture, it could be sent to Yun Ye.
Gazing at the corpse, Han Zhe suddenly recalled an anecdote about Yun Ye from Yushan. When Wei Zheng visited the Yun manor, Yun Ye was arrogant and showed no courtesy, merely having his steward bring soup and water, showing no warmth. When Wei Zheng said he had come on the Emperor’s orders, Yun Ye could only instruct his steward to brew tea and bring it up. When he heard Wei Zheng say he had come to bestow the title of Lady upon the Yun family’s old matriarch, he immediately became delighted, ordering a banquet of nine tables and personally brewing the finest tea to entertain Wei Zheng. When Wei Zheng jested upon leaving, “Why were you so aloof at first but so respectful later?” Yun Ye replied, “Very different, very different indeed!”
At first, he had only wanted to kill Yun Ye and be done with it. Who would have thought that having crossed swords until now, he had gained no advantage whatsoever and instead suffered great losses? He could only keep elevating Yun Ye’s status until now, when they stood on equal footing. This approach bore a striking similarity to the anecdote of Yun Ye entertaining Wei Zheng. Han Zhe found it quite interesting—he and Yun Ye were too alike. If not for that damned Bai Yujing, the two should have been good friends, wreaking havoc together in this colorful world—what an entertaining affair that would be.
The heavy rain stopped for only a moment before beginning its endless deluge again, as if the Heavenly River had sprung a leak. The sporadic flames on the wooden palisades finally could not withstand the torrential downpour and gradually extinguished. After emitting a wisp of green smoke, they were completely snuffed out.
The young water bandit leaders, bare-chested, led the water bandits in repairing the fortifications in the heavy rain. Though the work was arduous, they didn’t complain once, only thinking of properly constructing these defensive works that would save their lives.
Junshan—this was a fine place. The Yun family had long planned to plant tea here. The climate was humid and warm, with abundant clouds, rain, and fog—an ideal location for tea cultivation. The Yun family didn’t lack tea now; they only lacked high-quality tea. Yun Ye said Junshan was a place for growing fine tea, and Liu Fang naturally believed him. Docks, wharves, residences, warehouses, level ground—all would be needed in the future. Filling in Xi Lake was also appropriate, after all, Xi Lake had too many mosquitoes.
The water bandits had no objections to Liu Fang’s commands. After all, every task was to make their own lives more comfortable. Ever since Xi Lake was filled in, the mosquitoes on the island had decreased dramatically. No longer was it the situation where one needed to cover one’s face with thin gauze at night. The food was also improving. The strategist said the island must have leveled farmland, and when farmers were captured from Yuezhou in the future, they would be made to farm on the island, growing grain for everyone to eat. If the imperial court’s great army blockaded the great lake, they wouldn’t starve to death.
Everything Liu Fang did fell without exception under Han Zhe’s eyes. He couldn’t understand why Scholar Han, despite being a rare wise man, would still so foolishly develop this barren island. The imperial court could blockade the lake—didn’t he know they could also attack and take this island? A bandit’s advantage lay in being elusive and unpredictable, preventing the authorities from guarding against them. Doing such useless work was simply putting shackles on themselves. This could only be described as greed blinding wisdom. But this was also good—a subordinate with ambition wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Some older bandits even secretly cleared small plots of land for themselves, hoping the leader would grant them these parcels. For such matters, Liu Fang was even more encouraging, earnestly telling those old bandits that as long as Junshan remained in his hands, whatever land anyone cleared would be theirs—no second thoughts.
Yuezhou was vigorously opening wasteland and farming. The water bandits were also enthusiastically leveling land. Although everyone knew a great battle was imminent, both sides were preparing for their own futures.
When Yun Ye heard of this matter, he strictly ordered the Lingnan naval forces not to cause any more destruction. These were all his own family’s properties—any damage would be his own loss.