A group of burly men surrounding and beating three children—this was what could be said about this small naval battle. The fast boats approached the foreign vessels in zigzag routes. Though they also had small catapults, those captains with eyes full of golden light wouldn’t permit throwing stones—it would be a pity to damage the ships, as these were everyone’s property.
From a hundred-some meters away, Yun Ye could hear the eight-ox crossbow firing clearly even on the large ship. The thick arrow bolts deliberately avoided fragile places like masts, all nailing into the solid ship’s railings, dense as a spider’s web.
Dozens of bare-buttocked big men grabbed ropes from the masts and swung onto the foreign ships. Of course, there were a few unlucky ones who were hit by the sparse arrows and fell into the sea halfway. This made Yun Ye jump up and down anxiously, shouting to quickly rescue them.
By the time Yun Ye’s large ship arrived at the battlefield, the fighting had long since ceased. A big-bearded foreigner was angrily shouting something, but those soldiers couldn’t understand. They just went about collecting their spoils of war inch by inch. When the gold chain and pendant around his neck were ripped off together, he struggled with all his might, trying to snatch the gold chain back.
Xiao Cangsheng very obsequiously rebuked the soldier who grabbed the gold chain and took it over to show Yun Ye. That soldier, seeing his gold chain was gone, angrily kicked the big beard and continued plundering from other foreigners. He was the first to jump onto the ship—he had this right.
The pendant was very exquisitely crafted, with a winged, bearded figure carved on it.
“Marquis, this is their god. By the looks of it, this fellow’s status isn’t low—not as simple as a ship captain.”
After Xiao Cangsheng finished explaining to Yun Ye, he said a string of gibberish to the big beard. The big beard immediately launched into an angry tirade.
“Marquis, this fellow says he’s a military officer pursuing fugitives. We cannot harbor fugitives, or else the Caliph will send an army that can fill the ocean to level this place. When that time comes, not one person should expect to live. If we hand over the fugitives and compensate for losses, he’ll consider giving us a way to live.”
Yun Ye nodded, carefully looked over the big beard once, and said to him: “Don’t understand my words?” The big beard shook his head while trying hard to maintain composure, but his darting eyeballs betrayed him.
Yun Ye smiled and said to Dongyu, who had no place to display his heroism: “Cut off one of his hands. Be careful—don’t kill him.” Dongyu had only stepped forward once when the big beard had already collapsed, prostrating himself on the ground and begging for mercy in perfectly accented Chang’an dialect.
Wu She asked Yun Ye strangely: “Marquis Yun, how did you know this fellow could speak human language?”
“No matter how eloquent a person is, they need to hear their opponent’s conversation completely clearly. Obviously, he didn’t. Yet he knew to pull a big banner to make a tiger’s skin. I’m so young and not wearing official robes—by rights, foreigners couldn’t possibly know I’m the master here. Old Hong and you look more imposing than me, but this fellow’s every sentence was directed at me. Don’t you think that’s strange?”
Wu She and Hong Cheng nodded repeatedly, but inwardly they kept roaring: “Pure nonsense! You’re standing right in the damn middle. Xiao Cangsheng got the spoils and showed you first. If the foreigner didn’t know you were the main person, that would be the strange thing. You were clearly enraged by those few sentences and wanted to chop off his hand. The foreigner’s words were scared out of him. Yet you still have to find a whole bunch of reasons to prove your wisdom. This bastard is becoming more and more slick as an official.”
Dongyu didn’t care about any of that. The Marquis said to cut off a hand, so one must definitely be cut off. As for those threats, even he didn’t care—would the Marquis take them to heart?
Unable to bear watching the foreigner’s hand being chopped, Yun Ye looked around at this ship. The forty-some-meter-long ship was streamlined, with a pointed bow. The cabin also had a keel, divided into three levels. When he came to the third level, he was so astonished he couldn’t speak. The third level reeked with stench—twenty slaves inside were locked to the oars, their gazes vacant. Their hands rested on the oars as if, with just one command, they would mechanically pull the oars. In fact, this was indeed the case. Xiao Cangsheng saw nothing strange about it and pried open one slave’s mouth to show Yun Ye. Inside, just like Dongyu, the tongue was missing.
“Marquis, all foreign ships have such slaves. Their job is to row. Some captains, to maintain secrecy, cut out the slaves’ tongues. This way, illiterate slaves have no way to leak secrets. This has been practiced on foreign ships for several hundred years.”
So these were the so-called livestock that could speak? Now they couldn’t even speak—their value was less than cattle and sheep, those bleating livestock.
“Bring them up on deck. Let them see the sun. Who knows how long it’s been since they’ve seen the sun? Every one of them is pale as a ghost. Also, wash them down with seawater. They stink too much.”
Returning to his own ship, Dongyu had already chopped off one of the big beard’s hands and was treating him. The treatment method was nothing more than pressing red-hot branding iron onto his wound. There wasn’t much blood—Dongyu had tied the fellow’s arm tight with a strap before chopping.
When the branding iron touched the wound, it gave off a smell like burning pig hair. The foreigner only twitched a few times like a fish, having no strength left to cry out. Just now, Dongyu had chopped for quite a while before getting the hand off.
The large ship towed the foreigner’s ship behind, so the speed naturally slowed. By the time Yun Ye reached Crab Island, the sky had already darkened. The name Crab Island was also one Yun Ye had just given. He had seen the coast crawling with crabs, so he named the island after crabs.
Aladdin had been wrong—it wasn’t fifteen ships but eighteen. That shrewd bastard had deliberately not counted his own three ships, but now, they all belonged to the Great Tang navy.
Sea crabs were also a delicacy. Once the mud and sand were cleaned off, they became a delicious dish. Nothing else was needed—just add some salt and boil them for an exquisite taste. The crabs in front of the island couldn’t be eaten. Yun Ye saw them crawling up and down on corpses and lost his appetite. The crabs on the back of the island were more reassuring to eat.
Great Tang soldiers never slacked in battle. Although they had captured all the pirates, they wouldn’t relax by even a fraction. Ten ships cruised on the sea surface, never stopping all night. As soon as they discovered anything wrong, they would immediately launch an attack, buying sufficient time for the main force on the island. There were also sentries on the island. Only after Yun Ye finished inspecting did he rest assured and lie down in his tent to sleep, sleeping extremely sweetly to the rhythmic sound of waves.
At daybreak, the fleet prepared to return. They deliberately left ten fast boats stationed on Crab Island to rejoin the fleet when it departed.
Li Anlan held their son at the dock welcoming the triumphant return of the army. She also organized song and dance performances. The singing girls from Emerald Phoenix Tower had truly excellent dance skills. The plump Aladdin found his son, whose tongue had already been cut out, among the prisoners. They embraced and wept bitterly. Xiao Cangsheng smiled as he returned his family’s servants to him, preparing to accept his property. Aladdin had said that as long as his son was rescued, he would offer all his goods to the Marquis. As a person of status, it wouldn’t do not to honor his promise.
Gust after gust of wind made the leaves in the Princess’s mansion rustle loudly. When the seasonal wind was at its strongest, the fleet would depart. Three batches of red-plumed urgent messengers had already been dispatched to Chang’an to report. Feng Ang held a grand farewell ceremony for Yun Ye. As golden cups clinked, Yun Ye heard Feng Ang’s most venomous curse: “Yun Ye, you bastard whose sons are born without assholes! It would be best if the Sea Dragon King captured you to be his son-in-law. At that time, this old man will definitely drink three hundred cups joyfully! Come! Gentlemen, drink to victory!”
“Why does Lord Feng say such things? My son just this morning finished clearing his bowels—the quantity was large and the smell rich. How about we have servants bring it out right now for Lord Feng to observe? As for you, you’re getting on in years, and three of your children were killed by wild beasts. Drink less alcohol, take good care of your health, and filling the gap of those three sons is the top priority. I hear you’re already beyond your powers now—it only pities those beautiful concubines. Be careful—if the children born resemble your household generals, that would be awkward.”
“Little bastard, every sentence is vicious! This old man has noted it down. Tormenting you in Lingnan—people would say this old man doesn’t respect his elders. Wait until I go to Chang’an, and I’ll let you know this old man’s power.”
“Five hundred young men at Swallow Coming Tower will be prepared for Lord Feng. Spring Breeze Powder is said to be a miraculous medicine of the mortal world, a secret never revealed by the imperial palace. For Lord Feng’s thorough enjoyment, I will definitely sneak into the palace to obtain two jin for you. If you have the ability to finish off five hundred young men in one night, then you can display Lord Feng’s manly nature. Come, come, come, gentlemen raise your cups—to Lord Feng’s longevity!”
The faces of the two seated men showed nothing but joyful expressions. Feng Ang was bold and unrestrained, extraordinarily heroic, draining his cup with each toast. Yun Ye had a string of witty remarks, creating an atmosphere of rising winds and clouds in conversation. The entire gathering was filled with Lingnan’s most luxurious figures in tall caps and wide robes. Between seats, there were constantly sounds of flowing streams and high mountains, or the heroic spirit of sword energy breaking through the air. Only what a pity…
What a pity that although Feng Ang had the heroic spirit of a thousand cups without getting drunk, helplessly the one pouring wine was the youngest son of Madam He. Feng Ang was of advanced age, so his wine jar naturally had to be the one with the larger number—and the bigger the better. Yun Ye was young, so naturally the smaller the number on his, the better. In the pattering sound of the wooden ladle pouring wine, Feng Ang removed his outer robe, stripped his chest bare, kicked off his boots to one side, his hat long since gone who knows where. Li Anlan covered her face and rushed away, fleeing straight to the back hall, never to be seen again.
After punching away Feng Zhiyong, who tried to drape a robe over him, then riding on top of Old Master Wei and forcing him to call him “father” before barely letting him go, he grabbed Yun Ye and cavorted wildly for a full hour before finally crashing to the ground with a thunderous snore.
Feng Zhiyong, with half his face swollen, carried his old father on his back, apologizing profusely to Old Master Wei. After saying a whole basketful of kind words, he fled in panic.
When the banquet stopped, the red sun was just rising. Yun Ye held his son and planted several hard kisses on his face and bottom. He heavily patted Li Anlan’s bottom twice as she looked on expectantly, grabbed a handful at her chest, then threw his head back in laughter and strode away…
The harbor was already a scene of a thousand sails competing. Several long ox horn sounds lingered in the sky. Two pigs were thrown into the great sea as offerings to the Sea Dragon King. A series of anchor-raising sounds rose and fell. Two hundred and eleven giant vessels slid into the ocean depths. Yun Ye looked at Crab Island hung full of foreign corpses and laughed heartily. The only thing he didn’t see was Li Anlan’s torrential tears.