“Duan Geshou, you also made a mistake. This isn’t on flat ground—it’s on my ship.” Mo Zi grasped the cables with both hands and leaped into the air. “The sky is high for birds to fly, the sea is vast for fish to leap. My ship is like a part of my body. On the river, who can do anything to me?”

Even amid the spinning chaos, Duan Geshou could still roar, “He Meng, kill that woman!” Even in death, he wouldn’t die for nothing.

But He Meng had already been knocked unconscious by a palm strike from Water Snake, who had been lying in wait outside the ship’s rail.

The ship gradually settled. Seeing Wu Youyan being helped away by Luo Ying and Qiu Shuang, Duan Geshou’s gaze turned violently cold as he lunged toward Mo Zi in an instant. He was also a naval warrior. If he hadn’t assumed he controlled the opponent’s movements and let his guard down, he wouldn’t have been so embarrassingly unprepared during that earlier shake. Now he had no conditions left to negotiate—the only possibility was to capture another hostage. His martial skills weren’t weak. He feinted to avoid Zan Jin and Ding Gou, then turned to attack Mo Zi, who stood alone nearby.

However, he didn’t know that although Mo Zi had no martial arts, her body was extremely agile with fast reflexes. Just as he approached, she jumped and grabbed the iron cable supporting the mast, spinning a full three hundred sixty degrees, her toes bringing cold whistling wind as she kicked at his head. He watched somewhat dumbstruck, secretly thinking as he dodged that this woman concealed her abilities so deeply.

Mo Zi wasn’t finished. She released her grip and flew down toward Duan Geshou, chopping at his neck with her hand. Originally, the plan had been to reveal He Hu’s betrayal to achieve the voluntary allegiance of the Zicao forces to the Yiyuan Army. Unexpectedly, Duan Geshou had interfered. Though it was her own carelessness first, after self-reflection, she was quite furious with him. This chop carried vicious personal revenge.

Duan Geshou fell to the deck in pain, feeling like an evil spirit sat on him as his head received over a dozen smacks. Besides the neck truly hurting, the later slapping was less painful than humiliating to his self-esteem—like a dignified man trapped in the embarrassment of women fighting and pulling hair, or like a child being beaten by parents for doing wrong.

This was precisely Mo Zi’s intention. He had struck at her confidence, so she struck at his self-esteem. She didn’t fear others mocking her pettiness. She was a woman, and women had women’s privileges.

“Song Mo Zi!” Duan Geshou exploded with rage, wanting to flip over and strangle her.

“Zan Jin, Ding Gou, tie him up like a rice dumpling.” Mo Zi knew full well that bit of ability could only suppress those who underestimated her at first—from the second move onward, she’d be exposed and only drag people down. So she knew when to quit while ahead and quickly climbed the cable to get away.

“Zan Jin, you protect Mo Zi. I’ll bind this one.” Ding Gou felt he could handle it with ease.

Duan Geshou wasn’t a brainless brute, nor was he a cowardly weakling. Without using underhanded schemes, in direct combat he attacked and defended—even though the opponent’s martial arts were higher than his, he wasn’t afraid.

For a time, they leaped up and flew down. Those fighting were locked in fierce battle, while onlookers watched a spectacular show.

The sky suddenly brightened. Sunlight pierced the hazy white veil as mist quietly evaporated. Visibility that couldn’t reach ten zhang could slowly extend. The sound of splashing water interrupted the rhythm of the waves. Gray shadows suddenly appeared in the vast expanse, soon connecting into a deep-colored mass.

Ships! More than one!

Mo Zi judged from the direction that they weren’t friendly and immediately called out softly, “Ding Gou, quick decisive battle!” At the same time, she had Water Snake go to the hidden cabin while she led the crew to pull the sails, beginning to create distance backward.

Duan Geshou also saw them. Though panting, his morale was high. “Song Mo Zi, my fleet has come to receive me. How can your small boat escape? Surrender quickly, and I guarantee you won’t suffer physical torment.”

Sunlight streamed down in countless threads, like spring water melting snow. Using the ship as center, white mist hesitantly remained at the periphery, forming a large circle. On the bright river surface, over a dozen tall warships displaying fierce iron fangs approached from directly ahead, breaking waves and riding the wind. Two flags flew on the ships—one with a running wolf, one with a qilin—imposing and majestic, full of killing intent. Upon seeing Mo Zi’s ship, archers immediately took positions, densely distributed inside and out, above and below, aiming at the people.

“Make him shut up!” While shouting to proceed at full speed toward the southeast, Mo Zi called for people to turn the winches and raise the boards.

Duan Geshou didn’t notice the changes on this ship. Facing Ding Gou’s attacks, he could no longer counterattack, and even defense was barely manageable. But he still had one thing to do in his heart. He let Ding Gou kick his chest, using the momentum to fall against the ship’s rail, pulled out the amnesty edict and threw it into the river. Even though his ships were numerous and powerful, even though her chances of escape were extremely low, he wouldn’t be overconfident again. His opponent was Song Mo Zi—a person with the capability to unify the realm.

Ding Gou hadn’t expected Duan Geshou to desperately throw away their legitimizing edict, and couldn’t help but feel angry. He struck Duan Geshou’s shoulder with a palm containing full force.

Duan Geshou couldn’t dodge. There was a crack as his shoulder experienced severe pain, the joint dislocated, causing him to grunt in pain.

“Your life—I’ll take it!” Ding Gou’s second palm struck toward his face with thunderous force.

Seeing all this, Mo Zi called out to stop him. “His life is still useful. Keep him.” The edict was a dead object, but everyone on her ship except Duan Geshou and He Meng were precious lives worth their weight in gold.

Ding Gou pulled back his momentum in time, whirled behind Duan Geshou like a tornado, and captured his other arm behind his back. With a shake of his sleeve, a short sword revealed its silver point, pressing against his throat.

Only then did Duan Geshou notice the four large objects before him, very much like siege catapults but much smaller and more complex. A humble cargo ship actually concealed such weapons—this shocked him greatly. How they were placed beneath the deck and how they were cranked up, he desperately wanted to know.

“Release the Grand General!” A curly-bearded burly man with two large axes on his shoulders charged forward with furious anger.

Mo Zi looked at Duan Geshou, who was carefully examining the large objects. She wasn’t particularly concerned about exposing them before him, because they couldn’t be hidden for long anyway. Humans were intelligent—she could be certain that Daqiu ships would soon have such equipment. But by then, her ships would have upgraded too. With competition came progress.

“I can release him if you retreat your ships five li away.” From soldier to “kidnapper”—a qualitative change?

“Release him first, then we’ll retreat.” Curly Beard raised his hand, and the archers nocked arrows.

“Nonsense. If I release him, will you still retreat?” Who did they think was stupid? Mo Zi raised her hand, and the four large objects loaded their projectiles.

Curly Beard’s eyes bulged. “Bah! If we retreat five li, the general becomes a corpse.”

“General Ge, don’t worry about me. They only have one ship. If you surround them in a circle, no matter how strong her weapons, she can’t sink all the ships at once.” Duan Geshou truly wasn’t afraid of death.

“Shut up.” Ding Gou’s blade drew a line of blood on his neck.

Curly Beard saw clearly and grew anxious. “Stop!”

“Surround or withdraw? Your choice.” Though Mo Zi’s expression was calm, inwardly she knew Duan Geshou was quite right. No matter how excellent the weapons on her ship, they couldn’t handle ten ships. She could only gamble—gamble that the opponent cared about Duan Geshou’s life and would compromise.

“General Ge, if you retreat, you’re a coward.” The blade stung his skin, but Duan Geshou showed no fear. “We have so many warships afraid of one cargo ship—if word gets out, how can we promote Daqiu’s prestige? Even if I’m saved because of this, I’ll be mocked and never able to hold my head up again.”

General Ge still hesitated. “But, Grand General—” Duan Geshou was both civil and military, skilled in strategy and tactics, his military achievements second only to the Daqiu King. Though Young Master Wu Yanle’s position in the army was higher than Duan Geshou’s, it was only because he was the king’s brother. How could Daqiu afford to lose such a figure, especially when the great war was about to begin and the ambition to pursue dominion over the realm was so close?

Duan Geshou angrily commanded, “All generals, hear my order—immediately surround this ship! Those who disobey military orders shall be executed on the spot!”

Ding Gou looked toward Mo Zi. “We let him talk too much. Since he wants to die so badly, let’s kill him.”

Mo Zi sneered coldly at Duan Geshou. “Want to die? It’s not that easy.” She suddenly raised her voice, speaking for General Ge to hear. “First gouge out his two eyes, then cut out his tongue, chop off his hands and feet, and soak him in saltwater. I think before you surround my ship, we should be able to reach that point. Go ahead and surround us. Once Duan Geshou dies, the Daqiu King will suddenly lose his right and left arms. If we perish together with him, it’s worth it!”

General Ge realized she was right and clasped his fists in apology. “Our deaths aren’t worth concern, but the Grand General is so important to Daqiu—how can there be the slightest mishap? Even if subject to military punishment, this subordinate dares not comply with the Grand General’s order.”

He addressed Mo Zi again. “Let us each make a concession. I’ll keep the flagship stationary, and the other ships will turn around and sail away. Both sides will send a small boat for transfer purposes.”

“One-on-one, fair.” Mo Zi agreed.

“General Ge—” Duan Geshou disagreed.

But this time Ding Gou wouldn’t let him prattle on. He stuffed cloth in his mouth and tied him up securely with rope.

With the small boat prepared, Zan Jin and Ding Gou were responsible for the delivery. Mo Zi didn’t volunteer. The opponent was quite extraordinary—she had also become more cautious and wouldn’t give him another opportunity to exploit.

“Duan Geshou, truthfully, I should kill you. But I still keep my promises. Since I agreed to release you, I’ll do it—unlike you who loves to find loopholes.” She stepped aside to let them place the still-unconscious He Meng on the small boat as well. “Your lackey should share weal and woe with you.”

Duan Geshou’s gaze turned sharp.

“Don’t glare at me—I’m the wronged one here. Entrusted to the wrong person!” She snorted.

“Mmph… mmph mmph…” Duan Geshou looked indignant.

“Ah, you’ll also keep your word? That’s best then. Otherwise you’re not an upstanding man but a rat that burrows underground and dies when exposed to light.” Mo Zi signaled both sides to release the ropes. “This round we’re evenly matched. Looking forward to determining victory next time.”

Duan Geshou raised his face, staring intently at Mo Zi, his expression completely blank.

Ding Gou said to Zan Jin, “Mo Zi really can spin tales. He grunted unintelligibly—how could anyone understand? Yet she spoke as if it were all true.”

Zan Jin looked at Duan Geshou. “Maybe Brother Mo was right—he’s a trustworthy man of honor.”

Ding Gou looked thoughtful.

On the Daqiu side, General Ge personally came to receive them. As soon as Duan Geshou stepped onto the small boat, he was untied and the cloth removed.

Duan Geshou couldn’t be bothered to pursue General Ge’s disobedience of military orders. He called out to Ding Gou and Zan Jin, who had already rowed several zhang away: “Help me relay to her—I will complete the transaction. However—” He took the horn from General Ge’s waist and blew it three times. “We were even just now, but now let’s determine victory. I’m most impatient to wait.”

Hearing the horn, Mo Zi saw those Daqiu ships that had turned to sail back now turning toward the river again. Both amused and annoyed, she told everyone, “They won’t shed tears until they see the coffin. Switch to the wooden balls!” She’d prepared for this already.

“Brother Mo, ships are also coming from behind.” The brother in the lookout barrel shouted.

The mist had completely dispersed. The river was wide with surging waves, a hundred ships with flying pennants, all with large red flowers hanging at the bows. On the lead ship stood a man in red robes, his brows like mountains, his eyes like black jade, his smile warm and refined.

His voice carried far: “Yuan Cheng, son of the Yuan clan, has come to welcome the eldest daughter of the Song family as his wife.”

Instantly, the sound of drums shook the heavens.