Chapter 122

  Geng Xinghan realized that he had met a tough opponent after learning that the other side had a divine shooter. In the past, when robbing cargo ships back and forth, the other side generally only symbolically resisted for a while before surrendering and stretching their necks to be killed.

  But today's events were clearly different, after boarding the ship, they encountered strong resistance. To say resistance is not as good as saying slaughter, when facing blood, the other side seemed more excited than their own side, in the matter of killing people, the other side seemed more experienced than themselves.

  What kind of people is this?

  He carefully concealed his figure and loudly shouted at his subordinates.

  "Attack, attack, attack!"

  Whoosh!

  It was the sound of a feathered arrow piercing the air, and Geng Xinghan almost subconsciously turned his head, an arrow straight into his throat.

  Geng Xinghan fell to the ground, and the fish fork in his hand dropped into the sea, making a clear splashing sound.

  In the end, I couldn't avoid it after all.

  The bow, Zhao Zilong blew a crisp whistle, and the task assigned to him was finally completed. At this moment, a pirate rushed towards him from behind, he jumped up at the bow, his body spinning 360 degrees in mid-air, the bowstring caught the opponent's neck, tightening, the opponent struggled under the bowstring, but like a mouse trapped in a cat's claws, until it was strangled to death and could no longer move.

  On a killing field like this, if you're still so reckless and showy, either you're looking for death or you're showing off.

  Maybe he's just showing off.

  When Geng Xinghan died, the battle also divided into victory and defeat. It's hard to believe that a group of pirates would have what kind of fighting spirit. When their leader was killed and more than 30 people died, their fighting spirit collapsed completely.

  It is human nature to fear death and cling to life, no one will maintain a forward charging posture when they clearly know it's a dead end.

  A group of people fled in a flurry, some who didn't make it onto the boat struggled and splashed about in the water.

  After the battle, the water surface was stained with blood, and corpses were floating on the sea. There were pirates, as well as those from Cheng Da Lei's side.

  After clearing the battlefield, Cheng Dairen discovered that five of their own men had been killed. Some of the bodies fell into the water and could not be retrieved in this situation.

  Battles inevitably involve sacrifices, and deaths are unavoidable. With a force of fifty men, we defeated two hundred pirates and beheaded their leader; this battle is a victory in every sense, and one to be proud of.

  But Cheng Dairen is still unhappy, and even now he has not gotten used to making sacrifices.

  "Geng Xinghe, one day I will kill you with my own hands."

  Cheng Dali thought of this sentence in his heart.

  ……

  Qianzhou City, Yu Yang Lou.

  During the day, Geng Xinghe rested and his work usually unfolded at night. When he was not busy during the day, he would often warm up a pot of old wine, cook a pot of old meat, drink while having Hu Ji dance for him.

  Hu Ji is a good woman, unlike the soft and delicate women of Jiangnan. Hu Ji has a height that is not inferior to men, skin as white as milk, slender and delicate legs, and full breasts.

  In Qianzhou City, no matter who sees Geng Xinghe, they will find that he always has a smile on his face, like a wealthy businessman with a gentle and auspicious aura.

  If anyone were to switch places with Geng Xinghe, I believe they would also be smiling every day. With wine and meat every day, and the most beautiful women in the city, how could he not be happy?

  There's another reason why Geng Xinghe is so happy, a sense of intellectual superiority. Who would have thought that the Red Whiskers, who had been wreaking havoc on the seas and was being pursued by the entire city of Yangzhou, was now in the city, making everyone run around in circles?

  Knock knock knock

  There was a sudden knock at the door outside, and a voice asked: "Master... sir, are you inside?"

  Geng Xinghe was drinking with Hu Ji, and as they drank, Hu Ji was soon wrapped in Geng Xinghe's arms, her clothes half undone, her hair slightly disheveled, and Geng Xinghe was carefully fondling the soft jade pendant on Hu Ji's chest.

  He felt somewhat unhappy with this interruption.

  "What's wrong?"

  "Matters of the Sea."

  Geng Xinghe finally let go of Hu Ji and waved at her, saying: "You go down first."

  Hú Jiāo brushed past a group of people at the door, and after they entered, they carefully closed the door.

  "Whatever it is can wait till later." Geng Xinghe snorted coldly.

  "The big boss has sent a message from overseas..."

  Geng Xinghe nodded slightly: "It's about time for news to arrive, has the second master settled everything?"

  In this confined space, Geng Xinghe finally showed a bit of his usual ferocity, and the fellow who was speaking to him didn't even dare lift his head.

  "Missed it."

  "What?! Say it again!"

  "More than 50 brothers were killed, and even the second master was also killed on the spot. The brothers didn't even get to retrieve his body."

  "What?!"

  Geng Xinghe suddenly sat up from his chair, a fierce look flashing in his eyes.

  It's no wonder that Geng Xinghe found it hard to believe, he had sent a scout ship to probe the enemy, and the other side only had fifty or so people, with a drunkard as their leader. For those two ships of grain, he had mobilized two hundred men, but the result... was really unpredictable.

  His own younger brother had died, and the Skull Island was also severely damaged due to this matter. There were not only pirates from the Skull Island on the sea, originally his younger brother was in charge, so he didn't need to worry about the affairs on the sea. But now, he had no choice but to go back.

  Alas, good times have come to an end.

  ……

  It took five days to get there, but the return trip took longer due to headwinds. Halfway through, they encountered a storm, and although they made it through safely, they lost two more days.

  Time is life. Nowadays, this sentence is no longer an empty and vague philosophy of life for Cheng Dairen, but a real and tangible reality in front of him.

  Yangzhou is still a prosperous place, but as you head north, the prosperity becomes less and less visible. By the time you reach Qingzhou, you can already see refugees fleeing famine. When Cheng Dalai stopped at the dock to rest, he encountered people who wanted to buy grain at high prices. The further north they went, the more expensive the grain became, until it reached an unbelievable price. Some people even sent their teenage daughters onto the boat, just hoping to exchange them for a few pecks of rice.

  It's not just Youzhou that is dead.

  To be honest, Cheng Dairen was a bit softhearted, but in the end he gritted his teeth. Unable to save the world, for now he could only do what was good for himself.

  Finally, on a night twenty days later, the boat docked at a wild pier outside Luoyang. This time, the action took only fifteen days, because the mountain stronghold's food could last no more than that. But coming and going, it had taken a whole month.

  I don't know what's going on in the mountains now, can they still hold on?

  The boat had just docked, and Cheng Dalai immediately let Xu Shenji and Zhao Zilong return to the mountain overnight, letting the mountain stronghold people take the grain. As for Cheng Dalai himself, he was holding an axe and guarding the boat, not even daring to close his eyes for a moment.

  The land of Youzhou is parched and cracked for a thousand miles, how many people are unable to fill their bellies. Two large ships' worth of grain have been left here, if the news were to leak out, what kind of situation would arise, the consequences are too dreadful to contemplate.