The autumn moon in the sky was bright, illuminating the White Water River ferry terminal as if it were daytime. Lin Xie watched as two men with knives took control of the boat and held Zhao Neng and the boatman hostage at dusk. He was shocked and his mind flashed with a thought: pirates hijacking the ship! But he also had doubts - what could be worth hijacking on this humble awninged boat?

  The mooring rope of the Wupeng boat has been untied and is slowly leaving the shore. Lin Xiang, standing by the door, sees that the fishing boat on the opposite side has also untied its rope and is drifting towards the center of the Baishui River. Under the moonlight, he sees five or six dark shadows crouching at the bow of the grain boat, but cant tell who are the boat owners and who are the robbers.

  The cabin door was tightly closed, the moonlight outside was bright, but inside it was pitch black. Lin Xie remembered that his sword was hanging on the wall opposite him, so he carefully tightened his clothes and calculated the distance to the window in his mind, thinking about how to get his sword as quickly as possible in the dark and then jump out of the wooden window into the river... However, from the gap under the door, he couldnt see the situation outside on Su Meis painting boat, nor was it clear how many water bandits were hijacking the ship this time. Lin Xie patiently stood with his back against the door, thinking to himself: Perhaps jumping into the water during the chaos would be the best choice.

  Lin Xuan still wanted to wait for the right moment, but the two men at the bow of the boat didnt want to give him that time. The man with a scar across his nose, who was holding a knife and threatening Zhao Neng, asked another person: "Do you think that soft-shelled turtle has woken up or not? Why isnt there any sound?" His words were spoken as if he wasnt afraid of Lin Xuan waking up.

  Lin Tie was shocked: Zhao Neng had scolded him at dusk, and he shouldnt have spoken recklessly in front of outsiders again. These two people seemed to be quite familiar with his previous self?

  "The shrimp was infatuated with the woman, and when he got crazy, it was hard to predict. Its better to be careful... Another man with a thin face and narrowed eyes looked towards the riverbank - at this time, even the shore was not far enough, and nearly a hundred knife-archers from Baisha County were stationed on the edge of the Antuoshan disaster relief camp. After Dong Yuan became the prefect of Weiyang, he attached great importance to the training of the knife-archers and other security forces in various counties of Weiyang, even intentionally training a well-trained local army. The thin man was quite wary of the knife-archers from Baisha County. Moreover, Dong Yuan had a reputation for being fierce, and if they were startled now, tonights plan might not succeed. Thinking of this, he gave a signal to the scar-faced man."

  Lin Xie, hiding in the cabin, heard them say these words and was shocked. He thought to himself: Are they referring to Su Mei?

  The man with the whiskers smiled meaningfully, his arm bent to hold Zhao Nengs neck, and in a low voice threatened: "If you want to live, dont make a sound! If you shout, Ill cut you down with one knife!" He struck the back of the knife handle heavily on Zhao Nengs forehead, and Zhao Neng let out only a muffled hum before his body went limp. Seeing the man with whiskers insert the knife into the door gap to pry open the bolt, Lin Xie retreated half a step, waiting for the moment when the bolt was about to be pried open, then grabbed the blade of the knife and kicked it, breaking the knife at the door gap. The man outside was caught off guard, holding the broken knife as he stumbled in.

  That man suddenly entered the dark environment, his eyes were black; Lin Xie adapted to the dim light and grabbed the wrist of the man with a braided beard holding a broken knife, two fingers pierced towards his eyes.

  His scarred face was also quite a sight, his eyes had been poked into, and he let out a miserable scream like a pig being slaughtered. His wrist managed to break free from Lins grasp, and he rushed towards the corner of the cabin, blood streaming down his eye sockets. The broken knife in his hand danced wildly, not allowing Lin to approach. He yelled loudly towards the outside of the cabin: "Old Biao, Im in trouble, my eyes have been poked blind, come quickly and save me!"

  "Tell your mother to be more careful, making such a big noise will startle the painting boat, Old Zhao will have to make his move ahead of time..." The thin man outside growled in a low voice.

  Lin Tie jumped over and locked the cabin door, hoping to block the thin man outside for a moment; he had just taken out his sword when he heard a mournful cry coming from inside, it seemed that the boat owners life was not guaranteed. Lin Tie didnt care about anything else, he swung his sword like a knife towards the man in the corner of the cabin.

  That mans eyes were pierced and bleeding, unable to see the length of the broken knife in his hand. He heard the wind sound and raised his hand to parry, but it was a false move, and the steel sword was ruthlessly chopped into his eyebrow bone. The sword was stuck in the bone, Lin Xie didnt have enough strength to pull out the sword, hearing the sound of crashing doors behind him, without any hesitation, he picked up the broken knife and jumped out of the window, plunging into the water, hiding under the wooden rudder at the back of the boat before surfacing for air.

  At this time, several boats at the ferry terminal, along with the painted barge, had moved away from the riverbank by about 70 or 80 meters. Suddenly, they were in great chaos, and two of the boats even caught fire. In an instant, the night sky over the river was illuminated a deep red. People were constantly being hacked down and falling into the water. A pinnace boat had two bowmen who drew their bows and watched the surface of the water intently. Lin Xie hid behind a wooden awning, not daring to come out. After a while, someone jumped onto the black-awninged boat and asked: "Chen Biao, whats going on?"

  "Hu zi lost his hand, soft-footed shrimp jumped into the water..." It was a thin Han mans voice.

  "How could Tiger lose his grip?"

  "Hu Zi entered the cabin and killed someone, but was ambushed. I went in to look and saw that he had been struck by an iron sword on his forehead. The window was open, and the person was already gone... Do you want to send two people into the water to chase after him?"

  "Soft-shelled shrimp in water is a dead weight, dies even faster, dont bother with it... Hurry up and get on the painting boat, cant let the painting boat dock."

  Lin Xies body was now completely submerged in the water from the tip of his nose down, where was there any sign of him having fallen into the water?

  The commotion on this side also startled the people on the shore. The disaster relief camp on Kunlun Mountain lit many torches at the ferry terminal, and several dozen black shadows could be seen running towards the ferry terminal, each holding a weapon in their hands - they were indeed the knife and bow-wielding soldiers stationed on the mountain. The awakened refugees also shouted loudly across the mountains: "Lord Dong is here! How dare the water bandits come to send themselves to death!" "Lord Dong says that killing the enemy will be rewarded with silver. Regardless of whether you are an official or a civilian, if you kill one enemy, you will be rewarded with ten taels of silver." Some brave refugees also followed the soldiers and ran wildly towards the ferry terminal.

  "This evil star is in Baisha County, its a bit tricky; you come with me, this boat will be set on fire, absolutely cannot let the boat dock."

  Lin Xie listened to the voices on the bow of the Wupeng boat, thinking that the robbers had a grudge against Governor Dong Yuan of Weiyang. Then he saw two people at the bow of the Wupeng boat jump onto a three-masted sandboat with iron hooks and poles, hooking onto the Huafang boat. The two boats quickly drew together, and dozens of robbers gathered at the bow, armed with blades, ready to storm the Huafang boat.

  Lin Xie saw this situation and was convinced that the bandits were heading for Su Mei, and their plan was well thought out. At night, under the pretext of listening to music, they sent people from the shore to sneak into other boats at the ferry terminal, so that when they suddenly launched an attack, they could take these boats with them and leave the riverbank, preventing these boats from becoming transportation tools for supporting the painting boat on the shore. That three-masted large ship was probably the main battleship of the water bandits this time, looking like a sea ship, and it was unknown when it had mixed in and stopped at the ferry terminal without arousing anyones vigilance. There were obviously many water bandit elites hidden on the boat, all of whom were now being used.

  There were seven or eight medium and small-sized merchant ships and fishing boats moored by the ferry terminal, with few people on board and no guard, which fell silently.

  The kitchen maid, servant girl and maidservant on the painting boat are not to be considered, apart from Fu Qinghes three disciples guarding, they also hired more than a dozen sailors and oarsmen from the local river gang in Jiangning, which is not without any defensive power. For the time being, there are no thieves mixed up on the painting boat, Fu Qinghe stands at the bow of the boat, his left hand holding a round shield, his right hand holding a short spear, forcing a water thief who tried to board the boat into the water. Lin Xie looked at it with slight surprise, previously thinking that Fu Qinghe was just an ordinary martial artist - which ordinary martial artist would use a short spear as a personal weapon? Those hired sailors and oarsmen have been wandering in rivers and lakes for years, not for the first time encountering water thieves and lake bandits, under Fu Qinghes leadership, they held weapons to defend against the water bandits jumping onto the boat.

  Lin Xian looked at the painting boat, which was less than thirty zhang away from the shore. The painting boat was a sculling boat, with six wooden oars on each side of the hull. With everyone rowing together for a moment, they could reach the shore. Moreover, the county yamens archers and crossbowmen on the shore could still shoot arrows to support them. If the water bandits couldnt attack the painting boat in time, letting it dock on the shore and join forces with the archers and crossbowmen of Baisha County, it would instead turn the painting boat into a fast warship for the archers and crossbowmen to pursue and capture the bandits.

  The pirates had long anticipated this situation, and apart from the three ships with pirate-filled awnings, all the other boats that were towed to the middle of the river were set on fire; the pirates on the three-masted ship quickly hooked the pleasure boat with an iron hook after hoisting the sails, towing the pleasure boat towards the outer side of the river, Lin Xiangs body hidden in the water, watching all this, thinking that they were really well-planned.

  The fire on the Wupeng boat grew stronger, Lin Xiangs body hid underwater for the time being without worry, but he didnt dare to make any sudden movements, people were in a panic, who knew if swimming towards the shore would lead to mistaken killing?

  Swim to the painting boat? Fu Qinghe is now on guard against water bandits stealing boats from the water, and the possibility of mistaken killing is even greater; besides, 70 or 80 strong water bandits surrounded the painting boat, and there were less than 20 paddlers and sailors on the painting boat. If the Baisha County knife archers on the shore cannot find a way to come and rescue them in time, their fate can be imagined.

  At this time, Lin Xie also had a heart of cherishing flowers and jade, and he still remembered the kindness Su Mei had shown him, but he was not a fool who would rush to his death in a hot-blooded impulse.

  The pirates no longer delayed, the three-masted ship gathered a dozen or so bows together and shot angrily, and someone threw a ceramic jar-like thing at the bow of the painting boat, which was shattered but turned out to be lime scattered all over the sky. Taking advantage of the chaos on the painting boat, dozens of pirates jumped from the three-masted ship and other three hijacked merchant ships and rushed onto the painting boat...

  The painting boat was towed away from the riverbank for nearly two hundred meters, and the archers on the shore arrived at the ferry terminal to shoot arrows in response. It was already too late, and no one jumped into the water to come and rescue them. Lin Xie knew that the situation of the painting boat was doomed, and even if Fu Qinghes personal martial arts were high, it would be difficult to play a role in the chaotic battle, and at most he could only kill a few water bandits to vent his anger. If he didnt abandon ship and jump into the water, it would be hard to escape death.

  Listening to the explosion of the big fire burning through the ship, Lin Fu worried that the hull would soon be burned out. After waiting for a moment, when most of the pirates had jumped onto the painting boat, the attention of the thieves was not on the water surface. He took aim at the direction, plunged into the water with a loud splash, and swam towards the painting boat. He estimated that after the pirates seized the painting boat, they would not easily burn it down, and it would be safer to attach themselves to the bottom of the ship and drift downstream for a while before going ashore.

  Emerging from the water to breathe, the bottom of the painting boat covered with black and green moss was right in front of him. Lin Xie inserted a broken knife into the seam of the wooden board to give himself a support point to catch his breath. At this moment, a dark shadow fell from in front of him, splashing up water that made Lin Xie choke, it was a person falling down, unknown whether they were alive or dead.

  Lin Tie held the knife in his hand, hesitating whether to wait for the person who fell into the water to float up and then immediately go forward to add another knife. Just then, he heard someone shouting loudly above his head: "Fu Qinghe is dead, go down to the cabin to kill the scoundrel!"

  Was it Fu Qinghe who fell into the water? Lin Xie was shocked, he knew that a martial artist could play a limited role in a chaotic battle, but he didnt expect Fu Qinghe to be so useless. With a loud splash, he dove into the water, using the faint light that had entered the river to look at the dark shadow below the surface, which wasnt moving at all. Before he even surfaced, Lin Xie pulled Fu Qinghe and swam away to another location.

  Fu Qinghes fall into the water would attract the attention of the water bandits, and Lin Xie didnt think he could dodge the strong bows in the water. He hid Fu Qinghes lifeless body under the stern of the painting boat, where it was dark and the flames couldnt reach, and only then did he surface.

  Lin tied the rope around his waist, preparing to bind Fu Qinghes body to the rocking chair. Just as he did, the body in his hands moved slightly, and the head tilted outward, dodging a weak punch from Fu Qinghe. Turning back, Lin saw Fu Qinghe staring at him in astonishment, probably unable to believe that he hadnt died and had even saved him.

  Also, without explanation, Lin Xian softly asked: "Fu Ye, where are you hurt..." Just now in the water, I only saw that his back had blood seeping out, and it didnt seem to be a fatal wound. Now seeing that his right arm was cut open with two deep gashes, after being soaked in the water for a while, the exposed flesh looked like white lips. There was still blood constantly seeping out from the left shoulder pit, none of these were serious injuries, but I didnt know if he had any other severe wounds elsewhere.

  "The pirate lifted the wooden board onto the boat, and with a thud on his chest, he fell into the water." Fu Qinghe hooked his hand around the oar, weakly explaining why he had fallen into the water.

  Lin Mou had never seen a battering ram, but he could imagine it - the two sides of the painting boat were long and narrow, and if Fu Qinghe wanted to resist there, the water bandits would lift up a large log and strike him directly, forcing him into the water.

  Su Mengs cabin was at the bow of the ship, while Lin Xie and Fu Qinghe hid in the stern. They couldnt hear what was happening at the front, only that the commotion on the ship gradually subsided, suggesting that the pirates had taken control of the situation. After a moment, corpses were continuously thrown down from above, accompanied by splashing sounds. Lin Xie and Fu Qinghe exchanged glances, realizing that except for Su Meng and her maid Xiaoman, not a single person was left alive.

  After the Baishui River rose, the water surface was two or three miles wide. The painting boat was towed to the middle of the river and tied up with that pirate ship. The remaining three merchant ships were also set on fire by the pirates. Although there were knife-archers running along the riverbank trying to rescue them, they were helpless. With the light from the fire, I saw a few people riding tall horses on the riverbank in the distance, and I didnt know if Dong Yuan, who was known for his bravery in suppressing the Xia family rebellion, was among them.

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  "Bastard." Dong Yuan looked at the several merchant ships burning fiercely in the Baishui River, as well as the pirate three-masted sailing ship and the flower boat tied behind it escaping towards the mouth of the Baishui River. He clenched his fists in anger, this group of pirates actually dared to rob people right under his nose, how could he not be furious.

  "It looks like a sea ship, it might be the Donghai bandits making an internal raid. Im afraid if we follow along the shore, we wont be able to catch up. Shouldnt we send a swift horse to inform Ninghai Military Town to dispatch a naval camp?" Under the reflection of the torches, Ding Zhi-xiu, the county magistrate of Baisha County, had a somewhat pale face, his body chilled by the wind. As the bandits were rampaging within the borders, as the head official of Baisha County, he couldnt escape some responsibility.

  "Are you counting on those straw sacks?" Dong Yuan snorted disdainfully, "Three days ago, the Chongzhou County School was raided, and there were over a hundred Ninghai Town soldiers in Chongzhou County City, but werent they killed by thirty or fifty pirates until people and horses fell?"

  Gao Zongting knew that Dong Yuan hated these pirates from the East Sea, but if someone was kidnapped in Weiyang Prefecture and rescued by Ninghai Military Town, what face would Dong Yuan have? He said: "A humble songstress is not worth the prefects effort to mobilize troops at night, the documents can be sent tomorrow without delay."

  Dong Yuan let out a cold hum and didnt say anything else. He simply gazed at the black shadow moving further and further away in the middle of the river under the bright moonlight.

  Ding Zhi Ru only then realized that Dong Yuan was also remembering the humiliation of being rejected at dusk, and if his guess was not wrong, the thief should be a branch of the East Sea Pirates. At this time, he sent someone to gallop quickly to inform Ninghai Town, and it should arrive in time before the pirate ship sailed out to sea. Ding Zhi Ru would not forget the conflict between Dong Yuan and Ninghai Town either. Moreover, Dong Yuan was the main official who strongly advocated for building a new local army outside the towns military system. He didnt say anything else, even just pretending, and let the county lieutenant lead the knife and bowmen to continue chasing along the shore; also vaguely saw that there were still people in the river who had not died, thinking that they were ship owners who escaped the disaster and fell into the water but did not die. He quickly organized people to dive down to rescue them.