The troops on the shore chased after them for nearly half a day, but were blocked by a tributary of the Baishui River.

  Looking at the shore, the reinforcements were blocked in front of them, and as they sailed further and further away, there was no sign of any boats chasing after them on the water. Lin Xie knew that relying on his own strength and Fu Qinghes, it would be absolutely impossible to save Su Mei. Moreover, Fu Qinghes injury wasnt light either. He said to Fu Qinghe: "Your wound needs to be treated on shore..."

  Fu Qinghe shook his head and said, "Let Master Lin go ashore himself. If he returns alive, Ill report his great kindness!" Looking at the speed of the boat, they would exit the White Water River and enter the Yangtze River before dawn. At this point, not even knowing which faction these water bandits belonged to, leaving the boat to go ashore also meant abandoning Su Mei.

  "It doesnt matter whats going on, lets just escape together; Ill help Master Fu treat your wound first, its easy to get infected if you stay in the water..." Lin Mou didnt say whether he was going ashore or not, but told Fu Qinghe to turn around and lie down on the oar, so that he could bandage his wound. Even if he himself went ashore, he wanted to give Fu Qinghe a chance to fight back, after all, Su Mei had a debt of gratitude towards him. However, in his heart, he found it strange, thinking that Fu Qinghe was just a bodyguard hired for money on the painting boat, and it was already enough for him to have gone ashore at this point, no one would blame him. Its no wonder he thought he could rescue people from under the noses of 70 or 80 water bandits?

  Fu Qinghe endured the pain and let Lin Xie put down the broken knife. To distract himself, he asked Lin Xie: "A few days ago, didnt Young Master Lin almost drown in the water?"

  "I dont know how, but suddenly I could... " Lin Mou explained casually, recalling when he was a kid learning to swim, he couldnt float no matter how long he practiced, until his old man ruthlessly threw him into the water, and after splashing around and swallowing several mouthfuls of water until his feet touched the river mud, he suddenly got it... This was Tan Zongs memory, having nothing to do with Lin Mou before, probably others would have similar experiences too, he used this to gloss over Fu Qinghes question, not afraid that he would see through anything.

  Fu Qinghe still thought that Lin Xie was just a coincidence to save himself in the water, and he didnt have much hope for him. Seeing that more than half of his body was soaked in the water to treat his wounds was quite convenient, and he felt a little strange inside.

  Apart from the two living people, Lin Xie had also tied two corpses and a short oar to the tail of the boat. It was unlikely that anyone else would have guessed Lin Xies intention, but Fu Qinghe was experienced enough to quickly understand: the two corpses not only increased buoyancy in the water and saved energy when escaping; at critical moments, they could also distract the bandits attention, allowing them to move elsewhere underwater; if the bandits fired arrows wildly, the corpses would still serve as a good shield.

  The two floating corpses were boatmen on the painted barge. Even if he had thought of this, Fu Qinghe thought that he would have hesitated to use these two corpses to escape. Lin Xie was quick-witted and decisive. Fu Qinghe didnt have much contact with Lin Xie, thinking that he was usually infatuated with Miss, assuming him to be a useless bookworm. Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, he showed such vigilance and composure, making people look at him in a new light.

  Fu Qinghe was just about to persuade Lin Xie to stay and wait for an opportunity to rescue the young lady when he felt the ships body slow down slightly, as if it were decelerating.

  "Whats the point of slowing down now?" Lin Xuan thought to himself, letting Fu Qinghe rest against the stern oar and trying his best to minimize contact between his injured arm and shoulder with the water. He swam a bit further ahead and saw that there was a dark shape on the surface of the water in front - it was a fast sculling boat coming upstream, with someone at the bow holding up a red lantern and waving it as if signaling something. Lin Xuan didnt recognize the lantern signal, so he swam back to the stern oar and said to Fu Qinghe, "Theres a fast sculling boat ahead, it seems like theyre here to meet us..."

  After a moment, the fast sculling boat that was coming towards them directly docked alongside the painting barge. Footsteps were heard, and five or six people jumped aboard, speaking in hushed tones from afar, accompanied by the sound of waves crashing, Lin Xie couldnt quite make out what they were saying, but then he heard this group of people walking towards the back of the boat.

  "This womans life is in our hands, Master Du can go in and persuade her, if she listens obediently, we will escort her to Jinan with respect..." It was a low, hoarse voice, sounding as if his throat had been cut and was leaking air.

  Jinan? Lin Xie looked at Fu Qinghe with a hint of surprise in his eyes. Although Lin Xie was a bookworm who stayed indoors and read books, he also knew that the Jinan Mansion was the old camp of the Dongnan rebels in East Fujian, roughly the location of Fuzhou City in Fujian Province. Lin Xie thought to himself, "Could it be that these people came from Jinan?"

  "Su Mei is a strong-willed girl, shes not easy to persuade. If she listens to advice, its fine, but if she doesnt and finds out the truth, wont that ruin Second Masters plans? Id better stay hidden. Not just me, but also the people around Second Master cant show their faces, lets all get off the boat and stay on this side for now, to avoid future awkwardness - two people, both of whom Second Master has taken a liking to, and hell have to trouble Zhao Lao Da to take them out to sea and take good care of them. Second Master will put on a show with Zhao Lao Da, a thrilling drama of snatching the boat and rescuing the beauty."

  The man in front had already called out "Master Du", and this familiar voice immediately allowed Lin Xie to recognize that the speaker was Jiangning merchant Du Rong. The many doubts he had previously were suddenly cleared up: it turned out that Du Rong was the one who had been secretly plotting! But he didnt know who this Jinan Second Master was? Lin Xie thought that if this Jinan Second Master was just trying to kidnap someone, then he really was infatuated with Su Mei, and had gone to such great lengths to arrange a heroic rescue scene.

  "If I were Old Zhao, why would I be so particular? Just pull down her pants and stick it in to satisfy her, and shell be obedient afterwards! Ive never seen a woman who cant be tamed by a dick... Haha...". He burst out laughing loudly. This was the rough and loud voice of someone who Lin Xie suspected was Zhao Lao Da, the leader of this group of bandits, but still had to take orders from Du Rong and also some Second Master Jin An.

  Fu Qinghe made a lip shape and gestured across from Lin Xie: "East Sea Bandit!"

  It was Lin Xies fault for being a bookworm who didnt know what was going on outside his window, so he couldnt connect Du Rong, Donghai thief and Jinan two young masters together. The thief was moving above their heads, and Fu Qinghe couldnt tell Lin Xie about the rumors of Du Rongs private collusion with Donghai thief and Jinan family for the time being.

  "Can the second master be as rough as us? To tell you the truth, I still think that women are more enjoyable when they struggle," at this time another person on the upper deck interrupted and said, "Old Zhao, are you going to bring those meat tickets here too?"

  "Alas, theyre all tender-skinned and weak, like half-grown kids. If you accidentally kill one, thats a loss of a thousand or eight hundred taels of silver for ransom... You have to maintain some credibility when it comes to taking money in exchange for sparing lives. Otherwise, how can you expect the families of the hostages to willingly hand over their silver in the future?" Zhao Lao Da said.

  Lin Tie didnt expect that the East Sea pirates had already kidnapped a hostage elsewhere and were planning to extort money from the hostages family. He patiently hid with Fu Qinghe under the stern of the ship, listening as the pirates took the hostages to the rear cabin. The sounds of crying, scolding, and screaming filled the air, all from young children and teenagers. Then he heard some people being taken from the cabin onto the fast boat where Du Rong was sitting.

  Du Rongs fast scull boat didnt hurry to leave, and sailed alongside the painted barge and pirate ship for a while. Even if Lin Xie wanted to leave and go ashore, he couldnt find a good opportunity.

  ************************************************

  At dawn, the White Water River mouth came into view, and in front of it was the Yangtze River. Du Rongs fast sculling boat had just deviated from the middle course of the river and was heading towards a tributary on the east side. At this time, dense fog rose from the river mouth ahead, blowing with the wind, quickly spreading over the surface of the river near and far, and in the blink of an eye, the trees and grass on the distant shore at dawn were all obscured, and everything was white misty fog. Even the red light of the lantern hanging under the stern mast of the boat became somewhat blurred when looking up.

  The fog came just in time, last night nearly seventy people hijacked the ship, but all of Jin Ans two young masters subordinates followed Du Rong and left on a fast sculling boat. Less than thirty pirates were left on the pirate ship and the painting barge, most of them were on the three-masted sailing ship in front, the barge was towed behind the ship and didnt need anyone to row it. Listening to the voices from the front, only a few people were left on the barge to keep watch, they all gathered at the bow of the ship.

  Lin tied the broken knife in his mouth and climbed up to the stern of the ship along the rudder. The fog on the river grew thicker, with more than half of the ships body hidden in the fog, unable to see the situation at the bow, only hearing a few pirates cursing and talking in front, occasionally accompanied by snoring sounds, unable to distinguish where Su Mei and her maid were locked up, but rather in the forward cabin, which was roughly the location of the flower hall, there were some people sobbing softly, presumably those who had been kidnapped, nor did they know how many people there were.

  Lin tied two waistbands together and let Fu Qinghe tie them around his waist, pulling on the waistband to help him climb onto the boat.

  "Dont rush to save people for now; find something to eat and change into some dry clothes..." Lin Xiao said in a low voice to Fu Qinghe.

  Septembers autumn coolness, having soaked in the water for half a night, still didnt feel anything with his spirit tightly strung; coming aboard and being blown by the river wind, he shivered with cold and hunger; Fu Qinghes injury was also troublesome, needing to be re-bandaged - even if everything was prepared, even if Fu Qinghe hadnt been injured, it would still be very difficult to rescue two helpless girls from under the noses of nearly thirty Donghai pirates on the ship and bring them ashore, requiring careful planning.

  Lin Tie is not a blind and arrogant person, but when he has the opportunity to help others, he will not shrink back like a turtle.

  "Come with me." Fu Qinghe knew that rescuing people was a matter of urgency, and he also understood the intentions of this group of thieves. For the time being, he wasnt worried that Miss Lin would be harmed on the boat. He was familiar with the painting barge and led Lin into the rear cabin.

  The lower cabins where the sailors and oarsmen slept were thoroughly searched by the pirates, and were in great disorder. There was a large patch of blood on the floor, showing that this had also been a scene of massacre. Valuables were nowhere to be found, but old clothes were scattered about, and several biscuits which the pirates had rejected lay in the corners. Lin Ku did not mind the bloodstains on the biscuits, picked them up, took a bite, and finding them rather too salty, handed two to Fu Ching-yi to eat and fill his stomach, while he himself changed into dry clothes. At this time it was impossible to be particular, so Lin Ku found some small packets of salt, dissolved them in water in a basin, washed Fu Ching-yis wounds, and then bound them up with clean cloth.

  In the corner of the cabin, there was also a halberd handle that had been cut off, about four feet long. Lin Xie picked it up and tried its strength, the handle was very hard, so he took a broken knife to sharpen the head, in the blink of an eye, it became a sharp short spear, which was handed over to Fu Qinghe for self-defense.

  Although a short spear is insufficient to break armor, for martial practitioners, something like this in ones hand is enough to take a life.

  Hiding under the boat, Fu Qinghe looked at Lin Xie with new eyes, weighing the short spear in his hand, seeing him sitting there still listening to the outside movement with his ear against the cabin wall, thinking that he had really misjudged him before and thought that he couldnt be more mature than him.

  "They want to go out to sea, and once they leave the river mouth, its the Yangtze River. There will be boats on the river, and if we can encounter a large ship or a fleet along the way, our chances of success will be greater..." Lin Mou whispered to Fu Qinghe.

  Last night, in the midst of crisis, there was no room for him to rescue Su Mei; his first thought was to save himself. Now, the situation is different from last night, and Fu Qinghe also has a fighting force. With careful planning, there is still a chance of success.

  Having the opportunity to help someone in trouble but shrinking back like a turtle is not Lins style. Moreover, even if Su Mei doesnt have any romantic feelings for him, she still has a sense of obligation to repay his kindness and rescue her from difficulties.

  "Its going to be a good plan!" Fu Qinghe nodded, thinking that Lin Xuan could stay and help him rescue people, which was the best; looking at his performance just now, he was afraid that he would surpass himself who had been injured; after pondering over his words, he also knew that he wouldnt take reckless action, and of course, couldnt force others to risk their lives.

  Lin Tie picked up the broken knife and said to Fu Qinghe: "Master Fu, you rest here for a moment, Ill sneak forward to take a look. When I come back, Ill knock three times on the shipboard." He stood up and added, "If anything goes wrong, Master Fu should escape first. After all, theres still a chance to save people in Jinan..."

  Fu Qinghe knew that Lin Xie was saying that this group of Donghai bandits would send Su Mei to the so-called Second Master of Jinan, but he wondered if this Second Master of Jinan was some important figure in the Jia family. If Su Mei were sent to Jinan, how easy would it be to rescue her?

  Fu Qinghe remained kneeling upright, his hands stuck to the deck as if he was about to kowtow to Lin Xie, saying: "Lord Lin, you can leave now. You have already shown great kindness to Su and the young lady..."

  Although he knew that Fu Qinghes move was more of a motivational tactic, Lin Xie still felt some emotion, after all, Fu Qinghe could have just left without caring about Su Meis life or death. Lin Xie knelt down and supported Fu Qinghe, scolding: "Master Fu, what do you take me for? Ill go out and take a look..."