Sentry Island
On the southwest shore, the rain had lessened as the wind blew. Dozens of torches were lit on the shore, carrying supplies.
"Quick, quick, move the supplies onto the ship." The squad leader was supervising the soldiers as they moved the supplies onto the ship. Further away, the squad leader's face was filled with joy as he shouted out orders.
Pei Zi Yun disembarked from the ship as a squad leader reported, "Your excellency, we've discovered some commoners farming. Should we bring them along?"
"Not yet. Let these commoners carry the supplies, and do not harm them." Pei Zi Yun instructed.
"Yes, your excellency." The squad leader acknowledged.
This sentry island wasn't very big. From Pei Zi Yun's perspective, it was about thirty square kilometers. There were a hundred pirates that had been captured. At this point, a squad leader was holding them captive, ready to execute them.
Chen Pu couldn't bear to see this happen. He stood beside Pei Zi Yun and said, "Your excellency Pei, these pirates should be transported back to Ying Prefecture and await the Imperial Court's judgement. Killing them would be a bad omen."
Hearing these words, Cai Yuan Zhen replied, "These pirates deserve to be killed, they deserve to die. Even if we don't kill them, there aren't many places on the ship to lock them up."
"Your Excellency Chen, these are pirates. I will listen to you and spare their lives. However, in order to prevent these pirates from fighting with us again, we shall cut off their tendons." Pei Zi Yun sighed and spoke out in a compassionate manner.
Hearing Pei Zi Yun's words, Cai Yuan Zhen was taken aback. This was a ploy to kill them. If the tendons of these pirates were cut off, they would become crippled. They would either be kept alive or killed by their own men. This would shake the morale of the soldiers. He then thought to himself, "Scholars are indeed vicious!"
"Pass the order. Do not kill these pirates. Cut off their tendons." Pei Zi Yun ordered.
"Yes, your excellency." One of Pei Zi Yun's personal guards stepped forward.
The sky was getting brighter. In the darkness of the night, screams could be heard. These pirates had their tendons cut off, and it was a chilling sight to behold.
Pei Zi Yun didn't seem to hear anything. He pointed at the pirate ship and asked, "Captain Cai, compared to our ship, who is faster?"
"The pirates' ship is small, and they're still using mortise and tenon techniques. Although our ship is big, it's still faster." Cai Yuan Zhen replied proudly.
"Since they're faster, why can't we catch up?"
"Sir, the sea is only thirty miles away. As long as the enemy evades for an hour (one hour) in advance, it will be very difficult to catch up."
Pei Zi Yun nodded his head, deep in thought. At this point, a squad leader walked up to him and reported, "Your excellency Pei, the goods have been moved. Please give me your instructions."
When Pei Zi Yun heard this, he laughed, "Very good. I shall wait a little longer. It's almost daybreak. We shall leave when it's daybreak."
"Also, burn down all the buildings on this island." Pei Zi Yun swept his gaze across the houses on the island and ordered coldly.
"Yes, my lord." Dozens of soldiers used torches to drive the commoners out. The torches were thrown out, and for a moment, the island was ablaze. Even the rain could not suppress it.
"Raise the sails, set sail." Pei Zi Yun said.
At this point, Chen Pu had a strange look on his face, "Your excellency Pei, now that we've occupied the entire island, these pirates can't even withstand a single blow. Why are we retreating?"
Pei Zi Yun laughed and looked at Cai Yuan Zhen, "Captain Cai, you can go and pass the order."
"Yes, my lord." After just one night, Cai Yuanzhen was completely convinced. He immediately turned around and gave the order.
"Why? There must be a reason!" Pei Zi Yun looked at Chen Pu and saw that Chen Pu had a suspicious look on his face. The Daoist who was following him was also listening attentively and smiled.
At this point, Cai Yuan Zhen shouted, "Hurry, hurry. Raise the sails and give the order. We're returning."
"We've conquered an island. That's our victory. The pirates are strong, and we have to be careful." Pei Zi Yun spoke plainly.
"Ai, didn't master Top Scorer say that our army isn't afraid of the pirates?" Chen Pu could tell that something was amiss and asked.
"We're not afraid, and we can't sacrifice our lives for nothing." Pei Zi Yun replied. He then explained, "Now, what we need to do is to take the initiative."
"We have to attack unpredictably. Even if we retreat, we have to attack unpredictably. This way, the enemies won't be able to see through us."
When Cai Yuan Zhen heard this, he nodded his head, "Master Top Scorer is wise and experienced. I'm impressed. You attacked the island so quickly, and didn't wait for the enemies to surround you before retreating."
Chen Pu seemed to be deep in thought. After sometime, he laughed, "Master Top Scorer is a genius. I shall wait for your good news."
Chen Pu then walked towards the cabin, not bothering about this matter.
At this point, a few Free Cloud Sect disciples approached Pei Zi Yun, "Sect Leader!"
"I will remember your contributions, and reward you when we return." Pei Zi Yun spoke.
Seeing Chen Pu leave, the leader of the Daoists asked softly, "Sect Leader, we're not here to ask for rewards. It's just that when his excellency Chen asked that question, was that really his intention?"
"Haha, no, it's not just that. If it was just to wait for the enemies to surround us and retreat, I could have done so in the middle of the night. Why would I stay until dawn?" Pei Zi Yun spoke as he gazed off into the distance. He didn't explain further, leaving the few Daoists confused.
He didn't say that it wasn't because he wanted to be mysterious, but because he wanted to keep it a secret. In this world, communication talismans were very advanced. Who knew if there were spies within their own troops?
Although the sky was still dark and gloomy, at least the rain had stopped for some time. Pei Zi Yun squinted his eyes and looked at the blood red sea. He then ordered, "Get on the ship, let's set sail!"
"Yes!" Before long, they were all on the ship. Pei Zi Yun stood up straight, while the official and the leader of his personal guards took a step back. His personal guards stood on both sides of the ship. At that point, the entire ship was filled with flags and armors. The entire scene was solemn and dignified. The horn sounded as the ten battleships carried the spoils of war back to their home.
They left for an hour.
"What? All these people went back? They didn't attack the island at all? " More than ten ships landed on the island. Looking at the burning stronghold, one of the pirates shouted out in anger, "Damn it, damn it. They burned the entire island."
"Third leader, something bad has happened." Someone stepped forward.
Hearing these words, the third leader's face contorted in anger. He looked at the pirate and asked coldly, "What's wrong? Why aren't you putting out the fire? "
"It's like this. Third leader, when the soldiers left, they burned the entire island. They even cut the tendons on the legs of our captives and threw them on the island. They said something about saving lives for the sake of our people." When the third leader of the pirates heard this, he pulled out his blade, causing the pirate to tremble in fear. He then watched as the blade landed on a nearby tree, breaking it in half.
At this point, another pirate stepped forward to report, "Third leader, the soldiers left behind some obscenities."
"Damn it, damn it." The third leader was enraged, "Chase them. Chase after them immediately."
"Yes, third leader." The pirate leader trembled as he replied.
A Daoist stepped forward to stop the pirate, "How many soldiers are left?"
The pirate hurriedly replied, "Advisor, we've already checked. There are only ten ships."
"All of them?" The Daoist pondered.
"Yes, all of them!"
When the third leader heard this, he scolded, "What are you waiting for? Tell your men to leave ten ships behind and save the injured. The rest of you, follow me. We only need to stall these ten ships. Big brother and second brother will catch up to us."
He then turned to the Daoist and said, "Tell big brother and second brother what happened. Tell them that we cannot allow these soldiers to kill their way back. We must catch them all in one fell swoop."
"Yes!"
On the surface of the sea
Cai Yuanzhen stood at the bow of the ship and looked up at the petrel in the sky, as if he was sniffing for something.
Seeing Cai Yuanzhen acting this way, Pei Zi Yun was somewhat puzzled, "What is Captain Cai doing like this?"
When Cai Yuanzhen heard this, he paused for sometime before saying, "Your excellency Pei, the wind is picking up again. I'm sure there's going to be another storm."
Pei Zi Yun was about to speak when the soldier on the deck shouted, "Quick, quick. I can see the pirates. They're coming to attack. They're catching up to us."
Pei Zi Yun paused before laughing, "Good timing."
He then raised his head and asked, "How many ships does the enemy have?"
"Your excellency, there are more than twenty ships. However, they're all small pirate ships." The soldier on the deck replied.
Pei Zi Yun laughed, "Indeed, we've fallen into my trap. Everyone slow down and wait for the pirates to catch up."
Hearing these words, Cai Yuanzhen paused, "Your excellency Pei, aren't we going back? Why do we still have to deal with these pirates? "
"If we don't wait for them to surround us, we should retreat in the middle of the night. Why do we have to do it in the morning? That's because we want them to chase after us. We can't give them too much time to regroup. This timing is perfect!" Pei Zi Yun gripped his sword tightly as he laughed coldly.
"Your excellency, what you're saying is that we should give them time to react, and at the same time, they won't be able to regroup. After that, we should slow down and turn around to attack the pirates, and capture them all?" Cai Yuanzhen understood immediately and asked.
"Yes, these pirates have given me a chance. We've already retreated from the pirates' encirclement. This is the perfect time to attack them. "Pei Zi Yun spoke as he looked at the pirates' ships.
Pei Zi Yun swept his gaze across the pirates' ships and said, "Kill, kill them all. Don't leave a single one alive. We have to be fast. If I'm not wrong, the pirates will catch up to us soon. We cannot give them a chance to regroup. We have to kill them all in one fell swoop."
"And this storm, the heavens are really helping me!"
"Kill them all!" Cai Yuanzhen, who understood the situation, shouted out loudly. His voice was so loud that it tore at his lungs.
"Not good, the soldiers are heading in the opposite direction. Quick, quick, turn around!" On one of the ships, the pirate leader's face fell as he shouted out.
The wind was blowing strongly on the surface of the sea, and the speedboats were about to turn around when the battleship suddenly sped up and slammed into them.
"No, no." The pirate in front of the battleship screamed out in fear.
The battleship cast a huge shadow over the pirates' ships as it slammed into them. In the eyes of the pirates, the battleship was getting bigger and bigger as it slammed into them.
"Boom!" The dragon bones were flipped over and fell to the ground.
"Don't be afraid, kill them all. The imperial army is not as experienced as us. Let's kill them all." The pirates were valiant as they charged towards the battleship.
"Kill them all!" The pirates had just reached the deck of the battleship when a few long spears pierced into them. All they heard was a muffled groan as the valiant pirate fell to the ground.
As soon as the first pirate fell, more and more pirates climbed up and started killing each other.
"Connect to the battleship and use the iron anchor to lock it in place. Don't let them escape. I'm going up now!" Pei Zi Yun shouted out. Cai Yuanzhen waved his hands and the ship connected to the battleship.
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