The beach
The ground was littered with corpses and blood soaked the sand. The sounds of battle had gradually died down. Only the ten warships in the distance were still shouting as they chased after the Wokou's ships. Faint cries of pain could be heard from the ships.
At this point, Pei Zi Yun had already recovered and was washing his face. It was drizzling again, as the waves of the sea continued to surge towards the beach.
"Your excellency, what do we do now?" Chen Pu and Cai Yuan Zhen walked over, their faces were filled with excitement.
"Your excellency, now that the pirates have been eliminated, my safety is not a problem. Everyone is busy. Lead the soldiers and identify the pirates. Those who are severely injured, kill them. Behead them as battle merits."
"Those who aren't severely injured, separate them and interrogate them. Pick out those who are decently injured and bring them to the governor's palace to present them as captives."
The leader of the Governor's personal guards was a seventh ranked official. At this point, he bowed deeply, "Yes, I shall do that."
"Captain Cai, your job is to continue collecting the captives and the commoners. The captives will carry the corpses, while the commoners will carry the injured and cook the food."
"The soldiers will take turns to rest and be on duty. Do not slack off."
"Yes!" Cai Yuan Zhen replied loudly.
"Your excellency Chen, you have a lot of work to do as well. Take inventory of the captives, our own people, the resources we have, and everyone's battle merits."
The few of them obeyed. At this point, rows of pirates were kneeling on the ground. There were five of them in a row. The leader of the personal guards walked up to interrogate them. One of the pirates was covered in blood and was rather stubborn. He spat at the leader of the personal guards and said angrily, "Dogs of the Imperial Court, I will not say a word."
The personal guards were enraged. The leader of the personal guards remained calm, and did not even blink before he said, "Kill him!"
The expression on the pirate's face changed. Before he could say anything, a long knife was sheathed and he fell to the ground, fresh blood gushing out of his wounds.
"You speak?" The leader of the personal guards turned to the next pirate. The pirate hesitated for a moment before the leader ordered, "Kill him!"
"Pu!" This time, someone chopped down, and his head flew into the air.
Without waiting for the leader of the personal guards to question him, the third pirate trembled and cried out, "I'll speak, I'll speak, spare me!"
Seeing this, Pei Zi Yun laughed. This way, the results would be much faster.
By noon, the general data was out.
"Four hundred and fifty beheaded. Among the captives, one hundred and seventeen leaders were identified. Five hundred and twenty-six ordinary pirates and sailors were identified."
"The important heads are the bandit leader Fang Zhi and Fang Tong."
"Unfortunately, Fang Ji escaped."
"The banners scattered by the bandits are very important. Collect and record them."
"We also found fifteen horses, twenty-one donkeys, and eight cows."
When Pei Zi Yun heard this, he then called for a few Free Cloud Sect Daoists to come over and instructed, "Help me heal the wounded soldiers. Once you're done, the ordinary captives shall be handed over to you. These people are the leaders of the group. Most of them know how to trade and sail, and are still useful."
"The island also needs people. Put these people into the labor camp to see how effective they are. You are responsible for managing them. If they have any bad habits, kill them immediately."
"When I return, I will send someone to take over. Now that there aren't many people in the sect, it's not appropriate for you to stay outside. Once you're done with your work, return to Free Cloud Sect immediately."
"Yes!" The few Daoists replied.
On the surface of the sea
A boat was drifting, its sails were half burnt, and the smoke had just been extinguished. A few pirates were gathered together, and Fang Ji was lying unconscious on the deck. Looking at the unconscious Second Leader, there was only silence all around.
"Damn it, which one of you knows medicine? Think of a way to save Second Leader." One of the pirates said.
Another pirate replied coldly, "How do we save him? Which one of you knows medicine? Now that Big Leader and Third Leader haven't escaped, where can we go in the future? "
At this point, the ferocious pirate gripped his blade and stabbed it into the deck, "We have to think of a way to take revenge. If not, our brothers would have died for nothing."
"Yesterday, Old Bai said that he wanted to kidnap a few women and bring them back to the island to give birth to a few children. Today, he was killed by the soldiers. How despicable."
"If Second Leader dies, I will definitely kill all of you." Just as they were making a ruckus, a man in his thirties suddenly said indifferently.
The scattered pirates were speechless, their faces were filled with fear.
This was the Second Leader's personal bodyguard. Although he was a bodyguard, he was saved by the Second Leader many years ago. Ever since then, he had followed the Second Leader. His martial arts skills were extremely high, and his methods were extremely cruel. At this point, he looked around with killing intent, causing the pirates to feel a chill down their spines.
For a long time, the pirates didn't make a sound. The atmosphere was extremely tense.
A cook who had some scars on his body stepped forward, "Leader, I know some basic medicine."
Hearing these words, everyone relaxed. Just as the cook was about to take a look, the Second Leader groaned and woke up. When he woke up, everyone around him started to crowd around him.
Fang Ji struggled to stand up. A guard stepped forward to help him up, "Second Leader, don't move around recklessly. Rest well."
Fang Ji stood up and looked around. There weren't many people around him. He had some suspicions as he observed them, as if he wanted to see something in their eyes.
He then asked, "Big brother, third brother, how are they now?"
Hearing these words, everyone's faces turned pale. They didn't speak. Fang Ji then understood and said, "Big brother and third brother must have died in battle."
"Second Leader, yes." Someone replied. He felt like he was a stray dog, and was extremely sad.
Looking around him, Fang Ji then mumbled, "We're the only ship left?"
Nobody spoke. After a long time, the guard then said, "Second Leader, there's only one ship left."
"How many men do we have left?"
"Only about twenty men left."
"Pei Zi Yun, you and I will not live under the same sky." Fang Ji gritted his teeth as he shouted out. The wounds on his body were starting to open up. The guard hurriedly stepped forward, "Leader, don't be angry. Your health is more important."
"What do we do now?" A pirate asked.
Fang Ji froze as he regained his senses. He looked at everyone around him and laughed out loud, "Only one ship left? That won't be so bad. We still have three ships on Tsushima Island."
"Besides, there's still a lot of money there. It's more than enough to feed a few hundred men."
As soon as these words were spoken, the tense atmosphere on the ship dissipated. Fang Ji then gritted his teeth and said, "As for revenge, we don't have the strength to do so now. But we can borrow a knife!"
"Whose knife do you want to borrow?" The pirates surrounded him and asked.
"Ji Bei Hou, Admiral Chen Ping!" Fang Ji gritted his teeth and instructed, "We still have Daoists?"
"There's another one who was injured in the warehouse. I'm afraid he's about to die."
"Bring me to him. We cannot let him die. We have to report this matter to the higher-ups. We have a talisman that can help us contact them."
Ji Bei Hou Mansion
It was getting late. The rain had been raging for four hours, and was gradually weakening.
Thick clouds hung low in the sky. A man walked along the alleyway towards Hou Mansion. Even in such a rainy night, he could see the patrolling guards of Hou Mansion. He flashed his command token and strode in.
At this point, there seemed to be someone singing in the courtyard. When he listened carefully, he could hear a female singer singing. It was Jiu Bu Kong's "Romance of the Western Chamber". He quickened his steps as he walked along the corridor. After passing through a fence, he arrived at a side room.
Although it was a side room, there were two guards standing guard. After flashing his command token, he was allowed to enter.
At this point, Shen Zhi was frowning as he wrote down some information. He was analyzing it when he heard a voice coming from the door, "Mister Shen, there's some news from Jia Qing Monastery."
His voice was filled with anxiety.
"Jia Qing Monastery, isn't that the place where we communicate with the pirates?" Shen Zhi was shocked as he felt nervous. He hesitated, "Could it be that something big has happened?"
Thinking this way, he shouted, "Come in."
The person who had been waiting outside the door entered and bowed before handing him a report.
Shen Zhi took the report and held it in his hands, "Urgent report?"
Dao arts could not be used in places where the Imperial Qi was thick. Hence, the monastery outside the city was responsible for communication. At this point, Shen Zhi opened up the report and read it. His heart skipped a beat as he broke out in a cold sweat.
After Shen Zhi finished reading it once, he seemed to be unwilling to accept it. He read it again and mumbled, "Three days. In just three days of battle, the pirates and Goldwater Island were defeated. Only twenty of them managed to escape."
At this point, he was extremely shocked. In three days, a thousand pirates defeated three thousand pirates?
There were at least three thousand pirates and they raided the coastline. Even if a thousand of them were the elites of the empire, to be able to defeat three of them, and in three days at that, was truly shocking.
Shen Zhi hurried out and passed through the corridors before entering a room. He saw Ji Bei Hou looking at a bookshelf, and burning incense. Shen Zhi then bowed, "Master Hou!"
Ji Bei Hou's Adam's apple bobbed as he spoke, "Take a seat. Bring some tea. What brings you here?"
Shen Zhi bowed and replied, "I have urgent news!"
As he spoke, he handed the report over to Ji Bei Hou. When Ji Bei Hou read it, he was so shocked that his entire body trembled. He paused for sometime before taking several steps back into the room, "Damn it, damn it. He's spoiling my plans again. This is intolerable."
He then asked, "Shen Zhi, do you have any ideas?"
When Shen Zhi heard this, he sighed, "Master Hou, the pirates affect our plans. We can't tolerate this. We have to think of a way to deal with Pei Zi Yun."
"Normal methods are useless now. However, we can contact King Lu's men. I think King Lu wouldn't want Pei Zi Yun to return victorious. Also, there's Dark Altar Sect, who is allied with King Lu."
"You're right. I've thought it through. There's still one more person." Ji Bei Hou calmed down and sat down to drink his tea. He then spoke out coldly, "I didn't understand why Chen Ping was mentioned in the report. But now I understand."
"Oh, Master Hou, what do you think?" Shen Zhi asked.
Ji Bei Hou laughed coldly, "Pei Zi Yun killed Chen Ping's brother-in-law before he set sail. He then single-handedly wiped out the pirates. What do you think Chen Ping will think of this?"
Hearing this, Shen Zhi paused for sometime before replying, "We can make an issue out of this. Killing his brother-in-law was a personal vendetta. If he single-handedly wiped out the pirates, it wouldn't be a big deal. But now that we're at a critical juncture, he could destroy Chen Ping's foundation and even his life."
"I'm afraid the person who hates Pei Zi Yun the most is this man."
Ji Bei Hou nodded his head and was about to speak when someone called out from outside, "Master Hou, someone wishes to see you!"
As he spoke, he handed the invitation over. Captain Shen glanced at it and said, "I didn't expect King Lu to be very concerned about this matter. He's already received the news and sent someone over."
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