Chapter 44: Saved
"It's the soldiers. We are saved!"
Cheers rang out on the deck. The crew members who had been retreating step by step suddenly burst out with great courage. The remaining pirates were few in number and had to dodge the arrows, so they were at a disadvantage in an instant.
The situation reversed. Although the crew and servants lacked combat experience and weapons, they began to fight back with the assistance of the officers and soldiers. Some servants even swung wooden sticks and beat a pirate to death.
There were also pirates who, seeing the situation was not good, jumped directly from the deck into the water. It is just unknown whether this person could swim to the shore alive.
The cheers were deafening, and even Su Fengzhang felt relaxed. His right hand, which was holding the long sword, felt slightly numb. He looked down and found that his knuckles were cracked and bleeding.
Overall, their luck was pretty good. If the officers and soldiers had arrived a moment later, most of the people on the ship would have been killed or injured.
"Linlang, are you okay?" Fang Yu also woke up, and the first thing he cared about was his sister who was lying on him.
Fang Linlang looked up in Su Fengzhang's direction, her eyes flickering as she shook her head and said, "I'm fine. Thanks to this young master for arriving in time. Otherwise, the consequences would be disastrous."
"Mr. Su?" Fang Yu finally recognized the person and was surprised. After all, in his opinion, Su Fengzhang was also a scholar.
But he quickly hid his surprise and bowed deeply: "Thank you very much, Master Su, for risking your life to save me. I cannot repay your kindness. In the future, I will repay you with my life and a thief."
Su Fengzhang quickly said, "There's no need to die in return. We're all on the same ship, and this is my duty."
Fang Yu was about to say something else, but Su Fengzhang changed the subject: "Take a look at this young man. He's seriously injured."
Xiao Yi was covered in blood and looked like he was dying. Fang Yu was worried and reached out to press on his wound: "Xiao Yi, hold on a little longer, the soldiers will be here soon."
"Brother, use this." Fang Linlang took out a bottle of medicine from somewhere, and when she opened it, it turned out to be a wound medicine.
After the golden medicine was applied, Xiao Yi's wound stopped bleeding, but his face remained pale. He forced a smile and said, "Master, Miss, don't worry, I'm fine."
Seeing him like this, Fang Linlang's tears suddenly fell. The feelings of relying on each other for many years were not fake, but she wiped her cheeks and forced herself to suppress the sourness.
"It should be uploaded by the officers and soldiers. Let's go out and take a look." Su Fengzhang said.
When he and Uncle Su walked out, they saw that the pirates were either killed or captured, and the rest probably jumped into the river.
The bodies on the ship were divided into two piles. Those of the crew members and servants were neatly arranged, but those of the pirates were randomly stacked together. Some people even kicked them angrily, wishing to tear them into pieces.
Su Fengzhang took a quick look and found that there were six bodies of pirates, and eight bodies of servants and crew members combined. It was estimated that some people had died in the cabin and had not yet been buried. It can be seen that with the unequal weapons, the people on the ship paid a heavy price.
There were countless people injured to varying degrees, groaning and only receiving simple bandages. Fortunately, the officers and soldiers had medicine with them, otherwise, ordinary people would not bring any medicine with them when they went out.
The brave and invincible guard Old Wang was not dead, but he looked very embarrassed. One of his hands was hanging down, probably because it was disabled, and his body was covered with wounds. However, his master squatted beside him and helped him bandage his wounds carefully.
The officers and soldiers who boarded the boat had gloomy faces, especially after hearing what the boatman said, they looked even more sad and angry.
He was naturally not sad for the dead crew members and servants, but was angry that there were pirates on the Qingjiang River near the Qingzhou Prefecture Pier who were so bold as to hijack a ship.
Now that so many people have died and the people on the ship are all students taking exams, this matter is definitely impossible to suppress.
They control the Qingjiang area, so naturally they are responsible for the murders committed by pirates. They will inevitably be in trouble, and it is still unknown whether they can keep their official positions.
The leading official gnashed his teeth and cursed angrily, "Check if there are any survivors! I want to see what kind of demon dared to cause trouble in Qingjiang!"
"Sir, this man is still alive." An officer reported.
The man he was talking about was the pirate lying on the ground. The pirate was also unlucky. Su Fengzhang and Wen Zhu poured wine all over him, set him on fire, and hacked him to pieces. His hands and feet were seriously injured. Although he was not dead, he was only half alive. Now he couldn't even jump into the water to escape, and he lay on the ground like a dead fish.
"Pry open his mouth for me." the adult said angrily.
Who would have thought that before the interrogation even started, the pirate roared angrily, black blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, and he died just like that.
The officers and soldiers standing beside him were unable to stop him and their faces changed drastically.
He used a knife to pry open the pirate's mouth, took a quick look and said, "Sir, this man has a poison sac hidden in his back teeth."
And it must be a poison that kills instantly, so that he would commit suicide in an instant, leaving them no chance to stop it.
The expressions of everyone present changed, especially the adult, who looked solemn and squatted down to check it out personally.
"This is no ordinary pirate."
Everyone present realized this. It was impossible for ordinary pirates to bite in the mouth, let alone get this kind of poison that kills instantly. Not to mention anything else, the cost of hijacking the ship was too high.
These couldn't possibly be pirates, but more like assassins. But how could assassins appear in Qingzhou and intercept an ordinary passenger ship?
After checking, the adult looked up and looked around at the people on the boat, his expression changing unpredictably, and no one knew what he was thinking.
But in the end, he said nothing more, only: "Move his body over. Since the pirate has been killed, we will go back and report the rest to the governor, and he will naturally make another decision."
After saying this, he looked at the people on the boat and shouted loudly: "Don't panic, everyone. The pirates have been repelled. We will escort you all to Qingzhou safely."
After hearing this, most of the people on the ship looked relieved. They were really scared by the pirates.
Su Fengzhang's eyes fell on the corpse. The pirate who was so ferocious just now had a black face and black blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. It was obvious that he died of poisoning.
Second Uncle Su also breathed a sigh of relief. The long knife in his hand slipped out of his hand and almost stabbed his foot. He jumped in fright and slapped his chest and shouted, "Fortunately, I didn't hit you."
"Erlang, what's wrong? Put the knife down quickly." He became worried again after saying this. "It wasn't illegal for us to kill someone just now, was it?"
Su Fengzhang also put down his sword and smiled, comforting him: "We were only trying to protect ourselves. Everyone saw it. Besides, we killed pirates. The court won't hold us accountable."
Indeed, when the officers and soldiers came over, they only took away the knives and praised them with a smile: "You two are quite courageous. Would you like to consider joining the army?"
Before Su Fengzhang could say anything, Second Uncle Su said quickly, "That won't do. My Erlang is a scholar."
The officer laughed and walked away with two knives without asking any questions about the murder.
Uncle Su patted his chest and said, "It's too scary. Why do we always encounter such things?"
Su Fengzhang also felt unlucky. It was a very small probability to encounter bandits twice within half a year.
"Uncle, don't tell my mother about this. I'm afraid it will scare her."
Second Uncle Su also said, "That's right, you can't tell them. If they knew, they wouldn't dare let you go out in the future. You're going to the capital to take the exam, you can't let this delay your future."
Mr. Wen and Wen Zhu also came out of the room, their faces still frightened, but much better than before.
Wen Zhu's face was pale. He walked over and whispered, "We're fine here. I heard that several people died in the cabin on the other side. These pirates are so cruel."
The crew and servants were all in this area, and when pirates climbed up from the other side, they naturally harmed many people.
There was a lot of crying over there, and servants came out to help, but the master had died under the knife, and now he was crying and losing his mind. Even if he was still alive, his master would not tolerate him after he returned.
"Let's go over and see if we can help." Uncle Su was softened by her crying, but he was glad that at least they all survived. If anything happened to his nephew, he would not be able to face his eldest brother even if he died.
"Mr. Su, Mr. Wen, I will go with you." Fang Yu's voice came from behind.
When Su Fengzhang saw him coming out with the medicine bottle, he asked, "Is the young man okay?"
Fang Yu nodded, then shook his head: "The bleeding has stopped, but there is no doctor on the ship, so we can only wait until we reach Qingzhou Prefecture."
Su Fengzhang could only console him, "This place is not far from Qingzhou Prefecture, we will definitely make it in time."
"I hope so." Fang Yu continued, "This is a golden wound medicine. I'll go with you to see if it can be used."
When they reached the other end, they realized the tragic situation on the ship. The pirates were extremely brutal and had no humanity at all. A family with a child of six or seven years old was not spared. The three members of the family were killed on the spot. Only the woman was still alive, but it looked like she would not be able to hold on for much longer.
Several people looked reluctant, and Fang Yu's hand holding the medicine bottle was bulging with veins, and his eyes showed a bit of guilt and hatred.
Su Fengzhang couldn't help but glance at him, and Fang Yu subconsciously avoided his sight.
"Feng Zhang, what's wrong with your hand?" Wen Zhu shouted, grabbing his hand and looking at it.
Su Fengzhang said helplessly: "It's okay, it's just a crack."
"How can you be alright? The provincial exam is coming up soon. You injured your right hand. Who knows if it will affect your writing?" Wen Zhu said anxiously, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"It's really okay. It looks bloody, but it's actually not a big cut." The crack on the tiger's mouth was caused by too much force. It will probably heal in a few days. Su Fengzhang didn't take it seriously.
But Uncle Su acted as if he was facing a formidable enemy and refused to let him help.
Mr. Wen also frowned and went to get some water for him to wash it clean, then wrapped it up with a clean towel.
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