Chapter 29: As long as Feng Tan is here, the master is here.
The villagers who had been gathered in front of the Liang residence just moments before dispersed. Liang Baoquan glanced at Feng Tan, who was being carried away by a servant, and with a smile, walked toward the end of a dark alley. He bowed respectfully to the man in black and a silver mask and said, "Your Excellency, how could you trouble yourself to handle such a small matter?"
The black-robed venerable one's silver fanged mask gleamed chillingly in the moonlight. His voice was rough and difficult to understand, and his only visible eye gleamed with a deep light. "The sea is rough; it might swallow people whole?"
Liang Baoquan said, "Rest assured, Your Excellency, once the storm begins, the fierce monstrous fish will tear the ship apart, and everyone on board will be torn to pieces. No one will be able to disembark alive."
The Silver-Masked Venerable scoffed and said, "You're quite confident in yourself. Which big fish have you found?"
"One hundred thousand?" The silver-masked venerable man savored the words, then looked up and his gloved fingers suddenly gripped Liang Baoquan's neck. "You'll give it to me?"
Liang Baoquan's face turned completely red, and he struggled to speak, his breath coming in gasps: "Yoshino Yibo's greed is as vast as the sea. If the bait is not big, why would he go all out to kill me? Compared to the 100,000 taels of silver on Evil Spirit Island... which is more important?"
The Silver-Masked Venerable slowly released Liang Baoquan's neck, removed his black gloves, and put on a new pair.
Under the moonlight, his fingers were long and slender, and his fair skin revealed him to be a man of high rank who had lived a life of luxury for many years.
Liang Baoquan calmly withdrew his gaze, coughed twice, and said slowly, "In all the matters Your Excellency has entrusted to me over the years, I have done my best in every single one. I know that the officials sent from the capital are of considerable importance, so I have been very careful in dealing with them and there is absolutely no way I will slip up."
The Silver-Masked Venerable looked at the spot in front of the Liang residence where Feng Tan had just stood and said indifferently, "How did you knock out that official from the capital just now?"
Liang Baoquan said, "It was the tea you gave me many years ago. I put some sleeping powder on the tea leaves. The tea was fragrant and mellow, which tempted that official in Beijing to drink a few more sips. I also persuaded him to drink a lot more wine, which accelerated the effects of the drug."
The Silver-Masked Venerable mounted his horse and looked down at Liang Baoquan, saying, "Don't give this tea to anyone else again."
Liang Baoquan asked, "Is there something wrong?"
The Silver-Masked Venerable glanced at him, but did not answer. He then led his horse away, whipping it on.
As the clatter of hooves faded into the distance, the registrar emerged from the other end of the dark alley, saying worriedly, "Sir, he was far too impolite. How could he grab someone at the slightest disagreement?"
Liang Baoquan coughed, his damaged vocal cords causing him pain with every word he spoke. "How can it not be dangerous to negotiate with a tiger for its skin?"
***
The waves gently lapped against the shore, making a low, rhythmic sound. The cargo ship slowly sailed away from the coast. Zhu Qi stood under the sail, his gaze shifting from the rows of merchant ships on the shore to the skilled loading and unloading movements of the people on board. He raised the corners of his mouth and whistled.
This was his first time on a ship since he was a child, and everything was new and exciting to him. So he said to Sun Cheng with some excitement, "Uncle Sun, this is our first time going on a mission at sea with the adults!"
Seeing his impatient, childlike demeanor, Sun Cheng flicked his forehead with his finger and gently scolded, "Put away your worthless smugness! The master told you to keep an eye on things. When Lord Feng wakes up, send someone to tell him not to just watch the ship and the sea, but to go and check on your mission!"
Zhu Qi rubbed his forehead, which was sore from being hit, and pouted, saying, "I was watching. Every time the master assigns me a task, I always do it perfectly! I just asked Meng Henabul, and he said that Lord Feng will not wake up for another three hours!"
Three hours later, Zhu Qi arrived at the door of Feng Tan's cabin. After looking at Meng Henabul, who was taking good care of Feng Tan inside, he clicked his tongue, pushed open the door and said, "Lord Meng, with your heroic and strong body and your meticulous and virtuous heart, how did Feng Tan find such an oddball as you?"
Standing nine feet tall, taller than anyone else, his actions of taking Feng Tan's pulse and covering him with a blanket were delicate and demure, like an old woman, giving people a strange and disjointed feeling.
Menghe Nabul couldn't understand what Zhu Qi was saying, so he ignored him.
Zhu Qi, feeling awkward, had just sat down on a stool when he saw his master enter with his hands behind his back. He greeted him, "My lord, why have you come in person?"
Xiao Yinshi frowned as he looked at Feng Tan, who was still fast asleep, and asked, "How much longer until he wakes up?"
Zhu Qi dared not expect Meng Henabul to reply on his own initiative, and answered, "Brother Meng just said that Lord Feng might need to sleep for another half an hour, and will probably wake up soon?"
A single lamp illuminated the room, and Feng Tan lay quietly on the wooden couch, her usual aloofness and stubbornness gone, replaced by a peaceful and gentle expression on her sleeping face.
Xiao Yinshi's heart skipped a beat, and he looked up at Meng Henabul and asked, "Is he really drunk? How much alcohol does he usually drink?"
Xiao Yinshi remembered that at the last peace talks banquet between the two countries, Feng Tan was given a lot of wine by the King of Chu, but he was only slightly drunk. How much did he drink last night that he slept for the entire day?
“Yes, he’s drunk,” Monhab Nable replied. “His usual alcohol tolerance… I don’t know.”
For years, Feng Tan had been disguised as a man. Whenever she had a social engagement, she would carry Menghe Nabul's specially made hangover pills with her in her pocket. No one knew how much alcohol Feng Tan could drink, not even herself.
Xiao Yinshi's handsome face darkened slightly. Given Feng Tan's cautious nature, he would never let himself be distracted by alcohol. He frowned and said in a deep voice, "Let me take his pulse."
Seeing that Meng Henabul was occupying the spot by the bed without moving, Zhu Qi urged, "Hurry up! Our master is personally taking Lord Feng's pulse. It's a blessing that many people would beg for."
Menghenabul replied, "No."
Zhu Qi asked, "Why not?"
Menghenabul replied, "That's right, no."
Zhu Qi asked again, "What's wrong?"
Monhab Naboul replied, "No, not at all."
Zhu Qi wiped the smile off his face and said, "Hey, you stuttering mouth, you should at least give a reason for refusing someone. We're here to investigate a case. If you can't wake him up, we'll send our officers. Our officers know a bit about traditional Chinese medicine, okay?"
Menghenabur's stubbornness mirrored Feng Tan's, and he shook his head in denial: "No, it won't work."
Zhu Qi scratched his head and said to Xiao Yinshi, "It doesn't make sense, sir."
Xiao Yinshi was never one to waste words, so he simply tossed out two words, "Tie him up."
Zhu Qi could finally vent his anger. "Yes, sir!"
Zhu Qi had been by Xiao Yinshi's side for many years, so his martial arts skills were naturally not bad. He could barely be considered a seventh-rank master. Feng Tan's martial arts skills were not high, but he only had Meng He Nabuer as his bodyguard. Therefore, he was very curious about Meng He Nabuer's skills and wanted to find out more about them.
The duel between the two martial artists was about to begin, as if a heavy string was pressing down in the air, ready to snap at the slightest pressure.
Feng Tan frowned, just as she woke up.
The unfamiliar cabin came into view. Having suddenly fainted and then woken up, Feng Tan had a terrible headache. She slowly sat up, glanced at Meng Henabul and Zhu Qi who were about to start fighting, and then focused her gaze on Xiao Yinshi, who was silently holding her tightly. She asked, "My lord, where are we?"
The candlelight illuminated half of Xiao Yinshi's shoulder. In the dim light, his voice was low and his tone was unreadable, "Feng Tan, are you drunk or just passed out?"
Feng Tan shook her still-dazed head vigorously and whispered, "I'm dizzy... I was drinking with Liang Baoquan, but the wine wasn't enough to make me drunk..."
Menghe Nabul stepped forward and took the pulse again, saying, "The pulse is steady, unlike the effects of traditional Chinese medicine; it seems like intoxication."
"It's not alcohol, it's a sleeping potion. However, this potion needs alcohol to activate it, so the pulse looks like it's caused by drinking." Feng Tan had heard of this strange sleeping potion before, but she never thought she would fall for it herself. She asked, "Uncle Meng, how long have I been unconscious?"
Menghenabul said, "One night, one day."
Feng Tan leaned out of the window. The moon was rising over the sea, its light spilling onto the shimmering surface. A gentle, cool sea breeze caressed Feng Tan's cheek. Her eyes narrowed, and she asked, "Where are we now?"
Zhu Qi clapped his hands together, making a loud sound, and said, "Jiaosi Island in the waters off Linzhang, nearby."
Upon hearing this, Feng Tan's pupils contracted sharply. Ignoring his still dizzy head, he hurriedly got off the bed and went to Xiao Yinshi's side. "My lord, Liang Baoquan is a traitor! There's definitely something wrong with this ship!"
After entrusting the task of finding a cargo ship to sail out to sea to Feng Tan, Xiao Yinshi did not interfere further. Upon hearing this, his eyes sharpened, and he asked, "How do you know?"
Zhu Qi spat inwardly, took a swig of hot tea from the table, and said, "Liang Baoquan is just a lowly county magistrate, his official rank is practically nonexistent. How could he possibly dare to tamper with something on a cargo ship?"
For the first time, Feng Tan was incoherent in the face of the bigger picture, his explanations disjointed and utterly chaotic, his anxiety palpable. "I don't know where he got the guts, but one thing is certain: he's fooled me, he's fooled all the people of Kangjiang County. He's colluding with the Sea God Cult; he's not afraid we'll discover his wrongdoing..."
Feng Tan walked up to Xiao Yinshi and said solemnly, "Liang Baoquan probably never thought we could go back alive."
The cabin fell silent, with only the sound of waves gently lapping against it.
Xiao Yinshi gently turned the ring on his finger, choosing to trust Feng Tan, and methodically arranged: "Zhu Qi, send a message to the soldiers on the other cargo ships, disrupt their formation and immediately sail in all directions to preserve most of the troops and confuse the enemy. As for our ship, since we have already entered the enemy's formation, we cannot fight head-on. If necessary, we should disarm and hide at sea to find another way out."
Liang Baoquan had clearly marked which ship they boarded, and with a few simple tamperings on board, he could make the enemy aim at them with pinpoint accuracy. Moreover, if the pirate army were to launch a full-scale attack, this group of soldiers gathered here would simply be easy prey for the enemy to trap.
Zhu Qi spat out the tea leaves he was holding in his mouth, resuming his usual solemn demeanor, "Yes, sir!"
The ships that surrounded them quickly sailed away. Feng Tan felt that Xiao Yinshi's actions were tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock, and asked, "Why don't we evacuate the whole ship, but continue sailing?"
Feng Tan understood.
Liang Baoquan's collusion with the Japanese pirates was primarily aimed at killing the two officials in the capital. Once they were dead, his mission would be accomplished. With the imperial envoy dead, the court would have no way to investigate either the theft of the national treasury or the murder of the officials. As for the other soldiers accompanying him, their lives were irrelevant.
However, while the world only saw Xiao Yinshi as ruthless and inhuman, Feng Tan seemed to suddenly realize the gentlemanly spirit hidden beneath his dark exterior.
However, associating Xiao Yinshi with the word "gentleman" feels awkward; it's more pleasing to the eye to put his name together with the King of Hell.
Feng Tan asked, "Does Your Excellency know about the Sea God Cult? Why is the Sea God Cult colluding with the Japanese pirates in the northern border regions?"
“The Sea God Sect in the Linzhang waters is deeply loved by the islanders for repelling the Japanese pirates, but the Embroidered Uniform Guard stationed in the sea area sent a message yesterday,” Xiao Yinshi said, looking down at Feng Tan’s somewhat disheveled clothes, “The Sea God Sect and the Japanese pirates always have contact.”
"They planned this all along, putting on a big show for the islanders nearby!" Feng Tan wanted to ponder the complex situation in the Linzhang sea area and the intricate relationship between it and the imperial court in the capital, but the dizziness in her head hadn't subsided yet, causing her to sway and take two steps back.
Before Xiao Yinshi could catch Feng Tan's swaying body, Meng Henabuer caught her and silently stepped aside once she was able to stand up on her own.
Feng Tan's expression darkened, and he tried to keep his voice steady. "It was my carelessness that led me astray by Liang Baoquan."
“If you don’t pay attention to small things, you’ll create big problems,” Xiao Yinshi said calmly, his gaze falling on the boy’s pale face. “There’s no point in dwelling on right and wrong now. Get dressed and come out to face the enemy.”
Feng Tan pursed his lips, straightened his clothes, picked up his longsword, and walked out of the cabin.
Outside the ship, a dozen or so pirate warships, fully equipped and ready to go, were burning torches, like ferocious gluttons lurking silently on the side, waiting for their chance to strike.
Yoshino Ippei gripped his broadsword with both hands and thrust it downwards with tremendous force, the tip instantly penetrating the wood three inches deep. He looked with interest at the remaining cargo ship, his gaze falling on Feng Tan and the others standing at the head of the group. He shouted across the waves in a sinister voice, "Kambawa, Dahuangdi official! Do you want to surrender immediately or have me kill you on the spot!"
Zhu Qi chuckled and retorted, "You little Japanese bastard, where do you get your confidence from?"
Feng Tan squinted at the Hongyi cannons behind Yoshino Yibo and whispered to Xiao Yinshi, "My lord, the disparity in troop strength is too great, and we may not be able to handle the situation."
The red-barbarian cannons behind Yoshino Yibo were also manufactured in the Daiko Shinki Battalion. Feng Tan had seen its blueprints in the "Complete Book of Weapons". Although they were not as powerful as the "tank" that the gentleman described, firing a few shells would definitely not be a problem to kill all the people on the ship. Moreover, Yoshino Yibo's island ship had completely surrounded them.
Xiao Yinshi's expression shifted in the darkness, his voice low yet clear enough for everyone on the cargo ship to hear, "If they open fire soon, while I defend them, Zhu Qi, you lead everyone to jump into the sea and swim out of their encirclement. Everyone on board, who has the best lightness skill?"
Xiao Yinshi is a ninth-rank master. Although his martial arts are not as powerful as a grandmaster who can move mountains and overturn seas, he can withstand the attack of cannons without any problem, but he will suffer serious internal injuries.
Most of the soldiers on the ship were martial artists of the third or fourth rank. Their usual training only focused on physical fitness and martial arts, and lightness skills were a weakness for most of them.
“Me,” Feng Tan replied.
Menghenabul gripped Feng Tan's arm tightly, saying, "You...you can't."
Feng Tan smiled and pulled Meng Henabul's hand away, his eyes filled with a sternness that seemed almost tangible. "Uncle Meng, you know that if I'm second in lightness skill, no one dares to claim to be first."
She was not good at martial arts from a young age, but she was an exceptionally talented individual in light-footed skills. Because of this, Yu Ruxi had been jealous of her countless times since childhood!
Xiao Yinshi stared at Feng Tan for a moment, his eyes filled with an inscrutable expression.
Feng Tan knew that Xiao Yinshi was suspicious again, but he didn't dwell on the matter for too long. Time was of the essence, and he couldn't question him. He simply ordered methodically, "Zhu Qi, bring all the flour from the cargo ship up here quickly."
To buy time for the flour to be moved, Feng Tan pretended to shout at Yoshino Yibo, "How about we surrender? What if we fight you?"
From a distance, Yoshino Ieki couldn't make out the person's face clearly, but judging from the hoarse voice, it must be a callow youth. He took a big gulp of wine and said, "Surrender or become a prisoner! Don't surrender or die! My cannon is awesome! I'll blow you to bits!"
“Ah,” he said, his words were so funny that Feng Tan couldn’t help but laugh. “But we also have cannons, and our forces are evenly matched!”
Yoshino Ippei glanced at Feng Tan suspiciously, then turned to his subordinates and asked, "Do they have cannons on their ships?"
After a moment's hesitation, the subordinate remembered Liang Baoquan's instructions and said with certainty, "It's just a cargo ship; it could never have cannons."
"You're playing me for a fool! Baka baka!" Yoshino Yibo was so angry that his beard bristled. He stomped on the pedals twice and shouted, "Blow them up! Rat-a-tat-tat!"
Zhu Qi and his men had already moved all the flour from the cabin to the deck. Xiao Yinshi flew up to the cabin, his eyes like those of a hawk, seizing the surrounding pirate ships.
At Yoshino Iehaku's command, the gunners adjusted the sights and rear sights, aimed the cannon at the cargo ship, and the shells were fired in an instant!
Xiao Yinshi mobilized all his inner energy, forming an invisible energy shield around the cargo ship. Zhu Qi glanced at his master and gritted his teeth, saying, "Retreat!"
Seeing that Menghenabul was stubbornly staying by his side, Feng Tan, for the first time as the master, gave an order to Menghenabul, "Menghenabul, I order you, go!"
Protected by powerful true energy, all the soldiers on the ship jumped into the deep sea, like fish returning to the deep sea. The surface of the sea rippled and they disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Dozens of shells were blocked around the cargo ship by a huge, invisible airflow. Deep red blood vessels welled up in Xiao Yinshi's eyes. His tall figure stood steadily above the cargo ship, like an ancient guardian deity.
Seeing that everyone on the ship had evacuated, he suddenly exerted his strength, and the invisible protective shield instantly counterattacked, returning all the cannonballs fired by Yoshino Iehaku.
"Boom boom boom!"
"Ah! Ahhh!"
Explosions rang out one after another, and the screams of the Japanese pirates on the surrounding pirate ships echoed throughout the night sky. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, colliding with the ships and entering the sea, instantly turning them into a living hell.
Xiao Yinshi also coughed up a mouthful of blood. He steadied his breathing, jumped down from the top of the ship, and landed next to Feng Tan, asking, "Feng Tan, how's your archery?"
Feng Tan looked at the pale lips of the man beside her, her heart stirred slightly, and she said softly, "It's alright."
“Alright,” Xiao Yinshi wiped the blood from the corner of his lips with his thumb, his gaze sharp as he looked at the blood-splattered hell on the sea. “Although the power of the flour explosion is not as great as that of a cannonball, it is enough.”
The previous attack was not enough to severely damage them, but two attacks would definitely be enough to wipe out most of their fighting strength, making it much easier for them to escape.
Feng Tan picked up the bow and arrow that Zhu Qi had prepared earlier, stretched out his arm and tried to draw it fully, saying, "Try drawing the bow like a full moon, it's a fine arrow!"
The night was dark, and the sea was ablaze with fire. Xiao Yinshi glanced sideways at the spirited young man holding an arrow, then looked down into his eyes, his voice cool and slow, "Feng Tan, if I am exhausted, what will you do?"
Although a ninth-rank martial artist possesses high skill, he cannot withstand such a massive expenditure. Xiao Yinshi had just suffered a severe injury and was now at his limit. He would inevitably exhaust his internal energy in the next battle, and he dared not entrust his life to Feng Tan.
Their eyes met, and they both understood what was meant.
One act of kicking someone when they're down is enough, especially since it was her oversight that led to the convoy being besieged. Xiao Yinshi single-handedly turned the tide; both morally and logically, Feng Tan had no reason to kill him again.
The boy's smiling eyes shone like stars, as alluring as the most seductive wine in the world. "My lord protected us through countless near-death experiences; how could I dare to kick him when he's down? As long as Feng Tan is here, my lord is here."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
