Thousands of Boats Float Along the Narrow Jin River (Part 7)
Meng Shizhuang immediately turned around and looked at Lao Ju.
In the deep darkness of the night, Lao Ju sat cross-legged on a small boat, floating up and down. He was dressed in plain clothes, his hair gray, and he held two swords at his side. His dark eyes were calm and bright. Meng Shizhuang looked at him as if he were looking at a mountain that was always watching him. Behind this mountain, he also saw the shadow of another person.
None of them objected.
Lao Ju warned him without any emotion: "Ah, be careful."
Meng Shizhuang then snatched the sword and left.
He harnessed the force of the ship's walls and flew out at lightning speed, sending the boat rocking violently. Lao Ju, sitting at the stern, snatched up his two swords and dove into the sea, slicing through the surrounding boats like a loach. Furious roars and screams tore through the calm of the sea; the chaos of a thousand boats was a formidable spectacle. Meng Shizhuang locked eyes with the man he was trying to save, and with a few quick leaps, he hooked the large man's neck.
In a flash, the burly young man thought he was attacked by a nimble bamboo pole. The "bamboo pole" was too thin, so he raised his strong forearm and clenched his fist, thinking that he could break the "bamboo pole" with one fight. However, unexpectedly, the "bamboo pole" twisted into a snake in the instant of flying. Then, the sharp iron sword was unsheathed, and under the black and red colors of the river, it was like a sudden lightning.
Although this man was strong, he did not dare to fight the sword with his body, so he had to shrink his head and try to hide.
Meng Shizhuang's swift sword draw was intended only to intimidate. His shoulders could carry dozens of pounds, but they weren't necessarily strong enough to chop off a full-grown man's head.
It was supposed to be the time for the child to sleep, but he was half-carried and half-held onto the boat by his personal nanny. He was robbed while he was still asleep, and was already frightened out of his wits. When he saw Meng Shizhuang's face, which he still remembered, his shock immediately turned into grievance. He took the initiative to hug Meng Shizhuang, and his snot and tears rubbed against his neck.
Meng Shizhuang was covered in sweat and blood. Compared with the child's snot and tears, I don't know which one is cleaner.
He supported the fat boy's butt, steadying him on his right forearm, holding the sword in his left hand in front of him, and scanning the chaotic sea, trying to find the old woman who had just cried.
At this moment, something strange happened——
Several light warships came around from somewhere behind the "hill" and rushed forward with unstoppable force.
Indeed, with unstoppable force. Along the way, they overturned countless ships still lingering on the sea. Heads, some intact, some long beheaded, bobbed up and down in the sea. In the distance, on the city walls of Ming Hunzhou, guards, sensing something unusual, didn't hesitate. With a resounding "click," their heavy bows and crossbows unleashed a mighty volley of arrows, unstoppable. The warships nimbly dodged, but a small boat was shattered!
Meng Shizhuang was covered in cold sweat, and had a little trouble that made him cry.
If he had to wait until his brain had thought carefully before giving any instructions, there would probably be two more of them in the "human head soup" all over Xiliuhai.
He put his head on his belt and dodged left and right based on his instantaneous instincts.
The battlefield on the sea extended all the way to the foot of the Ming Hunzhou city wall.
The first boat that knocked on the door entered the city smoothly. Song Jingyan remained calm, and Hengbo stood by her side, trying to protect her as she entered the cabin. At this moment, a loud noise came from under the building ship. Song Jingyan frowned and looked around. Several "Eagle Claws" climbed onto the ship. This group of robbers was really reckless. They dared to be pirates in Ming Hunzhou.
The guards on the city wall noticed something unusual on the ship that was about to knock on the city gate, but they did not pay any attention to it. Most of their attention was focused on the warship speeding towards them in the distance.
The people in charge of Ming Hunzhou were obviously very vigilant and would not take any chances. After the first heavy arrow was shot, the gears of the city gate mechanism began to creak rapidly.
The black iron city gate dripped with sea water and blood and slowly fell down. The clouds in the sky were pushed aside by the moonlight, shining a very cold light on the water-stained city gate.
The nearest ships outside the city gates heard the noise and became frantic, recklessly rushing into Minghunzhou. However, the soldiers inside showed no mercy, first raining down arrows in uncontrolled numbers, then extending from the high battlements of the city walls were several "black iron rods," of indistinct length. These "black iron rods" flowed westward from the city walls into the sea. At first, the newcomers and ships did not realize how terrifying they were.
Some of the boatmen who were seeing off passengers had already seen them—and once they had witnessed the power of the "black iron rods," even the most experienced boatmen would panic and turn their boats back. Unaware of the situation, they continued forward. The "black iron rods" were spaced just wide enough for a boat to pass through. By then, the boats had already entered the shadow of the city walls, and arrows were no longer able to harm them.
But before they had time to rejoice, those who were about to raise their arms and shout were quietly chopped into several strips.
The "horizontal bars" fell down silently one after another. At this time, through the blood color, it was discovered that there were several extremely thin iron sheets between the "black iron rods", almost as thin as an invisible line.
Faced with this cruel way of death, people near the sea were like being thrown into a frying pan, and the ships that could not escape let out heavy cries.
Meng Shizhuang hastily dodged the collisions of one ship after another like headless flies. Before he realized it, he had already "walked lightly" to the bottom of the city wall with the fat ball in his arms. He was attracted by the screams of people on the sea and distracted to look, which frightened this "magic weapon".
When he was in Sujian Mountain, he had never formally learned any types of weapons and their structures. He had been down the mountain for too short a time, so he only heard the shopkeeper chat for a while when he went to the blacksmith shop to buy a sword. He said that the hardest thing in the world was black iron, which could cut iron like mud. It was extremely precious. Even the emperor only had one sword forged in his private treasury. When the capital was in chaos, the traitor only took this rare treasure with him when he fled. You can imagine how precious it was?
He didn't know whether the "magic weapon" in front of him was the black iron he had heard of, but since it could achieve such an effect, its value must be no less than that of black iron.
The emperor could only forge a sword and hide it, but this city that countless people flocked to could weave such a big net?
The fat boy was still screaming against Meng Shizhuang's neck. Meng Shizhuang looked back at where he had just come from, but the old house was no longer in sight. He looked up at the sky again. It was dark, with dark clouds pressing down relentlessly. Blood-red waves were carrying countless heads and crashing against the "hills" on both sides of Minghunzhou. He had a persistent feeling that day would never come.
Meng Shizhuang was panting, running and hiding, with a rain of arrows overhead that was enough to cover the sky.
He thought to himself in a cheerful way: It seems that God made him starve for so many years as a destined test. Otherwise, with his paper-thin body, how could he have survived the rain of arrows for so long?
A hail of arrows rained down upon the ship, and a pirate's blade pinned Song Jingyan's coat to the deck. She held a knife in her hand, her seemingly gentle face stained with blood. Her frail figure stood amidst the chaotic battlefield, yet she possessed a unique strength. She gazed at the galloping warships, a surge of anxiety rising within her, a sense of being unable to control the situation.
The imperial edict for the trip to the capital specified the date of the audience. She had no choice but to lead the Liang Wangfu's men through the waters of Ming Hunzhou, but she hadn't anticipated Xi Zhongting's intention to seize this opportunity to recapture Ming Hunzhou. Regardless of Xi Zhongting's success or failure in entering the city, the gates of Ming Hunzhou would remain closed for a short time. At this point, they could either turn back, miss the audience, and face death or punishment from His Majesty, or risk their lives and bravely enter the city.
Song Jingyan hesitated for a rare long time. Before she could make a decision, Qiuhe stumbled out of the cabin, not caring about the arrows falling from the city wall and the pirates' knives, "Your Highness has been kidnapped by them!" He was gasping for breath, and he was about to die while speaking, his face full of tears of fear.
Hearing this, Song Jingyan felt a tingling sensation on her back.
It turned out that these pirates had stopped by the Xinglu River and had long since set their sights on their ship. So what if there were imperial envoys aboard? Desperate fugitives in troubled times would fear the emperor far away. So they split up and disguised themselves as ordinary civilians trying to enter Ming Hunzhou. They also assumed the ship was filled with soldiers and skilled fighters, so they chose to strike when the city gates were knocking, at the height of the chaos.
In order to kill this fat sheep, since entering the sea, the brothers among them who were good at swimming have been hiding under the ship, sneaking into the bottom of the cabin quietly, and working together from inside and outside to unload most of the bottom of the ship. Anyway, they have taken the money, and the life and death of these people have nothing to do with them.
Song Jingyan had sensed something was amiss from the loud noise, but the pirates kept leaping aboard, tangling with them and oblivious to the ship's slow sinking. At this juncture, Shao Zheng was far more capable of letting go of his emotions than Song Jingyan. Without even glancing in the direction the pirates were taking Bian Hongqiu, he summoned his men to maneuver the ship.
The warships led by Xi Zhongting hadn't stopped, indicating they must have a way to get through the "Black Iron Rod." As long as they followed them and reached the city and landed before the ship sank, there was still a chance of survival. He backhandedly slashed a pirate's neck, knowing they were at their wit's end. Otherwise, why would they, having previously been killing and robbing, now hold a frail Bian Hongqiu hostage in a heavily guarded cabin?
Song Jingyan's wrist was grabbed by Shao Zheng, and she immediately knew what Shao Zheng was thinking.
The situation was critical, and she was too lazy to give orders or argue, so she simply slapped Shao Zheng with her other hand.
Her eyes flushed red: "Don't forget who you are living for!"
Of course, the people who came out of Prince Liang's Mansion were here for the master of Prince Liang's Mansion.
The old King Liang is dead, and the master is Bian Hongqiu.
Shao Zheng was frozen in place by the slap.
The ship swayed in the wind and waves.
Meng Shizhuang didn't have time to notice the ship was about to turn. He felt like he could fly in that moment. Under the shocked gaze of the little fat man, he climbed onto the ship in a few steps. Once on board, Bai Yueguang, whom he had just rescued the day before, was being carried and stood in front of him. Meng Shizhuang almost laughed at this dramatic encounter.
He was a hero today. After hugging the fat boy tightly in his arms, he swung the sword in his hand and made a sharp sword flower, instantly carving a flower on the back of the robber's neck. The robber's tall figure fell down with a bang. Bian Hongqiu was unable to support himself for a moment, and staggered back a few steps, about to fall off the boat.
Meng Shizhuang decisively threw the sword into the deck and was about to rush over to pull the person out.
Then, a belated arrow hit his ribs and pierced him through.
Meng Shizhuang had no choice but to kneel down exhausted. He didn't feel any pain, but when he looked down, he felt that the ribs where the arrow was pressed against him were extremely cold.
The scene on the boat was so chaotic that it was impossible to tell who shot the arrow.
Seeing Bian Hongqiu falling off the boat, Song Jingyan felt a heart-wrenching pain in her throat. Before she could say anything to ask people to jump into the water to rescue her, the ship had already changed direction and was moving at full speed in the opposite direction of where Bian Hongqiu fell into the water. At the same time, a medium-sized warship was running towards them like a lion. Xi Zhongting was standing on the bow with his hands behind his back, looking fearlessly at the people on the Ming Hunzhou city wall.
The warship that appeared inexplicably from the rear half pushed and half rammed the tower ship, crashing it into Minghunzhou, where the future was unknown.
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