"Fortunately, the ship was repaired in the end, otherwise we might have been torn to pieces like those ships staying in the port by the indiscriminate bombardment of the reinforcements."
"You bastard! Those people can't tell the difference between loyal and treacherous. Those who run away from the port are pirate ships, and those who stay in the port are pirate soldiers. Doesn't that mean you will die whether you run or not?"
"What's so strange about this? The imperial court has always been like this."
Ren Qi sat on the edge of the railing and glanced at the fire in the port. Even though the ship was at full power and ran a long way away, the flames could still be seen far away.
"I heard it when I was on duty in Ouchi. Either to report more military merits or to prevent spies from sneaking into the military camp, many people will always be killed.
Anyway, as long as the city is broken and it falls into the hands of the White Lotus Sect, it will be fine. They only look at whether the people have foreign goods in their homes, such as suits, ties, watches, and leather shoes. Even if they hang a flyer randomly distributed by a foreign troupe, the whole family will suffer.
In comparison, the officers and soldiers were much simpler and more efficient, and they started killing people before they even entered the city.
Anyone encountered in small groups on the road, whether they were farmers or merchants and hawkers, were all treated as spies and killed.
After entering the city, no one was left alive within a few hundred meters of the city wall. Anyone who could move was killed.
This is just an appetizer, not to mention going into the city to rob and kill for three days, then the water level of the river has risen. ”
Liu Banxian clicked his tongue and shook his head, "You bastards! You people are really inhumane!"
Ren Qi frowned, "It's none of my business. I belong to Ouchi. I don't lead troops and I don't fight. At most, I only captured a few leaders of the White Lotus Sect."
"That's amazing!"
It was the sea dog who said this.
First, Liu Banxian was inexplicably followed by the White Lotus Sect, then there was the battle in Wenling, and then Yin Xiu was covered in blood and was carried back by Ma Xiaoyu.
Until then, he still didn't understand the situation.
"By the way, is Yin Xiu awake?" Ren Qi suddenly asked.
On this ship, he only cares about the life and death of Yin Xiu and Liu Banxian.
"Wake up."
Ma Xiaoyu answered the question in the cabin, casually wiping her white neck with a towel, and occasionally reaching into the clothes on her chest to wipe it a few times. She seemed very tired.
After getting Ma Xiaoyu's response, several people finally nodded, opened the curtain and walked in.
At this time, Yin Xiu had changed into clean clothes and was half lying on the bed. Her face looked weak and lacking in vitality as usual.
But he usually looked like he was overindulging, so Liu Banxian didn't care. He just sat aside and handed over a bottle of wine.
"I took a taxi at the pub. I originally wanted to wait until I had a midnight snack, but now it seems you need it more."
Yin Xiu didn't say anything. He took the wine bottle and took a sip. After spitting out the alcohol, his face turned rosy.
"Sailors, are you okay?" he asked the sea dog first.
"It's very good. All of them have sound hands and feet, and none of them are wet. It won't delay the next voyage. If a few of them fail, we can just recruit them at the next port. Sailors are worthless." Sea Dog nodded.
"So, you plan to continue with us?"
The sea dog smiled and said: "Master Liu only paid half of the money. It is impossible for me to do a loss-making business, and it is hard to talk about things on the shore, but if it is at sea, then I really have nothing to be afraid of."
"What a courageous person. He is worthy of being a man who has been in the Kowloon boxing ring and been a pirate."
Yin Xiu turned around to look, finally took the towel from Ma Xiaoyu's hand and wiped it on her face.
"This is the one I've used before." Ma Xiaoyu whispered.
"I know, don't waste it if you can use it."
After saying that, Yin Xiu put the towel on her face again, lay down on the bed again, and covered her body with the quilt.
"What's the next step, Brother Yin?"
"This is a matter at sea. Leave it to the sea dog. We will go wherever he tells us. Then we can sleep peacefully and rest."
Yin Xiu seemed to have broken away from the previous angry mood, and it was pretty much the same as usual at this moment.
Seeing this, Ma Xiaoyu couldn't help but feel a little relieved. She moved to the side, pulled a quilt to cover herself, and fell asleep.
"Then our next step is to sail to Jiangsu and Zhejiang?" Sea Dog asked.
"You are the captain and you ask me?"
Liu Banxian was also exhausted from the turmoil in the first half of the night, and fell asleep almost as soon as he lay down on the ground.
The sea dog had no choice but to look at Ren Qi again. After receiving a cold glance from the swordsman, he couldn't help but trembled and walked outside on the pretext of patrolling at night.
……
Five days later, when the ship finally docked in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas due to a tropical storm, they finally heard the aftermath of the battle from their colleagues.
Quite different from what Ren Qi said.
It was just that the White Lotus Sect captured the port and the Dudu Mansion, and the officers and soldiers took back the entire Wenling after just one day and night.
Among the corpses strewn on the street, some were members of the White Lotus Sect, and many were civilians.
The Madonna of the Yellow Lotus illuminated by a red light is missing, either she ran away, or her body was destroyed by artillery fire during the attack on the foreign area.
The leader of the rebellion and the guardian of the White Lotus Sect, Lian Gu, was captured alive and taken to the imperial capital.
At this point, the White Lotus Sect in southern Fujian was completely wiped out due to this turmoil.
Because of this turmoil, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas also became tense. Before entering the port, the sailors at the port rocked the boat to inspect it.
"Black Widow, right?"
The chief sailor in charge of the inspection was a fat man with big muscles and a round waist. Only black kernels could be seen in his eyes, and two longan kernels seemed to be embedded in the horizontal flesh of his face.
As soon as he climbed aboard, the Black Widow sank completely, and its draft became even worse.
Ignoring the fawning seals, the fat man was selfless and immediately ordered people to start the boat.
"Huh? These people don't have permission to enter the customs on their documents. You just drove them up from the south. Don't you know the rules?"
Although the fat man was quite curious about the appearance of such a beautiful woman on the ship, after receiving a cold glare from Ma Xiaoyu, he could only turn aside with a blushing face and question the sea dog.
"I know, why don't I know?"
The sea dog smiled and handed over a few silver coins, but unexpectedly, the fat man slapped them away.
"Who do you think I am!? I am selfless, and you want to bribe me? Damn it! It's because of people like you that we are looked down upon by the foreign devils!"
"Don't dare, don't dare." Sea Dog laughed along.
While the two were talking, the sailors armed with muskets and swords also searched the ship. "How's it going? Did you find anything?"
"No, except for a few fake documents, a few swords, two muskets, two barrels of explosives, and a bundle of counterfeit banknotes found in the cabin, nothing else was found."
After hearing the report, the fat man's face turned dark immediately.
Yin Xiu and Ma Xiaoyu didn't even need to make eye contact, they were already ready. One held the green-faced evil ghost mask gently in his hand, the other lowered his knees, ready to kill at any moment.
Ren Qi was quite indifferent, but from time to time a pair of sword eyes turned, scanning the vital points of these people.
Taking a deep breath, the fat man shouted: "Don't you understand the rules!?"
Sea Dog took out a few more silver coins from his pocket, and the smile on his face became even brighter, "I'm new here. I really don't understand. I wonder if I can give you some advice."
The fat man still didn't look at him, but shook his collar, "Do you know you broke the rules?"
"I know, I know, those guys were all entrusted to me by my colleagues to transport them. I'm just a sailor. What do I need gunpowder and guns for?"
"That's not it." The fat man pointed to the mast, "Before entering the port, you have to lower the mast, didn't you know?"
The sea dog was stunned for a moment, and then quickly asked the sailor to do something.
The fat man watched for a while, and after confirming that the mast had been lowered, he nodded with satisfaction and returned to his small boat.
Before leaving, he said: "Apart from the fact that the mast was not put in place, I didn't expect that you, who is running a boat, have a fierce look on your face, but you are quite law-abiding in your behavior. Remember! Don't hide the White Lotus Sect's classics and leaflets, don't You said it was hidden, you can’t even take a look at it, do you understand?”
The sea dog nodded repeatedly, "Sir, I can't even read."
“Not even looking at paintings!”
After warning him again, the fat man put his hands behind his back and directed his men to rock the boat towards the next cargo ship.
"That fat man, what on earth is he doing?" Even Ren Qi felt a little stunned.
"Maybe there are people like Yongtan in the north."
Yin Xiu scratched his head, but he really couldn't understand what this fat man was thinking. He didn't want money, and he wasn't here to cause trouble. He was basically the same type of person as the officers and soldiers he met before.
Sometimes, the difference between people is really greater than the difference between people and monsters.
After seeing off the sailors, the ship could finally dock in the harbor.
Seeing that Ren Qi seemed a little unhappy because his schedule was delayed again, Hai Gou quickly explained to him.
"This is the season when typhoons are most likely to blow. Sometimes you look at cloudless skies. Let alone typhoons, even when there is not even a drop of rain, it is often the scariest.
Because this means that the coming storm will be very big, and the storm on the sea, if you look at it in the morning, the clouds are still far away in the sky, but when you finish eating at noon, they will be in front of you, and you can't run away.
We who make a living at sea have no problem fighting with those pirates and sailors. The only thing is that we cannot go against God, and we have no way to compete with it. We can only follow its will.
Don’t look at the typhoon. It’s just wind and rain on the shore, but if you get to the sea, there will be huge waves as high as mountains, and water from all sides will pour on the boat, so..."
"I already know."
Ren Qi nodded lightly, "I said, if there is anything I just ask Yin Xiu, I will do whatever he says. I won't say too much."
After a pause, perhaps to reassure the sea dog, he said again: "Thank you for your hard work."
"Hey, it's a great honor for you to understand me." Sea Dog laughed along with him.
While the two were talking, Yin Xiu and Ma Xiaoyu were already following Liu Banxian, one on the left and the other on the right.
"Have you been to Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas?"
Ma Xiaoyu shook her head, "No, I only heard from my aunt that West Lake vinegar fish is a very beautiful dish. The more authentic it is, the better it is."
"Then your aunt has indeed seen it before!"
Liu Banxian turned around and gave a thumbs up, "But we are at the beach now, so we probably can't eat vinegar fish. We can eat steamed fish or fried fish."
"It's nonsense. There's going to be a typhoon in the next few days. Where will the fishermen go out to sea? Do you want to be dragged down by the Dragon King?"
The person who said this was a stout man in front, as tall as an iron tower, with a stubbled beard and two eyes that were black and white.
His skin was dark, with some cracks and peeling on his palms, which were obviously caused by years of exposure to wind and sun at sea.
Liu Banxian didn't take it seriously when he was snatched away like this. He just said with a smile: "I don't know about that. Brother, please tell me, what delicious food is there on this pier?"
"Humph, I just eat crab roe tofu and shrimp soup noodles. Nothing special."
After a pause, the man said again: "I just don't know if you have the courage to drink the fairy soup."
"Fairy Soup?"
The three of them looked at each other, what is the fairy soup? Who needs courage just to have a meal and a soup?
"The Immortal Soup is a product of the Celestial Masters in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It is said that after drinking it, people can travel through the five hells in one sleep, and see all life, old age, illness and death. It can make people achieve enlightenment or madness, so Shao Shao Someone dares to try.”
Ren Qi walked up with a sword on his back and took a look at the dark man, "Why, are you a Celestial Master?"
"It's easy to say, Taoist Xu Yu is my master."
"Oh, then are you going to the dock to show off, or are you recruiting believers? I heard that your followers of Tianshi Dao are consumed faster than sailors at sea, and a lot of people will die in a few days."
"Brother, this is none of your business, right? Where did you come from? Don't you know that when you are in other people's territory, you should keep a low profile?" the man said angrily.
He originally wanted to take action, but when he saw Ren Qi carrying six swords on his back and his cold temperament, he finally did not dare to be presumptuous and could only try to take advantage of him verbally.
But how could Ren Qi be someone who would ask others to take advantage of him, and how could anyone dare to take advantage of him?
As soon as he rolled his eyes, the man took a few steps back, turned around and left angrily.
"Ignore them."
Sea Dog also came up at this time, "Although Tianshi Tao is an unpopular sect in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, the court does not recognize them, and Longhu Mountain and Maoshan have nothing to do with them, they are very prestigious in the local area, let alone the residents. Even the officers and soldiers also joined them.”
"Oh? Will you get rice if you attend their lecture?" Yin Xiu asked.
"Hey! What kind of rice are you sending? It's not bad even if they don't charge you any money. They are also sending rice to you. They are not those ghost monks."
"Is it possible to cure diseases and save people? Sprinkle some incense ash into the talisman water and the medicine will cure the disease?" Liu Banxian asked.
"Almost, but it's not talisman water, but a ruler. It is said that the Celestial Master of Celestial Master Tao takes the ruler and rubs it on the patient's head. No matter what the disease is, whether it's evil, wind or cold, go home. It will heal after a few days of rest.”
The fur seal is well-informed and can answer a few questions casually.
"What kind of ruler!? Is it the kind with the heavenly stems, earthly branches, and seventy-two constellations engraved on it in black and white?"
Liu Banxian suddenly grabbed the seal's collar in excitement. (End of chapter)