Crab Pincer Island was actually a ring-shaped mountain with one side missing, like an incomplete crater.
To prevent the escort guards from rescuing anyone, the water bandits had imprisoned the captured escort guards on one of the mountain peaks.
This peak was what Monkey and the others called position six.
There were only two narrow paths leading from the base to position six. Monkey led one platoon of escort guards to the path entrance, quickly opened the boxes, and skilfully assembled portable heavy crossbows and small catapults.
On the other side, Da Zhuang was not idle either.
Not far from where the night-watch water bandits had been killed, there were two dilapidated thatched huts.
The captured escort guards and chamber of commerce clerks were locked up here.
During the day, they would be taken to the highest point on the island and hung for several hours. At night, they were brought back.
Da Zhuang opened the hut door and lit a torch.
In the tiny hut, the ground was covered with people.
Not lying side by side, but piled on top of one another.
Whether escort guards or chamber clerks, none had any clothes.
Their hands and feet were tightly bound with ropes.
On many, the ropes had cut deeply into their flesh.
The floor was covered in excrement. Even in winter, the stench was overwhelming.
“Those damned water bandits!”
Da Zhuang punched the wall in fury.
Having been tortured by the water bandits for so long, enduring cold and hunger every day, the escort guards and clerks were in an extremely weakened state. Even lifting their heads took great effort.
It was not until Da Zhuang fixed the torch to the wall that one escort guard forcibly raised his head and looked at him.
The guard’s originally dull and lifeless eyes burst with endless light the moment he recognised Da Zhuang.
“Da… Da Zhuang?”
The guard called out tentatively.
“Old Liang, you have suffered!”
Da Zhuang crouched down and patted Old Liang’s shoulder bitterly.
“Da Zhuang, is… is it really you?”
Old Liang trembled as he stuck out his tongue and bit it hard.
Feeling the pain, he murmured to himself, “I am not dreaming! I am not dreaming!”
Then, suddenly like a madman, he roared, “Brothers, wake up quickly! Da Zhuang has come to save us!”
In fact, more than just Old Liang had heard the commotion earlier, but everyone assumed the water bandits had come again to take them to the peak for humiliation, so they could not be bothered to look.
Now, hearing Old Liang’s words, they all turned their heads.
When they saw Da Zhuang, all the escort guards and clerks froze for a moment.
Then, one by one, they struggled excitedly, trying to get up.
But with their hands and feet bound, they could not stand at all.
“Everyone, do not worry. I will untie you!”
Da Zhuang held back the pain in his heart and drew his dagger from his waist.
The platoon leader following Da Zhuang also drew his dagger to help.
But the hut was far too small, with no room to move, so he had to give up.
He turned and said, “First squad leader, go strip the clothes off those water bandits!”
Before coming, they had never imagined the water bandits would be deranged enough to strip the escort guards and clerks naked. They had made no preparations.
And they themselves wore black armour, which could not be removed for Old Liang and the others. They could only take the bandits’ clothes.
Inside the hut, Da Zhuang had already cut the ropes on Old Liang’s hands and feet and helped him out.
Old Liang was too weak and too badly injured to even stand.
Da Zhuang handed Old Liang to the first squad leader, then turned and rushed back into the hut.
By the time he helped another escort guard out, Old Liang was already wearing a cotton jacket.
After two people were brought out, there was finally some space in the hut. The platoon leader immediately sent men to assist Da Zhuang.
The further along, the faster the rescue went.
In just over ten minutes, all the escort guards and chamber clerks in the hut had been brought out.
Da Zhuang noticed the numbers did not match. His heart tightened. He ran to Old Liang and asked, “Where are the other brothers being held?”
“There are no other brothers. All who are still alive are here!” Old Liang said weakly.
“The others are all dead?” Da Zhuang’s fists clenched involuntarily, rage nearly bursting from his eyes.
According to intelligence, there had originally been over sixty captured escort guards and clerks in total.
But here, fewer than thirty remained.
That meant more than thirty had already died.
Even among the twenty-odd still alive, many were so weak they struggled to open their eyes. Whether they would survive was unknown.
Old Liang sat wrapped in the cotton jacket for a while and finally came to his senses.
Gathering all his strength, he reached out and grabbed Da Zhuang’s arm. “Da Zhuang, were you not with the master in Xichuan? How are you here?”
Hearing this, the other escort guards also looked over.
Earlier, they had been too excited to think about it.
“The master heard you had been captured and immediately brought us to rescue you!” Da Zhuang said.
“The master came too?” Old Liang’s eyes reddened.
“He did. He is on the ship right now.”
“Ship? Where?” Old Liang turned his head, looking around.
At this point, he noticed something wrong.
The place they were held was behind the water bandits’ barracks. Logically, to reach here, the bandits’ barracks would have to be breached first.
But now the barracks were completely silent, not looking like they had seen any fighting at all.
Old Liang asked tentatively, “Da Zhuang, how did you get here? Did you climb the cliffs?”
After asking, he shook his head. “No, if you had climbed the cliffs, you would not be wearing armour…”
“Alright, stop guessing. Even if I broke your head, you would not figure out how we got here.”
Da Zhuang patted Old Liang’s shoulder. Just as he was about to continue, he suddenly heard the sound of a bamboo whistle from the sky.
Tweet tweet! Tweet!…
Da Zhuang looked towards the source of the sound but saw nothing.
But he knew Old Eagle was hidden in that patch of night sky.
This was the signal to him that the hot air balloons were in position.
Da Zhuang quickly stood up and picked up a torch.
He found a high spot and swung the torch in circles in the air.
Moments later, a torch suddenly appeared far out at sea, also swinging in a circle.
“The master is in position too!”
Seeing this, Da Zhuang smiled. He picked up another torch and swung both arms simultaneously.
This was the signal he had agreed upon with Jin Feng and Old Eagle.
It meant everyone was ready.
“Haha, brothers, it is our turn now!”
In the hot air balloon basket, Old Eagle said excitedly, “We are about to be blown away. Everyone move faster!”
With that, he took an oil jar from the box at his feet, lit it, and smashed it down through the gap in the curtain.
Below, on the sea, numerous boats of various sizes were moored.
The outermost row of cargo ships had heavy crossbows and catapults mounted on their decks.
These cargo ships were the very ones the water bandits had seized from Old Liang and his group earlier.
Old Eagle’s task was to burn these cargo ships, preventing the water bandits from using the heavy crossbows and catapults against the navy later.
The hot air balloon was directly above the cargo ships. The oil jar landed squarely on the deck.
Crash!
The jar shattered, splashing kerosene everywhere.
The next second, fierce flames erupted on the deck.
This oil jar officially opened the curtain on the battle!
