Crack! Crack! Crack!…
One oil jar after another fell from the sky.
In an instant, a sea of fire appeared on the water.
All the cargo ships the water bandits had seized from Old Liang were set ablaze.
Only at this moment did the water bandits finally realise that the enemy had arrived!
In the water bandits’ lair, the chief was sleeping sweetly with a girl in his arms when he was suddenly woken by a frantic knocking on the door.
Outside the window, there was a great commotion.
The chief kicked the girl out of bed and rushed out of the room.
At a glance, he saw blazing firelight in the direction where the ships were moored.
“What is going on?”
“Chief, this is bad! Someone has come to attack us!”
The second-in-command said urgently, “They have burned all the ships from the Zhenyuan Escort Agency.”
“Were there not men on night watch? How did the enemy get onto the island without being noticed?”
The chief asked angrily while dressing, “Did those night-watch bastards fall asleep on duty again?”
“I do not know!” The second-in-command slapped his thigh. “Chief, decide quickly. What do we do now?”
“Go fetch Mister Liu at once!” the chief shouted.
“Mister Liu went ashore on business the day before yesterday and has not returned!” the second-in-command replied.
“He has not returned?” The chief glared.
In truth, the Mangdang River water bandits had previously been an ordinary band, living by extorting local fishermen and plundering passing boats.
Ships that dared sail the river usually carried large numbers of guards, which they did not dare attack.
Those without guards were generally short-distance and yielded little profit.
So the Mangdang River water bandits had always scraped by, with few decent ships, barely surviving under the protection of local gentry.
The gentry had never taken them seriously, treating them merely as thugs to summon and dismiss at will.
Everything changed when they met Mister Liu.
Mister Liu was full of cunning strategies. Under his command, the Mangdang River bandits successfully plundered a large merchant fleet.
They not only gained several large ships but also kidnapped the accompanying rich merchants and extorted a huge ransom.
That single haul exceeded what the bandits normally earned in a year.
Mister Liu thoroughly won the bandits’ trust.
With money and ships, the Mangdang River bandits rapidly expanded.
Mister Liu’s status among them grew ever higher.
Later, Mister Liu planned the ambush on Tang Xiaobei.
By then, the Zhenyuan Escort Agency already had considerable fame in the Jiangnan region. The chief initially opposed the plan, but Shui Yu pearls had recently become extremely hyped in Jiangnan, each worth a fortune.
As the chief manager of the Jinchuan Chamber of Commerce, Tang Xiaobei surely carried more than one.
Though robbing her would provoke revenge from the Zhenyuan Escort Agency, one successful job would set them up for life.
The chief ultimately could not resist Mister Liu’s temptation and decided to act.
But the escort guards reacted far faster than expected. One ship managed to escape the rockfall zone in time.
That ship carried heavy crossbows and catapults, which the bandits dared not approach to seize the Shui Yu pearls.
To avoid Zhenyuan Escort Agency retaliation, they followed Mister Liu’s advice and fled.
Before fleeing, the chief, to vent years of humiliation from the gentry, led men to massacre the gentry’s entire family.
They thought reaching the Eastern Sea would make them safe, but who knew the Zhenyuan people would pursue them there.
The bandits were desperados who lived by the blade. Stirred up by Mister Liu, the chief led a night attack on the escort fleet.
The escort guards were few in number and unaccustomed to sea battles, so the bandits won again.
Two consecutive victories made the chief arrogant, thinking the Zhenyuan Escort Agency was nothing special.
Thus he began provoking them.
He had expected Mister Liu to dissuade him, but Mister Liu not only did not stop it but strongly supported it.
He said this would build their reputation and was the right choice.
With Mister Liu’s approval, the chief grew even prouder.
Even upon learning Jin Feng had come in person, he paid it no mind.
In his view, Jin Feng, like the Zhenyuan Escort Agency, was overhyped.
Only now did he vaguely realise he had been wrong.
At this moment, torches lit up on the naval ships.
The torchlight stretched like a wandering dragon for several li, completely blocking all escape routes.
The muffled beat of war drums pierced the night sky, hammering at the chief’s heart.
Without even fighting, this display of might already far surpassed the bandits by untold times.
The previously smug chief finally panicked, sweat beading on his forehead.
And at this critical moment, their mainstay, Mister Liu, was absent.
“Chief, decide quickly! They are getting closer!”
The second-in-command urged anxiously.
“What to do, what to do?”
The chief paced in circles, then suddenly remembered something. Grabbing the second-in-command’s arm, he said, “Quick, go to the rear mountain and bring those escort guards here!”
“Why bring them here?” the second-in-command asked, puzzled.
“Jin Feng is attacking Crab Pincer Island to rescue them. As long as they are in our hands, he will not dare act rashly!” the chief said rapidly.
“Yes! How did I not think of that?”
The second-in-command’s eyes lit up. He turned and ran.
As he ran, he shouted, “Three Dog, bring your men with me to the rear mountain!”
The bandits, at a loss, saw someone taking charge and immediately followed.
The second-in-command led over two hundred bandits straight to the rear mountain.
But upon reaching the narrow path at the mountain entrance, two black objects were suddenly thrown down from the peak.
Boom! Boom!
With two violent explosions, flames shot up!
These hand grenades had been modified by Jin Feng on the ship, mixed with iron sand.
Upon exploding, the iron sand would scatter in all directions.
Being hit at close range was even worse than an arrow.
Though not easily fatal on the spot, the iron sand was too dense and small, easily penetrating deep into the body.
With the bandits’ medical resources, removing it was a pipe dream.
The bandits were completely unprepared and a large number were blasted down by the two grenades.
The ground was covered with bandits writhing and howling in pain.
The second-in-command, staying at the rear, escaped disaster.
By the light of torches on the peak, he vaguely saw several men in black armour standing at the other end of the mountain path.
“How are there Zhenyuan Escort Agency people here?”
The second-in-command recognised the escort armour at a glance.
But he could not understand how the escort guards had passed through their lair to reach the rear.
Just as puzzled was Zheng Chiyuan on the naval ship.
He too had seen the flames rising from the rear mountain.
Moreover, when Old Eagle was throwing the oil jars, Zheng Chiyuan had already led the naval fleet to blockade Crab Pincer Island’s exit.
He had personally witnessed fireballs falling from the sky one after another onto the wooden ships below.
But the hot air balloons were made of thick black fireproof cloth. Old Eagle flew them very high, and when throwing the jars, he only opened a slit in the curtain, facing towards Crab Pincer Island. From the naval fleet’s direction, nothing could be seen.
So to Zheng Chiyuan and the naval soldiers, the fireballs had simply appeared out of thin air.
