Before long, Hei Niu and his crew hauled the sunken log aboard, and compared to the previous ebony log, this one was noticeably thicker.
“Hahaha, this one’s even bigger than Hei Teng’s, we’ve got even better luck than them! This time it’s Hei Teng’s turn to envy us, hahaha, and everyone else will be even more jealous,” Hei Niu’s eyes gleamed with gold as he excitedly slapped the salvaged log, practically drooling.
“Hei Niu, you’re getting ahead of yourself,” one of the pirates on the ship, after inspecting it, shook his head regretfully.
“What the hell, Fake Scholar, what’s that supposed to mean? You blind or something? It’s so thick and long, can’t you see that?!” Hei Niu snapped, glaring with his bull-like eyes, immediately firing back.
“You don’t get it, judging a sunken log’s worth isn’t just about its size…” the pirate nicknamed Fake Scholar said, shaking his head.
“Not about size? Then what’s it about?” Hei Niu interrupted, glaring as he shot back.
“It’s about the material. What Hei Teng’s crew pulled up was ebony, this one’s just willow, and it hasn’t been submerged long, probably less than ten years. It’s not worth more than a few dozen taels,” Fake Scholar sighed, clearly disappointed.
“What the hell, Fake Scholar, don’t act like you know everything! Just ‘cause they call you ‘Scholar’ doesn’t mean you are one. If your surname wasn’t Jia, we wouldn’t even call you that, you’ve just read a few more books than us, couldn’t even pass the child exams…” Hei Niu, unwilling to accept that their log was worthless, snapped back.
“Can’t you tell the difference between ebony and willow?!” Fake Scholar, his old shame dug up, retorted with a dark expression.
Hei Niu looked down at the log again, his face falling as he grumbled, “Damn it, it really is willow!”
“Hahaha…” the other pirates on the ship burst into laughter at Hei Niu’s crestfallen look.
Hauling up the willow log delayed them by at least ten minutes, and because of their delay, the ships behind them were held up too.
The pirate fleet had just rounded the river bend, but thanks to Hei Niu’s crew, they were now stuck here, packed together like dumplings, clogging the river at the turn.
Soon, the other ships finishing the turn heard that Hei Niu’s lead ship had fished up another sunken log, though thankfully it was just willow, not worth much, sparing them the envy.
“Heh, those idiots, did they really think ebony logs are that easy to come by? If they were, they wouldn’t be so valuable,” Chen Dong chuckled and cursed after hearing the news.
“What a bunch of morons!” Ma Ye joined in, laughing, “I heard the commotion outside and thought we’d struck gold again with another ebony log, another auspicious sign to boost morale. Turns out it’s just a short-lived willow log, what a letdown.”
“Heh, willow’s not that bad, sure it’s worth less, but it’s still a rare sunken log, we could spin it as a minor good omen,” Chen Dong said with a smile, making the best of it.
“No, something’s off. The new lead ship hit a sunken log too?! I’m starting to feel uneasy, we just pulled up one, and now another? Normally you wouldn’t see one in ten days or half a month, and now two in one day?!” Xu Hai rubbed his chin, squinting suspiciously.
“Heh, if it were another ebony log, that’d be strange, but this is just a cheap willow log, probably a coincidence,” Chen Dong said dismissively.
“No, I still think something’s wrong, even for sunken logs, two is too many, when things get weird there’s usually a catch…” Xu Hai shook his head, sensing something off, and stood up, shouting out of the cabin, “Someone, get in here!”
“Leader,” a few pirates waiting outside responded and entered.
“Pass the order down quick, all ships on high alert, and send two groups to scout both riverbanks until we reach the sea outlet,” Xu Hai commanded with a stern face.
“Brother Xu, is that necessary? The Ming cities around here have been scared stiff by us for ages, they wouldn’t dare mess with our fleet. If anything, they’re probably praying to their gods right now that we don’t swing by and raid them,” Ma Ye thought Xu Hai was overreacting.
Chen Dong didn’t say anything, but his expression showed he was puzzled, thinking Xu Hai was going overboard.
“You can never be too careful,” Xu Hai explained to them.
“Mm, fair point,” Chen Dong and Ma Ye were convinced by that line, true, you could never be too careful.
The pirates left to relay Xu Hai’s orders.
Just as they stepped out of the flagship cabin, before they could pass on the command, a wave of panicked shouts erupted outside.
“What’s going on, damn it!” Xu Hai’s heart sank at the sound, realizing something was wrong. He bolted out of the cabin, grabbed a pirate, and growled, “What’s happening? Why all the fuss?!”
Chen Dong and Ma Ye, sensing trouble too, rushed out after him.
“The rear, the rear!” the pirate Xu Hai grabbed pointed frantically behind them, shouting in panic.
“What’s at the rear?” Xu Hai, Chen Dong, and Ma Ye all turned in unison to look where he pointed.
Their faces paled instantly.
At the river bend behind them, dozens of wooden rafts had appeared out of nowhere, piled high with dry grass, firewood, sulfur, and more.
Even from a distance, they could smell oil, no doubt the grass and wood were doused in kerosene.
Each raft had three Zhejiang soldiers, one wielding a long pole to push off the riverbed, propelling the raft forward, while the other two paddled furiously, driving the rafts toward the pirate fleet at top speed.
Behind these flammable rafts were ten or so larger ones, empty of grass or wood, clearly meant to pick up the attackers.
“Hahaha, little pirates, your grandpas are here with gifts! A special present prepared just for you by our commander, please accept it kindly!”
“Hahaha, little pirates, hurry up and take your gift, don’t waste your grandpas’ good intentions!”
The Ming soldiers on the flammable rafts laughed loudly as they sped toward the pirate fleet, shouting taunts.
“Damn it! They’re going for a fire attack! Shoot arrows, shoot, don’t let them get close! Fleet, full speed ahead, shake them off!” Xu Hai reacted instantly, hairs standing on end, face turning white as he shouted in a panic.
