The scene was starting to resemble a doomsday zombie flick—blackened Japanese pirates crawling out like undead, one after another, as if there were no end to them.
*Gulp…*
The Zhejiang squad exchanged glances, swallowing hard. How many damn pirates were there?!
This was beyond their ability to handle. As more pirates emerged, their visual blind spot would surely be exposed.
The squad leader made a snap decision, whispering, “Skinny Monkey, set off the flare. Everyone else, open fire—now!”
A flare exploded in the clear sky, blooming brightly overhead.
The pirates who’d already crawled out froze at the sudden thunderclap, turning in panic toward the flare’s burst.
*Bang, bang, bang…*
A volley of musket fire greeted them, followed by several screams.
Exposed!
Inside the still-burning forest, the pirates yet to emerge jolted at the sound. Unable to see outside, they heard the boom, saw the flare bloom, and then the rapid gunfire. Those with weaker nerves turned and bolted in a blind panic.
But with the forest still ablaze, abandoning the shallow ditch—their only refuge—was a death sentence.
In an instant, some of the fleeing pirates screamed like tortured spirits as the flames consumed them, burning or choking them to death.
“Baka! There’s only ten of them! Don’t panic, don’t fear—charge and cut them down!” The pirates who’d made it out, though hit by the volley and losing seven or eight, calmed down once they saw their attackers. Just ten Zhejiang soldiers—nothing to fear.
There’s a saying: “Don’t chase a desperate foe,” because cornered enemies fight back with unpredictable ferocity.
These pirates were that desperate foe. Spotting only ten soldiers, they didn’t hesitate—grabbing their blades, they charged.
Over a hundred soot-black pirates roared hoarsely, sprinting like a horde of zombies.
Hearing the shout that there were only ten enemies, the panicked pirates still in the forest steadied themselves. Since they were already exposed, they threw caution to the wind, crawling out faster and in greater numbers.
Groups upon groups poured out, ten times more efficient than the earlier trickle…
*Bang, bang, bang…*
Another volley rang out.
Six or seven more of the charging pirates fell, but to them, it was a minor loss—they still had over a hundred rushing forward.
“Damn it, no time to reload! Too many pirates—mount up, pull back, and reload at a distance!” the squad leader barked urgently.
They’d used their spare barrels, and reloading now required time they didn’t have. The sprinting pirates were just ten metres away—too close to pack powder.
The squad scrambled onto their mules, yanked the reins, and spurred the animals into a gallop, creating distance from the pirates.
“Stop them! I’ll use their blood to cool my scorched body!” Seeing the soldiers mount up, the charging pirates grew even more frenzied, running faster, roaring hoarsely.
After that flare had given them away, they no longer cared!
The pirates surged forward with terrifying speed, nearly catching the squad. They came so close that if their blades were half a metre longer, the last soldier would’ve been hacked down.
But, thrillingly, the squad escaped unscathed. Once the mules picked up speed, the pirates couldn’t keep up.
“Damn it, just a little more!”
“Baka yarou! Ming dogs, running like cowards! Stay and fight me to the death!” The exhausted pirates, panting heavily, cursed bitterly as they watched the squad retreat.
“Damn it, forget them! That flare was a signal—more Zhejiang troops will swarm here soon. Now’s not the time to tangle with them. We retreat from this danger first! We’ve still got over ten thousand men at our Tuolin stronghold—we’ll regroup and return! Today’s grudge, we’ll settle another day!” Xu Hai finally crawled out of the ditch, his face blackened, his body caked in mud and ash, looking like a drowned dog. Seeing this, he flew into a rage, shouting curses.
“Brother Xu’s right. In our state, we can’t face the Zhejiang Army head-on. Retreat first, back to Tuolin, then we’ll deal with them! Today’s vengeance—we’ll make them pay tenfold, a hundredfold!” Ma Ye emerged behind Xu Hai, his singed hair a chaotic mess, grimacing as he agreed.
He looked far worse than Xu Hai—half his face burned, grotesque and terrifying, his mouth blistered and painful with every word.
Behind him, Chen Dong was dragged out, supported by others. His trouser leg was soaked in blood, his condition far grimmer than Ma Ye’s.
Ma Ye had only a burned face, but Chen Dong had lost a leg. In the fire, a falling tree had crushed his left leg—not just broken, but shattered beyond repair. He’d be a cripple for life.
If not for the dozen loyal guards who’d pulled him from under the tree, he’d have been roasted alive. And without Xu Hai finding this life-saving ditch, even escaping the tree would’ve been futile—a cripple had no chance in that inferno.
“Exactly. We’ve escaped the fire, but we’re not safe yet. We’re still in danger. That damn Zhejiang Army’s signalled for reinforcements—they’ll come in force soon. That bastard Zhu Ping’an won’t rest until we’re dead; he won’t just let us walk away. Before they surround us, we need to move, avoid getting pinned down. Most of us are wounded—we can’t afford a fierce fight with them now,” Chen Dong coughed weakly.
His shattered leg throbbed with excruciating pain, compounded by burns and blood loss, leaving him frail.
“Hai!”
“Yes, sir!”
Hearing that a flood of Zhejiang reinforcements was imminent, the pirates abandoned their pursuit of the fleeing squad.
Now, the mere mention of the Zhejiang Army—especially Zhu Ping’an’s name—sent shivers through them, like hearing of a malevolent ghost.
Today’s barrage of “gifts” from the Zhejiang Army had decimated them—dead and wounded everywhere. The river fire, the forest fire—it had scattered their souls. Fewer than one in ten of their brothers remained. If the Zhejiang Army sent another “gift”…
It’d be a nightmare!
