“Pretty lady, stop running! Stop!”
“Little miss, don’t flee! Come have some fun with your big brothers. We’ll help you with your wedding night!”
The Japanese pirates, drooling at the sight of the bride’s graceful, fleeing figure, howled and chased her into the valley.
This valley was a winding ancient path, flanked by hills bearing clear signs of human excavation.
The path had branches, and the dowry attendants and bride, in their panic, rushed into a side path—a dead end, surrounded on three sides by steep, nearly unclimbable hills.
“Hahaha! The little lady picked a perfect spot! Brothers, we can use the sky as our blanket and the earth as our bed to consummate the marriage. Hurry up, I can’t wait any longer!”
Seeing the dowry party and bride trapped in a dead end, the pirates roared with glee, their excitement uncontainable.
Besides those chasing the bride and her attendants, pirates near the valley’s entrance scrambled for the dowry, howling with delight.
The dowry was extravagantly lavish—gold, silver, jewels, silks, furniture, and more. Far too much.
“Mine, mine, mine!”
“I grabbed it first!”
In their greed for the dowry’s riches, the pirates squabbled, some even brawling in a chaotic mess.
“Idiots! There’s plenty here—why fight? After we slaughter Dongshan Village and Shangpo Village, there’ll be more to loot! If that’s not enough, we’ll sack a town on the way back. You’ll have so much you won’t be able to carry it all!”
“Anyone who keeps fighting, their loot goes to the common pool!”
Ma Ye, seeing his men in a disorderly frenzy, cursed furiously.
Under his threats and the prospect of shared spoils, the brawling pirates gradually ceased their fighting and looting.
“Huh? Why’s this gold hairpin fading? Damn it, it’s not gold—just brass painted with gold lacquer! Curse it, using fakes for a daughter’s dowry? Truly rich and heartless!”
One pirate, shocked, noticed the gold hairpin he’d fought for was losing its colour, revealing brass beneath. Realising it was a fake, he cursed loudly.
“Hahaha, Wang the Loser, you really are unlucky. Finally grabbed a gold hairpin, and it’s a fake!”
“Don’t laugh at me—check if yours are fading too!”
“How could they? We’re not as cursed as you—oh, bloody hell, my gold bowl’s fading too…”
“Mine’s fading as well…”
As the pirates mocked their unlucky comrade, they suddenly noticed their own gold items were also losing colour.
“Rich and heartless! Damn it, grab the dowry attendants and interrogate them. Who’s this heartless old bastard? We’ll make him pay for his greed—wipe out his whole family!”
The pirates, enraged, cursed furiously.
“Why’s it all fake? Isn’t this old fool afraid the groom’s family will notice and mistreat his daughter?”
Ma Ye, puzzled, stared at the fading gold scissors in his hand, sensing something was amiss but unable to pinpoint it.
*Boom! Crash!*
At that moment, a deafening explosion erupted from the midst of the dowry pile. Crimson flames mixed with black smoke roared skyward, blooming like a massive, ten-metre-wide fiery otherworldly flower.
Flames shot into the sky! The earth shook!
Amid the blast, countless iron pellets, steel balls, and copper nails sprayed in all directions like a torrential pear-blossom rain.
Screams of agony followed. Pirates near the explosion were flung back like tattered cloth, spitting blood, their bodies arcing through the air. Those farther away were struck by the storm of iron, steel, and copper, blood spraying as they let out gut-wrenching howls.
Ma Ye felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. In the earth-shaking chaos, he glanced down to see a hole in his armour, blood streaming out. His Japanese sword slipped from his grasp, clattering to the ground…
Before the panicked pirates could react, more massive fiery flowers bloomed among them.
The pear-blossom rain of iron pellets and copper nails sprayed relentlessly with each explosion.
A copper nail struck Ma Ye’s helmet, knocking it off and grazing a bloody gash across his scalp. His hair fell loose. In a split-second life-or-death moment, Ma Ye reacted swiftly, yanking another pirate in front of him with his still-functional left hand and ducking behind.
“Ahh…”
Within seconds, several iron pellets struck the pirate shielding Ma Ye, eliciting scream after scream. Moments later, the man’s head lolled, and he was dead.
That was close—too close. If not for his “selfless” comrade, Ma Ye would’ve been done for.
He couldn’t help but feel a surge of relief.
In the disorienting chaos, a memory jolted Ma Ye’s nerves. Where had he seen this scene before?
He remembered.
Years ago, at the battle before Suzhou’s Fengqiao Bridge, it was the same—an earth-shattering explosion, and thousands of his men were obliterated!
Zhu Ping’an!
It had to be Zhu Ping’an!
Ma Ye instantly pinned today’s calamity on Zhu Ping’an, certain he was the mastermind!
New grudges piled onto old hatreds, surging in his heart. Coupled with the explosion’s shockwave, Ma Ye spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Damn you, Zhu Ping’an! Using such despicable, shameless tricks again! Curse you, curse you—you deserve a thousand deaths!”
“Zhu Ping’an, if I ever get my hands on you, I’ll carve you up with a thousand cuts and linger over your torment!”
Ma Ye, hair dishevelled, blood trickling from his mouth, cursed Zhu Ping’an with a ferocious scowl. But amidst the earth-shaking explosions, his voice was as insignificant as a fart, drowned out completely.
As the explosions rocked the valley’s entrance, the pirates who’d chased into the side path froze. What was happening back there? Had lightning struck?
But soon, their battle-hardened instincts kicked in—not lightning, but the blast of firearms.
The successive explosions confirmed their suspicions.
Something was wrong with this bridal party!
They realised it in a flash. The next moment, Zhejiang army banners rose from the hills surrounding the side path. Hidden Zhejiang soldiers emerged, and the relentless roar of muskets and Tiger Crouching Cannons echoed, proving their fears correct.
But it was too late!
Caught in the ambush, the pirates fell like wheat under a scythe, collapsing in droves.
At the same time, ropes dropped from the hills above. The dowry attendants and the bride, with agile movements, grabbed the ropes. With the Zhejiang soldiers above pulling hard, they scaled the slopes like they were flying.
