The post-war fishing village stronghold was half warm and half covered in snow. The Zhejiang army’s main camp in the east of the village was intact; the Japanese pirates had not been able to breach it until their deaths. In the west of the village, Mao Haifeng’s camp was still burning with fire and smoke.
“Ouch, my leg.”
“Has anyone seen my brother? I’m afraid I’m done for. My brother can’t die; otherwise, our old Wang family will be without heirs.”
“Water, water.”
Only less than one-fifth of Mao Haifeng’s camp remained intact. The rest of the village houses and tents had all been burned down; they were still emitting smoke and fire. The ground was littered with wounded soldiers lying haphazardly; moans of pain filled the air.
They were the lucky ones; at least they could still moan. Beside them lay many who were quietly still; they made no sound and did not even breathe. They were the unlucky ones.
When Zhu Ping’an arrived with Liu Dadao, Chen Dacheng, and the others to visit Mao Haifeng’s camp and offer condolences, this was the scene they encountered.
Mao Haifeng’s troops had suffered heavy casualties that night. A rough count showed nearly a thousand wounded or dead, with hundreds missing. In fact, the Japanese pirates from Jiwu Village had directly killed or injured only a small portion of the Japanese pirates. More were caused by Mao Haifeng’s own pirates panicking and trampling each other, as well as small-scale camp riots leading to mutual killings.
“Lord Zhu, I truly cannot express my gratitude enough. If it weren’t for Lord Zhu sending Brother Dacheng and Brother Dadao in time to assist, I’m afraid I would have capsized in the gutter today and been done in by those mongrels from Jiwu Village.”
Mao Haifeng spotted Zhu Ping’an from afar and hurried over. He clasped his fists and bowed in gratitude.
Mao Haifeng was genuinely thankful to Zhu Ping’an. This time, the mongrels from Jiwu Village had attacked; their vigilance had been lax, allowing the mongrels from Jiwu Village to sneak into the camp. They had killed the guards and opened the gate. The mongrels from Jiwu Village had swarmed in to kill and set fires. Caught off guard, they had been utterly defeated. If Zhu Ping’an had not sent Chen Dacheng and the others in time to rescue them, Mao Haifeng was certain his camp would have been razed by the mongrels from Jiwu Village.
Mao Haifeng was unsure if he himself could have escaped, but he knew that without Zhu Ping’an’s rescue, his troops would have been completely wiped out. Then, his position as ship captain would certainly not have been preserved.
It was precisely because of Zhu Ping’an’s timely rescue that he had escaped this disaster and preserved half his strength.
For the lost pirates, he could ask his adoptive father Wang Zhi for some and recruit more himself. Restoring his strength would just be a matter of time.
All of this was thanks to Zhu Ping’an.
“We are allies, in the same boat, sharing hardships. When the enemy pirates attack, we should help each other. It’s only right; no need for thanks.”
Zhu Ping’an reached out to help up the bowing Mao Haifeng and spoke with a face full of righteousness.
“Lord Zhu is truly a gentleman.” Mao Haifeng could not help but praise.
Looking at Mao Haifeng, Zhu Ping’an could not help but think of that big-headed, thick-necked Chef Fan.
In fact, speaking of it, Mao Haifeng and his men had been brought here by him to work. This could both exterminate other coastal pirate groups, eradicate coastal pirate strongholds, and weaken Wang Zhi’s pirate strength.
For example, if a thousand pirates from Jiwu Village died and a thousand from Mao Haifeng’s group died, that added up to two thousand dead pirates.
Mao Haifeng’s strength could be weakened, but he could not die. He still needed Mao Haifeng to continue working for him.
For reasons of sentiment, reason, and long-term planning, he had to rescue Mao Haifeng so that he could continue working for him, continue exterminating other coastal pirates, and continue bleeding Wang Zhi’s pirate group.
“I swear I will avenge this grudge, or I’m no gentleman. That damned mongrel Takeda Toshikawa from Jiwu Village; I will make him pay in blood!”
Mao Haifeng clenched his fists and gritted his teeth as he swore.
“General Mao, I’m afraid you won’t be able to avenge it.” Zhu Ping’an shook his head slightly with a smile.
“Ah?” Mao Haifeng was stunned upon hearing this.
He reached up to touch the bloodstains on his face, squinted his eyes, and began to ponder inwardly.
“Could it be that Lord Zhu has also recruited the pirates from Jiwu Village?” Mao Haifeng looked up and asked.
Apart from that, Mao Haifeng really could not think of any other reason.
He thought about it and could only conclude that Zhu Ping’an had recruited the pirates from Jiwu Village. The pirates from Jiwu Village had become allies, so he could not avenge himself and could not do anything to the newly joined Takeda Toshikawa.
But why would Zhu Ping’an recruit Takeda Toshikawa?
Was Takeda Toshikawa qualified?!
How would this place his adoptive father Wang Zhi? Any Tom, Dick, or Harry could be recruited on the same level as him?!
Moreover, Takeda Toshikawa had just raided his camp, and now Zhu Ping’an was recruiting him without considering his feelings?
Mao Haifeng suddenly felt a bit aggrieved in his heart.
“No, they are not worthy!” Zhu Ping’an shook his head and said without hesitation.
“Ah?” Mao Haifeng was even more confused.
If you haven’t recruited the pirates from Jiwu Village, then why say I can’t avenge myself?!
What other reason could there be?
It couldn’t be that Zhu Ping’an was afraid of the pirates from Jiwu Village, could it?! As soon as Mao Haifeng thought of this, he shook his head and dismissed it. Impossible, absolutely impossible. Zhu Ping’an wasn’t even afraid of his adoptive father Wang Zhi; how could he fear the small pirates from Jiwu Village?
He could not figure it out, so Mao Haifeng had no choice but to clasp his fists helplessly and ask Zhu Ping’an for guidance. “Please enlighten me, Lord Zhu.”
“The reason you can’t seek revenge on Takeda Toshikawa is because,” Zhu Ping’an paused here. Under Mao Haifeng’s eager gaze, he continued, “because Takeda Toshikawa has already been killed by our forces. This fellow was commanding from the high hill in the east of the village and was blocked by our men. To prevent any mishaps, we fired a round from the tiger squat cannon. This old boy was hit directly; his skull shattered, with red and white matter scattered on the ground.”
“Good, that’s great. It’s just that he died too quickly, which lets him off easy. Otherwise, I would have tortured him properly and let him experience the eighteen kinds of torture.”
Upon hearing this, Mao Haifeng’s expression changed in a second from aggrieved to excited, thrilled, and regretful.
However, once he thought that Takeda Toshikawa was dead, he thought of the wealth accumulated by the Takeda family in Jiwu Village over two generations. His eyes lit up as he said, “Lord Zhu, with Takeda Toshikawa dead and his men either killed or fled, Jiwu Village must be vulnerable now. Let’s send troops quickly and completely annihilate Jiwu Village! The Takeda father and son have operated Jiwu Village for over twenty years, engaging in burning, killing, and plundering without restraint. They must have hidden a large amount of wealth in the village, which should belong to you and me. The fleeing pirates from Jiwu Village won’t be able to transfer much wealth in a short time. We can’t let outsiders benefit.”
With the accumulation of the Takeda family in Jiwu Village over two generations and more than twenty years, Mao Haifeng believed he could restore his strength in no time.
With silver, why worry about not recruiting pirates? There were plenty of large and small pirate groups along the coast. As long as he was willing to spend money, it would be easy to recruit a batch of pirates.
Alternatively, if he did not want to fill numbers with riff-raff, he could use silver to buy elite pirates from other ship captains.
