novelSusiti Chapter 253 Murder and Arson
Chapter 253 Murder and Arson
Chapter 253 Murder and Arson (Bonus Chapter 2 for the Alliance Leader's Tears of Longing)
At 9:00 PM, on a painted boat.
The waning moon peeked out from behind the dark clouds again, hanging in the southeast corner. Its light was dim, like a half-eaten pancake. The light that fell was mixed with the mist on the river surface, turning into a grayish-white blur.
The north wind was stronger than during the day, blowing down from the upper reaches of the Qinhuai River, sweeping across the remaining rooftops of Waguan Temple, making a howling sound.
The painted boat was brightly lit.
The larger boat had six ram's horn lanterns hanging in a row along its gunwale, their lights casting long, fragmented shadows on the water. Brighter light shone from the second-floor windows, and shadowy figures could be seen moving behind the curtains. The clinking of cups was carried by the wind, intermittent and mingled with the melodies of string and wind instruments.
The smaller boat, adorned with only two lanterns, was quietly moored diagonally behind the larger ship, with a cable extending from it and tied to the ship's side.
Cheng Ji crouched behind the stone pillar of the abandoned pavilion, shrinking his body into the shadows.
He had been standing guard here for almost an hour; his legs were starting to go numb, but he dared not move. The dilapidated roof of the pavilion blocked out the moonlight, and from the outside, it appeared as nothing more than a shadow slightly darker than the night itself.
Cheng Ji turned his head and glanced at the withered grass on both sides of the abandoned pavilion.
I can't see anything.
The brothers Fu Jian and Fu Yong lay in the darkness, covered with withered grass and reed mats, blending into the hillside.
On the slope below the abandoned pavilion, Li Fu and his men had already laid an ambush. The area was covered with miscellaneous trees and weeds, perfect for concealment.
The stone steps were on the opposite bank of the river, quite far away, and apart from a few lights outside the shacks, nothing could be seen.
But Cheng Ji knew that Shao She was leading people that way.
Twenty men, clad in armor and wielding weapons, were determined to wipe out the thieves in one fell swoop and then find a way to rush towards the pleasure boat.
Where is Bian Yuanheng's team?
Cheng Ji's gaze swept across the river. It was too dark to see clearly, and he couldn't hear anything either.
He withdrew his gaze, raised his hand to touch the hilt of the ring-handled sword at his waist, and then inspected the bow he had used for many years.
Now we can only wait.
The second quarter of Hai (9:00-11:00).
The music on the painted boat stopped, and the clinking of cups and goblets became sparse, replaced by the sounds of people.
Someone was talking and laughing loudly in the cabin. Their voices were muffled and it was hard to understand what they were saying, but you could tell they were heavily intoxicated.
Cheng Ji stared wide-eyed, using his relatively good eyesight to carefully distinguish the details.
Three shadows were visible through the second-layered window screen; two were sitting, and one was standing. The standing figure was burly with broad shoulders and was pouring wine for the two seated men.
Zhu Chen?
Cheng Ji had never met Zhu Chen in person, but he had heard of him: a man in his early forties, tall and imposing, whose shadow matched the one he was standing in.
But it's only a matter of body shape matching —
He continued to wait patiently, even taking a few arrows out of his quiver and placing them within easy reach.
Another cup of tea's time passed.
The door on the first floor of the pleasure boat opened, and three people stepped out. Two of them were dressed as guards, with swords at their waists, while the third was dressed in a scholar's robe and looked like a manager. The three stood at the bow of the boat, looked towards the shore for a while, and then the manager turned and went back to his cabin, while the two guards remained at the bow.
Cheng Ji noticed that the ship's guard also stood up and grabbed the wooden club that was leaning against the ship's side.
Clearly, this is an increase in staff.
His heart tightened slightly. After a few rounds of drinks, more guards were deployed. Could Zhu Chen be leaving? That shouldn't be the case; he'd only been there a little over an hour.
Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out downstream from the pleasure boat.
Cheng Ji looked in the direction of the sound and saw the sound of arrows piercing the air suddenly emanating from the dark river surface. Almost at the same time, two screams, one loud and one soft, rang out, interspersed with the faint sound of someone falling into the water with a "plop".
He knew that it was Bian Yuanheng's team of seven people rowing over in a famous cargo boat. This was a bit absurd. Although they had set off early, they were going upstream and arrived earlier than another cargo boat going downstream.
The shouts and commotion grew louder and louder.
Soon, a third scream rang out, followed by a thud.
There was movement on the small pleasure boat. Someone came out of the cabin, looked around, and even shouted a few words. When they saw the canal boat, their expression changed.
Just then, the cable connecting the large pleasure boat snapped, and the small pleasure boat drifted downstream, eliciting shouts from those on board.
An angry man crawled out of the cabin, only to find the mooring ropes broken. He then crawled back in and ordered the boatmen to immediately put down their oars and adjust the boat's direction.
"Whoosh!" Several rockets shot out from the cargo ship in the night sky.
One of them was blown into the water by a strong wind.
A shot hit the gunwale, the fire flickered, and then went out.
One shot hit the porthole and immediately ignited the window paper.
The last shot hit the top of the small painted boat, emitting a puff of blue smoke before slowly igniting something on the roof.
Shouts and calls echoed from the cargo ships.
With flushed faces, the seven men struggled to adjust their course, and as they passed the small painted boat, they all stopped rowing.
The three men suddenly stood up and threw six small earthenware jars filled with kerosene over.
A crisp cracking sound rang out, and a faint smell of kerosene drifted across the river.
The other four men launched their rockets one after another.
The people on the small pleasure boat were filled with shock and anger. Two of them drew their bows and shot them out of the portholes.
One shot missed, while the other hit one of the crew members on the cargo ship.
At such a short distance, the leather armor was no match for the sharp arrow, which pierced right through the skin.
More thugs arrived at both ends of the boat, wielding sharp blades and their faces full of anger.
Some men brandished grappling hooks, seemingly trying to hook onto the cargo boats and engage in boarding action—they had a large crew and were confident of success.
"Bang!" Orange flames suddenly lit up on the cargo ship.
In an instant, four bullets flew out of the tube, causing terrifying damage on the opposite side: two people fell to the ground, howling incessantly, while one person, who seemed to have some knowledge, spotted the fire tube in the firelight, was terrified, and jumped into the river without thinking, where he was now shivering from the cold.
Several more oil canisters were thrown over, shattering and spilling oil everywhere.
Rockets followed one after another, and flames leaped up and began to "wander" on the deck.
After successfully creating chaos, the remaining six "men" continued rowing towards the large pleasure boat.
Amidst the constant commotion on the small pleasure boat, more than ten people rushed about fetching water to extinguish the fire, and for a moment, no one was rowing. The boat drifted downstream slowly but resolutely with the current.
******
"Go!" Shao Shuyi saw it from the shore, drew his bow, and gave the order.
Holding a sword and shield, Zeng Yi leaped from his hiding place, taking the lead.
The rest of the men also got up and rushed out of the dark alley, heading straight for the stone steps diagonally opposite.
There were seven people in total, inside and outside the shack beside the stone steps. They were all staring blankly at the river where the sounds of fighting were still going on, and they were all at a loss.
Zhu He, the team leader, was the most anxious. He came to the bottom of the stone steps, almost touching the water, and craned his neck to look at a boat that was rowing towards the large painted barge. It was too dark on the river to see the shape of the boat clearly, and he didn't know how many people were on it. He could only feel that a blurry black shadow was getting closer and closer.
"Thieves! Assassins! Someone wants to harm Brother Zhu!" Zhu He shouted loudly, his voice carrying far across the river.
The people on the large pleasure boat didn't need to be reminded; they had already seen the battle scene long ago.
They sent one person inside to report.
The manager came out quickly, squinted at him for a moment, his expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly went up to the second floor of the painted boat.
Zhu He's expression grew increasingly anxious.
The grand pleasure boat was lavishly decorated, and its decks were covered with expensive carpets, all of which were highly flammable. With the arrival of the thieves' rockets, it was unimaginable what would happen.
If we set sail immediately and row upstream, or even come to this shore, we might still have a chance to escape.
"Whoosh!" The first rocket soared high into the air, arced through the air, and landed on the large painted boat.
Zhu He's expression tightened.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!" The sound of air being torn apart came one after another, interspersed with screams.
Zhu He was stunned. He hadn't seen the rocket fly out. Where did this arrow come from?
"Ah!" A scream rang out from not far away.
Oh no! There are thieves on the shore too.
Zhu He suddenly turned around and strode up the stone steps. He had only leaned halfway out when he was bumped into by a corpse.
He was filled with shock and anger. He threw the body aside with all his might. Just as he got up, he saw two more people tumbling down the stone steps, half of their bodies submerged in the water.
Two swordsmen and shieldmen came into his view.
They were clad in armor, their ring-hilted swords gleaming in the firelight. Upon seeing him, they quickened their pace and rushed towards him.
Zhu He was struck by the heavy shield and immediately lost his footing, staggering back several steps before finally losing his balance and tumbling down the stone steps.
The icy river water seeped into his collar, jolting him awake. He had barely mustered the strength to stand up when he was slammed into the river by the large shield, tumbling right back into the water.
At the moment of impact, I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen, as if I had been pricked by something. Fortunately, my winter coat was thick, so the prick wasn't hard.
But the cotton-padded coat was both his strength and his weakness. Zhu He soon felt ice-cold all over his body, his body felt incredibly heavy, and he began to fall.
He instinctively tried to take off his cotton-padded coat, but in his panic, it wasn't that easy.
After thrashing about on the river surface for a while, it slowly sank.
Shao Shuyi rushed to the top of the stone steps, glancing past the corpses lying haphazardly inside and outside the shack, and stared intently at the large painted boat on the river.
Flames were already leaping up on the pleasure boat, and the panicked voices of men and women rose and fell.
He looked upstream again, and the boat that Bian Yuanheng was on finally arrived late.
They lit a lamp at the bow of the boat and made a great commotion by shouting and yelling.
Unfortunately, the two small awning boats he arranged have yet to arrive, and have not been found in time.
The people on the large painted boat seemed to have noticed that the stone steps had been captured and they could no longer approach this way. Meanwhile, the sounds of drums and shouts of battle came from upstream. It was difficult to see clearly in the darkness, and they had no idea how many enemy ships were coming.
They now have to make a choice.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!" Several more rockets were fired from the cargo ship, adding two more ignition points to the large painted boat.
The fire was fueled by the wind, and with flammable materials everywhere, thick smoke quickly rose, exacerbating the chaos.
The remaining six men on the cargo ship were extremely excited, shooting arrows as they approached.
Just then, orange flames also lit up on the large pleasure boat, and a musket was fired instantly. The bullet struck the boat, and two screams rang out.
The rocket fire stopped, but the fire on the large pleasure boat intensified.