On the other side, Xie Miao’er hadn’t even had time to be shocked by the fall of the two guards when the back of her neck took a solid blow. She lost consciousness instantly.
Perhaps it was the cold wind, or for some other reason, her mind cleared faster than usual. Before she even had the strength to lift her eyelids, her awareness had already returned, and she began to think.
She had been taken away? Where were these people planning to take her?
Amid the violent jostling, Xie Miao’er instinctively wanted to open her eyes.
However, she held back.
Xie Miao’er knew that if she pretended to still be unconscious, perhaps these people would lower their guard against her.
So, she kept her eyes tightly shut, feigning unconsciousness, and quietly perked up her ears to listen to the sounds around her.
“What kind of cursed day is this?”
“What are you saying? Who would rob people in broad daylight?”
“Damn it, such bad luck to run into tough nuts…”
“What kind of formation was that?”
…
Xie Miao’er listened intently, trying to pick out any useful information.
She couldn’t understand the gibberish the Wokou were speaking. Apart from the one pretending to be a fake Wokou, there was likely another person who was a Yong Dynasty native.
The four of them managed to have a conversation using two different languages, but it was all a mix of swearing and rambling, with no real substance other than venting their frustrations.
Xie Miao’er could only piece together some useful bits of information:
Two people snuck onto the ship. They killed the crew leader and two helmsmen to stop the ship so that the Wokou could approach and raid it. Their original plan, as they had done before, was to kill everyone, steal the goods, then sink the ship by breaking through its hull, disguising it as a storm-related accident to destroy the evidence.
It wasn’t their first time doing such things, but this time they encountered Lu Huaihai.
Humans have blood and spirit, especially when their lives are on the line. The shipworkers, accustomed to hard labor, were strong, and there were many other travelers on board, people accustomed to traveling the world. Their numbers far exceeded the Wokou. Once organized, they launched a fierce counterattack against the pirates.
As Xie Miao’er listened, she thought to herself that they were indeed unlucky to have crossed paths with Lu Huaihai and were now destined to be among those buried by him.
The recounting of events by others made her heart pound with fear. She wondered if he had been injured this time…
Even though she herself was in dire straits, she was still thinking about him. Xie Miao’er was startled by her own thoughts.
Now was not the time to think about such things. She pushed the redundant thoughts out of her mind.
The vast martial world stretched endlessly, and this place was a hub of interconnected routes. She could not afford to be taken away like this.
She had to let Lu Huaihai know where she was so he could come to save her.
Xie Miao’er quietly moved her wrists.
Their conversation had not stopped, indicating her movements had gone unnoticed.
Xie Miao’er had already realized that she had been placed in the stern of a small boat. Judging from the wind brushing her face, she was likely tied at the rear of the boat, with the four people sitting not far from her.
Waves surged, and the small boat shook violently. With her eyes closed, Xie Miao’er took advantage of the situation to roll slightly outward, shifting her position sideways.
“Hey, the woman rolled off.”
“She won’t fall. Didn’t you tie her under the mast? What’s wrong, worried she’ll drink a couple more mouthfuls of river water?”
A burst of laughter.
Though this job hadn’t been successful, none of them had died, so the mood of the four captors wasn’t bad at all.
Xie Miao did, in fact, choke on several mouthfuls of water, which only made her mind even sharper.
The crudely made whistle, which had no merits besides being loud, had already slipped out from her lapel.
She decided to gamble on it.
In a flash, Xie Miao grabbed the whistle and, summoning all her strength, blew into it with all her might—
She blew so hard that her own ears hurt.
She didn’t know if it would work.
She didn’t know if she had woken up in time, whether she had already been taken too far, or if Lu Huaihai could even hear the whistle.
But she had to try. At worst, these people would throw her into the river out of rage.
If she were to be abducted without a trace, with the vast world before her, how could he ever find her?
That, too, would lead to certain death.
—
The four people on the boat weren’t deaf. Naturally, they realized what Xie Miao’er had just done.
“Pretending to be unconscious?”
The fake Wokou, Qiao Yuntong, finally turned his gaze to Xie Miao’er, who was curled up in the corner of the boat. A dangerous glint flashed in his eyes. “You’re even more interesting than I imagined.”
He reached out toward Xie Miao’er and directly snapped the red string holding the whistle, taking it in his hand and toying with it.
The Wokou behind him was far more impatient. He rolled up his sleeves and charged at Xie Miao’er, ready to throw a punch, but Qiao Yuntong raised a hand to stop him.
“If you break her, it won’t be fun anymore,” he said.
The rope around Xie Miao’er’s neck was also torn off, leaving a faint red mark on her skin. Xie Miao’er, however, paid no attention to the pain. She worked hard to maintain her composure, even taking the time to assess their expressions.
Beyond surprise, their eyes held a flicker of panic.
If they had already taken her far enough away, there was no reason for them to panic now.
This was a good sign. Xie Miao’er raised her head and asked calmly, “Are you going to kill me?”
Her tone was extremely composed, and her words came out deliberately, one by one: “If my location has already been exposed, you might as well spare my life. If someone comes after you, perhaps you can use me as a hostage.”
“This is your plan for survival?” Qiao Yuntong sneered.
Xie Miao’er knew that her little tricks were, at best, a display of quick thinking. Brute force would always win over wit, and she was merely struggling to survive.
But a fish flopping on land would still struggle—it was impossible for her to die without a fight.
Besides, she had worked so hard to live again.
“You overestimate yourself. Why do you think you’re important enough for anyone to chase after you or save you?”
Qiao Yuntong scrutinized her face, then casually tossed the whistle into the river. “Do you know how much a Wokou’s head is worth? At least fifty, if not a hundred taels! Of the twenty or so people left on the ship, your man is probably a soldier. His great exploits tonight will be enough to trade for a dozen beauties of any kind he wants. Why would he waste his time saving a little girl like you?”
In this, Xie Miao’er’s resolve was unshaken. After hearing such a long tirade, she actually felt more at ease.
“If you truly intended to kill me, you wouldn’t be saying so much to me.”
Qiao Yuntong was a man afraid of death, yet he lived a life of walking on the edge of a blade, snatching food from the tiger’s mouth. If he believed that carrying a statue of Guanyin could protect him, he would likely worship it fanatically.
What’s more, Xie Miao’s words held a sliver of truth.
He sneered coldly, not responding to Xie Miao’er’s words, and struck her again with a chop, knocking her unconscious once more.
This time, his hand was much harsher, leaving a large purple bruise blooming on her fair neck.
—
The sharp whistle pierced through the air, sweeping away the gray despair from Lu Huaihai’s face.
He flipped over the rail and once again picked up the spyglass. This time, knowing the approximate direction, he managed to spot a faint, distant dot.
The helmsman squinted toward the same direction and glanced at the compass. “Brother Lu, they’re heading back the way we came.”
Lu Huaihai leaped back to the ship’s edge. “Back to Jiaxing?”
The helmsman nodded. “Yes, that direction undoubtedly leads back to Jiaxing.”
Knowing their destination simplified matters. Lu Huaihai mulled it over, then asked, “Is there a chance they’re just feinting and might head somewhere else?”
The helmsman replied, “When the weather’s calm, perhaps, but tonight’s waves are roaring. If they try to take a detour along the riverbanks, they’d be courting death.”
Hearing this, Lu Huaihai clenched his fists tightly.
The crew leader and one helmsman had been killed. Fortunately, there was more than one helmsman on board. The remaining helmsman, Cao, had been asleep below deck during the attack and narrowly escaped harm. Now, he was at the helm, steering while sweating profusely.
As Lu Huaihai approached, Helmsman Cao said, “You don’t need to tell me; we were already planning to head back to Jiaxing. It’s the closest place to dock.”
Jiaxing had many piers. Since the fake Wokou chose to head back there, it was clear they had prior arrangements in place. The best plan would be to reach the docks before they arrived, find out where they moored, and intercept them. Otherwise, locating them could prove difficult.
If swimming back would have been faster than taking the ship, Lu Huaihai would have jumped into the river without hesitation. But…
It felt as if a fire was raging in his chest, leaving him speechless.
He cupped his fists toward Helmsman Cao in thanks, said nothing further, and turned to head back to the deck.
The rain hadn’t stopped. The blood on the deck had no chance to dry, flowing along the ship’s uneven surfaces and soaking into the scattered corpses.
The injured passengers and crew had been moved to the cabins for care. The Wokou’s bodies remained unattended, while the bodies of those who had died tragically, whether they still had loved ones or not, were dragged out of the rainwater by the surviving passengers and crew who couldn’t bear to see them left soaking.
Lu Huaihai unrolled a simple map of the waterways. Maps weren’t easily accessible to ordinary people, and even on merchant ships, the maps were crude at best. Most navigation relied on the memory of the crew leader and helmsmen.
Fortunately, Lu Huaihai had previously joined Meng Cheng’s squad and spent half a year hunting down Wokou. The terrains he had seen with his own eyes and the maps used by the military were all etched firmly in his mind.
With some difficulty, he summoned the elder helmsman, who described the waterways verbally. Based on the descriptions, Lu Huaihai sketched a winding shoreline on the table, marking one dock after another. Under the dim oil lamp, his face remained cold and composed, his eyes fixed on the docks as he eliminated those unsuitable for escape.
Finally, he circled seven potential docks.
Knock, knock.
Someone was at the door.
The round-faced woman outside walked in slowly.
Her name was Tang Yu, and she introduced herself directly. “My surname is Tang. My father is Tang Baichuan, the prefect of Jiaxing. You’re trying to save someone, aren’t you? I want to help you save her. If it weren’t for her earlier, we women would likely have died down below.”
Only then did Lu Huaihai raise his gaze.
His eyes were sharper than they had been during the earlier battle with the Wokou. Tang Yu was slightly startled and unconsciously took two steps back. Her maid quickly stepped forward to support her.
Lu Huaihai didn’t immediately trust her. Instead, he asked, “A prefect’s daughter, traveling on a merchant ship?”
Tang Yu was surprised that he could remain rational under these circumstances. She replied, “It’s a private matter, and I cannot disclose it. However, trust me just this once, and it won’t harm you. When we reach Jiaxing, if you need my help with anything, just ask. I’ll do whatever I can.”
She wasn’t boasting.
The merchant ship returned to Jiaxing overnight and arrived at the dock just as the sky began to lighten.
As soon as the ship docked, Tang Yu immediately sent someone to summon her father, the Prefect of Jiaxing, Tang Baichuan.
Before Tang Baichuan could even process the shock of his daughter’s sudden disappearance and reappearance, the brutal events aboard the merchant ship prompted him to urgently investigate the recent spate of missing ships over the past two years…
The black official hat that was not on his head shook.
Meanwhile, through Tang Yu’s relay, the seven docks that Lu Huaihai had marked were swiftly secured.
If the fishing nets were sealed off, no fish could enter.
The remaining dock was the only one left open—this was the gap Lu Huaihai had intentionally left for them.
—
Due to maritime restrictions, many goods originally meant to be transported by sea had to use river transport instead. This had led to a thriving canal trade, and sometimes, there would even be “ship traffic jams” when it got crowded.
There were many docks along the shore, and numerous large and small ships. The sounds of oars and sails filled the air, so loud that one had to shout to be heard by the person standing beside them.
Even with a distant view, it was hard to notice a small boat among the commotion.
“Something’s wrong with the docks ahead—there are a lot of people in black robes and dark clothing standing guard.”
“Let’s move ahead and take a look.”
Qiao Yuntong wasn’t surprised by this.
Their movements had been discovered. A large ship could never move as fast as their small boat, and by the time the news reached the capital city, security would likely have already been tightened to catch them.
“Brother Qiao, should we move ahead?”
“Yes, keep going. We can’t dock here.”
The further they went, the more tense their mood became, until they saw the Southern Wharf in the distance—the last dock they had planned to use. From far away, apart from the bustling merchants, there was no one guarding the dock.
“Looks like those bastards haven’t had time to set up here. Brother Qiao, let’s hurry up!”
Qiao Yuntong’s eyes narrowed as he gazed toward the Southern Wharf.
Could this be their escape route?
He lowered his head and glanced at the still unconscious Xie Miao.