Chapter 65: Encountering the Nemesis Again – Enemies Meet Once More + Childhood Friends’ Past + Lian Qing Assists… part 1
“Enemy attack!!!”
As the lookout’s voice faded, the cliffs on both sides of the waterway gradually narrowed, the river current turned turbulent, and the river’s surface constricted.
The Longchuan sailed completely into the river gorge.
And right at the other end of that long and narrow waterway—
A fast boat charged toward the Longchuan, shrinking the distance almost instantaneously!
The fast boat was shaped like a slender shuttle, taking minimal water resistance.
It carried twenty to thirty robust young men, all wearing only water trunks, rowing their oars with all their might to propel the boat forward.
Almost simultaneously, the Longchuan mounted its bows and crossbows!
The archers, who had been lying in ambush somewhere unknown just moments before, needed only an instant to prepare for battle upon hearing the alarm.
The falcon cried out. The generals from the main cabin rushed out of the door!
Lian Qing escorted the Emperor back inside the cabin, taking over the heavy responsibility of protecting him. “Bixia need not worry. Perhaps since the North-South navigation ban, Jiangnan water bandits are taking the opportunity to rob official ships. They must be mad for money…”
It didn’t seem like it.
A feathered arrow nailed into the cabin wall; Ying Xi analyzed the situation rationally.
Ying Xi thought: the official army had over twenty warships forming a continuous array on the river. Even if the water thieves had consumed the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard, they couldn’t possibly believe that with their single small fast boat, ants could devour an elephant and plunder all the official military supplies, could they?
If they weren’t water bandits…
Ying Xi’s heart suddenly skipped a beat: They were assassins.
The lookout nearly shouted himself hoarse: “Enemy boat approaching! Enemy boat approaching!”
Xie Qianli ordered the flag-bearer, “Move the rear to the front, block the enemy boat!”
The flag-bearer signaled with the flags.
The flags flapped crisply in the wind.
From the rear of the Longchuan, several warships swiftly and neatly maneuvered to the front. The Longchuan changed its direction and rapidly retreated.
However, the river gorge was truly too narrow, leaving no room for the ships to maneuver and evade.
Two ships could not sail side-by-side to shield the Longchuan.
The warships had no choice but to line up one behind the other, padding the front of the Longchuan sequentially, but the blocking effect of a single ship was ultimately suboptimal.
The slender fast boat brushed right past the warship, evaded it, and once again shortened its distance from the Longchuan.
They could not let the Longchuan become the last ship!
Otherwise, if the ship array stretched out over the narrow river surface, even if the ships at the front wanted to come to the rescue, they would be powerless to help by then.
— “Surround the enemy boat, seal off their retreat.”
The flag-bearer relayed the order once more.
Accompanied by the fluttering flag signals, those ships that had brushed past the enemy boat immediately changed direction and reversed back.
The sound of the river wind, shouts, and stray arrows mingled chaotically on the river surface, blending with the loud work chants of the strongmen stepping on the water wheels inside the ships.
Several official ships completely blocked the fast boat’s retreat!
The fast boat was like a small rabbit falling into the lair of a giant beast; although swift, it was useless.
The fleet of ships squeezed the small boat from both the front and rear.
It couldn’t fly away even if it were given wings!
Lian Qing was overjoyed.
Lian Qing’s voice vibrated so loudly it made the main cabin buzz: “Look quickly, Bixia! Once the two sides engage, naval warfare turns into land warfare. As long as our army boards their ship, victory is right before our…”
“…eyes?”
Who knew that the twenty or so shirtless men wearing water trunks on the fast boat, seeing the Longwujun boarding their ship, would leap straight into the river water, churning the river’s waves.
Lian Qing’s thick eyebrows shot up, suddenly feeling completely baffled.
That fast boat emptied out in an instant, leaving only the hull rocking and swaying.
The Longwujun naturally had to quickly seize control of the enemy ship; the soldiers immediately boarded the deck of the fast boat, and the two sides engaged in close-quarters combat.
The remaining enemies on the fast boat had excellent martial skills. They all wielded fast swords; the blades were thin, the bodies narrow, and the overall length short, perfectly suited for the needs of a surprise attack.
The boarding Longwujun soldiers wore heavy armor, their defense maxed out, but they suffered a great disadvantage in agility. Once the enemy got close, it boded ill for them.
Before long, some soldiers fell into the water, and more troops went to support them. The battle gradually concentrated in the most chaotic center of the river.
Lian Qing stood inside the cabin, gazing outward. He stood in front of the Emperor, leaving a viewing spot for Bixia.
Lian Qing reported, “Rest assured, Bixia. There are only a few water bandits left; no matter how fierce they are, they are no match for our army.”
“Moreover, General Xie has orders to protect Bixia. Even if he has to lay down his own life, he will not let Bixia lose half a strand of hair!”
“…”
These words were so overly sentimental that Lian Qing intuitively felt they burned his mouth.
Under such a tense battle situation, Lian Qing actually still found the time to express strange loyalty on behalf of his superior.
He turned back; Ying Xi’s brow was slightly furrowed.
Lian Qing immediately felt extremely guilty, ultimately unable to figure out exactly what was going on between those two.
Lian Qing quickly changed the subject: “Bixia should continue watching the naval battle.”
“!!!”
Outside the main cabin, a figure moved as swiftly as a ghost.
The assassin’s movement technique was incredibly fast, appearing almost out of thin air, looking practically like a residual shadow.
In that instant, the gleam of a sword illuminated the cabin. The cold radiance traced from Ying Xi’s chin up to the tip of his nose.
“Die, Ying Xi—”
Caught off guard, Lian Qing drew his saber to parry: When did this person sneak onto the Longchuan???
Lian Qing didn’t know that just when everyone else was watching the naval battle, this person took the opportunity to board the ship, relying on Qinggong (lightness skill) to reach the outside of the main cabin door.
The assassin wouldn’t explain, and there was no time to explain.
In the instant the assassin closed in, Ying Xi had no choice but to retreat!
However, the cabin door’s width was limited, leaving no room to dodge.
Lian Qing’s saber strike was too late to rescue him.
At this moment, the assassin’s face fell into Ying Xi’s eyes: an ordinary-looking middle-aged man, short and thin, with a hunched chest and back.
Ying Xi didn’t know this person.
Yet, lingering around the other party was a sensation as familiar as a gangrenous ulcer attached to the bone.
It was as if several poisoned needles were instantly thrusting toward him from all directions; this person actually awakened a long-lost terror in Ying Xi, making his feet feel as though they had taken root.
“Bixia!” Lian Qing lost his voice.
Then, between the assassin and the Emperor, a snow-bright silver radiance swept across—the Youlong E separated the two!
The Youlong E brought with it a heavy, muffled thud.
The forceful momentum caused it to emit a buzzing sound as it pierced through the main cabin and nailed its spearhead into the cabin wall.
The assassin was halted as a result.
It turned out to be Xie Qianli throwing his weapon; in less than the blink of an eye, he had already made up for Lian Qing’s delayed saber strike.
Lian Qing could now reach the assassin’s back.
“Watch the saber!”
That assassin had two choices: either take a step forward to kill the Emperor and then be killed by Lian Qing, perishing together.
Or immediately deal with Lian Qing and temporarily let the Emperor go.
Since this assassin had just given up advancing because of the Youlong E, he naturally valued his own life.
Someone who cherishes their life easily makes a reaction.
Yet he neither killed the Emperor nor counterattacked Lian Qing.
Appearing to deal with the inside of the cabin, his figure actually drifted backward, and in an instant, he had already reached the deck.
Lian Qing shouted loudly: “He’s going to kill the General!!!”
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