gnovel Chapter 90 The First Archer of Taicang
Chapter 90 The First Archer of Taicang
Chapter 90 The First Archer of Taicang
On the first day of the second intercalary month, the fleet spotted the Chizhou wharf in the distance, but did not stop, instead continuing its journey.
The reason is simple: from the day they left Digang, several small boats followed far behind, not too close and not too slow—the fleet that Shao Shuyi and his group had originally been following on the river had docked at Digang, and now they were alone.
Shao Shuyi wasn't sure if the fleet of four small fishing boats intended to travel together, but it's always good to be prepared for the worst.
Yu Yuan was very nervous.
He placed two fire flasks filled with tinder at his feet. Within easy reach were also tinder and fuses.
If anyone dares to force their way onto the ship, he can fire a shot from his flintlock pistol. At extremely close range, firing three or four bullets, it's hard to miss.
This was arranged by Shao Shuyi.
He was actually a little nervous. If the person who came was a bandit leader with high martial arts skills, he would definitely lose in a face-to-face fight. If nothing unexpected happened, he, Shao, would die under the blade in less than three rounds.
But it's okay, I have fire.
This wasn't land, but the river. Even such a simple action as the two boats approaching each other was quite slow, let alone jumping ship—or rather, crawling, because the Drilling Sea Loach's hull was quite high.
He refused to believe that any martial arts master would dare to climb a ship with the courage of having a "shotgun" shot in their face.
Four iron pellets are launched at a distance of one or two meters, or two or three meters. The pellets undergo Brownian motion. The denser the population, the more casualties there will be. Who gets hit and who doesn't depends entirely on their luck, because the launcher doesn't know who will be hit.
Come on, if you dare!
Uh, it seems they really have come.
Shao Shuyi took the strung bow in his hand, got a feel for it, and then took a light arrow with a slender tip from the quiver and nocked it on the string.
Tie Niu took a pot lid and brought it close to Shao Shuyi.
"Don't block my view, I can't see, you blockhead," Shao Shuyi scolded helplessly.
Without saying a word, Tie Niu moved the pot lid to the side.
The Wind-Drilling Loach slowed down a little.
Wu Heizi, accompanied by a butcher's son, rushed to the stern of the boat and stood beside the helmsman who was steering.
There are two bulkheads at the stern, level with the chest, located on either side and directly above the rudder, with a hole in the middle for the rudder to be installed.
Actually, boarding the ship is not very realistic.
The reason is that although the sea bream has a shallow draft, it is designed as a sea vessel with a considerable curvature and a relatively high position. Rather than struggling with that aspect, it is better to find a solution from the hull.
"Heave ho! Heave ho!" The oarsmen on the two canal boats shouted in unison, rowing vigorously, and gradually overtook the slowing-down sea bream, turning the triangular formation into an inverted triangular one.
At this point, the wind drilling ship had become a rearguard escort.
A commotion gradually rose on the ship.
Some cursed, some were surprised and suspicious, and some even shouted that they wanted to fight the thieves.
Kong Tie paced back and forth, shouting loudly with a stern face, but to little avail.
Shao Shuyi showed no surprise.
He knew that too many new people had been recruited this time. They might be the best among the seafarers, daring and hardworking—after all, Kong Tie wouldn't know them if they didn't have some reputation—but they were too undisciplined and lacked organizational discipline.
Of course, this is also related to the fact that Shao's prestige is not yet established, and this will take time.
The fishing boats opposite gradually caught up, located to the left and rear of the Drill Wind Loach. They were lightly loaded, while our boat was heavily loaded, so their speed was naturally not comparable.
Shao Shuyi had already seen that there were four or five people standing on the other fishing boat, all holding weapons, but they looked quite varied and mixed.
Of the five people, some were carrying harpoons, some were carrying fishing nets, and some were carrying short knives—Shao Shuyi suspected they were for killing fish.
Only one old man and one young man had good weapons. The old man was nearly fifty years old and held a ring-handled knife, while the young man was fifteen or sixteen years old and had an iron sword hanging at his waist, which was already drawn.
Clearly, these are bandits, the kind who specialize in robbing merchants on the water.
Shao Shuyi snorted coldly, drew his bow and stepped out of the cabin. He stepped onto the top of the compartment, lowered his waist and took a step. Without any words, he aimed at the old man on the opposite ship, preparing to kill one of them to establish his authority.
"Whoosh!" The arrow flew out, grazed the old man's head, and fell into the water on the other side of the fishing boat.
"Damn it! I missed!" Shao Shuyi cursed inwardly. His hands were too cold; it was normal that he hadn't found his rhythm with the first arrow.
"Old man, get lost!" Although he missed, Shao Shuyi was not bothered at all and said, "This is just a warning. The next arrow won't be so easy."
Tie Niu, with a pot lid in one hand and a ring knife in the other, crouched down and walked over to cover Shao Shuyi's chest and abdomen.
Yu Yuan held the fire-wielding staff, looked at it again and again, and finally sighed.
This time, he finally understood what it meant to be powerless to help someone who was too far away.
Compared to the bow and arrow, the musket still couldn't shoot far enough.
The old man on the opposite boat was clearly startled and darted into the thatched shed on the fishing boat like a rabbit.
The others erupted in chaos, some lying down, others taking cover.
Shao Shuyi turned halfway around and shot an arrow at the fishing boat approaching from his right rear.
Water splashed, and the arrow landed half a step in front of the bow of the boat.
The ship suddenly slowed down.
Two dark-skinned fishermen who were standing at the bow immediately rolled backward into the hold upon seeing this, and carefully observed the situation.
Shao Shuyi, positioned high above, took aim and then fired the third arrow.
The arrow flew in an arc and landed on the exposed half of the fisherman's body.
"Pfft!" The arrow pierced his thigh, and blood immediately seeped out.
The fishermen cried out in pain, screaming in agony.
A person rushed out of the shed and desperately pulled him back inside.
The other person, still shaken, scrambled and crawled into the shed in a disheveled state.
Shao Shuyi turned around again and looked at the fishing boat to his left rear.
Everyone hid and secretly watched through the windows of the thatched hut.
"Whoosh!" The fourth arrow flew out and entered through the window.
Terrified screams erupted from inside the thatched hut, followed by a violent collision that shook the entire boat.
"Stop fighting! Stop fighting!" shouted aloud from inside the thatched hut.
The fishermen at the stern were steering the boat with all their might, and the boat began to turn, trying to break free from contact.
"Brother Shao! Hurry and chase after them."
"Kill them!"
"He's bullying Grandpa, kill him!"
"Don't kill him all at once, I need to make him suffer a bit."
The fishermen rushed over, chattering amongst themselves.
"What kind of behavior is this, making such a racket?" Shao Shuyi rebuked, putting away his bow.
The commotion gradually subsided.
"Don't you understand the principle of not pursuing a cornered enemy?" Shao Shuyi said. "They're running fast; we might not be able to catch them. Besides—"
Shao Shuyi pointed to the reeds and harbor in the distance and said, "The thieves' boats are light and agile. If they hide inside, it will be difficult for us to pursue them. If we fall into their trap, our large ships will be defeated by the thieves' small boats. Wouldn't that be a waste?"
Of course, his statement was not entirely untrue. The group of thieves in front of him were clearly not professionals; they were obviously impoverished fishermen who, due to the deteriorating world, could not survive and were resorting to desperate measures to "hunt for food."
Without armor, bows, or suitable military equipment, and with insufficient training, even if forced into a corner, they would most likely win; it was simply that Shao Shuyi didn't want to pursue them.
However, the boatmen thought it made sense.
"Shao She is right. Once you rush into the harbor, they disappear in a few turns; how are you supposed to find them?"
"Indeed. The harbor isn't wide enough; even if a sea bream could make it in, it would be a real problem if it ran aground."
"Although canoes can enter the canal, it's probably difficult to turn around. If someone sets it on fire, then we're finished."
"Shao She, you were incredibly brave today, repelling four ships with four arrows. I'll listen to you."
Shao Shuyi extended his hand.
One by one, everyone fell silent and stopped talking.
"Go back and take your boats, and don't worry about anything else," he instructed.
"Yes."
"Okay."
"Huh? Oh! I see."
"Shao She, you're in charge."
The boatmen responded in a jumbled mess.
"May I ask which hero of the water is this?" A loud voice rang out from the fishing boat that had already turned around to leave.
Suddenly seized by a joking mood, Shao Shuyi loudly proclaimed, "Shao Shuyi, the number one archer in Taicang!"
There was no further sound from the fishing boat as it sped away.
Further away, three fishing boats had already converged. After picking up this one, they turned northeast and slowly disappeared into the horizon.
******
As the sun set, its dark red rays gradually spilled onto the river, turning it into a blood-red hue.
On the rolling river, four boats, as graceful as swimming fish, zigzaggled and soon sailed into a tributary on the north bank.
They didn't dare linger there. They found a family living on the water, got some medicine for wounds, and hastily treated their companion's wounds. Then they headed north overnight and arrived in Chaoxian County a few days later, where they moored inside the Chaohu Dam.
"Quick! Go and fetch Peng Zu! The wound medicine is useless; it's festering!" The old man jumped off the boat, struggling on the muddy ground, and shouted.
Upon hearing this, someone on the embankment said, "Peng Zu has gone to spread his teachings; he'll probably be hard to find."
"What am I going to do! If something happens to you after you come out with me, how am I supposed to explain this?" The old man stood there, looking dejected.
"Have you run into a tough opponent?" the man on the embankment asked in surprise.
"Hmm." The old man nodded and said, "In the past, when we encountered cargo ships, we would surround them and draw our weapons. My legs would go weak, and with a charge and a fight, we could take them down in no time. This time, the ship had powerful bows and crossbows, and every arrow was deadly. If the ship hadn't held back, Li Zhi would probably have been pierced through the back of the heart by an arrow."
The man on the embankment fell silent. After a moment, he sighed, "This is fate."
As they were talking, another fishing boat rowed by, its hold full of catch.
"Brother Liao!" The old man waved his arms and shouted as soon as he saw the fishing boat.
Hearing the sound, the fishing boat made a turn and slowly approached.
A man emerged from the cabin, laughing, "Did you catch any fish? Come, let me see how many pounds they weigh. Is it a hundred pounds? I'll take them all."
The man who came was named Liao Yong'an. He was a fisherman from the southern part of Chaohu Lake. He fished for himself and was also a fishmonger. Local fishmongers liked to sell their fish to him because he offered fair prices and had connections in the county, so their fish could be sold easily.
"Brother Liao, do you have connections with Master Yu? Please, he has a doctor at home, quickly ask him to come and take a look at the illness. Li Zhi was shot by an arrow, and the wound medicine is not working. He has a fever and is talking nonsense now," the old man said anxiously.
Liao Yong'an was startled upon hearing this.
After the boat approached, he moved closer to the old man's fishing boat, leaped aboard, lifted the reed curtain, and entered the cabin.
Just as the old man said, Li Zhi lay on the deck, drowsy and muttering to himself.
Liao Yong'an's gaze shifted downwards, and he noticed a noticeable wound on Li Zhi's right groin, red, swollen, and oozing pus—a shocking sight.
"Brother Liao—" All eyes turned to him.
Without hesitation, Liao Yong'an immediately said, "We can't heal this injury. We'll go find Master Yu right now."
"Yu Yuanwai" was a Mongol, born into the Yuliboyawu clan, a nobleman of the Yuan Dynasty.
Yu Yuanwai's father, Buqatemur, served as marshal and privy councilor, and was granted the title of Prince of Wuchuan.
Nine years ago, the Yu family moved south to Luzhou Road to escape political turmoil and changed their surname to Yu.
Although they were from out of town, they were of Mongol royal lineage and were not like ordinary people. As a result, a new local tyrant emerged in Luzhou Road, with a deeper foundation than the average tyrant. His household not only had female entertainers, but also various craftsmen and even doctors.
Liao Yong'an often delivered fish to his house, so they did have some kind of friendship.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Brother Liao had agreed.
Liao Yong'an nodded, then asked, "Who shot and wounded Li Zhi?"
"His surname is Shao, I didn't catch his given name, but he claims to be the best archer in Taicang," someone replied.
Liao Yong'an nodded and told everyone to row to the Yu family's house.