Chapter 117 – The Pursuit (Middle)

White mist like cow’s milk lay gently on the sea surface, the surrounding area was quiet, only the sound of water waves moving gently came faintly from a short distance away. The sound became clearer and clearer as the three warships broke through the fog like ghosts, gradually revealing the entire body of the black hull.

Xu Mocai stood at the bow of the ship, explaining something in a low voice with the school officials under his command. This line of three ships led the order to pursue the manhunt north along the coastline, and it didn’t take long to reach the designated location. This place was about twelve miles away from Tanyu, and the white-sailed vessel of the Inspectorate was docked at the wharf south of Tanyu.

Covered by thick fog, these three ships could approach the Inspectorate’s ship unnoticed, however, this also brought unforeseen troubles to their search. At this point in time, the soldiers of the Marine Division already knew that the man in black who had escaped from Dadong Mountain during the night was the target of this trip, Fan Xian, the Premier of the Supervisory Yuan. They weren’t sure why their superiors had sent their own men to Tanyu South, because they didn’t know that Yan Xiaoyi had concluded that Fan Xian would surely get in touch with his cronies on this white sailing ship within the first hour after he got out of trouble.

Fan Xian wore a somewhat wide piece of personal clothing that wrapped his black nightclothes and equipment. He hid in the front stateroom of the warship and did not worry about being discovered by those on board. His eyes peered out through the cracks in the window pane, squinting slightly as his mind worried about the ship on the other side of the fog.

The three ships were traveling north on the sea, keeping an excellent distance from the coastline, and Xu Mocai had tried several times to get the ships closer to the coast, but was worried that the movements would be too great and arouse the suspicion of his pursuers, so Fan Xian had not even been able to make it to the shore during this hour.

Fan Xian also thought about escaping alone, but he was uneasy about the ministry that remained in Tanya South. There was still a squad of Qiyan’s group left on the ship, and Hong Changqing, whom he liked very much, was still in charge of the affairs of that ship, and at this time, once the three naval warships in pursuit surrounded him, if he ran away, what would happen to the lives and deaths of those subordinates?

He wondered if Yan Xiaoyi was amongst the three ships, and a wave of anger and helplessness welled up in his heart. He had always thought that he had been lucky to the extreme, only to realize at this moment that such a thing as luck was originally a double-edged sword.

If he didn’t show himself, that ship of the Inspectorate would definitely become the primary target of the sailors, and none of the people on board would be able to survive.

If all three ships were under Xu Maocai’s control, Fan Xian certainly had better ways to deal with them. The problem was that Governor Qin Yi did not make this mistake, and the three warships were transferred out from under each of the three Benefactor Admirals.

More to the point, Fan Xian did not think that Yan Xiaoyi would be so negligent as to do so, and if the other party thought that he would go in search of the Ministry of the Supervisory Court in Tanyu South after his escape, how could he not follow him?

He sat down on a chair by the window and regulated his breathing, knowing that he was about to face a dilemma – Yan Xiaoyi had mobilized his troops to fight strongly against Tanyu Nan, which was forcing him to show himself with the lives of his own subordinates – it was only that Yan Xiaoyi had guessed that he was hiding on a ship long ago, but did not know which ship he was on. He just didn’t know which ship he was on, and it wasn’t convenient for him to search it without giving face to the Jiaozhou sailors.

The problem is that Fan Xian does not know which ship Yan Xiaoyi is on. It would be good if he knew.

The white fog is getting thicker, but the sea breeze is getting stronger, gradually will be as thick as mountain cloud like fog scrape whisked to both sides, through the window, can vaguely see the shore of the cliffs and those green trees. And quietly moored in the sea, there is like a virgin white sailboat as beautiful and lovely, that accompanied Fan Xian for a long time white sailboat, also gradually reflected in the eyes of the crowd.

Fan Xian’s heart tightened, the shore of the cliffs and green trees on his temptation is too great, if you give up that boat, directly ashore, even if Yan Xiaoyi at this time in the boat, ashore pursuit, he is confident that there is also a 60% chance to escape, mixed into the sea of people, straight to Kyoto.

But …… that ship is more tempting to Fan Xian, and the lives and deaths of the subordinates on that ship are also important to Fan Xian. In the final analysis, in his two lives, he still hadn’t cultivated to Chen Pingping’s kind of realm – he had to board that ship, and he had to remind his subordinates who were still immersed in their sleep before the sailor rebels launched their offensive.

The sound of tightening nooses gradually resounded from the three sailor warships. Fan Xian’s heart tightened again, knowing that the stone throwers fitted to the ships were making preparations. The people on the white sailing ship in the distance, however, were obviously deep in the heart of the country of Qing and had no bigwigs to protect, thus appearing to be somewhat relaxed in their vigilance and not noticing the strange movements in the sea.

The pupils of Fan Xian’s eyes narrowed slightly, and with a flick of his fingertips, he beckoned Xu Maocai back into the cabin, whispering a few times as he prepared to gamble.

The three warships followed a zigzag pattern, slowly encircling the vessel where the Supervisory Yuan was located, and when there was still some distance to go, the warship where Xu Maocai was located suddenly seemed to be agitated by the waves, and the helmsman’s maneuvering had some problems, and the angle of the bow of the ship had some deviation.

The rebel generals on the other two ships frowned slightly, thinking that General Xu had been out of battle for a long time and had made such a mistake, but looking at the target that hadn’t alerted the shore, they didn’t take it to heart.

It was this momentary oversight.

Snapping a muffled sound, seems to be the sound of some kind of heavy instrument triggering, followed by a white mist of the seashore resounded a mournful whistling sound of breaking air!

Several pieces of sharp-edged prismatic stones, from Xu Mocai’s ship’s catapult flew out, a huge weight with a terrifying speed, flew over the water in the sky, ignoring the gentle fog wrapped silk, without warning towards the nearest seashore that the sailor’s warships slammed down!

There were several loud booms!

A piece of prismatic stone smashed into the side of the warship’s wall, and it happened to hit above the draft line, smashing out a big black hole.

A prism stone hit the warship’s main mast, only to hear a kala sound, the thick main mast from the raw break, revealing the sharp stubble, the sails fell down with a bang, I do not know how many sailors and soldiers fell down. And those attached to the canvas of the noose in this instant also became the rope of the soul, was driven by the mast in the ship swept across, hissed and broke the air, swept through those dumbfounded standing sailor officers and soldiers, their waist and abdomen strangled from the middle of the break ……

Can only say that this stone’s luck is very good, just a moment, will cause the heavy casualties on that warship, countless blood and flesh red water just like that splashed out.

These were three warships that were preparing for a sneak attack, so when they were sneak attacked by their own people from the inside, everything seemed to be so sudden and too late to defend. It seemed that in this instant, all three warships in a zigzag shape came to a standstill at the same time, time stopped, and only the horrifying ringing of boulders breaking through the air could be heard.

“Release the arrows!” Xu Mocai droned in a low voice with an iron face. With his order, countless rockets took to the air at the same time, shooting towards the already heavily damaged warship ……

The rockets fell like rain on that already heavily damaged warship, the generals on that ship didn’t know whether they were dead or alive at this moment, there was no one to organize a counterattack, let alone a rescue. In an instant, the entire ship burned up, especially the canvas covering the ship, which became the biggest driving force for the combustion.

Xu Mocai’s face was extremely complicated. That warship was filled with his fellow soldiers, if it wasn’t at the most dangerous moment, he wouldn’t have chosen to sneak attack in this way. And in a very short period of time, being able to organize an attack on the entire ship, if he hadn’t been operating the Jiaozhou naval division for twenty years, if the officers and soldiers on this ship weren’t all his close friends, he wouldn’t even dare to imagine such a good result.

He frowned at the white sailing ship on the shore. From the movement on that ship, he found out that the people from the Supervisory Court should have already reacted to it, and what he had promised the young master to do was also considered to be accomplished.

He slightly clenched his right fist and gestured behind him.

On the right side of this warship that had suddenly launched a dastardly sneak attack, the crossbow that was used for close attacks at sea suddenly gouged. With a muffled sound, the entire warship shook slightly, and the crossbow bolt with a hooked anchor shot over quickly, directly onto the Inspectorate’s warship on the shore.

Between the two ships, they were connected by the ropes held and dragged by this huge crossbow bolt.

The manpower of the Supervisory Yuan’s upper Qiyan group, bravely ran to the side of the ship, intending to cut this rope, but listening to a commanding arrow coming from the sea mist, they were stunned, and then turned around and ran, strangely fast and unparalleled, abandoning the ship, and disembarking along the gangway of the back-sea side, and disappeared into the mist on the shore, just like countless shadows. The swiftness of the action was truly mind-boggling.

This is the reason why the Supervisory Yuan is powerful, all of the eight office officials and spies, the reaction to the sound of the order arrow has been rooted in the depths of the heart, there is no need to ask why, but only need to do as they are told.

Sea a ship burning, from time to time came miserable hooting sound. The ship that launched the sneak attack was anchored in the sea, connected to the white sailing ship on the shore. A dead ship was left behind after the people on the white schooner had fled with a startling speed. And the last ship ……

accelerated!

Xu Maocai pupil of the eyes flashed a touch of fear, watching the intact that sailor warship suddenly accelerated, at a surprisingly fast speed, from the lower left and protruding forward, directly into the PinZi when the head of that sea, straddling his ship and the coastline, and can see clearly that that ship on board has also been ready to launch an attack.

Previously Xu Mocai has a brain on board the prismatic stone and rockets thrown out, in exchange for such results, at this time looking at the other side is ready to launch an offensive, the first reaction is ……

“Return to the rudder! Return ……”

Returning to the oar that word had not yet been uttered, Xu Mocai’s mouth was open, but he could not say a word – because a gust of wind forced its way into his lips, making it difficult for him to make a sound!

Arrow wind!

A foot viciously kicked Xu Maocai’s hip bone, the powerful force directly sending him flying and crashing into the top of the ship’s side, shaking up several pieces of broken wood.

Because of this, he was lucky enough to avoid the oncoming arrow wind!

When Xu Mocai’s body had just been slightly deflected by that kick, that arrow wind flew past his cheek, the arrow wind was as strong as a mountain through a pine, but it didn’t have much of a sound, it was just a cloudy ghost.

There was a soft whoosh!

Xu Mocai lay in the broken pieces of wood, looking at the scene in front of him began to daze, his body trembling with fear.

A total of five sailor officers and soldiers, with showy little holes in their bodies, still maintaining their last expressions before death, standing dazedly, yet there was no breath left, blood flowing desperately outward along those showy little holes in their throats, chests, stomachs, and skulls.

A small, crisp black arrow was being nailed to the front planks of the warship, the arrow feather quivering at high speed, emitting a buzzing sound, blood staining the arrow feather, and with a tick, a drop of blood dripped downwards.

A drop of blood.

A ground of dead people.

What kind of arrow is this?

Retracting the kick that he had kicked at Xu Maocai, Fan Xian knew that he had lost his gamble, Yan Xiaoyi was indeed on the ship, but not on the fireboat that Xu Maocai had desperately attacked. He knew that his trail had already fallen into Yan Xiaoyi’s eyes, and it was useless to hide it any longer.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the warship that still maintained an extremely fast speed, crashing towards the official ship on the shore, at the Great Governor Yan on the bow of the ship, who was wearing black light armor like a heavenly god and holding a bow indifferently, and with a backhanded lift, he slipped the lighter-colored side of the Supervisory Authority’s official uniform over his body.

He looked back at Xu Maocai, who had half of his face in a pool of blood and had lost one of his ears, and his right foot, which was wearing calf-skin boots, had stepped on top of the rope that connected his ship to the white sailing ship.

With a sway of his body, the camouflaged Fan Xian, slid along the rope in the fog, heading that way. His body bowed slightly, like a civet cat, and he silently disappeared into the white mist.

There was a snort! An arrow did not shoot at Fan Xian’s body that disappeared into the fog, but at the crossbow rope tied to the right side of the warship, the tip of the arrow instantly twisting the rope knot into smithereens!

The rope between the two ships hung helplessly into the sea, yet no sound of anyone falling into the water was heard.

Yan Xiaoyi indifferently retracted his longbow, watching the ship under his feet slamming into that official vessel of the Supervisory Court at a surprisingly fast speed.

On the other end of the fog, Fan Xian had already floated into his familiar cabin like a ghost, holding the broken rope in one hand. He didn’t have time to see if any of his subordinates were injured, and he didn’t care that less than a stone’s throw behind him, that huge naval warship was crashing towards his ass.

He directly kicked hard on a box in the cabin, snapping with a crunching sound, the sturdy hard wooden box was splattered with pieces of wood and silver light by his kick that contained infinite domineering true qi.

Yes, silver light shot out in all directions.

One hundred and thirty thousand taels of snowflake silver poured out from the cracked box, like a ripe pomegranate whose belly had been broken open.

A corner of that narrow black box was revealed.