Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

Chapter 291 Annihilation

Bi Si's boat raced ahead, gradually approaching the shore. As it moved, heavy crates of cargo were thrown into the river to lighten the load. Shao Shuyi's shallow-hulled boat followed behind. The two boats sped along the wide river, one after the other, the reeds on the bank being tossed about by the waves, their distance gradually shrinking.

Bi Si glanced back, somewhat annoyed.

He still lacked experience and did not expect the enemy's ship to be so fast and to have so many archers on board.

As they chased, volleys of arrows rained down, felling the only three archers on their ship and rendering them completely incapable of fighting back. He glanced at the men on his ship again; apart from the oarsmen, there were eleven or twelve others, all gripping their weapons tightly. Their faces showed little fear, but also little confidence.

He didn't want to continue fighting on the river; if he kept going, he would die without a burial place.

The reeds ahead grew denser and denser, and gradually, a waterway came into view.

"After rushing into the harbor, we'll dock on the spot." Even though he was reluctant to part with the looted goods, Bi Si still made the decision.

After saying that, he personally selected a few men who carried large shields to the stern of the ship.

The deck, the gunwales, and the cabins were covered with a dense array of arrows, their tail feathers trembling incessantly in the river wind.

"Whoosh!" The crossbow was moved over, and after a lot of effort, it was loaded and fired an arrow. However, it was blocked by the thick shield covered with skin, but the force was so strong that it still made the shield bearer take a step back.

Another crossbow found an opening and fired immediately, piercing through the body of a soldier on the opposite ship, leaving blood flowing everywhere.

The people on the opposite ship seemed to get angry, and while cursing loudly, they hurled even more arrows at them.

Rockets kept landing at the stern of the ship, igniting the cotton cloth placed there.

Flames shot into the sky, and thick smoke billowed everywhere.

Arrows that were not covered with tarpaulin were also shot at, killing the man who was loading his crossbow.

Another crossbowman simply stopped loading and turned to run, only to be hit by an arrow and fall into the river.

Seeing this mess, Bi Si knew he couldn't stay at the stern any longer, so he ordered his men to carry large shields and retreat.

In the chaos, one person was shot in the calf, screamed and fell to the ground.

No one cared about him anymore. The group scrambled back to the cabin, still shaken.

Just then, the bow tilted and plunged into the reeds on the bank, coming to a stop scraping against the mud.

The gaunt man at the helm withdrew from behind the boom, but after taking only two steps, he was struck by an arrow and fell to the ground on the deck.

Bi Si rushed to the bow of the boat, was the first to jump off, and ran towards the shore through knee-deep mud and water.

The others followed closely behind, some carrying bows and others carrying knives, cutting a path through the reeds.

Upon seeing this, the rowers who had been kidnapped in the hold immediately rushed onto the deck and jumped into the river with a few "plop" sounds, swimming towards the shore.

The shallow boat that had been clearing the ocean approached, and some of the crew jumped onto the official boat to begin fighting the fire.

The others also split into two groups. One group, led by Li Fu, rushed to the ship's side and fired from a high vantage point.

This time they used rockets, and they fired them wherever the rustling sound came from the reeds on the shore.

The reeds in autumn were already showing signs of turning yellow. After the rocket was launched, flames leaped wildly and thick smoke billowed.

Exclamations and coughs echoed from the reeds, much to the satisfaction of Li Fu's archers.

Another group of people, led by Bian Yuanheng, jumped off the boat, avoided the burning reeds, and waded ashore through the muddy water.

The battle has entered the stage of pursuing the fleeing enemy.

"Ah!" A thief engulfed in flames screamed as he jumped into an irrigation ditch. It was harvest season, and there was very little water in the ditch, so the fire couldn't be extinguished at all. The man's skin was torn and his cries of agony carried far and wide.

When Bi Si stepped onto the solid mud, he was already soaked to the bone.

His machete was still hanging at his waist, but one boot was missing, a patch of his hair was singed, and his face was streaked with black and white, making him look like the Kitchen God. He looked around; there was a mulberry grove on the bank, and houses in the distance, like a village.

"Big brother!" came several shouts from behind.

The three henchmen also crawled out of the muddy ground, covered in mud and water, looking utterly disheveled.

The four of them looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

"Let's go, there are still people following behind, don't delay," Bi Si said in a low voice.

The four of them crouched low and crept along the ridges of the fields toward the village.

Just a few dozen steps away, a dog suddenly barked from ahead, and then a dozen or so farmers with hoes, carrying poles, and pitchforks blocked the road.

"Who goes there!" the old man at the head of the group shouted, but his expression changed when he saw the gleaming knife at Bi Si's waist. He exclaimed, "Thief! The thief is here!"

"You're asking for it!" Bi Si drew his machete and charged forward menacingly.

He thought the farmers would run away at the sight of the knife, but to his surprise, the old man not only didn't run, but instead swung his hoe and smashed it towards Bi Si's head.

Bi Si dodged, and the hoe missed its mark. He swung his knife, and the old man hurriedly tried to dodge, but was still struck in the thigh. The old man screamed and fell to the ground. The other farmers behind him hadn't run away yet. Although their eyes were filled with fear, they still gritted their teeth and surrounded him, using carrying poles and pitchforks. But they were ultimately disorganized, and soon two of them were killed, and they scattered in a chaotic frenzy.

Bi Si took a breath and noticed another group of people rushing towards them from a distance, with the leader riding a mule.

The nameless ruffian archer was holding people hostage! In a flash, he understood where these people came from.

Those who bolstered the ranks of the official patrol officers and provided them with assistance were generally controlled by the village head or the chief of the capital.

These people were quite ordinary; they would usually avoid them and wouldn't dare to confront them. But now, they charged forward like dogs that relied on their master's power, baring their teeth and snarling.

Bi Si was starting to panic. There were pursuers behind them; he couldn't afford to get entangled with them any longer.

"Let's go!" he called out, and dashed off in another direction.

Three henchmen followed closely behind. One of them was particularly unlucky; he was hit in the thigh by an arrow that came from nowhere and collapsed with a groan.

The other two ignored him and ran as fast as they could.

Shouts then rang out, interspersed with the sounds of gongs and drums.

More and more farmers rushed out. They were initially hesitant to go up, but when they saw the three remaining bandits scattering and fleeing, they dared not stop. Their courage returned, and they rushed up with machetes, wooden sticks, carrying poles, harpoons, rakes, hoes and other items, chasing and intercepting them from all sides.

Enraged, Bi Si swung his knife and killed two or three people, leaving a group of farmers rushing towards him dumbfounded. After they scattered and cried out, he finally found an opening and rushed through in his dazed state.

It seemed to be a mulberry grove, perfect for concealing our tracks.

Only one of his men remained behind him; one of them had been struck on the back of the head by an old farmer and was now lying on the ground, unable to get up. They didn't know how long they had run, but the mulberry grove was now almost in sight.

Just then, a row of neat figures appeared in front of them, wearing leather armor and carrying knives and spears.

The leader was Bian Yuanheng.

"Bi Si?" He glanced at the man, covered in mud and with soot-covered hair, grinned, and said, "That's it?"

Bi Si gripped his machete tightly and charged forward with bloodshot eyes.

Bian Yuanheng snatched a long spear from beside him, and instead of retreating, he advanced. With a flick of his wrist, the spear tip slid past Bi Si's knife and pierced his right shoulder. In excruciating pain, Bi Si dropped his knife, and was thrown to the ground by the spear tip. The back of his head hit a rock, and everything went black.

Several miles away in the reed marshes, boats were ablaze with flames.

The female tiger leaped into the river, thrashing about.

Her ship was eventually caught up with.

After a brief but fierce battle, more than half of his men were killed or wounded, and the boat caught fire. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, they jumped overboard and fled. Liu Jia and Liu Yi carefully approached in their boat, and after crossing into the reeds, they used their spears to stab and poke while retrieving fishing nets.

Every now and then, a scream would ring out from the reeds; it was the thieves who refused to surrender being killed by arrows and spears.

The female tiger looked terrified. Having roamed the Huai River region for three years, she had faced life-or-death crises before, but death had never been so close. She wasn't a very good swimmer, and after a few thrashings, just as she was about to reach the shore, she heard a shout behind her.

She instinctively jolted, and just as she was about to dive into the water, a fishing net came down over her head, trapping her completely.

Laughter erupted from the ship.

Two boatmen, one on each side, grabbed the ends of the fishing net and dragged her toward the gunwale.

The female tiger wasn't entirely without a chance to escape, but upon seeing the seven or eight archers standing side by side on the ship, she instinctively stopped resisting and surrendered obediently.

"I'm useful, don't rush to kill me," she roared.

Nobody paid any attention to her.

Two boatmen pulled together, but they couldn't haul the big, fat fish aboard. Frustrated, they called for two more men, and the four of them, chanting in unison, pulled the female worm onto the boat.

Several men in leather armor stepped forward, released the female worm from the fishing net, then tied her up and took her to the hold to guard her.

The last group to finish fighting on the entire battlefield were actually the archers from the Jiangyin Prefecture Patrol Office.

They were confident that they had twenty men and tried to board a ship guarded by only four thieves, but they were defeated and several were killed or wounded.

Left with no other choice, they continued to increase the distance and kept hurling arrows.

The battle ended after the archer Shigoro shot down the last man.

此战

The bandit leaders Bi Si and Mu Dachong were both captured. One of their boats was burned and sunk into the river, while the other two boats were seized.

No fewer than twenty thieves were killed, nine others were captured, and the rest are missing and their whereabouts are unknown.

Bi Si's gang of thieves, who had been terrorizing Changzhou Road for nearly a month, was thus wiped out.