Chapter 230
Chapter 230
The Pirate King, Qiu Tianwei, roared.
“Climb! Hurry up and climb!”
But not a single pirate wanted to move at his command. Besides, nearly all his trusted men were dead. Was he supposed to climb up alone and fight four thousand men by himself? The Pirate King, who had once ruled the seas, was now utterly powerless.
A little over ten thousand pirates had survived. All of them swam desperately in the seawater. The scene was nothing short of chilling. The surface of the water, spanning over a hundred thousand square meters, was like a cauldron of boiling oil. Over ten thousand pirates screamed and cursed like madmen.
“Shen Lang, you goddamn bastard!”
“Count Xuanwu, you son of a bitch!”
“Shen Lang, you’re so vicious, you’ll give birth to a child with no asshole!”
The curses of ten thousand pirates seemed to shake the very heavens. They used every word they knew to curse Shen Lang and Count Xuanwu, Jin Zhuo. On the ground above, the four thousand men of the Count of Xuanwu's Estate watched the scene in silence. Some of the militiamen among them wore expressions of pity. Seeing this, Jin Zhong shouted.
“Brothers, do you pity them?”
The Jin Clan's private soldiers were fine, but the miners and militiamen couldn't help but nod. Jin Zhong said to them.
“If you pity these pirates, do you not pity the people they murdered? Do you not pity the innocent women they violated? These pirates are not men; they are beasts. They have never done a day of productive work in their lives, living entirely off plunder. They kill without mercy, sparing not even children. They are not worthy of pity. Every last one of them deserves to die!”
Count Xuanwu bellowed.
“Killing them is enacting justice on behalf of the heavens and an act of virtue. When these pirates die today, countless families will be spared from disaster tomorrow!”
Jin Zhong said.
“Have you forgotten how these beasts insulted our Jin Clan last night?”
As Jin Zhong continued his speech, the miners and militiamen began to burn with hostility toward the pirates. The pirates' curses from the water's surface gradually subsided, and their swimming became increasingly feeble. Because it was too cold! The more they cursed and the more fiercely they swam, the faster their energy drained. But if they stopped moving, their bodies would freeze even faster. The fear of death grew, and the pirates, fighting for their lives, fell into utter despair.
Someone began to cry, and then a second person followed. Soon, countless pirates were wailing. How many innocent people had wailed because of their heinous acts? They had watched people wail, smiling with pleasure as they carried out their slaughter. And now, it was finally their turn to cry.
Gradually, their cries faded. Most of the pirates' bodies were now so frozen they could no longer cry. More and more pirates died and sank into the sea, until the entire surface of the water fell silent. An aura of death descended upon the water in the massive mine pit. At that moment, Jin Zhong seemed to hesitate, as if bracing himself for something he couldn't bear to do. After a long moment, he gritted his teeth and acted. He undid his belt and began to piss onto the surface of the mine pit.
“Listen up, everyone! These pirates weren't decent folk who cared about dignity in life, so let's all send them off with a stream of piss.”
Everyone was stunned to hear this, but the warriors of the Count of Xuanwu's Estate soon followed his lead. Then all the miners and militiamen joined in. Some four thousand men undid their belts and pissed onto the pirates in the water below. Count Xuanwu frowned, looking at Jin Zhong.
‘Jin Zhong, since when did you become so... frivolous? Still, it's quite impressive. You have a knack for leading people.’
But only Jin Zhong knew his own troubles.
‘I, Jin Zhong, am not that impressive. This was the Young Master's order. A direct order, at that. Even if I wanted to disobey... I don't have the courage.’
***
The Pirate King, Qiu Tianwei, felt his hair stand on end as he watched the scene. A darkness and despair he had never felt before welled up in his heart. The pirates around him died one after another. The pirates, so vicious and savage in life, were now all stiff corpses sinking into the mine pit. Soon, they would float back to the surface, and an even more shocking spectacle would unfold.
But for now, all Qiu Tianwei could see were countless pirates sinking beneath the water, and himself, drenched in the urine sprayed by the soldiers of the Count of Xuanwu's Estate. It was a humiliation he had never experienced in his life.
‘I am the great Pirate King. I am the sovereign of the eastern seas.’
Finally, every pirate around him was dead. The entire allied force of thirty thousand men had been annihilated. Then, Qiu Tianwei's mind cleared, and he understood the situation. Everything was Shen Lang's plot. Qiu Tianwei couldn't help but shout.
“Count Xuanwu, what about Shen Lang? Where is Shen Lang?”
Count Xuanwu answered.
“He has taken the elite warriors to attack Raging Tide City.”
Qiu Tianwei laughed loudly.
“Raging Tide City is defended by my adopted daughter, Qiu Yao'er. Not even Shen Lang will be able to conquer it. Not even a god could take it, nor could an army of tens of thousands.”
Count Xuanwu remained silent. He was not a man of clever words by nature. Besides, he too was worried about the battle for Raging Tide City. No matter how he thought about it, Qiu Yao'er was simply too strong. After a long pause, the Pirate King, Qiu Tianwei, spoke.
“The ancient gold mine on Mang'ai Island—is it real or fake?”
“It's fake. Crafted from four hundred thousand gold taels and a hundred thousand catties of brass.”
Qiu Tianwei's hair stood on end once again.
‘So everything was Shen Lang's plot. Even the gold mine was a scheme he concocted. Shen Lang, didn't you mind spending all that money?’
Qiu Tianwei asked.
“Where did you get so much gold? Where did it come from?”
Had it been Shen Lang, he would have boasted about his scheme, but Count Xuanwu kept his mouth shut and said nothing.
“So it was all fake, all a plot. Shen Lang, you are truly vicious. A truly vicious man! Wasn't that too much money to spend?”
The Pirate King, Qiu Tianwei, was on the verge of collapse. Count Xuanwu suddenly asked.
“Qiu Tianwei, twenty years ago, when my father led an allied force and fleet of over ten thousand men to attack you, how were you able to achieve such a decisive victory against them?”
Qiu Tianwei laughed, “Haha,” and answered.
“Because the Hidden Yuan Society had long since betrayed you, and your allies, the Xue Clan of the Count of Wuan's Estate, also betrayed you. They revealed your entire battle plan to me and planted many spies in your father's army who, at the critical moment, helped destroy your warships. They lured your father's fleet into a trap I had set at sea, so of course, I was able to annihilate his entire force.”
Qiu Tianwei could no longer laugh. Twenty years ago, someone had lured the ten thousand men of the previous Count of Xuanwu's allied force into a deadly trap. And now, Shen Lang had dug a massive trap to ensnare and kill Qiu Tianwei. The great pirate army of tens of thousands, the foundation of the Qiu Clan built over decades, had been wiped out.
‘This goddamn retribution... I won't accept it. I won't accept it!’
Qiu Tianwei roared with all his might.
“Count Xuanwu, if you are a true hero, fight me in a duel. My martial arts are more than enough to defeat you! Come, Jin Zhuo. Let's have a duel to the death!”
Then, Qiu Tianwei erupted with power and began to scramble madly up the cliff. He intended to get to the top and die together with Count Xuanwu. To take him down with him. But it was a futile thought.
Splash, splash, splash, splash.
One bucket after another was poured down. It was sulfuric acid again.
‘Da-dammit.’
Qiu Tianwei tried desperately to dodge, but there was no escape. In an instant, a large amount of sulfuric acid was splashed onto his body, corroding his skin. Even so, he did not give up and continued to climb madly up the cliff. He ignored the smoke rising from his body and just kept climbing.
“Aaaargh!”
He screamed like a madman as he scaled the cliff. His martial arts were incredibly strong.
Splash!
Another large amount of liquid was poured onto his body. This time, it was fish oil. Hundreds of archers lit the tips of their arrows, preparing to fire.
“Fire!”
At the command, hundreds of flaming arrows shot toward Qiu Tianwei. In an instant, the pirate overlord Qiu Tianwei became a human torch, burning fiercely.
“Aaaargh.”
He climbed to the very end. And then, as a raging inferno, he plummeted down.
‘A duel, you say? I, Jin Zhuo, may be old-fashioned, but I am not that foolish.’
Count Xuanwu gazed to the east. Hundreds of li away lay Raging Tide City.
“Lang'er, this side is finished. How are things going at Raging Tide City?!”
***
For several days, Tang Lun, the Count of Jinhai, had been extremely anxious. But it was a pleasant anxiety. For he was awaiting good news. For an allied force of over thirty thousand to conquer a mere island like Mang'ai was child's play. Moreover, Qiu Tianwei was a veteran commander who had seen a hundred battles. In the battle twenty years ago, he had annihilated the previous Count of Xuanwu's allied force of over ten thousand with only five thousand soldiers.
Every time Tang Lun thought about the complete annihilation of the Count of Xuanwu's Estate, his whole body trembled with joy. A grudge that had festered for over a hundred years was finally being settled. A century-old enemy was finally meeting its doom. So, what fate would await the Jin Clan? Jin Mulan was beautiful; he planned to cripple her martial arts and make her a plaything for the Crown Prince.
Xiao Bing would likely die with her husband, and that wretched bastard Shen Lang would probably die a miserable death. Who knew how many people wanted to kill Shen Lang and flay him alive. In any case, I, Tang Lun, will at least get to land a single strike on that bastard. After all, Shen Lang was one of the main reasons for the Jin Clan's destruction this time.
And there was even better news. In the past few days, many people had visited his estate, fawning over him with friendly attitudes. For example, there was Wu Yuanhua, the heir to the Count of Jing'an's Estate. The Count of Jing'an, Wu Zhaozhong, who commanded tens of thousands of troops, had never been fond of the Count of Jinhai. Even when they had previously allied to deal with the Jin Clan, the Wu Clan had always maintained an arrogant demeanor. But now, Young Master Wu Yuanhua was humbling himself. The meaning behind his words was very clear.
‘I hear the rumor is that it's not just a gold mine on Mang'ai Island, but an ancient gold lode? For the sake of our past alliance, couldn't you share a small piece of that ancient gold lode with me? Just a tiny bit would be enough.’
Following him, Nangong Ping, the son of the Marquis of Zhenbei, also hinted at something.
‘Everyone supported the Count of Jinhai's Estate before, yet we saw no benefit from it. Shouldn't you at least share a piece of the Mang'ai gold lode with our Nangong Clan?’