Chapter 384
Chapter 384
The number of marauders rushing through the city gate grew steadily, from a few hundred to several thousand. Each one brandished a greatsword, their eyes wild with madness. A prosperous city lay before them, countless shops waiting to be plundered, and women as beautiful as flowers waiting to be taken. And Shen Lang thought he could control them? What a joke.
“Move it, pretty boy. If you don’t get out of the way, we’ll give you a night to remember, too. Hahahaha!”
Shen Lang glanced at them with a profound gaze, then gestured with his hand.
“Step aside!”
In that instant, the two hundred warriors behind him all cleared the path. The sight sent the marauders into a frenzy of delight.
“Hahahaha! That pretty-boy lord is just as useless as he looks. See how he backs down in fear? Let’s go! A fortune awaits! Let’s get our money and women!”
Thousands of marauders charged madly into the city. Tonight, they would unleash every desire and run wild. This was their last raid, and they could no longer contain their greed. As they entered the city and looked up, they saw three low walls blocking the road ahead. They were made of bamboo baskets filled with sand, stacked no higher than a man’s chest.
*Thump, thump, thump!*
One troop after another rose above the walls, their cold faces appearing before the marauders. A full thousand elite, fully-armored soldiers. These were the men Zhang Chong had brought from the capital.
“Fire! Fire!”
At Zhang Chong’s command, a volley of arrows rained down.
*Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.*
Wave after wave of arrows flew. The marauders were packed tightly together within the tunnel-like gate. With the rain of arrows pouring down on them, it was nothing short of a one-sided slaughter. One by one, they fell to the ground, their lives extinguished. The bandit leaders, initially stunned, soon roared in fury.
“Lord Shen Lang, you planned to kill us! You’re a vicious man! Too vicious!”
Shen Lang acted as if he hadn’t heard them. Countless sharp arrows continued to pelt them like a torrential downpour.
“Big Dummy, close the gate!”
At Shen Lang’s command, Big Dummy quickly shut the city gate. The marauder column was instantly split, trapping several thousand of the most vicious local thugs and bandits inside.
*Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.*
As the cold rain of arrows fell without end, the leaders of the marauders shouted.
“Brothers, fight them!”
Five burly men at the front charged forward, swinging their greatswords wildly. The reason these five were leaders was that their skills and martial prowess were on par with Tian Heng from the old Xuanwu City. The five leaders led the insane charge. As the saying goes, when two meet on a narrow path, the brave one wins. They had to break through Zhang Chong’s warriors and kill that pretty boy, Shen Lang. But before they had taken more than ten steps, their heads flew into the air. Princess Ning Luo had cut down all five of them in a single strike.
*Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.*
The rain of arrows continued unabated. After a quarter of an hour, every last one of the frenzied marauders who had rushed through the gate was dead. Shen Lang looked at Zhang Chong and said.
“General, we have funds for the army.”
The thousands of marauders just massacred by the arrows had been the most enthusiastic looters, each carrying about a hundred gold coins. All together, their gold amounted to an astronomical sum.
Zhang Chong frowned slightly and said to Shen Lang.
“Young Master Shen, haven’t you taken this a bit too far?”
“Yes, things have gotten out of hand. We weren't supposed to meet before the decisive battle, but things escalated, and here we are. I didn't expect it to grow this large either. As they followed me, their numbers snowballed until even I could no longer fully control them.”
Zhang Chong said.
“After today, even I can’t imagine how many people in the entire White Night Army will hate you to the bone. The two of us alone will have a hard time placating them.”
“A man can’t be a leader if he’s not ruthless. People in our position must maintain a certain degree of kindness, but we can never afford to be indecisive or soft. A weak heart will get everyone killed.”
Zhang Chong nodded in agreement, then smiled.
“Young Master Shen, let’s ascend the wall together! Su Nan’s grand army will be here soon. Let’s join forces and give them a big surprise.”
Shen Lang said.
“When Su Nan hears this news, I expect he’ll cough up blood in fury!”
Zhang Chong and Shen Lang ascended the city wall, and Zhang Chong’s elite troops followed. Shen Lang gave an order to Wu Lie.
“Wu Lie, have your men collect all the gold coins on the ground. Not a single coin is to be taken for personal use. Give it all to General Zhang. We’ll need it for the war chest for the final battle against Su Nan.”
“Yes, sir!” Wu Lie replied loudly.
Su Nan had schemed in every way possible to get his hands on that gold, but now, that astronomical sum had been harvested by Shen Lang to be used as military funds for the final battle against him. If Su Nan knew, he really might cough up blood.
***
Atop the city wall, Shen Lang looked down. Nearly twenty thousand marauders were rushing toward the walls. They were like fish flopping in a net as it was being hauled in, thrashing and struggling madly. The city gate was already closed; the twenty thousand marauders had no way in. In an instant, the area below the wall was filled with ghostly wails and curses.
“Lord Shen Lang, you are truly vicious! You pretty-boy lord, may you be struck down by the heavens!”
Just then, Su Nan’s grand army could be seen approaching in the distance. The sound of iron-shod hooves striking the ground thundered, loud enough to deafen. Shen Lang shouted down to the marauders.
“Marauders, run! Scatter in all directions! It’s dark, so you might just live. This is a gamble for your lives! You have more money than you could earn in a lifetime, so you’d better stay alive to enjoy it. The lucky ones will escape to live a life of wealth and luxury, but the unlucky ones who don't make it will die! This world and fate are very fair. If you want to curse me, Shen Lang, then curse me all you want! If you don’t run now, Su Nan’s army will arrive and slaughter you all! Run! Quickly!”
The sound of hooves from behind grew more intense. Clutching the gold they had plundered, the thousands of marauders scattered in all directions, like beasts startled by the appearance of a tiger. The sound of countless people wailing and cursing shook the heavens. Su Nan’s army charged ever faster toward the main city of the White Night Army. Su Nan was about to go completely insane.
***
The Leizhou Archipelago spanned a total of about ten thousand square kilometers. Of that, Raging Tide City occupied about half, which was now the territory of the Jin Clan. Over the past six months, the Sky-Sea Pavilion and the Jin Clan had relocated tens of thousands of people to Leizhou Island. The other half of the archipelago, however, had been in Zhang Chong’s hands. After leaving Nujiang Commandery, Zhang Chong had divided his half of the islands, giving one part to Qiu Hao to govern and leaving the other to the Nujiang Commandery administration to garrison troops.
The King had enfeoffed Jin Shiying as Lord of Raging Tide City and Qiu Hao as Lord of Heavenly Wind City. Qiu Hao was the adopted son of the Pirate King, Qiu Tianwei. He had been lucky enough to survive the battle of Raging Tide City and had risen to the position of city lord entirely thanks to Zhang Chong. He had originally intended to follow Zhang Chong, hoping he would be his patron on his official career path. But unexpectedly, Zhang Chong fell from grace and was imprisoned by the King’s decree, leaving Qiu Hao without a backer. But losing Zhang Chong didn’t matter. Representatives of the Third Prince and the Crown Prince quickly came to find him.
Qiu Hao was a pirate, after all. After a three-minute moment of silence for Lord Zhang Chong, he decisively switched sides and pledged his allegiance to the Crown Prince. It was good to be under the shade of a great tree. After aligning with a powerful figure like the Crown Prince, good things followed endlessly. Qiu Hao used the opportunity to constantly expand his forces. He originally had only three thousand pirates left under his command, but he quickly expanded that number to over five thousand. When he lacked the money to build ships, the Hidden Yuan Society immediately lent him funds, allowing him to constantly build new vessels. However, shipbuilding took a long time; it would be about a year before his fleet could once again rule the seas.
He currently had only one mission: to watch over the Jin Clan and Raging Tide City and to keep them in check. But the good times did not last. About a month ago, the flow of money was cut off, and his funds dried up. He couldn't collect any taxes in Heavenly Wind City, as all trade was conducted in Raging Tide City. Besides being a massive shipyard, Heavenly Wind Island generated no profit. Unfortunately, the shipyard was like a giant beast that swallowed gold, only consuming money and never spitting any out.
When he had money, Qiu Hao had constantly expanded his army. But once the money stopped, he couldn’t even pay his soldiers’ salaries or provide for them. His subordinates were all pirate warriors; would they stand by idly without plunder or pay? They wouldn't listen to the Son of Heaven himself if he didn't pay them. Even the former Pirate King, Qiu Tianwei, couldn't have controlled them without money, so there was no way someone like Qiu Hao could.
Lord of Heavenly Wind City, Qiu Hao, grew anxious as his men showed signs of rebellion. He desperately contacted Zhuo Xiao'an and the Hidden Yuan Society, begging for money. But the Crown Prince and the Hidden Yuan Society acted as if he didn't exist, completely ignoring him. Feeling uneasy, Qiu Hao immediately went to the Third Prince. He thought the Third Prince’s faction would welcome him with open arms, but to his surprise, they treated him with extreme indifference.
‘What should I do now? I can’t possibly pledge allegiance to the Jin Clan, can I?’
But if Qiu Hao were truly in a dire situation, he would have gone to the Count of Xuanwu's Estate in a heartbeat. He was a pirate chief; what wouldn't he do? Just then, a savior appeared with chests of gold coins: an envoy from the State of Wu. Had it been Jin Zhuo, he would not have accepted a single gold coin from them. But what did Qiu Hao have to fear? With money right in front of him, he took it immediately, then feigned ignorance and changed the subject when the Wu envoy stated his demands.
‘I, Qiu Hao, only take money; I don’t do the work. If you want me to betray the State of Yue, that’s impossible.’
Recently, however, the reputation of the State of Yue had completely changed. First, the states of Wu and Yue had fought a decisive battle on the border, and the King of Yue was defeated. Then, Su Nan attempted a rebellion, breaking out of the capital with several hundred men. After that, the army of Chu approached the border, the King of Wu’s army marched south, the states of Su and Jiang were on the verge of uniting in the west, and the situation in the south had turned unfavorable. The State of Yue was beset by crises on all sides, and it seemed impossible for it to overcome this predicament. Even if it managed to pull through, it would be a mere shadow of its former self.
‘The State of Yue is not as strong as it used to be. Perhaps it’s time for me to switch sides?’