Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 173 - 10: The Big Fish

Chapter 173: Chapter 10: The Big Fish

Zhuo Huxing gritted his teeth and cursed, “You little bastard.” As he stepped forward, Xue Ba met his advance, and the two blades clashed together, emitting a sound that made one’s teeth sour.

This boy, who didn’t even come up to Zhuo Huxing’s chest, had boundless strength. His swordplay was as fierce as wind and thunder. After just a few clashes, Zhuo Huxing’s wrists ached from the impact.

Xue Ba saw an opportunity and swung his long sword upwards, but unexpectedly, a gleaming blade extended from the thick back of his opponent’s chopper, shattering Xue Ba’s weapon into countless fragments!

The boy’s eyes were filled with a bloodthirsty gleam. He reached out to catch a broken blade from the air, ignoring the cleaver hacking toward his neck, and drove the blade into Zhuo Huxing’s eye.

Out of nowhere, a Han Sword shot in like a bolt of lightning, first kicking Xue Ba away with the sole of a shoe, then with masterful swordplay, parried on the back of the cleaver with a light slice and twist, pressuring Zhuo Huxing into a cold sweat in just two moves.

Xue Ba got up with a roll, shook his head, licked the blood oozing from the bite on his knuckles, and watched the standoff between the two with excitement.

Li Yan stepped in front of Xue Ba and looked at the steel knife in Zhuo Huxing’s hand with a surprised delight.

“Knife energy?”

…

The fierce battle was about to pause.

It had been half an hour since Zhuo Huxing had begged for action, cough, since the first cannon sound of Zhuo Huxing asking for benevolence was heard.

The dark clouds had dissipated, but the lingering smoke from the battery still rose high in the air. It was unclear who had won or lost. Presumably, Zhuo Huxing had managed to chase off the pirates.

In the restaurant, Zhang Dong and an old man sat together. The waiter downstairs was brave enough; he went to take a quick look from afar and upon returning, he embellished his report to the shopkeeper, saying that the officials couldn’t hold on and the pirates might enter the town.

Ordinary citizens didn’t regard the pirates as a scourge, especially the Red Flag Gang.

The reputation of the Five Flags Alliance was quite high along the coast, embedded deeply within the community.

It is no exaggeration to say that along the coast of Guangdong and Guangxi, seven or eight out of ten people have ancestors, or currently have close ties with the Five Flags Alliance.

Each of the Alliance’s gangs had its rules against harassing the common folk to varying degrees, with the Red Flag Gang being the strictest.

This didn’t mean that the Red Flag Gang was particularly righteous, but there had initially been a few incidents. A few drunken Red Flag sailors got overexcited and raped a fisherman’s daughter, only to find out she was the younger sister of another gang leader within the gang. The two groups clashed with knives, and over a dozen people died.

Such incidents were not isolated.

It was only after Madam Shi issued a strict order that only official vessels and ships from the Western Ocean could be plundered. Harassing coastal civilians and killing were forbidden under penalty of death, as was assaulting someone’s wife or daughter, punishable by the removal of ears and tongue.

So hearing that the pirates might break in, the people in the restaurant weren’t worried. The waiter, with his endless stories, one moment boasted about how big the Red Flag’s ships were and how fierce their cannons, and the next moment how the official army collapsed and the Red Flag was unstoppable.

At first, Zhang Dong listened carefully. But as the waiter’s tales grew more and more preposterous, Zhang Dong just smiled and dismissed them, disbelieving even what was said before.

He claimed the Red Flag had invited the Fire Virtue Star God from Heaven, who spouted flames from his body and created balls of fire with a stomp of his foot.

Talked about a red-eyed black-armored fierce ghost disembarking from the ship, impervious to swords and spears, with a snow qilin beneath its buttocks that bellowed so loud it scared people’s souls away. It was even more far-fetched than the stories told by storytellers in teahouses.

“Master Lin, it’s not safe to stay here for long.”

Zhang Dong said in a low voice.

“What, are you afraid that those Red Flag pirates will attack Humen and kill me?”

“The sons of wealth should not sit idle in perilous times. If the Red Flag really enters the town…”

“They don’t recognize me. What’s the point of killing an old man reeking of books? It’s you, my dear Mr. Zhang, who are the advisor to the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi.”

“Master Lin, this is not the time for jokes.”

“I’m not joking,” the elder said, a gleam flickering in his eye. “I actually want to see if the Great Qing’s sea defenses are truly as leaky as a sieve.”

The elder saw Zhang Dong’s face twisted in consternation and chuckled, “Pirates blockading Humen and entering Guangdong is tantamount to rebellion, a matter so grave it pierces the heavens. For years, the reputation of the South Seas pirates has grown on the sea, yet I’ve never heard of any pirate raid reaching the cities inland. Am I a calamity? Have the pirates breached Humen just because I’ve arrived in Guangdong?”

Zhang Dong wanted to persuade him further, but the elder cut him off.

“Speaking of which, Courtesy Name Zhang Dong, the court has ordered me to exterminate these bandits. Based on what you’ve seen today, how should I go about this extermination?”

When Zhang Dong saw the elder asking the question, he first composed himself, then replied, “Firstly, we must purge corruption from the naval forces and rigorously investigate padded payrolls. Secondly, organize local militias, recruit capable youth to build up the naval forces. Thirdly, draw craftsmen from Zhejiang and Fujian to set up shipyards and Firearms Bureaus in Guangdong and Guangxi to strengthen our official army.”

Seeing the elder remain unfazed, Zhang Dong added, “Fourthly, drive away the wolves and swallow the tigers, ally with the barbarians to exterminate the bandits.”

The elder pinched a crab claw, savoring its taste.

“You’re correct in all you say, and all must be done, but an overnight cold cannot freeze the river three feet deep. To exterminate the bandits relying solely on these measures is to double the effort for half the result. Think harder, throughout history, how have officials exterminated bandits?”

Zhang Dong pondered deeply for quite some time, then, with a sudden glint in his eyes, he said, “Outwardly, make a grand show of force to exterminate the bandits with the help of barbarians, but secretly offer high rank and rich rewards to divide the bandits, using one to subdue another.”

“Amnesty is a good strategy, but you’ve only got it half right,” the elder said.

After completely picking a crab leg clean, the elder continued, “Pirates are relentless, and the naval forces weak. If the court grants amnesty to all, wouldn’t the government turn into a den of pirates?”

“What does Master Lin suggest?” Zhang Dong asked.

“Recruit a group, fight a group, kill a group in battle, suppress a group.”

With each statement, the elder tore off a crab leg.

“No matter how defiant the great outlaw, once he enters the official sphere, he’ll bow his head, meek as a quail, surrender his ships, disperse his followers, and he’s nothing but a toothless tiger. Whatever benefits he’s devoured from the court, he must spit them all out,” the elder said, his tone growing somber.

“In the end, force him into rebellion, find an excuse to kill him, and not extending the punishment to his kin is already a mercy beyond the law from the government.”

“I swear! If I’d known the government was so incapable, I would’ve charged into Guangzhou long ago! Shopkeeper, is there any lime? Hand it over.”

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The noise from downstairs swelled into chaos as Xue Ba stepped through the threshold of Xinghua Building, swinging a human head the size of a fighting cock above and below his hand, ranting incessantly.

Zhang Dong’s face went pale. Looking down at the street, he saw robust men wearing red headscarves advancing from the other end, blood-soaked. Their formation was disciplined, as if they were purposefully headed somewhere else in waves.

The conversation stopped, and the elder, furrowing his brow, watched the mayhem on the street, his tone strange.

“To come to such a pass, to come to such a pass.”

The Red Flag Gang had indeed entered the city.

The shop had long been devoid of customers; the shopkeeper approached with a face as if at a funeral, for anyone would be unsettled seeing a child playing with a severed head.

“What do you need lime for, young hero?”

Before he could finish, a fearsome, blood-covered face charged straight at his nose, scaring him into sitting down with a yelp.

The head rolled to the ground—none other than Zhuo Huxing.

Xue Ba pointed a finger and said, “Pickle it, thanks a lot.”