Shen Leng drew out his knife. He killed at a faster speed.
The group of water bandits, who were akin to a pack of wolves earlier, had finally stopped acting high and mighty after five or six of them were killed. There was no ferocity - only fear.
“You should leave!” yelled an elder with a sobbing tone.
Shen Leng’s eyes went red. He stopped swinging his knife midway in the air. The water bandit that narrowly escaped death ran for his life. Shen Leng looked at the elder, who slowly got down on his knees. “Aren’t we all just trying to make a living?”
The corner of Shen Leng’s mouth twitched. “What about the innocent peddlers you killed?”
The elder trembled, and did not utter a single word after.
The water bandits started to flee in a disorderly manner. They no longer had the courage to continue fighting. Even though they knew clearly that their opponent was just a young man, none of them dared to provoke him.
All men, women, elderly and children ran towards the pier at the same time. There was a warship there. As long as they still had their ship, in the eyes of the water bandits, it was sufficient for them to continue on with their lives.
Shen Leng was unable to give chase. He could kill a few more people at most, but he did not have the ability to stop a few hundred people from escaping. Moreover, he was already exhausted.
His forehead was filled with sweat, and his clothes were already soaked with blood and sweat. He stood there watching the group of people escaping, as he gasped for air.
However, all of a sudden, the warship started to sink gradually, as it tilted to one side. The water bandits panicked even more.
The water bandits’ battleship was not very big - it was approximately slightly over ten meters long. It was originally a fishing boat that was remodeled. Not long after it started tilting, the bottom part of the ship was entirely submerged in the water. The people who were on the ship started to jump out of it.
Toot……
Suddenly, a bugle horn was heard coming from the reed marshland. It sounded like a grim reaper brandishing his sickle as he took a soul. In the eyes of these water bandits, nothing sounded scarier than that.
Great Ning’s Navy troops, decked in dark blue armor, came out of the reed marshland. They might seem to be disorganized, but to a discerning person, he would be able to tell that they had been maintaining a battle formation consisting of teams of five from start to end.
“Crossbow!” yelled the leading military officer.
The troops around him started to hit their shields with their knife. Clank, clank, clank.
The front row of troops lifted up their repeating crossbows. They arched their backs as they walked forward, while at the same time pulling the trigger. Arrows shot out at the same time, akin to a rainstorm, and knocked out a bunch of frenzied water bandits and their families.
Within the range of the repeating crossbow, there was no weapon that had a stronger destructive power than it. After the densely packed arrows were shot out, and a layer of corpses laid fell to the ground, and the wails of the casualties could be heard.
After that, Great Ning’s troops were twenty meters away from the water bandits.
“Javelin!” instructed the military officer once again.
The troops hit their knives against their shields once again……clank clank clank!
The troops who were advancing in an orderly fashion hung their repeating crossbows back on their waist at nearly the same time, before drawing their javelins that were tied to their backs. At the range of twenty meters, the javelin was more powerful than the crossbow!
A row of javelins got tossed out; each of them was half a meter long, made from pure iron. A heavy javelin weight up to 22 pounds. A sea of black javelins’ flight path made a perfect arc in the sky, after which more corpses fell to the ground.
One of the javelins pierced a water bandit right through his back and out of his chest. He fell forward, and before he had the time to stand back up, a second javelin landed straight on his head. The entire scene was akin to an iron rod stabbing a watermelon - his skull ruptured and the javelin pierced out of his eye socket, nailing him to the ground.
The coordinate sequence of attacks of Great Ning’s troops that Shen Leng had seen in his mind came to life before him. Seeing the perfectly matched up troops with his own eyes was more useful than reading books.
He was stunned. Extremely stunned.
Great Ning’s troops’ method of killing was extremely violent. This was the result of the experience gained from countless battles over hundreds of years. It was immediate and effective. Even the elite troops of the neighboring countries did not stand a chance against the attacks of Great Ning’s troops, let alone these mobs.
Repeating crossbows had killed off a bunch of them and so did the javelins. The total number of remaining water bandits and their family members was less than a hundred.
When soldiers killed, as long as it was on the battlefield, they would not care if the enemy was a man or a woman, or if he or she was old or young.
Under strict military commands, every single one of Great Ning’s soldiers had been trained to become unfeeling killing machines. As they advanced, anything in their way would be destroyed, regardless of what it was.
Shen Leng turned around and entered the house. He saw that Shen Cha Yan was frightened to the point she went pale. “Frightened? Let’s go.”
Shen Leng did not expect Great Ning’s Navy troops to appear at that moment. He also did not know why he was unwilling to let them see him. He grabbed Shen Cha Yan and jumped out of the back window.
Shen Cha Yan’s hands were ice cold, and her palms were sweaty,
When Shen Leng was killing the water bandits, she was a little afraid, but she was more nervous than afraid. When she saw Great Ning’s troops sweeping across, she was only left with fear. Their method and speed of killing made one tremble with fear.
“I’ll carry you.”
Shen Leng did not care about her response - he carried her on his back and walked off.
Shen Cha Yan did not resist. Strangely, she did not curse at him either. After she leaned against his back for a while, her hand was trembling as she extended it. She used the handkerchief to wipe the sweat on his forehead. Her actions were rather robot-like and awkward.
Hence, it made Shen Leng laugh. His laughter was exceptionally gleeful.
At the side where the water bandits’ camp was, the Navy just got done with what they were doing.
The water bandits, who were already scared out of their wits earlier by Shen Leng, did not dare to resist at all; they only wanted to flee for their lives. However, what Great Ning’s troops like the most is when their enemies reveal their backs to them.
“Knife!” yelled the Navy officer.
Once again, the troops hit their shields.
Clank, clank, clank!
All the soldiers loved drawing their standard issue knives and pursuing their enemies, attacking them from the back, and cutting their heads down one by one. Their achievements were calculated by the number of heads that they cut off. Hence, when the enemies saw two to three heads hanging on the waist of the soldiers, there was nothing else they could do but feel scared.
Great Ning had a military strategy named, ‘Rolling Up Beaded Curtain’. To put it simply, they stuck close to the back of the fleeing troops, attacking them from the back. This would cause the troops right at the back to charge right into their counterparts in the front rows, leading to greater chaos.
The battle today was a small-scaled one, hence they did not actually fully executed said military strategy.
The military officer had a cold look on his face as he mounted the pier. He looked all around and observed his subordinates seizing the injured water bandits, slashing them down one by one.
“Too slow!”
The bugle horn was heard once again. The soldiers quickly fell into formation. The military officer sent two ten-people teams to inspect the camp of the bandits. They entered the reed marshland and conducted a search. The remaining people started to move the things that the water bandits had plundered. In truth, only eighty Navy soldiers had been sent there for today’s operation - more than it seemed.
On the other side of the reed marshland, there was a slanted old locust tree. The leaves were densely packed together. Mr. Shen stood on the tree and placed his field glasses down. He heaved a long sigh.
He jumped down from the tree, and tidied up his clothes before he started walking back.
“Hand him over to me.”
A voice was heard from behind Mr. Shen.
Mr. Shen turned his head around, “It’s still early.”
An elegant middle-aged man dressed in a scholar’s robe walked out of the reed marshland. He looked extremely refined and cultured, like a scholar who read the Book of Songs intensively. He exuded a scholarly air. And yet the sword on his waist made him appear to be more valiant.
“Then why did you want me to see him?”
The middle-aged man shook his head, “Can’t bear to part with him?”
Mr. Shen said the same thing once more, ‘It’s still early.”
The middle-aged man nodded, “Alright then, when you think the timing is right, send him over to me. His Majesty holds the Navy in high regard. It’s easier for him to excel in the Navy, as compared to the Four Borders.
“Zhuang Yong.”
Mr. Shen laughed, “Don’t forget to come by my Daoist temple and complete the game of chess that we have not finished.”
The middle-aged man, who was addressed as ‘Zhuang Yong’, was the commander of Jiangnan Weaving Repository’s Navy, a four pin general. He was a well-known general who excelled academically. Hence, for a person of his caliber to be only a four pin general, he was clearly overqualified. Unfortunately, he was the king’s counselor. His Majesty had always been strict with his own people. If it were someone else with the same abilities and military achievements, he would have already become a three pin general.
That year, when they were in the Daoist temple just outside of Yunxiao city, Zhuang Yong and Mr. Shen were playing a game of chess. Before they could finish it, a married woman carried a baby with her and entered the Daoist temple. Zhuang Yong had no choice back to leave through the back door.
In truth, he did not know what that woman was doing, and neither did he know what she instructed Mr. Shen to do. He asked Mr. Shen afterwards - did not reveal anything. He only said that if he were to tell him, his life would shortly come to an end.
After Mr. Shen removed his Daoist robes and went home, they had cut off contact.
Zhuang Yong said earnestly, “I had won that round of chess.”
Mr. Shen said, “It was clearly not finished.”
Zhuang Yong replied, “Why are you still so shameless?”
Mr. Shen shrugged. “Was I well-known back in Yunxiao city?”
Zhuang Yong did not understand why he asked that. He nodded, “Very.”
“Back then, I was a Daoist devotee. If I wasn’t shameless enough, how would I be able to become that well-known…...so, do not call me shameless ever again. That is my profession.”
After he said that, Mr. Shen walked away.
Zhuang Yong stared blankly for quite a while and laughed, “He is indeed shameless.”
Naturally, he came over because he was notified by Mr. Shen, whose goal was not to finish off the mere group of water bandits. Instead, he wanted him to see Shen Leng for himself. Mr. Shen said that this child could conquer mountains and rivers. After Zhuang Yong had seen him, he felt that Mr. Shen had exaggerated. He probably cannot conquer mountains and rivers, but he’s capable of achieving great things.
Like a tiger.
He had led the troops for several years and yet he had never seen a fifteen year old who could be that calm and decisive. Especially when he cut off Song Taisheng’s head in front of all the water bandits and their families. He was truly impressive. Extremely impressive. He did not have any wine with him, but if he did, he would yell the word ‘good’ out loud before downing a huge gulp of wine.
The Navy troops started to head back, and Shen Leng had already left the reed marshland with Shen Cha Yan on his back. As for Mr. Shen who was walking alone, for some reason he continued keeping a smile on his face. He felt that he must be looking like an idiot at this moment, but he was simply very pleased.
He thought about the young man named Meng Changan. People said that he was an irresistible force, and that he had the makings of a great general.
“So what?”
Mr. Shen walked as he muttered to himself, “He might be an irresistible force, but he’s not as powerful as our Leng.”
In another direction, Shen Leng realized that Shen Cha Yan had finally stopped trembling. He smiled and said, “Wipe my sweat.”
Shen Cha Yan, who had just calmed down, was slightly in a daze. She realized that she had subconsciously wiped Shen Leng’s sweat for him multiple times. Immediately, she felt embarrassed and struggled to get off his back. She kicked Shen Leng in the butt. “Wipe my ass!”
Shen Leng dashed forward and wiggled his butt. “It’s not impossible, but I’d feel embarrassed and awkward.”
Shen Cha Yan’s eyes were filled with killing intent. She broke a branch and chased him. Shen Leng scampered off. As he ran, he would turn around and make funny faces at her.
“Wait!” yelled Shen Cha Yan.
“Only a fool would wait for you,” retorted Shen Leng, as he turned to look at her.
When Shen Leng turned his head back to the front, a thud was heard……he had knocked into a tree.
Shen Cha Yan walked over to him with an expressionless face. She grabbed him by the collar and continued walking forward, “Didn’t I tell you to wait? When will you change your knocking-into-tree ways? I can’t possibly tie a pillow to every tree I see.”
Shen Leng thought to himself: Weren’t you the one who always threw me into a tree?
The golden dazzling sun shone down on the grass by the river bank, making the green grass seem brighter than usual. Shen Cha Yan, who was laying down on the grass, did not care about what people would think about her. She was sprawled out on her back - as long as she was comfortable, that was all that mattered.Since they had eliminated a group of water bandits, Mr. Shen decided to give them both half day off. Their entire afternoon became especially precious. Shen Cha Yan laid on the grass of the slope by the river bank, staring at Shen Leng, who was sitting there like a meditating monk, as he fished. She did not blink, and thought to herself: His back view looks pretty nice. Is fishing that interesting?Shen Cha Yan could not help but think to herself.. That fella had already sat there for an hour, without saying a single word to her. But after thinking about how he had a nice back view for an hour, she started to
Shen Leng realized that Master Cha really liked to eat beef. Hence, he secretly made a vow that he would ensure that she was going to eat it a few more times in the future. However, they were not allowed to kill cattle, as they were the lifeblood of cultivators. But if the water bandits had killed them, it shouldn’t pose that much of an issue if I take it from them.Master Cha looked very adorable with two bulging cheeks. After they had finished their dinner, Shen Leng originally planned to go to bed earlier. But as he laid on his bed, he felt somewhat guilty, as though he owed something to someone. After tossing and turning, he ultimately got up and did the horse stance under the moonlight. Master Cha rubbed her eyes, as she walked out of her room. She mumbled, “I knew that you wouldn’t be able to go to sleep.” She hung the sandbags on both his arms expressionlessly. Thereafter, she threw herself on the deck chair next to the pine tree. She
Although the Jiangnan Weaving Repository Navy had the four words, ‘Jiangnan Weaving Repository’, in front, in reality, the officials of the Jiangnan Weaving Repository could not take any action against the Navy; even Jiangnan’s division official did not have any power to do so.A few years ago, when the Navy just got founded, the emperor seemed to have casually mentioned that all Navy-related matters had to be reported to him directly. What he said could be taken both ways. On a bigger scale, it meant that the Ministry of War and the cabinet had no authority to meddle with the Navy’s affairs. Great Scholar Mu Zhaotong, who was part of the cabinet, could place his precious son within the Navy, but he definitely did not dare to interfere with any of the Navy’s affairs.Hence, even though the general of Jiangnan’s Garrison B, Bai Shangnian, was a Class A Third pin General, which was two ranks higher than Zhuang Yong, with a Class B Third pin rank
In the afternoon, Shen Leng continued practicing and studying, as usual. On the surface, it seemed as though there were no changes in his emotions. However, Mr. Shen was very well-aware than he felt worse than Shen Cha Yan.When arguing, Shen Cha Yan said that it was not as though they were no other solutions for this matter. If the three of them left immediately, she did not believe that Mu Xiaofeng’s people would be able to comb the entire country to look for them. Nonetheless, Shen Leng still insisted on joining the Navy, and thus, Shen Cha Yan did not know how else to retort. In truth, Shen Leng wanted to say that if he were to escape upon encountering such problems, he would not be able to grow into a real man. When it was nearing nightfall, Shen Leng started to prepare dinner. Shen Cha Yan spent the entire afternoon in her room, refusing to leave. Mr. Shen sat in the yard, glancing over at the house from time to time. Ulti
The more one got to know Yang Qibao, the more he proved to be a person worthy of being friends with. Even though his personality and his muscular appearance did not match, and that he lacked the confidence that a general should possess, it was an entirely different matter - it had nothing to do with being a friend. Shen Leng really liked chatting with him - it made him feel at ease. He did not feel the need to guard himself against him.As Shen Leng was walking, he was still thinking about something else. The soldier he ran into earlier happened to be the unlucky fella that he met by the riverbank before - the one who got kicked in the chin by Master Cha, and flew three meters upon impact. He guessed that he must have gone to look for Mu Xiaofeng. The new recruits’ boot camp huh?Shen Leng knew that Mu Xiaofeng was still in confinement, but he knew for a fact that it would not be difficult for Mu Xiaofeng to torture a newcomer in
Shen Leng saw that the few black shadows were already approaching him. He could not help but to sneer to himself. Some people need to pay a huge price in order to learn their lesson.“Shen Leng?”Someone actually went as far as to call his name out softly; he was rather gutsy. Shen Leng walked out from the darkness. “You’re calling me?”After one of them spotted Shen Leng, he did a hand sign. The other two people behind him suddenly tossed something towards Shen Leng’s head, covering it. Even though it was very dark, Shen Leng could tell immediately that it was a quilt.How childish. Shen Leng thought to himself.Thereafter, he suddenly yelled, “There’s an intruder in the camp!” He did not dodge and unexpectedly allowed the quilt to cover him. In truth, Shen Leng’s yell managed to scare those fellas.The two people at the back’s first instinct was to run. However, they saw that
Shen Leng slept extremely well. In order to keep up the good acting, when he woke up on schedule, he forced himself to make it seem like he was still befuddled for a few moments before he got up and folded the quilt. When he stepped out of the room, he saw that the two garrison brothers were still there. Immediately, Shen Leng felt guilty. “My two brothers, I’m truly sorry.”He cupped his fist and apologized. Of course, the two people did not know the real reason why he apologized - they even thought that Shen Leng felt bad because he felt that he had implicated them into staying up the entire night. One of them gestured and said, “I’m glad that you’re ok. If Pang Zhang were to bully you again, let us know. We’ve always been able to dig up information that can be used against him within the garrison. We will help you get back at him.”The other one added, “That’s right. Don’t be afraid. We hardship brothers should help each other
Late into the night, Zhuang Yong was still thinking about Shen Leng’s words. What kind of person does that young man want to be? He had led the troops for so many years, and had encountered many young men with acute determination. However, most of them had high aspirations, but they lacked the strength and ability. They could only talk big. Shen Leng was different. That fella had that kind of fortitude in his bones that astonished everyone. With so much weighing on his mind, it was no wonder it was hard for him to sleep. It was not only because of Shen Leng. He was also concerned about the letter that was sent from the imperial court today. His Majesty was angry. He was very furious. Great Ning was already almost invincible when it came to land combat. As for allegiance everywhere, it was a non-issue. However, the areas outside of the waters were a huge source of concern. Even a tiny country with a powerful navy could create trouble for Gr