Chapter 645: Bandit Trouble

Merchant ship, on deck, in the Weishui Canal in Jianzhou.

Mu Nanjian was draped in a cloak to protect him from the cold, sitting on a large chair covered with soft cushions, holding Bai Ji in one hand and fishing with a bamboo pole in the other.

On the left side, there was a table with two chairs and a pot of fish burning on the charcoal fire of a small stove on the table.

Xu Qi’an and Miao Youfang sat at the table and barfed on the fish.

Bai Ji poked her head out of Munan Gardenia’s arms, her ebony eyes, babbling.

“It’s either fish or bacon these days, and I can’t eat shit.”

Miao Youfang cursed.

Xu Qi’an backhanded him and slapped him off his chair, then beckoned toward Bai Ji.

Bai Ji broke free from the princess’s embrace, striding on her four short, happy legs, and running up to Xu Qi’an’s feet with her head held high to look at him.

Xu Qi’an picked up Bai Ji and chucked a piece of soft and tender fish belly meat onto the bowl, Bai Ji buried her face into the bowl and ate it in small bites.

“You’re progressing quickly, I estimate that with another month of refining, you’ll be able to step into the Fifth Grade Harmonization Power. At that time, as long as you don’t make a fool of yourself and provoke the top people, you’ll be able to go anywhere in the sky.”

Xu Qi’an took a sip of the turbid wine with some relief.

They traveled south on this trip, heading to the 100,000 Mountains of the Southern Border.

There are currently only three people in the small team and one fox.

Among the members of the Tiandi Association, Li Miaozhen was chivalrous and liked to fight for justice, and when the disaster was raging and people were suffering everywhere, she always wanted to do something, so it was hard for her to stay beside Xu Qi’an peacefully.

Chu Yuanjian is a wandering and unruly swordsman, who lives in the four seas and has no fixed abode, and aspires to the freedom to do as he pleases.

On the way to travel the Jianghu, he was happiest when he could meet with his old friends, have a drink, and enjoy his revenge. When the wine is finished and the matter is settled, he will embark on the journey again to pursue his sword way.

Master Hengyuan and the Holy Maiden were of the same mindset; monks were compassionate and were duty-bound to help the world.

As for why Li Ling Su didn’t follow him south ………

That day, the group woke up early in the morning, and the Holy Son was gone.

A letter was left for the members of the Tiandi Association, meaning that he had recently made a breakthrough in his state of mind and was going to go on the road alone to realize the true meaning of Taishang Oblivion.

In fact, when he left, the members of the Tiandi Association all knew that, as far as the cultivation of the group was concerned, the movements in a few miles around were clear.

Xu Qi’an lay under the warm blanket and gave back a farewell song to Saint Son in his heart:

That night knowing you were leaving, we didn’t say a word ………. When you put on your backpack and take off that honor, I can only let the smile stay in the bottom of my heart ………

After the holy son left, Xu Qi’an released Dongfang Wanqing, and Chai Xing’er was still imprisoned in the Floating Pagoda, regularly fed, regularly summoned out to wash, and regularly allowed Miao Youfang to work as a drudge to scrub the toilet.

At that moment, the person in charge of the merchant ship, Steward Zhu hurried over and respectfully said:

“Swordsman Miao, up ahead is the Golden Water Beach, the current is gentle and there are often water bandits stopping the river to rob it. Usually, if you pay some silver, you can pass.”

Seeing Miao Youfang nod, he continued:

“If nothing happens, you won’t have to make a move.”

Miao Youfang arrogantly “hmmm”, maintaining his “superior” demeanor.

Steward Zhu bowed and retreated.

This merchant ship was a merchant ship of the Jianzhou Chamber of Commerce, going to Yuzhou to do business, and Miao Youfang’s current identity was a newly recruited guest secretary of the Jianzhou Chamber of Commerce, responsible for the security of the merchant ship when it traveled south.

Xu Qi’an’s identity wasn’t revealed, he was just a mediocre heel.

The merchant ship sailed for half an hour, the current really began to calm down, and then sailed for a quarter of an hour, the speed of the ship will be extremely slow.

The only way to navigate is by the boatman in the bilge.

Thump …….. Steward Zhu ran out of the cabin with a dozen or so martial artists, armed with swords and bows, looking on guard.

Xu Qi’an peered toward the left bank and saw dozens of small boats breaking the waves on the shore, extremely fast.

Before, they were well anchored on the shore, and when the merchant ship entered this gentle watershed, more than a hundred water bandits on the shore immediately jumped on board, paddled their oars, and slashed the waves to close in.

This is a small boat with two pointed ends, which is not more than ten feet long and only three feet wide, with a gabion door, two yards and one pulp, and a light and fast traveling body.

“Here, why are there so many water bandits here?!”

Steward Zhu’s jaw dropped and his face turned white.

Miao Youfang looked at him, “Not before?”

Steward Zhu settled down, his face still ugly, and smiled bitterly:

“I’ve traveled this waterway a few times, and in the past, the water bandits totaled only twenty to thirty people, but now this number, I’m afraid there are more than a hundred. This, this appetite is also big ah ………”

Xu Qi’an suddenly asked, “What are these ships called.”

“This is a gunboat, known for its agility and commonly used by water bandits.”

Steward Zhu was in an extremely bad mood and patiently explained:

“Merchant ships aren’t as fast as these small boats in a basin with gentle water. They had guns in their hands to poke through the bottom of our ships, and the guns weren’t their only means, there was kerosene to burn the ships.”

As he spoke, the cluster of gunboats was already less than three feet away from the merchant ship, and Steward Zhu walked over to the side of the ship, drew a breath, arched his hand, and shouted:

“All heroes, under Zhu Man, all brothers within the four seas, it’s not easy to come out to beg for a living, Zhu Mou has prepared fifty taels of silver for all of you brothers, I hope for your convenience.”

Fifty taels of silver is a considerable amount of transit money.

During Xu Qi’an’s tenure as a night watchman in the capital, he did not eat or drink, and his salary was only fifty taels a year.

“Fifty taels, what’s the point of sending a beggar?”

A sneer came from one of the gunboats.

Steward Zhu and the others looked at the sound, it was a man dressed in black with an overcoat, a sword at his waist, standing steadily at the bow of the boat.

He was probably in his early thirties, with rough, dark skin and a sharp, untamed gaze.

Steward Zhu does not know him, the impression that the leader of this group of water bandits, a martial artist called “wild mandarin ducks”, the cultivation of qi realm, but also quite reasonable, give silver to the past.

“Your Excellency is not a wild lovebird, where is he …….”

He was just about to open his mouth and follow his voice when the man in the cloak had leapt up and smashed hard into the bow of the merchant ship.

Boom!

The entire bow of the ship, sank violently, causing the crowd on board to sway eastward and nearly fall.

The man in black swept over the only looming Miao Youfang, as well as the several armed men protecting the ship with bows and swords on their backs, and let out a heckle:

“There are still a few practitioners.

“Wild lovebirds? You mean that ungrateful fellow? He’s already had his head chopped off and sunk in the river by me, but I’m quite righteous and have taken good care of my mother-in-law for him.”

Steward Zhu said in a deep voice:

“How much silver does Your Excellency want, you might as well just say.”

The man in black raised his palm and spread his five fingers wide, “This number.”

Five hundred taels …….. Steward Zhu said in a deep voice:

“Your Excellency must not joke.”

For the entire shipment, the pure profit was not even five hundred taels.

The man in black smirked:

“We not only want money, but also women. With so many brothers under our hands, we can’t live without women.

“This lord will give you a compromise, a woman against ten taels, and those with good posture, against twenty taels.”

Saying that, he looked at Mu Nanjian beside Xu Qi’an and gave a disgusted “tsk”:

“For this kind of goods, five taels of silver can’t be much more than that, and it’s just enough to amuse the brothers for a few days.”

Mu Nanjia had a cold smile on her face.

“Come out to the jungle, don’t make things worse ……..”

Steward Zhu, who had wanted to speak kindly, suddenly choked, because at this time, the man in black deliberately faced the sunlight, and there was a faint layer of divine light on his skin.

Sixth grade, copper skin and iron bones!

I met a ruthless stub ……… Zhu Steward s face changed slightly, and he couldn t help but look at Miao Youfang.

Normally, when encountering an expert of this level, one could only admit defeat.

Steward Zhu couldn’t gauge Miao Youfang’s caliber and could only leave the decision to him. Steward Zhu believed that Miao Youfang would weigh the pros and cons.

“Motherfucker, this lord has limited patience!”

The man in black walked over to the table, grabbed the flask and took a swig, whistling.

With a few dukes, a dozen iron hooks wrapped around the side of the ship, and the water bandits climbed up the rope.

The water bandits who have not attached the rope to climb, will be the long gun aimed at the bottom of the ship, or open the kerosene altar, just waiting for the black-clothed man’s order, called to chisel the ship to burn the ship.

They’re bandits, not businessmen. Who’s going to bargain with you?

After the water bandits boarded the boat, the man in black commanded:

“Go inside and scavenge for possessions and bring out all the women.”

And pointed at Mu Nanjian: “This woman also take away, but not counting the silver, as an addition.”

The tone was relaxed, but not relenting, his right hand always pressed on the hilt of the knife.

Immediately, there were two water bandits walking towards Mu Nanjian, holding knives and making a ferocious gesture.

Suddenly, two thumps, the water bandit just got close to Mu Nanjian, he was shaken by a huge force and fell to the ground spitting blood.

Xu Qi’an probed his hand and hooped his neck amidst the black-robed man’s dramatically changing face:

“Let them go down.”

“Down, down, all down ………”

The black-robed man’s face was filled with panic, his current mood was the same as Steward Zhu’s just now – he had met a hard opponent.

The water bandits stirred, they never expected that the character who had decapitated the former leader in a single move would be as weak as a quail in front of this mediocre man.

Just a mere follower is so powerful, Warrior Miao s strength is even more terrifying than I thought …….. Steward Zhu was secretly shocked in his heart.

On this journey, Xu Qi’an was presenting himself as Miao Youfang’s follower.

The water bandits that swarmed in, swarmed out again.

“Your Excellency, hold your hand high, let’s have a discussion, today it’s me who has eyes to recognize a tall person.”

The black-clothed man’s tone was pleading in its sincerity.

He believed that the other party would not fish with himself unless he did not want the entire ship’s cargo.

Sometimes, water bandits like them weren’t afraid of the masters at all, as many of them would choose to compromise for reasons of casualties, cargo, and so on.

There’s no need to use your life when you can get things done with silver.

Xu Qi’an really didn’t kill him and asked:

“Where?”

“Yuju!”

After some questions and answers, Xu Qi’an knew that this man in black was called Sun Tai, a native of Yuzhou, a jianghu disperser, and was wanted by the Yuzhou officials because of his treachery.

This takes away the possibility of him creating a gang somewhere, as the court’s wanted list is shared between continents.

Sun Tai began to wander the world, although the fast and furious not lack of silver, but ultimately a lone wolf.

As winter sets in this year, with cold plagues all over the place and a vague breakdown of order between the continents, no one is going to pay any more attention to him as a wanted man.

Sun Tai began to collect stragglers and the rest of the jianghu dispersal, in this place to occupy the water as the king, now under the banner of the water bandits hundred people, counting a rather good force.

According to the development of the situation, if it continues like this, similar bandits and water bandits, will become a righteous division that overthrows the court, or the “vassals” of the ruling party, and become a part of the great avalanche………. Xu Qi’an let out a light sigh.

“Want to live?” Xu Qi’an asked.

Sun Tai immediately nodded his head.

Xu Qi’an pointed at Miao Youfang, “Kill him and you’ll live, I won’t interfere.”

Then he said to Miao Youfang:

“This is your first trial, in two quarters of an hour, carry his head to me. If you fail, the bond between you and I as master and disciple ends.”

With two sounds, Xu Qi’an kicked Sun Tai and Miao Youfang out of the merchant ship, and the two of them crashed down towards the shore.

He proceeded to have Steward Zhu drop anchor and stop where he was, watching the battle side by side with Mu Nanjian.

Steward Zhu was stunned, not realizing that this follower was the rightful owner.

Mu Nanjian asked when she saw him looking grave:

“Worried about Miao Yufang?”

“I was thinking, if I were Duke Wei, how should I govern these martial artists who violate the ban with their weapons?” Xu Qi’an whispered.

Da Bong’s enemies are not only the Cloud State Rebels, but also these jianghu people who take advantage of the situation, as well as the stragglers who rob wherever they go in order to feed their stomachs.

………..

The royal residence, in the study.

The disheveled looking Chief Minister Wang hugged a hand warmer, his finger tapped the desktop, and asked:

“Erlang, this is the folders sent up from all over the world, since the beginning of winter, banditry has been serious everywhere. The Jianghu Scattered People have taken advantage of the situation, gathering stragglers and robbing homes. There are internal and external problems.

“Today, His Majesty’s Palace rebuked all the princes and asked them how to solve the problem. What is your opinion.”

Xu Erlang knew that Chief Wang was quizzing him.

Similar exams for schooling have been happening again for the past few months.

Chief Minister Wang took a sip of tea and slowly said:

“You are too junior to be convincing within the King’s party. With my body, I don’t know when I’ll get well, and it’s possible that I won’t.

“It’s a shame to give away a class that has been in business for so many years.”

Xu New Year stared.

“There’s no need to rush, just give me a reply within three days.” Chief Minister Wang waved his hand wearily:

“And you go.”

……..

PS: Changing before changing, moving on to the next chapter, look for it tomorrow.