Chapter 5 Zhou Tai

  Zhou Jian urged his horse forward, swiftly striking three times with his spear, sending the robust man's ring-headed knife flying. Immediately after, he fiercely raised his spear and swept it horizontally, sending the robust man flying. Fortunately, Zhou Jian saw that he had some martial prowess and did not deliver a fatal blow; otherwise, this one strike would have been enough to take the man's life.

  "Handcuff me."

  Zhou Jian shouted loudly, and immediately a follower led five soldiers rushing out, binding the water bandits.

  "The second-in-command has been caught."

  "Ah, how is this possible."

  Over a hundred pirates saw their robust companion being captured and immediately cried out in terror, their morale suddenly sagging.

  Zhou Jian again lifted several water bandits and shouted loudly: "Surrender quickly, anyone who resists will be killed without mercy."

  The pirates hesitated, clearly unwilling to surrender.

  One of the pirates asked loudly: "If we surrender, will the government really let us go?"

  His eyes shot out a cold killing intent, and he said in a stern voice: "If you don't surrender, then die."

  He urged his horse on with a sudden burst of speed, and his silver spear shot out like a snake from its lair. In the blink of an eye, five more river pirates were stabbed to death.

  "Surrender, brothers, quickly surrender."

  The robust water thief was captured alive and let out a loud howl, his tiger eyes bleeding tears.

  The remaining bandits were suddenly in an uproar and immediately threw away their weapons and surrendered.

  Zhou Jian waved his hand, "Tie them all up and take them to one side to watch."

  Zhou Wu took orders and left, stripping nearly a hundred pirates of their clothes and armor, twisting them into ropes to bind them up.

  The large group of bandits is still at Xiaowang Village, and once they receive the news, they will definitely rush over quickly. At that time, there will inevitably be another fierce battle. If these bandits are not tied up, I'm afraid they will take advantage of the situation to cause trouble.

  Zhou Wu suggested: "Young master, why not scuttle all the boats and prevent the water thieves from escaping by boat?"

  Zhou Jian nodded slightly, this was the best solution.

  Zhou Wu immediately led his men to sink all the large and small ships by the dock.

  After tallying the results, a total of 58 pirates were killed. Zhou Jian alone killed 15 or 16 people, while Zhou Wu and his 20 followers together killed more than 30 people. The 100 soldiers only managed to kill fewer than 10 pirates.

  After tallying up the losses, it was found that nineteen soldiers had died, three were seriously injured and more than thirty were lightly wounded.

  Such an achievement is hardly satisfactory.

  Zhou Jian looked at the less than eighty soldiers who were still standing, his eyes cold and stern.

  These soldiers were better equipped than the pirates, but the number of pirates killed and wounded was disproportionate.

  Fortunately, after going through a battle, the surviving soldiers finally began to change.

  The battlefield is always the best place to train soldiers, and after this small-scale bloody battle, the remaining less than eighty soldiers had their eyes sharpened one by one, and they already had a few points of appearance.

  Of course, wanting to become a seasoned veteran is far from enough.

  A fierce battle is imminent, no extra time to train these soldiers.

  Zhou Jian sent out several attendants to occupy the high grounds around them, keeping an eye on the movements of the water bandits at all times.

  If there were war horses, they would directly send out scouts, find where the bandits were hiding and kill them off quickly.

  Without spare warhorses, they could only wait for the hundreds of pirates coming ashore and then engage in a fierce battle.

  A mere few hundred bandits, Zhou Jian didn't even take them seriously. Even if he only led twenty followers, they could still kill a few who came and went.

  Before long, a follower came to report that the water bandits had appeared in the northwest direction and were now only two miles away.

  The pirates who had gone ashore were also keeping an eye on the movements of the government troops, and upon learning that they were heading straight for Jin Niu Du, the leader of the pirates, although not too worried, still hastily led the three hundred pirates who had gone ashore to retreat.

  Soon, three hundred pirates rushed over, although they were sweating profusely, each and every one of them was in high spirits.

  It has to be said that the quality of these water bandits is much better than the one hundred soldiers brought by Zhou Jian, at least their physical strength is very strong.

  The leader of the water bandits was a twenty-year-old man with a sturdy build and strong physique, having the strength to bind a tiger.

  Zhou Jian looked at him with a gloomy face and drank a sound, then stepped forward with his horse, shouting: "Surrender, I'll give you a way out."

  "Let your mother's fart go."

  The leader of the group, a robust man, let out a loud roar, his voice like thunder. He swept his tiger-like eyes around and spotted the bloodstains on the ground that had been cleaned up, as well as the bandits tied up on the high ground beside them. His eyes widened in rage, and he shouted loudly: "Brothers, kill these damned government soldiers!"

  "Kill!"

  "Kill all the government soldiers who are fed by the emperor."

  Three hundred pirates shouted in unison, their voices like thunder, startling everyone in the vicinity.

  "Surrender or die!"

  Zhou Jian's face changed color in an instant, a cold killing intent bursting forth on his face, and with a fierce wave of his hand, he shouted "Kill!"

  "Kill!"

  Almost a hundred soldiers shouted in unison and rushed forward to kill.

  Just within bowshot range.

  Twenty attendants originally hidden in the formation immediately stepped forward, their crossbows already cocked and arrows already loaded.

  Whoosh!

  Whoosh!

  Whoosh!

  No less than thirty strong arrows flew through the air and shot fiercely into the water thieves.

  "Ah!"

  "Huh?"

  "My eyes!"

  A shrill cry suddenly echoed across the fields.

  All twenty attendants are capable of holding off ten men alone, not only are they skilled in stealth and assassination, but also proficient in archery on horseback. More than half of them can draw a bow of over 200 jin (approximately 100 kg), shooting arrows in rapid succession, with every arrow hitting its mark.

  "Damn official."

  In front of the pirate formation, the robust and sweaty leader's eyes were about to split open as he let out a loud roar, wielding his knife with great force to deflect the strong arrows and charge forward.

  Zhou Wu and others shot a round of strong arrows, and immediately quickly re-drew their bows.

  Two strong arrows shot out, shooting down forty or fifty water bandits.

  However, the torpedo boat finally rushed close and was unable to fire a third round.

  "Kill."

  Zhou Wu and others, under Zhou Jian's hellish training, had long been accustomed to life and death, calm and composed, hung their strong bows, immediately unsheathed their knives, shouted loudly, and suddenly led the charge into the midst of the water bandits.

  "Right!"

  Just then, a deafening crash of steel on steel rang out in front of the formation.

  Zhou Jian urged his horse to charge to the front of the formation, his iron spear piercing through the air and fiercely sweeping across the powerful pirate's giant mountain-opening knife.

  The war horse galloped out several zhangs away, let out a long whinny, and only then did it stop its front hooves.

  His powerful physique was no match for the Water Bandit's numbing grip, and he stumbled backward several zhang before managing to steady himself.

  "This kid has a lot of strength."

  Zhuang Han was shocked, having traveled the Yangtze River for many years and met countless heroes, this was his first encounter with someone stronger than himself, let alone a young whippersnapper who had just come of age.

  "Who are you?"

  Zhuang Han let out a loud roar.

  Zhou Ce reined in his warhorse and said sternly: "I am Zhou Jian. Who are you?"

  "Old man, I'm not changing my name, I am Zhou Tai of the Nine Rivers. You have quite a good hand with your sword."

  "Oh, you're Zhou Tai?"

  Zhou Jian was taken aback and carefully sized up the sturdy man. No wonder his martial arts skills were not weak, it turned out to be this guy.

  But how could Zhou Tai be a water bandit?

  Zhou Jian knew Zhou Tai as a person, but didn't know what he did.

  "Have you heard of my humble name?"

  Zhou Tai was somewhat surprised and uncertain, could it be that his reputation was too great, even this young girl had heard of him?

  Zhou Jian's mouth curled up with a faint, inexplicable smile as he said in a low voice, "Being a water bandit is not a long-term plan after all. Surrender and I'll find you a way out. It's better than being a bandit."

  "If you want to fart, then fart."

  Zhou Tai let out a loud roar, his eyes wide with fury, and charged forward with a swift swing of his sword.

  Zhou Jian's eyes gleamed with a fierce light, "Since you want to die, I won't blame myself."

  With legs clamped on the horse's belly, he swiftly raised his gun and stabbed fiercely.

  Zhou Tai swiftly parried the long spear with one knife, but his right arm holding the knife was numbed by the shock and almost couldn't hold onto the big knife.

  "I've long heard that Zhou Jianwu of Lujiang is exceptionally brave and strong, and indeed, his reputation is well-deserved."

  Zhou Tai was secretly shocked, but he didn't show any fear, and instead charged forward, wielding his sword with great force.

  Zhou Jian had the advantage of having a war horse, and when he charged forward, he could borrow the momentum of the war horse. In less than ten rounds, Zhou Tai was already sweating profusely, exhausted from fending off attacks, surrounded by danger, and his throat was already wide open, with blood flowing like a pillar.

  "Then!"

  Zhou Jian fiercely shot a gun and flew Zhou Tai's big hand, swift as a poisonous dragon out of the cave, swiftly stabbing Zhou Tai's throat.

  Zhou Tai remained calm in the face of danger, let out a loud howl, and suddenly fell to the ground, narrowly avoiding this swift and ruthless spear.

  Zhou Jian's spear momentum did not decrease, and after killing one of the water bandits, his iron spear shook open, and in the blink of an eye, he killed six more water bandits.

  The pirates saw the defeat of the great hall, and their morale was instantly lost.

  Zhou Jian Ting gun jumped onto his horse and rushed to kill several water bandits who were attacking Zhou Tai.

  Zhou Tai did not dare to fight again, and let out a loud howl: "Brothers, retreat."

  The water thieves who were fighting immediately abandoned the government soldiers and ran towards the riverbank with their legs open.

  The battlefield was several hundred meters away from the riverbank, and more than 200 pirates exerted their strength to run wildly.

  Zhou Jian chased and killed Zhou Tai, who quickly ran into the uneven terrain of the wild field beside the road, rapidly running towards the riverbank, with a speed that was not under that of a warhorse, extremely resembling the legendary lightness of flying on grass.

  "This guy is really fast on his feet."

  Zhou Jian was shocked, he rode on his war horse but couldn't catch up with Zhou Tai who was running on two legs.

  Although the wilderness is uneven and severely affects the galloping of war horses, even if the war horse is slow, it will not run slower than a person.

  Right in front of me was still tens of meters away from the riverbank, and I couldn't help but feel anxious.

  Zhou Jian let out a loud roar, gathering all his strength, and with a fierce throw, he hurled the iron spear out.

  An iron spear weighing over eighty kilograms whizzed through the air with a piercing whistle and struck Zhou Tai in the back.

  Zhou Tai listened to the wind and discerned the location, suddenly rolling forward with great force, like a rolling gourd, rolling out more than ten feet, narrowly avoiding the iron spear that shot over. After flipping over and jumping up, he quickly rushed over dozens of meters and plunged headfirst into the icy river water.

  "Damn it, they've even sunk the ship."

  Zhou Tai escaped and saw the ships by the dock being smashed, he couldn't help but curse in his heart. However, thinking of the hundreds of brothers who had died in battle and been captured, he suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

  This time, the loss was not small. Not only was the ship breached, but Gong Yi was also captured by government soldiers, and the losses were truly severe.

  Almost a hundred robbers escaped to the riverbank and jumped into the river without hesitation.

  These otters roam the Yangtze River waters, their swimming skills no worse than those of fish in the river. Where there are rivers, they reign supreme.

  After a fierce battle, more than 100 pirates were killed, over 100 captured, and more than 20 seriously injured and unable to escape.

  Zhou Jian's twenty attendants had only a few people slightly injured, with no one killed in battle. However, the remaining soldiers suffered significant casualties, with more than 20 people killed and over 10 seriously injured, while the rest were all lightly wounded, not a single one was unscathed.

  There were more than 40 people left who could still wield their swords.

  Although Zhou Jian was heartbroken, compared to the casualties of the Water Bandits, it was much lighter.

  ;