Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Moon is Dark and the Wind is High

  Dark moon kills people at night, strong wind sets fires on days!

  It's windy tonight.

  Chang Ying walked generally on the deck as usual, and stopped after a long time.

  The strong man beside him looked ahead and said, "Boss, we're almost there."

  "En" Changying lightly responded, and tightened her clothes.

  "Have the imperial historian and the two young gentlemen rested?"

  He looked around the cabin and nodded slightly: "I should rest now"

  "Draw swords!" Chang Ying suddenly shouted.

  The several strong men around him shuddered in their hearts and subconsciously drew out the knives from their sheaths.

  "Whoosh!" In an instant, a cold light flashed out.

  Taking advantage of the moonlight on the water, Chang Ying quietly took off his cold-proof clothing and said: "Before we leave, it seems that a group of water thieves have taken notice of us."

  Several brave warriors looked at each other and remained silent.

  "But they didn't keep up. If only they knew this was an official ship, it would be fine. If not, they'll make their move by tonight at the latest."

  "Boss, what do you mean?"

  "The heroes on the Jiangnan Road can't stretch their hands far, once they cross the river, they are at a loss"

  Several strong men nodded in understanding, knowing that although the southern pirates were arrogant, they rarely dared to touch official goods.

  The imperial court was besieged several times, and the arrogant ones died, but those who were even more arrogant did not die.

  Only those with two brushes can survive.

  "Tonight, none of us brothers are allowed to close our eyes, and no sword is allowed to return to its scabbard. After we're done with this trip, everyone will be heavily rewarded. Then, we'll go to the Pingkangli district to find some young women and have a good time!"

  Chang Ying waved his hand and said, these strong men heard the words, each laughed loudly, and their spirits lifted.

  This time they escorted others without knowing, but they knew the benefits in it.

  Everyone immediately became spirited and alert, and Chang Ying also walked to the bow of the boat, looking out at the dark and blurry distance ahead. In less than half an hour, they would arrive.

  The riverbank of Jiangdu.

  The small grass on the mountain is sometimes high and sometimes low, with a dozen or so people's shadows flickering.

  "Ha! He's here!" A stout, one-eyed dragon gazed intently with his remaining eye at the distant river path tens of meters away from the mountain top, and in the dark of night, he saw clearly.

  Ma Lie stood silently and motionlessly, without making a sound or moving an inch.

  "Ma Dawai, this is a good opportunity! If they cross the river, it won't be easy to make a move."

  These great thieves rubbed their fists and palms, although they couldn't see the official boat in the distance, but that partner who was nicknamed "Venomous Snake" said he had arrived, which meant he definitely had.

  Because Cyclops was famous for a pair of sharp eyes.

  Ma Lie smiled coldly and turned his gaze away from the river, instead looking towards the dense forest beside it.

  "You guys think tonight is a good time to kill someone?" Ma Lie's face twitched with the scar above his eyebrow, asking with a smile.

  These water thieves had been eager to try, and upon hearing this, they were taken aback for a moment. Then someone spoke up, saying: "Go find the widow at the head of the village, it's suitable, who knows whose family she belongs to."

  "Haha!" As soon as this remark came out, the whole room burst into laughter, except for that venomous snake who only smiled slightly and immediately fell silent.

  Ma Lie sneered incessantly, "Venomous snake!"

  The poisonous snake was originally thinking with its head down, and as soon as Ma Lie shouted, it immediately came forward.

  "Your trick is quite clever!"

  Du Yan She was taken aback by the words and didn't know what Ma Lie was up to this time, while cold sweat broke out on his back.

  "Of course, this fatty is staring at the young lady with a gaze that's spot on."

  Although these great thieves were eager to try, they were also famous figures and didn't need to risk their lives in such a hurry. Seeing that Ma Lie wasn't in a rush, they assumed he had a plan, and one by one, they started chatting with him.

  "Ma Da Wang, what instructions do you have?" The venomous snake's muscles tensed up secretly as he asked.

  Ma Lie didn't even turn his head back, and with his back still facing him, he said: "Nothing's wrong, I just feel a bit envious..."

  Time waits for no man! Ma Lie hadn't finished speaking when he suddenly turned around, his large hand grasping at the waist, and directly took down Du Yichen with a single move.

  The sudden change shocked everyone around, and even the poisonous dragon eye did not expect Ma Lie to suddenly rise up and hurt people.

  "Ah!" A miserable cry rang out, Ma Lie's two big hands pierced through the eye sockets and instantly penetrated the skull of the poisonous dragon!

  A column of blood and brain matter shot out, splashing the faces of the surrounding thieves.

  They suddenly came back to their senses and hastily retreated, shouting in unison: "Ma Lie!"

  Ma Lie still maintained his previous posture, with his fingers still inserted in the poisonous dragon's face, and coldly snorted: "You all understand the rules of the Taoist sect, search for it yourself"

  With a push of his palm, the corpse was pushed open, and the bloodied and blurred poisonous dragon lay dead on the ground.

  Ma Lie directly wiped his hand on his clothes a few times and turned back to ignore everyone.

  Seeing him like this, everyone exchanged a glance, and after being shocked in their hearts, they also secretly shuddered.

  "Has something gone wrong?"

  Ma Lie's move was extremely sudden, and by the time they reacted, Du Yan had already been killed.

  However, they were also ruthless and immediately someone came forward to inspect.

  The crowd swarmed around, stripping off the poisonous dragon's clothes, and several objects fell out.

  Taking a closer look, all I recognized were a few silver notes and what appeared to be a letter.

  Everyone ignored the silver ticket, but one person picked up the letter and looked at it, saying: "I'm illiterate, can someone look at what this says?"

  "Give it to me!" A man of about forty years old with a short stature took over the letter.

  "What's written on this?!"

  "Speak up, Dao Ba Zi!"

  The man known as Knife Handle stared at the letter in a daze, looking again and again.

  "Ah choo!" After a long while, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm onto the corpse of the poisonous eye dragon.

  "That good-for-nothing Liu Erlang! His grandfathers treated him well and he was still somewhat filial in his daily life! He actually dared to play tricks on his grandfathers!"

  Everyone saw the knife handle and felt a sudden chill in their hearts, secretly thinking "this is bad", knowing that something had definitely gone wrong with this deal.

  They were mostly illiterate but rich in experience, and someone immediately asked tentatively: "Black eating black?"

  "Dagger Handle immediately shouted: 'Liu Erlang wants to capture us all at once!'"

  "Ah!" The crowd's faces changed upon hearing this, never expecting Liu Xun's appetite to be so big that he would dare play this trick on a group of ruthless and desperate fugitives.

  Everyone's eyes immediately turned to Ma Lie's back.

  "It's all over! This deal is off, the wind has blown it away!"

  Ma Lie sneered, "You think that just because we say no to a deal, it won't happen? I reckon there are at least two or three hundred 'hedgehogs' in the dense forest, and even if there aren't, there's still over a hundred." (Note: 'Hedgehog' is slang for archers)

  As soon as these words came out, the faces of the crowd turned pale. Once they left the mountain, it was an open area. If the people in the forest were really like Ma Lie said, then this group of people would become targets in no time.

  For a moment, everyone was silent, staring at Ma Lie's back.

  Deep in the forest.

  Apart from the occasional bird calls, this dark forest was silent once again.

  A leaf falls down.

  "Here comes, why haven't Ma Lie and them made a move yet!?"

  Looking at the official boat which was already close by on the river, this masked man asked anxiously.

  "Leader, it seems that Ma Lie is still in the mountain"

  "What!?" The masked man's heart skipped a beat.

  "What's with the poisonous dragon eye?!"

  "No signal emitted"

  "Damn it!" The masked man suddenly realized something. Although his face was covered, the shock in his eyes could not be concealed.

  The big ship on the river is going faster and faster, and it has already sailed past half of the dense forest.

  "Draw your bow!" The masked man's eyes gleamed with a fierce light as he gave a low shout.

  In an instant, the dense forest came alive, leaves rustling as they fell straight down. It turned out that the entire dense forest was ambushed by masked men holding bows and arrows!

  A hundred strong bows were drawn and aimed at the large ship.

  How could this movement be hidden from people like Chang Ying on the boat? Chang Ying stood on the deck, gazing out at the sea and suddenly cried out: "This is not good!"