Chapter 38: The Boat Sinks and People Scatter, the Ferocious Bandit Saves the Official

  No foreplay, the arrow rain comes silently!

  It was thought that only ordinary water thieves were staring at the common eagle, but in this moment, the pupils shrank, and the strong bows held by these masked men were all military-style!

  "Ka Cha!" Chang Ying reacted extremely quickly, his big foot stomped on the deck and a plank instantly flipped up, hugging it with his body as he flew backwards towards the cabin.

  "Whoosh! Whoosh!" Arrows and crossbow bolts also shot straight towards the large ship at this moment.

  Those sailors had no time to react and were instantly killed, turning into sieves pierced with arrows.

  Several brave warriors reacted quickly, decisively turning several rapid somersaults to the rear of the cabin.

  "Board the ship!" The masked man gave a loud order.

  Dozens of people jumped down from the trees at once, holding sharp awls and splashing into the water.

  "Bang!" Chang Ying kicked open the cabin door and looked at the three people inside.

  "Get up! We're under attack!" shouted Chang Ying.

  The three people sleeping soundly suddenly woke up with a start. Xiao Qi rubbed her sleepy eyes and looked at Chang Ying: "What's wrong?"

  Before the old eagle could speak, he suddenly stumbled and the big ship tilted.

  Chang Ying's face changed suddenly, and with one stride, he tucked Tang Guan under his arm.

  "Get on my back!"

  Tang Guan only came to his senses now and felt a great shock in his heart as he sensed the tilting of the big ship.

  "My goodness! So unlucky!"

  Xiao Qi jumped onto Chang Ying's back, and Chang Ying looked at Chen Yunsheng and shouted: "Imperial historian! Jump into the water!"

  "Ah!" Chen Yunsheng still didn't understand what was going on, and saw Chang Ying use his empty hand to suddenly grab towards the bottom of the boat.

  "Crack!" The wooden board was instantly lifted by him, and suddenly the river water rushed in.

  "Jump!"

  Chang Ying carried Tang Guan Xiao Qi and jumped into the water together.

  This sudden change made Tang Guan cry out in surprise. He didn't know how to swim, and this time when he entered the water, he only felt a chill all over his body, and his head cleared up a bit more.

  His face suddenly turned red, he took a big gulp of river water, and was shocked to discover that there were more than ten masked men at the bottom of the boat.

  Those people saw three men jump into the water and rushed over, holding up sharp blades in their hands.

  The eagle saw the situation and changed its fist into a claw, using one of its empty hands to grab towards someone's skull.

  Xiao Qi was now crouched on Chang Ying's back with his eyes wide open, staring at how Chang Ying's five fingers had penetrated the opponent's skull.

  "Gulp...gulp..." With this, he swallowed a few more mouthfuls of water, and Tang Guan's face had already turned a deep purple-red.

  The big ship had already sunk more than half, and several brave warriors hiding behind the cabin exchanged a glance, instantly diving into the water.

  "Cast the net!" The people on the shore gave another order.

  "Leader, there's us brothers down here!"

  "Cast the net!"

  "Whoosh!" As soon as he finished speaking, the big ship on both sides suddenly set up a large net, with rows of reverse thorns on it.

  "Ah!" The first one who jumped in, Yongwu, instantly fell into this deadly trap and immediately died with a mangled face from being pierced by the reverse spikes.

  Several brave warriors in mid-air suddenly changed their moves and swung their sharp blades horizontally.

  Something unexpected happened, the treasured sword that could cut through iron like mud, at this moment, with one slash, it didn't even cut open, several people fell into the net instantly and died miserably just like their previous companions.

  The eagle gazed at the net in the water, its eyes sharp, and its movements swift. First, it struck back with one claw at the approaching masked man, then reached out to grab Chen Yunsheng, who was already half-unconscious, and pulled him to his side before opening Tang Guansong.

  A large hand suddenly shook forward, "Separate Light and Shadow!"

  Only saw two big hands of Changying like demon claws, with blue veins bursting out, and the inverted thorns on the net were not feared at all.

  "Gulp..." Another splash, and the net was torn apart by Zhang Ying's hands.

  The four of them fled to the bottom of the water through a broken hole, with Chang Ying's style changing and dragging along.

  But those masked men on the boat were not so lucky, instantly caught in the net, and fresh blood stained this water area.

  The people on the shore gazed out at the river water that had already turned a murky red, their faces twisted in scowls, and shouted: "Archers!"

  The archer was another string of shots, and the arrow suddenly entered the water without slowing down.

  The four people who had dived to the bottom of the water were now at their last gasp. Tang Guan and Chen Yunsheng were just scholars, already half dead and half alive. Xiao Qi was a typical southern young man, knew some swimming skills, barely keeping himself awake.

  A hail of arrows left Chang Ying breathless, "Gulp!" Chang Ying's mouth opened wide as he took an arrow to the chest, instantly losing all strength, Tang Guan slipped from his grasp and was about to sink beneath the water!

  Xiao Qi panicked and stretched out his hand to grab Tang Guan, but he was small and weak, and he was also dragged away.

  Just then the arrows stopped coming, and the four men underwater were on their last gasp, slowly sinking.

  Just as the leader on the shore was about to give another order, a burst of maniacal laughter suddenly rang out.

  Hahaha

  The sudden sound made these masked men change color in an instant, hastily turning their bows and scanning around, but there was no one in the forest.

  "Kill!"

  "Ah!"

  "What?!"

  As soon as the voice fell, more than a dozen figures emerged like ghosts, and it was unclear when they appeared. Along with the falling corpse of the masked man on the tree and the terrifying screams, these figures stretched out their hands quickly, and before another arrow shot from the other tree came, they had already approached.

  "Hiss!" The leader took a deep breath and shouted: "Ma Lie!"

  "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

  A series of dull thuds made the leader's face turn pale, "The plan has gone wrong!" He shouted in his heart and turned to escape.

  "Did Grandpa let you go!?"

  As soon as he spoke, the leader's back sank, and someone actually picked him up and put him on the riverbank.

  A dozen or so figures emerged from the darkness, their faces twisted and sinister, with bloodstains all over their robes.

  Holding various strange and bizarre weapons in their hands, some of which even had blood-soaked human heads stuck upside down on the blades.

  Seeing these people's appearance, the leader's face turned even paler.

  Ma Lie threw his spear to the ground, and a dozen or so big thieves surrounded him.

  Ma Lie suddenly leaped into the air and jumped into the water.

  There were several horizontal figures at the bottom of the water, slowly sinking down. Ma Lie saw this and swam his body over to get closer.

  He was agile and swift, in an instant he swam to the side of several people, took a clear look at Chang Ying's appearance, and a playful expression flashed across his face.

  Then he grabbed Chang Ying's waist and suddenly exerted his strength, throwing him straight towards the shore.

  " Splash!" In an instant, water splashed everywhere. Chang Ying was still unconscious and his body fell straight to the shore. Seeing this scene, the leader pulled down the cloth on his face and said: "You... what do you want to do?!"

  It's unbelievable that this group of bandits is actually helping the government officials. It's just as ridiculous as cats and mice being one family, yet these great thieves remain silent, coldly laughing to themselves.

  "Whoosh!"

  After a moment of effort, Ma Lie pulled out several people from the water, one big and two small, who were Chen Yunsheng and Tang Guan, who had already lost consciousness.

  Ma Lie threw down the three men and walked towards the leader.

  At this time, there was no longer anything to cover his face, and he turned out to be a robust man in his thirties. Although this person was surrounded by great thieves, his face showed no fear, with an air of being indifferent to life and death.

  "Haha, it's not easy for that corrupt official to raise you bunch of lackeys"

  "Ma Lie! What do you want to do?!"

  Things have come to this, and the leader still has a hard mouth, with his teeth secretly biting his tongue root, looking like he would immediately take his own life if there were any changes.

  "What do I want?"

  "Why don't you ask these brothers on the road what they think?"

  As soon as these words came out, everyone brightened their weapons in their hands and gnashed their teeth at the leader.

  "If we don't give Liu Lao'er a show of our strength, then we won't be able to survive on the road in the future!"

  Someone immediately shouted out loud, they were hiding on the mountain watching this side's trap, a thrilling scene, if they really took action as planned, once they succeeded, these guys would be done for!

  Originally seeing this side of fierce killing, someone suggested taking advantage of the situation to withdraw, but Ma Lie proposed a surprise attack.

  They dared to take this risk with Ma Lie because of one reason: the underworld has its own rules, and Liu Xun had offended them greatly. If they were to flee with their tails between their legs, it would spread like wildfire, and these people would lose all face in the underworld.

  Fortunately, although there were many masked men, their attention was all focused on the large ship in the river. It wasn't until they had sneaked into a blind spot that Ma Lie gave the order to strike and kill.

  "Kill him!"

  One man raised the large hammer in his hand and was about to strike down the man in front of him.

  "Wait!" Ma Lie waved his hand to stop him.

  Everyone looked at him, he was the most notorious among this group of people. All the way here, everyone had been looking up to him as a leader.

  "Mutilate one of his dogs and leave a note for the master of the house, telling him to prepare coffins for all the old and young in the family."

  "Ma Lie! You're so bold! You are the court's appointee..." Before he could finish speaking, his eyes suddenly turned black, a sharp pain spread, and the knife handle suddenly rose in his hand, and the double knives dug out both of his eyeballs.

  "Ahh! My eyes!"

  "Hmph!" Ma Lie let out a cold snort and flew up with one foot, stepping on his arm.

  "Crack!" A crisp cracking sound rang out, and the leader let out another mournful cry.

  "Get out!" Ma Lie bellowed, and the gang of thugs burst into loud laughter. They were all the type who didn't fear trouble, only feared that it wouldn't be big enough - bloodthirsty rascals who couldn't tolerate even a grain of sand in their eyes. Now, seeing the treacherous claws that had tried to harm them and others being humiliated, they felt greatly relieved.

  The leader struggled to his feet, he had wanted to die once and for all, but ultimately didn't have the courage, however from now on he was left with a lifelong disability, only able to barely survive.

  The crowd no longer found it difficult for him, only to see that his eye sockets were flowing with fresh blood, like a headless fly, dangling two arms in the dense forest, crashing around.

  "Haha! You're indeed the Horse King of Shandong! We brothers owe you one today, otherwise we'd be in big trouble!"

  Ma Lie ignored the flattery of the crowd and cast his gaze downwards at the four people on the ground, lingering on Tang Guan's body for a moment.

  Dabazi stepped forward and said: "Ma Dawang, should we also take care of these officials?"

  Ma Lie let out a cold laugh and turned his head, saying: "The mountain doesn't move, the water does; from now on, if you encounter any difficulties, just report my name."

  Everyone who heard Ma Lie call out "San Huo Chuo Kou" was stunned, but afterwards, no one moved.

  "Ma Da Wang, we respect you as a good fellow. As the saying goes, those who see it have a share, and these few calabazas on the ground are all our shares."

  They initially did it to save face, but later saw that Ma Lie was actually rescuing the officials, and thought that there must be a way to make money from this, otherwise they wouldn't have gone to so much trouble for nothing.

  Ma Lie crossed his arms behind his back and gazed coldly at the speaker, who was quick-witted and took a few steps back.

  "This money you can't afford to lose, better hurry back home and hide in your nest, offending Liu Xun is no small matter"

  Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but exchange suspicious glances and subconsciously tightened their grip on the weapons in their hands.

  Ma Lie's brow furrowed as he saw the water thieves surrounding him, and he sneered, "What, do you think Liu La'Er is that easy to bully?"

  The crowd heard the words and their momentum slowed down. Earlier, Ma Lie had let that person go back to deliver a message, saying that they were preparing coffins, thinking that they would either do it or not, intercept the imperial historian, and then kill their way into the governor's mansion.

  Now thinking back, Liu Xun was after all a fourth-rank official, and although this matter wasn't glorious, it wasn't something they could just rush into either.

  "Liu Lao Er was unjust first, we'll just borrow the hands of these several gourds to get rid of him!" Ma Lie said as he saw that everyone still hadn't left.

  It wasn't until then that everyone realized that Ma Lie had this in mind all along. Immediately, someone furrowed their brow and put away the blade in their hand.

  "Brothers, let's not muddy the waters anymore, farewell!"

  Seeing someone take the lead in leaving, these people, although they envied Chenyue and others who were on the ground, couldn't think of any way to make a fortune, so they all left one after another.

  In the end, only one person was still wandering around the original place. This man was the knife handle. He was different from ordinary water thieves and had also recognized some characters before. He was considered a cultured person among the thieves.

  Seeing that Ma Lie's move must have a deep meaning, he originally wanted to borrow the power of the crowd to share a cup of soup. Now seeing the tree falling and the monkeys scattering, he can only cup his hands and say: "Farewell"

  He turned around and left immediately.

  Until everyone was gone, Ma Lie looked around and suddenly kicked Chang Ying's slightly bulging belly.

  "Plop!" Originally still in a coma, Chang Ying suddenly suffered a severe impact, got up and spat out a mouthful of blood and water, adding injury to injury, but at the same time also saved his life. If he had continued to accumulate water, he would have been dead for sure.

  The eagle opened its eyes, and its vision gradually cleared. It saw the ferocious face in front of it and was shocked.

  "Ma Lie!" In a flurry, a carp leapt up, its body arched, assuming an attacking stance.

  "Alright, your little tricks are no match for me," Ma Lie said with a shake of his head.

  Chang Ying was taken aback by the words, his arm suddenly felt a sharp pain, and he found an arrow had pierced through his shoulder.

  "Go wake them up," Ma Lie pointed to the three people on the ground, Chang Ying glanced over and saw that it was Tang Guan and the others, and he couldn't help but feel extremely delighted.

  Ma Lie turned his back on Huiying and walked to the riverbank, picking up an arrow stuck in the sand with a thoughtful expression.

  Have a small outburst

  ，！