Mo Sang – CH 160

Chapter 160. Ambush

Dong Chao and the others left Yangzhou with Li Sangrou. After traveling twenty or thirty li, they dispersed and went their separate ways.

Li Sangrou, Da Chang, and Hei Ma traveled along the route of the post stations, changing horses frequently. Although they traveled at a great pace, they stopped to eat properly when it was time to eat and to sleep properly when it was time to sleep.

The next day, as the sun began to set, Li Sangrou and her companions entered the post station closest to Jiangning.

As soon as the three of them dismounted at the post station entrance, Mazha rushed out of the post station building.

“How did it go?” Li Sangrou asked Mazha.

“I saw them!” Mazha had just arrived, still catching his breath. “Early in the morning, before dawn, Chuantiao and Datou swam to the eastern end of Qingzhou and lay down on the promontory to keep watch.

That’s what Old Meng said. He said if it were him, he’d send someone downstream from Yanzi Isle to the eastern end of Qingzhou and then cross the river to Jiajiang.

And they actually caught them.

An hour and a half ago, Chuantiao and Datou blew a whistle to send a message from the eastern end of Qingzhou, which meant they spotted them.” Mazha spoke quickly.

“Have Chuantiao and Datou come back?” Li Sangrou nodded, then asked.

“Not yet. I heard the whistle, so I informed Old Meng first and then immediately came here.

Xiao Lu is waiting for Chuantiao and Datou on the riverbank.” Mazha answered, then added, “Do not worry, Boss. Chuantiao and Datou are excellent swimmers, and they are both clever. We know every corner of Qingzhou better than Commander Zhang’s men.”

“Mm,” Li Sangrou nodded.

“Old Meng said that besides the five guards watching over Manager Zou and his son at the Jiangning military warehouse, there are thirty-seven other men in a house near the river. They are all thugs hired by the Qian family, armed with armor—both iron and leather—and equipped with swords, spears, bows, and arrows. They are all very young, none more than thirty years old.

Old Meng said he has not alerted them, that they are being kept under close watch, and that the boss should not worry.” Mazha continued as he followed them into the house.

“How many men will Old Meng need to deal with these thirty-seven? Did he say?” Li Sangrou asked, listening intently.

“He did. He said those thugs are young, strong, and physically capable. Old Meng said to be on the safe side, ten men are needed,” Mazha replied.

Li Sangrou nodded. Ten men. Meng Yanqing was indeed extremely cautious.

“Alright, we will leave after a short rest. Da Chang, put your armor on properly,” Li Sangrou instructed.

The group ate something. Da Chang carefully donned his armor and slung his spiked club over his shoulder. Li Sangrou inspected the crossbows. Hei Ma and Mazha placed their knives in the most convenient spot. The four of them got out, mounted their horses, and galloped towards Jiangning City.

After traveling twenty or thirty li in one go, Mazha spurred his horse to catch up with Li Sangrou. “Boss! The place Old Meng chose is just ahead, only two or three li away.”

Li Sangrou reined in her horse and slowed its pace.

Mazha approached Li Sangrou. “There’s a bend ahead. One side is a cliff, not too high but steep, like a knife’s edge. The other side is a river fork where the river bends in, allowing you to climb directly up from the river. It’s steep too, but if you are quick, you can climb up.

Old Meng said the area ahead was a good spot, mainly because of that river fork. You could swim down and climb up, convenient day or night, and easy to escape from.

Old Meng said Qian family thugs were lying in ambush on this side of the cliff. He said he saw over thirty bows among them; the Qian family side should all be archers.

With archers on top and an ambush from the other side of the river, if no one knows, it will be a guaranteed kill.”

Mazha’s voice was low, his hands gripping the reins respectfully, neither pointing nor gesturing, not daring to show any emotion.

They were very close to the ambush site; someone was definitely watching them. He dared not make any rash gestures lest he alert them.

“Also, Old Meng said that bows and arrows are afraid of water. If someone swims across carrying a bow and arrows, even if they can be used, their accuracy will be terrible. Old Meng said that the Qian family members were all archers. It seemed that all the archers were on the cliff, while those coming from the other side of the river were all assassins,” Mazha continued.

Li Sangrou nodded and shook the reins. “Let’s go.”

The distance of two or three li was covered in the blink of an eye.

Li Sangrou saw the abrupt cliff ahead and slightly tightened the reins, slowing the horse’s pace slightly, but still propelling it forward.

Suddenly, the sharp sound of an arrow piercing the air rang out from the cliff. A long, feathered arrow was embedded in the middle of the road, a point a short distance from where Li Sangrou was.

Li Sangrou quickly reined in her horse. Two or three thin tripwires were taut where the arrow had struck.

This arrow was a warning to her.

The people on the cliff were all Meng Yanqing’s men.

As Li Sangrou reined in her horse, from the nearby rocks and bushes, burly soldiers, soaking wet and wielding swords, charged towards Li Sangrou and her companions.

From the other side of the cliff, long ropes were swung down, and black-clad men slid swiftly down them, also rushing towards Li Sangrou.

Li Sangrou dismounted, and Da Chang followed, rushing to her side, his hands gripping a spiked club. Hei Ma and Mazha dismounted, spurring their horses backward, drawing their swords, and charging to Li Sangrou’s other side.

“Hei Ma and Mazha, stay with Da Chang and protect his back. You do not need to worry about me,” Li Sangrou said, drawing her narrow sword and squinting at the dense mass of soldiers charging from the riverbank.

Judging by their numbers, there must be two or three hundred of them. She had always admired Zhang Zheng’s methods; he was ruthless and decisive.

The men on both sides of the riverbank and the cliff rushed towards Li Sangrou and her group almost simultaneously.

About ten paces from Li Sangrou, the black-clad men on the cliffside, in groups of three, took a diagonal step and charged towards the soaking wet soldiers on the riverbank.

Meng Yanqing led the charge, leading about ten men straight towards Li Sangrou.

In this ambush, Li Sangrou was their sole target; they wanted to kill her, and he was determined to protect her.

As the black-clad Yunmeng guards charged out diagonally, Da Chang rushed forward a few steps, roared, and swung his spiked club horizontally.

Hei Ma and Mazha followed closely behind Da Chang, the three back-to-back. Da Chang swung his club in front, while Hei Ma and Mazha howled and followed closely behind, hacking and slashing at the guards.

Standing between Da Chang and the black-clad Yunmeng guard, Li Sangrou sidestepped Meng Yanqing, who rushed forward to protect her. She took a step forward, meeting a Southern Liang soldier who swung his sword at Meng Yanqing. Her narrow sword flashed, and blood gushed from the soldier’s throat. Before he fell, Li Sangrou had already pounced on another soldier.

The fountain of blood splattered across half of Meng Yanqing’s shoulder. He stepped over the corpses at his feet, felled a soldier, and watched Li Sangrou slip into the ranks of the Southern Liang soldiers, moving like a fish, her blade like a ghost. For a moment, he felt a sense of disorientation.

This boss certainly had the resources to act with impunity. Unless they had laid numerous traps, killing her would have been extremely difficult for the Yunmeng Guards.

Da Chang roared repeatedly, each step a strike of his club, moving like a mountain. Each swing of his spiked club killed at least two or three people.

Li Sangrou was incredibly agile, as if her entire body had eyes. Her dodges and advances were precise to the millimeter. She and her sword were one; wherever she went, fountains of blood followed.

The Yunmeng Guards, working in groups of three, silently slaughtered far more people, making them more terrifying death gods. However, Da Chang’s sweeping spiked club and the fountains of blood from Li Sangrou’s sword were far more chilling, instilling fear in the already low-killing Southern Liang soldiers.

Without battle formations or military judges to supervise, the terrified soldiers began to turn and jump into the river below the cliff.

Fear was contagious, and the rout spread rapidly. More and more Southern Liang soldiers leaped off the cliff, their commanders’ shouts drowned out by terrified screams and cries.

Soldiers who plunged into the river, those fortunate enough to survive, swam with all their might to the other side.

The half-hour battle seemed to have passed in an instant. Da Chang, exhausted, leaned on his spiked club, barely able to stand. Hei Ma and Mazha, back to back, panted heavily.

Li Sangrou, half her body covered in blood, stood on the riverbank, gripping her narrow sword. Looking at the corpses that had fallen off the cliff and the heads frantically swimming in the river, she raised her hand to stop the Yunmeng guards who were drawing their bows. “Let them go back. Zhang Zheng needs to know they’ve been ambushed.”

“Where are Chuantiao and Datou?” Li Sangrou turned to look for them.

“Here we are!” Behind the Yunmeng guards, Chuantiao and several others waved their hands.

Li Sangrou secretly breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Meng Yanqing. “Where are the Qian family’s thugs?”

“They are all tied up in the rice shop’s warehouse, with Manager Zou,” Meng Yanqing hurriedly replied, bowing slightly.

He greatly admired this boss.

“Go personally to the Jiangning garrison commander’s residence and tell General Zhao about this. Those Qian family thugs, and this… that commander is still alive, right? Hand them over to General Zhao for disposal.

Investigate where his warehouse, the Qian family’s bows and arrows, leather armor, and iron armor came from.

Also, let him handle these dead people, and have him submit a memorial to the Emperor.

Once the handover is complete, immediately return to Yangzhou City. Da Chang and I will go first; the rice shop is of utmost importance,” Li Sangrou continued.

“Yes,” Meng Yanqing bowed in response, called over a few men, and instructed them to rest and prepare. He then mounted his horse and headed to the Jiangning garrison commander’s residence to meet General Zhao.

Xiao Lu and the others followed behind the Yunmeng Guards. They had not fought many battles and were not tired, so the three of them quickly went to find horses.

Li Sangrou found a mountain spring and washed her hands and face.

Hei Ma carried Da Chang’s spiked club, and Mazha helped Da Chang remove his leather armor and carried it on his back. The three of them sat in a row, panting heavily.

“Boss is really amazing!” Mazha clicked his tongue.

“Did you know Boss was this amazing?” Hei Ma nudged Da Chang. “I thought Boss only knew how to shoot from the shadows. Before, in all the fights we’d had, she always hid behind and shot from the shadows.”

“Did Boss not say a long time ago that we needed to practice properly? Before, if Boss had actually fought, she could have killed them all!” Da Chang rolled his eyes at Hei Ma.

“That’s right! There were so many this time, I do not even know how many I killed. I think it must have been at least a hundred or two!” Hei Ma puffed out his chest.

Da Chang and Mazha both smirked at him.

…

In Yangzhou City, Dong Chao and his men dispersed, splitting into two groups. One group headed towards the Qian family’s residence, while the other went to the secluded small dock where the Qian family’s large ships were located.

As darkness fell, the side door of the Qian family’s residence opened from the inside. Three or four burly guards strode out, surveying the area with a fierce air, before waving back through the side door.

Two guards removed the threshold of the side door, and one by one, small carts draped in blue silk emerged. Horses were harnessed, and the carts followed the route used to transport the boxes every night, arriving at the small dock by the canal.

Old Master Qian led the way, followed by his eldest son, children, wives, and concubines. They boarded the small boats one by one, and the numerous guards also boarded. A dozen or so boats immediately rowed away from the dock, forming a long line, and headed towards the large ships that had been waiting for who knew how many days.

Dong Chao left three or four men to watch the small boats along the shore, while he and the others mounted their horses and rode towards the location where the Qian family’s large ships were moored.

At that secluded little dock right next to the river, four large boats belonging to the Qian family were moored, two of them with deep drafts.

These four boats had been moored there for over a month. The boatmen on all four boats were carefully selected—strong, experienced, and with at least two generations of experience as boatmen for the Qian family.

For the past month, the boatmen had been guarded by Qian family guards, forbidden from disembarking, going into the water, or going to other boats. They could only walk back and forth on their boats, and the four boatmen, bored out of their minds, would compete to imitate the braying of donkeys.

As for the guards, besides loading and unloading boxes every night, they could at least go out to buy supplies a few times during the day and patrol the shore a few times. Although extremely boring, it was at least better than the boatmen’s situation.

When Dong Chao and his group arrived at the small dock at full speed, all four boats were dark.

“How’s it going?” Dong Chao met up with the veteran Yunmeng Guards who had arrived earlier, found his deputy, Old Xu, and asked in a low voice.

“Same as usual.”

“Hmm, it’s time to move. Take down those two heavy ships. You take half the men and get on one ship; I will take the others and get on the other. Do not alert the people on the other two ships,” Dong Chao’s instructions were calm and concise.

“Alright,” Old Xu responded, crouching down and patting his half of the men one by one.

Fifteen men craned their necks and gathered around Old Xu, while another group gathered around Dong Chao.

A moment later, the two groups, one after the other, emerged from the bushes where they were hiding and quickly approached the two heavy ships with deep drafts along the rubble and rocks on the shore.

The old Yunmeng Guard at the front, his back pressed against the bow, steadied himself. The others, one by one, climbed onto the large ship, stepping on the shoulders of their companions near the bow. The last Yunmeng Guard to climb aboard lay down by the side and pulled his companion onto the ship.

On board, the layout was clear: the boatmen were all in the aft cabin, locked up as soon as it got dark, and no one was allowed to peek out. The guards slept in the fore cabin and on the deck.

Two guards who should have been on patrol were sleeping soundly, one leaning against the foremast and the other against the fore cabin door, snoring loudly.

For the past month or so, with nothing to do, the guards’ already limited vigilance had long since vanished.

Dong Chao and Old Xu’s teams effortlessly knocked out the guards and boatmen on both ships, stripped them of their clothes, gagged them, tied them up like dumplings, and locked them all in the aft cabin.

The two groups of people changed into the Qian thugs’ clothes, pretending to be as before, and sat quietly in the fore cabin, waiting for Old Master Qian to arrive.

About two quarters of an hour later, the dozen or so small boats that had come from the small dock not far from the Qian family’s residence arrived along the river and docked next to two other large boats. Several guards boarded the large boats first, waking the boatmen and guards. The large boats lowered their gangplanks, and Old Master Qian and his entourage disembarked from the small boats and transferred to the large boats.

The guards boarded the two heavy boats belonging to Dong Chao and Old Xu. “Where are they? Asleep? Wake up! Weigh anchor!”

Dong Chao whistled, brandished his sword, and charged out, cutting down two guards on the deck. Two guards on the other boat were also cut down and thrown into the water by the Yunmeng guards, who charged out with their swords.

On the other two boats, people were busy disembarking, raising anchor, poling, and preparing sails. The sudden attack froze their busy work. A moment later, the Qian family women, who had gone halfway down the gangplank, screamed and turned to run back.

“Get on the boat! Kill them! Quick!” Old Master Qian, already aboard, yelled shrilly.

“Go! Set anchor! Go! Go! Row!” Master Qian, following closely behind, was terrified.

The Yunmeng Guards remained silent, then jumped off the boat and began hacking at the guards.

Hundreds of Qian family guards were thrown into chaos.

Some pushed and carried the women of the Qian family onto the boat; some shouted and urged the boatmen not to panic and to set anchor and row quickly; some brandished knives and shouted to their companions to fight; and many more stood on the boat, yelling and shouting for them to leave quickly!

The Qian family’s boat was the first to leave the riverbank. The boatmen and guards worked together, running back and forth, using long poles to propel it away from the bank, rushing towards the great river.

The Yunmeng Guards only slaughtered on the shore, not boarding the ships. Leaving behind a trail of corpses, the other boat also paddled away from the riverbank, hastily fleeing towards the Yangtze River and heading towards the south bank.

“Check!” Covered in blood, Dong Chao, sword in hand, watched the two boats rushing downstream and gave the order.

“Two survivors, already bound. No one injured.” Old Xu quickly checked.

Dong Chao cracked his neck, sheathed his sword, and cheerfully ordered, “Set up defenses. Old Xu, go to the post station and wait for Meng and the Boss.”

His blade, though old, was still very useful!

……………………

The terrified Old Master Qian and his family abandoned the gold, silver, and jewels on the two boats, taking a boatload of family and half a boatload of guards, and hurriedly paddled to the south bank. Following the south bank upstream, the two boats anchored at the Jiangdu City dock the following evening.

They needed to obtain a travel permit from General Zhang before they dared to disembark and make their way to Hangzhou.

Zhang Zheng, the garrison commander of Jiangdu, was overseeing the training of new recruits. Upon hearing his guard’s report, he narrowed his eyes and, after a moment, expressionlessly ordered, “Kill them all and throw them into the river.”

“Yes, sir.” The guard was about to turn away when Zhang Zheng stopped him. “Wait. Let them go; seeing some blood will at least give them some use.”

“Yes, sir.” The guard stepped forward, signaling to the Baihu commander, and led the group of new recruits who had just begun their training towards the two boats on the dock.