Chapter 108: Grandpa Takes His Leave
Lin Qian issued the order, and white sails rose on the Bird Ship’s single mast.
The lug sail billowed full of wind, speeding downstream.
In the view, the Lin Mansion ablaze with soaring flames gradually shrank to a point on the horizon and vanished.
All the crew members cheered wildly.
Lin Qian smiled faintly, thinking that if Second Brother were here, he would surely recite the line “No more cries of apes on both banks, the light boat has already passed ten thousand heavy mountains.”
After the crew members howled wildly for a moment, Lin Qian asked: “How much silver is in the Silver Vault altogether?”
Lei Sanxiang beamed with joy: “Roughly over forty thousand taels, counting what we grabbed in the backyard earlier, at least over fifty thousand taels, just as the Helmsman said!”
Lin Qian frowned slightly; he had said the mansion had fifty thousand taels of silver, an estimate based on the number of ships—a very rough calculation—and matching it was pure coincidence.
Moreover, fifty thousand was only his lowest estimate; the Lin Mansion claimed to be a four-hundred-year noble family, and even if all the silver was invested in fields, houses, business firms, and stock, it was impossible to have no accumulation at all—it shouldn’t be just a mere fifty thousand taels.
Seeing Lin Qian’s grave expression, Zheng Zhilong said: “Helmsman, is something unusual?”
Lin Qian slowly shook his head and asked again: “How many brothers lost?”
Chen Jiao said: “Eight injured, two dead.”
This battle result, for sea bandits, was almost no casualties.
Especially when just boarding ships to exit the waterway, that one well-equipped cavalry alone caused no fewer than ten casualties.
The exchange ratio was astonishing!
However, Lin Qian also knew this exchange ratio was because they held the terrain advantage.
If standing on the shore or guarding in the Lin Mansion, facing cavalry armed to the teeth—even with matchlock guns and carbon heat agents—sea bandits would be massacred one-sidedly.
Lin Qian guessed in his heart that cavalry was very likely the Haimen Guard Commander’s household soldiers.
Thinking of the garrison ordinary soldiers’ beggar-like combat power contrasted with the household soldiers’ ferocity.
It couldn’t help but feel doubly absurd.
At the same time, Lin Qian secretly reminded himself in his heart: he must not, because of a few victories in battles against the garrison, develop contempt for the heroes of the world.
This plundering of the Lin Mansion—if not for his flash of inspiration to drive out the Lin Mansion family members and servants to muddle through—escaping probably wouldn’t have been so easy.
Thinking of this, Lin Qian looked around and asked: “Where is Xie Er?”
Bai Qing: “I killed him.”
Lin Qian nodded without asking more; before entering the mansion, he had instructed the Bai Family siblings to watch Xie Er and kill him on the spot if he showed any unusual movement.
Someone like Xie Er—slippery, afraid of death, yet foolishly loyal—could not sincerely surrender; not killing him today meant he would sooner or later get himself killed.
On the Yongning River, the Bird Ship sped like the wind, while the others indulged in talk and laughter.
Lin Qian stood at the bow, his mind repeatedly replaying the entire process of robbing the mansion, carefully checking for oversights.
At this time, the morning sun was just rising; on both banks of the Yongning River, tenant farmers had all risen, with cooking smoke rising from chimneys.
By the riverbank, several fishing households were carrying fishing nets onto boats.
Lin Qian’s eyes lit up as a new idea emerged in his mind.
Lin Qian had someone fetch fifty taels of silver; after checking the silver ingots for no special marks, he called the Bai Family siblings again.
“There is a dangerous matter that needs you two to handle.”
Bai Qing clasped her fists and said: “Helmsman, just give the orders!”
Lin Qian handed the silver to the two and mysteriously said: “Go buy a fishing boat.”
……
Half a shichen later, the Bird Ship fleet sailed into the Ling River.
Another shichen passed, and Haimen Guard was already visible in the distance.
From afar, the river blocking rope on the south bank stretched across the river surface, while the one on the north bank remained sunk in the water.
Dozens of ships around were blocking the gap.
The garrison soldiers connected ships head to tail with ropes, stretching across the water surface, cabins filled with sand and soil for ballast—this was a makeshift river blocking rope.
This was the Haimen Guard Commander’s backup to prevent the thieves from escaping; he had only received word of the thieves at midnight last night and ordered garrison soldiers to block the Ling River—up to now, no more than four or five shichen.
What kind of people were Southeast garrison soldiers? Calling them old soldiers was flattering; calling them starving disaster victims fit perfectly.
Moreover, yesterday the Commander had just dealt with the north bank camp’s Captain, dragging down the entire north bank camp’s morale to an extreme low.
Roused in the middle of the night for work, everyone was seething with resentment.
From late night until midday, they still hadn’t filled the ballast sand and soil; ten ships skewed crookedly on the river, head and tail ropes not even tied.
The garrison soldiers busy tying ropes saw a fleet charging straight from afar and all threw down the ropes, scattering like birds and beasts.
No matter how the garrison deputy commander cursed and berated them, it was useless.
……
After entering the Ling River, Lin Qian’s Bird Ship moved to the front of the fleet.
Everyone on the ship saw garrison soldiers blocking the river with ships and showed worried looks.
The crew member sculling at the stern asked: “Helmsman, what now?”
Lin Qian calmly said: “Ram them.”
Their ship had silver for ballast, making it heavier, and the bow sturdy; ramming the enemy’s ship side wouldn’t cause serious damage.
As they drew closer to Haimen Guard, everyone’s expressions grew tense.
Lin Qian shouted: “Everyone lower your bodies, tie yourselves tight with ropes, hold on!”
Sailing between Haimen Guard’s two mountains, a sparse volley of arrows came.
Most fell into the water; a few hit the ship but had lost momentum, lightly bumping off shields and dropping into the water.
“Watch out!” Lin Qian shouted.
As soon as the words fell, the Bird Ship’s bow slammed heavily into another ship; that ship’s hull tilted and was immediately knocked far aside.
Unexpectedly, the impact wasn’t strong, and the blocking ship was easily smashed open.
Lei Sanxiang, Chen Jiao, and others had been guarding the ship’s rail, ready to cut ropes.
Unexpectedly, that ship wasn’t connected head and tail to the others.
Before they could wonder, the seven Bird Ships had filed out through the smashed gap.
Garrison soldiers on the north and south banks stood on the cliffs, watching Lin Qian’s fleet depart.
“Hahahahaha… Grandpa’s off!” Lei Sanxiang’s wild laughter echoed between Haimen Guard’s two mountains.
Moments later, Haimen Guard returned to silence.
“Deputy, are we still repairing this rope?”
“Repair your mother’s head!”
……
Meanwhile.
In front of the Lin Mansion shrouded in raging flames.
All Lin Mansion family members and servants were properly settled, gathered on the open ground before the mansion.
The women crowded together like a flock of ducks, wiping tears and sobbing, covered in black handprints.
Most men had vacant stares; some knelt toward the burning mansion, weeping bitterly.
A naked mad woman shuttled through the Lin Mansion crowd, face full of manic grins, occasionally hurling vicious curses at those around.
“Hehehehehe… hahahaha…”
“Kill them, kill you all, hahahaha… kill you all…”
The Commander sat on a nearby hillock; with household soldiers attending, he removed the dented arm guard, revealing an arm bruised purple and swollen high.
If not for the arm guard’s fine steel and the crossbow bolt’s off-angle, his arm wouldn’t have gotten off with just swelling.
The Commander’s eyes reflected the fire before him, his face cloudy and uncertain.
A household soldier reported: “General, five brothers dead, ten injured, five warhorses dead, two lamed.”
“Got it. Collect the bodies and take them back for proper burial.”
“Yes!” The household soldier clasped fists and accepted the order.
The Commander feigned calm outwardly, but bled inside.
Household soldiers value quality over quantity.
Every household soldier under him was raised on silver; every warhorse piled from mountains of fodder.
As a rank-three Commander, he had taken countless bribes and deducted unknown military pay to barely sustain these sixty-plus household soldiers.
Unexpectedly… just one outing, and fifteen casualties!
“Zhao Ba!” The Commander shouted.
“Subordinate here!” Zhao Ba clasped fists and accepted, armor plates clinking.
“Bring me the key figures from the Lin Mansion!” The Commander said hatefully, veins bulging on his forehead.
