Chapter 13: Pursuers
Not far from her side, another scream sounded.
Catherine looked over blankly and saw the mounted guard blocking in front of her spurt blood from his neck as he clutched it and tumbled from the horse.
Bai Langzai flicked his katana, the blood on the blade forming a continuous line on the ground.
The few pedestrians around who saw this terrifying scene all shouted and fled in all directions.
A bit farther away, a dozen Han people with knives rushed out from the forest and, without a word, charged into the pedestrians, hacking two Spanish civilians to death.
These two were Catherine’s hidden guards.
They usually dressed as civilians, mingling around Catherine, and changed clothes every day. If not for Lin Qian observing for a long time, it would really have been hard to discover.
The ship workers were cleaning the battlefield as Lin Qian paced to the corpse of Catherine’s horse and stomped the wooden box with one foot, several cockroaches crawling out from it.
If Catherine had opened the box on horseback, she would probably have been startled and fallen off the horse, allowing the matchlock guns to shoot the two guards.
For this attack, Lin Qian had planned for a long time and formulated no fewer than ten versions of plans.
Just the attack locations alone were selected from four or five places, finally choosing this road.
This place was between Kameidi Shipyard and Manila. The west side of the road was the beach and the east side was the forest—a perfect spot for killing and looting. After succeeding in one strike, they could quickly retreat by sea.
Lin Qian had already scouted this place many times.
Catherine gradually came back to her senses. Seeing that Lin Qian was not looking at her, she quietly moved her powerless legs.
Bai Langzai placed his katana on her neck, and Catherine’s whole body stiffened.
“Tie her up,” Lin Qian said flatly.
Bai Langzai took a rope from the sand and tied Catherine’s hands behind her back.
Lin Qian and the others’ weapons were also hidden under the sand and taken out when the muskets fired.
This both let the Spanish guards lower their guard and killed them unexpectedly.
The rough hemp rope rubbed against Catherine’s tender wrists, causing her to furrow her brows tightly in pain.
Her voice trembling, she cursed: “Criminals, pirates, madmen! The guards will come soon—you will all be hanged!”
Lin Qian’s face was calm as he said unhurriedly: “It will take the guards at least half an hour to arrive. We have plenty of time to leave. Rest assured.”
When Lin Qian’s group first arrived in Manila, a Han interpreter slandered them as pirates. Lin Qian had not argued and let the brothers quarrel precisely to record the time it took for the guards to assemble—fifteen minutes.
This place was right in the middle between Manila city and Kameidi Shipyard. No matter which direction they came from, the road would take twenty minutes, adding up to at least half an hour.
Of course, the guards could also ride horses.
But according to Lin Qian’s observations, Manila produced no local horses. The only horses were those the Spaniards had brought from Europe, and they were extremely few in number.
Moreover, because matchlock guns were too bulky to carry on horseback, Spanish cavalry mainly used sabres.
Lin Qian’s side, however, had two matchlock guns, fully capable of dealing with a small number of cavalry.
“You speak our language?” Catherine suddenly realized, her face full of shock.
Lin Qian ignored her. His subordinates had already dragged two sampans out from the forest.
“Get on the boat,” Lin Qian said to Catherine.
“In your dreams!” Catherine stubbornly turned her head.
Lin Qian gave Bai Langzai a look, and Catherine’s stomach took a hard punch.
She curled up like a shrimp, stomach acid refluxing. In pain, she could only emit hissing gasps as tears kept surging out.
“I’m not inviting you,” Lin Qian said coldly.
Catherine was lifted onto a sampan. The group divided into two boats and rowed oars toward the outside of Manila Bay.
After a short half hour, the sampans reached the Fuchuan Ship. They first hoisted Catherine up with ropes, then the others boarded.
The two sampans were left at sea.
“Hahaha, Lin Laodi, you’re something,” Lei Sanxiang said as he set down the matchlock gun and patted Lin Qian’s shoulder. “I thought you were really bewitched by this damned foreign woman.”
Before Lin Qian could reply, Catherine, who had recovered somewhat, immediately began cursing nonstop.
“Curse again and I’ll strip your clothes off,” Lin Qian threatened.
Catherine immediately deflated and fell silent.
“Tie this woman to the mast.”
The subordinates obeyed and tied Catherine to the main mast, binding her tightly with ship’s cable.
The ship’s cable was thick and hard, with a rough surface. It was generally used to tie to shore piles to secure ships. Catherine, bound with it, could not break free no matter what.
“The Franks are moving,” Chen Jiao said.
Lin Qian took out the telescope and looked toward the port. He indeed saw people swarming on a three-mast warship, with the sails on the three masts gradually being lowered.
Raising and lowering the anchor on this kind of sailing ship was extremely complex. Large ships even required over a hundred people to turn the winch for one or two hours.
This was why the Spaniards had not immediately set out from the port.
Lin Qian put down the telescope and said loudly: “Hoist sails. First exit the bay, then sail due south.”
The ship workers loudly agreed and hurried to their respective positions.
Moments later, the Fuchuan Ship slowly set sail.
After sailing for one hour, the lookout shouted: “Starboard rear—the Franks’ ship is catching up.”
Lin Qian took out the telescope and looked into the distance. The sun was now low, and the sea surface was like a layer of molten gold, the shimmering waves too dazzling to keep one’s eyes open.
Lin Qian squinted and saw a black dot about twenty li away, advancing through the waves where sea met sky.
“Bad!” Chen Jiao said in a low voice.
“How is it bad?” Lei Sanxiang asked, puzzled. “I see they’re still far away.”
“Franks’ ships are fast. Once targeted, it’s hard to escape,” Chen Jiao said through gritted teeth.
“Then fight them!” Having just killed four Spanish guards, Lei Sanxiang was brimming with morale and felt these foreigners were nothing special.
Chen Jiao knew his mindset and sneered: “The sea is different from land. Franks’ ships are sturdy with fierce cannons and won’t give us a chance to board. Once caught up, we’ll just feed the sharks.”
“Then what do we do?” Lei Sanxiang asked anxiously.
Chen Jiao’s one eye looked toward Lin Qian at the helm and muttered: “Wait and see a bit longer.”
Another hour passed, and the lookout shouted: “Starboard rear—enemy ship ten li.”
The ship workers grew restless upon hearing this, their faces full of unease.
One hour later, the Franks’ ship was even closer. At this rate, they were not far from feeding the fish.
Lin Qian picked up the telescope and looked back. The Spaniards’ galleon had grown much larger in his view, its three masts billowing with wind as it sailed at full speed.
That was the Spaniards’ San Felipe. Lin Qian had seen it when it was docked.
Based on their relative positions, San Felipe was about three knots faster than their ship and would catch up in two hours and forty-two minutes.
Worry deepened on Chen Jiao’s face, his brows knitted tightly.
Though he could not calculate the exact time, he had been a sea bandit in his early years and was experienced. Knowing this wouldn’t work, he couldn’t help saying: “Sixth Brother, our ship is too heavy. How about we throw some things from the cargo hold?”
“Cannot throw,” Lin Qian said, his eyes fixed on the wind flag, his tone flat.
Chen Jiao grew anxious inside and stepped forward. “Continuing like this, we’ll be caught up sooner or later. We can’t delay any longer.”
Lin Qian withdrew his gaze and looked at Chen Jiao: “Elder Brother, have you forgotten the five precepts we set initially?”
Do not disobey the helmsman’s orders.
Chen Jiao naturally remembered.
Sailing at sea most tabooed inconsistent orders—not only to uphold the helmsman’s authority, but also for the lives of everyone on board.
But with everyone’s lives hanging by a thread, Chen Jiao could not stand idly by. He was just thinking of violating the precepts today to persuade when…
Lin Qian said: “Turn directly east. Starboard to the wind—change sails!”
“What?”
Not only was Chen Jiao extremely astonished.
Even Lei Sanxiang, who knew little about ships, widened his eyes.
