Chapter 57: Drowning
At this moment, another round of cannon fire struck, interrupting Li Tan’s thoughts.
He only felt the ground tremble slightly in an instant, all around were the huge sounds of houses collapsing, mixed with chilling screams.
A cannonball fell right nearby, consecutively blasting down three houses.
The raised smoke and dust blotted out the sky and sun, making it impossible to open one’s eyes.
Li Tan woke up as if from a dream and ordered his subordinate little eunuch: “Where is our family’s boat? Quickly prepare it and load all the gold, silver, and valuables!”
“Yes, godfather!” The little eunuch responded and then hurriedly went to prepare.
The Patrol Inspector stopped him: “The main gate of the Water Village has been surrounded by Pearl Commoners, plus those foreigners’ gunboats—we can’t get out at all. Now we can only climb over the Back Mountain and take a boat on the West Bank.”
“Does the Patrol Inspector have a boat on the West Bank?” Li Tan asked, eyes showing hope.
The Patrol Inspector nodded: “It’s a small boat that can’t carry too much, and the mountain path is difficult, so Eunuch Li can only bring some personal items.”
Li Tan felt heartbroken. He looked around the room at the coral ornament, rosewood desk, Sheng Dynasty Blue and White Porcelain, and celadon jade ewer—each piece a treasure. Abandoning any one made his heart ache as if dripping blood.
“Never mind, just take the Sheng Dynasty Blue and White Porcelain,” Li Tan said dejectedly.
“Ai.” The little eunuch responded and hugged the blue-and-white vase in his arms.
Li Tan thought for a moment. The vase seemed able to hold more things, so he wrapped several jade items in silk cloth and put them inside.
There was still some space, so Li Tan stuffed in several strings of Hetian jade prayer beads.
Not yet full, Li Tan opened a half-person-tall box. Immediately, fluorescent light shone—inside were all top-grade pearls the size of longan pits.
Li Tan called the little eunuch to bring the vase over. He grabbed handful after handful and stuffed pearls into the blue-and-white vase.
He grabbed too many in one handful. Pearls spilled from between his fingers, clattering and rolling all over the ground.
The Patrol Inspector watched, both anxious and angry.
He was anxious because his subordinate soldiers were all good at fishing but had no combat ability whatsoever. Once the foreigners landed ashore, they definitely couldn’t hold them off.
He was angry because he had exhausted every effort to exploit the soldiers, yet in the end his earnings were less than the dirt under this damned eunuch’s fingernails.
“My good eunuch, stop grabbing them. Preserve your useful body—there will be more money!” The Patrol Inspector was jumping anxiously and urging him repeatedly.
Hearing this, Li Tan dazedly shed tears: “Our family exhausted every effort and finally accumulated this bit of family property, all going cheap to these foreigners!”
Before the words had fallen, another round of cannonballs struck.
Smoke and dust poured into the room through the door, choking the few people into coughing nonstop.
“Cough cough cough… Eunuch Li, stop grabbing… We, cough… hurry and go. If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late.”
“Alright!” Li Tan stood up and resolutely headed toward the Back Mountain.
The Patrol Inspector led the way ahead, the little eunuch following closely behind. But he accidentally stepped on pearls and immediately fell backward on the spot.
The blue-and-white porcelain vase smashed to the ground. The jade items carefully wrapped in silk cloth also shattered into pieces.
Countless pearls bounced away across the ground, clinking all over.
The fall nearly knocked the little eunuch breathless. He finally caught his breath and struggled to stand.
Li Tan stared dazedly at the mess on the ground.
“Godfather, I!” The little eunuch was terrified.
“Pa!” Li Tan slapped the little eunuch and said: “Useless thing!”
The little eunuch immediately knelt on the ground. He reached out to gather the porcelain shards and jade fragments into his bosom. His hands were cut and bleeding profusely, but he didn’t notice at all.
Li Tan softened and pulled him up: “Never mind. As long as us two are alive, it’s fine. If we’re alive, there’s a way out! Let’s go—escape together!”
“Mm!” The little eunuch’s eyes brimmed with tears.
Without valuables, they moved faster.
The three left the room. Everywhere they looked were broken walls and ruins.
After a few steps, they saw heavily wounded soldiers lying on the ground, moaning nonstop.
Seeing the Patrol Inspector arrive, the soldiers reached out begging for help one after another, but he knocked them away with his scabbard.
Everywhere around them, almost no one was standing.
Clearly, the Patrol Office’s troops had all fled.
In the distance, the foreigners’ warships—who knew how much resentment they harbored—continued bombarding nonstop.
The three, unburdened by valuables and traveling light, reached the mountain in no time.
Li Tan turned to gaze back. Outside the Water Village ruins, Pearl Commoners’ ships encircled it, seemingly blocking his escape route.
“Cheap scum!” Li Tan muttered a venomous curse: “You should all drown in the sea!”
The Patrol Inspector urged him to hurry along, to escape before the foreigners came ashore.
Li Tan withdrew his gaze and focused on his footing.
By now the sun had risen high, its rays scorching so fiercely people could hardly breathe.
Li Tan, used to a life of luxury, was already panting and drenched in sweat after these few mountain steps.
In contrast, the Patrol Inspector—a martial official—wasn’t much better off, barely catching his breath and held up only by willpower.
They finally reached the halfway point on the mountain but hadn’t caught their breath yet.
The surrounding trees shook.
As if squeezing every bit of air from his lungs, the Patrol Inspector asked: “Who is it?”
He struggled to draw his sword.
Li Tan’s heart leaped to his throat.
Over a dozen figures emerged around them. The leader held a katana, his face frosty and eyes sharp—it was Bai Langzai.
Li Tan saw clearly that they were Pearl Commoners armed with weapons. Terror gripped his heart.
He forced a smile: “Fellow heroes, let me go back and I will report to Guangzhou Prefecture to request rewards and grants for you all.”
None of the Pearl Commoners replied. Flames seemed to burn in every eye.
Only now did Li Tan clearly see white cloth wrapped on all the Pearl Commoners’ arms.
He recalled half a month ago, when several hundred Pearl Commoners’ elderly and weak had jumped into the sea. He had secretly rejoiced then, thinking their deaths would save some grain.
Now these cheap scum had come to collect their debt.
Li Tan was utterly terrified.
The Patrol Inspector seized the moment and suddenly swung his sword at Bai Langzai, hoping to kill the bandit leader first and perhaps survive.
Bai Langzai merely dodged slightly. The Patrol Inspector’s blade missed. He lost balance and fell himself, his sword flying from his hand. When he crawled up, his face was covered in blood from his nose.
The Patrol Inspector kowtowed nonstop to the Pearl Commoners, begging mercy and pointing at Li Tan: “It was all him forcing me. The grudge has its owner—seek your revenge from him…”
Before he finished, Bai Langzai swung his sword.
The Patrol Inspector clutched his neck, face full of shock. Blood spurted from between his fingers. Moments later, he collapsed.
Li Tan was scared out of his wits. It seemed neither force nor pleading would work.
Anger surged uncontrollably. The foreigners causing chaos was one thing, but these cheap Pearl Households rebelling in the chaos had turned the world upside down.
He roared: “You have such gall! How dare you…”
Halfway through, a blade flashed. His neck burned hot. He could make no more sound, only spit blood bubbles from his mouth.
Li Tan’s expression was horrifying. He knelt on the ground, hands thrashing, mouth gurgling as if drowning.
After futile struggling for a long time, Li Tan slumped into the pool of blood and stopped moving.
Bai Langzai’s strike had slit his throat. Blood poured into his windpipe, and Li Tan drowned alive in his own blood.
