The Japanese pirates who were busy repairing the ferry heard their companions' howling and immediately stood up. They saw the little girl who had just provoked them standing very easily under the moonlight. Then they realized that she either knew magic or was proficient in martial arts. In short, she should not be underestimated.
So they simply abandoned the broken boat and did not repair it for the time being, but each of them took up a knife and rushed towards Yuchi Jiming.
Yuchi Jiming remained calm and without waiting for them to run in, he threw out a handful of copper coins, hitting several Japanese pirates and injuring them to some extent. He turned around and ran back a few steps.
Because of the long distance and strong wind, the copper coins lost their accuracy and strength. The two leading Japanese pirates were hit in the face by the copper coins and fell backwards. They stood up immediately and ran towards Yuchi Jiming again, roaring without even brushing the mud off their bodies.
Yuchi Jiming had superb martial arts skills and was not afraid of being caught up by the Japanese pirates. He was only afraid that they would not chase him. He sometimes retreated and sometimes shot darts, and he did not let the Japanese pirates get any closer!
In less than a cup of tea, Yuchi Jiming had retreated to the low wall where Qiu Yizi was hiding, and said softly: "Uncle, is this okay?"
Qiu Yizhi had seen the whole thing clearly, and said with great satisfaction: "That's perfect, you retreat a few feet, and when these pirates get behind us, we will cut off their retreat!"
Seeing Qiu Yi's serious face, Yuchi Jiming nodded immediately, then leaped back a few steps before stopping, waiting for the Japanese pirates to catch up.
The Japanese pirates saw that Yuchi Jiming finally stopped and seemed to find it strange. They also stopped and observed Yuchi Jiming's movements while panting. They happened to stop in front of the low wall where Qiu Yizi was hiding. Although they did not discover the ambush in the middle of the night, Qiu Yizi could not attack them from behind.
So Qiu Yizi winked at Yuchi Jiming again and waved her hands desperately, asking her to take a few steps back.
But Yuchi Jiming misunderstood the meaning. Seeing Qiu Yizi waving her hands continuously, he did not retreat but threw out all the remaining copper coins.
Her actions finally angered the group of Japanese pirates. They didn't care whether there was any other intention behind the strange behavior of the little girl in front of them. Relying on their large numbers, they bypassed the low wall and killed Yuchi Jiming.
Qiu Yizi was hiding behind a low wall, but he saw everything clearly. He was afraid that this group of vicious Japanese pirates would rush forward and really hurt Yuchi Jiming. Without waiting for them to completely expose their backs, he hurriedly shouted: "Brothers, kill them!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the six personal soldiers who had been patient for a long time rushed out from behind the low wall, holding the Bohai swords specially equipped for them, and chopped at the vital points of the Japanese pirates on the back.
The attention of this group of Japanese pirates had been completely attracted by Yuchi Jiming. They did not expect that there were ambushes behind them. They were completely unprepared and more than half of them were killed after only one round of fighting.
Their reaction was quite quick. Although most of their companions were killed, they did not panic. They immediately turned around and wanted to fight the attackers head-on.
But just as they turned around, another extremely agile figure, under the cover of the night, came up behind them. The moves in his hands were both neat and ruthless. In a blink of an eye, two more Japanese pirates had their carotid arteries severed.
It turned out that Yuchi Jiming, who was in charge of luring the enemy, saw that Qiu Yi's personal soldiers had succeeded in the ambush, and was afraid that the Japanese pirates would be killed by them, so he did not wait for Qiu Yi's order and started fighting with the Japanese pirates. Fortunately, she attacked at a very good time, catching the opponent off guard, and took the lives of the two Japanese pirates effortlessly.
This group of Japanese pirates underestimated the enemy and were ambushed. Their only remaining courage was completely consumed and they were all knocked down in the blink of an eye.
Qiu Yizi was still worried, so he checked the bodies one by one and confirmed that none of them had escaped. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and searched the bodies again, but did not find Yin Tai - he was afraid that he had already escaped to the other side.
Qiu Yizhi took a short break and saw that the sea breeze was getting stronger, so he asked Wen Lingjiao, "Miss Wen, you don't have to worry about these dead bodies of Japanese pirates, but what should we do with the bodies of so many Tianzun sect believers in the main hall of Baoqing Temple?"
Wen Lingjiao's face was instantly covered with a layer of melancholy after hearing this, and she said quietly: "The Holy Church does not have the same custom of being buried in the ground as in the Middle Earth. All they need to do is to burn a big fire to cleanse their sins before and after death and then they can ascend to heaven. But... but most of them joined the church because they were deceived by Yu Mei. I wonder if the Heavenly Lord is so strict and will allow them to ascend to the paradise..."
Qiu Yizi had never heard Wen Lingjiao speak in such a sad tone. She was moved and wanted to say something to comfort her, but she didn't know where to start. She was silent for a long time before she sighed, "Alas! As the saying goes, we should do our best and leave the rest to fate. In any case, we should follow the rules of your religion and cremate them first. As for what the old Lord Tianzun said, it's useless for us to worry about it here."
He saw Wen Lingjiao grit her teeth and nodded, then turned around and saw that several of his personal soldiers had been working hard for half the night and were exhausted, so he bowed to them and said, "Everyone, I know everyone is tired, can you do me another favor and collect some firewood to cremate the bodies of those Tianzun sect believers?"
One of the guards saluted and said, "Your Excellency is so polite. We can't be lazy even if we want to. But there's no need to pick up any firewood. Just now when I was looking for torches, I saw a room full of kerosene. Use this kerosene to ignite the fire. It's guaranteed that it won't be extinguished."
Qiu Yizi smiled at his personal guards and said, "You are so smart!" Then he turned around and asked Wen Lingjiao, "Using kerosene to start a fire, is it in line with the rules of the Tianzun Sect?"
Seeing Wen Lingjiao nodded slightly again, indicating that she had no objection, he raised his head and said, "Okay, bring the kerosene now and burn this hall, including the bodies inside. Everyone is tired today and has made military achievements. I will reward you when we return!"
After hearing this, everyone cheered for a few times and then got up and went downstairs to look for kerosene.
Yu Mei had indeed stored several large barrels of kerosene. Qiu Yi's personal soldiers moved them out without much effort, and then scattered them all over the main hall of Baoqing Temple. They lit a matchmaker and threw it into the hall, and a raging fire rose up in the blink of an eye.
The sea breeze was stronger at this time, and the wind helped the fire, and the fire took advantage of the wind, and the fire instantly engulfed the entire hall. The hall of Baoqing Temple had been in disrepair for many years and was already shaky. Now under the destruction of the flames, it could no longer stand and collapsed in a short while.
But the fire was still burning fiercely. Tongues of fire like venomous snakes were extending from the ruins of the hall, and there were crackling sounds one after another, and the stench of burning flesh could be smelled.
Yuchi Jiming had never seen such a scene before, and he could no longer bear it. He did not dare to look at the fire, let alone the corpses that turned into ashes bit by bit. He turned his head and asked Qiu Yizhi: "Uncle, the pirates have been killed, and the believers have been burned. Let's go back now."
Qiu Yizi shook her head slightly and nodded towards Wen Lingjiao's back.
Yuchi Jiming looked intently and saw Wen Lingjiao dressed in white, standing solemnly with her hands crossed in front of her chest. She remained motionless despite the burning fire and howling wind.
After a long time, Wen Lingjiao slowly turned around, with obvious tears in her eyes, and slowly walked to Qiu Yizi's side, and said softly: "Okay."
Qiu Yizi asked tentatively, "Miss, are you praying for the souls of these dead disciples?"
Wen Lingjiao nodded, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes again.
Qiu Yizi felt pity for her when she saw her tearful face, and hurriedly said to comfort her, "That's good. The Heavenly Lord will hear your prayers and will lead these believers to heaven."
But as soon as he finished speaking, Wen Lingjiao choked up and said, "No matter how much I pray, I can't hear any response from the Heavenly Venerable..." After that, she fell into Qiu Yizi's arms and sobbed non-stop.
Qiu Yizi was actually at a loss for a moment. He didn't dare to reach out to hug her, but he didn't want to move away either. He could only stand there in the open space, letting Wen Lingjiao's tears wet his clothes.
I don't know how long it was like this, the sea breeze became more and more violent, and a gust of wind blew over, sweeping up raindrops as big as green beans, sweeping all over the sky and the ground.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Qiu Yizhi quickly reached out to hold Wen Lingjiao's shoulders, gently pushed her away, and said softly: "The rain is getting heavier and heavier. There is no place to shelter here. How about we go back first and discuss other things later?"
Seeing Wen Lingjiao wipe her tears and nod, he retracted his hands, pointed to two of his personal soldiers, and ordered loudly: "Go back and get the horses, move quickly, and meet us at the ferry ahead immediately!"
If they were ordinary horses, Qiu Yizi would not care at all, but these horses were all rare Bohai horses, and they had experienced battles, so they were hard to come by. Unless it was absolutely necessary, they could not be easily abandoned.
When Qiu Yizi saw the two men saluted, he turned around and ran back, then led the rest of the people towards the ferry.
However, the ferry crossing that was originally full of ferries was now empty. There was only a small wooden boat that could barely accommodate a dozen people parked there. There seemed to be a hole in the bottom of the boat, which was barely blocked by a ball of rags.
With just this small boat, it would be difficult and dangerous to even send these people to the other side, not to mention the few military horses.
Qiu Yizi was feeling worried when she heard Yuchi Jiming say, "Uncle, look, someone seems to be coming over there."
Qiu Yizi looked into the distance in a hurry, but in the pitch-black darkness she could only see rain falling from the sky. As for who was coming, it was blurry and she couldn't see anything clearly.
Qiu Yizhi was about to ask Yuchi Jiming what he had seen when he heard the sound of paddling on the surface of the Yong River. In the heavy rain, he heard someone shouting to him, "Sir, hurry up and get on the boat! The hurricane is coming. It will be too late if you are late!"
This is Lin Shuhan's voice.
Qiu Yizhi was delighted to hear this, so he made a trumpet shape with his hands and replied, "Mr. Lin, I'm here, come here quickly, come here quickly!"
After a while, Lin Shuhan was seen standing on a bamboo raft, waving at Qiu Yizi, his whole body wet - and there were a dozen rafts following behind him.
Qiu Yizhi saw that most of these bamboo rafts were seven or eight feet wide and two or three feet long, and each raft was large enough to carry one person and one horse, so he quickly ordered his soldiers to drive their horses onto the bamboo rafts. He, Wen Lingjiao, and Lin Shuhan took a raft together and headed to the other side of the Yong River.
Lin Shuhan personally helped Qiu Yizi board the boat, and then asked the boatman to cross the river quickly.
Although the bamboo raft was stable and flat, it was not as fast as the ferry. The boatman paddled hard several times before the raft gradually left the river bank and drifted towards Mingzhou. (To be continued)