In early winter, the sun sets quickly. It was just sunset, but in the blink of an eye, it was night.
"Look, it's getting dark, and the third day is almost over. There is no sign of the Japanese pirates."
The man who had complained before, stood on the city wall and looked hard at the dark night in the distance. He could not see any trace of human figure under the night sky, and he complained again.
"That's right. As the saying goes, once and twice, it won't happen a third time. The third day is almost over, and the Japanese pirates haven't come yet. It seems that the Japanese pirates will not come again. This time our county magistrate is like a tiger taking a nap..." The man who had complained with him before also said.
"Hehe..." The local glanced at them meaningfully and responded with a "hehe".
The two of them replied, "Hey...", thinking in their hearts that the county magistrate is not a god, so what if he made a mistake once? Our gratitude to the county magistrate would not decrease much.
The night grew darker and darker, and before long, it was so dark that one could not see one's hand in front of one's face. Outside the city, there was still silence, with only the occasional creepy cry of a night owl.
"I've been frightened for nothing all day! Let's go, let's go home and sleep. From now on, we won't be frightened again. The Japanese pirates are not the county magistrate's dogs, and the county magistrate can't predict the future..."
"that is... ... "
The two men stayed on the city wall for a while, curled their lips, muttered a few words, and then walked down.
However, just as the two of them stepped down the next step, they heard a commotion behind them.
"Look, there are people rushing towards the city gate."
"Oh, it's true, the speed is so fast..."
"The Japanese pirates are coming..."
The two men heard screams from the city wall and they paused in their tracks. The timid one of them even lost control of his legs. If he had not held onto the wall in time, he would have rolled down in fear.
The two looked at each other, as if struck by lightning, smoke coming out of their heads, and asked in trembling voices, "Are the Japanese pirates really here?"
"Brother, please help me. Let's go down quickly and find a cellar, a sewer or something to hide in. I hope we are lucky and the Japanese pirates can't find us..."
The timid man clung to the wall, his legs shaking uncontrollably, and spoke to the man in a trembling voice.
"Ah? Ah! Sure, sure..." The man couldn't help but panic when he heard about the Japanese pirates.
The locals on the city wall sneered at them, took out a butcher knife from their sleeves, spat on it, and said to themselves, "Old brother, today we can fight side by side again. I didn't let you drink enough blood of the Japanese pirates last time when you defended the city. Today I will help you drink enough blood."
After saying this, the locals rushed to the front line of the city wall with butcher knives in hand, with a look of determination on their faces.
"He's crazy, right? Although the pirates are not tall and dressed like beggars, they are all highly skilled in martial arts, with three-foot-long swords on their waists. They can cut gold and iron, kill people without blinking an eye, and eat human flesh without adding salt... He took a butcher knife to him, isn't that like an old man who wants to die?!"
Seeing this, the two couldn't help but speak.
"The Japanese pirates are coming, and I finally have enough money to marry a wife..."
"Excuse me. I regretted not going up the city wall last time for half a year. This time, I won't go down no matter what."
In the blink of an eye, many people holding weapons such as dung forks, shovels, and red tasseled spears squeezed past them, scrambled to occupy the parapets, and looked outside the city with shining eyes.
"What's going on? Can madness be contagious?! Are all these people crazy?!"
The two were completely stunned when they saw so many people rushing forward, and they muttered to themselves.
"No, they're not Japanese pirates, they're our people, the yamen runner Zhang Ergou, I know him." A sharp-eyed person noticed the clue and couldn't help but loudly remind the people around him.
"Well, it's really not Zhang Ergou. Behind him is the damn Tiedan, who is also a yamen runner."
Soon someone recognized several people outside the city who were quickly approaching the city gate and shouted.
"Ah?! They're not pirates." When the two heard this, the tension and worry on their faces disappeared, and their bodies quickly relaxed. They said excitedly, "I knew it, how could the pirates just show up like that?!"
Soon, under the gaze of everyone, several torches outside the city came to the city gate and began to knock on the door.
It was Zhang Erniu, Tiedan and others.
"Erniu, Tiedan, the county magistrate ordered you to closely monitor the coast, why did you come back?! The city gate cannot be opened. The county magistrate has an order, and without the county magistrate's order, no one is allowed to open the city gate."
An officer on the city wall asked.
"There is something going on at sea. Hundreds of Yawata ships have appeared on the sea and are heading straight for Jingnan. Yawata ships are warships commonly used by Japanese pirates. When the leader noticed this, he quickly ordered us to report to the county lord. Lao Zhang, since the city gate cannot be opened, quickly send the basket down and we will sit on it so that we can report the situation to the county lord in time."
Zhang Erniu and others explained loudly at the foot of the city gate and urged the officers on the city wall to put down the baskets.
After verifying their identities once again, two cradles were quickly lowered from the city wall with ropes, and Zhang Erniu, Tiesuo and others were pulled up one by one. After Zhang Erniu and others came up, they quickly went down the city wall and reported to Zhu Ping'an the news that the Japanese pirates were approaching the Jingnan Sea.
"The Japanese pirates are really coming!!"
"The Japanese pirates are really here!!"
The two people on the city wall looked at each other in astonishment when they heard this. How could they have thought that the Japanese pirates would come when the county magistrate said they would!
Soon, the news of the arrival of the Japanese pirates spread throughout the entire Jingnan County. Although Zhu Ping'an had reminded everyone, everyone was still shocked and frightened when they heard the news.
"The Japanese pirates are really here. These damn Japanese pirates are so treacherous and cunning that they actually attacked us in the middle of the night. If the county lord hadn't reminded us, how could we have discovered the pirates' tricks! Who would have thought that the Japanese pirates would attack us at night? In the middle of the night, everyone must be asleep at home. If the county lord hadn't reminded us, I don't know how many families would have been killed by the pirates; if the county lord hadn't reminded us, I'm afraid the county town might have been attacked by the pirates..."
"These damn Japanese pirates attacked in the middle of the night. They are going to kill people."
"The county magistrate is really amazing. He said the Japanese pirates were coming and ordered us to move away in advance to avoid them, but they really came. Our village is right by the sea, and we will definitely be the first to suffer if the damn Japanese pirates attack. Thank you, county magistrate. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid my whole family would have been in trouble by now..."
People were terrified, but also grateful. They were terrified that the Japanese pirates would attack late at night, and they were grateful that the county magistrate had notified them in advance so that they could take precautions and avoid them. Otherwise, they would have been doomed tonight.