Fang Ziyan got onto one of the boats and threw her down. He was not in a good mood. “Don’t forget that we are on the same boat now. If I can’t escape, you will not be able to either.” With a poker face, he continued, “Arrows have no eyes. Stay here and don’t come out.”
Without waiting for Fu Rou’s reply, Fang Ziyan locked the cabin door. He ordered the ship to set sail. Fu Rou leaned forward as she looked through a slit between the wooden shutters. Soon, their ship took off. In the distance, the sails of the navy’s ships looked like clouds. The navy’s ships were all a monotone colour with a narrow body and pointed head. The flags were also a monotone coloured attached with the word “South” on it. Men dressed in identical battle gear stood on board the ship.
“It’s the navy!” Although Fu Rou had never seen them before, she could not help but feel happy. “Help is here!”
Looking around, Fu Rou grabbed whatever she could use and broke the wooden shutters.
However, what Fu Rou would never be able to guess would be that the person leading the South Navy was Sheng Chumu.
After heading to Chang’an in a fit, Sheng Chumu realised that even spending his days drinking had become dull. What was even scarier was that every girl reminded him of Fu Rou. He was heartbroken. He decided that if he was a man, it was no big deal to suffer because of a lady. He was going to thicken his skin and beg Fu Rou to forgive him. With Fu Rou’s personality, being tough on the outside and soft on the inside, she would eventually forgive him. Hence, he had headed to Guangzhou to apologise. Who knew that he would receive news of Fu Rou getting kidnapped by pirates as soon as he reached the Fu Residence.
Only the navy was capable of dealing with pirates. Sheng Chumu then mustered determination that he had never had before and convinced General Wu from the South Navy to send out his men. He even used his official title to break through the ranks to speak to the General.
General Wu was leading the hoard of ships and was about to give chase to the two ships that Ma Haihu had sent out.
However, Sheng Chumu felt that something was suspicious as he ran to the back of the boat. He saw a huge pirate ship leave the cave and head in the opposite direction.
“General Wu, be careful! They are trying to lure you away!” Sheng Chumu shouted as he ran back. “I believe that the pirates' main forces are in the big ship!”
Initially, General Wu had looked down on Sheng Chumu. But it was Sheng Chumu that had convinced him to send only one boat to try and dock at the beach, preventing the navy from suffering a huge loss. At this very moment, he trusted Sheng Chumu and immediately changed the direction they were heading to.
As they saw pirate ships leave the cave one after the other, anyone would know that this was the pirate’s main force.
Under Sheng Chumu’s orders, the South Navy had turned in time and slowly closed the distance between them and the pirate ships. General Wu commanded, “Release the arrows! Slow them down!”
At that moment, Fu Rou had successfully broken the wooden shutters and ran out of the cabin. As she saw the navy giving chase, she immediately grabbed onto the railings and shouted for help.
Sheng Chumu heard a woman’s voice from the pirate ships and immediately scanned the area. However, the distance was too far for him to see clearly. He did not care about anything else as he shouted loudly, “Fu Rou! Fu Rou! Fu Rou!”
Fu Rou heard someone calling her name but could not see who it was. She suddenly saw numerous black spots fill the sky above her. It was a shower of arrows! No matter how brave Fu Rou was, she was still a noble lady and had never been caught in a battle. She stood frozen to her spot.
A swift shadow dashed towards her, grabbing her and falling to the ground. They managed to hide behind the wall of the ship in the nick of time. In the spot that she had been standing earlier, there were tens of arrows.
“Are you trying to die?!” Her saviour was Fang Ziyan.
Fear lingered in Fu Rou’s heart. “This is all because of you—”
Fu Rou’s words disappeared into Fang Ziyan’s mouth. He kissed her fiercely. He needed to pacify his fear of almost losing her a moment ago. Fu Rou’s face blushed from shock, unable to say a single word. When she finally refocused, she had already been locked in a cabin by Fang Ziyan.
Sheng Chumu was staring fixedly at the pirate ship with the woman’s silhouette. He pointed. “Ignore the other ships, that one is the biggest. It must be the one that the leader is on.”
General Wu agreed with his logic and ordered his ships to focus on Fang Ziyan’s ship. He did not know that this was exactly Fang Ziyan’s plan. Fang Ziyan lured the navy to the territorial waters that Du Long was in with all the other sect leaders. General Wu’s attention shifted. He was delighted to have come across the meeting of the leaders from several sects. Taking them down would be a huge achievement. He no longer cared about Fang Ziyan’s ship.
Seeing how Fang Ziyan was about to escape, Sheng Chumu made a decision and borrowed a ship to give chase himself.
Fang Ziyan had been pleased with himself. He had managed to use the South Navy’s might to get rid of the old geezers that were against him. However, he did not expect to have someone continue chasing him. The chase stretched from day to night, unrelenting.
Fang Ziyan had always been smart from a young age. Although he had met with misfortune in the past, he had performed brilliantly in the sect after being rescued by the leader of the Four Seas Sect. He got to the position he had today all because of his desire to survive. It was rare for him to meet such a stubborn opponent and Fang Ziyan felt like he should greet his opponent and slowed his ship.
Sheng Chumu never thought that Fang Ziyan would invite him on but he was also not afraid of stepping into the enemy’s territory. Putting up a plank that stretched over to Fang Ziyan’s ship, he hopped over and got into a fight with Fang Ziyan.
Although Sheng Chumu had improved quite a bit under Niu Wudi, he hadn’t been training long enough. When compared to Fang Ziyan, who had grown up fighting on the seas, he was still somewhat lacking. Sheng Chumu had only managed to get a cut on Fang Ziyan’s cape whereas he himself had gotten kicked in the stomach as his entire body flew and knocked the side of the ship.
Fang Ziyan respected Sheng Chumu’s determination to fight to the very end and thought that Sheng Chumu looked slightly familiar. But nothing was more important than killing the enemy as he pointed his sword and prepared to pierce him.
Chapter 7.2: Saving Beauty
“No!” Fu Rou shrieked as she stumbled and fell, using her body to shield Sheng Chumu.
“This has nothing to do with her!” After going through so much, Sheng Chumu finally managed to see her but never thought that it would be in such a life-threatening circumstance. He pulled Fu Rou behind him as he took on a protective stance.
“Who is he to you?” Fang Ziyan was stunned as an unknown rage boiled within him. He pointed his sword at Fu Rou.
Fu Rou bit down on her lip. Who was Sheng Chumu to her? She did not know! She only knew that when she saw Sheng Chumu, she had been overwhelmed with happiness.
He had returned for her! It turned out that she had never lost hope in him and had only been disappointed when he decided to leave.
Seeing the lack of response from Fu Rou, Fang Ziyan got even angrier as he used his sword to shove Sheng Chumu away, intending to pull Fu Rou back to himself.
Sheng Chumu reacted and grabbed the edge of Fang Ziyan’s cape, refusing to let go. “Fu Rou, even though I have let many women down. I will not let you down!” He then shouted at Fang Ziyan. “If you are a man then let’s end it in a battle with our lives on the line. Don’t bully women.”