The General Who Only Knows How to Spoil His Beloved and Write Stories 22

Chapter 22: Winning Through Peril

Boom—

Boom—

A deafening explosion erupted from one of Langxuan’s ships. All the sharks near the ship were killed, and the blood attracted even more sharks. The ship’s hull was completely destroyed, sinking at a visible rate. The people on board had already prepared, either transferring to another ship or boarding the pirates’ vessels.

One after another, the ships were blown up, like red flowers blooming on the sea. Blood-red seawater shot into the sky, and the remains of the sharks flew everywhere.

Qi Xiao looked around. All the ships except the main warship had been reduced to a pile of broken, floating debris. It was a pity, but at least there were now shark-free zones on the sea, allowing the people of Langxuan to use their small boats to harass the pirates.

Only the main warship was left.

“General,” Jiang Luori said, “it’s ready. All the non-combatants have been evacuated. Inspector Qi has also left with Young Master Duanmu.”

Qi Xiao nodded.

The main warship was different from the others. Due to its large size and more complex equipment, the force of its explosion would be immense, and the area it would affect was not to be underestimated.

On the battlefield, it was often king against king, general against general, soldier against soldier. The pirate ship closest to Langxuan’s main warship was naturally the pirates’ own main warship. The man commanding the pirates in this battle was a rugged-looking man, a pirate warrior named Qu Zheng.

Seeing Langxuan’s ships self-destructing one by one, Qu Zheng also realized something was wrong. He ordered the sailors to pull their main warship away from Langxuan’s, but before they could act, they heard a loud boom—

Langxuan’s main warship split apart on the sea, like a red spider lily blooming in the underworld, enchanting and deadly.

Qi Xiao held Fu Yunzhi tightly as they leaped from the lookout tower and fell into the sea.

As his body fell uncontrollably through the air, Fu Yunzhi couldn’t say he was completely without fear, but Qi Xiao held him so tightly that his bones ached.

Meanwhile, the pirates’ main warship was in chaos.

“Leader Qu! It’s… it’s on fire!”

“Leader Qu, we can’t put it out… It’s… it’s too fierce!”

The explosion of Langxuan’s main warship had implicated them. Now, part of the pirates’ main warship was also destroyed, and it had lost its balance. To make matters worse, the sails had caught fire. Sparks flew, and the raging flames could not be extinguished.

“Leader Qu, someone poured oil on our ship…”

Qu Zheng cursed inwardly, while the people of Langxuan, having lost their ships and with no way to retreat, fought desperately to capture the pirate vessels.

Qi Xiao and Fu Yunzhi climbed onto one of the small boats. Qi Xiao looked at the supplies on board; there was still gunpowder left.

Although the people of Langxuan had escaped the predicament with the sharks, the number of pirates was still not to be underestimated. Without ships, they could still swim to a nearby uninhabited island, but if they lost this battle to the pirates, they would lose their lives. Qi Xiao made a ruthless decision and shouted, “We’re not capturing their ships anymore! We don’t want the pirates’ ships! Blow them up!”

With his order, the people of Langxuan immediately retreated from the pirate ships and leaped into the sea, while the men on the small boats mercilessly hurled gunpowder at the pirates.

Screams and wails filled the pirate ships. The fierce flames devoured and roared, making even the sun in the sky seem pale.

With the help of the gunpowder, the blood-crazed Jianghu people and the Qi family army attacked with unstoppable force, defeating the pirates one by one.

Qi Xiao laughed loudly. They had won the gamble! The pirates were now in disarray, with few remaining. Victory was in their grasp. In his excitement, Qi Xiao pulled Fu Yunzhi, who was beside him, close and kissed him firmly on the forehead.

Fu Yunzhi: “?!”

“Yunzhi, we’ve won again,” Qi Xiao said.

Fu Yunzhi smiled. “Because the God of War is here.”

The clash of swords, the crackle of fire, and the shouts of soldiers were endless, but at this moment, all Qi Xiao could hear was Fu Yunzhi’s voice.

Qu Zheng watched Qi Xiao kiss Fu Yunzhi’s forehead, the two of them standing intimately together. A dark glint flashed in his eyes, and the flickering firelight made it impossible to see his expression…

On a small boat outside the battle circle, Qi Xiao said with determination, “This battle is almost over. I’m going to take their leader’s head!”

With that, he used his lightness skill to leap onto the pirates’ main warship, which had been burned beyond recognition, searching for Qu Zheng.

In the sea of fire, he saw Qu Zheng standing on one of the lookout towers, with no one else around.

Qi Xiao used a rope to leap up to the lookout tower, but when he landed, he was stunned.

There was only a corpse on the lookout tower, draped in Qu Zheng’s clothes. Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t Qu Zheng at all!

Splash—

Without warning, the small boat Fu Yunzhi was on suddenly capsized! Fu Yunzhi fell into the sea, and before he could even process what had happened, he was tightly embraced by someone, his limbs restrained.

The person had strong limbs and was full of strength. Fu Yunzhi, who had no strength to even truss a chicken, was powerless to resist.

He was held underwater by the person and forcibly dragged in one direction.

After seeing the corpse, Qi Xiao had realized it was a trick. He subconsciously looked in Fu Yunzhi’s direction, but all he saw was an overturned boat floating lonely on the sea. His heart instantly turned cold.

Qi Xiao searched frantically and, in an inconspicuous corner, saw Qu Zheng dragging Fu Yunzhi away. Qu Zheng had one arm around Fu Yunzhi and was holding a rope with the other. The other end of the rope was tied to a sea monster.

This sea monster was on a completely different level from the ones they had seen before. In terms of size, it was unbelievably huge. Perhaps even ten adult men holding hands in a circle wouldn’t be as big!

“Yunzhi!”

Qi Xiao immediately gave chase. Shen Linye and Mu Linglong heard the commotion and also came to help. But alas, although the sea monster fish was huge, it was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, it had disappeared over the horizon.

“Yunzhi—”

The last stubborn pirate who refused to surrender was finally killed, and the blood-soaked crowd cheered in unison.

“We’ve won!”

“Hooray—”

But Qi Xiao’s desperate roar was drowned out by the sound of the waves and the cheers.

When Fu Yunzhi woke up again, he found that he was no longer in the cold seawater but lying on a soft bed. He looked around. It was a simple, dim room with no distinguishing features. If he listened carefully, he could hear the sound of waves outside the window.

Clang—

Fu Yunzhi moved his body and found an ankle shackle on his left leg. The iron chain was deeply embedded in the wall, preventing him from escaping.

“Young Master Fu is awake?”

A young girl stood by the bed, smiling at him.

“Who are you?”

“This servant’s name is Haoyue,” the girl said in a crisp voice. “Leader Qu said you are an honored guest on King’s Island and ordered me to serve you well.”

Leader Qu?

Fu Yunzhi narrowed his eyes. According to the prisoner they had captured in the first battle, this Leader Qu should be one of the king’s most trusted leaders—Qu Zheng. He was also the pirate who had captured him. Fu Yunzhi remembered the giant sea monster that had dragged them away. He didn’t know how many of these monsters with astonishing combat power the pirates had. If he had the chance, he would definitely investigate.

“Is this King’s Island?”

Haoyue nodded.

Fu Yunzhi subconsciously looked out the window and saw that it was covered by a black cloth.

Tsk, quite thorough.

With a click, the door opened, and the newcomer was Qu Zheng.

He waved his hand, signaling Haoyue to leave, and then sat down on the edge of the bed. Without beating around the bush, he asked, “How many reinforcements will the Langxuan court send for Qi Xiao? Does Langxuan have any gunpowder left? Tell me everything you know, Young Master Fu.”

Fu Yunzhi didn’t speak.

Qu Zheng drew his dagger. “I advise you to confess quickly. You’ll have to talk sooner or later. I see your skin is fair and tender. It would be better to suffer less.”

Fu Yunzhi closed his eyes and turned his head away.

Qu Zheng smiled and used the dagger to cut Fu Yunzhi’s clothes. Fu Yunzhi felt a chill on his chest and saw that his upper garment had slipped down, his smooth chest completely exposed to Qu Zheng’s malicious gaze.

The hair on Fu Yunzhi’s arms stood on end. “What are you doing!”

If it were physical pain, Fu Yunzhi wasn’t afraid. He had planned to grit his teeth and endure it. But this… this kind of humiliation…

“What do you think?” Qu Zheng’s hands caressed Fu Yunzhi’s chest, and he felt a satisfying tremor from the body beneath his hands.

Fu Yunzhi fiercely pushed him away. Qu Zheng swung his hand back and pressed down on him. They were so close they could feel each other’s breath.

Qu Zheng pinned Fu Yunzhi’s hands with one hand and let the other roam over his body.

Fu Yunzhi struggled with all his might and, opening his mouth, bit down hard on Qu Zheng’s shoulder.

Qu Zheng hissed in pain and slapped him across the face. “Behave!”

“Leader Qu!”

As they were struggling, someone appeared in the room.

It was an ordinary-looking man. He looked at the two of them, their clothes in disarray, and said calmly, “Leader Qu, this person is about to be offered to the king. What you are doing is perhaps… inappropriate?”

“Heh heh, what’s inappropriate?” Qu Zheng said. “You know my relationship with the king.”

“In that case,” the man continued, “he will be yours sooner or later. Why be in such a hurry and break the rules?”

Hearing this, Qu Zheng seemed to fall into thought. After a moment, he got off Fu Yunzhi.

Seeing Qu Zheng and the man leave the room and lock the door, Fu Yunzhi clutched his clothes, his heart still pounding with fear.

He replayed the conversation between the man and Qu Zheng in his mind. This person is about to be offered to the king…

What did that mean? Could it be that he… But, this way, he would be able to see that mysterious king, right? If he could gather more intelligence for Qi Xiao, that would be good too.

Fu Yunzhi searched his own body. As expected, all his self-defense weapons had been taken away.

He sighed and told himself to calm down and not to panic. These pirates probably wanted to use him as a hostage to threaten Qi Xiao. For now, his life was not in danger. If he could hold out for a few days, Qi Xiao would definitely come to save him. As for other things, like what Qu Zheng had just done… If it really came to it, he could just end his own life and be done with it