Chapter 78: The Useless One

"Bang—"

Yan Ning was startled awake by a loud noise.

She sat up abruptly and saw that the outside was as bright as day for an instant.

"Bang—"

Two more loud noises followed, and Yan Ning immediately put on her clothes and got up.

She saw that Zhuo Heng and their one hundred guards had all risen and were blocking the front.

The people in the Watchtower could not come down, as they were worried about someone circling around from the back.

After two explosives went off, twenty or thirty Japanese pirates had actually still managed to land!

Fortunately, they were only armed with blades for looting, while Zhuo Heng and his men were all fully equipped with Crossbows; the hundred men fired their Crossbows in unison, and the Japanese pirates were already dead.

Bai Yu, standing to the side, watched with heart-pounding terror; after those two loud noises, the ground was covered in severed limbs and broken arms, and only twenty wounded remained, all of whom were subsequently finished off.

Bai Yu thought to herself that it was no wonder Yan Ning lived in such a remote place; it turned out she had hidden so many things.

At this moment, Zhuo Heng came over.

"Young Miss, we saw some Japanese pirates go to Taohua Village and Li Family Village. Should we go to help?"

Many people from these two villages were helping Yan Ning build houses and do simple carpentry work.

Yan Ning immediately said, "Go, I will go with you."

Then Yan Ning was grabbed by the back of her collar and hauled back to her room.

Yan Ze: "You stay here with your mother; I will take Zhuo Heng and the others."

Yan Ning had no choice but to give up.

As for Yan Ze mentioning he would go over, Yan Ning did not stop him; after her father transmigrated, he had learned some horsemanship and archery, and he was particularly accurate with a Crossbow.

Yan Ze took fifty men to Taohua Village, and Zhuo Heng took fifty-nine men to Li Family Village.

At this time, inside Taohua Village.

No one had expected the Japanese pirates to launch a sneak attack in the middle of the night.

The door panels were being smashed with a "bang-bang" sound.

The Japanese pirates were all holding Long Blades, and the unarmed villagers were simply no match for them.

An infant was killed outright; the tip of a blade pierced the child's abdomen, and the Japanese pirate held the blade up, laughing wildly.

There was another Japanese pirate who stripped a woman's clothes off and wanted to...

Er Gouzi had a Crossbow in his hand, along with a dozen or so arrows.

"Swish, swish," two shots rang out, and those two Japanese pirates were hit and fell, rolling on the ground in pain.

Er Gouzi became a target, and several Japanese pirates ran toward him, using the villagers as human shields in front of them.

Er Gouzi dared not act recklessly for fear of hitting others.

In a moment, the Japanese pirates reached Er Gouzi and swung their blades to execute him, but Jin Sanzhu blocked them in front of him.

Jin Sanzhu's back was covered in bloody gashes.

The next moment, he was kicked away.

Just as the blade was about to strike Er Gouzi, a "swish" sound passed right by Er Gouzi's neck, directly hitting the Japanese pirate's vital point.

The other few Japanese pirates surrounding Er Gouzi were also hit and fell to the ground.

Er Gouzi let out a long sigh of relief, and when he turned his head, he saw Yan Ze arriving with the guards.

Er Gouzi truly could not hold on any longer and slumped to the ground as if his strength had been drained.

Yan Ze said to Qian Ruofang, "Sorry to trouble you, send all the wounded here."

After a good while, the wounds of Jin Sanzhu and the others had all been bandaged.

The guards Zhuo Heng took to Li Family Village also brought medicine over, so there likely would not be any major problems.

After resolving the situation, Yan Ze returned.

It took a long while before bursts of crying erupted in the village.

Some people had lost their wives, others had lost their children, and everyone was crying in grief.

Er Gouzi wiped away his tears, not forgetting to comfort the crowd: "There weren't many casualties this time; it's a bit better than last time."

The village was silent, with only a few sobs to be heard.

Indeed, the Japanese pirates would come every few days, and each time the villagers suffered countless casualties, and the women and young girls would also be violated.

This group of Japanese pirates was simply insane.

On the other side, Li Family Village was the same.

Small villages like theirs, located by the sea, were the most easily attacked by Japanese pirates.

Just as Yan Ze returned to Chaoyang Village, Yan Ning had a heavy expression, "Father, Shawan County has been attacked by Japanese pirates, and County Magistrate Lin sent people wanting us to go and rescue them."

Yan Ze asked, "Are there many Japanese pirates there?"

The man said, "Not many, just a few hundred."

Yan Ze told Yan Ning to get a few bags of explosives, and then he prepared to take a boat to Shawan County.

The gates of Shawan County were tightly shut, and the Japanese pirates were using a large log to ram the gate.

On the city wall, there were also people shooting, but their aim was poor, and they hadn't hit many even after running out of arrows.

The gates of Shawan County could no longer be held.

When Yan Ze and his men arrived, they happened to see the crumbling city gate.

Yan Ze said to everyone, "Fire arrows, kill them first."

The hundred men stood in formation, and arrow after arrow was shot toward the Japanese pirates.

Before long, those few Japanese pirates holding the long log to ram the gate were all wounded.

Zhuo Heng asked: "His Highness, there are many people behind them, and it is far from the city tower, could we use..."

Mindful that there were people from County Magistrate Lin nearby, they did not mention the "Explosive Package".

Yan Ze considered for a moment, then said: "No need, the guards have all practiced the accuracy of their Crossbow, and the Woguo pirates have no archers."

One by one, they were hit and lay down.

It was also at this time that the people in the city all came out.

It was just that this year the Woguo pirates were subdued before they could enter the city; in previous years when there were no reinforcements, Shawan County suffered countless casualties, and many women and young girls were humiliated and then hanged themselves to death.

At this moment, the city gate had already been rammed open, and those Woguo pirates had all been knocked down.

The commoners rushed out directly; some held stones, some held axes, and others held fire pokers, all of them swarming up.

These Woguo pirates were not completely killed, they were just injured and temporarily unable to move.

Those commoners were each risking their lives to smash things onto the Woguo pirates.

In a short while, all the Woguo pirates were beaten to a pulp, sprawled on the ground. Some Woguo pirates were dead, and some were not yet dead, but they had been beaten until only one breath remained.

It was very lively outside.

County Magistrate Lin hurriedly trotted over toward Yan Ze.

"Thank you very much, Your Highness, for this time. In the future, if there is any place you need me, just speak up."

Yan Ze nodded, then frowned: "Do the Woguo pirates come every year?"

County Magistrate Lin frowned, "Sometimes they come, but there are not many people, so they usually just sneak-attack nearby villages. I don't know why they came directly to Shawan County this time."

Yan Ze: "The 'little days' are truly disgusting, watch me beat them back."

County Magistrate Lin was puzzled: "What 'little days'? But Your Highness, you should not take risks. This group of Woguo pirates is especially vigilant; the imperial court has sent people over several times, but all ended in failure."

Yan Ze: "Trash."

County Magistrate Lin:...

Although that may be, well, they are indeed a bit trashy.

But how could he say it out loud?

County Magistrate Lin: "Your Highness has the intention to wipe out the Woguo pirates, but the Woguo pirates are truly cunning; one hundred guards are certainly not enough."

"And there is one thing that is quite bizarre: the current Emperor sent people to attack Woguo, but who knew that several times they encountered deadly demonic winds, and after a few times, he never mentioned the matter of exterminating the Woguo pirates again."

Yan Ze: "Trash."

"Couldn't they just pick a different time to attack."

They chose to go during the time when typhoons were blowing every single time; their brains must be somewhat seriously ill.