Chapter 108: Acting in Advance

Everyone was stunned. It happened too fast; no one had clearly seen who that fellow was.

A few villagers who had been leisurely watching the excitement stood up straight and whispered to each other: "Could it be Boss Lu?"

The water surface quickly returned to calm.

He Yue could not help but ask the villagers: "Is this situation normal?"

"It's nothing," the villager replied. "Boss Lu is an excellent swimmer; he'll be up in a moment."

He Yue grasped the key point.

There was something strange in the lake, and while any normal person would be surprised, the villagers only mentioned Boss Lu's swimming ability. In other words, they did not believe the anomaly in the lake posed a threat to Boss Lu.

Thinking of this, he turned his head and whispered to Zeng Feixiong: "Prepare to move!"

Zeng Feixiong was startled: "Now?"

"There is no time like the present!" the young man was exceptionally resolute. "He didn't bring his long saber when he entered the water, and there are only our people here, with only four or five bandits; this is the perfect opportunity to capture him in one fell swoop!"

Zeng Feixiong scanned the scene and discovered that the situation was indeed as He Yue had said.

Usually, Boss Lu was followed by a dozen or so lackeys, and this village had already become his home turf, where he came and went as he pleased. By the time the government troops made full preparations to surround and suppress him, they might not even know where he was.

At this moment, he was in the water without a weapon, and the lackeys on the shore looked like weaklings; there weren't two among them who could fight.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, fleeting and gone in an instant.

Zeng Feixiong nodded.

At this time, the government troops who had just entered the water had already climbed out to put on their clothes, and some were still trying to fish around. Zeng Feixiong reprimanded them: "Stand at attention, what does this look like!" As he spoke, he made a gesture.

Mao Tao watched, stunned; this was the signal for "prepare to move" commonly used by sand bandits. Zeng Feixiong had traveled the Red Cliff trade route for years, defeated countless bandits, and was also well-versed in the secret signals of sand bandits.

This set of signals was naturally also promoted by him within the troops under his command.

Therefore, the soldiers were startled at first, stopped playing around, and then silently tightened their belts.

Their weapons were tucked into their belts.

With a "splash" from the water, a person and a large fish surfaced at the same time.

This person was naturally Boss Lu. He held onto the large fish and shouted to the shore: "Hey, everyone come down and help!"

The fish reached a staggering nine feet (three meters) in length, dark blue in color, with a body as thick as a door panel and long whiskers by its mouth.

Such an absolute behemoth was motionless in the water, being pushed along by Boss Lu, and He Yue did not see any wounds on its body.

Zeng Feixiong gave a look, and the soldiers all jumped down with him, shouting: "Coming, coming."

Those few villagers also scrambled into the water, and over a dozen people exerted force together around the big fish, wanting to lift it onto the shore. The bigger the fish, the better it tasted; a fish this size, whether cooked, fried, or roasted, would be a delicacy.

Zeng Feixiong grabbed a good spot as soon as he entered the water, standing right next to Boss Lu. He had just shouldered the weight when it slipped away: "Ouch, these scales are sharp!"

The nine-foot-long fish had thick, hard scales, but their edges were sharp and thin; if plucked off, they could be used as scrapers.

Zeng Feixiong was now directly facing Boss Lu and took the opportunity to return to his original position. He pulled a short spike from behind his back with his right hand and stabbed straight at his ribs! At this moment, everyone was supporting the fish with both hands, and Boss Lu was no exception, so his rib area was naturally exposed.

The short spike was only one foot three inches long, but if this strike landed solidly and deeply, it could directly rupture Boss Lu's spleen and then pierce through his lungs as well.

Once the spleen ruptures and bleeds, a person easily falls into a coma, and once the lung qi leaks out, they cannot exert any strength.

This move by Zeng Feixiong was extremely sinister.

Just as the tip of the spike was about to touch the opponent, Boss Lu's left hand suddenly dropped, grabbing his wrist, and immediately followed with a punch toward Zeng Feixiong's face.

This fellow's reaction was too fast! Zeng Feixiong blocked this punch from Boss Lu; both men had remarkable strength, and they stood in a stalemate for a few breaths. Their respective subordinates saw that something was wrong, grabbed their weapons, and started fighting.

The scene was momentarily extremely chaotic.

He Yue, watching from the shore, jumped into the water without a word, pulled a short dagger from his boot, and went for Boss Lu's back.

A bandit rushed to intercept him. He Yue dodged the first time, but was then grabbed by the hem of his clothes and pulled back, followed by a punch to his eye socket; the sharp pain pierced his heart.

Mao Tao risked being hacked in the back to pull him back: "Second Young Master, get to the shore quickly!" His elder was here, which would only distract everyone! At this moment, He Chunhua also arrived with his Lady upon hearing the commotion, and the personal guard unit rushed in from all directions.

Likewise, the bandits posing as villagers also tore off their disguises, pulling out hidden weapons from every corner and charging over with shouts.

In the water and on land, they were all fighting.

Boss Lu had already engaged Zeng Feixiong, bare-handed against a long saber, fighting more bravely the longer he fought despite being in the water. His fists, the size of sand mortars, suddenly hardened like diamond rock; Zeng Feixiong's long saber struck them, sending out a long string of sparks with a clanging sound.

Zeng Feixiong looked closely and saw that the surface of the enemy's skin had turned into fish scales, even flashing with a metallic luster. In the span of just two breaths, this change covered both of Boss Lu's forearms.

Bare-handed, he could actually turn into a weapon.

Boss Lu let out a roar, a faint black light radiated from his body, and he smashed down with several heavy punches, one after another.

Zeng Feixiong knew it was not the time to clash head-on, so he had to block with his saber. He felt as if he were facing a humanoid grizzly bear; when he endured the fourth blow, with a "clang," the saber broke.

Fortunately, two personal guards rushed to the front to block the final strike from Boss Lu for him.

One was knocked to the bottom of the pool on the spot, and the other was sent flying out of the side pool, falling into the outer lake.

"Stop!" Boss Lu roared at the top of his lungs. "Everyone stop, we don't want to fight!"

He Chunhua had already taken out the State Decree and was about to use it, but paused upon hearing this: "Can the words of bandits be taken seriously?"

"If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it long ago; would I have treated you to good food and drink all night?" Boss Lu said quickly. "You are just passing through, and we are heading south; why not coexist peacefully for the night and go our separate ways tomorrow morning?"

His own side did not want to fight either, so this was a perfect opportunity to step down. He Chunhua quickly assessed the battle situation in his heart, pondered for a moment, and nodded: "Fine, truce! Everyone put away your weapons!"

He Yue retreated to his side, silent, his expression heavy.

Both father and son saw clearly that although their side had the advantage in numbers and the bonus of the State Decree, they did not have an overwhelming advantage against this group of bandits, and Boss Lu's ferocity was even more unexpected.

Even if the government troops could win in the end, the losses would be heavy. This personal guard unit was the foundation He Chunhua had built up while fighting in the north; he would feel heartache for a long time if even one person were lost, so how could he let them be wasted here?

This sneak attack could be considered a failure. Since both sides had reasons not to fight to the death, they should stop as soon as possible.

With both leaders having spoken, the subordinates ceased their hostilities, spat at each other, and returned to their respective camps to tend to their wounds.

(End of chapter)