Chapter 191: Zheng Zhilong Slays the Sea Demon in the Cave

The crew also noticed the strange sight in the sky and began whispering among themselves.

Zheng Zhilong looked up at the sky, feeling his mind shaken—the sky had already become covered with dense clouds without warning.

Sunlight was blocked out, the surrounding scenery turned gray and dim, the sea became deep blue, and the desolate islands and stone pillars around them grew ominous.

"The waves are getting higher." A crewman's voice carried fear.

Zheng Zhilong, having spent years dealing with seagoing ships, could also feel the vessel's pitching growing more violent.

"Conrad... Conrad..." A Xiong's prayers grew louder as he kowtowed ceaselessly on the deck, though no one could understand what he was muttering.

"The wind has shifted—northwest wind, coming over the port side. Change the sails!" Zheng Zhilong shouted.

The crew scrambled to change sails, their movements noticeably slower than usual.

Sailors are the most superstitious of men—these crewmen could cut a man down without blinking an eye, but faced with the unknown terrors of the sea, their legs often turned to jelly.

Within a few breaths, the sky was completely shrouded by black clouds, the sea surface turned entirely gray-black, and the surrounding desolate islands and stone pillars vanished into the darkness, becoming enormous shadows.

A fierce gust of wind blasted through, the Sea Wolf ship heeled hard to one side, and crewmen tumbled across the deck in a dizzying mess.

On the sea, great waves suddenly rose, their crests covered in white foam, and the entire fleet pitched and rolled in the storm.

"Spare me, spare me..." A Xiong kowtowed without stopping, his head thumping loudly against the deck.

Already some crewmen were following his example, kneeling and kowtowing for mercy, and soon cries to Mazu and Third Granny rang through the cabin.

Zheng Zhilong's eyes went wide, his back soaked with cold sweat, and he thought: "Could that sea centipede really be real?"

The moment the thought crossed his mind, the stone pillars on the sea seemed to begin moving and merging together—utterly bizarre.

A piercing shriek came from not far away—the sound was extremely shrill and grating, like the roar of a giant beast, yet also like the screaming of several women.

Every crewman's face changed color, and they all knelt and kowtowed in worship.

Zheng Zhilong swallowed hard, his fingers trembling slightly.

He was the ship lord—he could not kneel. If he knelt too, the entire crew would collapse.

Trembling, Zheng Zhilong suddenly thought of Lin Qian braving the typhoon.

On Nan'ao Island, that story was passed from mouth to mouth, nearly elevated to myth.

Zheng Zhilong cursed inwardly: "If Brother Lin were here, he would never be as useless as I am!"

Then he thought of Bai Qing's night reconnaissance of the ship city—a woman alone, paddling a small boat, encountering all manner of strange sights, yet she held out through an entire night on the open sea and risked death to obtain intelligence.

And now he had ten Sea Wolf ships under his command, with guns and cannons, yet he cowered—was he even a man?

Seafaring was always a matter of hardship and peril, nine deaths to one life—what it tested was courage, and what it wagered was life itself.

When danger loomed, if one lacked even the courage to fight to the death, then why sail at all? Better to grow old and die on shore!

Zheng Zhilong hardened his heart: "Damn it, it's just a centipede, isn't it? If you dare show yourself, I'll blast you full of holes!"

Then he cursed the crewmen who were begging the sea for mercy: "All of you, stop your damn muttering! Raise the sails—we're finding a harbor to ride out the wind!"

At this moment, on an unnamed island southeast of the Cat Ba archipelago.

Zhong Bin watched the sky change color so suddenly, his face turning deathly pale.

His ships were all anchored in the harbor, safe enough from wind and waves, but the crew no longer dared stay aboard and were scrambling onto the island.

Zhong Bin cursed: "What are you going ashore for? All of you, get back on board!"

His subordinate said in a trembling voice: "Ship lord, the... the sea centipede... it's awake..."

"Bullshit!" Zhong Bin roared in anger, but his face was ghastly pale and his forehead covered in cold sweat—clearly he too was badly frightened.

The legend of the sea centipede spread widely throughout the Ha Long Bay area, and it was by no means groundless.

For instance, it was common for the sky to be clear one moment and raging with wind and thunder the next.

On winter mornings, impenetrably thick fog often blanketed everything.

At night, screams and roars could often be heard from the nearby waters.

And on the shores, half-eaten corpses would occasionally wash up.

In any case, the strange phenomena were numerous and varied, so much so that not only did the local fishermen believe, but Zhong Bin's own men were deeply convinced of the sea centipede's existence. Many of Zhong Bin's men who had gone ashore still felt afraid, and some even crawled straight into the caves.

This area was filled with desolate islands and countless sea-erosion caves, their interiors winding, deep, and interconnected—had they not been truly terrified, no one would normally dare enter those caves. A subordinate urged: "Ship lord, in weather like this, the enemy would never dare attack us. Let's take shelter in the caves too."

Zhong Bin was just about to step forward.

"Waaah—" a piercing shriek came from the cave behind him, jolting everyone's hearts, making the hairs on their bodies stand on end, and then cold sweat poured down like rain. "Aaaah—" a miserable, agonized scream came from within the cave.

Moments later, the crewmen who had run in earlier all came scrambling out in utter panic, every one of them scraped and bruised, their faces filled with extreme terror, as if they had seen something utterly horrifying.

Zhong Bin forced himself to say: "It's just the wind."

The desolate islands in this area were all covered in sea-erosion caves—whenever a strong wind blew through, they produced this kind of strange whistling sound.

But knowing the principle was one thing; actually hearing it without your skin crawling was quite another.

The crew gathered on the beach before the cave, not daring to enter the cave, nor daring to board the ships.

Just then, a crewman pointed at the distant sea and whimpered something—no one could make out what he said.

Then more people pointed at the distant sea, terror on their faces.

Finally someone cried out: "The sea centipede!"

Zhong Bin felt all the blood in his body freeze—his hands and feet went icy cold, his heart pounded violently, his breathing turned rapid, and he slowly turned his head to look. There, on the ink-blue sea, a section of an arthropod's back was visible above the water.

That back was striped gray-black and pale white. It was too far away to judge its size, but compared to the desolate island beside it, that back was at least one hundred and thirty zhang long—absolutely horrifying.

And judging by the direction of its movement, the sea centipede was swimming at tremendous speed straight toward the desolate island where he stood!

Zhong Bin was at a complete loss, feeling his heart beat faster and faster until it nearly burst from his chest. He murmured: "It's real... the sea centipede is really real..."

The crewmen around him, without waiting for Zhong Bin's orders, fled in every direction—but the desolate island they were on was very small, with nowhere at all to hide. Unless...

Zhong Bin looked at the cave behind him, his heart torn in a fierce struggle.

As the sea centipede's back drew closer and closer, Zhong Bin knew time was running out—he had to make a decision at once. He grabbed a torch, drew his steel blade, and was about to enter the cave, but before going in, he took one last look at the sea and stopped in his tracks.

There on the sea—where was any centipede's back? What was approaching was clearly a fleet of ships arranged in line formation, and judging by their shape, they were all uniformly Haicang ships. Zhong Bin's eyes bulged wide—he would sooner die than believe that someone actually dared to defy the sea centipede, braving the great winds and waves, risking their very lives, just to come in and slaughter him.

After staring blankly for a moment, Zhong Bin snapped back to his senses and raised his arm to shout: "Face the enemy! Get on the ships and face the enemy!"

But his men were a ragtag mob to begin with, and after repeated scares they scattered in every direction; fewer than half gathered around him at his command. Looking at the warships anchored in the harbor, Zhong Bin realized it was already too late to board them now.

Yet these assets of his had been painstakingly accumulated—how could he accept losing the whole pot in one go? While he hesitated—

The enemy ships had already sailed into the bay, broadsides aimed at the island, and then red flashes flickered as a volley of cannon fire rang out.

One shot struck right beside Zhong Bin—the chest of the man next to him caved in, and with a sound like a pumpkin hitting the ground, flesh and blood sprayed everywhere, splattering all behind him; his arms and legs scattered across the ground, and his head was carried a dozen paces away.

Zhong Bin was drenched in half his body with hot blood, scalding enough to be terrifying.

The cannonballs deliberately targeted the densest clusters of people on the island—often a single hit would kill or wound four or five men.

The morale of the men Zhong Bin had barely managed to rally plummeted, and they scattered in a rout.

With no other choice, Zhong Bin had to cut his losses. He picked up a torch again and led the remaining men into the sea-eroded cave.

The cave was damp and dark, its terrain complex, filled everywhere with stalactites that, under the torchlight, seemed to bare their claws and fangs in a ghastly display.

Zhong Bin pressed deep into the cave for a long while; the wind gradually faded, and the cannon fire slowly ceased.

Whether they had walked too far to hear it, or everyone had already been killed—he couldn't tell.

The torch's illumination in the cavern was extremely limited—one could barely see about an arm's length ahead.

Suddenly, not far off in the cave, a scream of "Ah!" rang out; barely a few breaths after the scream fell, a dull thud came from beneath their feet, and the sound stopped abruptly.

Zhong Bin instructed his men: "Watch your step."

They groped on in darkness for another hour, when another gale of wind poured into the cave, producing a sharp whistling sound like a shriek.

The sound echoed through the stalactite cavern, sending chills down one's spine.

Someone said in a trembling voice: "Ship lord, let's not go any further—they surely wouldn't dare chase us in here."

Zhong Bin gave a cold snort: "Idiot."

After a while, dense footsteps came from the cave entrance. Zhong Bin thought to himself that this was bad and hurriedly quickened his pace.

The deeper they went, the stranger the cave's terrain became—sometimes the passage was so low they had to crouch through it half-bent, and other times the cavern was so vast that even footsteps produced echoes, as if someone were following behind.

"What did you say?" someone suddenly said.

Zhong Bin found it strange, turned around, and said: "What?"

The men behind him looked as if they'd seen a ghost, frantically shaking their heads to indicate it wasn't them who had spoken.

Zhong Bin listened for a while, comforting himself that it was just an echo. Just as he was about to move forward, he realized the number of people behind him was wrong—clearly more than twenty men had followed him into the cave, but counting the torches, why were there fewer than ten left?

"Where are the others?" Zhong Bin's voice was terribly weak.

His men exchanged glances, all indicating they didn't know.

One man said: "Ship lord, this cave is sinister as hell. Let's not worry about the others—we should get out of here quickly."

There was already a sob in his voice.

At that moment, a thunderous shout came: "Zhong Bin, found you!"

That voice propagated outward like ripples on water, colliding back and forth within the cavern chamber, forming countless echoes like ripples.

"……found you………"

"……found you…………"

Zhong Bin's hand trembled in fright, and the torch slipped from his grip, fell to the ground, slid a short distance, then dropped downward—a moment later came the sound of water, and the torch went out. Only then did Zhong Bin realize there was a deep pool beneath his feet. A layer of cold sweat broke out on his back, and his clothes were instantly soaked.

With the cave's terrain unknown and dangers lurking everywhere, how dared he continue? He quickly chose a recessed spot to hide and told his men: "Quick, put out all the torches and hide."

His men obeyed, and before long, the surroundings were plunged into boundless darkness.

From afar, a voice came in fragments: "Zhong Bin…… stop hiding…… at Hepu…… you killed so many people—their wronged souls are guiding me here." Zhong Bin could see nothing, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably. Though he knew his men were on either side of him, he couldn't speak in the darkness—it was as if he were the only one left.

"Zhong Bin, we've come for you—come out……"

"This young lady—do you recognize her?"

Zhong Bin clamped his hand tightly over his mouth, nearly crying out in terror.

Just then, another gust of wind blew in, and within the cavern chamber seemed to rise the sobbing cries of a woman.

Exactly like the crying of that landlord's daughter.

"We've come for you!"

The voice came in fragments, now near, now far, echoing without end—one couldn't tell the distance at all.

"Over there!"

"Bang! Bang! ……"

Several shots from matchlock muskets rang out, amplified by the cavern's echoes until they sounded like cannon fire.

A scream, followed by a splash—something fell into the water.

"Everyone be careful—there's a pool down here."

As the words fell, the cave was faintly illuminated—clearly someone was approaching with a torch raised.

Zhong Bin covered his mouth and nose, not daring to take a single big breath.

After another moment, the footsteps stopped.

"Still not coming out? I can see you!"

Zhong Bin's heart nearly stopped in fright. His men lost their nerve, bursting out from all around, and matchlock muskets rang out continuously.

There was a constant dull thudding of bodies hitting the ground, along with the sound of water.

Then someone drew a blade and fought in the cave; the clashing of weapons lasted for a while before ending with a series of screams.

The recess where Zhong Bin hid was illuminated from the front—only then did he see a corpse lying directly in front of his hiding spot, its eyes staring dead at him. Voices came from outside.

"They're all dead."

"Go check whether Zhong Bin is among them."

"Reporting to the commander, this one has checked—Zhong Bin is not there. But these were all his trusted men, so Zhong Bin must be nearby. He may have been shot dead and fallen into the pool."

"Commander, there's no way ahead."

Someone said in a low voice: "Commander, this pool is a bit strange. I see the walls here are wet and slippery—maybe the water rises when the tide comes in. We should get out first." Zhong Bin prayed inwardly, begging the enemy to leave quickly.

The one called Commander pondered a moment, then said: "Fine, pull back first and guard the cave mouth."

Zhong Bin was overjoyed inside. This cave had passages branching in all directions—since wind kept blowing in, there had to be more than one exit. As long as the enemy left, he could surely escape with his life.

It seemed he couldn't stay in Jiaozhi any longer either. He needed to run somewhere the Great Ming couldn't reach.

He'd heard the red-haired barbarians' Batavia wasn't bad—there, anyone who could navigate could live like a lord. With his skills, he could definitely earn his keep. Too bad he'd squandered all the treasure plundered from the pearl grounds; he didn't even have capital to buy another ship.

At that moment, he suddenly noticed a human silhouette cast upon the ground before him.

Zhong Bin's throat bobbed. He jerked his head up to see a shadow shrouded in darkness, looking down at him from above.

"Found you." The voice was icy.

Zhong Bin drew his blade by reflex, slashing at the man—but a metallic clang rang out as the blade bounced off.

At the same time, his belly went cold, strength drained from his body as if siphoned away, and darkness swam before his eyes.

Zhong Bin looked down—a steel blade was buried in his stomach.

Zheng Zhilong twisted his right hand hard, and blood sprayed violently from Zhong Bin's abdomen, splattering all over him.

Zheng Zhilong laid the body down, chopped off the head with his blade, then searched the corpse—finding only a letter and a few scraps of gold and silver.

Zheng Zhilong held up Zhong Bin's head and asked the captive behind him: "Is this him?"

The captive nodded frantically: "Yes, yes, yes! That's him, that's Zhong the Hell King!"

Zheng Zhilong smiled: "Good. Let's go."

An hour later, the group emerged from the cave and sat on the ground, gasping for breath.

Zheng Zhilong asked his men for clean water, washed his face, then opened the letter they'd found.

The letter was written in Chinese characters, with no signature. Its contents urged Zhong Bin to march on Hoi An port quickly, and if necessary, to burn or capture the Zheng He fleet.

At the end of the letter was stamped an intricate lotus-shaped seal.

Anyone could figure out with half a thought that this was written by the Lord Trinh to Zhong Bin—that lotus shape was almost certainly some kind of code or family crest.

Zheng Zhilong guessed Zhong Bin's flagship must hold other letters, so he sent men to search the ship.

By now the wind and waves on the sea had calmed, but a thick fog had rolled in—visibility was less than five zhang, so sailing was impossible. They might as well tally the spoils. Through a twist of fate, all of Zhong Bin's warships had been seized—over thirty vessels of various kinds. Though most were worn-out wrecks that Nan'ao Island wouldn't even want, someone would pay a good price for them.

Additionally, they had killed over four hundred sea bandits, captured more than a hundred prisoners, and seized several chests of pearls, silver, and other valuables.

Meanwhile, the guide A Xiong was still on the beach, kowtowing repeatedly toward the sea, muttering incantations under his breath.

A subordinate came to report to Zheng Zhilong: "Commander, we also found several letters on Zhong Bin's flagship, all stamped with the lotus-shaped mark."

Zheng Zhilong smiled: "Keep all of those safe—they'll be very useful."

The crew lit fires on the beach and cooked a meal. After lunch, they waited nearly two more hours until the thick fog dispersed.

It was dusk by then. The sea had turned a dark blue-black, and where sea met sky stretched a gradient of red and orange, while the sky near the sunset clouds faded from pale blue into vast deep blue.

A gentle breeze drifted by. The scene felt mysterious and serene.

The crew had begun preparing to set sail as soon as the fog started lifting—this accursed place was too strange, and no one wanted to linger. It was time to depart.

Though night was falling and sailing would be somewhat risky, Zheng Zhilong estimated they were at the edge of the archipelago and should soon sail clear of it. Sure enough, after the fleet rounded a few rocky islets, just as the last trace of sunset faded from the sky's edge, an endless expanse of sea opened before them. In the distance, the warm yellow ship-lanterns of the Spice Road lit up on the water—a comforting sight.

A Xiong knelt at the bow, weeping bitterly.

After boarding, Zheng Zhilong ordered a captive be chosen to present Zhong Bin's head to the Lord Trinh, while the remaining captives were sent to Hoi An port. The heads of the dead sea bandits were to be salted and stored away.

The next day, Zheng Zhilong sailed the Spice Road from south to north, crossing the Cat Ba archipelago once more.

This voyage was calm and uneventful.

Zheng Zhilong sent A Xiong ashore, gave him a thousand taels of silver, and mentioned he'd like to visit his village.

A Xiong dared not refuse, and led Zheng Zhilong to the village.

The village was quite dilapidated, with only a few dozen households. Zheng Zhilong's party kept a low profile and drew no attention.

Zheng Zhilong paid particular attention to the stoves in these homes—he saw they were only slightly blackened, and the ceilings were quite clean, indicating excellent coal quality with little smoke. Then Zheng Zhilong had A Xiong take him to the coal mountain.

After climbing the coal mountain, Zheng Zhilong was no less shocked than when he'd first seen the sea centipede.

The mountaintop was covered in only a thin layer of soil, with almost no vegetation. As far as the eye could see, black stretched everywhere, seemingly endless. Zheng Zhilong asked: "All of this is coal?"

A Xiong said: "All of it."

As he spoke, he bent down, brushed aside the dirt with his hand, and scooped up a handful of black earth: "This is coal earth—it can already be burned. Dig deeper, and there are large chunks of coal."

Zheng Zhilong smiled: "Excellent. Your village sits on a treasure land."

A Xiong laughed: "The general jests. This place has no soil for farming, and fishing means a hard trip to sea—just a remote backwater."

Zheng Zhilong smiled without a word, ordered the agreed thousand taels of silver paid in full, took his leave of A Xiong, returned to the Spice Road, and sailed back south of the Cat Ba archipelago.

The journey was calm again, with beautiful scenery along the way that lifted the spirits.

A few days later, an envoy from the Lord Trinh came aboard, requesting an audience with Zheng Zhilong, saying the Lord Trinh wished to meet him at Dung (bu) Hien port.

Zheng Zhilong thought to himself: "Finally."

He had been waiting long for the Lord Trinh's envoy, but his face betrayed nothing—he only said flatly: "Noted."

The envoy was anxious, unsure whether Zheng Zhilong had agreed or not, but seeing his stern expression, dared not ask further and went ashore to report back. Three days later.

Zheng Zhilong arrived at Dung Hien port aboard the Sea Wolf.

It was a river port on the Red River, about eighty li from the coast. Sailing upstream was inconvenient, so the port was far less prosperous than Hoi An.

The Sea Wolf came to rest at the pier, where Lord Trinh's officials were already waiting to receive them.

Zheng Zhilong deliberately wore his Battalion Commander's military uniform, followed by guards in cotton armor, each with a wild-goose saber at his waist and a matchlock musket on his shoulder—an imposing sight.

Seeing this, the Lord Trinh's officials bowed even lower.

Zheng Zhilong walked up and said: "Are you the Lord Trinh?"

The lead official said: "This humble minister is Zheng Qiao, steward of the palace. I pay respects to the imperial envoy!"

Zheng Zhilong said, "The one managing the court affairs?"

The interpreter beside him quickly whispered a reminder: "He is the chief steward of the Zheng Lord's court, similar to the Ming's Chief Grand Secretary. He is the Zheng Lord's own younger brother."

Zheng Zhilong promptly put on a smile, clasped his hands, and said, "So it is Lord Zheng, the Chief Steward. Well met."

Seeing that Zheng Zhilong was being courteous, Zheng Qiao's demeanor grew even more humble. He repeatedly disclaimed the honor and invited Zheng Zhilong to a banquet at the palace.

Zheng Zhilong was a smooth operator, chatting and laughing amiably with the Zheng court officials all the way.

The reason for Zheng Qiao's visit was that Zheng Zhilong had sent the Zheng Lord three severed heads in succession, nearly shattering the main force of the Zheng Lord's navy. Only then had the Zheng Lord been compelled to send his younger brother to sue for peace.

The officials, having seen how ruthless Zheng Zhilong's actions were and how he commanded a mighty army, had all been uneasy at heart.

They had not expected Zheng Zhilong to be so approachable, and their fondness for him grew greatly.

During the feast, cups were raised and exchanged again and again, making for an especially lively atmosphere.

Zheng Zhilong had an excellent tolerance for liquor, truly worthy of the claim that a thousand cups would not fell him, which further won the officials' deep admiration.

When the banquet came to an end, the serving maids cleared away the messy cups and dishes, then brought out betel leaves, lime, and areca nuts, while beautiful dancers were called in to sing and dance for entertainment.

"Please," Zheng Qiao said.

Seeing that Zheng Zhilong remained unmoved, he himself took a betel leaf, spread lime on it, wrapped it around an areca nut, and put it into his mouth.

All the officials at the feast chewed betel nut vigorously, spitting out the juice without pause.

Zheng Zhilong also imitated them, rolling one up and putting it in his mouth, but he did not chew with any force—only going through the motions—before spitting it out.

Because Lin Qian did not chew betel nut, he likewise followed suit.

Zheng Qiao chewed his betel nut as he spoke: "Heavenly Envoy, what happened on the sea before was all a misunderstanding. I hope—"

Zheng Zhilong said flatly, "You harbored sea bandits and plundered my Great Ming's pearl grounds—was that also a misunderstanding?"

Zheng Zhilong, who had been all smiles until now, suddenly pressed the attack, making the officials' hearts tighten at once—they no longer had any mind to watch the dancers' graceful figures. Zheng Qiao still tried to explain himself.

Zheng Zhilong had already taken out the official document from the Governor-General of the Two Guang from his bosom and had an attendant hand it to Zheng Qiao, saying, "Read it yourself."

After Zheng Qiao read the document, cold sweat was about to seep from his forehead.

The document was vaguely worded and did not specify to what extent the bandit suppression was to be carried out.

Yet, since Zheng Zhilong was sitting here today, it was clear that killing Zhong Bin was still not enough for him.

Zheng Qiao chose his words carefully and said: "Our Great Viet has been a tributary state of the Great Ming since ancient times, offering tribute year after year without cease. I hope the Heavenly Envoy will show mercy in light of the friendship between our two nations. My lord is willing to add new items to this year's tribute."

Zheng Zhilong said with an inscrutable air, "What a coincidence—I have heard that Jiaozhi produces giant teakwood?"

Yahei

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