Chapter 66: Hard to Reward Openly

Lin Qian's heart sank. "What happened? Tell me slowly."

The sailor gasped for breath. "Drunk Cat Lü just came back—he returned on a fishing boat, badly wounded. He said they were ambushed halfway. The other side had three ships and dozens of skilled fighters. Our crew was killed to the last man, and the ship was taken..."

The sailor's voice trailed off, because he saw Lin Qian's brow furrowing tighter and tighter.

What was coming had finally come.

No need to think—this was definitely Li Kuiqi's doing.

What Lin Qian couldn't figure out was how Li Kuiqi had pinpointed his ship in the vast open sea.

Ships at sea in these times didn't fly national flags, nor did they hang a banner with the character "Lin" from the mast like naval warships did.

Seen from afar on the water, all three-masted Fujian junks looked the same.

Unless Li Kuiqi was indiscriminately robbing every Fujian junk that passed by.

But in the past few days, the watchtower had continuously spotted large Fujian junks passing through, which meant the shipping lane was clear. Li Kuiqi had picked out Lin Qian's ship with precision from among all the others.

That was worth pondering.

"Where is Drunk Cat Lü now?" Lin Qian asked.

"At Green Plum Hall. Doctor Su is treating his wounds."

"Let's go!" Lin Qian strode off.

Since Su Kang and his daughter had come ashore on the island, Lin Qian had—half by coercion, half by funding—gotten them to reopen Green Plum Hall.

The new Green Plum Hall was in a two-story shop fronting the street.

Quite a few people had already gathered in the hall. Seeing Lin Qian arrive, they parted to make way for him.

Drunk Cat Lü had four or five knife wounds across his body, on his arms, thighs, and elsewhere. The cuts were deep and he had lost a lot of blood, but fortunately none had struck a vital spot.

He sat on a stool while Su Kang dressed his wounds.

Seeing Lin Qian arrive, Drunk Cat Lü tried to rise, but Su Kang pressed him down and snapped, "If you want to die, that's your business—just don't waste my styptic medicine."

Drunk Cat Lü could only sit back down, saying, "Helmsman..."

Lin Qian gestured for him not to speak, then stepped close to examine his wounds.

None of the knife wounds were serious, except for one deep cut on the inner thigh—an area packed with major blood vessels. Had one been severed, death would have been certain.

If this were a self-inflicted ruse to win sympathy, it couldn't have gone this far. It must be genuine.

Around that wound were many scabs, but it had stopped bleeding. White medicinal powder ringed the wound—clearly the medicine had staunched the flow.

But stopping the bleeding was only a stopgap. Once the medicine's effect wore off, the blood would flow without end.

Lin Qian pointed at the wound. "Doctor Su, this wound seems to need stitching."

Su Kang said testily, "Naturally."

Lin Qian had only asked to confirm whether Su Kang knew how to suture—he hadn't held out much hope.

To his surprise, Su Kang spoke with considerable confidence, clearly well-versed in closing wounds.

Lin Qian said no more and stepped aside, adding, "Doctor Su, may I ask a few questions?"

"Go ahead." Su Kang nodded, then said to Drunk Cat Lü, "Keep your movements small when you talk. Don't pull at the wound."

So Lin Qian asked, "How did you escape? Are the other crewmen still alive?"

"I took a cut to the leg and fell into the water. I held my breath and swam away while I had the chance—that's how I barely kept my life... Before I went overboard, the brothers had mostly been... been killed off. Quartermaster Zhou and that Folangji man weren't killed—they were captured..."

At these words, the faces of everyone around darkened.

Lin Qian felt a fire burning ceaselessly in his chest. The Fujian junk had carried thirty thousand taels of silver and ten thousand taels' worth of firearms—not to mention over a dozen skilled hands, plus José and Scholar Zhou.

Men, money, and ship—all lost!

Since coming to the Great Ming, Lin Qian had never suffered such a loss.

While they talked, Su Kang had already bandaged the lighter wounds and sealed a somewhat deeper one with medicinal paste before wrapping it.

Lin Qian asked again, "Where did they strike? Was there no warning beforehand?"

"Not far from Nan'ao Island—a bay called Ma'er Cove.

That day it was overcast and rainy, and the night was dark. I was asleep in my cabin when I suddenly heard shouts of battle on deck. I went out and saw people leaping aboard. Without a word, they killed anyone in sight.

They were extremely skilled and numerous. The brothers were no match—they fell to the blades in short order..."

Ma'er Cove—Lin Qian knew the place. It was only sixty li from Nan'ao, sparsely populated, with the nearest county seat being Chaoyang County, which in later ages would be Chaoyang District of Shantou City. The nearest guard station was over twenty li away.

It truly was a fine spot for murder and plunder.

Li Kuiqi choosing to strike there showed he was extremely familiar with the waters around Nan'ao Island.

And choosing to strike at night meant he had come prepared—the Fujian junk had long been marked.

It was precisely because the ship was taken at night that Drunk Cat Lü, having fallen overboard, could slip away under cover of darkness.

"Oh, right—the leader was extremely tall, as tall as two men put together," Drunk Cat Lü added.

That man was clearly Li Kuiqi. This further confirmed Lin Qian's guess.

But one question remained unanswered: how exactly had Li Kuiqi fixed on his Fujian junk?

If he had been following from far behind, the open sea offered no cover—if Li Kuiqi could see the junk, Scholar Zhou and the others could see Li Kuiqi too.

Knowing a tail was on them, they wouldn't have chosen to anchor at a place like Ma'er Cove even if sailing in the dark.

While Lin Qian was thinking, Su Kang finished treating all the light wounds. He had his daughter bring needle and thread, then told the crowd to spread out and let in the sunlight, preparing to suture the wound.

Lin Qian noticed that Su Kang had pre-heated the suturing needle over a fire, and the thread he used was neither ordinary hemp nor cotton—some material Lin Qian couldn't identify.

Before the suturing began, Su Qingmei brought over a bowl of medicinal broth and had Drunk Cat Lü drink it, reassuring him, "Drink this and the pain will be gone."

Seeing Drunk Cat Lü staring at Su Kang arranging his needle and thread, Su Qingmei comforted him, "My father stitches wounds with mulberry-bark fiber thread. Once the wound heals, the thread dissolves on its own—don't worry."

Drunk Cat Lü's mind was somewhat put at ease. After drinking the medicine, within the span of half a stick of incense, his gaze grew unfocused and his body went limp, as if he had drunk strong wine.

Seeing the medicine had taken effect, Su Kang unrolled his needle case, revealing neatly arranged silver needles.

Su Kang picked up a needle and applied acupuncture to several points around Drunk Cat Lü's thigh.

Then he threaded the needle and began to stitch the wound.

Strangely enough, Drunk Cat Lü didn't let out a single cry of pain, as if the flesh being pierced by the needle didn't belong to his own body.

Lin Qian saw this and couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration.

In this era, Western medicine still used opium tincture for pain relief—too little and the patient would die in agony; too much and it suppressed the respiratory system, causing suffocation; just the right amount and the patient would most likely become addicted, eventually smoking themselves to death.

Yet Chinese medicine could achieve local anesthesia through herbal remedies and acupuncture—truly worthy of praise.

At this moment, the surrounding sailors' gazes all fell on Lin Qian, awaiting the helmsman's orders.

Bailangzai stepped forward from behind him and said in a low voice, "Helmsman, want me to grab that Huang fellow?"

Lin Qian slowly shook his head.

Huang Hetai most likely truly didn't know where Li Kuiqi was—if he did, he would have volunteered the information without Lin Qian even asking, since watching the sea bandit leaders tear each other apart like dogs was what served his own interests.

Moreover, given Li Kuiqi's personality, he wouldn't casually reveal his base to a Garrison Commander of the imperial court stationed at Nan'ao.

After a long while, Su Kang finished stitching the wound, pulled out the silver needles, wiped the sweat from his forehead, took out cotton and gauze, carefully bandaged the stitched area, and had someone help Drunk Cat Lü go rest.

As soon as Drunk Cat Lü stood up, he was suddenly struck with terror and said with a mournful face, "Oh no, doctor, I can't move this leg of mine—I'm afraid it can't be saved."

Su Kang was so angry he nearly choked, then glared with puffed cheeks and wide eyes and said, "What can't be saved? I stitched that wound with my own hands, and you say it can't be saved? In a little while your leg will be able to move—just go back and rest and recover!"

Drunk Cat Lü suddenly understood, thanked Doctor Su, and was about to pull out silver to pay the consultation fee when Lin Qian stopped him.

Bailangzai paid the fee on his behalf—a full five taels of silver.

"That's too much!" Su Kang said.

"The helmsman gave it, so you take it." Bailangzai said coldly.

Su Kang gave a cold snort and said no more.

Su Qingmei happily put the silver away and warmly saw the group out the door.

After leaving, Lin Qian said to the sailors supporting Drunk Cat Lü, "He's wounded, so don't bother taking him back to the ship—go find an empty room at my inn to settle him in."

The sailors nodded in agreement.

That night, at the inn.

Drunk Cat Lü was lying down resting.

Suddenly he heard the door to his room being opened.

He immediately gripped the dagger under his pillow and said, "Who's there?"

By the moonlight, he made out Bailangzai's face, and only then did he relax, saying, "Navigator Bai."

Bailangzai gave a barely perceptible nod, walked over to Drunk Cat Lü, and pulled a silver ingot from his bosom—by its form, a full fifty taels.

"Navigator, this..." Drunk Cat Lü didn't dare accept it, not understanding what it meant.

Bailangzai explained, "The helmsman said you were gravely wounded and risked your life to come back and report—you are a loyal and brave man.

However, you did technically flee back, so it wouldn't be proper to reward you openly. He told me to give it to you now—take it."

Drunk Cat Lü took it with trembling hands, feeling that the silver ingot was extraordinarily heavy.

Bailangzai continued, "The helmsman also asked what your real name is, and how you came by the nickname Drunk Cat Lü."

"My name is Lü Zhou. I got called Drunk Cat Lü because before, on a flower boat, I got drunk and missed roll call..."

Lin Qian naturally remembered this matter, and Bailangzai remembered it too, but since Lin Qian had instructed him to ask, he asked it word for word.

Hearing this, Bailangzai continued as Lin Qian had instructed: "The helmsman said that once you're healed and back on the ship, the crew will only remember you as Lü Zhou—from now on, there is no more Drunk Cat Lü."

Lü Zhou felt his eyes burn, tears blurring his vision again and again, and he lowered his head and said softly, "Thank you, helmsman."

By the time he had composed himself and looked up again, Bailangzai had already left the room.

Yahei

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