Chapter 97: Yellow Croaker

Everyone fell silent, gazing into the distance.

There, on the southern sea, a single ship's lantern drifted slowly toward them.

Lin Qian pointed behind him, and the fleet slowly retreated along the cliff face.

The vessel was moving very slowly—and it was heading straight for the fleet.

"It's a guard station patrol boat!" Lei Sanxiang said in a low voice.

"Easy. Let's watch first," Lin Qian replied.

After a long while, the vessel drew closer. It was a two-masted sand junk—a flat-bottomed boat with a shallow draft that could cross shoals, so it was mostly used in coastal waters and inland rivers, and it was also the standard patrol craft of the guard stations.

"Helmsman, that patrol boat is coming straight at us," one of the crew said.

Indeed it was. The sand junk was drawing nearer and nearer, heading directly for the fleet.

Lei Sanxiang: "Must be that piss from earlier—someone spotted something."

Lin Qian: "Keep your nerve."

Just then, Chen Jiao sniffed the air and asked, "Do you all smell something?"

Lei Sanxiang grumbled: "It's just the stink of Lü Zhou's piss! Stop sniffing—bad luck!"

"No, that's not it." Lin Qian took a whiff. "There's a fragrant smell. Smells like fried fish."

Lei Sanxiang sniffed hard: "Now that the helmsman mentions it, there does seem to be a fragrance."

Lü Zhou: "How come I can't smell it?"

Lei Sanxiang: "Brother Lü, step back a bit—whenever you come near, everything just turns to reek."

"Oh." Lü Zhou, helpless, quietly shuffled back two steps.

By now, the sand junk was even closer, and the fragrance was growing ever more distinct.

The smell was a hundred times more enticing than stewed meat—fragrant and savory, with just a hint of brininess.

It made one's mouth water at the very whiff. Across the deck came the sound of swallowed saliva.

Lin Qian had already identified it—it was the smell of fried yellow croaker.

The waters off Zhejiang were precisely the home grounds of the yellow croaker.

Pick out a dozen or so plump, tender wild yellow croakers, clean them thoroughly, heat up fragrant lard in the wok, and when it's hot, drop them in. The fish sizzle as the hot oil hits them, sending up thick plumes of smoke.

The crispier and more golden the croakers turned, the more intense the smoky fragrance became. Carried by the wind, it could travel an enormous distance—one household frying fish, and the whole village would smell it and eat two extra bowls of rice.

But frying croaker guzzled oil. Even here in the Zhejiang heartland, ordinary families only made it once a year, at festival time.

It was late at night now, and everyone's stomachs were empty. Suddenly catching the scent of fried yellow croaker, who could hold back?

If not for the helmsman's orders, they'd have swum over to that boat just to satisfy their craving.

Zheng Zhilong: "Everyone, get ready. Once that sand junk enters the river, we'll follow at a distance and slip in behind it."

Lei Sanxiang suddenly understood: "Brother Yiguan, that fried-fish boat—you arranged it?"

Zheng Zhilong smiled: "Indeed."

Lei Sanxiang raised a thumb at Zheng Zhilong: "Brilliant."

Zheng Zhilong: "Third Brother, you're cheering too early. The best part is still to come."

After another long while, the sand junk gradually sailed to the north bank of the Ling River, then turned its rudder left and entered the river, hugging the northern shore.

Before long, shouts rang out from the guard station on the north bank.

"Who goes there?"

"Sailing at night—quite bold of you!"

Then the shouts died down. After a long pause, a voice came again.

"Oh, delivering goods for the Lin estate, are you? Then come on in."

From the cliff on the north bank came the creaking grind of a turning winch.

After a long while, a splash sounded from the Ling River's surface—the river-blocking chain must have dropped into the water.

"Brother Yiguan, shouldn't we be moving now?" Lei Sanxiang asked.

Zheng Zhilong: "Not yet."

A moment later, more sounds came from the guard station.

"Come ashore! Stop the boat for inspection—"

Zheng Zhilong said, "Helmsman, time to go."

Lin Qian waved forward. The bird boat slowly left the cliff and sailed into the Ling River. The other six vessels followed close behind the lead ship, moving in single file.

The fleet glided slowly between two mountains, and a broad, mighty river opened up before them, its banks more than two li apart.

From each bank's cliff jutted a massive stone pillar—these were the river-lock posts. Wound around them were giant cables as thick as a man's arm, and from the cables hung a colossal iron chain.

The iron chain on the south bank was hoisted high, floating above the river's surface, while the chain on the north bank had already been lowered.

By the chain's own weight, it dragged the river-blocking cable down beneath the water.

In the distance on the north bank, the fried-fish boat was slowly pulling ashore for inspection. A dense cluster of torches had gathered on the bank—at least a hundred men.

Zheng Zhilong said, "Helmsman, we'll cross through the middle of the river."

Lin Qian nodded and ordered the helmsman to steer toward the river's center.

The bird boat had a shallow draft, just enough to pass over the iron chain in mid-river.

Tonight the moon was bright and full, illuminating both banks of the Ling River with exceptional clarity.

Passing right under the noses of the guard stations on both banks of Haimen without a single obstacle—it made every man on board break out in a cold sweat.

The south-bank guard station was busy feasting on meat and wine, so they were no concern. But the officers and men of the north-bank station were all gathered at the water's edge with torches—if any one of them so much as glanced at the river, they'd be exposed for certain.

No one on the bird boat spoke. They all crouched low, every muscle in their bodies taut.

On the lower reaches of the Ling River, the current ran gentle and smooth. The helmsman at the stern sculled with all his might, and the bird boat shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.

Soon they reached the river-blocking chain.

Lin Qian looked toward the river-blocking chain.

Under the moonlight, he saw the chain was as thick as an adult's wrist, covered in barnacles and shellfish, tangled with masses of waterweed, while the rest showed thick reddish-brown rust.

Where the iron rings joined, more than half had been eaten away by rust; at the thinnest point, it was only two fingers wide.

The river-blocking chain was soon passed, and beyond this point the terrain gradually leveled out. The fish-blasting boat was moored ahead at a shallow shoal.

Torches were gathering around it, a full one to two hundred of them.

As they drew closer and closer to the fish-blasting boat, everyone held their breath, focusing intently.

Then voices came from the shoal.

"Bullshit! What Lin family, what chartered boat, what provisions — all empty words with no proof! What great household does its provisioning in the middle of the night?"

"Company Commander, stop arguing with this old bastard. Let the brothers board the boat and search it!"

At these words, the hundred-odd torches around burst into cheers of approval.

"No more excuses! You snuck into Haimen Guard by night — a grave crime. Tie him up!"

A commotion broke out at the shoal, and the boat owner could dimly be seen with his arms pinned, being led off the boat.

"Brothers, carry everything on the boat to the camp one by one. Set up the iron cauldron and heat the oil — we'll examine it all carefully together!"

The north bank erupted in thunderous cheers.

At that moment, Lin Qian's lead boat happened to pass the fish-blasting boat, and he saw the boat owner being led ashore, forced to the ground, where a soldier behind him drove a blade into his back. Blood dyed the river red.

The soldier stabbed the boat owner's corpse a few more times to confirm he was dead, wiped his blade on the corpse's clothes, fished the money from the dead man's lapel and tucked it into his own bosom, then cut off the man's ear and tossed the body into the Ling River.

Too many soldiers had boarded the boat, and one accidentally knocked over the fish-frying cauldron. The air filled with the rich fragrance of yellow croaker.

In the harsh torchlight, one of the soldiers on the boat stopped in his tracks, staring at the river with a puzzled expression.

Several dark shadows seemed to swim past in the water.

"Everyone, hold up — there's something in the river!"

(End of chapter)

Yahei

Pink Round

Pen