Chapter 36: I Can't Swim

"What are you running over there for?" Su Xiaoxi shouted loudly in the water.

"I came to save you."

Before the words faded, a River Bandit completely engulfed in flames rushed toward Tang Zheng, screaming.

Tang Zheng dodged subconsciously. The River Bandit, his consciousness blurred by the fire, rushed past him, plunged into the cabin where the flames were most intense, struggled frantically twice, then collapsed to the ground and stopped moving completely.

The surrounding flames burned more and more fiercely. He could hear creaking sounds in his ears, as if the large ship could no longer bear the weight and was at risk of falling apart at any moment.

Under the high temperature, even the air became distorted, making the distance look very blurry, and a burnt smell permeated the air.

The river wind blew, and a burning flag swept over Tang Zheng's head, igniting his hair. He patted out the flames on his hair in a panic, feeling a stinging pain on his forehead; he must have been burned with several blisters.

If he didn't leave, he would become a roast pig.

"It's dangerous, jump into the water quickly!" Su Xiaoxi in the distance waved at him hard and shouted loudly.

Tang Zheng woke up as if from a dream and rushed toward the gunwale, but the moment he saw the surging river below, he suddenly hesitated.

"I can't swim!"

"Jump quickly!"

Urged by Su Xiaoxi, Tang Zheng gritted his teeth. Just as he was about to step over the railing, a sudden sense of alarm arose in his heart, and he heard a sharp whistling sound behind his head.

He subconsciously ducked his head, and a steel blade flew past his scalp, pinning itself into a wooden pillar nearby. The hilt was still vibrating, emitting a buzzing sound.

Then he saw a mysterious man wearing a bamboo hat appear behind him. The man had a huge scar on his face extending from the corner of his eye to his forehead, and his sinister eyes were staring fixedly at him.

Judging by his attire, he should also be a River Bandit, but he possessed a temperament different from the other River Bandits.

Tang Zheng suddenly remembered what Su Shanhe had described to him about the events ten years ago. Could this person in front of him be that River Bandit leader—Yagyu Ichiro?

While he was sizing up Yagyu Ichiro, Yagyu Ichiro was also sizing him up. This was Tang Zheng's first time seeing Yagyu Ichiro, but it was not Yagyu Ichiro's first time seeing Tang Zheng.

Back at the abandoned shipyard, Yagyu Ichiro could have taken action to finish off Tang Zheng, but because Li Sheng had so many people there, Yagyu Ichiro felt he definitely couldn't escape, so he didn't intervene.

Later, he received news that Tang Zheng's identity as an Embroidered Uniform Guard was actually fake and that he had been thrown into prison by Zhenjiang Prefect Zhou Yunqing. He became even less worried—what kind of waves could a fake Embroidered Uniform Guard who couldn't even save himself make?

However, reality slapped his face ruthlessly. Seeing that the group of people he had painstakingly recruited over ten years had almost all perished in the sea of fire, while this fake Embroidered Uniform Guard stood perfectly fine in front of him, it went without saying that the previous fake news was just a smoke bomb to make him lower his guard, step by step luring him into this trap.

Everything was thanks to this fake Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"Die!"

Yagyu Ichiro let out a roar and charged toward Tang Zheng, casually drawing another Tachi from a corpse nearby.

Seeing the opponent coming aggressively, Tang Zheng felt a bit guilty. He had learned some amateur skills from street fights over the years, but compared to this River Bandit leader, it was not enough.

If only he had some lime powder—he couldn't help but think. However, Yagyu Ichiro had already rushed over. In his desperation, Tang Zheng could only run around various piles of fire, pillars, and debris on the fire-ship, while Yagyu Ichiro chased him closely with his blade.

The situation suddenly became very critical.

"My Lord, look." A soldier pointed at the two people chasing on the cargo ship and said to Lin Zuo.

Although they were far apart, Lin Zuo recognized the identities of the two people at a glance and immediately shouted to those behind him: "Pass the signal to Prefect Zhou, stop the shelling."

"Yes!" The soldier standing on the rock heard this and immediately waved his torch toward the Jiaoshan Fort direction.

Lin Zuo did not wait for the shelling to stop; he leaped toward the river, his toes lightly touching the floating wooden planks on the river surface, his body rising even higher. He traveled across the waves, quickly rushing toward the fire-ship.

Zhou Yunqing on Jiaoshan saw the signal immediately.

"Everyone, stop shelling."

Following his order, the booming shelling stopped abruptly.

At the same time, Zhou Yunqing slapped the fort in annoyance and cursed: "Damn it, I haven't had my fill of fighting yet!"

On the fire-ship, Tang Zheng fled desperately, but Yagyu Ichiro chased him closely, and the distance between them narrowed.

Suddenly, the Tachi split the air with a "whoosh."

However, this strike was not aimed at Tang Zheng, but at a flagpole nearby. The flagpole had already been burned to the point of swaying, and after being struck by Yagyu Ichiro, it collapsed, blocking Tang Zheng's path of escape.

Blocked like this, Tang Zheng had to stop his forward momentum. By the time he wanted to turn, Yagyu Ichiro had caught up, raised his blade without a word, and slashed viciously at Tang Zheng's head.

Before the blade arrived, the wind had already lifted Tang Zheng's hair. Even though there was fire all around, Tang Zheng still felt a chill, and goosebumps rose on his skin.

Time seemed to slow down suddenly. The gleaming blade magnified inch by inch in his eyes, but his body could not move. In this instant, Tang Zheng smelled the scent of death.

Perhaps this is how this life ends?

A thought suddenly popped into his mind: I wonder who Miss Su will marry after I die?

When she is idle, does she occasionally think of me?

Just as he was letting his imagination run wild, a hand grabbed his clothes like lightning from behind and pulled hard.

Tang Zheng's body was pulled away by half a meter in the nick of time. Yagyu Ichiro's sure-fire strike grazed past the tip of Tang Zheng's nose, breaking him out in a cold sweat.

Then he heard Lin Zuo's voice behind him: "Run."

Before the words faded, Tang Zheng felt a kick to his backside, and his body flew as if he were riding the clouds.

While in the air, he saw Lin Zuo standing where he had originally been, still dressed as a scholar, with his ever-present Black Umbrella on his back, holding a boat oar in his hand, which seemed to have just been fished out of the water and was still dripping.

Then he waved his arms and legs, crossed the gunwale, and fell into the river.

Splash!

"Help!"

"Help..."

Gurgle, gurgle...

After swallowing several mouthfuls of water, Tang Zheng's vision began to blur. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was Su Xiaoxi swimming toward him with all her might.

Then his vision went black, and he knew nothing more... ### CHAPTER 37