Chapter 608

A Xin lowered the sails, and the two large ships on the other side shot forward with a hiss, but they were still too far away.

Pan Yun stepped into the cabin, pulled out the largest bow, and stood at the stern, waiting as he drew closer…

Pan Yun nocked an arrow and drew the bow.

One man on the ship, peering through the telescope, saw Pan Yun aiming at him and burst into loud laughter, shouting to those beside him: "She actually thinks she can shoot me from out here, hahaha…"

The others joined in with raucous laughter: "At this distance? Hahaha, the Han are utterly delusional!"

The moment the words ended, an arrow streaked through the clouds, charged with the power of thunder, and pierced the air— the man with the telescope was still laughing when, with a wet *plop*, an arrowhead burst through his forehead. Everyone's eyes widened; their hearts nearly stopped.

The smile still lingered on his face until the first drop of blood dripped from the arrowhead. He stared blankly down at the blood on the deck, opened his mouth to speak, then crashed heavily onto the planks with a *thud*.

The atmosphere on the ship exploded— a group of Japanese pirates shrieked wildly, scrambling in all directions.

By the time Wang Cong and the others rehoisted the sails and pushed the rudder half a circle to lock it in place, they turned back to see chaos unfolding: "Why aren't they fighting back? Are these organized Japanese pirates?"

Worse than our ragtag band of anti-pirate martial artists.

Hu Jing scoffed: "The Japanese are nowhere near as clever as the people of our Celestial Empire."

Before he finished speaking, the commotion on the other ship ceased—the cannon barrels lifted…

A Xin, more familiar with pirate tactics than Hu Jing, had kept his telescope fixed on the enemy since Pan Yun's arrow flew. Seeing this, he shouted at once: "Turn twenty degrees west, full speed—"

At that exact moment, the sea surged—a massive wave crashed over them. Wang Cong and Hu Jing couldn't turn the rudder, flailing helplessly. Chang Wenzhuan and Guo Dashan roared together and gripped the rudder with all their strength.

A slightly smaller hand pressed upon it, and suddenly the rudder, which had felt as heavy as a thousand jin, turned effortlessly. Guo Dashan cried out: "Too much, too much—"

The ship lurched sharply, listing to one side, nearly capsizing in the waves.

A Xin planted his feet firmly on the deck, watching the cannon barrels shift direction, then said: "Twelve degrees further east."

Guo Dashan shouted: "The waves are too strong—"

But he obeyed, straining to turn the rudder. This time, Pan Yun, experienced now, didn't force it—she lent them her strength, prying the rudder to the exact angle they needed.

No sooner had they locked the rudder than the ship surged forward under the wind and waves—*boom! * A spray of water exploded eight meters from the ship's side. The vessel rocked violently; the spray drenched the deck, then slid sideways and splashed back into the sea with a *whoosh*.

Pan Yun glanced back and saw both ships had unfurled their sails fully, chasing them with desperate urgency—not half-heartedly anymore.

A faint smile touched her lips as she spoke to A Xin: "Are you sure of the direction?"

A Xin's face was grim: "Absolutely."

"Lure them there!"

"Yes!"

Two more *pangs* followed—the Japanese pirates fired two cannonballs in succession. A Xin guided the ship to dodge them all.

Even Pan Yun couldn't help giving him a thumbs-up: "Impressive!"

A Xin couldn't suppress his grin, but quietly rubbed his palms against his pants to wipe away the sweat.

With Pan Yun's help, the rudder moved as if one hand could match ten men. Wang Cong and Hu Jing were left with nothing to do, so they leaned over the stern, watching the Japanese pirates chase them, screaming and firing cannons.

Hu Jing occasionally caught a phrase and translated: "They're calling you a dog's bastard, and if they catch you, they'll chop you into eight pieces."

Wang Cong frowned: "That sounds suspiciously like Han Chinese curses. Do the Japanese even curse like us?"

Hu Jing: "They're cruder—I couldn't say their exact words, so I softened them a bit, but the meaning's the same."

Wang Cong sneered and shouted back at the screaming Japanese pirates—using exactly the same insults they'd hurled at him.

Hu Jing froze: "You speak Japanese?"

Wang Cong: "Learned it just now. Is that hard?"

Hu Jing was speechless for a long moment.

Wang Cong beamed: "Our Mount Sanqing disciples may be mediocre at other things, but we pick up languages fast." Especially curses…

Wang Cong silently swallowed the rest of that sentence.

Just as he was basking in his triumph, Wang Cong spotted movement on the other ship and immediately turned to complain: "Little Master, that ship's trying to run!"

Pan Yun heard and immediately stepped forward, bow in hand.

*Shhh! * An arrow pierced a man's chest—her arrow didn't break. She fired again and again—*shhh-shhh-shhh*—seven or eight arrows flew, and seven or eight men dropped dead on the opposite deck.

The second ship immediately abandoned its retreat, tightened its sails, and charged straight toward the stern of Pan Yun's vessel.

They stopped firing cannons and switched to crossbows.

*Shhh-shhh! * Before the bolts could reach the ship, the wind blew them off course—they stuck uselessly in the hull or fell into the sea, swept away by the waves.

Wang Cong scurried back to the cabin and dragged all remaining arrows to Pan Yun.

Pan Yun glanced at the arrow quiver, estimated the time, then simply grabbed two arrows and fired them at the enemy.

The two Japanese ships flanked her—one ahead, one behind, one left, one right—but no matter their position or distance, her arrows always reached them…

She heard the Japanese pirates shouting in their tongue: "Witch! Retreat, retreat!"

But just as they turned the rudder to flee, a massive ship suddenly appeared beyond the distant horizon.

Pan Yun saw it—her lips curled slightly.

The pirates hadn't noticed yet; they fired two more cannonballs at Pan Yun while still turning their rudder.

Then—*boom! * A cannonball struck the side of the pirate ship. A towering wave rolled over it, forcing the bow, still halfway turned, to lurch violently, forming a right angle with the other pirate ship.

Only then did they see the approaching stranger vessel…

The pirates on both ships widened their pupils—they realized they'd been tricked, and screamed: "Retreat! Retreat!"

But the two ships were now locked at a right angle, and under the pressure of waves and cannon fire, they were drifting helplessly closer together. In this state, avoiding collision was already a miracle—how could they dodge cannonballs and turn around at the same time?

Li Wenying stood at the bow, a faint smile on her lips. She turned to look at the bewildered Pu Min and the wide-eyed Chen Han, and ordered: "Full attack!"

The large ship surged forward with a hiss—and behind it, where no one could see, Zhang Ning, Zhang Weiyi, Qu Le, and others utterly trusted by the Wu Lin Alliance and the Celestial Master's Temple leapt one by one onto small boats. The small boats detached from the large ship and, carried by the wind and waves, vanished in an instant to the rear flank of one of the Japanese vessels.