Chapter 612: Cheater

Qu Le was even more incredulous: "Not Japanese, yet going to spy for the Japanese? Are their brains rusted shut?"

Pan Yun laughed and nodded: "Probably."

Qu Le stared at Pan Yun with suspicion: "Why tell me now, when you wouldn't tell me before?"

Pan Yun winked at him: "Because we're at the grand finale—let everyone feel involved."

By the grand finale, hiding things no longer matters; better to win their favor.

True enough, upon hearing this, Qu Le brightened, but Seeing Miao Zhen and the others showed no change, radiating an air of utter calm.

Li Wenying was no fool; once he sensed something was off about the people on the ship, a single day and night of chaos was enough for him to tell who was human and who was a ghost.

Now they're split across four ships, and the helmsman on each holds a copy of the list.

In the open sea, they can't communicate with each other, while Pan Yun and the others know the truth and have prepared—advantage is ours.

Pan Yun slapped the list into Qu Le's hand: "This is the list of people on our ship to watch. Memorize it."

Qu Le clutched the list, eyes gleaming: "Catch them?"

"No, watch out for them shooting from the shadows," Pan Yun snapped. "Their brains are rusted, not gone entirely. They don't have the confidence to kill us all, and they haven't been exposed yet—why risk a fight? If even one person on this ship who isn't theirs survives and returns, they'll be cursed for generations."

Qu Le: "So I can't let on that we know?"

Pan Yun nodded.

Qu Le: "... Then why tell me? Don't you know how painful it is to keep a secret?"

Pan Yun blinked: "Didn't you demand I be honest? That I couldn't hide things from you?"

Qu Le looked tormented, wrestled with intense inner conflict, then finally didn't open the list—he handed it back to Pan Yun untouched, eyes shut: "Take it. I won't look."

Pan Yun smiled and reached to take it—when a hand shot out from the side and snatched it before her.

Pan Yun turned instantly and saw the hand open the list without a single pause.

Pan Yun:...

Xue Shao glanced at the "list"—a catalog of medicinal herbs—and, expressionless, folded it and returned it to Pan Yun: "I've memorized it."

Qu Le gaped at him. Seeing he had zero urge to share, he couldn't help asking: "How many spies are on our ship?"

Xue Shao nodded with restraint: "Not many."

"Do I know them?"

Xue Shao: "Maybe you should take a look yourself?"

Qu Le waved his hands frantically: "No, no—if I learn their names, I'll be tempted to stare at them, give us away, and if they decide to go all out?"

Seeing Miao Zhen couldn't help saying: "You've got some self-awareness."

Qu Le finally realized: "You all didn't even touch the list—you've got self-awareness too."

Miao He: "We reacted faster than you. We know ourselves inside out."

Qu Le eyed Xue Shao skeptically: "Can you really hold back?"

Xue Shao suppressed a smile and nodded: "I can."

"Alright, alright," Pan Yun quickly changed the subject. "Time's short. Rest and meditate—we've got a brutal fight ahead on the island."

They attacked the island from two directions, two ships per direction.

The ships flew Japanese pirate flags, and even the helmsmen had cunningly changed into Japanese pirate clothing—so the islanders didn't notice anything amiss until the lookout spotted the martial artists meditating on deck.

The lookout rubbed his eyes, then leaned closer to the magnifying glass. As the ship drew nearer, the inner islanders had already opened the harbor gate to let the large vessel in—and the lookout now clearly saw the bloodstains and blade marks on the deck...

The marks looked as if they'd just been made.

His face changed. He spun and immediately rang the great bell—dong, dong, dong.

At the sound of the bell, the harbor crew dropped their wooden planks and bolted.

On the main road, they drew swords with swift swishes and charged back to the harbor, shouting wildly at the ship.

Miao He scratched his head: "Little Master, what are they saying?"

Pan Yun: "They're saying, 'Stop! Come closer and we'll cut you down, flay your skin, rip out your tendons...'"

Miao He stared at her in awe: "Little Master, you're amazing! You learned Japanese so fast—I've been studying for days and only know a few basic phrases: 'Be honest, put down your sword, I'll kill you...'"

Pan Yun smiled sweetly: "Once we land, I'll capture a few cultured Japanese pirates for you—they'll teach you cultured Japanese."

Miao He happily agreed.

The ship obviously didn't stop. When they saw the enemy rolling forward a wooden, oddly shaped object—clearly meant to block the harbor—

many others turned and ran back to fetch bows and arrows.

Pan Yun sighed to Xue Shao: "Seeing how slow their reactions are, how poorly they coordinate, I'm reminded of our own terrible martial arts team."

Xue Shao:...

Pan Yun sighed again, louder: "And yet, with such incompetence, why has the navy never wiped out the Japanese pirates? Is our navy just too weak—or are they too cowardly to seize the glory right before their eyes?"

Xue Shao stayed silent, turning to look at the other ship nearly parallel to theirs—Chen Wen had already led his men in swift, precise archery formations.

His hand dropped—and fifteen arrows flew toward the Japanese pirates at the harbor...

His hand rose again; ten men ahead knelt to reload, while ten behind rose instantly and fired...

He could tell: among the thirty men he commanded, twenty were martial artists and Daoist Priests who barely knew archery—far worse than even this scholar.

Yet their rhythm—raise, fire, reload, rise, fire—was nearly seamless. In just an hour, Chen Wen had built a rotating volley team.

His talent for training troops was genius. Yet he remained unknown in the navy—even last year, when he led the Quanzhou joint campaign against pirates and earned great merit, his name never reached the capital.

Xue Shao sighed too: "Maybe everything's broken."

The Japanese pirates kept firing arrows at the two ships. Qu Le and the others clanged away incoming arrows with their weapons, laughing: "This archery? You think it'll kill us? They've got no cannons—Pan Yun, give them a cannon shot!"

Pan Yun: "Can you fire a cannon?"

Qu Le choked: "I can't—but isn't there a navy spy on board? Make him do it!"

Chang Wenzhuan muttered: "We can't either."

Qu Le looked down on them.