Chapter 66

Tiger Girl and Fu Hui seemed to be in a nightmare from which they could not wake up. The world spun before their eyes, and the heavy smell of blood filled their nostrils. Shadows of enemies loomed in the surrounding cornfields. Tiger Girl tried to steel herself, but under the influence of the drug, she felt like a pile of mud.

Dirty Rat had lost six of his men, which terrified him but also filled him with rage. His desire for revenge had never been more urgent. He knew he shouldn't fight these killers head-on; he should let them escape, the faster they ran, the bigger the reaction would be, and eventually, they would run out of strength.

"Fall, just fall already... you two bitches, I've changed my mind. I'm going to have my men take turns with you a hundred times, then sell you to the lowest brothel. I'll watch as a thousand people ruin you both. Damn, you two bitches have killed six of my men..."

At this moment, Wang Huaiyuan was also in a panic. He knew the enemy's plan; these bastards were lurking in the cornfields, and the drug in his body was taking effect. The pain from his wounds could no longer suppress the dizziness.

"Keep holding on, I'll charge in and fight..." Wang Huaiyuan let go of Tiger Girl and dashed into the cornfield. The sound of weapons clashing followed, and two more ruffians were cut down.

"Light more flares... I can't hold on anymore..." With Wang Huaiyuan's shout, three more emergency flares shot into the sky. These were the last three flares; if no reinforcements came, they would all die here.

When Wang Huaiyuan, covered in blood, rushed out of the cornfield, the most terrifying scene appeared before him. Three blood-soaked soldiers had fallen to the ground, protecting the two young ladies. By then, Tiger Girl and Fu Hui could no longer walk, their eyes vacant.

"Miss... wake up!" Wang Huaiyuan knelt down and desperately pulled at them, trying to take the two ladies and continue their escape, but he was also at the end of his strength.

In his blurred vision, Wang Huaiyuan saw several figures sneaking out of the cornfield. He wanted to fight, but he had no strength left. Finally, his vision went black, and he fell to the ground.

"Ha ha ha... finally, you've fallen. I'm going to rip out your hearts with my own hands..." Dirty Rat, limping, charged forward, followed by the remaining dozen ruffians.

Wang Huaiyuan and Dirty Rat didn't know that the dock they had just left had already changed dramatically. What was once an ordinary unloading dock had turned into a chaotic battlefield. The young apprentice had witnessed a疯狂的两栖登陆作战.

When three flares burst in the sky near the dock, no one knew what it was. It wasn't a festival, and it was broad daylight. Only a fool would set off flares for fun. But as everyone was puzzled, a sudden, urgent sound of a cow horn echoed from the river.

The Haihe River, at Tanggu, was a wide expanse of water, hundreds of meters across, filled with various ships loading and unloading cargo, mostly flat-bottomed canal boats. These were the most common standard river merchant ships in the Qing Dynasty, used to transport goods on the Grand Canal.

At the moment the flares burst, over a dozen canal boats, which had been quietly waiting to unload, suddenly went mad. The lead boat captain pulled out a cow horn and began to blow, and from each boat, a dozen burly men jumped out, their faces tense, staring at the direction of the flares.

"Quick, to the shore... seize the beach, seize the beach..." The men on the boats paddled frantically, and soon the dozen canal boats crashed into the dense fleet.

"Hey, you're crazy, what are you doing... stop, the boats are going to capsize... damn, you're even hitting people... call the guards on the dock, get Sun's men to intervene..."

As the people on the river and the shore watched in shock, they had never seen such domineering boatmen. Were they in a hurry to die? Just as the guards maintaining order on the dock and the ruffians left by Dirty Rat were about to rush over to teach them a lesson, a flash of steel blades appeared. Everywhere, bright steel knives glinted.

"My God... it's bandits..." Four or five Green Standard soldiers turned and ran without a word. As for Sun's men, they weren't fools either; seeing that these weren't good people, they quickly fled for their lives.

The dock was instantly in chaos. People watched as the burly men with steel knives jumped into the river and swam desperately to the shore. The dozen canal boats charged towards the pier, and everyone instinctively dodged.

Hundreds of men with steel knives quickly stormed the dock. "Get down, all of you, get down... get down and we won't kill you..." The killers shouted, and the four or five hundred laborers on the dock didn't dare to argue. Those far away ran, and those nearby crouched on the ground, some even kneeling in fear.

The boat captains now realized that the protection fees they paid to the Green Standard soldiers and Sun's men were useless. They only bought a bit of non-harassment, but in a real crisis, no one would care about them, not even the government.

"You, did you see two women and four men come ashore... you, have you seen two very beautiful women who just arrived at the dock... and you, come here..." The hundreds of men asked only one question. The laborers on the dock finally understood that the two women who had just arrived were indeed important figures.

Under the threat of death, the caravan soon learned everything that had happened. In no time, the tea pavilion was surrounded, and an old and a young rascal were dragged out.

"Innocent, we are innocent, we run a tea pavilion honestly, we don't break the law, we don't eat poison, why are you arresting us..." The young apprentice tried to argue, but a flash of a blade, and his left little finger and ring finger were cut off.

"Damn, you're still talking back to me? You're the most suspicious..." This time, the convoy was escorted by Xiao Hexin, known for his intelligence under Xiao Letian. He sensed something was off from the young apprentice's闪烁的眼睛.

"Hang them and beat them..." At Xiao Hexin's command, the two figures were hung from the tallest locust tree on the dock, and long leather whips dipped in cold water cracked loudly. Each crack made everyone on the dock shudder. They realized that these people didn't care about reason; they were all wolves.

Xiao Hexin was now in a frenzy, his eyes glowing green. "Beat them, beat them hard... damn, still being stubborn? Use knives to flay them... sprinkle salt, you idiot, there's coarse salt right here, rub it in..."

The common people had never seen such a bloody scene; the timid fainted on the spot. It was proven that smooth talkers were mostly not resistant to beatings. In less than three minutes, the old and young rascals had spilled everything they knew.

"Stop! Grandfathers, stop, I confess, I confess everything... Oh, it hurts so much..." When Xiao Hexin heard that Tiger Girl and Fu Hui had been surrounded by a group of kidnappers, he lost control.

"Throw them in the river! Throw these scoundrels in the river..." He said and then rushed with his men towards the eastern part of Tanggu.

In no time, Xiao Hexin had reached the cornfield where the battle had just taken place. On the ground were the three bodies of the soldiers Wang Huaiyuan had taken with him, and by the road, Xiang Shaolong's guards were urgently bandaging Wang Huaiyuan.

Xiao Hexin rushed over, ignoring Wang Huaiyuan's injuries, and shook him by the shoulders. "Wake up, damn it, wake up, where are the ladies? Where is Third Master's sister..." After shaking for a long time, Wang Huaiyuan finally opened his eyes.

"Taken away... to the east, to the east..." Before he could finish, he fainted again. One of the guards continued, "We came with Lord Long, the strategist saw the flares. When we got here, we caught the two rascals trying to harm Brother Wang, and we saved him. Lord Long has already gone east to chase them..."

Only then did Xiao Hexin understand what had happened after the flares were fired. When Wang Huaiyuan fainted, Dirty Rat excitedly jumped out of the cornfield and led his remaining men to surround them.

"Disembowel them, tear these men to pieces..." Just as he was about to use his dagger, Wang Huaiyuan miraculously jumped up. He had two short pistols, one in each hand, exquisitely crafted by foreigners.

These were single-shot flintlock pistols, Wang Huaiyuan's last means of self-defense. When Dirty Rat was about to strike, the feigning Wang Huaiyuan burst into action, firing two shots. The lead bullets shot straight at Dirty Rat.

"Damn, a gun..." Dirty Rat was agile; he grabbed the braid of the man on his left and pulled him in front of himself, blocking the fatal shot. But one bullet still hit his left shoulder, embedding deeply into his shoulder blade.

"Surround him, kill him, he's out of bullets..." Dirty Rat's voice was tinged with tears. This was the most unsuccessful kidnapping of his life.

Just as the ruffians were about to disembowel Wang Huaiyuan and rip out his heart, a furious roar came from the west. "You dare to be so bold..." Several darts shot out, killing two ruffians on the spot. It was Lord Long who had arrived.

"Oh, this life is unbearable..." Dirty Rat grabbed Fu Hui, a dagger to her neck, and dragged her into the cornfield, shouting, "Don't come near me, I know this woman is important. If you want her life, don't come near, back off..."

The other ruffians also grabbed Tiger Girl, using the two women's lives as a shield, and retreated into the cornfield. They were now filled with fear, realizing they had offended someone they couldn't afford to anger.

But what could they do now? They could only keep going, no matter what.