After Shangguan Xi explained all the details of the situation to the leader of the Shaolin Monks, she proceeded to introduce Jinxia and A’Rui to Guang Zhan.
“Elder Brother, this is Miss Yuan, from LiuShamen, and this is….” Shangguan Xi just remembered that she never asked for A’Rui’s name.
“Just call me A Jin,” A’Rui answered her.
“….A Jin. He also fought with pirates, the wounds on his body are from his battle with them.”
Guang Zhan raised his hands to pay his respect: “Thank you both of you for helping us.”
Jinxia hurriedly raised her hand: “You’re too humble. Shaolin Monks’ hearts are filled with righteousness and justice for the civilians. Fighting along with you, stopping the pirates is the right thing to do.”
Guang Zhan laughed: “That’s too much, we don’t dare to accept such praise.”
Because they don’t want the pirates to figure out their plan. At this time, Guang Zhan ordered some of the Shaolin Monks to be vigilant. Jinxia broke a tree branch and drew a map of the pirate’s whereabouts and location for them, then she said in a low voice: “The most difficult thing is, not getting innocent people hurt, so we have to subdue them all at once. Are your people confident they can do it?”
Xie Xiao finally realized that Jinxia actually knew all this from the start, yet she was so calm and composed. He couldn’t help but glance at her.
Guang Zhan hesitated for a moment, then asked: “You said earlier that there’s a possibility they’re hiding Japanese swords under their clothes, are you certain about it?”
“I am eighty percent sure.”
“As long as they don’t have a chance to draw their sword, then we should successfully finish this.”
“We can pretend we’ve failed to recognize them, go back to the forest and then come back out again,” Shangguan Xi said, “It’s best for each person to take care of one person in their group, then give a signal so the rest of us can jump in. Even if there are pirates on every corner guarding, they won’t have enough time to come and help. Elder Brother, what do you think?”
Guang Zhan shook his head: “The number of people is not enough, even if I count you and other teachers, we only have 15 people.”
Jinxia hurriedly said: “You can count me in. I also have a friend, his kungfu isn’t bad.” She suddenly thought of the beggar uncle, with his kungfu, one person against two wouldn’t be a problem.
“I’m here too,” A’Rui muttered.
“A Jin….” Guang Zhan noticed his usual steps, “Your wounds haven’t recovered yet, it’s better for you not to join us.”
“I can do it.” A’Rui lifted his sleeve up, on his arm were extremely unthinkable scars, then he slowly tucks them back in sleeves, “My arms are fine, I can hold a sword.”
Everyone fell silent, not knowing if it was because of his wounds or his words that shocked them.
“Elder Brother, I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to pirates, how about let him assist me?” Shangguan Xi said. She was unsure why she wanted to help him, was it out of pity? There was some kind of feeling that she couldn’t describe, but she just really wanted to help him.
Guang Zhan nodded his head: “That’s fine.”
Xie Xiao looked at Jinxia: “Those beautiful yet useless kungfu of yours, don’t give the pirates any advantage, just assist me.”
“Brother….”
Jinxia also knew in her heart that her kungfu wasn’t as good as theirs, plus her leg was injured, she can walk perfectly fine on her own, but if she uses them for fighting, old pain will reoccur. She didn’t argue back.
Xie Xiao said to Guang Zhan: “There’s Lao Sha, even though his kungfu is a little weak, but you can count him in.”
Jinxia and A’Rui couldn’t be counted. After Guang Zhan counted the number of people, he continued to shake his head: “We still need two more.”
“I can ask my uncle and Da Yang,” Jinxia said.
Xie Xiao immediately objected: “Da Yang’s kungfu is only slightly better than yours, and that old beggar? Can he even fight?”
“My uncle? He can even fight two people at once. Don’t look down on him.” Jinxia turned around, coincidentally Cen Shou was walking back, her face immediately lifted up, “There’s still someone else who’s really skilled. Give me a moment, I will go talk to him.”
The horse carriage couldn’t be sold at a good price, it was like half selling and half donating. Cen Shou was already annoyed, at the same time, not seeing Jinxia under the tree, but walking here and there, adding more to his irritation. When Jinxia walked up to him, before she could speak, he already scolded her: “Didn’t I tell you to wait under the tree? Why are you running here and there? If anything happens, what do I say to the Young Master?”
Jinxia noticed that he was in a bad mood. Usually, when this happens, she would argue with him, but right now, she needed his help, so she put on a smiling face.
“You’re right. I didn’t listen well.” She said with a sincere tone.
Cen Shou was stunned, ever since they’ve gotten to know each other, she was never like this: “You….Are you sick?”
“Brother, what are you saying….” Jinxia pulled him as he walked. “Guang Zhan, the leader of Southern Shaolin Monks, admired you a lot, he wanted to invite you over.” She also didn’t forget to try and draw the beggar uncle’s attraction.
“Admire me? That’s impossible.”
Cen Shou had already seen the Southern Shaolin Monks but didn’t understand why they would want to meet him.
When Cen Shou and the beggar uncle arrived in front of Guang Zhan, as they were talking, they made sure to keep their voices low so the pirates wouldn’t catch on. Jinxia quickly filled them in with all the information.
The beggar uncle wouldn’t pass on the opportunity, especially not to run away from this big responsibility. He slightly laughed and said: “When I saw this girl being sneaky, I knew she was up to something.”
“This….”
Cen Shou was a little hesitant. Before his Young Master left, he gave orders to him to protect everyone well and don’t cause or get in trouble.
“Your kungfu is good, you’re only fighting one pirate, there shouldn’t be a problem.” Jinxia misunderstood his hesitation as fear of dealing with pirates.
Xie Xiao, who was on the side, coldly snorted and said: “A JinYiWei is still a JinYiWei. They only care about catching people that would benefit the palace, they wouldn’t care about trivial matters like this.”
“Fourth Brother, don’t talk recklessly.” Guang Zhan could see the doubts in Cen Shou, he quickly said, “Looks like this Brother has some unspeakable reasons, that’s fine….”
At this time, one of the Shaolin monks rushed in: “Elder Brother, near the dock, several ships have already crossed.”
As Guang Zhan raised his head to look, three more boats were added. Perhaps, government officials have noticed a large number of refugees and decided to add more boats to help them cross over.
Xie Xiao said in panic: “Elder Brother, we can’t wait any longer!”
Shangguan Xi also frowned: “Once they cross the river, we will lose track. We won’t be able to differentiate from normal civilians anymore.”
“We can’t. We don’t have enough people! If we act recklessly, it can cost innocent people to lose their lives.” Guang Zhan shook his head, “There are too many old people and young children. If we can’t be sure of our method, we can’t fight!”
“Elder Brother!” Xie Xiao looked at the boat in frustration.
Cen Shou who was on the side saw the look on everyone’s face. After a moment of consideration, he decided: “Count me in!”
Jinxia happily said: “Thank you!”
Guang Zhan raised his hand: “Thank you for helping, Brother!”
After YangYue found out what was going on, he quickly pushed Jinxia back and told her to stay in one place, he will take her place.
“Da Yang…..I.”
Jinxia tried to argue, but Mrs. Shen stepped in and said: “Your leg is not fully recovered. If you run around, I will make sure you won’t be able to walk anymore.”
“Aunt….” Jinxia couldn’t argue any longer and agreed, “Fine. I will sit here.”
Everyone else started planning out their approach. Once Guang Zhan blows the whistle, everyone will immediately attack altogether, subduing the pirates.
Jinxia couldn’t join in with them, and could only lean against this tree. She quietly observed the situation – Xie Xiao, YangYue and the beggar uncle, along with the monks, casually walked towards the nearest pirate by the river. The calmest among them was the beggar uncle, while walking, he continued to joke and laugh with YangYue; Shangguan Xi, A’Rui and Guang Zhan were leading the group. A’Rui was silent throughout the whole walk, at the same time, keeping as much distance from Shangguan Xi as possible. Their group was heading eastward, where the pirates were under the tree. The last group was Cen Shou and the remainder of the monks.
Less than a cup of tea, the beggar uncle and others were in a ready position. They perfectly distanced themselves from the targeted pirate, confident they could defeat them all.
The beggar uncle casually leaned against a tree, stared at the surface of the river, occasionally recited a poem: “The great river of Zhejiang flows eastward. The waves tirelessly move, and the lover….Uh….” He signalled YangYue to finish the poem.
YangYue was stunned, without thinking, he continued: “The west was a rampart, humanity within the Zhou Land of the Three Kingdoms. Rocks flew aimlessly into the sky, heavy waves hit the shore, swept in piles of snow….”
*[These lines are based on the poem 念奴嬌 – 赤壁懷古 (Niànnújiāo – chìbì huáigǔ) written by 蘇軾 (Sūshì) during the Song Dynasty, TN]
The beggar uncle enjoyed the moment, then he patted Xie Xiao’s back, signalling him to continue.
At this moment, Xie Xiao’s body was tense like a bow, he was not in a mood for a recital. His eyebrows tightened, “We’re not in Zhangjiang, why bother reciting the poem?”
The beggar uncle sighed: “This kid always knows how to ruin the moment.”
There’s a big problem in front of them, yet the beggar uncle won’t stop talking. Xie Xiao’s head was about to explode.
Seeing the situation, Jinxia let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully the beggar uncle is acting normal, surely the pirates won’t pay attention to them.
The main worries fall on the group on the west side. Some of the monks couldn’t hide their anxiousness, they kept staring at the pirates.
Jinxia noticed that some of the carpenters had begun to sit unsteadily, and several of them began to reach their hands to touch something under the clothes as if they’re ready to take out their swords and attack.
Jinxia nervously looked at Guang Zhan, it seemed that they were all in a ready position.
Guang Zhan didn’t delay in the slightest, one handheld a stick, two fingers slowly reached his mouth. At this moment, he let out a long whistle.
The beggar was leaning against a tree. Upon hearing the signal, he immediately kicked the pile of twigs that were beside the pirates, these twigs immediately scattered, and a sword fell to the ground. Just as the pirates were able to attack, he aimed his punch at their neck, the sounds of bones breaking were heard, and one man was down.
Shangguan Xi was standing with her back facing them, suddenly turned around, and revealing her two dazzling swords. The pirates’ eyes fell on her shiny swords, suddenly their life was drained out of their bodies.
Cen Shou’s sword was still on his waist, instead, he used a dagger, without a thought, the dagger immediately pierced through the pirate’s chest. The pirate didn’t have time to fight back, he snorted and fell down on the ground.
Xie Xiao and YangYue were quick to subdue the pirates on their side.
The situation turned unexpectedly on the west side, because the monks were too tense, as they threw out their attacks, the pirates were able to dodge, threw out their knives, and retreated.
The crowd was disturbed. These citizens were traumatized by pirates because they were the reason for their flees. Upon seeing the current situation, everyone begins running away, trying to save themselves from the chaotic situation. Guang Zhan and others wanted to follow and help out the civilians, but they were suddenly blocked.
The group of Southern Shaolin Monks continued to win against the pirates. The pirates suffered deeply, realizing they were no match for these monks, as they fought, they tried to find an opportunity to escape. Seeing the messed-up crowd, they quickly grabbed one of the women, putting a knife on her neck, trying to force the monks to retreat.
Afraid that they would hurt the woman, the monks stopped all their attacks, then helplessly watched the pirates slowly dragging the woman away.
Not far from where they were, were Jinxia and the others resting, beside them were three tied-up horses. The pirate noticed the horses, and slowly dragged the woman toward Jinxia’s position.
Jinxia quickly guessed their intention. She untied the horses, violently whipped them. These horses were startled, then immediately ran away.
The pirates became frustrated as the horses ran away. He pushed the woman away, with quick steps, he chased after the horses. Unfortunately, Chun Yumin and the maids were hiding nearby behind a tree. The pirate didn’t think twice, he quickly took out his sword, slashed it down, Chun Yumin and the maids immediately fell to the ground.
After Shangguan Xi explained all the details of the situation to the leader of the Shaolin Monks, she proceeded to introduce Jinxia and A’Rui to Guang Zhan.
“Elder Brother, this is Miss Yuan, from LiuShamen, and this is….” Shangguan Xi just remembered that she never asked for A’Rui’s name.
“Just call me A Jin,” A’Rui answered her.
“….A Jin. He also fought with pirates, the wounds on his body are from his battle with them.”
Guang Zhan raised his hands to pay his respect: “Thank you both of you for helping us.”
Jinxia hurriedly raised her hand: “You’re too humble. Shaolin Monks’ hearts are filled with righteousness and justice for the civilians. Fighting along with you, stopping the pirates is the right thing to do.”
Guang Zhan laughed: “That’s too much, we don’t dare to accept such praise.”
Because they don’t want the pirates to figure out their plan. At this time, Guang Zhan ordered some of the Shaolin Monks to be vigilant. Jinxia broke a tree branch and drew a map of the pirate’s whereabouts and location for them, then she said in a low voice: “The most difficult thing is, not getting innocent people hurt, so we have to subdue them all at once. Are your people confident they can do it?”
Xie Xiao finally realized that Jinxia actually knew all this from the start, yet she was so calm and composed. He couldn’t help but glance at her.
Guang Zhan hesitated for a moment, then asked: “You said earlier that there’s a possibility they’re hiding Japanese swords under their clothes, are you certain about it?”
“I am eighty percent sure.”
“As long as they don’t have a chance to draw their sword, then we should successfully finish this.”
“We can pretend we’ve failed to recognize them, go back to the forest and then come back out again,” Shangguan Xi said, “It’s best for each person to take care of one person in their group, then give a signal so the rest of us can jump in. Even if there are pirates on every corner guarding, they won’t have enough time to come and help. Elder Brother, what do you think?”
Guang Zhan shook his head: “The number of people is not enough, even if I count you and other teachers, we only have 15 people.”
Jinxia hurriedly said: “You can count me in. I also have a friend, his kungfu isn’t bad.” She suddenly thought of the beggar uncle, with his kungfu, one person against two wouldn’t be a problem.
“I’m here too,” A’Rui muttered.
“A Jin….” Guang Zhan noticed his usual steps, “Your wounds haven’t recovered yet, it’s better for you not to join us.”
“I can do it.” A’Rui lifted his sleeve up, on his arm were extremely unthinkable scars, then he slowly tucks them back in sleeves, “My arms are fine, I can hold a sword.”
Everyone fell silent, not knowing if it was because of his wounds or his words that shocked them.
“Elder Brother, I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to pirates, how about let him assist me?” Shangguan Xi said. She was unsure why she wanted to help him, was it out of pity? There was some kind of feeling that she couldn’t describe, but she just really wanted to help him.
Guang Zhan nodded his head: “That’s fine.”
Xie Xiao looked at Jinxia: “Those beautiful yet useless kungfu of yours, don’t give the pirates any advantage, just assist me.”
“Brother….”
Jinxia also knew in her heart that her kungfu wasn’t as good as theirs, plus her leg was injured, she can walk perfectly fine on her own, but if she uses them for fighting, old pain will reoccur. She didn’t argue back.
Xie Xiao said to Guang Zhan: “There’s Lao Sha, even though his kungfu is a little weak, but you can count him in.”
Jinxia and A’Rui couldn’t be counted. After Guang Zhan counted the number of people, he continued to shake his head: “We still need two more.”
“I can ask my uncle and Da Yang,” Jinxia said.
Xie Xiao immediately objected: “Da Yang’s kungfu is only slightly better than yours, and that old beggar? Can he even fight?”
“My uncle? He can even fight two people at once. Don’t look down on him.” Jinxia turned around, coincidentally Cen Shou was walking back, her face immediately lifted up, “There’s still someone else who’s really skilled. Give me a moment, I will go talk to him.”
The horse carriage couldn’t be sold at a good price, it was like half selling and half donating. Cen Shou was already annoyed, at the same time, not seeing Jinxia under the tree, but walking here and there, adding more to his irritation. When Jinxia walked up to him, before she could speak, he already scolded her: “Didn’t I tell you to wait under the tree? Why are you running here and there? If anything happens, what do I say to the Young Master?”
Jinxia noticed that he was in a bad mood. Usually, when this happens, she would argue with him, but right now, she needed his help, so she put on a smiling face.
“You’re right. I didn’t listen well.” She said with a sincere tone.
Cen Shou was stunned, ever since they’ve gotten to know each other, she was never like this: “You….Are you sick?”
“Brother, what are you saying….” Jinxia pulled him as he walked. “Guang Zhan, the leader of Southern Shaolin Monks, admired you a lot, he wanted to invite you over.” She also didn’t forget to try and draw the beggar uncle’s attraction.
“Admire me? That’s impossible.”
Cen Shou had already seen the Southern Shaolin Monks but didn’t understand why they would want to meet him.
When Cen Shou and the beggar uncle arrived in front of Guang Zhan, as they were talking, they made sure to keep their voices low so the pirates wouldn’t catch on. Jinxia quickly filled them in with all the information.
The beggar uncle wouldn’t pass on the opportunity, especially not to run away from this big responsibility. He slightly laughed and said: “When I saw this girl being sneaky, I knew she was up to something.”
“This….”
Cen Shou was a little hesitant. Before his Young Master left, he gave orders to him to protect everyone well and don’t cause or get in trouble.
“Your kungfu is good, you’re only fighting one pirate, there shouldn’t be a problem.” Jinxia misunderstood his hesitation as fear of dealing with pirates.
Xie Xiao, who was on the side, coldly snorted and said: “A JinYiWei is still a JinYiWei. They only care about catching people that would benefit the palace, they wouldn’t care about trivial matters like this.”
“Fourth Brother, don’t talk recklessly.” Guang Zhan could see the doubts in Cen Shou, he quickly said, “Looks like this Brother has some unspeakable reasons, that’s fine….”
At this time, one of the Shaolin monks rushed in: “Elder Brother, near the dock, several ships have already crossed.”
As Guang Zhan raised his head to look, three more boats were added. Perhaps, government officials have noticed a large number of refugees and decided to add more boats to help them cross over.
Xie Xiao said in panic: “Elder Brother, we can’t wait any longer!”
Shangguan Xi also frowned: “Once they cross the river, we will lose track. We won’t be able to differentiate from normal civilians anymore.”
“We can’t. We don’t have enough people! If we act recklessly, it can cost innocent people to lose their lives.” Guang Zhan shook his head, “There are too many old people and young children. If we can’t be sure of our method, we can’t fight!”
“Elder Brother!” Xie Xiao looked at the boat in frustration.
Cen Shou who was on the side saw the look on everyone’s face. After a moment of consideration, he decided: “Count me in!”
Jinxia happily said: “Thank you!”
Guang Zhan raised his hand: “Thank you for helping, Brother!”
After YangYue found out what was going on, he quickly pushed Jinxia back and told her to stay in one place, he will take her place.
“Da Yang…..I.”
Jinxia tried to argue, but Mrs. Shen stepped in and said: “Your leg is not fully recovered. If you run around, I will make sure you won’t be able to walk anymore.”
“Aunt….” Jinxia couldn’t argue any longer and agreed, “Fine. I will sit here.”
Everyone else started planning out their approach. Once Guang Zhan blows the whistle, everyone will immediately attack altogether, subduing the pirates.
Jinxia couldn’t join in with them, and could only lean against this tree. She quietly observed the situation – Xie Xiao, YangYue and the beggar uncle, along with the monks, casually walked towards the nearest pirate by the river. The calmest among them was the beggar uncle, while walking, he continued to joke and laugh with YangYue; Shangguan Xi, A’Rui and Guang Zhan were leading the group. A’Rui was silent throughout the whole walk, at the same time, keeping as much distance from Shangguan Xi as possible. Their group was heading eastward, where the pirates were under the tree. The last group was Cen Shou and the remainder of the monks.
Less than a cup of tea, the beggar uncle and others were in a ready position. They perfectly distanced themselves from the targeted pirate, confident they could defeat them all.
The beggar uncle casually leaned against a tree, stared at the surface of the river, occasionally recited a poem: “The great river of Zhejiang flows eastward. The waves tirelessly move, and the lover….Uh….” He signalled YangYue to finish the poem.
YangYue was stunned, without thinking, he continued: “The west was a rampart, humanity within the Zhou Land of the Three Kingdoms. Rocks flew aimlessly into the sky, heavy waves hit the shore, swept in piles of snow….”
*[These lines are based on the poem 念奴嬌 – 赤壁懷古 (Niànnújiāo – chìbì huáigǔ) written by 蘇軾 (Sūshì) during the Song Dynasty, TN]
The beggar uncle enjoyed the moment, then he patted Xie Xiao’s back, signalling him to continue.
At this moment, Xie Xiao’s body was tense like a bow, he was not in a mood for a recital. His eyebrows tightened, “We’re not in Zhangjiang, why bother reciting the poem?”
The beggar uncle sighed: “This kid always knows how to ruin the moment.”
There’s a big problem in front of them, yet the beggar uncle won’t stop talking. Xie Xiao’s head was about to explode.
Seeing the situation, Jinxia let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully the beggar uncle is acting normal, surely the pirates won’t pay attention to them.
The main worries fall on the group on the west side. Some of the monks couldn’t hide their anxiousness, they kept staring at the pirates.
Jinxia noticed that some of the carpenters had begun to sit unsteadily, and several of them began to reach their hands to touch something under the clothes as if they’re ready to take out their swords and attack.
Jinxia nervously looked at Guang Zhan, it seemed that they were all in a ready position.
Guang Zhan didn’t delay in the slightest, one handheld a stick, two fingers slowly reached his mouth. At this moment, he let out a long whistle.
The beggar was leaning against a tree. Upon hearing the signal, he immediately kicked the pile of twigs that were beside the pirates, these twigs immediately scattered, and a sword fell to the ground. Just as the pirates were able to attack, he aimed his punch at their neck, the sounds of bones breaking were heard, and one man was down.
Shangguan Xi was standing with her back facing them, suddenly turned around, and revealing her two dazzling swords. The pirates’ eyes fell on her shiny swords, suddenly their life was drained out of their bodies.
Cen Shou’s sword was still on his waist, instead, he used a dagger, without a thought, the dagger immediately pierced through the pirate’s chest. The pirate didn’t have time to fight back, he snorted and fell down on the ground.
Xie Xiao and YangYue were quick to subdue the pirates on their side.
The situation turned unexpectedly on the west side, because the monks were too tense, as they threw out their attacks, the pirates were able to dodge, threw out their knives, and retreated.
The crowd was disturbed. These citizens were traumatized by pirates because they were the reason for their flees. Upon seeing the current situation, everyone begins running away, trying to save themselves from the chaotic situation. Guang Zhan and others wanted to follow and help out the civilians, but they were suddenly blocked.
The group of Southern Shaolin Monks continued to win against the pirates. The pirates suffered deeply, realizing they were no match for these monks, as they fought, they tried to find an opportunity to escape. Seeing the messed-up crowd, they quickly grabbed one of the women, putting a knife on her neck, trying to force the monks to retreat.
Afraid that they would hurt the woman, the monks stopped all their attacks, then helplessly watched the pirates slowly dragging the woman away.
Not far from where they were, were Jinxia and the others resting, beside them were three tied-up horses. The pirate noticed the horses, and slowly dragged the woman toward Jinxia’s position.
Jinxia quickly guessed their intention. She untied the horses, violently whipped them. These horses were startled, then immediately ran away.
The pirates became frustrated as the horses ran away. He pushed the woman away, with quick steps, he chased after the horses. Unfortunately, Chun Yumin and the maids were hiding nearby behind a tree. The pirate didn’t think twice, he quickly took out his sword, slashed it down, Chun Yumin and the maids immediately fell to the ground.
