The Red Mansion

Chapter 20: Arrows Coming (Part 2)

"Listen up, people on the boat over there! We are fishermen desperate to make a living! If you give up resistance, we will only take a small amount of property to survive. Anyone who dares to resist will be killed..."

A pirate with a loud voice cupped his hands into a trumpet shape and shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice as resounding as a bell.

At this time, the remaining men on the Xue family's ship gathered on the deck, including Xue Pan, Xie Jixing, four strong male servants, and Li'er.

Originally, seeing the pirates coming with murderous intent and Jier being shot dead by an arrow, the men of the Xue family all took up their weapons and prepared to fight desperately. Even Xue Pan held a sword, ready to fight hard for his own life and to protect his mother and sister.

However, at this moment, the pirates' shouting immediately relaxed Xue Pan's tense expression, and hesitation appeared in his eyes. He felt that he could not resist the pirates in front of him. If he listened to the pirates' words, perhaps the pirates would really only take a small amount of property and leave.

Seeing Xue Pan's expression relaxed and hesitant, and the two other male servants and Li'er's expressions also relaxed, Xie Jixing's heart tightened, and he hurriedly shouted: "Everyone, don't believe the nonsense of the water bandits! These water bandits are all vicious and cruel people. Since they have set their sights on us, they will definitely rob us of all our property, kill all the men, and humiliate the women! We must fight hard to survive!"

Xie Jixing stared at Xue Pan again, his tone heavy and urgent: "If you don't fight back with all your might, both grandma and the girl will be in trouble. The girl will probably be raped by the pirates."

There was something in his mind that he was reluctant to say, which was that Aunt Xue would most likely be humiliated as well.

Aunt Xue is less than forty years old this year. She was very beautiful when she was young, and as a lady of noble birth, she has taken good care of herself and still retains her charm.

Xue Pan made up his mind after hearing Xie Jixing's words. His hesitation vanished, and he quickly echoed the words of the servants, "Yes, yes, we must fight the pirates with all our might, or we will all die. If you can repel the pirates today, I will reward you handsomely. One hundred... five hundred taels of silver per person, five hundred taels per person!"

The four male servants and the servant Li'er all thought that what Xie Jixing said made sense. For them, five hundred taels of silver was a huge sum of money. They did not hesitate and nodded one after another, with determination flashing in their eyes.

At this time, the two pirate ships had approached the Xue family ship. Some pirates threw flying hooks at the Xue family ship. The flying hooks pounced on the deck of the Xue family ship like poisonous snakes, making a harsh friction sound.

At the same time, the loud-mouthed pirates were still shouting, "No resistance allowed! We only take a small amount of property to survive. Anyone who dares to resist will be killed..."

Xie Jixing suddenly shouted: "Kill!"

The sound was like thunder.

Immediately, Xie Jixing led a male servant and the servant Li'er, each holding a two-meter-long red tasseled spear, and stabbed at the pirate ship on the west side.

There are more pirates on the pirate ship on the west side, and they have flying hooks.

The other three strong male servants of the Xue family also acted quickly, each holding a two-meter-long red tasseled spear, and stabbed towards the pirate ship on the east side.

There were fewer pirates on the pirate ship on the east side, but the bandit leader Li Liu was among them.

When the Xue family came to Beijing this time, Xie Jixing specially prepared six two-meter-long red tasseled spears to guard against pirates. Although in this era, a two-meter-long spear was considered a short spear and a long spear was three to five meters long, these six red tasseled spears were of great use at the moment.

At this moment, the six red tassel spears in the hands of the men of the Xue family became their weapons to resist the water bandits. Each shot was fired with determination and courage as they stabbed at the water bandits.

Amidst the hail of gunfire, one of the pirates on the west ship was stabbed in the chest by Xie Jixing. The pirate covered his chest with both hands, and blood instantly stained his clothes red. He staggered a few times, and finally fell powerlessly into the river, making a dull thud and splashing a burst of water. Seeing that the pirates on the west ship were using a flying hook to hook the side of the Xue family's ship, the rope was stretched straight, and the distance between the two ships was shortening, Xie Jixing was extremely anxious. While continuing to stab the pirates on the west ship with his red tassel spear, he shouted to Xue Pan: "Master, quickly remove the flying hook!"

Xue Pan held the sword, but couldn't reach the pirates on the ship. He was anxious and nervous, and his palms were sweating.

Hearing Xie Jixing's shout, he suddenly woke up and rushed to unhook the pirates' hooks. The hooks were firmly entwined in the side of the boat. Xue Pan struggled mightily to remove them, but then another hook snagged on him. He had no choice but to lunge at it again, desperately trying to unhook them. Sweat streamed down his forehead, a combination of exhaustion and fear.

Just when Xue Pan was busy removing the flying hook, a male servant of the Xue family also stabbed a pirate on the eastern pirate ship with a red tassel spear, but he only stabbed the pirate's arm and it was not fatal. The male servant was then hit in the chest by Li Liu's arrow at close range. The male servant's body shook, blood gushed out, and then he fell heavily on the deck, without a sound.

The scene descended into a fierce melee.

The pirates, relying on their numerical superiority and ferocity, launched continuous fierce attacks, while the Xue family's defense was weak and they were really hard to match.

Soon, two more male servants of the Xue family were killed by the pirates. One was stabbing a pirate on the western pirate ship with a red tassel spear when the pirate yanked the spear away, causing him to fall into the water and be hacked to death by the pirates. The other was shot dead by Li Liu at close range with an arrow.

The only men left on the Xue family's side were Xue Pan, Xie Jixing, a male servant, and Li'er. All four knew that they could no longer resist the pirates, and their faces were filled with tension and fear.

At this time, the pirates on the west ship had used flying hooks to pull the pirate ship to within a few inches of the Xue family's ship. The pirates on the ship were fighting against Xie Jixing and Li'er while trying to climb onto the Xue family's ship. Their faces were full of ferocity and greed.

On the pirate ship on the east side, Li Liu drew his bow and arrow again, ready to shoot the last male servant of the Xue family who was defending the east side.

At this extremely critical moment for the Xue family, a miracle suddenly happened!

An arrow, like a meteor, flew from the back of the Xue family's ship at lightning speed and hit a bandit next to Li Liu. The bandit's body shook violently and then fell down.

Another arrow is coming!

However, this arrow was not shot by Li Liu. It came mysteriously and swiftly, heading towards the pirates!

Li Liu was shocked to see the bandit beside him suddenly fall down after being shot by an arrow. He quickly pulled another bandit in front of him to use as a human shield. Then he looked sharply behind the Xue family ship and saw another large ship coming towards him quickly...

Li Liu's eyes were fixed on the big ship. Although the distance was far, his eyesight was very good and he could vaguely see several figures standing on the deck of the big ship.

On the deck of the large ship stood Jiang Nian, He Yun, and Meng Xiong...

Yes, that was the big ship that Jiang Nian was on!

Some book friends pointed out that the servants of the Xue family called Aunt Xue "Madam". In fact, the title should be "Grandma". The author is right. This is the original book. The people in the Jia family called Aunt Xue "Madam". This is a respectful title. Aunt Xue's status cannot be compared with Madam Xing and Madam Wang.

According to the author's previous experience, it is inevitable that many readers will give the author advice based on their own understanding of the Dream of the Red Chamber novels. If the advice is correct, the author will correct it. If the advice is incorrect, in order to avoid misunderstandings among other readers, the author will selectively respond. I hope everyone will not be bothered by this.

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(End of this chapter)