Towards the southwestern sh.o.r.es, the rain started to lighten up as the wind continued to blow. There were several torches lit up at this moment, and people came and went as they carried boxes and crates.

"Hurry and put all these items on the s.h.i.+ps." A leader supervised the soldiers as they carried the crates onto the s.h.i.+ps. Their faces were full of happiness.

Pei Zi Yun disembarked from the s.h.i.+p and was greeted by a section leader. "Your Excellency, we discovered several farmers on this island. Should we take them along with us?"

"No, leave them be for now. Let these farmers move their wares and don’t hurt any of them." Pei Zi Yun instructed.

"Yes, your Excellency." The section leader replied.

The sentry island wasn’t big at all. Pei Zi Yun gauged the overall size to be about thirty square kilometers. By the coast, they had a hundred pirate captives. At this point, the section leaders were pus.h.i.+ng for all these captives to be beheaded.

Chen Pu couldn’t bear to do it, he stood beside Pei Zi Yun and spoke, "Your Excellency Pei, we should bring these pirates back to Ying Prefecture and await the imperial court’s verdict on how to punish them. It would not be good for us to slaughter them here after they’ve surrendered."

Hearing these words, Cai Yuan Zhen replied, "These pirates should all be killed, they all deserve death. If we don’t kill them, they can escape from our s.h.i.+ps at any time. It would be difficult to manage them all."

"Your Excellency Chen, these are pirates. Although I listened to your advice to spare their lives, I have to take precautions to ensure they do not fight against my troops in future. Cut each of the pirates’ ligaments just above their heels." Pei Zi Yun sighed and spoke out sadly.

Hearing Pei Zi Yun’s instructions, Cai Yuan Zhen was shocked. This was such a good plan. Cutting off their ligaments might cause these pirates to become crippled. Their lives would be spared but they could never take up arms and fight again. The rest of the pirates would have to decide whether to support these crippled pirates or kill them for being liabilities. He was completely in awe, "He’s indeed a scholar!"

"Give the instructions out. Don’t kill these pirates. Sever the ligaments in their legs." Pei Zi Yun turned around and instructed.

"Yes, your Excellency." A soldier beside Pei Zi Yun stepped forward to acknowledge the order.

The sky gradually became clearer as the clouds dispersed. In the dark of the night, screams of pain could be heard. These pirates were getting their ligaments snipped off, one by one. The sounds of their screams caused a chill to run down the spines of many soldiers.

Pei Zi Yun almost seemed like he couldn’t hear them. He then pointed to the pirates’ boats and asked, "Captain Cai. Comparing our s.h.i.+ps to the pirates’ boats, which travels faster?"

"The pirates’ boats are smaller and use slightly less advanced craftsmans.h.i.+p to build. Although our s.h.i.+ps are bigger, we can move much faster than them." Cai Yuan Zhen spoke out proudly.

"Since our s.h.i.+ps can move faster than them, why is it that the navy has been unable to catch up with these pirates all this time?"

"Your Excellency, the human eye cannot see past one and a half kilometers at sea. As long as the enemy drags the chase out for more than an hour, it would be extremely difficult to chase after them, for we would lose sight of them.

Pei Zi Yun nodded his head and understanding the situation. At this point, a section leader stepped forward, "Your Excellency Pei, the goods have all been moved. Please provide more instructions."

When Pei Zi Yun head this, he laughed. "Very good. I shall wait a little longer for the sky to turn bright. When the sun rises, we shall set off."

"Also, burn all the structures and buildings here on this sentry island." Pei Zi Yun swept his eyes across the houses and sentry posts, as he instructed coldly.

"Yes, your Excellency." Several soldiers lit up torches and chased the civilian farmers away from the buildings. They then tossed the torches into the houses, causing flames to burst out. The small amount of drizzle from rain wasn’t enough to extinguish the flames.

"Hoist the mast, let’s set sail." Pei Zi Yun spoke out plainly.

At this point, Chen Pu was extremely

curious, "Your excellency Pei, we’ve already claimed the island, and these

pirates have zero capability of reclaiming the island. Why do we have to

retreat?"

Pei Zi Yun forced a smile and looked at Cai Yuan Zhen, "Captain Cai, go and lead your troops."

"Yes, your Excellency." After a single night, Cai Yuan Zhen was won over and completely trusted Pei Zi Yun. He turned around immediately to obey the order.

"As for why I have my reason!" Pei Zi Yun looked at Chen Pu and saw that he had a look of suspicion and uncertainty in his eyes. The Daoists were waiting for a reply as well. Pei Zi Yun then burst out into a smile.

At this point, Cai Yuan Zhen shouted out, "Quick, quick. Raise the masts, give the order. We shall resume our journey."

"We’ve already broken an island owned by the pirates, and this is the result of our work. However, the pirates are still strong and fierce. We have to be serious while handling them." Pei Zi Yun spoke out plainly.

"Ai, didn’t master Top Scorer say that our army doesn’t fear the pirates?" Chen Pu asked.

"It’s not fear. And we must not sacrifice lives or take huge risks for no reason." Pei Zi Yun replied before explaining, "What I aim to do now, is to take control of the entire situation."

"If we attack, we have to catch them by surprise. If we defend, we also have to catch them by surprise. This would cause them to be unable to read our next moves."

Cai Yuan Zhen finished issuing his orders and returned. Hearing these words, he nodded his head, "Master Top Scorer is truly gifted in such matters and is the subject of my admiration. You struck like lightning, without warning, on this sentry island. After you’ve achieved your objectives, you decided to disperse, without allowing the enemy to catch us in their counter-attack."

Chen Pu seemed to have something to say, as he smiled, and understood the matter. "Master Top Scorer is indeed talented. I shall just remain quiet and wait for the good news."

Chen Pu finished speaking and turned towards the s.h.i.+p and resumed his duty, not caring about such matters any longer.

At this point, the few Free Cloud Sect disciples inched towards Pei Zi Yun, "Sect Leader!"

"I shall remember your work, and reward you after we’re back within the sect’s domain." Pei Zi Yun spoke.

Seeing Chen Pu walk away, the leader amongst the disciples asked, "Sect Leader, we didn’t come here to ask for our reward. As for his Excellency Chen’s question, is that the reason we’re leaving? So that they won’t be able to catch us and counterattack?"

"Haha, no. That’s not the only reason. If that was the only reason, we would have left in the middle of the night. Why would we wait until daybreak to leave?" Pei Zi Yun spoke and looked around without offering an explanation. The disciples had looks of confusion etched on their faces.

The reason he didn’t explain wasn’t that he was being elusive. It was to keep it a secret and prevent such facts from being leaked. The communication talismans were becoming more advanced. Who knew if any of these soldiers were spies, and had planted a talisman around the area?

Before long, the sky had turned bright as the sun rose. Although the sky was still grey, at least the rain had finally halted. Pei Zi Yun squinted his eyes and looked at the sun’s blood red hue and orange reflection across the waters. He then ordered, "All aboard, let’s set sail!"

"Yes!" Before long, everyone had boarded, and Pei Zi Yun stood on the deck. The official and his soldiers took several steps back and resumed their position behind Pei Zi Yun. Their posture was as straight as needles. The imperial banner was then hoisted up high, with an intimidating demeanor, as the fleet of ten s.h.i.+ps resumed their voyage.

After an hour

"What? Where have they gone to? They didn’t plan to occupy this island?" Dozens of vessels docked on the sentry island and watched as it burned up from some distance away. The pirates started cursing, "d.a.m.n it. d.a.m.n it. They actually burned everything on sentry island."

"Third leader, this is not good." Someone stepped forward and exclaimed.

Hearing these words, the third leader’s face turned ashen as he turned towards the pirate and asked coldly, "What’s the matter? With such a tragedy, why haven’t you started extinguis.h.i.+ng the fires?"

"Third leader, when the officials and their soldiers came, they decided to burn all the structures on this island. They even maimed our brothers. Every single brother on this island who’s alive had their leg ligaments snipped off. They were asking about being merciful, and sparing their lives." When the third leader of the pirates heard this, he drew his sword, scaring the pirates immensely. The third leader then swung his blade with all his might and landed the blow against a nearby shrub. This caused the entire shrub to split into half.

At this point, another pirate stepped forward to report a different matter, "Third leader. The officials even left an obscene message for you."

"d.a.m.n it. d.a.m.n it." The third leader was enraged, "Chase. Chase after them immediately."

"Yes, third leader." The pirate spoke out, trembling.

A Daoist then held the pirate back and asked, "How many soldiers do the officials have?"

The pirate hurriedly replied, "Advisor, I’ve already checked. They have ten s.h.i.+ps in their fleet."

"All of them are still undamaged?" The Daoist asked, pondering.

"Yes, all are still functioning properly."

"When the third leader heard this, his tone took a fierce turn, "Why haven’t you gone? Go and tell the rest of our men to leave ten vessels behind and rescue our injured men. The rest of them should follow me. We just have to contain their ten s.h.i.+ps. The second leader and big leader would then catch up to us and provide support."

He then turned around and spoke to the Daoist, "Inform big leader and second leader of this news. We must not allow these b.a.s.t.a.r.d officials to kill us and get away scot-free. We have to capture them."

"Yes!"

Out at sea

Cai Yuan Zhen stood atop the deck and looked up at the seagulls flying, as though he was deep in thought.

Seeing Cai Yuan Zhen behaving this way, Pei Zi Yun was somewhat surprised, "What is Captain Cai doing?"

When Cai Yuan Zhen heard this, he paused for some time before he replied, "Your excellency Pei, it seems like the winds are coming once more. Another bout of rain will descend upon us."

Just as Pei Zi Yun was about to reply, a soldier from the deck above shouted out, "Quick, quick. I can see the pirates. They are catching up with us, and will attack us once they’re within reach."

Pei Zi Yun froze before he smiled, "It’s good that they’ve come."

He raised his head and looked up at the soldier on the upper deck, "How many boats do the pirates have?"

"Your Excellency, they have more than twenty boats. However, they are all small pirate boats." The soldier on the upper deck looked out to sea before replying.

Pei Zi Yun smiled, "Indeed, my calculations and predictions were right. All our s.h.i.+ps should slow down. Allow these pirates to catch up."

Hearing these words, Cai Yuan Zhen paused, "Your excellency Pei, do you wish to return to the island? Why do you want to engage the pirates?"

"We didn’t wait for the enemy to find us on the island and left. But I could’ve done that in the middle of the night, why would I wait until the morning? That’s because I wanted them to chase after us. Doing this would mean they’re not prepared and would be caught off guard should we decide to fight them. I also couldn’t give them too much time to consolidate their strength on the island. This is the best time, where they aren’t prepared for an engagement." Pei Zi Yun gripped his sword tightly as he spoke. A cold smile broke out on his face.

"Your Excellency, what you mean to say is, you intentionally gave them some time to react, but not too much. So, they’re only somewhat prepared. Also, some boats will reach before others. That’s when we slow down our speed and turn around to attack them, and kill them one by one." Cai Yuan Zhen understood Pei Zi Yun’s plan and reaffirmed it.

"Yes, these pirates have given me a good opportunity. We’ve already managed to scatter the pirates, ensuring their full force will not land on us. It’s the best time to strike." Pei Zi Yun spoke. At this point, he could see a few boats approaching.

Pei Zi Yun glanced at the boats and spoke out, "Kill! Kill them all now. Spare none. We have to be quick in killing the first few boats. There will be more joining up with them. We cannot allow them to consolidate their strength. We have to kill the first wave as fast as we can."

"And this bout of wind and rain is really a.s.sistance from heaven."

"Kill them all!" Cai Yuan Zhen gave the order, his voice echoed throughout the entire sea and was in fierce compet.i.tion with the oncoming wind.

"No, the soldiers and their s.h.i.+ps are going to crash against us. Turn away to avoid a collision!" A pirate on the boat shouted out, pale-faced.

At this point, a gust of wind blew as the smaller pirate boats all turned away to avoid a collision. They then saw the navy s.h.i.+ps increasing their speed as they crashed into the boats.

"No, no!" The pirate standing on the deck screamed out.

The large shadows of the wars.h.i.+ps were cast down onto the smaller pirate boats, completely towering over the pirates. To the pirates, the wars.h.i.+p was getting bigger and bigger before it finally collided with their vessel.

"Boom!" The hull was smashed in, as water started to seep into the boat.

"Don’t be afraid. Kill them! How can these soldiers be more experienced than us in sea battle? Kill them all." The pirates were extremely hostile as well, as they charged towards the wars.h.i.+ps.

"Die!" The minute a pirate jumped onto the deck to defend his boat, he was stabbed instantly by several spears. He gave a low groan, as he collapsed. Just like that, the fiercest pirate warrior was taken down.

As soon as the first pirate died, many other pirates stood up to take his place. Before long, a huge battle broke out.

"Go up against them. Use the anchor to lock their boats to our wars.h.i.+ps. Don’t let them escape. It’s now time for me to show them!" Pei Zi Yun shouted as Cai Yuan Zhen waved his hand, signaling for the anchor to be tossed onto the pirates’ boats.