Chapter 81: The Aftermath of Defeat

Fang Yue gripped his broadsword tightly, watching the elderly woman standing at the entrance of the house with wary eyes. Her expression was oddly blank, and she pointed inside the residence with a dull, mechanical gesture.

Fang Yue’s gaze followed the direction she indicated. Dusk had fallen, and the poor lighting rendered the interior a dark void. He asked, “What’s inside?”

No reply came. When Fang Yue’s eyes returned to the doorway, the old woman was gone. She had vanished as eerily as she had appeared, in a way that defied explanation.

Fang Yue’s brow furrowed. There was a corpse on the ground; this old woman was certainly no longer among the living. Yet her sudden appearance, and the gesture toward the house—what was she trying to convey?

“Could it be that the boy I saved earlier—her grandson—is hidden inside?” Fang Yue mused. In this world, spirits were not mere souls, but amalgams of resentment and obsession.

He set down the little girl and whispered, “I’ll go in and have a look. You stay out here. If anything happens, shout loudly and I’ll come out right away.”

The bodies outside made the girl nervous, but she nodded obediently. Fang Yue drew a deep breath, blade in hand, and stepped into the house.

He was uncertain what he might encounter inside, so he dared not bring the girl lest something unexpected happen. By all accounts, the old woman seemed unlikely to mean him harm. The likelihood of the boy being inside was high.

Within the dwelling, darkness reigned. Fang Yue took out a firestarter from his pocket and lit it. By its faint glow, he saw that it was a typical family home. A chubby-faced boy of three or four lay asleep on a chair.

Fang Yue approached, bent down, and gently gathered the boy into his arms.

“Grandma,” the boy mumbled sleepily, lost in dreams.

Fang Yue shook his head and carried the boy out.

...

Fang Yue, broadsword strapped to his back, walked down the street with a child in each arm.

Dead bodies lay scattered along his path—pirates and townsfolk alike, but the townsfolk were more numerous. Many were women, children, and elders, their frail bodies unable to outrun the marauders, slaughtered without mercy.

His face was grim. From the pirates’ landing to their destruction, barely half a day had passed, and hundreds of innocent townspeople had lost their lives to them. Thankfully, their side had responded quickly; otherwise, the casualties would have been even more horrific.

...

“Scholar Fang!”

“Scholar Fang!”

When Fang Yue rejoined Qian Dagui and the others, the crowd stirred. Through captured pirates and the surviving townsfolk, everyone had learned of Fang Yue’s solitary and heroic stand, delaying hundreds of pirates. Eyes brimmed with admiration.

Fang Yue nodded in acknowledgment, spotting Fang Baomu, a fourteen-year-old youth, holding a long spear among the crowd.

He set the two children down and beckoned Baomu over. “Baomu, come here and watch over these two.”

“No problem.” Fang Baomu idolized Fang Yue, treating him as a great hero. Hearing the survivors recount the events, Baomu’s hatred for the pirates was matched only by his excitement at Fang Yue’s valor. He resolved to train diligently and someday be as formidable as Fang Yue.

In the earlier battle, Baomu had joined the group, and under practiced coordination, they had all lunged with their spears. He himself had managed to kill a pirate.

“By the way, where’s your cousin and Ren Junlin?” Fang Yue scanned the crowd. There were local militia and survivors, but no sign of Fang Baoliang or Ren Junlin.

Baomu replied with anger, “Those wretched pirates not only killed and robbed, but also set fires everywhere. My cousin and the others went to put out the fires.”

Fang Yue looked into the distance; scattered flames still flickered, but most had been extinguished.

He turned to Qian Dagui. “Bring over that third leader.”

Qian Dagui understood Fang Yue wanted to interrogate him, and waved for his men to haul the pirate leader forward, bound hand and foot.

“Kneel!” The crowd’s hatred for the pirates was intense. Were it not for the need to question him, the third leader would have been torn apart on the spot.

The leader’s face was battered, a sword wound on his shoulder—evidence that he had suffered already.

...

After extinguishing a fire, Fang Baoliang quietly left the group. He was always taciturn, but during the fight with the pirates, he had distinguished himself, spearing three pirates to death. Afterwards, he faded into the background.

His departure went unnoticed in the bustle of firefighting.

He made his way to a small cosmetics shop. Not far from its entrance lay the corpse of an old woman. He approached and recognized her as Granny Zhang, keeper of the cosmetics shop, slain by the pirates.

“Serves you right,” Fang Baoliang’s face was cold.

...

Hou Naiqiu was a wastrel from the county town, forced to flee to the countryside after offending someone over a woman.

But even in exile, he remained restless. He bribed Granny Zhang of the cosmetics shop, who arranged introductions with respectable families. Some, lured by his charm and promises, succumbed.

On this Double Ninth Festival, Granny Zhang found him another target. Hou Naiqiu deployed his usual tricks, seduced the woman, and brought her to the back room of the shop.

But as their passions ran high, the pirates arrived. Granny Zhang ran out and was cut down.

Hearing screams and slaughter outside, Hou Naiqiu was terrified. He was clever enough to know that running outside meant certain death; he quickly hid under the bed with the woman.

The pirates stormed the shop, but cared little for cosmetics—especially the inferior stock here. After a cursory glance, they moved on to kill elsewhere.

Hou Naiqiu narrowly survived, trembling under the bed, too frightened to emerge.

Only as dusk settled and the outside grew quiet did he dare crawl out.

He peered nervously from the inner room, trying to assess the situation.

At that moment, a man with a knife entered the shop, lifting the curtain. Hou Naiqiu was petrified.

He dropped to his knees, begging for mercy. “Please, don’t kill me! Take all my money—there’s a woman in the back room!”

Desperate to save himself, he betrayed the woman with whom he had just been intimate.

She, too, emerged from the inner room, hair disheveled, clothes in disarray, and in the dim light, saw the armed man. Fearing he was a pirate, she was terrified.

Hou Naiqiu saw the man remain silent, gazing at them coldly. He gritted his teeth, dragged the woman forward, tearing her clothing to expose her pale skin.

“Sir, look—she’s quite a prize. You can take her to the back room; I’ll guard the door so no one disturbs you. Do as you please, enjoy yourselves.”

He cared only for his own survival, saying anything, no matter how shameless.

“Are you Hou Naiqiu?” the man suddenly asked.

Hou Naiqiu was stunned—how could this pirate know his name?

“Are you Hou Naiqiu?” the man repeated, now impatient.

“Yes, yes, I am Hou Naiqiu,” he replied hastily.

“Good.” A strange smile twisted the man’s icy face. His mouth split open to the chin, revealing rows of sharp, fish-like teeth—utterly horrifying.

In the gloom, he raised the broadsword he had scavenged from a pirate’s corpse...

...