Witnessing this, not only were the water bandits astonished, but even Gu Ning'an and his companions were stunned. Who would have thought that Wei Hai had so much silver hidden beneath his feet?
A quick glance showed it was far more than forty taels.
"With that much silver hidden under your feet, you claimed you couldn't gather forty taels?" The long-bearded bandit's eyes gleamed with greed, and he slowly lowered his curved blade.
Hearing this, Wei Hai didn't even bother to put his shoes back on. He quickly gathered the scattered silver pieces on the deck and leaned forward, ready to hand the money to the long-bearded bandit.
"My apologies for our ignorance. Please, take this money… buy yourself some good wine."
The long-bearded bandit leaned slightly forward, reaching out his free hand to take the silver. But as soon as his hand stretched out, his body shifted, and the curved blade in his hand suddenly slashed straight at Wei Hai's forehead!
Clang!
A sharp clash of weapons erupted right in front of Wei Hai's face!
Two short blades blocked the large curved blade in mid-air.
Li Xunshan, gripping the short blades in both hands, crossed them to deflect the bandit's attack. With a forceful push, he sent the blade flying back. Grabbing the back of Wei Hai's clothes, he yanked him back onto the small boat.
"You're definitely up to something!" The long-bearded bandit spat on the ground and raised his curved blade again, pointing at Li Xunshan and the others. "Brothers! Kill them!"
At his command, the bandits surged forward, ready to jump onto the small boat.
Whoooosh—
Suddenly, a fierce wind swept across the river. The wind was eerie and strange, causing the bandits' fast boat to creak and sway violently!
With a loud bang, water splashed everywhere as the bandits' boat flipped over, thrown by the wind!
Splash! Splash! Splash!
In the blink of an eye, the bandits, who had been menacing just a moment ago, were now plunging into the water like dumplings in a pot.
Li Xunshan, who had been prepared to fight to the death, quickly retreated and dropped flat onto the boat's deck.
The old beggar and Wei Hai instinctively crouched down as well, gripping the deck tightly with both hands.
"Mr. Gu, there's a strange wind—get down!" the old beggar shouted.
Gu Ning'an stood calmly in place, unshaken. After a moment, he said, "This wind doesn't seem to be blowing toward us."
Hearing this, Li Xunshan and the others slowly got up. Once they confirmed that their small boat remained completely stable, they let out a collective sigh of relief.
Splash!
The long-bearded bandit surfaced, his beard and hair soaked and plastered to his face. "Swim over! Get on their boat!"
Thud!
Li Xunshan struck the water with his oar, sending the long-bearded bandit back under the surface.
Although these bandits were seasoned criminals accustomed to life on the river, their swimming skills couldn't save them when every attempt to surface was met with a swift strike.
After about half a cup of tea's time, no bandits were left emerging from the river.
Clatter!
Li Xunshan tossed the oar aside and collapsed onto the deck, gasping for breath. "Huff… huff… We're truly lucky… huff… huff… If it weren't for that strange wind, we'd have been fish food by now!"
Hearing this, the old beggar fixed his gaze on Gu Ning'an. After a long pause, he finally spoke, "Indeed. But that wind was peculiar—it only capsized the bandits' boat, leaving ours untouched."
At that moment, Wei Hai, who had somehow fetched a jug of wine from the cabin, called out, "Anyone want a drink to calm their nerves?"
"Drink!"
"I'll have some too!"
Seeing the old beggar and Li Xunshan agree to drink, Wei Hai turned to Gu Ning'an, who had picked up the oar, and asked, "Mr. Gu, would you like some?"
"You go ahead. I'll row and keep watch tonight." As Gu Ning'an responded, he had already started rowing, the oar moving smoothly through the water.
Watching Gu Ning'an's skilled rowing technique, Li Xunshan, unusually, didn't volunteer to help.
After a full day of rowing, compounded by the earlier incident, he was exhausted. All he wanted now was to drink some wine, relax his nerves, and get a good night's sleep.
The old beggar poured half a jug of wine, added half a jug of water, gave it a shake, and handed the diluted wine to Li Xunshan, who was lying on the deck.
Li Xunshan took the jug and, still lying down, tipped it to his mouth, drinking deeply.
The old beggar repeated the process, mixing another jug of diluted wine for himself. Sitting on the deck, he began drinking as well.
Wei Hai gulped down large swigs of the fiery wine. After finishing more than half a jug, he looked at Gu Ning'an with a grin and asked, "Mr. Gu, are you sure you don't want any? Don't be shy; there's plenty of wine."
"Well, since you insist, bring me a whole jar."
"Got it!" Wei Hai replied cheerfully, fetching an unopened jar of wine from the cabin and placing it next to Gu Ning'an. "Enjoy, sir."
Gu Ning'an thanked him, adjusted his position, and moved to the bow of the boat. Holding the oar in his right hand, he occasionally dipped it into the water, while his left hand held the wine jar. After each stroke, he took a sip.
Throughout this, a subtle gaze occasionally lingered on him. Without turning around, Gu Ning'an could tell it was coming from the old beggar.
It seemed the old beggar was suspicious, likely because Gu Ning'an's calm demeanor during the bandits' boat capsizing had been too extraordinary.
"Old Wen, I didn't expect you to be so well-versed in the laws of the Great Qian. You even know the exact volumes and articles by heart."
"And facing those bandits, you carried yourself with remarkable poise. If not for your appearance, they might have been intimidated just by your presence."
Gu Ning'an spoke casually, still facing away from the others.
The old beggar, startled by the comment, gave an awkward laugh. "Ah, everyone in the Great Qian knows its laws… Besides, I only know a few articles."
Hic! Wei Hai hiccupped and frowned. "What kind of nonsense is that? If I can't recite a single law, does that mean I'm not from the Great Qian?"
The old beggar sneered. "You, a drunkard? Is there anything in your head besides wine?"
"Ha! If you look down on wine, then don't drink!" With his face flushed from the alcohol, Wei Hai reached out to grab the wine jug from the old beggar.
The old beggar dodged, and Wei Hai stumbled, landing squarely on top of Li Xunshan.
Li Xunshan, who had just been dozing off after a few drinks, was jolted awake.
"You two! Aren't you old enough to behave yourselves?" Li Xunshan snapped irritably.
Looking embarrassed, Wei Hai cupped his hands in apology, then pointed at the old beggar, who was laughing to himself. "What are you laughing at? Give me back my wine!"
The old beggar patted the wine jug in his hand and raised his voice. "Didn't you hear Li Xunshan telling you to calm down?"
"Ah, my temper!" Wei Hai rolled up his sleeves, changed his angle, and lunged at the old beggar again…