The setting sun was like fire, igniting the coast for dozens of miles.
Seventy-two warriors led their warhorses, and one after another boarded the two three-masted ships sent by Wang Cheng, setting sail!
Yang Ge stood at the stern, gazing at the gradually receding Nansha Bay under the twilight. For a moment, he seemed to see countless shadowy figures on the golden beach waving at him, as if wishing him a smooth journey...
He pursed his lips and waved back at them with a smile.
Just then, a young pirate tiptoed behind Yang Ge and bowed, "Second Master, our boss has prepared a feast in the captain’s cabin to honor all the heroes. Please grace it with your presence!"
Yang Ge turned around, "Let’s go!"
The young pirate stepped aside and gestured for Yang Ge to follow, "I’ll lead the way for Second Master."
...
On the coast.
Rugged Jianghu men and women watched the two three-masted ships slowly merge into the fiery horizon. Everyone’s face was filled with unspeakable loss.
"It’s all your fault, I kept saying we should rest earlier last night to start our journey earlier today, but you had to drink, now look what happened, we missed it!"
"And weren’t you the one who said we ought to arrive just as Second Master was departing, so he couldn’t easily refuse us?"
"If you ask me, it’s all because of the scoundrel Yang Tiansheng from Ming Sect, leading us around Zhoushan in circles..."
"Right, it’s all Yang Tiansheng’s fault, isn’t he afraid of hoarding the spoils to his own detriment..."
"Enough already, why do you think Second Master didn’t want to bring you along? Isn’t it because your skills aren’t polished enough, afraid you’d die in Dongying?"
"Speaking of unpolished skills, you didn’t get on the ship for the expedition either, did you?"
"I didn’t get on the ship, that’s because Second Master didn’t see me. I, ’Desperate Samarai’ Qin Yong, have roamed Xiangxi for twelve years, never defeated in the Qi Sea Realm, can’t I hold my ground better than any of Yang Tiansheng’s top four fighters?"
"Oh man, this is the ’Desperate Samarai’ Qin Yong? Stop arguing with him, he even fights himself when he’s riled up!"
"My apologies for my poor sight..."
"All of you stop it, come look!"
"Look at what?"
"What is it?"
"Move, let me see..."
A large group of sword-carrying Jianghu men and women gathered around the stele at the landing place, their eyes wide open, staring at the densely packed names on the stele.
No need for someone else to explain, the prominent name "Yang Erlang the Divine Incarnation" told everyone the significance of those written on the stele...
"I don’t understand, it’s one thing for the four big thugs from the Qingmu Hall of Ming Sect, but how could Houtu Hall’s ’Mountain Splitter’ Shi Ping go too? I sparred with him before, he’s hardly better than me..."
"Exactly, and Xiang Qinhu of the Xiang Family was just a spearman, last year at Dongting Lake he was chopped three times by Jianghan’s bandit Han Sandao until he spat blood, if such material can go, why can’t I?"
"Is your focus really right? Can’t you see who these people are? Officials, Ming Sect, White Lotus Sect, the Xiang Family, Lianhuan Fort... How did they come together? Aren’t they supposed to fight to the death upon meeting?"
"Damn, you mentioned it and now I see it. It’s one thing for Ming Sect, but White Lotus Sect mingling with the officials? And Xiang Family and Lianhuan Fort, they have a feud, right?"
"Officials, rebels, heretical sects, pirates, noble families, including the pirates who helm the ship... It’s a complete hodgepodge!"
"Are you all fresh off the farm? Don’t you know about the Battle of Nansha Bay where those five joined forces? But it’s true, I really didn’t expect the White Lotus Sect to get involved too, are they following Ming Sect’s lead, dangling between the court, neither close nor clear?"
"What if there’s a possibility that these people aren’t all going against the Japanese pirates, but for Second Master’s reputation?"
"Sheesh... now that you mention it, it makes sense. Though we also want to slay the Japanese pirates and gain fame, aren’t we also drawn by Second Master’s reputation?"
"Wickedness, Second Master is truly diabolical, with his own strength, he’s bound officials, rebels, heretical sects, pirates, noble families and pirates into one force. I don’t bow to anyone, not even to my own parents, but I bow to Second Master!"
"Aren’t you forgetting us? If we could get on the ship, who wouldn’t respect Second Master? Are you the one who wouldn’t, or am I?"
"You make a good point..."
"Forget those old four, seven heroes, the Righteous Alliance, the twelve sects from the north, the eight great families from Jiang Zuo, they’re all rubbish. The true hero is our Second Master!"
"That’s right, regardless of southern or northern martial arts circles, or government and outlaws, who doesn’t show our Second Master a little respect? Didn’t he still make the officials retract his wanted document even after slapping their faces swollen? And didn’t they restore his official rank too? See if Second Master cares about them."
"Righteous of heart, highly skilled in martial arts, aware of both the nation’s significant issues and the commoners’ sufferings... If he isn’t the leading figure of the martial world, then who is?"
"Hey hey hey, why are you taking off your clothes?"
"Who has an ink stick? I want to make a rubbing of this stele to take back to Hangzhou. Let the world know their names, understand their intent, realize that our Great Shu martial world isn’t just made up of those who bully the kind and fear the evil. It’s also filled with such loyal and passionate heroes!"
"I have, I have! Apart from practicing martial arts, I’m fond of painting and calligraphy, always carrying the Four Treasures of the Study..."
"Wait, don’t rush, which brother has good handwriting? Come up and give this stele a title."
"I am modest, surnamed Chenglong, and am willing to humbly give it a try."
"Really? Write a few characters for us all to see..."
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