Didn't Know General Was Female Chapter 27

[Alternate t.i.tle: Water Bandits
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It really wasn't easy for Jiahui to take this route, going first through a mountain then through water, and it made her non-adapting self throw up and throw up some more. Yet she has her stubbornness, and has vowed not to give up until they've reached the Northwest. Her two maids would also accompany her to throw up, and with all the stopping and starting, she had lost her roundness altogether in a month's time.

Whenever Jiahui had free time for leisure in ordinary days, she was highly fond of bringing her friends to go boating on a lake, but now that she's seated on a boat where the surface of the lake seems to have no end in sight, she very nearly throws up again.

Staying on a boat for a few shichen is fun. Staying on one for a few days is torture.

Even so, she'd heard from the professional escorts that the way by water is much safer than the way by land, and that she shouldn't worry.

On their trip, they experienced the rogue mountain bandits that scared her half to death, then a group that feigned wanting to grab the womenfolk but actually just wanted to s.n.a.t.c.h all their belongings. As for other small-scale problems, there were quite a few, and they've nearly worn her heart out to death. If they could just have moment's peace, she'd be quite happy, but this lousy boat… it just wants to rock and rock.

The waterway is a lot more dangerous at night than it is by day, so the greater part of the escorts sleep during the day. Jiahui, bored and with nothing to do, chatted with an escort who was stationed on deck. He's the youngest one among them, likely no more than two years older than her, and he had originally shied away from their master-servant group. They chatted for a long time, actually managing to talk up a bit of a camaraderie.

Jiahui worshiped those dubbed knight-errants and heroes a bit and loved to hear some hot-blooded stories, and this escort can tell stories aplenty. He told her about the founders hundreds of years ago all the way up until the present, then explained to her what the guards' harking did, codewords, the Three Musts and One Mustn't [1], and also a few taboos. It caused Jiahui to stare and stare at him in awe as if he must be some sort of deity.

They talked from the sun's rise in the east til its setting in the west, and at that point, the others had had enough rest and came out to work. The waterway is generally safer, but it isn't devoid of hidden dangers. Should they also come across water bandits, they wouldn't have it easy.

However, when they looked upon the two people who were completely absorbed in a frenzy of chatter right before them, they immediately coughed in displeasure.

The not-yet-20 young escort shook from fright, and ran off into them with three steps being made into two.

Jiahui had no option but to keep quiet and wordlessly move back into the cabin.

Once the head escort saw the young lady had vanished, he firmly slapped the young escort upside the head. “Why are you gossiping with a young woman you aren't related to?! Way to make trouble!”

That escort covered his smarting head and cried out, “Ow, big brother! I'm telling you, this Miss Zhong seems like a bigshot family's girl, but she doesn't put on airs at all. She's really adorable and curious about stuff, so I just said a few words to her.”

“If she's adorable, and completely unrelated to you, then you know to conduct yourself properly! Also, lock up your mouth better, and don't let things slip to others.”

“Okay…” The young escort responded, feeling attacked.

The younger child always receives some favor from others. Seeing him being obedient, the head escort's att.i.tude changed, and he pat him on the head and said softly, “You hurry up and go to sleep then, alright?”

He shook his head. “No need, big brother, I'm not a bit tired now. I'll help you all out here.”

“Suit yourself!”

Weary from the day's travels, after Jiahui entered the cabin, she went to sleep early.

Following about a shichen, she was half-dreaming and half-awake when she suddenly heard some strange noises.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up, yawning as she asked, “Bai Lu, Shuang Jiang, what's going on?”

Those two had evidently also been sleeping soundly, as they only woke up when Jiahui called for them quite a few times. As Jiahui had no need to sleep anymore, she had them put on her clothes for her, then left the cabin.

Fatigue written on her face, she asked those outside, “What's happening?”

The head escort looked solemn. “It seems like there's a group of water bandits coming from the distance.”

Oh… water bandits…

Jiahui immediately felt like the sky was spinning…

What kind of rotten luck does she have? Take a mountainway, run into mountain bandits, take a waterway, run into water bandits. That c.r.a.p she said about sorrow turning into joy was just empty words. She really doesn't want to get to the pinnacle of bad luck just to get lucky again…

The professional escorts opened their mouths, and she knew that they were going to call out to them that they were guards. She rushed to stop them. “Don't call out! They went to great lengths to make this trip. You think they're going to be alright with leaving empty-handed because you announced yourselves to them?”

“Most are like that. Everyone's a friend, in the end.”

Jiahui waved her hand. “I don't believe that. Those mountain bandits from last time weren't friends and only wanted to kill and rob. If you ask me, launching a sneak attack would be reliable, and a lot safer.”

A sneak attack? They wrinkle their brows. This seems a bit too dishonorable.

Before their eyes came two big boats with a pile of little boats. The head escort is also afraid of a true mishap. Losing an ordinary escort isn't too serious, but as for this escorted guest… one can tell from looking at Rong Jiahui's bearing and appearance that she is absolutely a wealthy and respected person, and Heaven knows how much influence she has. Were she to die, he can hazard a guess that the results won't be good, and maybe the entire escort branch would fold. Thinking of this, he let a little less than half of them who are better swimmers sneak around through the water first.

Afterwards, he communicated loudly with the others, using that dark slang from before. From when Jiahui was bothering the youngest escort before and asking him a big heap of questions about every which thing, she can currently barely understand a little bit of it; no one is a stranger and everyone should make friends, they can give them a bit of toll and be on their way.

Jiahui feels terrified like this, but she really can't say anything. They're heavily outnumbered right now, and even if they win, they'd have to shed a few layers of skin, so not fighting would naturally be for the best. It's little wonder the armed escorts have the capacity to get on well with both sides of the law. She feels exhausted on their behalf.

Evidently, barren mountains and wild waters yield wicked people, and these wild waters have raised water bandits, which is an even worse thing. They simply aren't interested in being pals with so-called professional escorts.

They just don't even bother with jianghu slang, saying straight-up, “Leave the boat and scram! Scram fast enough for these ancestors to not catch up, and we won't bother with you. If not, we'll make you all die without graves!”

Hearing the conceited garbage spewing out the bandit's mouth, and then noticing at the smaller boats that had come up close at some unknown point in time, these typically modest and courteous escorts are immediately enraged. Jiahui is pushed into the cabin to hide with one of them acting as a personal bodyguard, the outside beginning to be the scene of a b.l.o.o.d.y battle.

Many of these water bandits were commoners who were in dire straits, and after stealing a few boats, their numbers slowly increased. They could never compare to these professional escorts that have been trained since childhood, but even so, they really have safety in numbers, and they're still a bit too much to handle.

The dozen-ish escorts who had stolen into the water before had also climbed up their boat, pulling out their blades and killing as they went. Their counterparts were commonfolk who'd never practiced martial arts, only using clumsy attacks with blades and clubs, but the killing power of a lot of armed people isn't small.

They were fighting so vigorously at this time that they all failed to notice another ship going away from the side.

Over on Jiahui's side, the escorts with large blades noticed people wanting to climb up, and cut them down. It's a shame that their numbers are too few, as there's still a few fish escaping the net. One or two of them are getting blood-splattered.

Jiahui is hiding in the cabin and covering her ears. She shivers from listening to the sounds coming from outside, her face white as paper. Bai Lu and Shuang Jiang are also nearly scared to death, withdrawing into a corner and simply unable to comfort her. There is no aid coming for them atop the water, and all they can do is pray.

Someone suddenly came in right then, scaring the girls into huddling up together and wailing nonstop.

“Don't make noise!”

Hearing that familiar voice, they fix their eyes upon an escort of about thirty years of age.

The escort said, “Miss Zhong, the head escort is having me take you all on a smaller boat and run. The goal of these water bandits is this big ship, after all.”

This ship really isn't small. She doesn't know for sure, but they probably think it's some rich merchant's ship carrying goods. Little do they know that inside is only three fun-loving young girls bringing a pile of invaluable treasures.

Jiahui stared. “Smaller boat? How small is it?”

“It can seat three or four people.” He replied.

It was also taken from dead water bandits, but he chooses not to mention that.

Three or four…

Jiahui had never sat in such a shabby boat in all her life. She gulped, and after a little hesitation, grit her teeth and agreed. She's more likely to die on this ship anyways, and feeling wronged isn't likely to kill her!

The three just barely left the ship's hold with their luggage when they saw the battlefield had moved from the edge of the boat to the deck.

The escorts are viciously entangled with the others, trying their hardest not to let them have the opportunity to get close.

A few un.o.bstructed bandits noticed them and pounced, wanting to kill them and s.n.a.t.c.h the packs on Bai Lu and Shuang Jiang's backs, only to be met with two blades from two escorts, their swift and complete cut-down splashing blood onto Rong Jiahui. It's nearly as frightening as the last time she personally watched that chief thief's head getting pierced through with an escort's blade.

A few drops had gotten onto her face, still burning hot, sliding all the way down her face like she was crying tears of blood. The smell gets into her nose, her mind, and her delicate stomach, which immediately turns violently once again.

The two escorts barely succeeded in getting her and her nauseinfused stomach onto the boat when the group of bandits, for some reason, suddenly stopped. Then, far away, all they could see was one person who came out of nowhere, a slender youth coming up behind several of them with his blade against one of them. After discovering this, the bandits no longer moved a muscle.

That's their leader…

The bandits watched them nervously, hearts beating like drums. That's the one in charge of them… they're not smart, only blindly following orders. If there's no one to tell them what to do, they can't do anything.

And that youth is clearly one who takes no nonsense. He raised his brows and flat-out killed the bandit leader with one slash, kicking the corpse into the water. The heap of bandits, now leaderless, suddenly became a complete mess, making it much easier for everyone to kill them.

This huge farce went on for a whole half a shichen, and that strange n.o.ble hero's slaying of the leader could be said to be the basis for establishing its end.

Now, the remaining chunk of bandits have no cohesion and don't put up any sort of fight, granting the end of this matter. The big ships on both sides are overflowing with blood, the bandits either dead or fled. As for the guards… when Jiahui first came to the Changfeng Escorts, she had a few tens of them guarding at her side, each with excellent martial training. Now, nearly ten of them are missing, and the remainder are all beaten badly and ready to collapse. That one overgrown boy who had been telling Jiahui stories earlier was a good swimmer. Following his boarding of the bandit's ship, due to helping his brother block a blow from a sword, he didn't even have time to say a single dying word before his life was seen off.

At this moment, Jiahui stood by herself on the small boat, staring blankly. It seems like she hasn't yet recovered from the way this drama has developed, and the others are clearly the same way. It's like… a deity came to their aid.

Just when they were about to ask this deity which hero he was, they heard the distant, fearful shouting of a woman. “Chief escort! Master! Help me! I'm scared! I don't want to be fish food!”

This area in the Northwest has strong winds, and Jiahui's forgotten little boat got blown away. It shook, she lost her footing, promptly latched onto the boat's sail, and raised her head to see the boat she was standing on gradually getting farther and farther away from the larger ship.

A tiny skiff in this vast lake is as minuscule as a feather, and she's on it all by herself?! How could she not panic?! How could she not be afraid?!

Shuang Jiang and Bai Lu were so scared by the previous events that they could not calm down, and upon hearing that distant sound, they cried out in alarm, able to react all of a sudden. Seems their Young Mistress had never gotten off that tiny boat!

They look at Rong Jiahui ever-floating away, then anxiously shook the nearest wounded men. “My Mistress! You must save my Mistress!”

The escorts were injured all over, and the pain from the two grabbing and shaking them caused them to grimace, yet they all said nothing as they successively jumped onto a few small boats. Just when they started to head off, they only heard a “plop” come from the other side of the ship, as if something had fallen into the water.

[1] Refers to three skills an armed escort must have/do as part of their long job on the road – cooking (on portable stoves), shoe repair, and hair cutting (to look presentable) – and one thing they must not do, which is wash their face. Sounds weird, but escort slang states that washing one's face means you get to go home, so they don't do so until their job is done.