Chapter 552 - 553: Waiting

Chapter 552: Chapter 553: Waiting

When the news arrived, Nanny Pang was surprisingly the calmest person in the room.

She paced around the entire house once more and selected the innermost room. Turning to Zisu and the others, she instructed, "For the next few days, you will sleep here with the young miss. Remember to lock the doors and windows tightly at night. No matter what noises you hear, do not come out."

Fuling spoke up. "Nanny, why don’t you rest here with the young miss? I’ll stay by Mrs. Gu’s side to serve her."

Nanny Pang’s tone brooked no argument. "Do as I say. Your most important task right now is to protect the young miss. Remember those medicinal powder packets I gave you earlier? If you’re truly in danger, don’t skimp on them—throw them as hard as you can."

Not daring to argue further, Fuling nodded solemnly and promised, "Zisu and I will take good care of the young miss."

Nanny Pang then turned to Bai Suihe. "Mrs. Gu, although you have plenty of self-defense medicines on you, your physical foundations are still a bit lacking. In a real fight, weapons have no eyes. When the time comes, make sure you stay close to me."

Although Bai Suihe had learned some basic self-defense recently, she knew her own limitations perfectly well. She agreed readily, "Don’t worry, Nanny. I value my life quite a bit. Besides, those pirates aren’t worth me throwing my life away."

Still feeling somewhat uneasy, Nanny Pang led a few people to set up numerous traps all around the front and back of the house. They even prepared an escape route.

Bai Suihe also took this time to specifically research the enemy. The wokou pirates of this era were essentially roving bandits on the sea. Because they faced the vast ocean and were highly familiar with the maritime climate and terrain, they managed to escape capture time and time again.

The coastal guards found these people extremely troublesome, as it was impossible to predict when or where they would make landfall. Often, by the time the guards received word and rushed over, the pirates had already succeeded in their raids, and it was far too late. In the past, these bandits would simply snatch goods and leave. They had never been as ruthless as they were this time, which was why everyone was in a state of panic.

Bai Suihe sought out Gu Kaiyuan. "How many villages nearby are located close to the sea?"

"Along this immediate coastline, there are about a dozen villages," Gu Kaiyuan replied. He was currently nursing a massive headache; he didn’t want the pirates to come, but at the same time, he was waiting for them to show up. At least if they came to this Shangpu fishing village, they had the means to fight back, which would mean the other villages were safe.

Just then, Lin Wei, who had been sent out to gather intelligence, rushed in frantically. "Mr. Gu! I’ve got the news! The other villages have all moved into the mountains to hide."

Everyone was afraid of dying, so fleeing was entirely reasonable. "There are a few large mountains just ahead of us. Should we...?"

Gu Kaiyuan immediately rejected this suggestion. Where could they even run to? They had already invested so much into the shipyard; they couldn’t afford any damage to it. Moreover, hiding might work for now, but the next time the pirates came, they wouldn’t have any time to prepare.

"What did the government officers say?" Gu Kaiyuan didn’t harbor much hope. After all, the population of a dozen villages spread out along the coast wasn’t very large.

"The government officers only dispatched a few men to keep an eye on the sea. They also posted notices saying that anyone who provides information will be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver."

Bai Suihe scoffed at this approach. It was nothing but gross inaction. Sure enough, relying on others was never as good as relying on oneself. "Right now, I actually hope they hurry up and come here instead of targeting the other villages."

Although the inhabitants of the other villages had fled, most of their belongings couldn’t be moved. If these pirates were pushed to act ruthlessly, those villagers might not even be able to protect their homes.

Regardless of what they thought, this wasn’t something they could decide. Eventually, Bai Suihe came up with a plan to lure the snake out of its hole.

For the next two days, their horse carriages traveled frequently along the seaside. Every time they came and went, the carriages were piled high with goods, leaving deep rut marks in the dirt.

During this period, government officers did come to the village to ask questions, but they merely told everyone to stay alert, gave a few perfunctory instructions, and left immediately. Gu Kaiyuan lost his temper in private over their utterly irresponsible attitude.

In his previous life, he had already joined the military by this time. However, since he had only been a lowly foot soldier, he was completely ignorant of the events that were about to unfold here.

Even though traps had been set all around the village, Gu Kaiyuan still couldn’t put his mind at ease. He arranged for men to take turns standing guard in shifts, with instructions to immediately strike a brass gong if there were any signs of trouble.

They stood guard for two straight days. Not only was there no activity on their end, but everywhere else was just as quiet.

On the third day, the men sent out to gather intelligence returned and reported that the government officers stationed by the sea had already withdrawn. An ominous premonition welled up in Bai Suihe’s heart. She feared the pirates had been waiting for exactly this opportunity.

However, the third day passed peacefully. Then the fourth day, the fifth day... By the sixth day, the villagers from the other areas actually began slowly returning to their homes.

Bai Suihe ordered the carriages to come and go even more frequently. She also specifically had several burly men dress in rich silk garments and travel back and forth with the carriages every day. She needed to create the illusion that they were incredibly fat targets.

On the night of the seventh day, everyone assumed they would pass another day in peace. The men assigned to night watch were yawning, but remembering Mr. Gu’s orders, they grabbed a handful of ice from a nearby basin and wiped their faces, instantly feeling much more awake.

Just then, one of the guards thought he heard the traps at the village entrance being triggered. He quickly woke his companion, and the two stared intently at the source of the noise. Seeing shadows shifting in the distance, they knew their days of waiting were finally about to pay off.

Not daring to delay, the two didn’t immediately sound the gong. Instead, they split up and quietly woke a few nearby households, instructing them to notify Mr. Gu and the others.

Meanwhile, at the village entrance, Ishishita Saburō was clutching his thigh. He stuffed one hand into his mouth, biting down hard to stop himself from crying out in pain.

"Ishishita, how are you? Are you alright?" A heavily accented voice suddenly drifted down from above. "How did you fall into a hole?"

"Tanaka, hurry up and pull me out! I fell into a trap!" Ishishita Saburō roared in an angry whisper. Were these idiots blind? Couldn’t they see something so obvious?

"Hurry and pull Ishishita up," Tanaka said, stifling a laugh. "I told you earlier not to run so fast. We’re splitting the loot equally anyway; I really don’t know what you were in such a rush for."

Ishishita Saburō didn’t bother arguing with him. Right now, he felt like he was about to burst into tears from the pain. Damn it! Why weren’t they hurrying up and pulling him out to treat his wound? He was still hoping to be the first one to charge into the village later and pick out a pretty...

With the help of several men, Ishishita Saburō was hoisted out of the trap. A sharp bamboo stake was impaled in his foot, piercing straight through the top of his foot, and blood was streaming down.

"These damned bastards! Don’t let a single rat in this village escape!"

"What do we do now? Let’s pull it out of you." Yamaguchi looked worriedly toward the village. Seeing that it was still pitch-black, he breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness they hadn’t attracted any attention just now, otherwise, their efforts tonight would have been in vain.

"Pull it out..." If they didn’t pull it out, he wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing tonight.

"You’ll have to endure it. Don’t make a sound."