Chapter 388 - Incoming Bad News (1/2)
She was able to see the ships now, so Xiaocao slid off of the little dolphin’s back and quietly got closer to one of the ships that was currently moving. She pulled onto a rope that was dangling down and attempted to climb up. After a few tries with no luck, she asked the little divine stone silently, [Little Glutinous Dumpling, can you help me hear what they’re saying?]
The golden little kitten dimmed down the light coming off of its body and now resembled a kitten that was not even a month old now. It lightly jumped onto the deck of the ship and boldly walked towards one of the men that was dressed strangely. After it carefully listened for a bit, the little divine stone sardonically stated, [What kind of weird language are they speaking? Can’t understand a single word.]
It transmitted the language that it could not understand to Yu Xiaocao as it also made fun of the man’s appearance and dress, [At the top of their head, they shaved a section, which makes them look like balding old men. The rest of the hair on their head is gathered into a small queue and pinned into a topknot, and they have a tiny beard left at the lips. They even wear wooden clogs…]
Yu Xiaocao felt her heart fall for a second, ‘This is the dress and attire of the historical Japanese ah! These Japanese ships in the waters of the Great Ming Empire are definitely not here for a good reason! Oh right! In the historical Ming Dynasty, weren't there raids by Wokou pirates [1] ah? Are these the ships of the Wokou then?’
[Little Glutinous Dumpling, do you have any way to understand what they’re saying? This is a very important manner that can change the lives of many people!] Yu Xiaocao was very anxious and hastily asked the little divine stone.
The little divine stone hesitated for a moment and replied somewhat reluctantly, [With my current cultivation level and amount of spiritual power, if I wanted to enter a human’s consciousness, it’d be very difficult. Originally, I’d be able to speak very soon. If I immerse myself in the other person’s thoughts in the way you want me to, I’m afraid I won’t even be able to maintain my kitten form anymore…]
Yu Xiaocao dithered for a second and then said, [Didn’t you say that by helping me, your master, your cultivation and spiritual powers would grow a lot? Furthermore, it would also loosen the fetters on you by a lot. If you really do what I ask you to and are able to help me greatly, you will not only help my family but you will also be saving the lives of countless people. This is a very big virtue ah!]
[If only it would happen like you said! This divine stone doesn't expect much, as long as it comes out even, then I will be satisfied!] The little divine stone wasn’t convinced that it would be very helpful to its master to find out what the pirate was thinking.
However, its consciousness was linked to its master’s, so it could clearly feel the waves of worry coming off of Yu Xiaocao. Although it was quite reluctant to do so, it followed its master’s wishes. A small condensed stream of spiritual energy went into the ear of the pirate that looked like the leader of them all and read the man’s thoughts.
[These people are all from a country across the sea from us. They had a very bad earthquake in their country and a lot of people died. This warrior kidnapped some of the fishermen from our country and found out that our country is having a larger bumper harvest, so they decided to attack us during harvest time. Master, things are looking bad! Their target is...the Tanggu Harbor and all of the nearby villages…]
The little divine stone’s usage of energy was astounding. Before long, Yu Xiaocao could only intermittently hear its thoughts. After it was done talking, the little divine stone transformed back into a ray of golden light and returned back to the multicolored stone on Xiaocao’s wrist, falling into a deep sleep.
However, the information the stone found out was more than enough! She observed the direction the fleet of ships was heading towards and saw that they truly were going towards the harbor. There were around ten ships speeding in the direction of Dongshan Village. Yu Xiaocao felt scared and troubled. There were over a few dozen families in Dongshan Village, which meant that there were at least a hundred to two hundred villagers living there!
This critical information could not be delayed. Yu Xiaocao had the little dolphin swim back at top speed to bring her back to the shore. Although the little divine stone was now in a deep rest, the protections it formed for her were still active, so Xiaocao wasn’t harmed by the water pressure or force. Thus, she was able to go back faster than the ships were moving.
Yu Xiaocao first went back to the area where Xiaolian usually dove into the water. Using her intuition, she was able to find Zhuang Xiaomo, Zhou Shanhu and Xiaolian together. She dove under water and signaled Xiaolian to surface. Once they surfaced, she hurriedly spoke, “Quickly, quickly go inform the village chief that Wokou pirates are coming!!”
“Wokou pirates??” The person who spoke was Zhuang Xiaomo who was treading water next to them. He revealed an expression of disbelief and hesitantly said, “Are you sure that these are Wokou pirates?”
“Wokou pirates are very cruel and vicious. I heard the older generation mention that these pirates have no sense of humanity and will kill anyone they see and steal anything from anybody. They also rape women and burn down entire villages!” Zhou Shanhu also came over and exclaimed as she shook her head with her hands over her mouth.
Yu Xiaocao took a deep breath and forcefully calmed herself before she said, “I guarantee these are Wokou pirates. The clothes they’re wearing aren’t the type that citizens of the Great Ming Empire would wear and I couldn’t understand a single word they were saying. They looked very cruel and had large knives at their waists ah! Older Brother Xiaomo, quickly go to your village and tell this information to your village chief and then leave. You should pack up your things, whether they believe you or not, and come to our house!”
Zhuang Xiaomo forcefully nodded his head and assented, “Okay! I will warn the village chief and then come back to join you guys! If I’m late, there’s no need to wait for me and stay in danger.”
Yu Xiaocao watched as he scrambled onto land and started sprinting towards the neighboring village. She also hurriedly swam to shore and didn’t even bother to change into her clothes as she ran towards the village holding her clothes.
She suddenly thought of her godfather who was currently at the docks supervising the construction, so she said to Xiaolian, “I’ll go to the village chief’s home myself. You should go home first and tell Older Brother to ride Little Gray to the docks to inform my godfather so he can collaborate with the magistrate’s soldiers. Tell Mother and Father to pack everything that’s valuable and necessary so we can leave…”