Chapter 391 - Ambush (1/2)
The commander of the bodyguards nodded his head and spoke to the men behind him, “A few guys should set up an ambush in the nearby trees. The rest of you stay with me and help Brother Yu set things up.”
The traps that Yu Hai was setting up used rattan ropes to create a type of noose with a slipknot. If the Wokou pirates stepped into the trap, as long as you used a little bit of force they would get pulled up into the air. At that time, the trapped pirates could be easily handled by them.
Putting the traps together wasn’t a complicated task. Yu Hai took a few bodyguards and, before long, they were able to set around a dozen or so traps in the areas that the Wokou pirates were most likely to traverse through. At this time, through the thickets of the trees, they could already see the cruel and aggressive pirates who were all gabbling in a foreign language.
Commander Zheng signaled Yu Hai with his hands, telling him to retreat to a safer area. He regrouped his men and they all chose some nearby large trees to hide in and easily jumped up. The bodyguards not only had a long sword with them but they also carried a bow and quiver of arrows. Those who were hiding in the trees took out their bow and arrows. They prepared an arrow and aimed it towards the direction of the pirates.
Within the thickets, they could hear the pirates approaching and it was obvious that these pirates had a lot of people. Before long, a short pirate could be seen by Yu Hai and the others. He was dressed in unfamiliar attire and the top of his head had been shaved bald. The pirate had cruel and malicious looking eyes. Yu Hai, who had hidden in a dense shrub, intently watched where the pirate set his feet. His breathing slowed as he saw the Wokou pirate step into one of the rope traps.
He was in, he was in! That pirate’s left foot had already stepped into the middle of the noose! Yu Hai immediately made the decision to lightly pull at the trap mechanism in his hand. The noose tightened quickly around the pirate’s ankle and the rope started to fly away using the elasticity of the tree branch above. The pirate only felt something clamp on his ankle before he shot up in the air towards the trees.
The trapped Wokou pirate howled in fear and another pirate, who had been behind him, was stunned for a moment before he turned around to holler something behind him. The other pirates started to pull out their long knives. Among them was a slightly taller man and the clothes he was wearing were also more complex and decorated compared to the other pirates. Nothing needed to be said as it was obvious that this man was the leader of all of these pirates.
The head of the Wokou pirates pointed at the strung up pirate and jabbered a few sentences to his subordinates. It sounded like he wanted the others to bring the man down. After receiving his command, before they had the chance to move, an arrow whizzed through the air and squarely hit the trapped pirate in the throat. The trapped pirate immediately passed away and dangled like a dead dog in the trees.
The expression on the head of the pirates immediately changed. He hastily ordered the other men to protect him. During the chaos, there were a few other pirates who stepped into the rope traps and were now hanging in the trees.
“Guard yourselves! Guard yourselves!” Earlier, the head of the pirates didn’t think it would take much effort to run over a small fishing village. He had boasted when talking to General Yamaguchi and claimed that he would be able to fully subjugate this tiny fishing village in half a day and then bring his men to meet up with the general at the harbor.
He absolutely did not expect that this fishing village, which only had a dozen or so families in it, would find out early about their attack and pack up all of their valuables to flee into the nearby mountains. Although the villagers had left in a hurry and there was still quite a bit of stuff left back in the village, the head of this group of pirates was unsatisfied. When he was younger, he had also participated in a raid and had privately gotten a lot of good loot. There were over a dozen other commanders who came up with the general this time to attack. If he had the smallest haul out of all of them, wouldn’t that mean he had lost credibility in the general’s eyes?
Fury roiled within the head of the Wokou pirates when he saw the empty village. These poor fishermen weren’t anything in his eyes. With the skills of his men, why wouldn’t they be able to catch up with these fleeing peasants and grab all their belongings?
Who knew that, as soon as they stepped into the mountain forest, they would encounter a hard rock. Apparently, these fishermen had some experienced hunters among them. It looked like he had underestimated these peasants too much.
However, the head of this group of pirates didn’t think that the villagers would be able to do much just by relying on a few hunters. Compared to his men, who were well trained and armored appropriately, those hunters were only seeking their own deaths!
“Bakayarou [1], go look around! Those damned bastards must be in the vicinity. Don’t leave a single one alive. Kill whoever you find!!” The head of this group of pirates revealed a cruel and vicious expression and he waved the long knife in his hand as he snarled out his orders.
At this moment, an arrow shot towards his direction. The head of the pirates revealed a frazzled expression but his reaction speed was quite fast. He grabbed one of the subordinates next to him and threw the other man in front of him as his shield. Then, he ducked down and made sure to hide himself completely behind the hapless pirate.
Warm liquid that smelled slightly fishy sprayed onto his face. The hapless pirate that had been dragged over twitched as he dropped down to the ground. The arrow that had almost hit him was pinned firmly in the other pirate’s heart. Cold sweat spontaneously erupted onto his head and he silently rejoiced that his reflexes were fast enough. Otherwise, the person lying dead on the ground wouldn’t be his subordinate but him!
A burst of violent anger bubbled in his heart. He needed to drag all of these stubborn fishermen out and dig out their hearts before stringing them in the open air to let them become human jerky!
“Find them now! Drag all of these Great Ming pigs out for me now!” The head of the pirates stomped on the ground in fury and sent down a direct order to his shivering subordinates while he hid himself behind his two bodyguards. Occasionally he would reveal his head here or there to observe the situation.