The dancing girl took the Japanese Pirate's hand and led him out of the tavern. The wind was strong outside, and coconut trees swayed wildly under the moonlight like countless demonic claws.
Seeing no one around, the Japanese Pirate reached out to grope her large "coconuts," but she spun away to avoid him.
"Don't be so impatient. Let's find a secluded spot where you can look all you want." She pulled him toward a cluster of reefs on the beach, covered with parasitic shellfish. Larger shells had been cracked open by tide-pool harvesters who directly extracted the meat. The Japanese Pirate, barefoot without shoes, winced as he stepped on exposed broken shells.
The Japanese Pirate said, "Beautiful one, this place isn't suitable. Aren't you bothered by the discomfort? Even my feet can't take it, and you're wearing such thin clothes. When we get down to business, your back will get scratched and bleed."
The dancing girl coquettishly retorted, "What a fool. The sound of the rising tide will cover any noise we make, so no one will hear and interrupt, spoiling the fun. As for the pain—you'll be the one lying underneath as the cushion. I'll dance for you on top."
A rare gem who takes the lead herself! The Japanese Pirate was overjoyed and no longer minded the sharp shells, following her deeper into the reef cluster.
"Alright, this is the spot." The dancing girl crouched and pulled a coil of rope from under a rock. "Let's play a game. Lie down and do as I say, and I'll show you something precious."
The Japanese Pirate lay on a large rock. "Come on then."
The dancing girl spread her red skirt and straddled his stomach.
Wow, this beauty is quite direct! But... she's too heavy.
She tied his hands and feet with the rope, connecting them in the middle. Standing up from his stomach, she yanked the rope taut, forcing his body to curl abruptly with his limbs bound together, like a crab trussed up for the Mid-Autumn Festival to prevent it from scrambling out of the steamer.
Instantly immobilized and uncomfortable from the cramped position, the Japanese Pirate pleaded, "Beautiful one, I've done everything you asked. Now show me the treasure and untie me quickly."
"Wait here." The dancing girl sat beside him, loosened her collar, and reached inside her inner garment, rummaging around. Her chest swayed wildly, and the Japanese Pirate's eyes feasted on the spectacle: Truly a magnificent treasure!
She pulled out a dark, hairy object—her left breast immediately deflated. It was a coconut.
She pulled out another object—her right breast rapidly flattened as well. Another coconut.
The Japanese Pirate's jaw dropped in shock, his mouth gaping wide enough to fit a coconut.
The dancing girl sighed with relief, "Finally, I can take these coconuts out. They're hard, heavy, and uncomfortable. The island doesn't grow wheat, so there's no bread. I had to make do with coconuts."
Removing her veil, she revealed a handsome face—it was Wang Daxia, now nineteen years old, with a prominent Adam's apple. Since Nanao Island was hot and no one wore high-collared clothes, he had worn the veil to conceal his male identity.
"You're—a man!" the Japanese Pirate screamed. "Help! Robbery!"
Wang Daxia picked up a coconut and slammed it hard against the pirate's chest. "Go ahead and shout. No one will hear you with the rising tide covering all sounds."
Crack! The Japanese Pirate felt a sharp pain in his chest—a rib had likely been broken by the coconut blow. "Hero! Take my money pouch! I just beg for my life!"Wang Daxia said, "I told you, I'm here to show you a treasure, not to take your life. If you cooperate, I'll let you go. If you refuse to talk, I'll use this coconut to break your bones one by one."
The Japanese pirate was in so much pain that cold sweat dripped from his forehead. "I'll cooperate! I'll definitely cooperate!"
Wang Daxia took out a golden seal about half the size of a palm. It was an official seal with the characters "Deputy Commander of Jiangxi Military Command" engraved on it.
"You've seen this before, haven't you?" Wang Daxia said.
The Japanese pirate shook his head. "I haven't."
Wang Daxia picked up the coconut and smashed it against the pirate's foot. The pirate let out a blood-curdling scream—three of his toes had been crushed!
Wang Daxia put down the blood-stained coconut. "I'm not a patient man. I said I'd break your bones one by one, but I ended up breaking three at once. Don't blame me—blame yourself for lying and making me angry."
"This golden seal was exchanged by you with a Portuguese merchant in Macau. You traded it for ten firearms and a case of gunpowder."
"That Portuguese merchant was engaged in illegal trade. He smuggled a shipment of blue-and-white porcelain disguised as a grain transport ship, but it was seized by General Yu's men (that is, Yu Dayou). The Portuguese merchant tried to bribe General Yu with gifts like clocks, and this golden seal was among them."
Wang Daxia put down the golden seal and picked up the coconut again. "See, I've helped you recall everything. Shouldn't you cooperate with me and explain the origin of this golden seal? Isn't that right?"
"I'll talk! Please don't hit me again!" the pirate cried. "This isn't mine! It was given to me by Boss Wu Ping! He wanted to recruit troops and buy horses, and he needed weapons. So he gave me a pile of gold, silver, and jewels and told me to go to Macau to exchange them for weapons with the Portuguese merchant."
Wu Ping was a major pirate who had risen to prominence in the past year. A native of Fujian, he started out by serving as a guide for the Japanese Pirates, or acting as an insider to open city gates for them. After the Japanese Pirates finished looting, they would casually give him a share of the spoils and send him on his way, only to collaborate again next time.
After accumulating some wealth, he recruited a group of desperadoes and became a Japanese Pirate himself. He always took advantage of chaotic situations to profit from what other Japanese Pirates left behind. Because he knew how to lay low and avoid drawing attention, he was never targeted as a major pirate group by the Qi Family Army or General Yu.
After major pirates like Xu Hai and Wang Zhi were successively eliminated, "the last man standing takes all." By the middle of this year, Wu Ping had grown powerful, occupying Nan'ao Island and extensively purchasing ships and weapons. He absorbed the scattered Japanese Pirates who had been defeated by the Qi Family Army and General Yu's forces, quickly gathering nearly twenty thousand men and over four hundred ships, becoming the uncrowned king of Nan'ao Island.
Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou preferred to target the most prominent threats. After Wu Ping established his power on Nan'ao Island, they joined forces to suppress him. However, Nan'ao Island was surrounded by water and easy to defend but difficult to attack. The two sides had been engaged in battle for three months, with victories and losses on both sides.
The person Wang Daxia was looking for was on Nan'ao Island, so he disguised himself as a pearl diver alongside scouts from the Qi Family Army and General Yu's forces and infiltrated the island.
The Japanese Pirates moved in groups, making it difficult for Wang Daxia to take action. He had no choice but to "return to his old profession," disguising himself as a beauty and using his charms to lure a pirate out for a private interrogation.
Upon learning that the golden seal had been given by the pirate leader Wu Ping, Wang Daxia picked up the coconut and repeatedly smashed the pirate's bones. The answer remained unchanged, suggesting it was the truth.
The pirate wept, "Can you let me go now? I really haven't hidden anything from you.""Alright, I'll send you off right now—straight to heaven!" Wang Daxia picked up a coconut and smashed it against the Japanese Pirate's head, knocking him unconscious. By then, the tide had risen over the rocks, and a wave swept down, carrying the bound pirate out to sea.
Wang Daxia found the scouts of the Qi Family Army and Yu Dayou's troops. "I want to stay on Nan'ao Island and fight pirates with you. When do we move? Try to capture the pirate leader Wu Ping alive—I have urgent matters to question him about."
Wang Daxia was someone both Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou had personally instructed their subordinates to "take special care of," ordering them to cooperate with him as much as possible.
Yu Dayou's assistance went without saying—it was out of regard for Lu Ying, whose father Lu Bing had even used his private funds to bribe Yan Shifan and save Yu Dayou's life. Yu Dayou owed them a debt of gratitude.
As for Qi Jiguang, a year earlier, during the capture of Xinghua City, Wang Daxia—that devastatingly handsome troublemaker—had used his charms to bewitch Ming Wang and even beheaded him. Qi Jiguang had personally witnessed the beauty in red leaping directly from a bridge onto a pirate ship, killing one person with every three steps, each strike drawing blood, as he pursued and intercepted the fleeing Japanese Pirates.
Thus, when Wang Daxia sought Qi Jiguang's help, Qi Jiguang supported him as firmly as Yu Dayou had. With everyone's assistance, Wang Daxia was able to find a needle in a haystack and uncover clues. This official seal, which belonged to his father, was a major breakthrough, leading him to Nan'ao Island.
Three days later, the Qi Family Army and Yu Dayou's troops launched a full-scale attack, killing over fifteen thousand Japanese Pirates on Nan'ao Island. Wu Ping attempted to escape by ship to Annam but was captured alive by Wang Daxia and his men.
Wang Daxia tied Wu Ping to a chair, displayed the gold seal, and—in broad daylight—lit a candle. Holding the candlestick, he first singed off both of Wu Ping's eyebrows and asked, "Remember anything now?"
Now Wu Ping not only lacked "Ping" (peace), he lacked eyebrows altogether. Eyebrowless Wu Ping shook his head, "No."
Wang Daxia calmly used the candle to burn Wu Ping's eyelashes one by one. The scorched smell of each lash was like a red-hot needle stabbing into his eyes. After about ten eyelashes, Wu Ping could bear it no longer and confessed the origin of the gold seal.
From being a guide to forming his own small team, Wu Ping had been born at the wrong time. The Japanese Pirates were being relentlessly suppressed by the Qi Family Army in Fujian and Jiangzhe and Yu Dayou's troops in Guangdong. To survive and evade these two terrifyingly powerful imperial armies, Wu Ping took a risky approach: instead of operating along the southeastern coast, he traveled far to Jiangxi during the New Year when households had extra money to plunder.
Based on the experience of veteran Japanese Pirates, the Jiangxi garrisons were merely farmers who only knew how to till the land—their combat skills were poor. Seven pirates could capture an entire county, loot freely, and escape unscathed.
Moreover, an informant had proactively approached him, revealing that a large official ship was departing from Nanchang, Jiangxi. Though flying under government pretense, it was actually a silver transport ship for a bank—seizing it would be a huge windfall.
Wu Ping immediately intercepted it on the Yangtze River to plunder the silver ship. But he had misplaced his trust in the informant—it was genuinely an official ship, and a poor one at that. The most valuable item on board was this gold seal.
Wang Daxia struggled to suppress the urge to shove the candle into Wu Ping's eyes and asked, "What happened to the people on the ship?""They're all dead." Wu Ping said, "That incorruptible official dared to fire back at us with cannons, but we shot him dead with two bullets. The survivors were all killed by us and sunk into the Yangtze River along with the ship. After killing officials, we couldn't leave any witnesses alive."
Although he had long anticipated this outcome, hearing it directly from the murderer's mouth made Wang Daxia's heart ache as if pierced by an awl.
His hand holding the candle trembled violently, droplets of wax dripping onto Wu Ping's face.
Wang Daxia used the candle to ignite Wu Ping's clothes, "One last question - who is the informant? Where did you meet, what did they look like, what accent did they have? Speak quickly, and I'll put out the fire for you after you finish."
After a year of nursing this hatred, Wang Daxia had unconsciously mastered the methods of his previous life's Eunuch Wang, the Chief of the Eastern Depot.
Author's note: The iron triangle is about to reunite again.
OpenNovel