Song of Adolescence

Chapter 242 King of a Thousand Miles of Territorial Waters

"Pirates?" Not only was Lei Wujie unafraid, he got even more excited. Of course he’d heard of pirates before. They were a bunch of people who often formed a band, had their own ship, and then they travelled on sea to burn, kill, and loot. There was nothing they didn’t do. But, he’d never seen one before. Rumours were that pirates usually only had one eye so he’d always wanted to meet one.

"Sounds like fun." Lei Wujie nodded, and casually cut down another arrow.

Tian Mozhi shook his head. "It’s not fun at all."

Lei Wujie grinned and said, "Why isn’t it fun? It’s always fun to see things you’ve never seen before."

Tian Mozhi pointed at that flag. "Because of that flag, this is not fun. The headless warhawk flag. Those pirates coming at us are called Severed Heads[2]. They are the most terrifying pirates in the open sea."

"So powerful?" Lei Wujie was still derisive.

"The Severed Heads rule over a thousand miles of territorial waters. They kill government soldiers, attack wrongdoers, nothing is beyond them. Where the headless warhawk passes, blood flows into the sea." Suddenly, Tian Mozhi yelled, "Prepare for battle!"

With his command, all the warriors on the ship raised their bows and arrows, pulled taut their bowstrings, and aimed at the oncoming ship.

The noise drew Mu Chunfeng, Xiao Se, and Sikong Qianluo onto the deck. They were confused by the commotion and Mu Chunfeng looked at Tian Mozhi. "What\'s going on?"

"There are pirates," Tian Mozhi said with a bow.

"Pirates?" Although Mu Chunfeng was the third son of the Mu family, he was far less familiar with matters of the sea than Tian Mozhi. "What kind of pirates would dare plunder our ship?"

"The Severed Heads, king of a thousand miles of territorial waters[3] in the open sea. We\'d better use our bows and arrows to intimidate them, and then avoid their vanguard," Tian Mozhi said softly.

"Are we afraid of them?" Lei Wujie said indignantly.

"On land, swords and spears are king. But on the sea, bows and arrows are the true kings. Although we have a number of guards on board, the Severed Heads are known for their skills at archery. If we really start fighting, we may not necessarily be their match," Tian Mozhi said faintly. "I know that young master Lei is unrivaled in your sword arts, but on the sea, it’s better not to take risks."

Mu Chunfeng frowned slightly. "Don\'t we have the Sirius crossbow?"

"The Sirius Crossbow has four shots in total. Once they’re used up, we don’t have any more. It’s often only used as a deterrent. We will only employ it when we reach a matter of life and death," Tian Mozhi reminded. "Now we’ve only just entered the open sea."

"Manager Tian, you got one part wrong in what you said earlier," Lei Wujie said as he turned his head.

"Which part was wrong?" Tian Mozhi narrowed his eyes.

Lei Wujie’s lips curled into a grin as he reached out and caught the third arrow that came at them.

"The three arrows are a demonstration of their force. If we surrender, lower our flag then raise a white flag. Otherwise, within an hour, they will seize the ship." Tian Mozhi looked at the arrow in Lei Wujie\'s hand.

"As expected of the king of a thousand miles of territorial waters or whatever. The name is too long. Manager Tian, let me answer your previous question. What you’re wrong about is, I’m not just excellent at my sword, I’m also not bad with arrows." Lei Wujie weighed the arrow in his hand and hurled it back into the sky. "You said there’s nothing fun about that flag, so I’m going to shred it."

The arrow headed straight for the headless warhawk flag.

Tian Mozhi was alarmed. Such a provocation would be fatal.

But, Mu Chunfeng clapped his hands and applauded. The family crest on their flag was a phoenix enveloped in flames. What nonsense for a phoenix to fear a goshawk?

But when the arrow was about to pierce through the headless warhawk flag, it was intercepted by another arrow that flew through the air and struck the shaft, breaking it in half.

Lei Wujie curled his lips and grinned.

Tian Mozhi whispered, "Third young master, this is very dangerous."

Mu Chunfeng waved his hand. "It\'s fine. There’s nowhere else to go. How could my Qingzhou Mu family run away when we see a flag? I don’t care what king of a thousand miles of territorial waters they are. They’re pirates, that’s all. They’re bandits and as it says in the books, they’re scoundrels! They deserve a beating!"

But, another arrow came flying towards them, aiming for the Phoenix Takes Flight flag above.

The warriors on board attempted to follow what the people on the other boat did and shot an arrow, but the arrow was too high. And even if their archery skills could shoot that high, they were not as accurate.

However, a dark figure leapt up, his steps incredibly light as he stepped on the flagpole and swept up one step after another. Finally, he leapt off and with one palm, he smashed that arrow into splinters. Then, he turned around and jumped back onto the Pheonix Take Flight flag. He stood on top of the flag, steady at its highest point. Somewhat like a person at the top who was often overlooked, yet possessing a heroic spirit as he looked down at all beneath him.

Sikong Qianluo cried out happily, "Da-shixiong, your martial arts has improved again!"

Xiao Se nodded. "He should be at the peak of the Unrestrained Earthly Realm, half a step to Unfettered."

Lei Wujie whipped his head around and stared at Xiao Se, a questioning look in his eyes.

Even if Lei Wujie was no longer that ignorant boy who Xiao Se used to bluff around in circles, and he even occasionally turned around and taunted Xiao Se, but in his heart, Xiao Se was still someone he relied on. At the very least, he understood that what he wanted to do may not be right and may cause problems for the rest of the people on the ship. But, at the same time, he really wanted to do it so he wanted to ask for Xiao Se’s opinion.

Because Xiao Se had never made a wrong decision.

Xiao Se sighed, gathered his hands in his sleeves, and said with exasperation, "Just go."

A merchant ship, no matter how big, was still a merchant ship. On this vast and boundless sea, it was indeed unwise to provoke the pirates known as the king of a thousand miles of territorial waters. But some things were just out of their hands. For example, where Xiao Se was concerned, running away was simply unacceptable. But the owner of this ship was Mu Chunfeng. What sort of person was Mu Chunfeng?

He was a scholar. Scholars had strength of character. How could he run like the wind at the sight of a bandit? How improper is that.

"Beat them up," Xiao Se added lazily.

Lei Wujie turned around with confidence in his heart, raised his Heart sword and took a flying leap. He stepped onto the sea and followed with another jump, and another.

He was walking on waves!

The man on the pirate ship who had just raised his bow was stunned. The first three arrows he fired were just a demonstration of their force and he didn’t use his real skills. But, he really didn’t hold back with the arrow he fired at their flag, but it was easily stopped as well. So, he was already shocked. He didn’t expect the merchant ship to have someone on board with such ultimate lightness skill and palm techniques. But, even more unexpectedly, there was someone with divine skills who could walk on waves!

The two ships were originally a few hundreds zhang apart, but the man in red and armed with a sword was quickly getting closer.

The man holding the bow turned around and looked at the one-eyed man behind him, waiting for his instructions. The man’s eye flashed with a cruel glint. "Kill him."

Without hesitation, the man holding the bow turned around and drew taut the bowstring. Another ten archers lined up in a row instantly, and drew their bowstrings at the same time.

"Draw." The man in the lead shouted, and all the bows were drawn into a full moon.

"Release!" Tens of arrows pierced through the air, and drew a perfect arch as they aimed straight for Lei Wujie.

Lei Wujie raised his head and swung his sword, breaking all of the arrows in an instant.

It was true that bows and arrows were better than swords at sea, but sometimes, some things just defied logic.

And that was when you were strong enough.

Lei Wujie leaped up, flipped over in mid air, landed and straightened his back. He swung his sword and flicked off the seawater on the sword. He raised his head and suddenly laughed. He was laughing out loud at the man standing at the other end.

"It’s true! Pirates really only have one eye, ah! Hahahaha!"