Chapter 60
Chapter 60: Struck By A Cannonball Unjustly
Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire
Even if the bandits had a stroke of luck and could find an escape path down the mountain, they could only be burned to death as they had lost their ships.
Other than the bandits at the major constellation stage, the rest wouldn’t be able to escape this tribulation.
Xia Qingchen single-handedly wiped out almost the entire bandit group by himself!
If news of this were to spread out, no one would dare to believe it!
Xia Qingchen’s inner force seethed on the tip of his toes, and the small boat moved forward by himself, sending up waves that were three zhangs tall.
Right now, he wanted to look for a secluded place and try taking one of the Yunluo Sacred Leaves.
However, at this moment, Xia Qingchen suddenly felt a threatening feeling behind him!
Without a second thought, he jumped into the lake.
Almost at the same time, a pitch-black missile descended from the sky, smashing onto his small boat, instantly blasting it into smithereens!
Thankfully, Xia Qingchen had been decisive and managed to avoid it!
He looked up from the water, and to his surprise, he saw three extremely massive battleships that were slowly heading over.
“Battleships?” Xia Qingchen was stunned.
Those were battleships that were unique to the duchy’s navy!
Why did they appear here?
He looked over and saw the bow of the battleship in the middle.
There were ten beautiful ladies who looked elegant and dignified, wearing female attendant garments. All of them were standing in a row.
In front of them, there was a valiant-looking lady dressed in silver clothes.
She looked very beautiful and anyone who saw her would find her unforgettable!
“Don’t let any bandit escape. Go onto the island and kill!” the silver-clothed lady gave a command coldly.
Many small boats came down from the battleships, carrying many navy soldiers onto the island.
They followed the fire and gradually searched their way up the mountain.
Whenever any bandits fled from the intense fire, these navy soldiers would kill them all.
Xia Qingchen was struck by a realization.
The bandits’ previous massacre of an entire city had caused the duchy to be in outrage and make up its mind to wipe out the bandits.
That was why this entire scene was taking place!
And he was leaving the island, wearing the bandits’ clothes.
That was why he was mistaken as one of the bandits and was struck by a cannonball unjustly!
A small boat was heading in Xia Qingchen’s direction, specially coming to check if he had been killed!
Xia Qingchen circulated his inner force and sank further into the water, making it hard for the small boat to detect him. The small boat then turned to head back.
He then took the opportunity to float back up and held onto the boat’s stern.
This lake was too big and it was impossible for him to swim back to the shore.
Moreover, there were three huge battleships behind him. Even if he were to get his hand on the boat, he’d just receive another cannonball.
Therefore, he could only choose to take the risk!
When they got closer to the battleship, he secretly climbed up along the anchor chain.
After the time taken for half an incense to burn, he arrived at the bottom of the ship.
There were clear sounds of people talking above him.
“Young Mistress, the great triumph in this expedition to wipe out the bandits will definitely greatly please His Majesty!” said one of the female attendants.
The silver-clothed lady looked at the island that was covered in flames, her expression filled with scorn.
“The bandits are just insignificant small fries. How can this be considered a great triumph?” The silver-clothed lady was very arrogant. She was clearly not an ordinary lady.
“Young Mistress has great ambitions and even men can’t be compared to you!” voiced the female attendants respectfully.
The silver-clothed lady looked at them and said with a sigh, “In my lifetime, there’s only one and a half people I admire!”
The first one is the phenomenal genius Yu Qingyang! As someone of the same age, I can only look up to his achievements!”
“The other half is my royal brother. He has an acute foresight, having great plans for the world. He can be on par with me.”
“All the other men are just worthless characters and not worth paying attention to!”
She was too arrogant, so much so that she looked down on all the men in the duchy.
However, just as she was commenting on all the men in the world, a black shadow suddenly appeared in front of her in a flash!
Xia Qingchen jumped up from the anchor chain and just happened to land right in front of the silver-clothed lady.
The silver-clothed lady was clearly stunned.
She hadn’t expected someone to jump up from the bottom of the ship’s helm. Moreover, it was a bandit!
She let out a loud cry in surprise, subconsciously putting up a fight.
Her cultivation was at the second fold-level of the medium constellation stage. Moreover, her martial skill was a high-grade yellow-tier one.
Her two fingers were like swords, tapping out toward Xia Qingchen’s chest.
Xia Qingchen’s gaze was sharp, his movements quick as lightning. He held onto her wrist and then gave a forceful tug, pulling her into his arms.
His other hand rapidly clenched her throat.
By the time those female attendants reacted, he had successfully restrained the silver-clothed lady.
“Don’t make any reckless moves! Otherwise, I won’t guarantee that I won’t make a mistake and end up killing her!” Xia Qingchen bellowed.
There wasn’t a need for him to give any detailed explanations to them.
Firstly, they wouldn’t listen to a “bandit’s” explanation. They would just kill him on the spot.
Secondly, Xia Qingchen didn’t wish to explain things to them either. He wasn’t in a good mood after having been attacked by a cannonball for no reason!
Therefore, he chose to use the easiest and most effective method!
To restrain their leader!
The silver-clothed lady’s mind turned blank, and anxiety flashed in her eyes.
She had been restrained before she could even see the other party’s appearance clearly!
Moreover, judging from his voice, he sounded like a relatively young man!
The funny thing was that a moment ago, she had still been commenting that all the men in the world were useless.
Yet, in the blink of an eye, she landed in the hands of a man.
“Let go of the Young Mistress!” The female attendants hesitated to make a move and shouted out.
Xia Qingchen said coldly, “Prepare a boat and let me and this woman get onto it. You aren’t allowed to give chase. Otherwise, I’ll kill her immediately!”
The female attendants felt troubled, not daring to call the shots by themselves.
“Do it!” However, the silver-clothed lady who was held hostage made a decisive call, waving her hand and getting everyone to back off.
With that, Xia Qingchen managed to successfully get his hands on a small boat. He restrained the silver-clothed lady and jumped onto it, then quickly left the sight of the three battleships.
It was only then did Xia Qingchen let the lady go.
However, he used the golden thread to tied up her hands behind her back.
“After we get on shore, I’ll naturally set you free!” Xia Qingchen let her be and focused on moving the small boat.
Hmmm?
The silver-clothed lady’s beautiful eyes flashed and she asked, feeling perplexed, “You aren’t a bandit?” She had thought that she would be taken hostage to force the navy soldiers to stop their attacks against the bandits.
However, things didn’t turn out the way she expected them to be.
“What do you think?” Xia Qingchen glared at her.
The silver-clothed lady’s gaze calmed down, and she assessed Xia Qingchen. “Then why are you wearing their clothes and coming out of their hideout?”
“A woman who is overly inquisitive won’t be liked by men!” Xia Qingchen said calmly, not wanting to explain himself.
However, the silver-clothed lady was quite intelligent.
After giving it some thought, she said in surprise, “Could it be that you were the one that exploded the bandits’ battleships?”
She had found it strange why the bandits’ battleships had all been destroyed, and why a great fire had broken out in the forest.
It turned out that someone had taken action before they did!
Moreover, it had just been a single person who had done that, and his age was about the same as hers!
She found this a little unbelievable. There was such an outstanding character amongst those of the same age as her?
“Yes, and I was just about to escape when some allies fired a cannonball at me!” Xia Qingchen glared at her.
The silver-clothed lady’s countenance turned a little awkward.
“We did that without knowing the truth, and we seek your pardon,” said the silver-clothed lady, her gaze assessing Xia Qingchen. “What’s your name?”
She had the intention of recruiting Xia Qingchen as her subordinate.
Xia Qingchen pointed at the mask that he hadn’t taken off.
He hadn’t even revealed his appearance, so why would he even divulge his name?
It was clear that this lady’s identity wasn’t simple, and there’d be some trouble to take her as a hostage. He didn’t wish to expose himself and implicate his father.
“We’re reaching the shore soon. You should think of a way to contact the navy soldiers to come and fetch you.” Xia Qingchen moved the small boat closer to the shore.
However, a black arrow suddenly shot out without warning from the dark forest.