Zhao Qinghe suddenly pointed toward the lake below. "Lu Yao is trying to flee by boat!"
Everyone looked down. Lu Yao had gathered his remaining men and was fighting a retreating battle, untying a small boat moored to the wooden jetty. Sure enough, he intended to flee toward the center of the lake.
However, only thirty or forty hardened bandits remained at his side, and their numbers were rapidly dwindling, making the seven or eight boats at the water's edge more than enough.
By this point, Lu Yao had no regard for appearances. He leaped onto the first boat, intent on rowing for open water.
Wu Shaoyi cut down two men with sweeping slashes of his blade, roaring, "Seize the boats! Stop him!"
A fierce tug-of-war broke out over the vessels along the shore. Meanwhile, Wu Shaoyi's men who had pulled back from West Mountain arrived one after another, unleashing a shower of whistling arrows toward the lake.
Lu Yao raised his shield to block the volley, turning away every shaft, but two of his personal guards beside him were caught off guard and went down riddled with arrows. Lu Yao shoved the two encumbrances into the water. In the chaos, no one noticed that he had dipped one hand below the surface to release a pinch of powder.
The powder turned crimson upon hitting the water, but with blood everywhere, there was nothing unusual about the sight.
The bandit rowing for him was also struck by an arrow and collapsed dead. Left untended, Lu Yao's small boat spun twice in circles, barely a zhang from shore.
Seeing him within arm's reach and noting that the slope beneath the waterline did not seem steep, Wu Shaoyi grew desperate to finish off his rival. He plunged straight into the waist-deep lake, charging toward Lu Yao.
A sinister smirk tugged at the corner of Lu Yao's mouth.
*You brought this upon yourself.*
Wu Shaoyi surged forward until he was less than five chi from the boat. Just then, the surface exploded to his front left.
*Splash!*
A colossal dark shape burst from beneath the water!
A towering wave surged half into the sky, falling back down as a misty drizzle.
A drizzle thick with the stench of blood.
Watching from halfway up the mountain, He Lingchuan and the others were struck dumb. Before the waves even settled, they realized something terrifying:
Wu Shaoyi was gone.
Such a formidable rebel general, a man who had unhorsed and slain three imperial commanders sent by the royal court, had been dragged beneath the surface by that dark shape in a single instant?
Maotao felt a chill run down his spine, stammering, "What... what was that?"
The dark silhouette had appeared for only a fraction of a second, moving with blinding speed. Coupled with the dim light along the shore, even those with the keenest eyes could only make out a fleeting streak of black.
Yet compared to the small boat beside it, its bulk was simply enormous!
It was longer than two boats lined end to end.
This was not a monster human strength could withstand, to say nothing of the fact that Wu Shaoyi had been ambushed while waist-deep in water, leaving him without even the chance to strike back.
Both rebel factions locked in life-and-death combat froze in astonishment, but their reactions diverged immediately after.
Lu Yao's bandits raised a raucous clamor, brandishing their weapons in a ferocious counterattack.
They fought as though injected with stimulant, showing no trace of the panic from a few moments earlier when they had been beaten to their knees and begging for mercy.
In contrast, Wu Shaoyi's bandits were thrown into disarray. Aside from a few diehard confidants who leaped into the water crying "General!" and searching frantically, the rest stood around in stunned bewilderment.
"Lu Yao and his men knew what that black shape was," He Lingchuan blurted out. "That's what killed Zhu-shi's husband!"
Zhu-shi had mentioned that her husband attempted to escape by boat, only for the vessel to capsize before reaching the center of the lake, dragging him down with it. Not a single soul in the village had seen how he died.
Was that not identical to what had just occurred?
While Wu's bandits hesitated in their confusion, one of them suddenly let out a shriek and splashed backward into the water.
Something dragged him from beneath, thrashing him violently, leaving him utterly powerless to resist.
The other bandits screamed and scrambled toward the shore.
Being some distance away, He Lingchuan could not make out the words clearly. "What are they shouting?"
"It looks like..." Zhao Qinghe suddenly pointed. "Crocodiles!"
Maotao also cried out, "Good gods, look at the size of that!"
Wu's bandits were dragged under one after another. Clearly, creatures in the water were mauling them. One unfortunate fellow had already planted a foot on dry land, only for a dark shape to lunge from behind and snap its jaws shut around his waist!
Only when the creature hauled itself fully onto the bank could He Lingchuan and the others see it clearly: it was a massive crocodile.
A great beast clad in menacing, jet-black scales that gleamed in the dim light.
This one was nearly two zhang long. Another, over a zhang in length, rushed in from the side to contest the prey.
A snap, a tear, and each crocodile tore away half the carcass.
Judging by the thrashing of Wu's bandits in the water, more of these monsters lurked beneath the surface.
From this, one could deduce that the creature which ambushed Wu Shaoyi was also a crocodile demon, though that one was so enormous these lesser beasts were not fit to carry its boots.
Humans harbor an instinctual terror of maw-gaping beasts with razor-sharp fangs. Wu's bandits lost all stomach for battle and fled toward high ground, screaming in panic. Lu Yao broke into a booming laugh. "Boys, ashore!"
He leveled his great axe toward the shore. "Listen up, you lot! Wu Shaoyi is dead. Anyone who submits to me now will feast on meat, drink fine wine, and share the spoils! Those who refuse, get lost right now, and don't let me see your faces again!"
Backing himself with the terror of that dark monstrosity, he had turned from hunted prey into hunter in the blink of an eye. His men clambered ashore one after another, crowding around him once more.
By now, He Lingchuan finally understood. The scoundrel had intentionally feigned weakness, staging a desperate retreat by boat to lure Wu Shaoyi into the shallows.
Blinded by his urge to claim glory, Wu had charged recklessly into the creature's trap.
The tides had turned in an instant. Wu Shaoyi's decisive advantage had vanished without a trace, and Lu Yao looked set to have the last laugh.
Right at that moment, Lu Yao glanced toward the western mountainside, almost as though sensing He Lingchuan's gaze.
With torches blazing along the slopes, the silhouettes of the imperial soldiers stood out clearly.
Lu Yao bared his teeth at them in a grin and drew a hand across his throat in a slicing motion.
Just then, several of Wu Shaoyi's lieutenants cursed him vehemently: "Submit to a vile beast like you? And eat human flesh alongside you in the future?"
Lu Yao's smile vanished.
Maotao muttered under his breath, "We're in real trouble now."
"We hold out as long as we can. We still have over a dozen wagons, counting the villagers'!" Remembering that there was a spellcaster among the soldiers assigned to hold the rear, He Lingchuan quickly summoned him and asked a few questions.
Over half a shichen later.
Lu Yao wiped a smear of flesh and blood from his axe and hoisted it onto his shoulder. "Assemble! Count the heads!"
The remnants of Wu Shaoyi's forces had been completely scattered. Some had fled, some had submitted, some had surrendered, and the stubborn diehards had all been fed to the crocodiles.
Several crocodiles crept sluggishly onto the shore, looking thoroughly sated. But the largest one had not shown itself again, maintaining an air of profound, concealed majesty fit for an apex monster.
After his subordinates finished the count, Lu Yao's force, which had numbered around two hundred and had been slashed by more than half during Wu Shaoyi's ambush, had now swelled to nearly four hundred men. Factoring in the seven hundred hidden at Shaozi Crag and the five hundred garrisoning the town, his total army had expanded to nearly sixteen hundred strong.
Yet Lu Yao remained deeply unsatisfied.
Had the three forces rendezvoused properly and he seized supreme command, his army would have numbered far more than this.
After all, several hundred of Wu's bandits had refused to submit to him, choosing instead to turn and slip away.
And who was to blame for this state of affairs? Lu Yao turned toward the western mountainside, cold fury glinting in his eyes. If anyone was at fault, it was those imperial dogs!
Chapter 122