Chapter 11: The White Goose Thief Rises
The bonfire at Xiaoxian Wharf continued to burn, and Black Bear had already sailed eastward.

After passing Xiaoxian County, the outline of the distant mountains can be vaguely seen through the reeds on the south bank.

At midnight, the boat arrived at the river where the mountain streams converged that Wang Dong pointed out. It was almost unnecessary to identify it, as many bonfires were seen on both sides of the river four or five miles away.

As I got closer, I heard a noise.

When we got closer, we found that the river where the streams converged was of limited depth, and the ships here could not go deeper, so they had to anchor here.

There was a fire on each of the rocky beaches on both sides, and the sailors and guards who were on night watch were roasting something.

This surprised Black Bear somewhat. He thought he would see some exciting scenes... But now he didn't see any. Was Wang Dong deceiving him, or were the guards of the Jiangdong Xu family caravan of high moral standards?
Or maybe there was a woman being escorted on the ship, but she was not someone they could touch?

Thinking of this, Black Bear felt his heart beating faster.

After observing for a while, he chose the wider west bank and threw out two Black Warrior cards.

He also understood that the other party set up campfires on both sides of the river for the purpose of keeping watch, and more people were resting in the cabin.

While he was thinking, two black warriors rushed into the crowd with knives in hand, and the guards and sailors immediately shouted and ran away in panic.

These guards mainly carry bows and arrows and short weapons, not a single long weapon!

Surprisingly attacked, the black warrior attacked swiftly, and in just two or three breaths he chopped down the six men on guard.

Under the flickering firelight, the armorless black warrior was the most terrifying. Anyone who saw him would go crazy, with their scalp numb, legs weak, and hands shaking.

As the west bank was taken, the two black warriors suddenly disappeared, and reappeared on the east bank two breaths later.

The four guards and sailors on the east bank had just gathered to cross the river, but two black warriors suddenly appeared in the crowd and started slashing with their swords.

In just a moment, the four horrified people's hair stood on end and they had no time to react. They were chopped to the ground while screaming and howling.

The black warrior was then recalled and appeared on the deck of the first transport ship. The guards who had just heard the noise were chopped down and fell into the water.

The hatch was controlled in the blink of an eye, leaving one dark warrior behind while the other returned to the west bank to finish off the enemy.

The black servant rowed the boat to the west bank. After landing, Black Bear held the iron halberd in both hands and approached the leader in leather armor for more than ten steps, pointing the iron halberd at his nose and saying, "Is it the Xu family fleet?"

The leader had a look of horror on his face, his neck was injured, his hands were tightly covering his mouth, blood foam was oozing out, and he couldn't utter a word.

Unwilling to finish off the opponent himself, the Dark Knight moved closer and stabbed the opponent's eye socket, ending the pain instantly.

Then the armored black warrior was thrown onto the second transport ship. The three guards who were still asleep on the deck of the ship were frightened to death when they saw the sudden appearance of the black warrior. They were chopped to the ground before they could resist. There was someone in the cabin but he didn't dare to come out.

While the people on the deck of the third ship were hesitating, three staggering black servants were thrown onto the deck. One of them jumped into the water in panic, and the others followed suit.

In just a dozen breaths, the hatches of the three ships were under control.

Without waiting for the corpses to cool down, Black Bear cast out four balls of accumulated black mana and refined the four corpses on the west coast into black servants.

New servants were immediately used to replace the black knights guarding the hatch, and the black knights jumped into the water and injured the diving guards.

The density of the black warrior is too high, and he sinks to the bottom of the water after a successful strike.

He reached out his hand and threw the sword at three other places in the water one after another. After a few breaths, the three guards who jumped into the water were stabbed and injured, and they could not survive until dawn.

After more than twenty breaths of continuous control and command, seeing that the situation was under control, Black Bear couldn't help but take a deep breath.

Only then did he look at the side of the transport ship. Lacking relevant knowledge, he could barely determine that it was a flat-bottomed boat with a wide hull, known for its stability; rather than a slender speedboat.

But how can I get them all away?

Feeling somewhat envious of the Black Warrior's teleportation, Black Bear climbed along the soft rope net to the front deck of the transport ship, only to find that the ship had already adjusted its bow and could sail downstream by raising the anchor.

Listening to the shouts from the cabin below, Black Bear took a deep breath, knocked on the deck with his iron halberd, and shouted at the cabin door: "If you abandon your weapons, you will not be killed! If you abandon your weapons, you will not be killed!"

"Drop your weapons and come out with your hands up!"

As the black bear shouted, someone cautiously poked his head out, and not seeing anyone being attacked, he stepped out with his hands raised and asked.

Unfortunately, Black Bear didn't understand Wu language, so he just spoke slowly, "Put your hands up and come out. I won't kill you."

After several pushes and shoves in the cabin, someone was finally pushed out, with his hands raised and his legs trembling.

The further he walked out of the hatch, the clearer he could see the black servants and the black warriors, so much so that his raised hands began to tremble.

As he reached the deck he fell to the ground, then quickly climbed up and knelt using his hands and feet, with his hands raised.

In an era when night blindness was common, fishermen and sailors were not included.

Soon it was the second one, and the third one. After each of them went onto the deck, they stopped moving, their bodies, minds, and reason all overwhelmed by fear and terror.

As the last person came out, Black Bear asked, "Is there anyone inside?"

No one dared to answer, perhaps because they didn't understand. Black Bear asked again, and then someone shook his head and said, "No! No!"

"no?"

The black bear turned his head to look, and saw the armorless black warrior immediately lowered his head and searched the cabin with a knife, and came out soon.

Then Black Bear examined these sailors. Nine out of the eleven were sailors, wearing worn and patched coarse linen short coats. One should be a guard, and the other was wearing brocade clothes and a red turban, and should be the leader.

In the dark night, these people couldn't see the black bear's face clearly, and the fact that it was covered with carbon powder made it even more eerie.

When he came before the chief, he asked, "What ship are you on, chief? Who are you?"

"The leader is in the boat behind. I am the bowman of this boat."

Several sailors turned their heads to look at each other in surprise. Black Bear saw this and asked, "Did you buy the boat?"

"No, it was granted by Lord Xu. Lord Xu is the nephew of former Lord Wucheng, Sun Wentai. The court granted him the title of Marquis of Guangde and appointed him General Pinglu!"

"You think I'm afraid of him? If I were afraid of him, I wouldn't have hijacked this ship."

Black Bear turned his head and looked at the only remaining guard: "Do you want to be the captain?"

The guard didn't quite understand what was said, and a sailor crawled over with trembling hands and feet, pounced on the previous ship owner and bit his neck wildly.

The captain of the brocade-robed ship was already frightened and his hands were weak, and he had no strength to punch when he was suddenly attacked. No matter how hard he hit the sailor's head, the sailor just held on tightly and refused to let go.

The other sailors and guards hid in fear and did not dare to help, just watched quietly.

After struggling for a while, the captain's limbs suddenly tensed and stiffened. In the blink of an eye, he completely collapsed and began to twitch. "Pfft!"

The sailor spat out the blood foam in his mouth and looked at the black bear with his dirty face: "He is the owner of this ship. I am from Houqiu, Donghai. I fled to Jiangdong to avoid the chaos, but was captured by his family and became a slave."

"You are the captain of this ship. I will take care of your food, clothing, shelter and transportation. I will give you one stone of rice and two pieces of cloth every month. If you don't have a wife, I will give her one later!"

Black Bear observed the other person's expression and said, "Stand up and talk. What's your name?"

"My last name is Chen Yang. I have no wife and no family."

Chen Yang knelt on the deck and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, Commander Qu, for helping me avenge my parents' blood!"

He stopped kowtowing until he was supported by the black bear. After supporting the man, the black bear said, "You were born as a servant and sailor, so you should be able to discipline others. Tell them that they are my crew members from now on. I will take care of their food, clothing, shelter and transportation, and give them an extra five dou of rice or one piece of cloth every month. If they have any merits, I will give them a wife."

Chen Yang's forehead was slightly swollen and bulging. He turned his head with difficulty to look at the guard who was raising his hand. The guard was so scared that he kowtowed and begged for mercy.

"Tie him up first and deal with him later."

After making the decision, Chen Yang directed the sailors to light torches on the deck and ignite the brazier in the center of the bow.

Under the light of the fire, more details of the black warrior and the black servant were seen clearly, but the sailors were still terrified.

When Black Bear was transferred to the second transport ship behind, the team leader had been tied up by the sailors.

Under the watchful eye of the Black Warrior, the torches held by the sailors trembled constantly.

The steward knelt on the deck, with wounds on his face from the beatings he had inflicted during the resistance. He raised his head and looked at Black Bear cautiously: "I am from Xia Pi County and my name is Xuan Liang. I have wives and concubines but no children. I am willing to serve you, Commander Qu!"

Black Bear was puzzled: "Why do you call me Qu Shuai?"

"He can control ghosts and gods. If he is not a disciple of a great and virtuous teacher, he must be a disciple of an immortal. How dare I neglect him?"

Xuan Liang raised his head and forced a smile, but the areas on his face where he was beaten were swollen, cracked and bleeding, and it hurt a little.

"If you really have no children or parents, I will naturally take you in. If no one exposes you, you can serve as a captain under my command first."

Black Bear said as he examined the other guards and sailors. No one objected to this, so Black Bear raised his hand and helped them up: "Tell me, what are these three ships for?"

"Yes."

Xuan Liang rolled up his sleeves and wiped the blood off his cheeks. "I was originally a soldier recruited by Lord Xu. Since I was a teenager, I have followed Lord Xu and Wen Taigong in battles for more than 20 years. Later, my physical strength declined and I could no longer serve as a general of 100 men. I became a staff member under Lord Xu. This time I was ordered to escort the treasures, intending to make friends with General Cao Zilian, the cousin of Lord Cao. The treasures and cloth are all in this cabin, the door is tightly closed, waiting for the commander to open it."

As he spoke, Xuan Liang took out a brocade bag from his bosom and handed it over: "This is the handwritten silk book by Lord Xu."

In the light of the torch, Black Bear flipped through the silk book.

This Lord Xu's cultural level was not very high. He could not write Zhangcao, but wrote standard Lishu. Black Bear could not write, but he could understand it by carefully identifying the radicals, components, and structure of the characters, and then considering the context.

In addition to the compliments and greetings in the letter, Lord Xu mainly wanted to purchase some war horses through Cao Hong.

After repackaging the silk book, Black Bear handed it to Xuan Liang: "Keep it well, you may need it again."

"Yes."

Just as Xuan Liang put it away, he saw another blackberry handed to him. It was a little unclear under the firelight, but he heard Black Bear say, "This magical berry can heal injuries."

"Thank you, Marshal Qu, for your kindness!"

Xuan Liang took the berry, which was the size of his little finger, and looked at it with shining eyes, then ate it immediately under the gaze of others.

"Calm down the people on the ship. If there are those who disobey or harbor malicious intent, you can kill them first and report later. Also warn everyone to be at ease. I am not a bloodthirsty person."

After giving a few instructions, Black Bear boarded the third boat.

As soon as he got on deck, a freshly severed head was thrown out of the hatch. A guard standing at the hatch with a knife shouted, "I have killed the captain. Can I work for him?"

"Come out and speak."

"Yes!"

The guard lowered his head and walked out of the cabin, then threw the ring-handled sword in his hand onto the deck. The people who came out behind him knelt on the deck with their hands raised. Their fear was greatly reduced, and they waited quietly for arrangements.

The guard in front of the black bear wiped the blood off his cheek with his sleeve, and repeated it several times before saying: "I am Zhang Ding from Nanyang Nieyang. When I was young, my father and brother followed Sun Wentai to fight against Dong. Until now, my father and brother have passed away and I am left alone. I am willing to serve the commander, and I only want to marry two wives to continue my family line."

"When you are worth two women, I will buy them for you."

Then Black Bear pointed at the head on the deck and said, "Bury the dead and wipe away the blood."

"Yes!"

Zhang Ding immediately ordered the sailors to work. Seeing that Black Bear had no intention of objecting, he picked up the discarded ring-handled sword, wiped the blood off it, and put it back into the sheath.

He followed Black Bear off the boat, and soon Chen Yang and Xuan Liang also got off the boat.

I guess no one will be able to sleep tonight, so there’s no need to.

Black Bear also looked at these people... After experiencing the initial panic, these people seemed to quickly adapt to abnormal existences such as black servants and black warriors.

As the sky was getting brighter, three transport ships slowly moved out, towing two boats, one large and one small.

Black Bear was planning to find another anchorage to repair. Staying here would expose him to the sight of Xiao County officials, and there were more than 20 boats deep upstream in the stream, so there was no need to come into conflict with these people.

However, when his fleet returned to the Huoshui waterway, a large group of ships from Xiaoxian County went downstream, and this fleet was once again acting openly and arrogantly.

It was not that he was being arrogant, but he was really afraid that Xiao County would block the river, so he hurriedly tried to pass through Xiao County at night.

On the top of Xiao County City, Chief Clerk Wang Dong observed for a moment through the thin river fog, and sighed in relief: "The pirates have left, and our county is safe!"

The county residents around him all looked happy.

As day broke, the magistrate of Xiao County sent an emergency document to Feng Ren, the governor of Pei in the neighboring Xiang County.

Feng Ren was the commander-in-chief of Pei State and was a close confidant of Cao Cao.

After summarizing recent information, he drafted an official document and sent relevant reports to Xun Yu, the Shangshu Ling who was stationed in Chenliu and Xudu where Cao Cao was stationed.

This report circulated and left a message in the private notes of some officials:

At the end of February in the seventh year of Jian'an, the White Goose Bandits rose up in Mengze. At that time, Cao Gong's troops were stationed in Chenliu. The bandits fled far away across the border and killed the county commander. Thousands of bandits surrounded Xiao, but the city was strong and could not be breached. As the troops from the counties and states had not arrived yet, they fled to Sishui.

(End of this chapter)