Chapter 8 Getting Rich
The fire was burning upstream, but the river was calm downstream.

The boat went farther and farther downstream. At this moment, the black bear had no thoughts but to sail faster.

It would be best to cross Xiao County before dawn, but I don’t know how far Xiao County is.

He could only command the black knight and servants to paddling as hard as they could, and he would join in from time to time and take a break when he got tired.

His fleet ahead downstream was still acting openly.

They do not have sharp night vision and must use torches to navigate at night.

The reeds on both sides of the river were so dense that they could block the light of the torches.

At midnight, four new mana cards appeared on time.

The black bear who was taking a rest on the boat took out a magic berry and swallowed it to replenish his strength. After thinking for a while, he took out another white magic and slapped it on his neck. After it merged into his body, it continued to strengthen him.

The human body has its limits, but I am still far from this limit.

At a Hejin wharf, five boats were lying across the river and tied with ropes. The Xiayi County Lieutenant had deployed dozens of county soldiers on both sides of the river, and they were also armed.

The county lieutenant stretched out his hands to warm himself by the fire, and looking up slightly he could see the fire burning far upstream.

The younger brother who followed him paced back and forth feeling a little uneasy, so he squatted beside him and said: "The pirates in Meng County are too cruel. If we hurt their women and children but fail to catch them all, it may bring disaster to our family."

The fire upstream may be intended to cut off pursuers or to demonstrate to the downstream.

The county lieutenant remained calm and said, "Everyone in the county knows that I have deployed troops to repel the bandits. If I retreat now, I will be criticized and ridiculed, but I am afraid that I will be charged with the crime of indulging the bandits."

"That……"

"Wait a little longer. The fire here is as bright as day. The thieves will not come close. When it is light, I will withdraw the troops back to the camp. You take a few people to watch and wait."

After saying this, the county lieutenant closed his eyes. There were quite a few thieves, so it was not impossible to carry the boat ashore and bypass this place.

Anyway, he has to stay up until dawn tonight.

Five or six miles upstream, boats hid in the reeds on both sides of the river and their torches were extinguished.

Zhang Jun and Song Wu went ashore and climbed onto a nearby willow tree to watch. Both of them were very worried.

There is Yucheng between Meng County and Xiayi, and the people of Xiayi are too enthusiastic.

According to estimates, the mayor of Xiayi received a letter from Liang Xianggong yesterday and began to mobilize county soldiers. It will take until tomorrow to complete the blockade.

Whether it is the river surface, country roads, or the water outlets of nearby tributaries, they must all be blocked.

Song Wu observed for a moment on the willow tree, pointed to the north bank and said, "We can't wait. This county lieutenant doesn't want to fight with us. He wants to trap us to death. If we wait until daybreak, we won't be able to defeat the county soldiers. We still have a chance to win and break through in a chaotic battle at night. Should we fight hard or go around?"

"I want to go around, but I'm afraid there will be an ambush."

Zhang Jun said worriedly, "If we try to take a detour and the Xiayi people cut us off, it will be difficult for any of us to escape."

The detour definitely does not mean carrying the boat ashore and sailing seven or eight miles, but entering a branch water outlet. It is difficult to turn around in this kind of canal, and without knowing the direction of the water system here, it is easy to get into a desperate situation.

"We have to give it a try. Xiayi is on the south bank, so let's go to the north bank."

Song Wu made up his mind and pointed to the northeast: "It is far from Xiayi, and the county soldiers are few, so they will not go deep into the north bank to pursue. If there is no waterway, we can abandon the boat and walk to Sishui, build a reed raft and go south along Sishui."

Zhang Jun couldn't come up with a better idea. Anyway, the rear team had already joined up, so one man led the way in front, and the other followed behind, directing the fleet to meander up along a smaller water outlet on the north bank.

But this time, with the county soldiers by their side, they did not light too many torches.

Soon, Black Bear's boat gradually approached, and after discovering the fire that the county soldiers had deliberately exposed, they drove the boat to a close distance.

The boats were moored beside the reeds on the north bank, barely fifty paces apart.

Black Bear squinted his eyes and could clearly see the leading officer on the south bank. He didn't know who the other party was, but he was cooking fish soup in a hanging pot.

Looking more closely, it is not a hanging pot, but an iron helmet.

I always feel that these county soldiers are not very elite. They don't even have decent leather armor. Their weapons are mainly spears, and there are very few iron halberds.

Even the crossbow was not found after searching for a long time.

After taking a few deep breaths, Black Bear threw two Black Warrior Cards towards the south bank in batches.

The black warrior walked briskly through the reeds for more than twenty steps and then squatted down without moving. It was up to the black bear to decide whether to fight or not.

His eyes then fell on the five boats tied with ropes in the river. One of the boats was obviously three times larger. The most amazing thing was that this boat looked like a black-sailed boat, with a small space to shelter from wind and rain.

Looking at his own sampan, it could only accommodate seven or eight people at most, while that boat could at least accommodate more than a dozen people.

It is also unknown how much damage the Black Knight will suffer before he disintegrates and disappears, and whether he will be resurrected and used directly after the damage is gone, or whether he will need to be refined again using magic power.

I was thinking too much in a moment, and then I heard a sudden shout from the south bank: "Enemy attack!"

Immediately, torches were thrown into the reeds where the black warrior was hiding, followed by more torches, and the reeds were set on fire one after another.

Seeing that the county soldier had made the choice for him, Black Bear had no choice but to let the Black Warrior attack.

There was no sound of roaring or war howling to cheer or scare the enemy. Two black warriors rushed out at the same time with a light posture, scaring the three or four county soldiers in the front row who were holding spears so much that their hands and legs trembled.

The second black warrior was wearing armor and clothes, and looked like a human being; the first black warrior was skinny like a skeleton, with a ring-handled sword in his hand, and his face was like a skull, which was very scary.

More than a dozen county soldiers panicked and lost their coordination in an instant, and several of them turned around and ran.

The black warriors walked forward with their swords in hand without any emotion. One of them used his sword to push away the light and weak spear and slashed it horizontally, while the other one went straight to the waist of the county soldier who had turned his back.

Two county soldiers were seriously injured in the instant of fighting. The remaining county soldiers turned around and ran, and those who reacted quickly simply dropped their spears.

"Don't be so rampant, you thief! No one should lag behind!"

"Let me kill the thief!"

The county lieutenant did not believe in evil, and stood up with a grim smile and put on his helmet. He did not have time to tie the helmet strap, so he picked up the iron halberd beside him and led the locals and their personal soldiers to meet him. He strode forward with great enthusiasm, and when he got seven or eight steps closer, he saw that the black warriors illuminated by the bonfires were indeed a little abnormal.

"If humans can kill, how can we be afraid of ghosts?"

The county lieutenant stopped and called out to his attendants, pointing at the armored black warrior and saying, "This is the leader of the bandits!"

Seven or eight local soldiers strode forward with spears and halberds in hand, stabbing at the enemy, but their spears failed to penetrate the enemy's armor, and there was no blood or injuries.

The armored black warrior held the ring-handled sword in both hands and repeatedly blocked the attacks. Another black warrior stabbed at him from the side and cut off the spear shaft with his sword. Then he slashed the ground with his backhand sword, and a head fell to the ground.

The besieging soldiers were suddenly frightened, and before they could recover, the armorless black warrior passed them and fought with the county lieutenant.

The black warrior was very strong, and the hook and lock skills of the iron halberd in the county lieutenant's hand were completely useless and instead hurt himself. After a few rounds, the iron halberd slipped out of his hand because he could not hold it firmly.

The county lieutenant quickly retreated and tried to draw his sword in panic, but before he could draw his sword, the black warrior caught up with him and slashed his neck with his sword.

No longer chasing after the seriously wounded but still struggling backwards county lieutenant, the black warrior turned around and joined his companions in a fierce fight with the county lieutenant's personal soldiers.

The county soldiers who were fleeing from the periphery were about to join forces with those farther away to reinforce and help in the battle, but they saw the county lieutenant retreat a few steps and fall backwards, and the other bodyguards fell to the ground one after another with serious injuries, so they all turned around and ran away.

Even the more than 30 county soldiers stationed on the north bank fled after watching for a moment, abandoning the daily necessities and many bows and arrows and weapons they brought with them.

As the battle ended, the Black Warriors checked the battlefield and made finishing blows, and one of them was sent to search and guard the north bank.

The black bear then rowed to the south bank and cast his black magic power at the two sturdy newly dead armored soldiers.

Suddenly his body disintegrated, and he immediately summoned out black servants to start cleaning up the battlefield.

From spears and tiger-patterned lacquered shields to scabbards and black pottery bowls, all were carried to the river by the black servants.

The deceased's armor and clothes were also stripped off and the body was dragged to the riverside, destroying all traces of the battle and preventing the battle process from being replayed by experts.

On the county lieutenant's stool, Black Bear was playing with a thumb-sized square copper seal called "Xiayi Wei Yin".

The person has already been killed, there is no need to dispose of or destroy the body, just keep it.

If the bodies were missing, it would implicate their families.

Only by dragging the body to the river and making signs of attempting to dump it into the water can some trouble be avoided.

For example, if the bodies of the two dead black servants could not be found, they might be charged with desertion, leading to punishment of their families.

After all, they have started to work for me, so I should take care of them as much as I can.

In front of the campfire, Black Bear looked at the fish soup in the iron helmet's hanging pot with no appetite and began to recall the battle just now.

Long-pole weapons were very effective in restraining the black warriors wielding short weapons. These county soldiers were frightened and could not exert even half of their strength. Their skills were only based on instinct and they had no enthusiasm for fighting at all.

So even though they had already blocked the armored black warrior, the random attacks were enough to destroy the black warrior's limb joints.

But these people became more and more panicked as the fight went on, and their fighting morale and their own strength plummeted. As the county lieutenant fell to the ground seriously injured, he was killed like a chicken or a duck by the two black warriors in the blink of an eye.

Therefore, the final enhancement of the black warrior here must be fully equipped. Long and short weapons such as spears, halberds, and swords are standard. For long-range secondary weapons, you can add throwing axes, short spears... You must also try bows and crossbows. Bows and crossbows focus more on skills.

If it can be used, it would be a great advantage, equivalent to unlimited ammunition.

Another thing is to cancel the small combat shields and prepare some large battle shields... When the need arises, the black servants will carry the large shields and lead the way.

But this is not very convenient. My biggest advantage is flexibility.

Therefore, you still need to equip a small shield for fighting. The black warrior seems to have no physical strength limit, and every successful block in battle is a gain.

After thinking for a moment, seeing that the cleaning was completed, Black Bear picked up the iron helmet and the pot and went to the river to cool them down in the water. He then ordered two black warriors and three clumsy black servants to change boats and load the spoils onto the new boat.

Nowadays, even a palm-sized nail plate is valuable.

Whether it is iron armor or lacquered leather armor, as long as it has protective power, it is valuable.

He also picked up more than thirty spears and tied them all into bundles.

I originally planned to remove the spear head, but the tough spear shaft is also a rare material, and the spear head is not easy to remove, so I simply bundled them together and took them away.

The quality of spears also varies. The only iron halberd captured was of high quality and was placed in the cabin along with two bundles of feather arrows and iron armor.

There was also a newer wooden boat, loaded with clothes, leather armor, linen shoes, bows, and even a lot of good wood as thick as arms.

The two boats were connected to each other with thick hemp ropes, one in front and one behind.

Eleven bodies were left on the shore, and the two boats, one large and one small, continued to move downstream.

In the cabin, Black Bear finally had time to measure and calculate. The width of the ship was about 13 feet and the length was about 40 feet.

The tent was made of linen, which was painted with rough lacquer to make it hardened and waterproof. There were bamboo curtains in the front and back. The interior space was five or six square meters, enough for him to lie down and sleep.

However, the black warrior and his servants lacked wisdom. After lying down and stretching for a while to adapt to the situation, Black Bear stood up and went out of the cabin to observe the waterway.

His hands were busy as he took off his leather armor and old clothes, and put on the yellow silk lining that had been stripped off the county lieutenant, the middle garment made of three layers of fine silk, and the water green brocade robe with hidden orchid and bamboo patterns.

Next came the county lieutenant's silk trousers, which were obviously two sizes larger than the ones worn by the county lieutenant. They were made of five or six layers of silk sewn together. They felt thick and warm, yet not heavy at all.

Not wanting to wash the county lieutenant's linen socks, he simply cut some cloth from the county lieutenant's crimson military officer's uniform to wrap his feet, and then happily put on the patent leather shoes that were obviously more than two sizes too large.

Finally, he put on a coarse silk outer coat over the light green brocade robe, and then put on the leather armor again to prevent it from rubbing the brocade clothes.

But his hair was very difficult to manage. He had cut it short with a dagger in the past few days. He had originally wrapped his hair with coarse cloth.

Now there were many silks available for making clothes, so the sleeves of the yellow silk inner garment were taken off, cut open and made into turbans to be wrapped around the head.

At this point, I finally had the right clothes on.

(End of this chapter)