Transmigration: Space-Aided Rise to Power and Prosperity-Chapter 317 - 153 Climbed Up

Although Yao Mengxian didn’t know why this time was different from her dream, now was not the time to think about it.

She pulled out the hairpin from her head and looked around the room, only to find there was nothing sharp. Fortunately, women always have a few hairpins in their hair.

"Quickly pull out the hairpin and hold it in your hand. Uncle Li will go out to scout and adapt to the situation." Yao Mengxian knew that they couldn’t survive unless the River Bandits were dealt with, so it was better to let Uncle Li go out and do his part.

"Miss!" The maid exclaimed, truly believing the lady was crazy.

"Uncle Li, go outside and help!" Yao Mengxian was determined, unwilling to explain further.

Uncle Li hesitated for a moment upon hearing his lady’s orders. However, he soon decided to go out and help, thinking that in a crumbling nest, not even an egg remains intact.

"Miss!" Qing Dai ran back with a grim face, "The damned maids and guards are hiding inside the room and won’t come out, no matter how I knock on the door, they won’t open it!"

"What? Could it be that they didn’t hear?" Yao Mengxian was shocked. She could understand why the maids wouldn’t come out because, in their eyes, their own lives were more important than their mistress. But the guards had martial arts skills; how could they fear the River Bandits?

"Miss! It’s true, I slapped the door so hard and shouted several times, but they still didn’t open the door!"

Helplessly, Yao Mengxian could only instruct Lianxin and the others to bolt the door, then moved some of the heavier cabinets over to barricade it. She thought and then looked towards the window.

"Quickly bolt the windows and prop something against them." The four women hurriedly busied themselves, breaking into a thin layer of sticky sweat. But now was not the time to worry about appearances.

"Miss! Will this work? If they break down the door, these things surely won’t hold." The maid’s voice trembled, never expecting such a thing to happen during their visit to Jingyuan Prefecture.

"At this point, we’ll have to take things as they come! Hold onto your hairpins, let’s find a hidden place to hide, delaying as much as possible. If the bandits come, don’t be afraid; at worst, fight to the death!"

Yao Mengxian was indeed scared, but as the pillar in the room, she couldn’t panic. Otherwise, chaos would certainly ensue. She glanced at the lanterns outside, thinking extinguishing the candles wouldn’t help much. With so many lanterns and torches outside, once the door was opened, the room would be brightly lit and completely exposed.

Many passengers saw them board the ship, and the River Bandits must have well scouted the area, likely having inside help. The facts of these rooms being booked were widely known.

"Miss! We won’t die here, will we?" Qing Dai was extremely frightened; she was just a twelve-year-old girl, and anyone would be nervous and scared at this moment.

She had heard of the River Bandits’ ferocity; these were people who killed without blinking, especially vicious towards weak women.

"What nonsense! The Miss wouldn’t die." Although Lianxin was afraid, she couldn’t say such words at this moment, which would only confuse people.

"Don’t be afraid! Quickly go hide!" Yao Mengxian’s mind was in turmoil. If the bandits charged in, she didn’t know what the purpose of her dream would be.

But then her gaze became firm; a person can be killed but not humiliated.

"They’re climbing up, there are too many!" Originally, everyone worked together to fend off the River Bandits, some even using brooms and bamboo poles against them. But more and more River Bandits climbed the ship, some very fierce.

They chose weak spots to climb and pulled out the knives they held between their teeth to swing as they climbed.

Gu Chengyu, on the other hand, initially thought that the fire on the ship would allow him to help at the rails. But unexpectedly, the group’s actions were quite fast, extinguishing the flames somewhat, and the ship was swiftly approaching.

The archery of the sailors and fighters was limited, with more than half of the arrows falling into the river. Originally, in Gu Chengyu’s plan, the ship should have sunk further away.

Now, a significant portion was extinguished, and the ship’s surface was partially charred black.

Gu Chengyu thought these people wouldn’t give up easily and wouldn’t be launching fire arrows anytime soon.

Moreover, that ship shouldn’t survive approaching their ship, so Gu Chengyu turned back to help.

Many people guarding the rails were unarmed, and had not seen such a scene before, fearing they couldn’t hold on.

"Quickly cut those River Bandits climbing up, leave this alone!" Gu Chengyu, seeing the ship still some distance away, decided it was crucial to deal with the climbers first.

He drew his sword and approached a scholar. The scholar held a heavy inkstone, but it couldn’t be used for long-range combat. His body trembled with fear, unable to even stand steadily. Fortunately, there were few bandits earlier; otherwise, they would have climbed up long ago.

Gu Chengyu reached his side and saw a River Bandit had already climbed to the rails. He quickly swung his sword and slashed at the bandit.

Now wasn’t the time to show mercy. It was kill or be killed, and Gu Chengyu wouldn’t hold back.

"Ah!" The sword extended from the bandit’s face straight down to his chest; he only had time to cry out before falling into the water. His blood stained the river where he fell.

"Fourth! You beast, I’m going to kill you, wait for it!" A River Bandit clinging to the rail became enraged upon seeing his companion dead, glaring at Gu Chengyu with eyes as if wanting to tear him apart.

Gu Chengyu, hearing the bandit’s words, almost choked on a mouthful of blood, nearly suffocating — who exactly was the beast?

The scholar was stunned, being close enough that the warm blood splattered on his face.

He had never seen a dead person before, pointing at Gu Chengyu in terror, saying, "You, you killed someone!" As if Gu Chengyu were more frightening than the bandits.

Gu Chengyu wanted to say, "Are you stupid? They’re coming to kill you; if you don’t fight back, are you just waiting to die?" But he had no time for sarcasm, quickly rejoining the fray.

He first ran to the River Bandit who called him a beast, swinging his sword again.

The man didn’t expect Gu Chengyu to be so ferocious, killing one and then running over to kill him. It was no surprise; he too fell into the river to keep his Fourth guy company.

Having killed two, Gu Chengyu did not relax. These were unprepared attacks; it wouldn’t be as easy with prepared enemies.

"Ah! They’re up, they’re up!" Gu Chengyu heard a shout and turned to see at the stern a man dressed ordinarily, looking like a servant from some household.

But he had already pulled up a River Bandit onto the rails, followed quickly by more like a string of fish balls, moving very fast!

Damn, that was an inside job! Gu Chengyu used Qinggong to leap to the starboard stern, brandishing his sword.

Unfortunately, those people were prepared, quickly raising their weapons to block.

Further away, Ming Yan and Ming Mo also joined the fight, as more River Bandits climbed up.

Sun Xian and Ye Zhiqiu held daggers, feeling at a loss. Sun Xian had done manual labor before, though scared, he swung his dagger wildly, just to prevent the River Bandits from approaching.

But Ye Zhiqiu himself was weak and had never seen such a scene before, understandably nervous.

"Junior Brother Ye, that man climbed up, quickly stab him with your knife."

Sun Xian was anxious, wishing he had more hands. He knew, of course, they couldn’t let the River Bandits climb up, or they wouldn’t survive.

As for Gu Chengyu, he alone surely couldn’t fend off so many River Bandits? He didn’t believe it.

Gu Chengyu stepped back, swung the sword up, twisting it before stabbing at someone.

Earlier, Gu Chengyu watched while they blocked the attack. This person was slow to react, so he chose to eliminate him first.