Transmigration: Space-Aided Rise to Power and Prosperity-Chapter 323 - 159: End

The large ship was still drifting on the river, because no one was rowing or steering, it had already deviated from its original course.

"Thinking about it now is useless. Ship captain, steer us back to the original route. The other sailors divide into two teams and start rowing!" They had lost several original sailors, and after the battle, rowing would certainly exhaust them physically.

But there was no choice; if they didn’t row, who knows when they would reach the docks of Jingyuan Prefecture? The bodies of those river bandits had already sunk; they would be reported to the government and salvaged later. As for the rest, they would naturally be handed over to the Jingyuan River Inspection Bureau afterward.

Gu Chengyu instructed Ming Mo and the others to inform everyone in their rooms, saying it was safe now.

After this battle, everyone became accustomed to Gu Chengyu giving orders, because he led them to victory over the river bandits.

Those river bandits were all desperados! People like them encountering river bandits would be on a dead-end road. However, they managed to escape from them and even counter-killed the bandits. It sounded unbelievable!

Gu Chengyu approached Sun Xian and the others, checking them again, and only felt relieved when he saw they had only minor scratches.

"Brother Sun, Brother Ye, are you alright?"

Ye Zhiqiu was completely exhausted, sitting on the ground weakly, and merely nodded in response.

Sun Xian was better off than Ye Zhiqiu but didn’t look well either, clearly exhausted. After all, he was just a weak scholar!

"I’m fine! With Ming Mo and the others around, we weren’t hurt!" Sun Xian glanced at Gu Chengyu, seeing only bloodstains on him without any torn clothes, assuming he was fine.

"Sir!" Hui An had been at the stern, battling enemies, not far from their room.

Hu Maoshen glanced at Hui An entering, noticing his deep red clothes had bloodstains but appeared unharmed, relieved. The sky was already bright, and those river bandits wouldn’t dare attack so blatantly again.

Earlier, he had heard the sounds outside quieten from within the room, and now that Hui An was inside, he assumed the river bandits had been subdued.

"Were there any casualties on the ship?" Hu Maoshen thought it a redundant question, as there was no way there weren’t casualties after such a fierce battle last night. He had heard it all clearly from inside the cabin.

"There were certainly casualties, but thankfully not many dead, and it wasn’t too disastrous!" Since they had received confidential orders, they pretended to be merchants and servants, residing in the lower cabins. They had been very low-key before, and now with Hui An showing his true skills, it was likely others had noticed.

Hu Maoshen was a bit surprised, "Oh? Those sailors and fighters were that capable? How did they discover those river bandits?"

He couldn’t quite understand; the river was pitch black, and the bandits’ ship had extinguished its lights, so how had they discovered them? Was it that someone had found an insider and took precautions?

How did he know? Of course, he saw it from the window, and in the dead of night when someone knocked on the door, shortly after, the outside was ablaze with light. He also heard the commotion on the river bandits’ ship opposite. It wasn’t just him; everyone in the room was closely following it.

"That, I don’t know, except that everything was commanded by a young man. I noticed him, and his martial arts were superb. He led his subordinates in fiercely killing the river bandits, saving everyone on board!" Hui An, thinking of Gu Chengyu’s Qinggong, was filled with envy.

That requires a master and a secret manual, typically only available to Martial Arts Family members, and they must belong to an aristocratic family or sect. As for people like them, they learned hard skills, lacking deep and enduring Inner Strength, not to mention having never seen Qinggong.

Hu Maoshen knew Hui An’s nature and realized he envied the young man’s skills.

"I wonder who this young man is?"

"I guess he must be a young master from a Martial Arts Family. They grow up practicing martial arts, learning unique skills, so it’s no wonder they’d have such abilities," Hui An casually replied.

But Hu Maoshen could hear the sourness in his tone.

Hu Maoshen merely chuckled and didn’t expose him. Then, he frowned, thinking of the ensuing problems.

"Since the ship is safely secured, we must keep our movements secret. The Jingyuan River Inspection Bureau will surely inquire about this incident. At the next checkpoint, everyone on the ship will have to undergo inspection, making it easy for us to get exposed, not to mention we don’t know whether those river bandits were targeting us specifically."

"What should we do then? Sir, we have confidential orders. If the secret is leaked, how can we complete the Holy Emperor’s assignment? Where did those river bandits get the information? Could someone have leaked it? That can’t be! It seems unlikely."

Hui An also worried; this time, the only person accompanying the master was him, and he was really worried about whether he could protect the master’s safety. Suddenly, he thought of the young man on the ship.

Ming Mo and the others shouted loudly at the room, saying the river bandits had been caught and everyone was safe. But the doors remained closed, with no reaction inside.

Ming Yan sneered, "Do these people still think we’re tricking them? They’re as timid as mice, only knowing how to be turtles with shrunken heads. Now that the river bandits are either dead or captured, they still don’t dare show up."

Ming Mo furrowed his brows, "You can’t say it like that. They’re unarmed and lack martial arts, so, of course, they’re scared."

Though in his heart he thought, do these people think they’re safe just hiding in their rooms? If it weren’t for them and the young master holding up, the ship’s passengers would’ve been captured by bandits long ago.

Actually, Gu Chengyu also felt uneasy. He had previously spent most of his time practicing calligraphy and painting, neglecting martial arts. Overall, in comparison, he dedicated far less time to it.

After this battle, he realized his shortcomings - lack of experience using sword moves against enemies, his strikes weren’t fast, aggressive, or precise enough, and he had been lazy practicing Inner Strength. He resolved that after this, he would dedicate more time to martial arts training.

As daylight broke, the passengers who had been hiding in their rooms began to emerge.

"The river bandits have been killed. I knew that the ship crew surely had skills; otherwise, how could they run this business?"

A passenger hiding in their room, unwilling to show their face, assumed the ship crew was responsible for resolving the river bandits.

"I was peeking through the window earlier, and the one who killed the most was that young man with the sword."

"What? Who is this young man? Judging by his demeanor, he seems like someone from a noble family." Someone guessed.

"I don’t think so; perhaps he’s the child of a Martial Arts Family. I’ve seen such families back in the day, knocking down opponents with just one move. So this young man isn’t all that remarkable, right?" A man dismissed, spitting as he spoke.

"You’re exaggerating! Knocking down opponents with one move? Have you read one too many stories? Back in the day? You never even left the village when you were young! This is your first time taking a boat!"

The person next to him bluntly exposed him; they were from the same town, and he lived in the neighboring village. The two made a little business before the year ended.