Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 5, Join the Water Bandits

"Yongwa, what are you doing?"

The old man stared at the arrow in a daze.

Fang Yong picked up the arrow, pulled the old man and said:
"Let's go first, I'll explain it to you on the way."

The old man asked doubtfully:
"This is our home, where are you going?"

Fang Yong said directly:

"Go to Hongze Lake!"

The old man was shocked when he heard this and looked at Fang Yong in disbelief.

"Hongze Lake, Yongwa, that's where the pirates stay. Are you planning to join the pirates?"

Fang Yong asked, "What happened to surrendering to the bandits?"

Upon hearing this, the old man hugged the wall of his house tightly.

"No, I won't leave. You can't join the bandits. If you do, I'll die here!"

Fang Yong couldn't understand the old man's thoughts at all.

He said angrily, "Aren't we just surrendering to the bandits and waiting here for the soldiers to arrest us?"

The old man said with a sad face:

"Even if the soldiers come to arrest you, you can't surrender to the bandits. The bandits are all bad guys, Yongwa, we must live a clean life and not learn bad habits. When the county magistrate comes, we will explain the reason to him and he will give us a lighter sentence!"

When Fang Yong heard this, he was so angry that he laughed at the old man's naive idea.

As a commoner, he killed three yamen runners and a minor official. This crime was enough to punish the extermination of his entire clan, so how could he still dream of a lighter sentence?
"If you don't leave, I'll carry you!"

Fang Yong didn't waste any more words. He just carried the old man on his back and rushed to Hongze Lake.

The old man kept struggling on Fang Yong's shoulder, saying things like "I am your father", "Put me down", "You can't join the bandits, I can't face my ancestors" and so on.

The villagers heard the noise and secretly ran out to check.

Fang Yong's face turned blue with anger.

Now everyone knows that he has joined the bandits!

If he knew how hard to hit, he would have knocked the old man unconscious like in TV dramas!
On the way, Fang Yong saw a sneaky guy peeking at him. Upon closer inspection, he found that it was the steward of the landlord, Mr. Fang.

Fang Yong knew in his heart that the difficulties faced by the Fang family must be related to Master Fang.

Even if other people's fields were measured more, they were only measured twice, and poor fields became good fields. Unlike our own fields, they were directly measured three times more, and poor fields were recorded as fertile fields. It was obvious that they were meant to kill us.

Now that I have surrendered to the bandits, the butler of the Fang Mansion is spying on me again. Could it be that he is trying to remember my escape route so that he can bring soldiers to kill me in the future?

Thinking of this, Fang Yong became ruthless. He picked up a brick from the wall next to him and threw it hard at the housekeeper of the Fang Mansion.

The brick flew through the air, and the butler of the Fang residence was so frightened that he turned around and tried to run. As soon as he took a step, the brick flew behind his head.

The butler fell to the ground with a thud, and it was unknown whether he was dead or alive.

The old man was even more shocked when he saw it, and said:
"Yongwa, how could you hit someone? He's Master Fang's housekeeper. Go and see if he's okay!"

Fang Yong got angry when he heard this and said:
"Damn it, you are afraid of officials, and you are afraid of Master Fang, why aren't you afraid of me? I've even killed officials, if you dare to say anything more, I'll make you pay!"

The old man was frightened by Fang Yong's fierce voice, and his words suddenly stopped.

After hesitating for a while, the old man said tentatively:
"Yongwa, I, I am your father!"

Fang Yong didn't respond, but just snorted coldly.

The old man's heart tightened and he dared not say another word.

Fang Yong took the old man to the edge of Hongze Lake. He glanced around but didn't see any boats. Fang Yong thought for a moment, walked to a willow tree as thick as a bowl by the lake, and kicked the tree twice, breaking it.

After breaking off the remaining branches and leaving only a piece of the trunk, Fang Yong threw the tree into the river and asked the old man to hold the trunk while he pushed from behind. The two of them swam quickly towards the depths of the lake.

The two first crossed a reed marsh, then passed through a patch of rotten lotus leaves, and continued swimming forward.

The old man looked at Fang Yong with some concern and said cautiously:
Yongwa, can you still hold on? Or just put me down!
Fang Yong frowned and did not answer. If a normal person pushed someone to swim so far, he would have been exhausted long ago, but he had a master-level talent and his physical strength in the water was unlimited. He would have no problem swimming all the way to America.

[Talent: Water (Mastery)]

【Progress: 22/1000】

[Effect: Cross the river and ride the waves to hit the sail.] The old man was probably frightened by Fang Yong's previous attitude and didn't dare to say anything more.

After swimming for about half an hour, he crossed a swamp. This was the place where Fang Yong had encountered the giant snake before. Going further, in the direction that Gan Ba had left, there was a gourd mouth. After swimming in, he could see some buildings on the water in front of him from afar.

I guess that must be where Ganba and his men live.

Fang Yong swam over faster with the old man.

When we got closer, we saw several small boats on the water, moving back and forth. They must be on patrol.

After Fang Yong got closer, the people on the boat also discovered Fang Yong.

"Is someone coming?"

The small boat came closer, and on it was a man with triangular eyes, wearing coarse cloth, holding a bow and arrow in his hand, looking at Fang Yong with some caution.

"The big guy in the water, stop moving. What are you doing and why are you here?"

As the man spoke, he nocked his bow and arrow.

When the old man saw the ferocious-looking man opposite him holding a bow and arrow, he was so frightened that he dared not speak.

He heard that the water bandits were ruthless villains who killed people without blinking an eye. His family, Fang, had been honest farmers for generations and they dared not deal with water bandits at all.

Fang Yong ignored the old man. He took out the arrow that Gan Ba had given him that day, raised it up, and shouted, "Brother, don't do it. I am Gan Ba's friend!"

After hearing this, the man thought, "Second in command? I've never heard that he has such a friend?"

Thinking of this, the other party did not immediately relax his vigilance, but shouted:

"Come closer!"

Fang Yong leaned over upon hearing that.

As the distance got closer, the man saw clearly the arrow in Fang Yong's hand and it was indeed the second in command.

The man let down his guard a lot and took Fang Yong and the other man onto the floating bridge, but he still did not take them into the village immediately.

"Wait here for now. I'll go in and let you know. What's your name?"

Fang Yong said: "My name is Fang Yong."

The man nodded, asked the patrol officers to keep an eye on Fang Yong and the other two, and then he went into the water fort to report.

Fang Yong was not in a hurry and just waited quietly there.

After a while, the gate of the water fort opened, and a familiar small boat sailed out from the waterway, with Gan Ba on board.

As soon as they met, Gan Ba burst into laughter.

“Hahahaha, Brother Fang, I knew a hero like you would come find me sooner or later!”

Fang Yong smiled bitterly, clasped his fists and bowed, saying:
"I was forced by the world and oppressed by officials and gentry. In a fit of rage, Fang Yong killed several corrupt officials. Now there is no place for Fang Yong in the outside world. Please take him in, brother!"

Gan Ba helped Fang Yong up and said:

"Brother Fang, why do you say that? A hero like you is like a dragon in the water and a tiger in the mountains. It is a great honor for us to have you enter the Hongze Water Village today! Don't worry, brother. After you enter the village, I will personally recommend you to the village chief as the third in command. You and I will share the wealth and honor together!"

Fang Yong couldn't help but be deeply moved when he heard this.

Gan Ba only met him once, but he actually thought so highly of him. It was really rare.

"By the way, I haven't asked you yet, who is this old gentleman?"

Gan Ba asked the old man.

Fang Yong introduced: "This is my father."

Gan Ba was even more delighted when he heard this, and immediately bowed and said:

"It turned out to be your respected father."

When the old man saw Gan Ba saluting to him, he was so scared that he sat down on the ground.

It was because the old man had seen a Qilin tattooed on Gan Ba's chest a long time ago and concluded that Gan Ba was not a good person. He also heard Fang Yong talking with Gan Ba and knew that Gan Ba was one of the bandit leaders, so he was even more afraid.

Fang Yong had no choice but to help the old man up and said, "My father is old and has been frightened by the sudden change. He hasn't recovered yet."

After hearing this, Gan Ba nodded in understanding and invited Fang Yong to enter the water stronghold, firstly to let the old man rest and secondly to meet the leader of the water stronghold.

The leader of Hongze Water Fort, Wang Lun!
(End of this chapter)