Do you have the strength to force me to join the Liangshan bandits?

Chapter 323 Water Monkey [4 Updates, Please Subscribe]

A wide, turbulent river blocked Cai Fu's path to the south of the Yangtze River.

Cai Fu looked at the great river with a bewildered expression, then at Lu Zhishen and Wu Song:

"I remember there was a bridge here when we were here last time!"

Lu Zhishen scratched his bald head: "I also remember there was a bridge here..."

Wu Song walked along the riverbank for a while, then waved to Cai Fu:
"Big brother, third brother, come and see!"

When Cai Fu and his group went over to take a look, sure enough, there was a bridge, but it had already been demolished.

Lu Zhishen kicked the broken bridge in anger:
"Which heartless scoundrel has turned on us after we've served our purpose?"

"Please wait a moment, brothers, I'll go find a boat."

Zhang Shun volunteered. He was the only naval commander here. Why didn't he go to sleep?
But before Zhang Shun could take two steps, he saw a small boat in the reeds on the opposite bank of the river.

Zhang Shun then shouted loudly, "Boatman, please bring the boat over and ferry us across!"

The boatman, lying on the deck sunbathing, lazily replied upon hearing the voice:

"coming!"

He untied the reins, released the boat, and rowed it across the river with a creaking sound. He then asked Zhang Shun:

Are you the ones who need to cross the river?

When Cai Fu looked at the boatman, he saw that his eyebrows were thick and black, like those of a Taoist priest with one eyebrow, his eyes were as big as copper bells, and his face was purplish-red. He looked extremely fierce!
Moreover, this fellow was ten feet tall, with broad shoulders and a thick waist, making him even more robust than Yu Baosi!

That guy's got some nerve!
Cai Fu, Lu Zhishen, Wu Song, Yang Zhi, and Sun Li were all burly men, yet this fellow, alone, showed no fear whatsoever and even said with righteous indignation:
"If you want to cross the river, you must first agree on a price!"

Zhang Shun asked him, "How many do you want?"

The boatman brazenly declared, "One person costs ten taels! One horse also costs ten taels!"

Cai Fu subconsciously exchanged glances with Lu Zhishen and Wu Song.

Lu Zhishen looked completely bewildered: What are you looking at?
Wu Song nodded knowingly: I understand, the boatman must have dismantled the bridge!

Zhang Shun understood immediately: "What a great deal! Friend, give me a discount!"

The boatman insisted, "It's a fixed price!"

Zhang Shun turned to look at Cai Fu, who blinked:
Shunzi, you know what I mean!

With the example of Zhang Wang, the "River-Intercepting Ghost," Zhang Shun naturally understood what Cai Fu meant.

Nodding slightly, Zhang Shun turned back to the boatman and said:
"As you wish, ferry us across, and we'll give you the number you need!"

The boatman had already examined the faces of Cai Fu and his group one by one, and thought to himself:

There are so many of them, and I'm all alone; it's impossible for me to eat them all at once.

But he could still eat one, and besides the package, he also sold the horse for a few taels of silver.

Although these big men are all tall and strong, once they get into the water, I'm the one in charge.

Once he had made up his mind, the boatman said, "Sir, I'll take you across now. We can talk about it later."

"But my boat is too small to carry so many of you."

"We have no choice but to make one trip per person and one horse, and we have to make several trips."

He wasn't lying; the boat was indeed small.

Zhang Shun turned to look at Cai Fu, who nodded.
"As you wish!"

The boatman was secretly delighted, his gaze sweeping over Cai Fu, Lu Zhishen, Wu Song, Yang Zhi, and Sun Li one by one.

I felt that the youngest Yang Zaixing and the shortest Zhang Shun were the easiest to deal with!
Although Yang Zaixing was young, he was eight feet tall, while Zhang Shun was only six feet five or six inches tall.

Even if we calculate it at six feet six inches, it's only 152 centimeters, half a head shorter than the boatman's.

The person was fair-skinned and clean-cut, clearly a sheltered seedling raised in a greenhouse, untouched by hardship. The boatman decisively chose the softest-looking persimmon:

"Please board the boat, sir, I'll ferry you across first!"

Cai Fule: You've got a good eye for things!
Zhang Shun originally intended to board the boat first, but the boatman invited him, so he went along with it.

The boatman brought the boat to the shore, and Zhang Shun led his horse onto the boat. Sure enough, the boat could only accommodate one person and one horse.

Zhang Shun led the horse into the cabin, untied the bundle and put it down, but then stood by the rudder watching the boatman row.

The boatman rowed the boat to the middle of the river, and seeing Zhang Shun watching him row, he hesitated to start rowing...

After thinking for a while, the boatman finally came up with a solution:
"Sir, please get the oar for me while I fetch some snacks."

"If you are hungry, please have something to eat."

Zhang Shun knew he was about to cause trouble and, wanting to impress Cai Fu, cheerfully accepted the oar.

"I'm hungry too, go get it quickly!"

The boatman chuckled and handed him the oar, then squatted down, lifted the plank, and with a "whoosh," pulled out a cleaver!

Zhang Shun had been keeping an eye on him, and with lightning speed, he kicked out, striking the boatman's finger!
The boatman was caught off guard and kicked. As he opened his fingers, the broadsword fell into the water with a "plop".

Zhang Shun asked with a smile, "Boatman, what did you lose?"

"not good!"

Only then did the boatman realize that Zhang Shun had some fighting skills, and without thinking, he jumped into the river!

snort!
You're pretty clever, kid!

The boatman thought to himself: But if I capsize the boat, how will you deal with it?

The boatman dove down and swam to the bottom of the boat, then pushed himself up with both hands, trying to overturn it.

However, before he could exert any force, he felt as if something had grabbed his ankle!
hiss--

The boatman couldn't help but gasp.
broken!

Could it be a water monkey?

He had indeed heard legends about water monkeys by the river, but he had never encountered one and never taken them seriously.

Suddenly encountering this, the boatman inexplicably remembered the legend of the water monkey and was terrified!
If it weren't for the water monkey, who would be grabbing his ankle from below?
They even dragged him to the bottom of the river?
The boatman struggled frantically, but those cold hands held onto his ankles the whole time!
Although the boatman was a decent swimmer, his enormous size—ten feet tall—meant he was destined to be unsuitable for a professional career.

Moreover, his enormous size also means that he will expend more energy underwater than the average person.

The boatman panicked at first, and his desperate struggles accelerated his exhaustion, until he gradually felt that he was running out of breath.

When he was exhausted, the water monkey wrapped itself around him like an octopus!
The boatman was too weak to struggle any longer and could only be dragged to the bottom of the river by the water monkey in despair...

Cai Fu watched as Zhang Shun went down with the boatman. Although some water splashed up, no one showed their face.

He knew Zhang Shun's abilities and had confidence in him, while Yang Zaixing, unaware of the situation, was extremely anxious:
"Father, will Zhang Shun be alright?"

"We've barely gotten here!"

Cai Fu chuckled: "Shunzi can swim forty or fifty miles across the water and stay submerged for seven days and seven nights!"

Yang Zaixing was stunned: it was bad enough that the water surface stretched forty or fifty miles, but it had been submerged for seven days and seven nights...

Is this horse or a human?

"Wow!"

Just then, water suddenly splashed everywhere on the river surface!
Zhang Shun grabbed the boatman's hand and strode across the water as if walking on flat ground!
The surging river only reached his navel. Zhang Shun, dragging the boatman with one hand, rode the waves!

[4 chapters delivered, please subscribe or 2 more~]

(End of this chapter)