The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 459 The Assassin Returns
Taihu Lake is so vast that many water pirates have taken up residence on the islands of various sizes in the lake, robbing passing fishermen and merchant ships.

They were agile and swift in their movements. When they raided, a dozen or so small boats would swarm them. If they were surrounded by the imperial navy, they would immediately scatter and run in any direction, either going ashore to hide or disappearing into some reed marsh. The navy had no way to deal with them.

Some of them did indeed collude with the imperial court, and the naval forces paid their daily tributes perfunctorily. As a result, the number of water pirates in Taihu Lake has been increasing in recent years, and they have split into several groups.

In The Legend of the Condor Heroes, the Jin Kingdom delegation passed through Taihu Lake. They were escorted by Duan Tiande, the naval commander. However, their boat was punctured by Taihu Lake pirates, and Prince Yang Kang was captured and taken to Guiyun Manor.

However, unlike in the original story, Guiyun Manor no longer exists on the shores of Taihu Lake, and the group of Taihu Lake pirates is missing a leader.

It must be said that Huang Yaoshi was indeed a very charismatic person. Among his disciples, Wu Chengyu was generally suspected of having a crush on his master, while Lu Chengfeng and Qu Lingfeng remained inseparable even after being crippled for life.

After the two returned to Peach Blossom Island, Huang Yaoshi found them an eyesore on the island, so they both moved to Gushan County, which was the closest to Peach Blossom Island.

Qu Lingfeng only brought Qu Yun and her father, while Lu Chengfeng moved the entire Guiyun Manor there.

With their martial arts skills and the power of Guiyun Manor, Gushan County has now become a completely peripheral force of Peach Blossom Island.

Wu Chengyu had always known where Lu Qu and the other man had gone, so without Lu Chengfeng, he had absolutely no connection with these Taihu Lake pirates.

Moreover, as far as he knew, these people were no longer being supervised, and although they hadn't committed all sorts of evil deeds, they had taken the lives of many innocent people. Wu Chengyu would definitely not be lenient with them in the future.

After parting ways with Wu Zhengliang, he immediately returned to Yanyun Manor with the list of high-ranking officials in Pingjiang Prefecture that Wu Zhengliang had written for him, and summoned Lin Xiao and Song Mu over.

"Brother Lin, I heard that your ancestors were also skilled in naval warfare. I wonder how much of their expertise you inherited?"

Lin Xiao was taken aback. His brothers had long known that when Yue Fei quelled Yang Yao's peasant uprising, the Lin family had joined Yue Fei's army.

Regardless of whether this battle was accurate or not, Yang Yao's peasant army was based in Dongting Lake and mainly engaged in naval warfare. This was one of the few major naval victories among Yue Fei's many achievements, and he did indeed recruit a group of naval warfare elites at the time.

Lin Xiao's grandfather was the most skilled naval commander under Yue Fei, which is why Wu Chengyu asked this question.

"I've been an army instructor for years, so I haven't done any naval warfare in a long time. Back in the Jin Kingdom, our righteous army really didn't have the resources to develop a navy."

"Don't worry, brother, I haven't forgotten any of the family's traditional skills; I just haven't had the chance to practice them on a regular basis."

Wu Chengyu was immediately relieved. With the Beiwei Army in charge, eliminating the Taihu Lake pirates was a piece of cake. No matter how agile those pirates were, they couldn't compare to a special forces unit composed of hundreds of martial arts masters.

However, since the decision has been made to establish the base in Taihu Lake, a naval force must be available at all times in order to control the waters of Taihu Lake. Therefore, Lin Xiao is the naval warfare talent that he urgently needs right now.

Wu Chengyu immediately told Lin Xiao and Song Mu about his plan. The two were very excited when they heard it. The two islands of Dongshan and Xishan together cover an area of ​​more than 140 square kilometers, which is more than enough to hide an army of 100,000.

"Song Mu, gather your Beiwei Army. Don't act rashly. Find a group of Taihu Lake pirates, find out the various forces in Taihu Lake at this time, and then eliminate them one by one."

Those who have committed heinous crimes should be killed without mercy. The rest should be kept in a safe place and kept under strict guard. I will have a great use for them later.

"I've been training you kids for so long, I shouldn't need to get involved in these things anymore."

"Song Mu understands and will certainly not fail in his mission."

“Brother Lin, you are an expert in naval warfare. Keep an eye on these kids for me. They are first-rate at killing bandits and mountain bandits, but they are so-so in naval warfare. However, in terms of martial arts alone, those water pirates have no chance of winning against them.”

"Don't worry, General. Some of those veterans have also fought in naval battles. I'll also take them along to help vet these young men."

"Alright, I'll leave this matter to you. I won't interfere anymore. I'll take care of those officials in Pingjiang Prefecture. Let's split up and act separately."

~~~~~~~~~~
In the back hall of the Pingjiang Prefecture Prefectural Government Office, the prefect's name was Ma Cheng. He was short and stout, with a bloated belly and a large bulging stomach, yet he had served as prefect for many years.

This man was also a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in two examinations. He became a disciple of Shi Miyuan and rose to prominence a few years ago, eventually becoming the prefect of Pingjiang Prefecture.

After Shi Miyuan's death, his upward momentum slowed down, but he made a fortune in Suzhou. He was indifferent to whether or not he would be promoted. Suzhou was indeed a wealthy place, and he made a lot of money there. There were many beautiful women in Jiangnan, and he had a particular fondness for the "slender horses" of Yangzhou. He had just bought a few more from Yangzhou.

At this moment, the prefect was shirtless, blindfolded with a cloth strip, and playing hide-and-seek with four or five Yangzhou "skinny horses".

He was like a fleshy ball with arms and legs, waving his hands around and spewing vulgarities, completely different from his usual image as a prefect. "My little beauties, whoever is the first to be caught by me will serve me tonight. Serve me well and play with my eighteen moves. Tonight I want to try the fish-biting-sheep move. If you serve well, there will be a big reward."

The Yangzhou "slender horses" have received professional training since childhood and know best how to please men. Now they are all joking around Ma Cheng.

They seemed to not want Ma Cheng to catch them, but they would occasionally move closer to him, letting his hand grab their bodies before quickly slipping away, just to prevent him from succeeding. This game of cat and mouse made Ma Cheng increasingly eager to get his hands on them.

Just as Ma Cheng was happily chasing after pretty girls, he suddenly realized that the playful noises that had been surrounding him had suddenly disappeared, and no girls were suddenly bumping into him anymore. Just as he was wondering about this, he suddenly heard the sound of people drinking tea at the octagonal table next to him.

Ma Cheng's eyebrows immediately shot up, thinking that the beauties had come up with a new trick. He thought to himself that he had caught them off guard, and pounced on them, grabbing at the person who was drinking tea with both hands: "Let's see where you run now."

The one drinking tea was naturally Wu Chengyu. A mere prefectural magistrate couldn't stop him. He easily entered the back hall and then used his finger strength to put all the girls to sleep.

The prefectural government office is full of fine things. Ma Cheng considers himself refined, enjoys luxury, and has plenty of money.

On the octagonal table is this year's new tea, which has always been used as tribute tea. However, it is estimated that the new tea that the emperor drinks is the one he left over.

The water used was also the best spring water in Suzhou, Lu Yu Well in Tiger Hill, known as the third best spring in the world, which is most suitable for brewing tea. Wu Chengyu couldn't resist pouring himself a cup of tea first, gently blowing away the tea foam, and slowly savoring it.

As he drank, he looked with disgust at the pair of fat hands reaching for him. The hands were thick and fleshy, with short, thick fingers, like little radishes. Not only were the hands ugly, but he also had no idea what they had grabbed before.

Ma Cheng had a premonition that he was about to catch the little beauty, and that what followed should be a wild and exciting time, but suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his hands. Not only were they painful, but they were also weak and powerless, and he could not control them from hanging down.

He was about to scream when he realized that someone had struck a spot on him, and he could no longer make a sound.

Next, his knees buckled and he knelt on the ground. Ma Cheng finally regained his senses and realized that something was wrong. He was sweating profusely and could only struggle to keep himself from collapsing. He couldn't even remove the strip of cloth in front of him. He knelt down in front of Wu Chengyu in a very respectful manner.

The scene was rather bizarre. All the young prostitutes from Yangzhou had fallen into a deep sleep, and the dignified Prefect Ma was kneeling there, shirtless, wearing only shorts, with his eyes covered by a cloth, mumbling incessantly, unable to speak. No one knew what had happened.

Wu Chengyu wasn't in a hurry. He slowly sipped his tea. Over the years, he had been busy wandering around. This kind of feudal bureaucratic enjoyment was really hard to resist.

After swallowing the tea, he reached out and removed the cloth strip from Ma Cheng's eyes. Only then did Ma Cheng realize that he was kneeling in front of a middle-aged man. He assumed that he had encountered a wandering knight-errant, a knight-errant who used his martial arts to break the law. He thought that these officials who preyed on the people were afraid of such desperate people.

It's worth mentioning that Wu Chengyu came to see Ma Cheng today with Su Daqiang's face. Calling him a middle-aged man is a bit of a stretch; he looks too old, with a face full of fat and two big puffy eyes, which is definitely memorable.

Since Shi Miyuan's death, these officials have been afraid of martial arts practitioners, and have had to keep martial arts masters as guards. Ma Cheng also recruited a few, all of whom were known as "Invincible Divine Fist" or "Bloody Hand Butcher," and their names were so famous that no one knew when they sneaked into his back room.

Ma Cheng cursed the guards in his heart, but he had no choice but to accept that he was now in the hands of martial arts practitioners. His body began to tremble uncontrollably, and if he could speak, he probably would have begged for mercy long ago.

"Prefect Ma, you have quite the refined taste. However, you are so obese, and your kidneys are quite weak. You should take better care of your health in the future."

My name is Su Daqiang. Just remember it as that for now. It's a fake name anyway, and even this face is fake. As for my true appearance, you are not worthy to know.

However, I've changed my face; I wonder if you'll remember me.

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Chengyu's face slowly changed, transforming into the same face he had when he assassinated Shi Miyuan—the same honest and easygoing face with thick eyebrows and big eyes.

Ma Cheng felt a strange sense of familiarity upon seeing the face, as if he had indeed seen it somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place it.

Seeing Ma Cheng's puzzled look, Wu Chengyu had no choice but to give a hint: "Six or seven years ago, at the Royal Manor in Langdang Ridge, Hangzhou, does that remind you of anything?"

Now Ma Cheng finally knew who it was. Back then, Wu Chengyu used this face to assassinate Shi Miyuan. Apart from Shi Miyuan and those few experts who were killed by him, there were quite a few other witnesses present.

Although the arrest warrants for criminals in this era never depicted the same person, there were always painters skilled in realism. Shi Miyuan was a high-ranking official, and after his assassination, Qingyun's face was still painted very realistically, with a similarity of nearly 90%.

As Shi Miyuan's confidant, Ma Cheng lost his backer and his path to advancement after Shi Miyuan's death. He hated the assassin to the bone and carefully examined the assassin's portrait. He even still keeps one in his study.

If it weren't for the fact that several years had passed, he might have recognized him on the spot.

But it's not too late to recognize him now; Ma Cheng is about to soil himself.

(End of this chapter)