The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 65 Pig's Head
Next, Li Kuiqi pointed to more than ten islands, but Lin Qian rejected them all.

Each time, the reasons for rejection were lengthy and well-reasoned, leaving Li Kuiqi with no room for rebuttal.

Finally, unable to contain himself any longer, he slammed his fist on the table: "Brother Lin, do you really think I can't guess what you're up to?"

Lin Qian looked bewildered: "What do you mean by that, brother? All I want is a place to stay."

Li Kuiqi said, "Brother Lin, you're trying to stall for time, waiting for someone to rescue you, right? Even if your men are right outside the door, I can still kill you first!"

"And then he was hacked to death by my men?" Lin Qian's face also turned cold.

Sometimes, the relationship between people is simply a matter of who is more willing to go all out.

During their conversation, Lin Qian had already figured out Li Kuiqi's methods.

Li Kuiqi was arrogant and self-important. People like him all value their lives, and he only brought one boat to the island. It was clear that he wasn't there to commit suicide.

Even if he managed to kill Lin Qian by chance, thousands of islanders were still there. They considered the island their home and had nowhere else to go.

Li Kuiqi was still unable to get them to move out.

On the contrary, the islanders, freed from Lin Qian's control, plundered the surrounding area at will, attracting the imperial army to encircle and suppress them in the nearby waters, which was even more disadvantageous to Li Kuiqi.

Therefore, killing Lin Qian would not only be pointless, but would also be counterproductive.

Lin Qian saw through this, which is why she retorted so firmly.

As expected, Li Kuiqi's momentum diminished slightly, and he sneered, "So, Brother Lin is determined to occupy Nan'ao Island and become an enemy of Master Li?"

Seeing this, Lin Qian calmed down and simply played with her teacup in silence.

Li Kuiqi clenched his fists, his fierce eyes fixed on Lin Qian, and said hatefully, "Master Li has a thousand warships and tens of thousands of sailors under his command. You'd better think this through!"

Before Lin Qian could answer, someone outside shouted, "Brother, that gunboat is coming this way!"

Li Kuiqi stood up, staring fiercely at Lin Qian, seemingly lost in thought.

Bai Langzai stepped forward, drew his dagger, and gripped it in his hand.

After a moment's thought, Li Kuiqi slammed his fist on the table. With a crisp crack, all four legs of the tea table broke, and a hole was smashed through the tabletop.

Tea was splashed all over the table, and teaware shattered on the floor with a crackling sound.

"You'd better watch yourself!" Li Kuiqi said harshly before leaving.

After the footsteps faded into the distance, Lin Qian stood up and coldly swept her gaze over Commander Huang.

Huang Hetai shrank back in fright and hurriedly said, "He asked me to call the leaders. I didn't know the two leaders didn't get along. Next time this person comes, I will definitely inform the leaders in advance."

Lin Qian leaned close to his ear and said coldly, "It's alright. Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon. I'll have someone bring a generous gift to the garrison commander tomorrow."

The words were kind, but they carried a strong threat, and Huang Hetai felt goosebumps all over his body.

He only breathed a sigh of relief after Lin Qian left.

After leaving the house, Lin Qian quickly walked out of the General's Mansion and arrived at the dock.

The Haicang ship had already weighed anchor and set sail, slowly heading out to sea.

Li Kuiqi stood at the stern of the ship, staring at Lin Qian with an arrogant expression on his face.

At this time, the Santa Ana was circling the ridge of Mount Guolao.

Li Kuiqi spotted the St. Anna ship from afar, his arrogance growing even stronger. He pointed at the St. Anna, then at himself, and then looked at Lin Qian provocatively.

The Haicang boat, with all three sails fully extended, quickly sailed far away. Li Kuiqi's face was no longer visible through the binoculars, but his fierce eyes were still fixed on the shore with murderous intent.

At this moment, his men had already found a small boat.

Lin Qian put away her binoculars and led the rest of her men onto the small boat.

White Wave Boy rowed, and the small boat nimbly turned and headed towards the large sailboat.

The first thing Lin Qian did upon boarding the ship was to order a pursuit of Li Kuiqi in the direction he had gone.

However, the Haicang boat was moving very fast, and in the vast sea, it had already disappeared from sight.

The Saint Anna sailed in the direction where the Haicang ship disappeared for two hours, but did not find any trace of it on the sea.

The sky was overcast, and it looked like it was going to rain. The visibility on the sea was getting lower and lower.

Knowing that continuing the pursuit would be fruitless, Lin Qian ordered the large sailboat to return to port.

As the large sailboat docked, rain finally began to fall from the gloomy sky.

Lin Qian had the crew buy a live pig from a merchant, which was then slaughtered and served as the crew's dinner.

The crew members had no idea what joyous occasion was happening today, but it was always good to have fresh pork to eat, so they all went up to the deck to help slaughter the pig.

After dinner was ready, Lin Qian called Bai Qing to come aboard so they could eat stewed pork together.

During the meal, Lin Qian casually asked, "Is there any way to sneak into the General's Mansion in Shen'ao Port?"

……

The next day.

The sky cleared after the rain, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

In a side room of the General's Mansion, Huang Hetai woke up early, feeling refreshed. Recalling yesterday's events, he still felt a lingering fear; neither of the two pirate leaders was someone he could afford to offend.

Fortunately, it's all in the past now.

Leader Li slunk away.

Chief Lin didn't make things difficult for him.

What a blessing.

He was about to get out of bed to get dressed when he turned over and felt a patch of cold water on his skin.

Huang Hetai felt uneasy and touched it again. The water stains were still a bit slippery. When he reached forward again, he touched a cold limb.

Huang Hetai jumped out of bed as if he had been pricked with a needle and threw off the covers.

The scene before him terrified him so much that his eyes widened in horror.

A dead pig's head was placed on the bed, surrounded by dark red pig's blood, which soaked through the bedding.

A stench wafted towards me.

Huang Hetai immediately started gagging and rushed into the yard, taking several deep breaths of sea air before he recovered.

"Commander Huang." A soldier came up to greet him.

"Get out!" Huang Hetai roared.

Seeing that the garrison commander was in a bad mood, the soldier immediately slipped away.

Huang Hetai understood that this was Lin Qian's warning to him.

Only then did Huang Hetai feel a wave of fear.

Unlike a general who could build his own private army, he could only scrape together enough money to barely support himself.

If they wanted to survive, they had no choice but to submit to Lin Qian, the leader of the pirates.

Huang Hetai looked up at the sky and sighed deeply, "What a tragedy!"

……

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the island's fortified village had taken initial shape.

Lin Qian would go ashore to inspect the area every day.

At his request, watchtowers were built on the hilltops of both Guolaoshan and Dajianshan islands.

There are people on duty in shifts throughout the twelve hours.

Not only can one see all the activity in Shen'ao Port, but also the surrounding sea area for dozens of miles.

A fence was built around the village on the island, and people patrolled and guarded the area day and night.

The blacksmith quickly made a batch of spearheads, attached them to wooden shafts, and made them into simple long spears. This kind of weapon was basically enough for every patrolman to have one.

Further away, near the trees on the south side of the island, there were broken pieces of porcelain strung together with thin ropes. If the enemy touched them, they would make a sound, serving as an early warning.

These were all preparations made in preparation for an attack by Li Kuiqi.

Lin Qian once sent someone to ask Huang Hetai, but even Huang Shoubei didn't know where Li Kuiqi's garrison was.

All that is known is that Li Kuiqi has thousands of pirates under his command, and every three months he goes to Tuolin Bay to deliver reports to the general's men.

Tuolin Bay is located on the northern shore of Nan'ao Island.

Li Kuiqi goes there every three months, which means that his activity range is not far from Nan'ao Island, so we must be careful.

Perhaps due to effective defense, the island has been very peaceful lately.

The lookout towers on the two hilltops often saw passing merchant ships, making many people eager to join them.

However, Lin Qian felt that with Li Kuiqi lurking outside, it was best not to cause any unnecessary trouble, so she did not allow her subordinates to plunder.

While inspecting the defenses, Lin Qian also checked the construction progress of the fortress daily.

It must be said that the craftsmen of this era are very conscientious. They are meticulous in everything from workmanship to materials, and the houses they build have almost no quality problems.

There are not many shops on the island at present. Apart from a few blacksmith shops, there are only a few casinos, brothels and clinics located in the shops.

Most of the other vendors would come by boat early in the morning, sell their goods, and then return by boat in the evening.

No one has yet realized the economic value of this place.

When Lin Qian was on his inspection tour, he saw that some shops in good locations were vacant, which he felt was a waste. So he simply took out his own money to buy them and hired people to run the businesses.

When business is good, the brothers who have made contributions will be rewarded.

To date, Lin Qian has opened one restaurant, one inn, and one dessert shop.

Just as I was considering whether to open another clothing store.

A crew member rushed over, his face full of anxiety, and said, "Captain, Zhou Zhiku and the others have run into trouble!"

(End of this chapter)