The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 69 The Suicide Boat

Lin Qian and Zheng Zhilong came down from the watchtower.

Lin Qian's face had lost its previous solemnity, replaced by a sharp look of confidence.

His gaze swept over the islander guarding the tower, who panicked and knelt down, saying, "I was blind, please punish me, Master."

Lin Qian gave Zheng Zhilong a wink, and Zheng Zhilong immediately said, "Get up and await the captain's judgment!"

The islander guarding the tower rose nervously, and Lin Qian handed him the binoculars: "You can use this 'all-seeing eye' for now. You keep an eye on my spies on that reef. Record when they come, when they leave, who they meet, what they eat, and what they excrete. Report to me every day, understand?"

The islander guarding the tower took the binoculars and nodded emphatically.

Lin Qian softened her tone again: "If you do this job well, you will be blameless and even meritorious. I will reward you with a fishing boat."

"Really?" The islander guarding the tower was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly after realizing what he had said.

……

On the way down the mountain, Lin Qian said to Zheng Zhilong, "Don't arrange for anyone else to guard the tower for the next few days. Let him guard the tower during the day, and find someone to take over at night. Also, find a few more people to bring up the daily meals."

Zheng Zhilong: "Don't worry, Captain, I understand."

Even in Manila, telescopes are a rare commodity, let alone in the Ming Dynasty.

While in Manila, Lin Qian bought several telescopes, most of which she disassembled to make sextants, keeping only two with her.

This made it impossible for him to set up more sentry posts to monitor the informants.

Therefore, this watchtower on the hilltop is of particular importance.

After descending the mountain, Lin Qian sent islanders to pretend to be fishing and sail around to the waters behind the informant to scout, but they did not see any large ships following them.

Now that the informant has been found, there's no point in keeping watch on the Hu residence. Lin ordered his men to go ashore and bring Bai Qing back.

Two days later, Lin Qian had basically figured out the pattern of the informant's activities.

Basically, they would go to the reef at dawn and then take a boat to the southwest shore before dark.

Because almost no ships leave port at night these days, and visibility is too low at night, no lookouts are arranged for the night.

……

Early that morning, after roll call, Lin Qian ordered the Saint Anna to weigh anchor and leave port.

Lei Sanxiang shouted to the crew: "Prepare to weigh anchor! Everyone to the winch position! Hurry up, get running!"

Chen Jiao looked up at the wind flags on the mast and shouted, "Wind from the southeast, port side with the wind."

Lin Qian said, "Let's drive along the coastline."

Chen Jiao said to the helmsman, "Head due west."

After a long while, the Santa Ana weighed anchor, lowered its snow-white sails, and slowly sailed westward.

After passing Dajianshan Mountain on the west side of the island, Chen Jiao gave another order: "Side rudder, southwest, tighten the right sail rigging, watch the sail feet, and prepare to change the sail!"

With Chen Jiao's command, the helmsman and the helmsman moved in unison, their cooperation seamless, and the St. Anna turned smoothly.

As the sails filled with wind again, the speed gradually increased.

Lin Qian walked to the stern deck and saw that Nan'ao Island was getting smaller and smaller, gradually shrinking into a dot in the sea and sky.

Lin Qian took out her binoculars and looked towards the horizon. After searching for a moment, she indeed found a sampan directly behind her, with a person standing on it, rowing vigorously.

Unfortunately, the Santa Ana was sailing at full speed, reaching a speed of 8 knots, which was beyond the reach of human rowing.

Through the telescope, the silhouette of the sampan was shrinking.

Lin Qian put down her binoculars and, after a long while, asked, "Where are we?"

Standing next to him, Chen Jiao said, "Ahead is the southern mouth of the Exi River, and further ahead is Ma'er'ao."

"Fold up the mainsail and foresail," Lin Qian ordered. "Prepare to anchor temporarily at Mal'ao." "Yes," Chen Jiao responded, loudly relaying the order to Liao Shou.

As the large sailboat slowed down, the sampans rowing frantically behind it finally got a little closer.

……

And a dozen or so miles behind that sampan.

Bai Qing also stood on the small boat and rowed forward.

She couldn't see the sampan at all, let alone the Santa Ana. Lin Qian had informed her in advance that she was taking this route.

Therefore, when she finally arrived at Malta and saw the St. Anne and a sampan hiding behind the rocks in the distance, she couldn't help but feel glad that she hadn't lost them.

Bai Qing also imitated the sampan, hiding the boat behind the reef.

After hiding, she peeked out and quietly observed.

The man on the sampan in front of them was strong and powerful, clearly not a fisherman who relied on the weather for his livelihood.

The man stood barefoot on the ship, his eyes fixed on the direction of the Saint Anna.

Perhaps sensing the gaze, the person turned around without warning.

Bai Qing reacted extremely quickly, abruptly pulling her head back so as not to be noticed.

After waiting for a long time behind the rocks, Bai Qing, holding a dagger, quietly peeked out from behind the rocks again.

The man was already sitting on the sampan, chewing on dried fish.

After finishing his meal, he straightened up, glanced at the Santa Ana, and bent down to pick up a knife from the sampan to wipe it clean.

Bai Qing could see clearly that the knife was covered in reddish-brown rust, which could not be removed no matter how long he tried to wipe it off.

This is blood rust. Judging from the degree of corrosion, the blood stains should have been present for no more than ten days.

Bai Qing had a strong premonition that this person was one of the members who hijacked the ship in Mal'ao. She would dive over in one breath, drag him into the water, and subdue him without breaking a sweat, thus forcing him to reveal Zhou Xiucai's whereabouts.

Since the captain only allowed her to keep watch, she wouldn't presume to do anything else.

After the Saint Anne anchored in Malta, the crew was taken ashore by small boat for a search.

The shore was deserted, overgrown with reeds that stretched as far as the eye could see.

The crew searched all day without success. As the sun began to set, the sound of a gong came from the Santa Ana.

Upon hearing the gong, the crew returned to shore and boarded small boats to return to the Santa Ana.

Once all the crew members were aboard, the Santa Ana extended its crane to retrieve the small boat, and then raised its sails again to return to port.

The man on the sampan had been waiting for a long time and was extremely bored. He spent the whole afternoon polishing his knife again and again and catching all the crabs and mussels on the rocks in front of him.

Seeing the Santa Ana returning to port, they finally mustered their strength and rowed out of the Santa Ana's sight.

Just when Bai Qing thought the man was about to row over, he remained motionless.

Only after the St. Anna had gone far away did the man get up and row, heading straight for Bai Qing.

Bai Qing's heart started racing. She lowered her body, only peeking out from between the rocks with her eyes, staring intently at the man. With one hand, she steered the boat slowly around the reef, avoiding his line of sight.

Fortunately, Bai Qing was a skilled boatman. He rowed with one hand without making a sound, while keeping close to the reef without any bumps or knocks.

The man drove right past the rock where Bai Qing was hiding without noticing anything amiss.

Only after the man had sailed away did Bai Qing breathe a sigh of relief, wipe his forehead, and find that he was covered in sweat.

Looking through the crack in the rock, Bai Qing saw that the person was heading southeast, and she immediately became suspicious.

That direction was clearly the open sea, and there were no islands on the sea. It was getting dark, and he was rashly sailing there in a small boat. Was he trying to commit suicide?
(End of this chapter)