The military ships did not retreat.181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXwgB7hLH7
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf3j9rvwh1T
For a moment, after the purple shockwave, they had hesitated. Their masts had swayed. Their crews had shouted in confusion. But now, under the cold gaze of their commanders, they formed a new line.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2C8Hb8aOq
Five ships became seven. Seven became ten. The emperor had not sent only five. He had sent a fleet.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyfmqBAjeUt
General Feng Jian stood at the railing, counting. "Twelve ships," he whispered. "Twelve warships, fully armed."
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4Z3JPQZt8
Behind him, Liang Wei lay on the bloody deck, his left arm limp, his chest stained red. His right hand still gripped the sword the general had given him. His eyes were closed, but his lips moved.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmfa3HkA0L
"General."
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWxeDrKBDcl
Feng Jian spun. "Master. You should not speak. Save your strength."
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ81JPBnESSc
"They will not stop," Liang Wei said, his voice quiet but steady. "The emperor wants me dead. He will sink this ship with everyone aboard. You, the servants, the crew – all of it swept away so no witnesses remain."
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdBxFUMdW0u
"Then what do we do?"
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtY9NqbW0DJ
Liang Wei opened his eyes. They were tired, but they burned.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3bDu2cPP4g
"We fight."
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwI1HhBxc8
He rose.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCHXTsgA9At
His body screamed. The arrow in his chest ground against bone. The arrow in his back pulled at muscle and he ached with every breath. But he rose.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0g3r9EKTdN
He stood on the deck, sword in hand, facing the twelve warships.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH5TcGsJH3y
"Everyone below deck," he said. "Now."
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBDFkNVqm5
"But Master—"
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ567eXNuHgN
"Now!"
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFb3sm61Lgd
The servants scrambled for the hatch. The crew followed. Only General Feng Jian remained.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYYD0qBOgJ
"I stay," the general said. "I fight beside you."
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxBLU6GysWe
Liang Wei did not argue. There was no time.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNw00HPHsb
The first cannon fired.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAOXbhoPSm
A ball of iron, trailing smoke, flew straight for the junk's mast. Liang Wei's sword moved. It became a blur – not a single blade, but a hundred, a thousand. The Phoenix Wings technique: endless slashes, each one cutting the air, each one deflecting death.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTO78fCzlN3
The cannonball struck the sword's invisible wall and split in two. The halves flew past the junk, splashing into the sea on either side.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz9jyERm0sy
Two more cannons fired. Liang Wei's sword danced. The balls split. The junk rocked but held.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqH056OjbQ
Four more cannons. Six. Eight.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkx4H5bZmeW
The Phoenix Wings could not cover everything.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqLTxoYOzA
A cannonball struck the railing, splintering wood. Another tore through the sail. A third hit the mast – not breaking it, but cracking it deep.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEDQB0L6Z2B
Liang Wei moved faster. His sword became a golden blur. Sweat mixed with blood. His left arm hung useless, but his right arm never stopped.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJWHEVUb1P
The ships were closer now. He could see the crews loading cannons, lighting fuses, aiming.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV2VM9r0HyY
Another volley. Twelve balls at once.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhtkxrGD21
The Phoenix Wings met them. Eleven split. The twelfth slipped through.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxU8lFZ8dRZ
It struck Liang Wei in the chest.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8WsEKRbYFi
The impact lifted him off his feet. He flew backward, slammed into the mast, and fell to his knees. The sword clattered from his hand.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIPa749kclR
"Master!" General Feng Jian ran to him.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6AF6alBN6
Liang Wei looked down. The cannonball had not pierced his skin – his cultivated body was too tough for that. But the dent was deep, pressing against his sternum. Every breath was agony.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEVIVoXn0W
He looked up. More ships were arriving. Fifteen now. Twenty.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZa0SYx62SL
He knew then. He could not win. He could not save the junk. He could not save the crew.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipm2VLbg2C
But he could give them a chance.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMdQAsk6lj
He grabbed the rope.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡufGqfLGIQL
It was thick – the main rope that ran from the mast to the bow. He wrapped it around his right hand, once, twice, three times. Then he pushed off the deck.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8WZDLjOJKv
He did not jump. He launched.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOePtl8K2vj
His body flew into the air, trailing the rope behind him. Up he went, higher than the mast, higher than the clouds of smoke from the cannons. The rope pulled taut. The junk lurched forward.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCoTouWBwY
At the apex of his arc, he looked down.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuLAK2x07MO
Twenty warships. Fifty cannons. A hundred archers with purple flames.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjhByJ4kSXI
He let go of the rope.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfjm6F703y
He fell.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwfbcvE1V7
Not toward the junk. Toward the sea between the junk and the fleet.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9TZgi6xBDL
He hit the water like a meteor.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeaqIzgmqyG
The impact was not a splash. It was an explosion. A wave rose – not a ripple, not a swell, but a wall of water fifty feet high. It surged outward, away from Liang Wei's body, pushing against the fleet.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQudwu7QQYy
The warships were tossed like toys. They spun, they crashed into each other, they lost their masts and their anchors. The wave rolled over them, dousing their cannons, washing their crews overboard.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPI5RBCACm
And the wave pushed the junk.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vDiufw4J4
The junk shot forward, riding the crest, skimming across the water faster than any sail could carry it. The crew held onto anything they could. The servants screamed. General Feng Jian grabbed the railing and held on.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsRlK0emq2v
The wave carried them a mile. Two miles. Three.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiMeKxPs1Es
Then it subsided.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfagEaDGOn6
The junk slowed. The sea grew calm.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhi2bOKPXoU
Behind them, the fleet was a scattered mess of broken ships and drowning men.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZaXfBYh9D
Aboard the junk, the crew rose shakily to their feet. The servants crawled out of the hold. General Feng Jian ran to the railing and looked over the side.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbQut3wkih2
Liang Wei was hanging onto the rope.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8lFZ9MT6Hb
He had pulled himself up, hand over hand, despite the dent in his chest, despite the arrows in his flesh. He climbed the rope slowly, painfully, until he reached the railing.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAtAOt6KmTq
The general reached down and hauled him aboard.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2S760K4BdA
Liang Wei collapsed on the deck.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNs0u3Z8cK
His robe was soaked red and blue – blood and seawater. Arrow shafts stuck out of his chest and back. A deep purple bruise spread across his ribs where the cannonball had struck. His face was burned – blackened by the purple flames, raw and blistered.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL1g6V0sXcz
He was not breathing.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoucJ9jURZZ
No – he was breathing. Shallow. Slow. But breathing.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqhZearRyC
"Master," the general whispered. "Master, can you hear me?"
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJqRAFPUWdW
Liang Wei's eyes fluttered. He tried to speak, but only blood came out.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDolbcoI8p
The servants gathered around, weeping. The crew stood in a circle, their heads bowed. The young woman who had first seen the purple flames knelt beside Liang Wei and pressed a cloth to his wounds.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7z9cdtPKaK
"He saved us," she said. "He saved all of us."
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL782b9VVyo
General Feng Jian looked at the empty horizon. The fleet was gone. The purple flames were gone. Only the sea remained.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSm6JyVyliI
He turned back to Liang Wei.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8g8nAEQLDB
"Master, you fool," he said softly. "You absolute fool. You could have run. You could have saved yourself."
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt32QR8Yhsk
Liang Wei's lips moved.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqqvCXXdE3
The general leaned close.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡElzQj6yoe4
"…not a fool," Liang Wei whispered. "A teacher. Teachers do not run."
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFauzgIREYr
Then his eyes closed.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlNaklR1b8
His chest rose. Fell. Rose. Fell.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYJKgSvsMU
The general sat beside him, his sword across his knees.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0jflKjnXC
"We will protect you now, Master," he said. "As you protected us. Rest."
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡECHWkERSDM
The sun set over the water.181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3C60TY7Mk
and then Add to home screen.