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Two dark figures rushed in, swearing loudly. Minglan was ready for this and cooperated with Dangju to pull the rope lying on the ground hard and trip them up. With a crash, the one in front fell down first. By the dim light from outside, Xiaotao mustered all her strength and hit the man on the head with the iron pan. The man let out a low cry of pain and fainted.
The other pirate staggered but balanced himself at once. When he saw a roomful of girls, he opened his mouth and wanted to shout for help. A maid immediately lifted a wooden bench and swung it on him. The pirate gave a choked cry, shaking like a leaf. Then another maid jumped up and knocked him down. Minglan leapt up with a big stride and stepped on his chest, and then stabbed him in the chest with the sharp hairpin. Blood gushed out like a stream. He was going to utter a shrill cry but his mouth was immediately crammed with plant ash by a maid. Then he was struck many times over the head before he fell into a coma. A disgusting smell of blood filled the cabin.
Dangju felt nausea, but she held back and gently closed the door. Minglan instructed the girls to bind the two unconscious pirates tightly with ropes and stuffed their mouths with rags, preventing them from making sounds. After that, seven girls in the cabin, including Minglan, looked at one another. After defeating the two pirates, they regained their courage, fear in their eyes replaced by excitement now.
After a peal of noise above them, things quieted down. A few words came through vent-hole, “There’s no one here! Go elsewhere to find them.” The girls’ faces beamed with joy. Minglan also heaved a sigh of relief. But suddenly there was a rough shout from above, loud and clear. The girls pricked up their ears and listened carefully, “… These women said that their lady was still on the ship. Come on, guys. Let’s go to the lower hold and catch them. There are also several beautiful young girls. We can have a hot night with them.”
Minglan turned pale. Luzhi began to curse, “Damn it! Lady, how dare they betray you!” Minglan couldn’t wait any longer. She barked at the girls, “Take off your coats and jump into the river!”
Now it was early winter. The girls all wore thick satin cotton-padded coats. They undressed the coats and jumped into the river one by one. Outside, there came a loud noise. The heavy footsteps came closer to the cabin, which panicked the girls. So they threw themselves into the river quickly.
Minglan felt biting cold as soon as she entered the water. Fortunately, it was not midwinter now. She heard shouts of cursing, “Shit! They have jumped into the river. Hurry up! We should catch them.” Minglan immediately began to swim with steady strokes. She tried her best to ignore the chill and exerted all her strength to swim towards the opposite bank. Behind her some pirates jumped into the water with splashes. A burst of girl’s scream ensued. Someone must be caught. Minglan took in a large gulp of air and sank under the water, trying not to let her head expose on the surface of the water.
Just a few seconds later, an arm wrapped around her waist from behind. Minglan was greatly frightened and immediately stretched out her legs to kick backward. But the person behind her was dexterous and quick in action, who turned over to Minglan’s side and pressed some specific points of her arms. Minglan felt her arms aching and limp at once. Then the person held her closely. They were so close that Minglan realized right away that it was a woman.
The woman flung her legs several times and surfaced with Minglan. Toward the cold wind, Minglan took a deep breath. And the next second the woman grasped Minglan’s chin and turned her face over. Minglan got a pain and hissed slightly. Then the woman shouted loudly with joy, “Eureka! I’ve found her!”
Minglan regained her strength and immediately thrust her elbow into the woman’s chest. The woman gave a cry of pain. But she quickly responded and pressed the acupoints on Minglan’s arms harder. Obviously, she had studied kung fu, and it was easy for her to control Minglan. She smiled, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to save you. You are the sixth lady of Sheng family, right? They told me that you had two dimples… Hey, come on! I am here!”
Just when she finished the sentence, Minglan heard the sounds of oars flapping against the water before she showed a surprised look. A boat with several big lanterns hanging came to them. The woman was a good swimmer. She seized Minglan round the waist, lifted her up and pressed her against the side of the boat. Then a pair of big strong hands caught her by the shoulders and pulled her up.
As soon as she left the water, the cold wind chilled her to the bone as if there were numerous needles stinging her body. But soon someone wrapped a thick cotton quilt around her thoroughly. The woman in the water also climbed onto the boat. Through her own messy wet hair, Minglan saw a bear-like man covering her with the quilt.
Minglan was shivering all over. The boat was illuminated by the lanterns. She quickly looked around and saw several men standing on the boat. The man, who was busy wrapping the quilt around her, was tall and strong. He wore only an old black gown with his beard covering almost two-thirds of his face. There were no ornaments on him, but Minglan got a feeling of familiarity from his deep eyes.
Minglan blinked a few times and recognized him. A thrill of joy overwhelmed her and she cried out, “Uncle!”
At this moment, she finally understood the feeling when a victim, who was surrounded by a group of malicious hooligans in a dark alley, was rescued by the police in time, even though the police had fined her for no reason before.
Gu Tingye’s eyes lit up. Minglan couldn’t see the expression on his face clearly because of his bushy beard. He said in a low voice, “Can you recognize me?”
Minglan felt it strange that she could hear clearly every word that he said. In reality, there was a great noise over the river. The sounds of shouting, fighting and wailing flew up around them. She replied hastily, “Of course I can. You are my savior.”
Minglan was worried about her maids, such as Dangju, Xiaotao. So she came up to Gu Tingye and begged with a lovely smile on her white delicate face, “Uncle, my maids are still in the river. Please get them out of water. It’s so cold, and I’m afraid that they will catch a cold. So please hurry up.” Minglan always behaved like a likable, innocent girl when she asked for help.
Gu Tingye’s eyes darkened, a gleam of anger flashing through them. The faint light reflected off the river surface creating a flowing luminescence in his eyes. He seemed to want to give Minglan a glare, but finally held it back.