Great Zhou Wensheng

Chapter 59 Scattered like stars in the sky, shrimp soldiers and mosquito guards!
Jiang Xingzhou's brows furrowed suddenly, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

He couldn't tell for a moment whether the green eyes belonged to a school of fish in the river or a group of water monsters.

"Brother Han, may I borrow your chess set?"

Han Yugui was still reeling from the defeat.
But then Jiang Xingzhou's sleeve suddenly glowed with a blue light, and he placed a palm on the center of the chessboard.

In an instant,
The blue light shot into the chessboard, exploding like a thunderclap.

Three hundred and sixty chess pieces floated into the air inside the chess box, drawing a black and white interwoven starry river trajectory within the cabin.

“[Scattered like stars]”

Jiang Xingzhou gave a clear shout and unleashed a four-character incantation.

With a wave of his hand, the chessboard and pieces flew out of the ship's window.

The chessboard, like a canopy, formed a vast net of nineteen lines, stretching out from a hundred feet away from the warship.

Three hundred and sixty black and white jade stones soared into the sky, spreading out along the crisscrossing net of heaven and earth on the river surface under the dark clouds, forming a dazzling star map.

They floated and scattered on the river surface hundreds of feet around the government ships, emitting black and white yin-yang light.

Once a water sprite bursts out of the water, it will surely collide with this ubiquitous array of sprites, triggering an explosion warning.

The sky is clouded over.

On the river, the wind was high and the waves were rough.

The deck of the ship was violently shaken by the impact of the giant waves.

At the bow of the ship, Zhao Tieshan, the county magistrate in charge of escorting the ship, was leaning back in a grand chair with his eyes closed, holding a scabbard in his arms.

The broadsword in his bosom was drawn three inches from its sheath with a sharp clang, startling him awake from his dozing.

County Lieutenant Zhao Tieshan suddenly opened his eyes.

This county magistrate, who had spent half his life in the military in Jiangyin County, sprang up like a hawk and rushed to the ship's side on the deck, looking out into the river.

In the dark green river, tiny, eerie green eyes, like will-o'-the-wisps, rose rapidly from the depths, their layers illuminating the surrounding hundred-foot-wide river surface.

In the deeper waters, dozens of huge, dark shadows with reflective scales could be vaguely seen swimming around.

"Water monsters are attacking the ship! All crew, prepare for action!"

Zhao Tieshan was terrified and roared, "Archers, swordsmen and shieldmen, get on the deck immediately and prepare for battle!"

"quick!"

Behind the arrow slits on the second floor, fifty elite soldiers instantly raised fifty mulberry wood bows, the arrowheads, soaked in tung oil, gleaming coldly under the dark clouds.

Looking down from the window, I saw the river outside.

"Swords and shields, defend!"

Fifty constables on the outer perimeter of the deck formed a defensive array with iron shields, their blades protruding from the gaps in the shields, resembling the gleaming armor of a giant tortoise.

"boom!"

A turbid wave, more than ten feet high, suddenly crashed onto the deck.

As the foam subsided, a scaly shrimp soldier captain named Shrimp Nineteen remained, perched on the tip of the dragon's head at the bow of the ship, his green eyes fixed menacingly on County Lieutenant Zhao Tieshan.

"Ugh——!"

It whistled.

"Wow!"

A hundred columns of water suddenly burst open on the surface of the river.

Then, hundreds of shrimp demons burst out of the water, their dark red armor gleaming with a rusty, bloody light, lean and wiry.

Their triangular pyramid-shaped heads turned their bulging eyes, and their shrimp blades, over ten feet long, tore through the mist, forming a line of blades in battle formation.

"Om-!"

A blood-red cloud rose from the water's surface, and a hundred mosquito demons emerged from the water, their wings flapping.

Its body, over ten feet long, vibrated with transparent wings, and it held a bloodthirsty spear—the Blood Marrow Spear.

This spear is a demonic weapon; it can not only kill enemies but also absorb their life essence to replenish its own vitality.

Large numbers of demons and demon soldiers stood in neat rows.

They had already surrounded the government ships that were transporting students from Jiangyin to take the imperial examinations.

Clearly, they were not ordinary scattered demons, but a well-trained demon army.

"Boom boom boom~!"

As they floated upwards, they collided with the scattered pieces, causing the black and white pieces to explode one after another.

Countless white and black flames exploded on the river surface.

This caused some confusion to the formation of the shrimp soldiers and mosquito guards on the river surface.

Unfortunately, the [Starry Sky] four-character incantation of the Childhood Realm was ultimately weak, and its power was scattered across a hundred-zhang range. With so many demon soldiers, the light and flames only left faint burn marks on their armor.

"Damn it! When did these demon soldiers bypass the Jiangyin Sluice Gate?"

County Lieutenant Zhao Tieshan's eyes widened, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his knuckles gripped the knife handle so tightly that it creaked.

A chill ran down his spine. Such an elite demon army formation, setting up an ambush after the ships passed the Jiangyin sluice gates, was no spur-of-the-moment decision. Their arrival must have been anticipated by the demon soldiers long ago; they simply launched their attack now.

but,

How did the demon race obtain such detailed information about the whereabouts of the Jiangyin official ship on its journey to Jiangzhou Prefecture?
This was Cai Chao, the county education commissioner, who made a last-minute decision yesterday to escort the students from Jiangyin to Jiangzhou for the imperial examinations, two months ahead of schedule!
"groove!

Rebellious intellectuals!

They must have learned of the leaked whereabouts to the demon race!

Zhao Tieshan suddenly remembered something, and immediately realized what was happening. His face was contorted with rage, and veins bulged on his forehead.

Only a rebellious scholar lurking in Jiangyin County could so accurately pinpoint the departure time of the government's warships.

The three decks of the ship were in turmoil.

The more than three hundred students were alarmed and flocked to the windows on the third floor to watch. The faces of the young boys were filled with fear and shock.

They had also read military books and strategies, and knew that the borders of the Great Zhou Dynasty were at war with various barbarian and demon kingdoms.

Who would have thought that the description in the book of the demon race being "as red as the tide and as blood-stained as the forest" would now be vividly presented before their eyes?
"That's... the Mosquito Demon's Bloodthirsty Gun!"

Zhou Guangjin's voice trembled.

Even Li Yunxiao, who was usually the most domineering, was now gripping the window frame tightly, his fingertips turning white, without uttering a sound.

"And there are also red-armored shrimp soldiers. Shouldn't they be on the East China Sea defense line?"

Lu Ming frowned and said.

Let alone a student who has only completed a preliminary studies.

Even the county magistrate Zhao Tieshan on the first and second floors, along with the soldiers, yamen runners, and officers, had panic in their eyes at this moment.

Jiangyin has been at peace for a long time, and they have rarely encountered demonic soldiers attacking them.

Dark clouds, accompanied by torrential rain, poured down.

"No, the demonic forces are too overwhelming! Raise the sails of the warships—!"

Instructor Zheng's roar tore through the rain.

"Crench!"

In the murky river water, one could vaguely hear the ear-piercing sound of countless sharp claws scraping against iron armor.

"Raise the sails! Raise the sails quickly!"

The five-zhang-tall ship trembled violently, and the giant sail on the mainmast, painted with the words "[Raise the sails and set sail]", suddenly unfurled.

The words "Jiangyin Wenyun" rose on the mainmast, and the flag fluttered wildly.

The two large vermilion characters "Great Wind" on the sail burst forth with a dazzling light, making the raindrops fall like golden threads.

The 360 ​​stones inlaid on the ship's armor lit up simultaneously, and the talent flowed into the sails like a river, making the Wenchang star on the "Jiangyin Wenyun" flag shine with golden light.

With the help of the wind, the sails are propelled.

"Wow~!"

In an instant, the entire ship seemed to receive divine assistance, suddenly rising three zhang (approximately 10 meters) in height.

The heavy, five-zhang-long (approximately 10 meters) warship began to leave the water and rise into the air.

To prevent the demon soldiers from drilling through the bottom of the ship, causing it to sink.

However, the ship was too huge and heavy, and the behemoth took off very slowly.

The ship struggled to raise its sails and ascend amidst a roar.
Five zhang, ten zhang!

The gemstones inlaid in the grooves of the ship's armor quickly lost their energy and began to crack one after another, prompting the crew to hurriedly replace them with new ones.

That's too late!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

One hundred shrimp soldiers were launched from the water with a "splash" and soared into the sky, their dark red shells drawing blood-red arcs in the rain.

Their eyes gleamed with bloodlust as they brandished their ten-foot-long blades and charged fiercely toward the deck.

They charged toward the yamen runners and shield-bearers on the first floor of the ship and the soldiers on the second floor who were armed with mulberry wood bows.

"Kill them! Block them!"
These shrimp soldiers are extremely fierce in close combat!
"Don't let them rush into the ship."

Zhao Tieshan roared, his wild goose-feather saber sweeping across, the blade energy like a crescent moon, severing the head of a shrimp soldier demon.

The foul-smelling green demon blood splattered on the deck, corroding and emitting wisps of blue smoke.

"kill!"

"Swordsmen and shieldmen in front, form ranks! Archers behind, load armor-piercing arrows!"

"Keng! Keng! Keng!"

Swordsmen and shieldmen formed ranks, the clashing of their iron shields shattering the rain. Behind them, mulberry wood bows were drawn taut like the moon, arrows soaked in tung oil whistling through the air as they shot towards the demon shrimp soldiers.

Five or six demonic shrimp had just skimmed over the mast when they were simultaneously pierced through their demonic armor by fifty dense arrows, and fell into the river with screams.

However, even more demon shrimp soldiers rushed onto the first deck of the ship.

(End of this chapter)