Wen Boyuan ordered the archers to keep firing into the sky, but few of their arrows found their targets. After more than a dozen vultures were shot down, the others evidently devised a countermeasure: they climbed out of bowshot before dropping their stones. This made the stones strike even harder, and dozens of holes had already been smashed through the deck. These vultures were immensely strong to begin with; an adult could even lift a calf. The smaller stones were the size of eggs, while the larger ones were as big as washbasins.
Panic swept through everyone aboard. Wen Boyuan cried, "Turn the rudder! Hurry, turn the rudder!" He was trying to get out of the vultures' attack range as quickly as possible.
Just then, a sailor fled up from below, shouting, "Disaster! Disaster! The lower hold is flooding!" Stones dropped by the vultures had pierced the hull, and river water was pouring madly through the holes in the hold.
At that moment, terrified cries came from the neighboring ship. "Fire! Fire!"
Everyone looked around but saw no sign of a fire on their own vessel. When they looked farther afield, they saw that it was Princess Anping's ship that was burning.
Wen Boyuan was frightened out of his wits. In his original plan, Hu Xiaotian should have been aboard the same vessel as Princess Anping. That ship would sink in the middle of the river, catching Hu Xiaotian, Princess Anping, and their entire party in a single net. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected to encounter such an attack midriver-or to be included among its targets.
One of his trusted warriors rushed to his side and shouted, "General, we must leave at once!" Several warriors escorted Wen Boyuan as they fled toward the lifeboats.
By now, the