"Husband, was your decision today too hasty? We know nothing about this person's identity or background. To agree so rashly might be..."
Seeing Wang Hao leave, Madam Lin, who had remained silent until now, couldn't help but speak up to remind him, her expression full of worry.
After all, Wang Hao's origins are unknown, and it's impossible to determine whether he's a friend or foe. Making such a decision is far too risky.
With a sigh, Lin Zhennan said helplessly, "How could I not know the risks involved? But you know the current situation of the escort agency in the Jiangnan arts world. As the prestige left by our ancestors gradually dissipates, and our Lin family has no Grandmaster- level expert to guard it, disaster is bound to follow if this continues."
If this matter is not handled well, it will be a major blow to the prestige of the escort agency. However, if we can handle this matter with the help of this person, it will turn bad into good and restore the prestige of my Lin family. Therefore, I have decided to take a gamble!
In the end, Lin Zhennan revealed a resolute attitude, after all, he had no way out.
Noticing the worried look on his wife's face, Lin Zhennan gently comforted her, "My lady, there's no need to worry. Brother Wang said that we don't need to rush to Peach Blossom Island to fight the Japanese pirates head-on. We just need to deal with those ships. And if things go wrong, I can simply lead my men back. If I, Lin Zhennan, want to leave, those Japanese pirates can't stop me!"
"Since my husband has already made up his mind, I will say no more. However, it is best to be cautious. I will be waiting for your return here at Pingzhi!"
Seeing that her husband hadn't been blinded by passion, Madam Lin breathed a sigh of relief, but still offered him concerned reminders.
Leaving aside the arrangements made by Lin Zhennan and his wife, Wang Hao, after leaving the restaurant, went directly to the largest pharmacy in Hangzhou City. He spent all 50,000 taels of silver to buy medicinal herbs and asked the pharmacy to quickly prepare them into a medicinal meal to be taken to the small courtyard he had temporarily rented.
That's right, that's what he needed to prepare.
After all, a fierce battle is about to begin, and the losses will be considerable. Therefore, it is essential to replenish supplies before the battle.
This is because he lacks sufficient funds; otherwise, he would have certainly prepared a large pot of top-grade medicinal cuisine.
However, the quality of the medicinal food costing 50,000 taels was not bad, much better than that of Grade B medicinal food, and it was enough to cover the consumption during the battle.
As for why he rented a small courtyard, it was naturally to avoid revealing his terrifying appetite and thus exposing his identity.
Although this place is thousands of miles away from the capital, we still need to be careful to avoid any mishaps.
" Peach Blossom Island, oh Peach Blossom Island, let's hope we can reap some rewards!"
Arriving at the rented courtyard, Wang Hao looked due east, his heart filled with hope.
After all, that could very well be the former residence of Eastern Heretic Huang Yaoshi, the Eastern Heretic, and who knows, there might be Eastern Heretic his legacy there!
These inheritances are not only useful to him personally, but can also be given to Dongfang Bai to complete side quests and gain Fortune Points. It's a win-win situation, so why not?
Lin Zhennan arrived at the dock as promised and made all the necessary preparations. He brought with him over a hundred Second-rate fighters and several First-Rate experts, all of whom were the true elites of the Fuwei Escort Agency.
The Fuwei Escort Agency's ability to make such a name for itself in the Jiangnan martial arts world was certainly not due to Lin Yuantu's efforts alone; he had also taken in many powerful individuals in the past.
Even though the Fuwei Escort Agency has declined considerably, it still has some foundation.
To cooperate with Wang Hao's plan, Lin Zhennan also secretly recruited hundreds of sailors to prepare for seizing the Japanese pirates' ships.
Without saying much, he took Wang Hao and Wangcai aboard the ship and sailed towards Peach Blossom Island under the Nightfall.
Along the way, Lin Zhennan stood at the bow of the boat, looking around at the sea from time to time, as if searching for something. However, even after seeing Peach Blossom Island, he still couldn't find the target he was looking for.
Brother Wang, where are your men?
Finally, Lin Zhennan couldn't hold back any longer and asked where Wang Hao's men were.
After all, Wang Hao had previously stated that the main force would be handled by his side, but now not a single person had appeared, which made him very uneasy.
Wang Hao was taken aback at first, then smiled and replied, "Don't worry, my men have already infiltrated Peach Blossom Island. You just need to lead your men to stay outside the island, and when the shouts of battle start, move the ships anchored at the shore to prevent those Japanese pirates from escaping by boat."
Of course, he wouldn't say that he was the only main force, otherwise Lin Zhennan would definitely have turned the ship around and run away.
He needed this guy to cut off the Japanese pirates' retreat so that those beasts could be completely wiped out on Peach Blossom Island!
"I see!"
Lin Zhennan suddenly realized, but for some reason he felt something was off. However, he knew that it was not the right time to have such thoughts, so he focused all his attention on Peach Blossom Island, which was getting closer and closer.
To facilitate the surprise attack, he had the entire ship painted black, including the sails, making the whole vessel completely black and without any lights, blending perfectly into the Nightfall.
Therefore, even when they came within several miles of Peach Blossom Island, they were not detected by the Japanese pirates on the island.
"Alright, you can stay here and wait for your chance!"
After checking the distance, Wang Hao lowered a piece of driftwood he had prepared into the water, and then, dragging Wangcai, who was absolutely unwilling to go into the water, he jumped in.
There was no other way; his body density was too high, and if he jumped into the sea, he would definitely sink to the bottom. That's why this piece of driftwood was brought from the dock.
Even with the help of driftwood, Wang Hao could only barely stick half of his head out of the water. Wangcai, who was splashing around incessantly, fared better, at least his entire head was visible above the surface.
" Wangcai, let's go!"
Wang Hao called out to Wangcai, who had already barely adapted, and then swam rapidly toward Peach Blossom Island with the driftwood. Wangcai quickly followed.
"Chief escort, is he really trustworthy?"
After Wang Hao left, a bodyguard walked up to the bow of the ship and looked at Lin Zhennan with concern, clearly having doubts.
"What's there to be afraid of? We're not the main force; our job is just to keep watch outside."
Lin Zhennan's nonchalant attitude clearly indicated that he had planned ahead; even if something went wrong on Wang Hao's side, he could quickly respond and escape back.
Seeing that Lin Zhennan seemed to understand the situation, the other top -First-Rate bodyguards didn't say anything more, but simply gripped their weapons tightly, ready to deal with any unexpected situations.
Leaving aside Lin Zhennan's side who was making preparations at sea, Wang Hao on the other side quickly swam across several miles of seawater and quietly went ashore from a secluded spot, sneaking into Peach Blossom Island.
Although Peach Blossom Island is famous in Old Master Jin's novels, it is not very large, only a few miles in length and width. However, the island has beautiful scenery, especially with its many peach trees, hence the name Peach Blossom Island.
What's even more famous about this island is that it was once the former residence of Eastern Heretic Huang Yaoshi. Although the fame of that martial arts master has long since faded with the passage of time, Peach Blossom Island has been preserved.
Quietly sneaking into Peach Blossom Island, Wang Hao found a relatively high spot and, by the moonlight, took in the entire layout of the island.
Most of Peach Blossom Island is covered by peach groves, especially in the central area where the peach groves are even more abundant. In the center, there are flickering lights, indicating that someone lives there.
On the island's side near the harbor, large peach orchards have been cut down, and thousands of makeshift shacks have been built in their place.
Some Japanese pirates with samurai swords strapped to their waists were going in and out of the shacks. Outside, hundreds of bonfires were lit, where people were eating grilled fish and drinking fine wine. Some were even assaulting women who were struggling and crying out...
Upon seeing this scene, Wang Hao's murderous intent surged forth.
Those women are all Huaxia!
They must have been captured by these Japanese pirates and brought here specifically for their pleasure and humiliation.
Upon seeing this, Wang Hao disregarded any plans for testing the waters and charged down with his Shameless Greatsword.
Who goes there!
The Japanese pirates, as expected of being Da Ming threat to the Ming Dynasty, were highly vigilant and were detected before Wang Hao could even get close.
Unfortunately, even if you discover it, it's useless!
Wielding the Shameless Greatsword, Wang Hao moved like a tiger among sheep, unleashing the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle. His Sword Force was powerful and sweeping, and with each strike, one or even several Japanese pirates would perish.
The Japanese pirates tried to defend themselves with their swords, but Wang Hao now possessed a strength of 5,400 jin (approximately 2,500 kg), which was far beyond the capabilities of these Third-Rate pirates.
Even if they had the strength to resist, their Japanese swords were not capable of doing so.
Japanese swords are suitable for cutting, not for head-on armor-piercing attacks, let alone for a power-type martial artist like Wang Hao.
Besides, these are just Third-Rate Japanese pirates, and the Japanese swords they carry are at most made of Hundred-Forged Refined Iron.
After all, the Japanese Islands are rich in gold and silver mines, but iron ore is extremely scarce. The casting industry is far less developed than that of Huaxia, so the quality of the knives forged there is predictable.
Therefore, anyone who dared to confront Wang Hao head-on was killed by his blade; there was no other outcome.
As he charged wildly through the area, Wang Hao also threw bonfires at the surrounding shacks, causing fires and creating chaos.
Some of the abducted and humiliated women were decisive enough to help Wang Hao incite more chaos, which relieved a considerable amount of pressure on Wang Hao.
Such a commotion naturally alerted the high-ranking Japanese pirates living in the core area of Peach Blossom Island, and soon a group of skilled Japanese pirates rushed out from there.
It's possible that the commotion wasn't big enough to make the top-tier Japanese pirates feel the need to intervene, so only Second-rate- rate pirates rushed out this time.
Although they were much stronger than those Third-Rate Japanese pirates living on the outskirts, the difference was still limited. To Wang Hao, there was no difference; they were still the kind of people he could kill with a single sword strike.
He has now cultivated the External Training Golden Bell Shield to the late stage of the Peak Perfection, which is enough to completely ignore those weapons of the Hundred-Forged Refined Iron level, and even some weapons that are extremely close to the Thousand-Forged Refined Steel can be exempted.
Therefore, even though these Second-rate Japanese pirates were stronger and had better weapons, they still couldn't cause any harm to Wang Hao.
Even a small cut, if painstakingly made, will heal quickly thanks to the Bloodline Power.
Wang Hao rampaged through the Japanese pirates, and in less than a quarter of an hour, nearly a thousand pirates fell to his sword. Wherever there were many pirates, he would go and kill them.
His First-Rate of the Lightning Straight-Line Step technique granted him exceptional mobility and greatly increased his lethality.
The Japanese pirates suffered heavy losses, but Wang Hao's side made remarkable progress.
This advancement refers to the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle!
Back when he was at the Blood Robe Tower Elder Chu had emphasized that he needed to experience a fierce blood battle to imprint his own mark into the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle, so that he could truly transform the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle into his own unique martial art.
Originally, he wanted to go north to the grasslands and fight against the nomadic tribes that raided the borders of Huaxia, so as to master the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle.
But by a twist of fate, he ended up chasing Tian Boguang in Hangzhou City, where he happened to overhear news about Peach Blossom Island and the Japanese pirates.
This made him change his target!
Anyway, the Japanese pirates and those nomadic tribes from the grasslands who invaded Huaxia all deserve to be killed; it doesn't matter who they kill.