Chapter 11: River Bandits Confront the Head Constable

From somewhere within a thatched hut came the sound of a woman weeping and sobbing. Ma Pei stood nearby, speaking softly to soothe her.

“I’ll have Second and Third protect you on your way to the county town. Once I’ve taken care of the remaining matters in the stronghold, I’ll join you there,” he promised.

The woman collapsed into his embrace, her soft, slender arms winding languidly around his neck, her alluring voice laced with sorrow. “No, Ma Lang, I don’t want to be parted from you…”

She had once been a woman from a respectable family, but fate had delivered her into the hands of river bandits. Ma Pei, struck by her beauty and her pleasing manner, had kept her by his side, and in time, a certain affection had grown between them. Among the bandits, everyone called her “sister-in-law.”

Ma Pei quickly tightened his hold around her waist, forcing a look of reluctance onto his face. “We can’t linger here any longer. Take all our possessions and leave first. Then, we’ll bid farewell to the life of banditry and make an honest living in the town.”

At the mention of possessions, the woman’s eyes sparkled.

“Then… you must come for me soon. I’ll wait to serve you again only when you arrive…”

With a hearty laugh, Ma Pei scooped her into his arms and carried her toward the bed. “What comes after, we’ll talk about after!”

A night of pleasure is worth a thousand gold coins. The two tumbled onto the bed in a passionate embrace, soon giving rise to sounds not meant for respectable ears.

After their fevered union, the woman, exhausted, fell into a deep sleep. Ma Pei, however, quietly dressed and slipped out the door. Yet he had barely left when the woman’s eyes opened a slit. Once she was sure the room was empty, she dressed and slipped out the other way.

Ma Pei made his way through the pitch-black corridors of the stronghold to a secluded courtyard. After groping about the ground, he opened a hidden door. Lighting a fire striker, he ducked into the underground passage.

As the torches along the wall were lit, the tunnel was instantly bathed in light—not because the torches burned so bright, but because the small chamber was piled high with gold, silver, and jewels. There were two large chests of gold and silver alone, while gems, jade, and coral were scattered everywhere. Even the eight heavy crossbows brought by the scarred man were hung on the walls.

Countless merchant caravans and travelers had passed through Blackwater Marsh over the years, and the bandits’ decades of pillaging meant most of their stolen treasures were stored here. As for the crates in the warehouse, they were merely topped with a thin layer of loose silver; underneath, they were filled with stones.

Greedily counting his wealth, Ma Pei grabbed a shovel and disappeared into another secret tunnel. Blackwater Stronghold stood on a small island, surrounded by the lake of Blackwater Marsh. He had been digging this escape route for over half a year and was just a few feet from breaking through. On the far end, with a small boat prepared, he could take all the treasure and vanish without a trace.

About an hour later, Ma Pei, sweating profusely, emerged from the tunnel. The dry air inside made it even more stifling. Carefully, he closed the secret door behind him and restored everything to its original state.

At last, he breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was ready; all that remained was the right moment. Once dawn came and Second and Third left with what they thought was the treasure, he could escape with his fortune, assume a new identity, and live a life of luxury.

He had always known that the days of banditry would not last; even with the “River God” on their side, disaster was only a matter of time. So from the day he became a bandit chief at Blackwater Marsh, he had been planning his way out.

This visit from the authorities was a warning sign. It would not be long before the imperial court moved against Blackwater Marsh. Both the “sister-in-law” and the hoard of gold and silver were part of his plan. How could a single woman ever bind the heart of a wanderer?

But just then, a fierce wind swept up behind him. Without thinking, Ma Pei rolled aside, narrowly dodging a cleaving blade.

By the weak glow of his fire striker, he saw behind him a scar-faced man, towering over two meters tall.

“So, you’re the chief of those black-clad dogs!”

“County Constable’s Office, Jiangzhou County, Sergeant Cai Wei, here to apprehend Ma Pei, chief of the Blackwater Marsh bandits, under imperial orders.” Cai Wei drew his long blade from the ground. “If you know what’s good for you, throw down your weapons and surrender. Otherwise, don’t blame me for splitting your skull with my sword—what I kill, I don’t bury!”

The scarred man’s vicious grin made him seem even more like a bandit than Ma Pei himself. The county constables were all recruited from the common folk; not a one was from a good family. Especially a sergeant like Cai Wei, who commanded a hundred men—without a touch of menace, he’d never keep them in line.

“You want my head? Come and take it yourself if you dare!”

With that, Ma Pei drew twin scimitars from his waist.

Cai Wei’s eyes narrowed. He spun his blade around his neck and bellowed, “Let’s see how bold you are, bandit! Taste my blade!”

The fire striker dropped, its last ember winking out.

In the darkness, Ma Pei advanced instead of retreating, his two blades flashing fiercely in his hands. The sound of clashing steel rang out in rapid succession. Cai Wei’s swordsmanship was bold and forceful, while Ma Pei’s twin blades struck at cunning angles, each move deadly. For a time, neither could gain the upper hand.

Sparks erupted in the air, briefly illuminating their murderous faces.

…

With a dull thud, a severed head rolled across the ground, coming to rest with the lifeless face of Ma Pei, eyes wide open in death. Cai Wei tossed aside his broken blade and collapsed on his back, covered in blood, gasping like a bellows.

“Sergeant Cai, your swordsmanship is impressive.”

From the shadows, Bai Xian stepped out, looking entirely at ease. She opened Ma Pei’s secret tunnel. “My, my! How many caravans did you loot to amass such a hoard? Even your crossbows are here…”

Cai Wei rolled his eyes at her. “You hid in the shadows, young lady, and never offered a hand. Nearly cost me my life.”

Had Ma Pei not exhausted himself with three hundred rounds of passion in bed and an hour of digging, he would have been the one to take a head tonight.

“As the saying goes, each has their specialty. Killing men is not my strength—killing monsters is not yours,” Bai Xian replied, not bothering to argue. “You take care of the bandit chief, I’ll handle the river demon. How about it?”

Cai Wei’s breath caught as he sat up, his tiger-like eyes glinting in the dark.

“Do you mean it? If you can really slay that river demon and end the bandit scourge in Blackwater Marsh, the people for a hundred miles around will sing your praises!”

Bai Xian ran her hand along the tip of her spear. “That’s exactly why I’m here.”

Just moments before, Cai Wei had been all swagger and bravado. Now he stood and bowed solemnly. “Then I ask you, miss, to rid us of this evil!”

…

As the sun rose, casting its golden rays over the mist-shrouded Blackwater Marsh, the captured officials knelt on the shore, hands and feet bound. These imperial “black dogs” were to be offered as sacrifices to the River God.

But as the sun climbed higher, none of the three chiefs of the stronghold appeared. Growing impatient, someone returned to the stronghold and knocked on their doors, only to find the chief, Second, and Third all missing—along with several chests from the warehouse and the enchanting “sister-in-law.”

As the bandits rushed about in confusion, a small boat drifted to shore in the distance. From it jumped two men and a woman: the missing Second and Third, and the very sister-in-law.

Why would she spend the night away with her two brothers-in-law and return at dawn in the same boat? The bandits exchanged strange looks, but the two men had no time for their underlings’ suspicions.

Before daybreak, they had slipped away with sister-in-law and the gold, planning to scout the way ahead for their elder brother—or so they claimed. In truth, they meant to abscond with the loot. But upon reaching the riverbank, a quarrel broke out over how to divide the beautiful woman and the treasure. In the heat of the moment, they overturned a chest, spilling out a cascade of stones.

The two weren’t fools. Seeing this, and recalling Ma Pei’s words the night before, they realized they’d been duped and hurriedly rowed back.

Upon landing, they seized a bandit and demanded to know what had happened. The chief, it turned out, had also vanished.

Cursing the “dog-fed scoundrel,” they ordered their men to search the area.

This time, the wait was brief. After only a short while, a bandit came to report.

“We… we found the chief!”

“Where?”

“Dead in a courtyard. There’s a tunnel there, and inside…”

Impatient at his stammering, the two drew their blades and pressed them to his neck.

“What’s inside?”

“Chests and chests of gold and jewels!”