Time Travel: A Fisherwoman Goes to the Sea to Raise a Baby

Chapter 544 Mosquitoes in Winter

Xu Yiyi slowly closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

A heavy sadness weighed on her heart, but now was not the time.

When he opened his eyes again, all that remained was hatred for the pirates.

She grabbed the wet oar with her backhand and plunged it forcefully into the water, pushing the small boat steadily to the shore.

The bow of the boat approached the shore, making a slight scraping sound.

She jumped off the boat.

Old Lu followed.

Without saying a word, the two men grabbed Uncle Bing's soaked and stiff arms and legs, one in front and one behind.

Very heavy.

They gritted their teeth and lifted Uncle Bing from the bow of the boat onto the dry, muddy ground.

Then I gently put it down.

Xu Yiyi tore off a corner of her outer shirt, which was still relatively clean, and covered it with Uncle A Bing's face.

After doing all that, she turned and looked at the pitch-black island.

"There are weapons at home."

Xu Yi glanced at Lao Lu; both of them were unarmed.

Old Lu nodded.

The two stopped talking, turned around immediately, and walked quickly into the deep night, one after the other.

The road beneath my feet was a familiar dirt road, but at this moment it seemed exceptionally long and fraught with danger.

Back down the hillside, Lao Lu suddenly stopped and raised a hand.

Xu Yiyi immediately stopped and held her breath.

There was a soft rustling sound in the woods; it wasn't the wind.

Old Lu had just taken a tentative half-step forward when a wary voice rang out:

"...Is it one or the other?"

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Xu Yiyi immediately responded, "It's me."

The woods fell silent for a moment.

Immediately, a dark figure cautiously peeked out from inside.

Xu Yiyi stood there, and after recognizing the person, he breathed a sigh of relief, his voice still low: "It really is you! Come in quickly!"

"Uncle Lin, where are my great-grandparents?" She only took a few steps forward and did not go into the woods.

At the edge of the woods, Uncle Lin was hidden in the darkness, his voice clearly tinged with lingering fear.

“When the accident happened, I took my family and hid in the nearby woods. We didn’t dare go straight home. I don’t know what the situation is like outside, and I don’t dare go out to check…”

As they were talking, two more dark figures appeared from the side.

It was one of the aunties from the tribe. One of them said urgently, "Yi-yi, don't stand outside talking, it's too dangerous. Quickly go into the woods and hide..."

Another auntie said urgently, "Yes, it's dangerous. Are you alone or with your younger brothers? If you're with your brothers, you definitely can't be wandering around outside."

Xu Yiyi quickly shook her head: "Uncle Lin, and the two aunts, you all hide well and don't come out. I'm going to find my great-grandfather and great-grandmother."

After saying that, she didn't linger and ran quickly up the slope.

Old Lu immediately followed.

"Hey! Why is this kid so stubborn? He's just being ridiculous!" Uncle Lin exclaimed, slapping his thigh in frustration.

Before he finished speaking, he ran a few steps, but was stopped by the two aunties.

"Ah Lin, don't go along with this nonsense."

The two aunties worked together, each holding one of Ah Lin's hands.

“Your legs are crippled, going out with you will only cause trouble.”

The auntie spoke bluntly and dragged the person back into the woods.

There are still quite a few people hiding in this forest.

They were all elderly, weak, sick, or disabled.

Anyone with a full arm and leg was already fighting the pirates with harpoons the moment they landed on the island.

Ah Lin had difficulty walking and was eventually dragged back into the woods by the two aunties because of their strength.

Who was that outside just now?

Aunt Li was holding the sleeping Jinbao when she saw Ah Lin and the others return and immediately spoke up.

“Yes, I guess he heard the news and came back specifically,” Alin explained.

"Why didn't you call her in? It's too dangerous outside!"

……

"That's right, it would be terrible if a little girl encountered pirates..."

Uncle Lin leaned against the tree, catching his breath, and shook his head: "I couldn't stop her. Don't you know her personality? She came back this time, definitely for her great-grandparents. How could she be willing to hide in this forest like us until she's sure the two old folks are safe?"

Li Xiuying sat on the ground, feeling drowsy. She was both scared and dared not fall asleep immediately. But when she heard Xu Yiyi's name, she instantly woke up.

"Why did this troublemaker come back? Maybe she's the one who lured the pirates here," Li Xiuying muttered to herself.

He was slapped as soon as he finished speaking.

The snap was quite crisp.

"What's wrong?" Alin asked upon hearing the voice.

Aunt Li shook her head subconsciously, but then realized it was dark in the woods and Ah Lin might not be able to see her.

So he lowered his voice and explained, "It's nothing, I'm just swatting mosquitoes."

Li Xiuying covered her face and looked at her mother in disbelief.

"Mosquitoes? Where are there mosquitoes in the middle of winter?" Ah Lin muttered, picking up his harpoon and sitting back on the outermost edge of the forest.

Once everyone had stopped moving, Aunt Li pulled Li Xiuying over.

"Let me tell you, you know very well what you should and shouldn't say. If you dare to say another word of nonsense, I'll tear your mouth apart."

After being warned by her mother, Li Xiuying felt even more aggrieved. She covered her face and leaned against a tree, not daring to cry loudly.

At the same time, Xu Yiyi rushed into the house without stopping and went straight to her room.

In the corner sat a very inconspicuous old wooden box.

Lifting the lid of the box, you'll find several long, narrow items wrapped in oilcloth.

She swiftly tore open the oilcloth, grabbed a long spear and pieced it together, then, without even looking, threw it at Lao Lu who was following behind her.

The spear traced a short arc in the air before being caught steadily by Lao Lu.

Old Lu looked at the spear in his hand, which was over ten feet long and felt very substantial.

The blade is sharp and gleams coldly; with a slight tremor, it seems capable of tearing through the air.

"Where did you get such a good weapon?" Old Lu couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

He thought the weapon Xu Yiyi was talking about was the wooden stick Si Hai used for martial arts practice, but he didn't expect it to be such a good gun.

"I found it in a shipwreck at the bottom of the sea. After bringing it back, I polished it myself. I hid it because I was afraid that it would be discovered by the world."

As Xu Yiyi spoke, she grabbed two sheathed swords from the bottom of the box and quickly tied them to her waist.

A quick glance revealed a worn-out bow and arrow and a quiver hanging on the wall.

This is what A-Yue used before.

She ripped it off and slung it over her shoulder.

"Go!" She uttered only one word before dashing out of the house like an arrow.

Old Lu gripped his spear tightly and followed closely behind.

The two made their way to the vicinity of the ancestral hall.

The moonlight shone dimly.

The open space in front of the ancestral hall was in a mess.

As far as the eye could see, people were lying haphazardly on the ground.

Some were lying down, some were lying on their backs, and they didn't move at all.

The moonlight shone on their pale faces, wide eyes, or dark, congealed bloodstains, sending chills down one's spine. Countless examples were there.

Xu Yiyi searched carefully, afraid of spotting her great-grandparents among these people.

Old Lu freed one hand and patted Xu Yiyi's shoulder, "Don't panic, your great-grandparents aren't here."

Xu Yiyi's gaze was still sweeping over the cold bodies on the ground.

Upon hearing this, he let out a muffled "hmm" in response.

Even without her great-grandparents present, she couldn't relax her tense nerves.

The absence of something does not necessarily mean peace.

The corpses lying on the ground, never to wake up again, also weighed heavily on her heart, making her feel uneasy.

Because they are also her people.

Just as Xu Yiyi was checking if there were any survivors on the ground, the sound of fighting came from the ancestral hall again.

"Quick, there's movement over there."

Xu Yi's eyes sharpened, and without bothering to conceal herself, she ran quickly toward the source of the sound.

Old Lu moved even faster, flying out with his spear in hand.

The clan's ancestral hall, with its black tiles and white walls, was originally a complete and quiet structure standing on the coast, overlooking the vast sea, listening to the sound of the tides, and witnessing the sunrise and sunset. It was the foundation in the eyes of the clan members.

But at this moment, it is no longer quiet.

The area near the back wall and the walkway leading to the ancestral hall were already on fire.

The flickering flames cast long, elongated shadows of the dilapidated ancestral hall on the ground, twisting and swaying as the flames rose.

Turning past the dilapidated corner of the ancestral hall, under the moonlight, one immediately sees Xu Pinghai being forced to retreat repeatedly by a pirate wielding a curved sword.

He was covered in blood, staggering, and on the verge of being defeated by the pirates.

Without stopping, Xu Yiyi rushed forward and with two quick movements, drew two horizontal swords from her waist with a "whoosh" sound.

The blade traced two cold arcs of light under the moonlight.

He cut into the battle in an instant, almost grazing the pirate's blade.

With his left hand, he parried the pirate's next slash with his sword, and with his right hand, using the momentum of his forward thrust, he swung his sword fiercely upwards.

"Pfft!"

A dull thud that made your teeth ache.

The pirate froze, his eyes wide open, seemingly still not understanding what had happened.

The next moment, a head was severed from the neck, and disbelief could still be seen in the empty eyes.

With a muffled thud, it rolled several times on the sandy ground before finally stopping, face down, motionless.

The headless corpse swayed and then collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The warm blood, like spilled paint, took on a dark red hue under the moonlight, splattering onto Xu Yiyi's face and neck.

Sticky and fishy-sweet.

She didn't even blink, her eyes filled with coldness.

He merely tilted his head slightly to look at Xu Pinghai, who was still in shock. Blood beads were slowly dripping down the blade.

"Uncle Pinghai, where are my great-grandparents?"

Xu Yiyi's soft voice reached his ears, and Xu Pinghai finally came back to his senses.

He first glanced at the pirate who had been decapitated, then looked at the bloodstains on Xu Yiyi's face and neck.

A wave of fear washed over me.

Instead of answering, he stepped forward and reached out to wipe the sticky blood off Xu Yiyi's face.

"Stop wiping!"

Xu Pinghai's hands were rough, like old tree bark, and they rubbed Xu Yiyi's face until it hurt. She subconsciously turned her head away and dodged twice.

Xu Pinghai became even more anxious. He angrily raised his hand, as if to hit her, but when it came down, the force was so light that it was almost imperceptible.

He just patted her shoulder lightly: "You're pretty brave, rushing in like that. What if something had happened?"

Xu Yiyi shrugged. "What if I hadn't rushed up there?"

After all, Xu Pinghai also has elderly parents and young children to support.

He was panting and asked irritably, "Why are you back? Where are your brothers?"

Xu Yi let him take pictures, and only after he finished asking did she say, "Sanchuan and the others are in the county town, they are very safe. I came back as soon as I got the news."

Upon hearing this, Xu Pinghai raised his hand to slap her again: "Nonsense! Absolutely nonsense! You're a young woman..."

Xu Yi nodded, acknowledging that she had been "fooling around".

But his eyes remained stubborn, showing that he didn't think he had done anything wrong at all.

Seeing her like that, Xu Pinghai knew he couldn't reason with her, so he slapped her again in frustration.

I still couldn't bring myself to use force.

“You’ve all gone to the city, but the restaurant still needs to do business! So your great-grandparents, Sister Honglian, and your Aunt Si have all been helping out at the restaurant these past two days. They haven’t returned to the island yet tonight, so I guess… I guess nothing’s wrong.”

After all, there were garrison troops and government officials in the town.

After the incident, the naval watchtower sent a message back to the prefectural city.

Reinforcements are expected to arrive soon.

Upon hearing this, Xu Yiyi's tense shoulders relaxed almost imperceptibly.

"Where's Lao Lu? You should go to town with Lao Lu right away; it's safer there than on the island."

As Xu Pinghai spoke, he peeked out from the darkness and was just a hair's breadth away from having his head chopped off.

Fortunately, Xu Yiyi pulled him back quickly.

Immediately afterwards, he gripped the horizontal sword and slashed again.

"you……"

Xu Pinghai was surprised by Xu Yiyi's swift and decisive killing. Before he could react, she shoved a basin into his hand.

“You should take a basin and fetch water to put out the fire. If the ancestral hall really burns down, my great-grandfather will definitely be angry when he comes back.”

With that, she gripped her sword and charged out.

Xu Pinghai looked at the basin shoved into his hands and just wanted to cry. "What kind of fire can I put out? If your great-grandfather knew that I, as his uncle, was hiding behind my niece, he would be furious."

As soon as he finished speaking, he threw down the basin in his hand, picked up the harpoon he had just dropped, and rushed out.

He still had some fear of killing, but he was strong and stayed by Xu Yiyi's side to restrain the pirates.

Xu Yiyi moved nimbly, darting freely through the chaos.

One slash at a time, the movements are completely unpretentious, just slashing, hacking, and stabbing.

Old Lu often said that she wasn't as clever as Sihai and had absolutely no talent for martial arts.

I've said this more than once.

But she has a very good character.

They can also endure the tedium; if they can't practice it well the first time, they'll practice it ten times, and if ten times isn't enough, they'll practice it a hundred times.

In his spare time, he would practice martial arts and fall, getting bruises all over his body, but he never uttered a sound.

More importantly, she was not afraid to kill.

Therefore, the moves that Lao Lu taught her didn't have many fancy or complicated elements.

It's the simplest one.

How to strike the knife the fastest, how to use the least force, how to avoid vital points, and how to kill with one blow.

Straightforward, ruthless, and practical—that's her personality.

The other old men and women who had been forced to retreat by the pirates and were hiding in the shadows struggling to hold on were amazed to see Xu Yiyi working so recklessly.

My confidence soared instantly!

"Yi-Yi is here!"

……

"Let's fight these sons of bitches!"

Shouts rang out one after another, filled with a desperate, reckless spirit.

More people rushed out of their hiding places, gripped their harpoons tightly again, and launched a counterattack against the pirates.

The situation of the battle gradually became clear.

Xu Yiyi beheaded the last pirate, only to find that Lao Lu was nowhere to be found.

"Old Lu!" she shouted, but only the sound of waves crashing answered her.