When the flying grab in his hand caught the beam of the São Paulo, Chen Xinji's heart was empty.

In the flickering and fluttering firelight behind him, there was a mixture of Japanese and Hokkien roars and low shouts, which were particularly harsh in the dark night; At the same time, there was the crisp sound of metal crashing and the fluttering of bowstrings, as well as the dull sound of blades entering the flesh and the shrill and low screams.

Chen Xinji glanced out of the corner of his eyes, and just saw that in the firelight, the palm fan who had been with him for more than ten years was lying on the stairs of the lookout pavilion, half of his body had already leaned up to the lookout, and behind him was a short man in black, who was wielding a small knife and constantly slashing at the back of the palm fan.

Chen Xinji's heart sank, but he didn't stop in his hands, he quickly tied the rope to his waist, kicked his feet, and the whole person swung into the air; Just as he was about to swing to the highest point, he exerted his waist and abdomen, and his legs were already wrapped around the beam—a familiar and flowing movement he had done many times in his life, and he did not suffocate at all because of his age.

As he climbed along the beams to the foredeck of the St. Paul, Chen Xinji seemed to be looking at himself with a waving sail in front of him, which contained too many meanings, including surprise and anger at being abandoned and deceived, as well as deep contempt and disdain.

On the way to Van Oussted, who was taken on deck by the Dutch sailors on duty, Chen was completely lost - his wishful thinking was to take advantage of the scuffle on the ship to retreat and hide on the St. Paul, so that the Shimazu family had escaped by mistakenly thinking that he had died in the melee; He was already hard-hearted, and when he made this plan, he had already thought of letting the whole ship accompany him to the funeral; But when it came to the bone, he realized that he was far less cold-blooded and ruthless than he imagined; Guilt and shame poured up from the bottom of his heart like a tidal wave, and no matter how much he suppressed it, it would be useless!

"Oh, my friend. Your face is horrible! ”

After entering the cabin, Van Oosted's mocking voice did not bring Chen Xinji's soul back, and it was not until the round-faced interpreter exaggerated this sentence that Chen Xinji came back to his senses a little.

"Captain Van Oersted, as I expected, Shimazu Iehisa betrayed us!" Chen Xinji, who came to his senses, quickly gathered his spirits. Indignant, he shouted, "The Japanese have shamelessly attacked my ship and want to kill me and my brothers...... If I hadn't seen the opportunity quickly, I would have turned into a headless corpse by now! ”

"Oh? Is it? Van Oost looked at the angry Chen Xinji with interest and asked, "Is it really a Japanese countryman?" ”

"It's true!" Chen Xinji sensed Van Auster's suspicions, and nodded frequently with some anxiety, "Captain, I heard those black-clothed men shouting repeatedly in Japanese language, the family governor has an order. Kill a Ming person and reward 2 taels of silver, and kill me and reward 50 taels of silver......"

Speaking of this, Chen Xinji's eyes rolled, and he casually made up a nonsense, "They are still shouting that they must finish cleaning us up as soon as possible so that they can continue to besiege the St. Paul...... I also set a reward of 100 taels of silver for you! ”

Van Oost was stunned for a moment, then smiled slightly. "Why is my head still worth two of Chen's masters? It's unexpected. ”

"That's it!" Chen Xinji exclaimed exaggeratedly, and gave Van Oost a high hat. "Speaking of which, the Japanese people are too underestimated, with the captain's skills and skills, they must be at least five times that of Chen, oh no, ten times! How can it be only 100 taels of silver? It's too small! ”

Van Ouster seemed to be very pleased with the sycophant, and laughed merrily; As his gaze turned to the unclosed hatch. The jumping firelight in the night came into view, and the sound of fighting was faintly audible, and Van Auerst's smile gradually faded, and finally completely converged. "Master Chen, these brothers of yours~~ are really hard bones, they have survived for so long!"

When he spoke of his brother, he deliberately lengthened his voice, and the meaning of sarcasm and mockery could not be more obvious, but the interpreter did not seem to be interested, and turned the sentence over in a firm manner, without the slightest emotion.

So Chen Xinji didn't realize Van Auster's ridicule, and frowned and responded, "Yes! In order to let me escape, the brothers used their strength to block the Japanese people......" Speaking of this, he hammered the table and said, "In this life and this life, if I don't take revenge, I swear from the bottom of my heart that I will not be a man!" ”

After hearing what he said, Van Oost glanced at him in surprise, pondered for a while, and then got up and patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry about Master Chen, I will definitely be able to take you out of here...... Come! Drink some wine first to suppress the shock! ”

After saying this, he clapped his hands, and soon an attendant came in with a silver platter, on which were placed two tall silver cups filled with tequila.

When Chen took the silver cup from Van Oerst and drank it down, he didn't notice the latter's mocking and sly gaze.

After you drank a few glasses of wine back and forth, Chen Xinji only felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, as if thousands of sharp blades were stirring desperately; As soon as his hand was weak, the silver cup fell to the deck with a "clatter", and then his body was crooked, and he also fell down with a "tom".

"Chen Sang, I'm really sorry," before the voice fell, a short and stocky figure outside the door walked in, it was Shimazu Iehisa who had been hiding outside the door, as soon as he entered the door, he bowed deeply to Chen Xinji and said, "Hedinghong should be able to end your pain soon!" ”

"For ...... Why? Chen Xinji, who was already sweating profusely in pain, gasped and asked, but not to Shimazu Iehisa, but to keep staring at Van Oster.

Van Oost shrugged indifferently, spread his hands, and said, "My head is worth more than you think...... In order to redeem me and St. Paul, the lord of the feudal lord spent 500,000 taels of silver! ”

Chen Xinji, who was in violent convulsions, seemed to understand at once, and rolled his eyes and burst out a few words from between his teeth, "Scapegoat!" …… Knowing as early as ...... Why bother...... Originally! ”

This time, even the conscientious interpreter did not bother to translate his last words, instead concentrating on the conversation between Van Oulst and Shimazu Iehisa.

"Captain Van Oersted, in the end this trouble has been resolved, the Ming people should retreat soon, and you can also return to Dayuan or even Batavia...... Iega has a letter here, and asks the captain to bring it to the Governor. ”

"On behalf of His Excellency the Governor, please allow me to thank the feudal lord for his generosity...... I will certainly bring it and report all the situation here to His Excellency the Governor...... In God's name, I, Van Ousper, will never let go of these lawless Ming people, and I'm sure Your Excellency the Governor will think so too. ”

"That's great! …… The port of our Shimazu family will always be open to the Dutch fleet, and I am waiting for the day when the mighty Dutch fleet will sweep through Ushijima! ”

“…… Let the Ming people tremble under the muzzle! (To be continued.) )

PS: Crab first wants to apologize, the last two days of the business trip are almost soaked in wine, and I don't even have time to write a leave note, I finally went home today, and I immediately rushed a chapter out, please understand!