He grew even more puzzled.
He immediately ordered his men to charge out.
His subordinates had no choice but to bite the bullet and go.
However, they burst out of the cave with ease. Zhou Kun and the others who had been guarding the entrance were long gone. Bubbles rippled on the surface of Bishui Lake, suggesting they had already dived to the bottom and returned to the secret passage.
’This is bad.’
"Quick, get down there!"
Jin Wubin’s expression changed drastically. He hastily led his men and jumped into Bishui Lake.
Without the pirates to lead the way, he could only grope around at the bottom of the lake. After much difficulty, he finally found the exit and emerged from the Jade Water Pool in the secret passage. But by then, the mountain of gold, silver, and jewels that was once there had been completely cleared away, leaving only a single bowl of copper coins in its place.
"My lord, Chu Lingguang is humiliating us," Deputy Li said, his face twisting as he stared at the bowl of copper coins.
As a deputy, he would have received a considerable share of that treasure. In the end, he got nothing.
"Come with me. We’re going to find Chu Lingguang. I want an explanation from him."
Jin Wubin was furious.
He led a team of elite soldiers up the secret passage.
「Thirty minutes later.」
Deputy Li roared, "My lord, the exit above is blocked! If we try to push from down here, the loose stones will just fall and crush us!"
"What?"
’That damn Chu Lingguang! Is he trying to openly oppose me?’
Jin Wubin was about to explode with rage.
"My lord, it seems our only option is to go back the way we came," Deputy Li said helplessly.
"You don’t think they blocked the lower exit too, do you?" a young soldier muttered.
"Go, quickly!"
Hearing this, Jin Wubin didn’t dare to imagine the consequences. He frantically led his men, rushing back toward the pool.
Just as they plunged into the pool...
Chu Lingguang, standing inside the stone cave, detected the movement below and said to Zhang Baofu, "Clear away the stones. Open the secret passage."
"Yes, sir!"
Zhang Baofu didn’t understand why, but he followed Chu Lingguang’s orders and unblocked the passage.
"Give the order! The entire army returns to the island!" Chu Lingguang commanded.
"The entire army returns to the island!"
"HOOAH! HOOAH! HOOAH!"
The army returned in triumph.
They had captured some five hundred pirates. The rest had either died at the hands of Chu Lingguang or Xuanyuan Jinkang and his men.
By the time the army had descended from the mountain and loaded the jewels onto their ships, one of Jin Wubin’s vessels had finally managed to navigate the trench cautiously and reach the Xiazigou harbor, appearing before Chu Lingguang.
At that very moment, Chu Lingguang’s own ships set sail, heading out of the trench on a triumphant return to Black Bear Island.
"Chu Lingguang! How dare you allow your men to shoot and kill my brothers from Pearl Island, and even fire arrows at me! How do you explain yourself?" Jin Wubin bellowed from the deck of his ship.
"Lord Jin, the waves are high at sea. You should let your brothers get back and rest early. We’ll be taking our leave now," Chu Lingguang pretended not to hear the question, instead cupping his hands in a mock salute and smiling.
"My lord, are we just going to let them leave like that?" Deputy Li asked.
Jin Wubin’s fists clenched. He was filled with frustration and resentment, but in the end, all he could do was watch helplessly as Chu Lingguang sailed away with the pirates and all the gold, silver, and jewels, his ships disappearing into the vast sea.
"Return and report."
After weighing his options, Jin Wubin could only swallow his anger.
"Well, I suppose we’ve thoroughly offended that man, Jin," Zhang Baofu sighed aboard the ship.
"It’s his own fault for being too greedy. He shouldn’t have coveted the merit our brothers earned."
Chu Lingguang did not regret his actions.
First, the successful capture of Xiazigou was bought with Eunuch Liu’s life. It was also a monumental achievement earned through the coordinated effort of all the soldiers from Black Bear Island.
Chu Lingguang could never just hand all of that over.
Besides, he and Xuanyuan Jinkang needed to use this opportunity to leave Black Bear Island. Their goal was to earn a chance to practice at Yuanchu Mountain before they turned thirty.
Yuanchu Mountain had become their ultimate goal in the Martial Arts; they had to get there, no matter what.
Zhang Baofu and the others nodded in deep agreement. They would have been just as frustrated if Lord Jin had stolen their merit or the silver taels.
"Relay my orders. For the capture of Xiazigou, our brothers have worked hard and achieved great merit. All soldiers, regardless of rank or branch, will be rewarded with one hundred silver taels each. All Centurions will be rewarded with three hundred silver taels. The families of the fallen will be given three times the standard compensation," Chu Lingguang ordered.
"Yes, sir!" Zhang Baofu replied in disbelief.
After capturing Xiazigou, everyone was waiting for their reward. Many thought that getting twenty or thirty silver taels would have been quite good. They never expected Chu Lingguang to directly award every soldier one hundred taels of silver.
For an ordinary soldier whose annual salary was only a few silver taels, this was an absolute fortune.
Furthermore, rewarding the brothers with silver taels on such a large scale, even if taken from the spoils of war, could easily attract a great deal of trouble if not handled carefully.
This was especially true since Chu Lingguang had just offended Jin Wubin.
If word of this got out, Jin Wubin would surely report it to Liu Ziyun.
But Chu Lingguang, knowing full well the risks, decided to take a chance and reward his brothers proactively. He was clearly worried that if he handed over the silver first, his men wouldn’t receive such a generous reward, which was why he risked it all to reward them immediately.
"Thank you, Lord Chu!"
As the news spread, the soldiers and commanders on the dozen or so ships all knelt in unison.
Everyone was immersed in the joy of receiving their reward.
In the period that followed, Chu Lingguang received all sorts of thanks, and his Favor Points accumulated rapidly.
The next day, Chu Lingguang, along with Xuanyuan Jinkang and Zhang Baofu, escorted the silver taels obtained from Xiazigou to Qingzhou City to report to Liu Ziyun.
The pirates had accumulated an enormous amount of silver.
Chu Lingguang and the other high-ranking officers had each taken a share for themselves. Combined with the silver taels awarded to their brothers, the total amount distributed already came to several hundred thousand taels.