Reborn, I Became a Male God - Chapter 42

Actually, when he first saw Jiang Yang, Fei Hu’s initial reaction was rejection. That skinny little frame, arms and legs that looked like they had barely any meat on them—his height was the only thing barely passable. But what use was that? Even as a bamboo pole for rowing across the Jiudu River, he’d be considered too short! Later, when the higher-ups introduced him as someone connected to the Li family, his attitude changed. Wasn’t that essentially an intelligence officer? A little weak and bookish was understandable.

But now this so-called bookish intelligence officer, in the dead of night and without any kind of aiming equipment, had taken down the sentry on the other boat with a single strike from more than ten meters away.

Fei Hu had mixed feelings. Sure, there’s that saying—don’t judge a book by its cover—but he still wanted to know how exactly the guy managed it. This wasn’t like throwing darts. There wasn’t some huge target you could aim at, and if you missed once, try again and again. This was a one-hit kill with no time for the enemy to raise the alarm. The requirements were way too high. There were only a few lethal spots: the head, throat, or heart—none of which were easy to hit under such conditions.

But now wasn’t the time for questions. The top priority was to handle the immediate situation. Thanks to the noise on the boat, the sentry’s death hadn’t been discovered yet, but the cargo ship was gradually moving farther away. If they didn’t seize the opportunity now, trying to chase it later would risk being discovered.

Fei Hu’s thoughts raced—it only took a moment. He reined in his thoughts and was about to make the next move when he saw Jiang Yang quickly grab a rope, tie something to it, then toss it toward the cargo ship. He then held onto the rope and slid off the boat, entering the water without a sound.

The moon slipped out from behind the clouds, casting a pale, cool glow across the earth once more. By the time Fei Hu came back to his senses, he could only barely make out a small, bobbing shadow on the river.

“Jiang Yang! Jiang Yang! Get back here!” he shouted in a low voice.

But the person had already swum far off and, naturally, couldn’t reply.

“Captain, what do we do now?” the others asked.

“Damn it! Wild recruits are always like this—no organization, no discipline!” Fei Hu punched the railing hard in frustration. “What else can we do? Just wait and see for now. Keep a safe distance and follow. We’ll come up with a plan if things go south!”

Although the stretch of Jiudu River here was relatively calm, it wasn’t some shallow pond or small stream. And it was nighttime—no one could say what might be lurking underwater. Plus, they were going against the current. A person’s swimming speed couldn’t keep up with a moving ship. Under these conditions, Fei Hu naturally didn’t dare order the rest of the team to jump into the water to chase.

Jing Ling considered himself a decent swimmer, but even for him, catching up to a normally cruising cargo ship against the current would be a real challenge. 

He might try it under normal circumstances, but this clearly wasn’t the time for playing around. Luckily, the fishing boat had ropes long enough. He tied one to a pre-prepared throwing object and tossed it toward the stern of the cargo ship. The rope caught the railing smoothly, and after testing to confirm it was secure, he jumped into the water.

At the end of March, beginning of April, the Jiudu River’s temperature was barely tolerable for the human body. Jing Ling gripped the rope and kept moving closer to the cargo ship, quickly reaching its side. He grabbed the gunwale, flipped himself over, and climbed aboard. His whole body was soaked, clothes clinging tightly to his skin, dripping with water.

Now closer, he could hear the sounds on board more clearly. One person begging for mercy, another committing violence, two watching silently, and several others whose breathing could be heard—presumably the crew. There was a faint scent of blood wafting from the cabin, and the injured girl likely wasn’t in good shape.

Jing Ling held his dagger and silently crept forward. Peeking through the crack of a small window, he saw the scene inside just as he had guessed.

In opposite corners of the room, on one side was a man assaulting a curled-up girl, her hoarse voice constantly pleading for mercy as she was beaten and cursed at. There was a coil of rope by his feet—she appeared to be a hostage untied by the bandits, not one of them. On the other side were the tied-up crew members, either turning their heads away or bowing them, unable to watch. Two other bandits, dressed in ordinary clothes, stood with their backs to him, laughing wildly—their laughter leaking out through the small window.

These people had absolutely no sense of vigilance.

Jing Ling quietly pushed open the small window, supported himself on the sill, jumped in, and chopped the sides of the two men’s necks with his hand. In the blink of an eye, both collapsed.

The rest of the people in the cabin finally reacted, eyes full of surprise and joy.

“Save… help me…” the girl in the corner reached out to him weakly upon seeing him.

Jing Ling raised a finger to his lips and then pointed upward, signaling everyone to stay quiet. Once the crew nodded in understanding, he walked over to the other corner, grabbed the arm of the man about to strike, yanked him aside forcefully. From the side, his face looked decent, though sweat had drenched the hair on his forehead and his face still twisted in a hideous expression.

“Trash,” Jing Ling muttered, punching him in the face, kneeing him in the stomach, then delivering another chop to the neck—knocking him out cold.

“Who’s piloting the boat?” Jing Ling asked quietly as he cut the ropes on the hostages.

“A bandit,” replied a man in his late thirties or forties.

“Who’s the captain? Come with me in a moment. Follow behind me—it’s okay if you’re slow. I’ll call you in once I’ve handled the guy.” As he spoke, the hostages were all untied. He got up and went over to untie the girl.

The girl’s state was beyond words—“disheveled” didn’t even begin to describe it. Her face was unrecognizable, and her exposed skin was covered in horrifying wounds.

“Don’t be afraid. I’ll get you to a hospital soon,” Jing Ling said gently.

She nodded repeatedly, sobbing uncontrollably.

Jing Ling trusted his own strength, so he didn’t worry about the three unconscious men. He brought the captain straight to the cockpit. Again, these people had virtually no alertness—Jing Ling entered the cockpit and the guy inside, still piloting the ship, thought it was a comrade. He turned and asked casually what was up.

Using the same trick, Jing Ling chopped him unconscious and dragged him out by the collar. He called the captain inside to take over and told him to send a signal to the trailing boat.

Jiang Yang had been gone for a while. Though things were still quiet on the other boat, Fei Hu was starting to get nervous. Just as he was debating whether to follow, the cargo ship suddenly changed its signal lights, and its speed slowed down. For bandits, this kind of behavior was unnecessary—so it clearly meant the situation was now under control.

“You little bastard!” Fei Hu ccursed, but his tone relaxed. He turned and shouted, “Speed up and catch up!”

The fishing boat accelerated and soon pulled up alongside the cargo ship. The agile team members jumped over and entered the cabin in an orderly fashion. The first thing they saw was three large men tied up near the bulkhead, followed by the seated crew members, and finally Jiang Yang, softly comforting the girl, with a man lying unconscious beneath his feet.

“What happened?” Flying Tiger asked.

“A piece of scum even filthier than the bandits,” Jiang Yang replied casually. After comforting the girl a bit more, he looked up and asked, “Where’s Da Bao? Bring it over.”

Flying Tiger raised an eyebrow. “Got something?”

“Just a suspicion—not confirmed yet.”

Fei Hu didn’t ask more. He turned and shouted, “Sanbing, bring Da Bao over!”

“Roger!” someone outside answered. Soon, Da Bao was brought in. As soon as it entered, it pounced on Jiang Yang, climbing on his knees and licking his hands enthusiastically—scaring the girl nearby.

“Alright, good boy. We’ll play later. Go search the boat first.” Jiang Yang patted its head. The moment he said “good boy,” it obediently sat down, waited for him to finish speaking, then gave two snorts, stood up, and started sniffing around the floor. After a full sweep of the cabin, it went straight outside.

Fei Hu had someone follow Da Bao as it circled the boat. Eventually, in a corner of the cockpit, they found something—a tightly wrapped package. After unwrapping the outer layer, there was another waterproof layer inside. Opening it revealed the contents.

Roughly one kilogram of drugs, seemingly a sample.

Which meant, the group that hijacked the boat weren’t just regular bandits—they were drug traffickers.

While Sanbing was reporting in, Fei Hu was examining the corpse of the first thug taken down. A 12cm blade had stabbed straight into the temple, piercing the brain and killing instantly. The result was even more shocking than he expected.

Siwan, who had come up with him, gasped when he saw it. “My god! That aim is insane! Never would’ve guessed!” Although he hadn’t said anything bad about Jiang Yang before, he had looked down on him, thinking the guy would only hold them back. But now? Jiang Yang clearly outclassed them all.

“Now you’ve seen it—there’s always someone better out there!” Fei Hu stood up and patted Siwan on the shoulder. “Alright, let’s go check out the ‘surprise’ Da Bao found.”

As they spoke and prepared to return to the cabin, they ran into Jiang Yang at the door, with the familiar little bird perched on his shoulder. “There’s a boat following us—coming fast. Not sure if it’s coming for the cargo.”