Chapter 51. Surrounded on All Sides
***
Late at night.
In the sky, a round moon close to a full moon—perhaps already a full moon—was hanging. Beneath it, on Chaohu, dozens of large and small ships were swiftly advancing forward.
Southward, southward.
Swoooosh, swoooosh.
Ships cutting cleanly through the water.
Although most of the people aboard were not members of the Namgung Family, the ships themselves belonged to the Namgung Family.
The passengers were mostly congratulatory guests who had come to celebrate this wedding, and while a few of them remained at the family estate, the overwhelming majority boarded the ships.
Among those who stayed behind, some had yet to grasp how grave the situation truly was, or believed that remaining at the Namgung Family estate would be safer.
However, such people were extremely few, allowing the Namgung Family to ease its burden of surveillance somewhat.
Excluding them, the rest were servants, hirelings, and their households belonging to the Namgung Family, whom Namgung Byeok had forcibly loaded onto the ships.
After all, once they reached the vicinity of the river inlet, a battle would surely break out. Before that, it would hardly do to drain the strength of these "sacrificial lambs" by having them row.
Unaware of Namgung Byeok's true intentions, the congratulatory guests felt both guilty and grateful for being the only ones allowed to escape.
Naturally, not one of them doubted that they would safely reach the Yangtze River.
Except for the very rear of the fleet.
Dong Bong-su, Tang Wu, Tang Hua, and Namgung Hye—those four alone knew well that an unprecedented danger lay in wait at the river inlet.
Among them, Dong Bong-su was convinced that the real enemies waiting there would be far more dangerous than Namgung Byeok had predicted.
If Namgung Byeok thought this was merely a dilemma of advance or retreat, Dong Bong-su felt that the current situation was more akin to being surrounded on all sides.
He turned his head and looked back. Since they were lagging at the very rear of the escaping ships, only a few fish occasionally leaping to the surface after waking from sleep obstructed his view.
Beyond the chilly night mist rising from the water, a vast and majestic estate could be seen. It was the foremost estate in Anhui Province—the Namgung Family estate. However, Dong Bong-su's gaze did not linger there for long.
At present, that place was the most dangerous of all. Returning to the Namgung Family was not worth even a moment's consideration.
Ahead.
His gaze returned to the front. Then what about the place they were heading toward now?
If they continued forward for several more hours without interference, the river inlet would appear just as Namgung Byeok or Tang Wu expected.
But.
In Dong Bong-su's view, that place was no less dangerous than the rear. Namgung Byeok and Tang Wu might have judged that breaking through the river inlet would be the safest and easiest option, but…
'If my thinking is correct, even if we reach the river inlet—no, even if we succeed in breaking through it—we will never be able to enter the Yangtze River.'
Dong Bong-su sneered at Namgung Byeok's naivety.
He felt that Namgung Byeok still had no grasp whatsoever of how thoroughly the enemy had prepared before striking here.
The word "encirclement" means being surrounded meticulously. Namgung Byeok would need to reflect once more on the meaning of that word. Of course, that was only if he survived… and if he still had the leisure to do so afterward.
Both front and rear vanished from consideration.
Dong Bong-su's gaze shifted right, then left. Along the distant lakeshore on both sides, dozens of lights flickered. They were likely the rear units of the forces encircling the Namgung Family. Though too far away to discern their exact numbers, judging by the distribution of torches, they were certainly not few.
Those lights moved gradually southward in pace with the fleet's speed. Even so, not all of them followed the ships.
At regular intervals, a single light was left behind as a precaution against unforeseen circumstances. It was likely to prepare for the possibility that the ships might scatter and attempt to land simultaneously on both sides.
From that sight, Dong Bong-su read the opponent's resolute will—to not let a single person escape alive.
It was then that Dong Bong-su realized it for the first time.
Perhaps the enemy's objective was not to annihilate the Namgung Family, but to kill everyone who had been in the Namgung Family estate and all those who had participated as congratulatory guests.
"...…."
Because of those lights, unease was already spreading throughout the entire fleet. Most of the congratulatory guests had only heard tales, and had yet to see with their own eyes the true identity of the enemy encircling the Namgung Family.
Now that they had clearly witnessed themselves being pursued, anxiety was inevitable.
Still, to Dong Bong-su's eyes, the shores on both sides appeared relatively less dangerous than the front or rear. Yet even so, attempting to dock and land on the shore remained an exceedingly perilous endeavor.
Even if they succeeded in landing safely, the enemy's fierce pursuit would begin immediately. Thus, just like before, landing was also an option difficult to choose.
Front, rear, left, right—choices too dreadful to even consider, let alone select. That conclusion was easily reached.
'Then where does that leave us?'
Which direction offered the highest chance of survival?
Logically speaking, there was still one more.
This time, Dong Bong-su lifted his head and looked upward.
Piiiaaaaak—.
The eerie cries of hawks, as if the chirping of chicks amplified hundreds of times, dominated the night over Chaohu. There was no way to fly, and even if one could, with those goshawks patrolling the skies, escape by air was impossible.
Is this the end?
No. There was still one last place left.
Right beneath his feet—below the ship, the waters of Chaohu. But this was not even worth considering. The moment one fell into the water, death would follow immediately. How long could one possibly endure in the water at night? Before long, hypothermia would surely claim their life.
And if one somehow endured?
Even then, survival would not last long. Setting aside the issue of body temperature, what would happen once dawn broke? Remaining here would still mean being surrounded on all sides. Ultimately, to survive, one would have to swim in one of the four directions—front, rear, left, or right.
All possible escape routes had now been considered.
Front, rear, left, right, above, below. Every possible and impossible path had been examined without omission, yet the chance of breaking through any one of them seemed slim.
'Then what must be done?'
Dong Bong-su continued to think.
The path to survival was bleak.
Now, he had to choose the option with even the slightest chance of survival. As things stood, trusting Tang Wu—who stood beside him as before, hands clasped behind his back, gazing only into the distant front—was the best course of action.
But no matter how he weighed it, this was merely the best option in a bad situation, no different from choosing the lesser evil. Unable to choose the absolute worst option—jumping into the water to commit suicide—this was the final choice he could take.
No, perhaps even this…
'Could be the worst.'
Dong Bong-su's eyes turned toward one corner of the ship. There, two women were crouching. Beauties unmatched under heaven—Namgung Hye and Tang Hua.
However, Namgung Hye was completely distraught due to Do Heo-ok's betrayal, while Tang Hua slightly furrowed her brow, as if the wound she had sustained earlier was throbbing.
Even if both were in perfect condition, they would still be burdens to Tang Wu. Though Tang Wu was a peerless expert, he was still but one man with a single body and two hands.
If a desperate crisis struck, he would naturally save those two. Perhaps he might even save everyone, including himself.
But.
If among Tang Hua, Namgung Hye, and 'Tang Sam', one had to be abandoned—
'That would clearly be me.'
After all, it would be difficult for his value to Tang Wu to outweigh that of his granddaughter and his sworn brother's granddaughter.
All the thoughts thus far were merely assumptions, but they were realities that could very well befall him—highly plausible ones at that.
Ordinarily, at this point, anyone might give up on survival. But Dong Bong-su never gave up.
He continued to think endlessly. Though he did not clearly know why he had to live, he strove to survive. And just as he always had, he would simply go on living.
Of course.
He was certain that would remain true even afterward.
Swoooosh, swoooosh.
As Dong Bong-su's thoughts accelerated, so too did the speed of the ships.
Had two more hours passed like that?
Still, all that reached the ears of the escaping congratulatory guests were the loud sounds of ships cutting through the water and the intermittent cries of hawks.
The vast expanse of Chaohu did not easily reveal its end, nor did it offer any hints. Though they had slipped across a distance enough to pass several towns, the river inlet had yet to show even the slightest sign of itself, and torches continued to trail along both shores of the lake.
However, judging by how the brightness of those lights was increasing, it was clear that the width of the lake was gradually narrowing.
Swoooosh, swoooosh.
Several more hours passed.
At last, the land on both sides had drawn close enough to be clearly visible, and the current had grown significantly faster—a sign that a river was near.
Now, the river inlet truly could not be far.
At that realization, a sense of relief slowly spread through the fleet that had been shrouded in silence. People began to feel that they might finally weather this crisis.
In contrast, the expressions of Tang Wu and Tang Hua grew increasingly rigid—likely the tension before a fierce battle.
Dong Bong-su glanced over their faces one by one, his own expression still unchanged. Yet his mind continued to spin rapidly, knowing full well that little time remained to think.
Then, at one moment—
"It's the river inlet! The river inlet is in sight!"
Someone aboard a ship at the front shouted loudly.
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