Sangriala

Chapter 4: Off the Beaten Track

We had managed to turn on the engine of the pirate ship that imitated a dragon turtle. Having spent time on seas, Zoria knew a lot about ships, and Chairo turned out to be resourceful in technical matters. Itikain had not praised him for nothing. In addition, Chairo had had time to investigate the vessel, while I and Roland had tried to find Zoria at the pagoda and in the temple gardens, witnessed the show Max and Ramez had put up to tame the band of brigands, and faced Inquisitor de Noy's men.

The Longgui was no big ship. I was actually amazed of how as many as thirty bandits had managed to sail with it upstream the Yana, all the way from the coast. They had paid major attention on protecting the vessel with many armoured shields, which had been painted into the colours of the dragon turtle. Below the deck, we could also find three metal tubes on both sides, which apparently were some kind of cannons. If only we learned how to use them.

We had a shortage of crew. True, there were all fourteen of surviving villagers, but nine of them, including Shifu, were wounded. De Noy – that is, Lefuet – had killed the two villagers who had been unlucky to be on the jetty when the inquisitor and his men got there. So, we had only five villagers who could still work, if necessary. Among them, I knew only Chaguan and Yoohei by name. The other three were young men.

Chairo proved capable also in the medical field. He quickly located and utilized the contents of the Longgui's medical cabinet. He cleaned and re-bandaged the injuries of the wounded. He checked, cleaned, and tied also the wound Kissamon had cut in my arm, as well as another, smaller cut, which her throwing knife had scratched to my neck – luckily missing my arteries.

Soon after we'd sailed off, we came to the site where the village guard had left Yufu's fishing boat. Now that Ramez was among us, nobody questioned his leadership, and the villagers – even Yoohei – obeyed his orders with no murmur. The hatred they had felt towards Kemonomon's band and which had made them fight bravely for the freedom of their village, had now subsided, giving way to sorrow and gloom. Nine village guardians had been killed. Nine others were in urgent need of treatment for their injuries. Fusang had been liberated from the yoke of the bandits, but at what a price! And at once, a new enemy, even better armed, had entered the stage.

"I'm glad the girl shot the inquisitor", Chaguan said, wishfully. "Perhaps the vigilantes will now run away and leave the temple for us. We need to return, to bury our dead. Tradition requires. We can't leave them there."

Chaguan seemed a civilized man. He was not as fiery-eyed and brave as Shifu, who was now moaning at his wounds, but he seemed a good man.

"And we must also grab all the weaponry the bandits left", suggested one of those three village guardians whose names I didn't know. A barely adult young man, who could have been the fisherman Yufu's younger brother, judging from the looks. "And protection gear. And maybe we'll get back some of those horses the bandits robbed from our village."

"Listen now", said Ramez, taking off his clothes while he talked. He no longer pretended to the villagers to be Master Pumpkin, but they seemed to take his youth as a most natural matter, and there was no need to convince them about anything. "I don't think the inquisitor is dead. True, Zoria hit him, and he fell to the river. But he's one of the immortals. Believe me, he's a tough man to kill. My guess is, he's crawling back from the river as we speak, and his soldiers will help him get somewhere where they know how to treat his wounds."

Ramez studied the wounds in his own bare chest. His shirt was open.

"We need a doctor too, me and Kunhan", he said. "Didn't Shifu mention a doctor in your village, back when we were at the inn?"

"He must have meant Dr. Nanda", said Chaguan.

"Fine", said Ramez. "We shall do the following. You will now move the wounded villagers to the fishing boat, and you'll drive it back to the village. You take Shifu and the other men somewhere where Dr. Nanda can treat them. The doctor is likely to have an apprentice. Alert him, too. Make sure Shifu makes it." Ramez cast a meaningful look at the wounded man. "He's a good man. If anyone, he can organize things in your village in such way that if another band of robbers shows up here, you'll be prepared to defend yourselves."