MadFireGod

  Fan Biyu opened her eyes to darkness. The soothing sound of pping waves that she’d grown aced to was absent, repced by a strange noise eg through the hallway outside her door. Frowning, she sat up and strode to the door. Opening it cautiously, she peeked into the moonlit corridor.

  The moonlight spilling in from the deck doorway illumihe se: the doorway was broken down, and Jin Shu stood fag two men charging toward him. Around him, a few others y on the ground, groaning or bleeding.

  Jin Shu raised his strange on—the pellet gun, she recalled him calling it. It made two sharp ping sounds, and the charging men were suddenly hurled backward down the hallway. Fan Biyu blinked in astonishment. That pellet gun wasn’t that strong when I used it… if it had been, Li Xue’s rear would have been fttened. A smile pulled at her lips from the thought.

  A faint creaking sound caught her attention. She turned her head to see others peeking out of their rooms, drawn by the otion. Down the hall, Sun Li stepped out of her , her small frame starkly trasting with the burly sailors. No matter how many times I see her, I still ’t believe she isn’t a girl, Fan Biyu thought, before shaking the distrag thought from her head.

  Fog ba Jin Shu, she approached him swiftly, her brow furrowed. “What’s happening?”

  Jin Shu, crouched low as he sed the open doorway, gnced up at her. “Night raid,” he said curtly.

  His words sourange, like they were in anuage. “Huh?” she asked, puzzled.

  He sighed and crified, “We’re utack.” He waved a hand at the groaning men on the floor to emphasize his point.

  Fan Biyu scowled at his to didn’t ent—she could tell that mu her own. “By who?” she pressed.

  He only shrugged. She felt her brow twit irritation but quickly dismissed it. How would he know who they are? she reasoned.

  Suddenly, Jin Shu stood, and she had to tilt her head back slightly to meet his gaze. Why does he have to be so annoyingly tall? she thought. If he were just a bit shorter, we could actually see eye to eye.

  Turning to a nearby sailor, Jin Shu asked, “Is there another entry point into this area?”

  The sailor hesitated before pointing toward a door at the far end of the hallway. “There is. It leads to the cargo hold.”

  Fan Biyu’s gaze followed the sailesture, unease bubbling in her chest. They could attack from there too. Her fears were firmed when the door creaked open, revealing three bck-cd men. One of them whistled sharply, and three more men appeared from the deck, each carrying a makeshift wooden shield.

  We’re boxed in! Panic sparked in her mind. I’ll have to help him take some of them down.

  Before she could act, Jin Shu barked an order. “Biyu, get everyoo their rooms!”

  She hesitated. Wouldn’t it be better for her to fight alongside him? Still, she trusted he had a pn. If she got everyo of the way quickly, she could help him with the remaining attackers.

  “Everyone, get baside!” she shouted. Some sailors retreated into their rooms, but most lingered, watg the se unfold with wide eyes.

  Three more sharp pings echoed behind her. Fan Biyu whirled around just in time to see fragments of wood spray across the hallway. Jin Shu’s pellet gun, while effective against unarmored attackers, seemed useless against the makeshift wooden shields.

  She saw his lips move, but he was too far away for her to catch the words. Then, in a fsh, his pellet gun disappeared, repced by a slightly different on.

  He raised the neon calmly, aimed, and—

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  The deafening cracks filled the hallway as fshes of light erupted from the on. Fan Biyu fli the sound, and when she looked again, the three shielded men were on the ground, groaning and bleeding.

  Her mind reeled. What was that?!

  Jin Shu spun on his heel, aiming the strange on at the remaining attackers. The men, abandoning their broken shields, charged down the hallway. Fan Biyu noticed Jin Shu hesitate for the briefest moment before he lowered the on slightly.

  Seeing this, she redoubled her efforts to herd the gawking crowd bato their rooms. “Get inside, now!” she shouted, but her words seemed to fall on deaf ears.

  “Get out of the way!” Jin Shu snapped, his voice sharp and anding. The sailors, frozen in terror, didn’t budge.

  He cursed under his breath, frustration clear on his face, and shoved his way through the group. Fan Biyu abandoned her attempts to corral the onlookers and quickly followed behind him.

  As she caught up, a sudden otion made her freeze. One of the attackers lunged frabbing Sun Li, pg a bde against her throat.

  “Stop!” the man barked, his voice cutting through the chaos like a bde.

  Sun Li’s wide eyes were filled with terror, her chest heaving as if the air had been stolen from her lungs.

  Fan Biyu stopped a few paces behind Jin Shu, her fists ched as she assessed the situation.