Ten crossbows fired. The bolts met in the space where Pei Jing had been standing.
He stamped Gang Qi into the island’s rock. The line from the terrace woke the wards beneath the approach. Twenty Thunder-Astral Needles flashed under the shale and sent a wave of shale and mud into the pirate line. Ten men fell among the stones. Four more landed in the foam with their crossbows gone.
Pei Jing used Spirit Wind Stride. The loose rock shifted under his boots, but he was through the forward rank before the smoke reached the water.
Chen swung his eight-foot boarding spear in a wide cut.
“Die, dog!”
Pei Jing slipped under the blade. He brought the forty-pound Cloud-Splitter up in a short cut. The qi along the edge split the armor and carried the blow through. Chen fell into the surf.
Song lunged from the left with both curved swords. Pei Jing turned and hit him with his elbow. Song flew fifteen paces and both cutlasses spun into the sea.
Two captains down in two seconds.
