Across the Timeless Sea

Chapter VI: Conspiracy

For the moon to reach a full cycle, approximately a month in the humans' world would have passed until the next phase began. Never once experienced formal education, never once had an adult to properly bestow him with common knowledge, naturally Hong-er was far from acquainted with information such as this, but the days he spent working on the Water Tyrant's ship proved to be somewhat beneficial to improve his intelligence — at least when it comes to practical knowledge that should be known to all sailors roaming the ocean.

He thought they would return to Xian Jing after obtaining the so-called deal with the merfolks through Xie Lian. After all, a decisive lead to their objective was already in their hands, hence there should not be any more need to wander aimlessly. Yet a notorious pirate's agenda appeared to not be as simple as a young boy like him imagined. Though they headed back to the direction of Xian Jing at first, Shi Wudu did not instruct his crew to make berth at the port, instead only sending a few men on a small boat as messengers once the city was already in sight.

A full day passed with their vessel remaining idle a considerable distance away from their hometown, until finally another ship set sail from the main harbor of Xian Jing. This was a big, marvelous ship that only the extremely wealthy could possess. As this vessel arrived beside the Wind Master, close enough for the men on board to jump across with a grapnel, two figures emerged from the other ship — a man and a woman.

The man was an extremely good-looking, charismatic person. He was dressed in fine robes, fancy but not gaudy. In the meantime, the woman appeared calm and mature, with her dress dominated in black. Hong-er had never once seen them before, but a single look was enough to tell him that not only they were important figures, the two of them must be capable persons sent by the city to discuss crucial matters with their captain.

As it was, the air around this pair was as unapproachable as the Water Tyrant himself, yet the moment these three saw each other, they started sending casual greetings as if they had been friends for decades. The words they exchanged appeared normal, not too stiff but still retaining a high class dignity as befitting of their status. However, for some reason, Hong-er felt that he could not stand hearing them speaking when they started praising one another.

"Truly, a seasoned man of the sea blessed by the heavens. If other people were to carry out this task, they might not be able to accomplish it in a lifetime, yet this Master Pirate returns with a promising result within less than a week," the man in fine clothes said, "No wonder Our Lordship places his trust on you whenever a difficult ordeal arrives in our hands."

"Sir Ming Guang exaggerates. This humble pirate only happened to come across a stroke of luck," Shi Wudu, unlike his usually stern and intimidating self, answered calmly with an amiable smile drawn on his handsome face.

"There is no need to be modest, Master Shi Wudu. Lord Jun Wu is greatly pleased and amazed by the swift progress you made. Otherwise, he would not send the two of us to immediately discuss the next step of the plan in the middle of the sea, even if there is still time in our hands until the day promised by our magical friend," replied the woman in black.

"It is really not this humble pirate's expertise that brought us this good result," the Water Tyrant shook his head, "But in any case, let us not stand here and speak. If Sir Ming Guang and Lady Ling Wen have no objection, may I invite you aboard our little ship to continue our conversation?"

"Of course, of course. It would be our pleasure."

As their strings of praises came to an end, two men from Shi Wudu's crew immediately came onto the deck, carrying a long sturdy plank. They placed this piece of thick wood between the two ships, serving as a bridge, and then the man and woman soon crossed over to their side. After welcoming his friends, Shi Wudu sent a glance towards his First Mate who had been standing quietly nearby all this time.