Voyage With The Pirate King

Lady Ching Sei didn't reply. She took out her spyglass and pulled it forward increasing its length before handing it to Zhang Li. Zhang Li accepted it and looked through only to find that flame was spreading. "Fuck," he swore before putting down the spyglass, "he really doesn't want us to follow."

"We can only wait till it weakens. Let's just hope he can hold on until then," she replied before turning on her heel towards Lan Wu's cabin. It seemed this was going to be one heck of a long wait.

Meanwhile, Ji Yao who had made such a big decision on a whim was now faced by a perplexed crew who didn't see this coming. They knew what kind of place they were at and could feel a chill all over their bodies just standing there.

Before this they thought they stood a chance against this place as there is strength in numbers but now that they had been separated from the rest of the fleet their chances of survival had significantly dropped.

Ji Yao felt their sense of unease as he stood at the stern deck his aura incredibly overbearing. With his hands behind his back, he stood tall addressing them.

"If you feel like you can't proceed from this point onward it's not too late. I can still open a pathway in the wall of flames and provide you with safe passage. Invoking code three hundred and sixty-two of the concord ordinance, you won't be condemned or prosecuted for your decision to leave. Does anyone want to leave?"

The entire crew froze in place listening to Ji Yao's words. What he said was true. They wouldn't face any consequences if they desert the king and the ship but the problem was the willingness to flee.

These men had been with Ji Wen for years and others were even born into legacy picking up the torch from their forefathers who were also pirates under the Ji family so how could they abandon their posts. Wouldn't that bring dishonour to their ancestors?

The men looked at each other their expressions changing from a look of vexation to that of determination. They would go wherever their leader goes. In tacit understanding, they pulled their sleeves slightly revealing the symbol of death tattooed on their wrists while staring at Ji Yao with unwavering gazes.

It was Big Hei who walked over to Ji Yao rolling up his sleeve as he said, "We pledged our lives to the Ji family and the Concord. Abandoning our posts is equivocal to death.... hence all of us will go wherever you go."

Ji Yao felt a lump on his throat as he stared at these people who were willing to sacrifice themselves just to get Ji Wen back. His heartfelt touched and he wasn't the only one whose heart got stirred up.

Inside an old shipwreck caught in between stalagmites were a pair of gold eyes staring into the water with an ominous glint. In the water puddle was the image of Red Bane sailing its territory.

"How touching," spoke the creature pretending to wipe away fake tears, "like all humans they are stupid."

"Shouldn't you be happy your meal walked right through our door after it escaped?" said the same voice as the creature licked its mandibles in anticipation.

"Yes, yes. Our tasty little treat delivered himself to us. How can I not be happy? After this meal, we will be able to leave, yes?"

One of its sharp tarsus with razor barbs pierced the ground twice as it said, "It has the keys on his body. When we kill it we should take it and open the door to go home."

"Yes, go home and find a mate,"

"Yes, then let's eat it quickly,"

"No, no what fun is that? We should play with it first,"

"But it's not good to play with food,"

"We also have nothing to entertain ourselves with so let's play first then eat it,"

"Sure, let's play but not like the last time. This time we have to give it a nightmare..... it will taste better after scaring it a little."

"Yes, yes.... good idea."

This weird conversation happened between a single creature. It was as though it had a multiple personality disorder conversing with different versions of itself.

A round of sinister laughter rang in the air as its tarsus entered the water. Soon a luminous white light appeared below the surface of the water as the creature released a stream of violet seraphic energy. When the energy met the power of the keystone a strange phenomenon occurred near Red Bane.

As the ship voyaged in the strange creature's domain dark clouds suddenly appeared covering the skies. The just calm seas suddenly turned violent with the tides rising at an unprecedented rate. The grey clouds gathered with a clap of roaring thunder and occasional lightning flashes within them.

Looking at this, Ji Yao almost laughed. He grew up with grey clouds hovering above his house whenever his father got angry. When he was a baby only a flash of lightning and the roaring thunder calmed him.

What he didn't realise was that this was someone's else nightmare. This keystone could do either of the two things. One, make one's dreams come true by granting the person's greatest desire or two bring to life one's greatest fear which was what was currently happening to them right now.

The creature had used option one to lure in victims but since this prey had already been caught there was no need to lure them in. From the middle of the clouds, there was some kind of activity. 

The clouds were parting in opposite directions as a figure formed at the centre. An elongated head shaped like a familiar creature emerged from the clouds with fierce azure eyes. It opened its mouth and exposed sharp canines and a blue luminous light surrounded by lightning sparks emerged from its throat threatening to fire at them.

'Such a cliche,' he thought as unsheathed his sword ready to fight. But just as he raised his flaming sword in a ready stance a figure ran across the deck screaming like a little girl. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! We are all gonna die!!!"

Ji Yao, "....."

The rest of the crew, "....."

Ji Yao turned around only to catch the disappearing figure rushing to enter the lower deck. He had no idea he had a coward on board. The entire crew also followed the figure that was running below deck with befuddled looks on their faces.

Xunshi Zhe tapped Big Hei's shoulder beckoning him to come closer. Big Hei leaned closer and Xunshi Zhe with a mocking smile said, "He lives with the god of thunder yet he is afraid of that stupid thing." As he said this he pointed to the sky with an amused smile.

Big Hei also found this funny so he joined Xunshi Zhe in laughter. Two seconds later Big Hei was the only one left laughing.

Curious, he turned his face to look at Xunshi Zhe and when he saw his ashen pale face Big Hei almost got a heart attack. This adventure was going to be as lively as The Grudge.