Voyage With The Pirate King

The sad thing was that he was even standing on his tippy toes but still couldn't reach the bag. "What the fuck are you talking about?" said Xunshi Zhe momentarily ending the conflict, "I signed for-."

Before he could even finish the sentence he was suddenly interrupted when a bag of snacks was thrown on his face. Old Du who didn't want the crew to find out what exactly they signed for and that he had unknowingly got everyone to have compulsory classes after this mission had to shut Xunshi Zhe up.

Unsurprisingly, his plan actually worked. Xunshi Zhe's eyes sparkled as he looked at the bag. "Uh, melon seeds. I have a bag of my own you stingy bastard hehehe," said Xunshi Zhe waving the small sack in Big Hei's face. If he only knew that he had been silenced by Old Du what would his reaction be then? Stay tuned to find out....

***

The terrain they were trailing was especially hard even for the most seasoned mountain hiker. It was a mountainous region but unlike the city, they found Qilin Kai, this place was green and lush with plenty of vegetation.

This would make it the most suitable place for villagers to thrive as there was an abundance of nutrients in the soil and plenty of water sources.

But because it was secluded it meant there was no easy access to help in terms of emergencies. For instance, if a village was besieged by monsters it would take possibly weeks for other villagers to find out what happened.

As though to confirm this conjecture at dusk the group stumbled upon a village that closely resembled a ghost town. The sign hung up on two poles on either end was now hanging loosely swinging with the chilly breeze.

The other pole had been smashed to the ground and the other barely hanging on. The sign had blood splatter on it but the colour wasn't that of a human. Zhang Li crouched down and dipped his finger in the pool of blood dripping down the rope from the signboard and said, "They fought back."

"But it was still pointless," replied Rui Yewan while staring at the sign with a blank expression. Years in that dark dungeon watching his siblings get dragged out of there one by one had somewhat made him numb. He could understand the pain but he found himself apathetic.

"Spread out and look for survivors," said Ji Yao as he walked forward into the village.

The homes were deserted with broken down doors and paper windows like something had violently broken in before dragging the people away. From the gap in broken doors, Ji Yao could see grass had even grown in some of the houses but not all.

It seemed these attacks were in waves. The creatures had possibly attacked the village once before only to come back to grab more victims which explains why there was fresh blood on the signboard at the entrance of the village. This attack must have happened recently.

Rui Fei glanced over at Rui Yewan. In tacit understanding, Rui Yewan squatted on the ground and placed his palm flat over a pool of blood on the muddy soil. He closed his eyes and his body was suddenly shrouded in dark appendages formed by his seraphic energy. Some of the dark appendages seeped into the pool of blood as though looking for something.

His brows tightened and loosened a couple of times before he opened his eyes. He stood up and said, "They were attacked last night but there is more to it." This was one of his special abilities that he rarely had the opportunity to use. As long as the event occurred within hours he could see everything in the person to who the blood belonged's eyes.

If he worked diligently enough he could even see something that happened a month ago but he hadn't reached such a formidable level yet.

Ji Yao turned to look at him with a raised brow and he couldn't help but praise him. Such a skill was rare among half Nocru. "That's a pretty useful skill," he said only to be met by a dog with drooping ears. It seemed Rui Fei also wanted to be praised. You can't praise one without praising the other so Ji Yao leaned over and whispered in his ear.

"Your kissing skills are impeccable now stop being sour," he said to Rui Fei. That tail that had been hung low was wagging so much you would think it would slap Rui Yewan away. Sure, the praise was unrelated to what was happening here but he didn't care. Praise was praise.

Rui Yewan didn't notice the two's actions. Distracted he walked away dazedly following the memory of the person whose blood his seraphic energy had probed. In what should be the centre of the village was a platform with a tall pole and ropes with human skin and blood loosely laying on the floor.

Rui Yewan pointed at the platform and said, "They tied someone up intending to sacrifice him but the creatures deliberately left the intended sacrifice and attacked the villagers in their homes."

Rui Fei picked up the rope and asked, "Then where is the person?"

Rui Yewan shook his head as he looked around. A few feet away from them Rui Li who had been strolling around with Lady Ching Sei searching the place suddenly halted her footsteps separating from the adult.

Because of her keen sense of hearing she had heard a faint shuffling sound that if she hadn't listened carefully she might have thought it was an illusion.

Her lips quirked up with her interest aroused. She pretended to walk forward and after she passed the person heaved a sigh of relief only to hear a voice coming from behind shouting, "Hello!"

When he turned his face he yelled in surprise as he crawled away. In front of him was a girl's face staring at him upside down with her pigtails hanging loose. She didn't seem to care that her hair was dragging leaves and grass from the ground.

Rui Li grin slyly and said, "What are you hiding from?"

The boy's face was pale with the skin on his knees scraped red. He was covered in injuries made from a rope. This boy could possibly have been thirteen but because of stunt growth, he looked like he was eleven.

Rui Li's interest was piqued. She hadn't hung out with anyone around her age who wasn't related to her. The crew of Red Bane was all adults which was okay but the thought of having a playmate made her lower her vigilance. She crawled into the hole he was hiding that was covered with thick leaves.

She sat next to him with a smile so bright as she said, "My name is Rui Li and you..... what's your name." Her expression made it hard to believe that she was the same girl that killed a trafficker by chopping off all his limbs. She was like a harmless naive sweet angel with no flaws.