Voyage With The Pirate King

Ji Wen swallowed down his grievances as he proceeded to educate them about these keystones. He had told Ji Yao about it before but he hadn't gotten into detail because he believed his son shouldn't be involved in such dangerous matters. But his take on things changed when he saw him holding that keystone.

He had to explain it to them carefully so they could have a good grasp of the significance of these keystones. He pointed at the hazelnut nocru race and said, "Among the people of Niuq there were two powerful clans who had been in conflict for years but one day this endless war came to an abrupt end with one clan dominating the other."

"The clan that lost the war was now confined to a single city with all of their land plundered by the enemy. Isolated from the rest of the clans they couldn't find anyone who would be willing to form an alliance and resist the oppression from their enemy."

He separated the five hazelnuts as he spoke representing the fallen clan. "The victorious clan took pity on them and suggested a treaty to bury the hatchet but the conditions of the treaty were unacceptable to the fallen clan."

"Their pride took precedence and they would never bow to the enemy so they searched through history to find another solution that wouldn't hurt their pride," he said as he separated one more hazelnut reenacting the events of that year.

"The leader of the fallen clan whose name should never be mentioned discovered through historical text the journal of a great astronomer who recounted his experience crossing over to another world with a weak race that worshipped him like a god."

"His presence was of great significance to this race as they believed it showed the benevolent nature of their rulers and a symbol of a good omen. Statues carved out from his image were erected outside the imperial palace and temples signifying how much reverence and worship they had towards him."

He held up that single hazelnut and said, "This nameless clan leader thought at that moment if his kind would be worshipped in this strange world then why not conquer it? He mobilised some of his clansmen to disguise themselves and travel all over Niuq in search of these keystones that could lift the curtain between these two worlds."

"After decades of searching, he finally found what he was looking for. Hungry for power he sent his subordinates to the city mentioned in the journal to test out this phenomenon. He expected his subordinates to report back."

Placing down the hazelnut he lifted a small part of the ribbon in between the two kinds of nuts and said, "At the right place, at the right time, meeting all the conditions in the historical text the subordinates ripped a hole in the veil but something went wrong. Instead of strolling into this strange world like the astronomer from ancient times, they were sucked into this world by a great force including innocent bystanders like my mother."

He pushed some of the hazelnuts under the lifted part of the ribbon before letting it go. "Unfortunately, the force was also powerful enough to pull the keystones as well which meant the demarcation between the two worlds could only be opened from this side," he said pointing at the macadamia.

"Now this is only one of seven and the other is in Prince Rui's possession but no one else knows the location of the other five. I don't know what his motive is but we can't let him open that portal otherwise both high breeds and humans won't stand a chance against the full might of the purebred nocru. Life as we know it will never be the same. Any questions?"

The study descended into silents with two people gritting their teeth in anger at the mention of Prince Rui. They had been tormented by that man since birth and had big plans for him, plans that require power. It's just that they hadn't anticipated that there would be another way to screw this man over. Rui Fei would especially love to make that pathetic excuse of a father miserable and he had just found the perfect way to achieve that.

Ji Yao could sense the atmosphere was wrong so he decided to shift their attention to something else. "What were the clan names?" randomly asked Ji Yao without much thought.

Ji Wen leaned back a little and answered honestly, "My mother never told me. At that time she said little children shouldn't be too curious to know such details lest they offend someone by mentioning such things in public."

If only Ji Wen's mother knew her son would be entangled with the ageless beauty Qilin Hao she would have mentioned names. Her son fell in love with a beauty ten times his age. A beauty that never aged because of her pure Qilin blood. This makes one wonder if Ji Wen knew Qilin Hao's identity would he ever entangle himself with her?

Since there is no point in delving deeper into what-ifs it's best we move on. After this talk, the four people parted ways each having their own thoughts. Rui Li lay on her bed cuddling her new favourite novel thinking about the time she met her father for the first time.

That man stood outside her dungeon cell with a creepy smile as he watched his man drag her older sister who had taken care of her ever since she was a newborn. She kicked the guard with her short legs trying to save her older sister but it was pointless because she was small.

All it took was one slap and she was sent flying hitting her back against the ice-cold wall. In a haze, she struggled to get up as blood seeped down at the corner of her lips. She remembered her father sauntering over in slow steps before crouching down before her.

Though her blurred vision, she saw his face as he held up her chin and whispered, "Don't worry...... it would be your turn soon," before she passed out.