Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In the early hours, a large rock and burlap sack went missing from a dock outside of Suzhou. Everyone heard the splash of a heavy object sinking into the river. Immediately after, there were rumors of young master Ming’s third concubine going home to Quanzhou to visit family. No one knew when she would return.
In the same grey morning fog, far away on an island in the sea near Quanzhou, savage meat-eating birds under the cover of the dawn light dived down quickly through the layer of cloud. They landed on the surface of the island, covering the ground densely. These birds greedily lowered their heads and used their sharp blood-covered beaks to tear continuously into something. Because there were too many birds, the fight for food was extremely violent. In no time at all, the birds began to fight and bite each other for the food. For a moment, feathers flew chaotically in the dim light, while blood and flesh sprayed all around.
The food they were fighting for were not the small chicks and turtle eggs they usually enjoyed, rather it was the bodies of people.
The entire island was, at this moment, covered with corpses. The iron stench of blood filled the sky. Fortunately, it was still the initial chilly part of spring so the nauseating stench of rotting was not too strong. Even so, all these bodies had still attracted the carrion birds from within hundreds of li.
What a feast.
It was possible to faintly see the structure of the dock on the island, but any traces of people were long gone. The dead had their eyes terrifyingly open. Their floating white eyeballs unable to move were covered in a film of death. It seemed as if they never expected anyone to come to the island and kill them.
With a screech, a bird accurately pecked out the eyes of a corpse. Holding the bloody eyeball, it proudly twisted its neck before shortly lowering its head again, as if afraid another bird would fight him for the food. It spread its wings and moved to a different location. Hiding below a rock, it began to eat, but found that this food was a little hard. It caught in its throat, and the bird croaked in panic.
On an island full of corpses, with the flesh flying away to reveal white bones, organs pecked out, blood stains, and flocks of birds that danced and battled, the aura of death and horror permeated on the ocean.
…
…
A hand, pulling weakly and with difficulty at the corpses above, carefully chased away the irritating carrion birds beside them. A pair of eyes peered out anxiously through the crevasse. After making sure that the troop of soldiers had left on the boat, only then did this pirate on the island, who had just managed to escape death, climb out from among his colleagues’ corpses carefully and with trepidation.
The man had taken a strike to his shoulder, and the blood and flesh was blurry. If not for his identity, which allowed him to quickly sense the murderous intentions of the soldiers and react quickly by playing dead and using his colleagues’ bodies to hide himself, perhaps he would have died long ago.
The soldiers that had come onto the island had been these pirates’ colleagues. But the killing happened suddenly, and they struck with a difficult-to-express ruthlessness. It was probably not until everyone on the island had died before it occurred to the leader of the pirates that the Ming family had come to silence them.
The man who survived had a dark complexion. It was clear that he spent much of his life on the sea. His appearance was average, expression was determined, and eyes slightly narrowed. Having experienced this disaster, he did seem panicked. He panted and sat among his colleagues bodies, forcing his emotions to steady. He ripped off the clothing from his colleague’s bodies beside him and tightly wrapped it around his wound, and then he rose to find clean water and food.
When the soldiers left, they thought everyone had died, so they did not destroy the clean water and food. Thus, giving him a chance to survive.
After he recovered his spirit a little, the sky had also brightened.
…
…
Facing the sun rising over the ocean, that man slowly sat on the dock, watching a group of birds not far away sometimes flying and sometimes landing. He looked at the friends he had known for many years and their tragic appearances after death. His lips began to turn white, but he resisted the urge to vomit. Instead, he flipped his hand and grabbed a bottle of clean water and gulped it into his dry mouth.
The dead people were all his friends, but he would not bury them. First, there were too many dead, and he could never bury this many bodies on his own. Second, as pirates, if they couldn’t be buried in the ocean, it was not a bad end to be taken into the sky by these carrion birds. Third, these pirates had done plenty of terrible things in their lives. Things like murder and rape were commonplace. Now that they had been killed and turned into bird food, it was a kind of karma.
He was called Qing Wa’er from Quanzhou. His family background was common, and his ability was common. He had spent many years on the sea as a sailor. Sometime last year, the large ship he was on was captured by pirates. Somehow he managed to survive and even joined the internal department of the pirates. He began to become friends with the pirates and did some very ugly things on the torrential oceans outside of Quanzhou.
The pirates on this island were the biggest group, but it was very strange. They did not do much business, and the leader seemed to be purposely hiding the movements of this group. After being on the island for half a year, Qing Wa finally discovered that the main business on the island was to capture the goods ships the Ming family sent toward the Western Sea.
Every time they captured a boat, they never left anyone alive, especially the officials responsible for escorting the goods.
In just half a year, because of his calm and cold bloodedness, Qing Wa was able to receive the appreciation of his leader and become a small boss among the pirates. He began to gradually learn more and more details, and had the opportunity to come into contact with some very important things. It was unfortunate that a group of powerful sailors had found the little island and bloodily killed everyone on the island.
The rising sun touched his face, but it did not feel refreshing because he was surrounded by corpses and blood. Qing Wa’s throat bobbed a few times. He recognized the pirate not far away whose leg was being eaten by the birds. It was Cai Zi, who lived in the same cave as he did.
Qing Wa’s eyes blinked without energy, and he stood up with some difficulty. He walked to the side of Cai Zi’s corpse and used the wooden stick in his hands to chase away the wretched birds. He looked at Cai Zi’s body and had nothing to say for a while. In the end he slowly said,
If I get back alive, I will look after your mother and father well.
After saying this, he decisively threw down his friend’s body and followed the dock to a hidden little path toward another direction. The boats on the island had all sunk, but there was the backup the leader of the pirates had kept. He wondered if the wooden boat would still be there.
Qing Wa did not walk quickly but was particularly determined. He had to hurry back to land. Although he had survived, the later intelligence reports had not been sent out. The commissioner should have started to get anxious.
As he walked he wiped away tears, resisting the urge to look back. Although the pirates behind him had all taken a path of death, he had interacted with them for half a year. Even someone with a stone cold heart could not help developing some feelings.
A fire named anger rose in Qing Wa’s chest. He was so close to finding evidence of the Ming family colluding with the pirates…last night’s troops had been powerful fighters, who exactly did they belong to? Since they came onto the island to silence everyone, it must be a military elder to be able to mobilize the powerful sailors beside the sea. Was it the Ye family? He did not have the authority to make the judgement, he could only hope to quickly get the intelligence report to Suzhou.
The crying Qing Wa was one of five crows of the Overwatch Council’s outside second group of the inspection division located in Quanzhou. He was the spy that had once reported to Fan Xian about the connection between the Ming family and pirates.
Some distance from this island, outside of Suzhou, inside that Ming Garden that seemed as beautiful as if it could not be touched by the breath of the secular world, was the current master of the Ming family, Ming Qingda. He was respectfully standing in front of a chair and replying to the questions the person in the chair asked.
In the chair was a woman, an old woman.
Even in front of the Eldest Princess, Ming Qingda had no need to be so reserved and proper. But in front of this old woman, he need to lower his head because this old woman, who held the true power in the Ming family, was the old matriarch—his birth mother.
If it were not for the ruthlessness of this old woman—who poisoned the much-loved mistress of the master and who, after he died, chased the seventh brother out of the family home, the massive Ming family business would probably have long fallen into that person’s hands. What share would Ming Qingda have?
Every time Ming Qingda saw his elderly mother, he could never think of the words
advanced in both years and virtue,
rather he thought of,
to be old and not die is to be a pest.
Seventh brother’s body had probably already become white bones somewhere, right? Although he felt at east thinking this, he also felt a chill in his heart. As long as this old woman was alive, he could not be considered the true master of the Ming family.
You acted too slowly,
the Ming family matriarch said in a cold, mercilessly voice.
If you wanted to wash yourself clean, you should have started taking action two years ago.
Ming Qingda was considered intelligent by all, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to control the massive industry of the Ming family. However, in front of his mother, he was scolded harshly. His face warmed and he furrowed his brows.
Why two years ago?
Because two years ago, the Palace decided to let Fan Xian marry Lin Wan’er!
A coldness flashed through the old woman’s eyes as she spoke with hatred.
Ming Qingda’s face appeared respectful, but he had other thoughts in his heart. Even if they guessed that Fan Xian would come down to Jiangnan to take control of the palace treasury at that time, who knew he was the Emperor’s illegitimate child at that time? Who knew he was a descendant of the Ye family? Who knew he would control the Overwatch Council in the future? This old woman seemed like she was truly muddled.
The old woman scolded,
If I hadn’t asked the military for help this time…if the Overwatch Council had found that island, given Fan Xian’s personality, how would he deal with you?
Ming Qingda smiled coldly and wordlessly in his heart, but his face was respectful as he replied,
I have made mother worry, I am not filial.
