Yaoji helped Qiu Ran Ke throw all the Arab corpses into the sea, earning the reward of having her hair tousled and her head rubbed by Qiu Ran Ke. Facing such rough actions, Yaoji still felt waves of excitement.

Hu Tonghai held the rudder and watched the two of them with their naked bodies. Sighing, he said: “I thought the first thing you two would do after killing people would be to put on clothes. I didn’t expect you two to be far more fierce than this old geezer—directly starting to handle corpses. Zhongjian, Yaoji, can’t you put on clothes first?”

“On the island there was no way—we had no clothes to wear, so that was that. But now we have clothes and don’t wear them. Are you planning to use your bodies to tell this old man that I’m already old?”

Qiu Ran Ke laughed heartily and slapped Yaoji’s bottom once, saying to Hu Tonghai: “We three stayed naked in one cave for a year, and I discovered we three have already become family. Old Hu, this method is excellent. In the future, anyone who wants to join us must first go naked for a year, hahaha.”

Not only did Qiu Ran Ke not care, Yaoji also giggled coquettishly, thrusting out her chest and hugging Qiu Ran Ke’s arm to show off to Hu Tonghai.

Having looked at Yaoji’s naked body for over a year, Hu Tonghai had long been able to maintain a heart as still as water. Thinking of the bitter suffering of over a year, he still couldn’t help feeling somewhat mournful. So what if the three of them escaped with their lives? With a giant shark like Yun Ye at sea, it fundamentally wasn’t a suitable place to make a living.

Once the terrifying giant warships appeared, other ships at sea could only flee at the sight of them. Just being seen meant possibly having no chance to escape. They were so powerful as to make one despair. Although he still had a home in Zhoushan, now he couldn’t go back. Seeking trouble with enemy family members was originally the government’s prerogative. His leading the sneak attack on Yun Ye—this couldn’t be hidden from people.

Fortunately, he had long been prepared for this day to come. His family members at this time should have long since hidden their names and scattered among the countryside. His old wife’s health wasn’t good—before he departed, she only had a few days left to live. By now her remains should already be buried in the grave.

Children and grandchildren have their own fortunes. Hu Tonghai himself was a pirate, but he absolutely wouldn’t allow his three sons to also become pirates, or even permit them to go to sea. His eldest son secretly boarded a ship and had one leg broken by Hu Tonghai’s own hand. From then on, none of his sons dared mention going to sea again. Being a pirate could earn money, but it damaged one’s yang lifespan and deducted from one’s yin virtue. Having already become this way himself, Hu Tonghai absolutely wouldn’t permit his sons to also walk this road that would leave them without descendants.

Hearing the huge splashing sounds coming from the ship’s side, Hu Tonghai knew these were sharks that had eaten those corpses and followed the bloody scent to chase here. One day he too would feed the sharks. He was very certain about his future fate.

“This is a merchant ship. On board is all silk and porcelain transported from Quanzhou, plus some tea leaves—not bitter tea, but new tea. The tea packages have a large Yun character. This is the finest tea produced by the Yun family, and there are even over a hundred jars of wine, also products of the Yun family. Quite valuable.”

Qiu Ran Ke handed a small porcelain jar to Hu Tonghai, unwrapped the Arab cloth robe from Hu Tonghai’s body, took clean hemp cloth, dipped it in wine, and carefully wiped the wound on his back. If not promptly wiped with wine or salt, in the hot South Sea, the wound would quickly fester.

“Zhongjian, the Great Tang sea domain is definitely not a good place to make a living right now. Great Tang’s navy is too powerful. Over a year ago, three such terrifying warships appeared at once. Now who knows how many more there are. When Yun Ye went to sea last time, on one hand he wanted to lure us all out to catch us in one net, and another purpose was probably to test his new ships. His purposes have probably all been achieved. Believe me, Zhongjian, such warships will only increase.”

Qiu Ran Ke scratched the messy hair on his head, baring his teeth, and said: “You’re not wrong. At that time I was hanging from the mast, so I saw the entire battle situation very clearly. Yun Ye’s giant warship was just cutting vegetables! That woman Takayama Yoko commanded quite well too. When Goguryeo people and Wa people fight, they also don’t care about their lives. Fighting against ordinary warships, they might have won. But encountering a fellow like Yun Ye, they could only use the golden cicada shedding its shell method to escape. We can’t beat Yun Ye unless we can have a warship like his.”

Yaoji brought over a plate of food. Hu Tonghai then tied the ship’s rudder and sat down to eat with them. Yaoji was very satisfied with her current life—there was food and clothing, and the two men didn’t treat her as a servant. So while eating and talking, she proudly told Hu Tonghai she had discovered a chest of gold coins, while carefully picking out fish bones from the fish meat and placing them beside Qiu Ran Ke. Even with all this, she still had energy to show off the silk she found in the cabin.

Qiu Ran Ke patted her head. Yaoji actually wasn’t very old—at most sixteen or seventeen years old. Perhaps because life on the island was too lonely, this woman had changed from a tool for relieving desires to now becoming a family-like existence. Emotions that appear in the most difficult times are always the most valued, especially by someone like Qiu Ran Ke.

“Zamuli is dead, definitely dead. Yun Ye doesn’t seem so vicious toward Great Tang people, but toward foreign peoples, he definitely counts as a butcher. Crab Island is now covered with corpses everywhere. It’s said the scattered white bones can cover one’s feet. The corpses above are all Arabs, Goguryeo people, and Wa people, plus some pirate corpses from the far west. Each one was impaled on wooden stakes—extremely terrifying. People at sea now all call that island Demon Island.”

Qiu Ran Ke stopped eating and said to Hu Tonghai with puzzlement: “Old Hu, you mean we three should venture into the Arab sea domains? We’re unfamiliar with people and places there—how would we get by?”

Hu Tonghai said helplessly: “The Great Tang sea domain is no longer suitable for our survival. If we want to live, we have to go to Arab territory. There’s another benefit, Zhongjian—you speak the Arab language. On Arab ships there are generally slaves. As long as you take down one large ship, you can turn those slaves into sailors. These slaves have already been trained to have no thoughts of their own and are very easy to command. Once you remove their shackles, they’ll definitely be your most loyal subordinates, never betraying you unto death. Because other than you, no one will treat them as human. This matter has great potential!”

Qiu Ran Ke’s eyes immediately lit up. Extending both arms, he gathered both Hu Tonghai and Yaoji into his embrace. Facing the great sea, he said loudly: “I, Qiu Ran Ke, swear here that if in this life my great undertaking succeeds, I will definitely not fail these two people. If I violate this oath, let me die in a shark’s mouth.”

Hu Tonghai also said loudly: “I, Hu Tonghai, acknowledge Zhang Zhongjian as my master. In this life I will definitely do my utmost to assist. If I harbor different intentions, let me be torn apart by sea sharks, forever falling into the dark netherworld hell.”

Yaoji emerged from Qiu Ran Ke’s embrace. With both knees kneeling at Qiu Ran Ke’s feet, she spread open her hands and kissed his toes, expressing absolute obedience.

Qiu Ran Ke patted the railing, looking at the low-flying clouds in the distance. Annoyed, he said to Hu Tonghai: “That bastard Yun Ye is too domineering. He said that wherever Great Tang warships reach is Great Tang territory. It looks like next time he goes to sea, even the Arab sea domains won’t be peaceful.”

Hu Tonghai said with a laugh: “The sea is so vast. Even if Yun Ye is domineering, could he possibly occupy the entire sea? He advances westward, we also advance westward. Haha, while the sea doesn’t dry up, pirates won’t cease. Just avoid him. If one day our strength is sufficient, we can come back to have a decisive battle with him.”

Having finished speaking, Qiu Ran Ke, Hu Tonghai, and Yaoji—all three together holding the ship’s rail—burst into hearty laughter…

On the fifteenth day of the sixth month in the summer of the twelfth year of Zhenguan, with great fortune in the west, Qiu Ran Ke turned the ship’s bow. Bringing Hu Tonghai and Yaoji, the two people, he drove straight to the west. With a single person and single ship, he killed all one hundred thirteen Arab sea bandits, styling himself the Sea Dragon King.

Xinyue sat beneath the osmanthus tree embroidering a small belly covering. The Five Poisons pattern on it was lifelike. Every few stitches she would look at her husband lying in the chair taking an afternoon nap, filled with tender affection.

Her two-year-old son lay naked on his husband’s belly sleeping. Glistening drool hung on daddy’s bare chest. The small body swayed up and down with daddy’s rising and falling chest—this was the best cradle.

Seeing flying insects fly over, Xinyue put down the needle and thread in her hands. Taking the palm-leaf fan, she chased away the flying insects. This was the only bad thing about being under the osmanthus tree—there were always bugs. She couldn’t help thinking of that persimmon tree in Chang’an. With luxuriant branches and leaves, there were no insects to disturb. She wondered how Shou’er was doing. The letters that came once a month never explained things clearly. She didn’t know if the disputes in Chang’an had passed. Although Lingnan was also quite good, this place after all wasn’t her home. Grandmother also said yesterday that she wanted to be buried in the ancestral grave.

Since her husband came ashore and sent Xiao Jie, Lao Tie, and the others to the shipyard, he hadn’t left home even once. It had already been almost two full months. Not doing anything, just staying with the old and young of the family, finding ways to make the whole family happy. Today he even said he would fry lots of fried dough sticks—she didn’t know what fried dough sticks looked like.

Xiao Ya came out from inside the door, furious. Xinyue wanted to stop her but couldn’t, and could only sigh and let her go. This child—she was already going to become Prince Qi’s consort, yet still so rash and impetuous. Other people couldn’t even beg for such a good marriage match, but she just wouldn’t agree.

Xiao Ya took the chubby child away from her brother. Amid Xinyue’s cries, she plopped down on her brother’s belly. Hearing footsteps, Yun Ye woke up, only he didn’t know how to explain things to Xiao Ya, so he could only pretend to sleep. Now this girl had even sat on his belly—he could only sigh and say: “Xiao Ya, you’re already sixteen years old this year—a grown young lady. How can you still be like this? What family’s grown young lady would sit on her brother’s belly? Xiao You actually isn’t bad. Didn’t you always say you wanted to marry with great fanfare and be a hundred times better than Daya? Now marrying Xiao You, your dream would be realized. Why are you still unhappy?”

Xiao Ya tucked her nephew under her arm and said: “I hate Li You. The husband I want to marry should be a dragon. If not that, he should be a tiger. Now marrying a pig—what does that count as?”

“A dragon, definitely a dragon. Xiao You’s father is a true dragon, the Son of Heaven. How is Xiao You not a dragon? Phoenix sons and dragon grandsons—that’s referring to Xiao You and them.”

“Wrong! Moji said that dragons can also give birth to turtles!”