Voyage With The Pirate King

How far should one go to be with that one person that makes their blood boil so much it burns a hole in their brain affecting their IQ? In a lawful society, one can only pursue their love interest without crossing the boundary of being labelled a stalker.

In a society like Hyesong if pursuing doesn't work some would resort to involving their families to get the bride or groom of their dreams. But what if both families object then what? What if an entire clan refuses to accept their clan leader's son marrying into an opposition clan with years of deep-seated hatred between them.

This was like some kind of Romeo and Juliet scenario with the only difference being that they were both men. They were well aware that they would be met with resistance in the future but Rui Fei simply chose to live in the moment while Ji Yao tried to delay the inevitable.

Ji Yao already had a strategy to deal with his parents which was a simple plan, 'Get used to it because this is happening.' Whether Qilin Hao was going to simply 'get used to it' was another issue. But being in that dream made Ji Yao truly consider the question 'how far was he willing to go to be with Rui Fei?'

In that dream, he saw exactly how far Rui Fei would go to be with him. His motto was simple. Kill anyone who gets in the way and he didn't care whether it be his mother, father or grandmother. As long as they got in his way he wouldn't consider familiar ties. In his eyes, Ji Yao was his everything and he wouldn't see any point in living without him.

With Rui Fei's cards laid on the table, the ball was now in Ji Yao's court. How far would he go? For the past few days, he hadn't put his full attention on his work as he replayed that question in his mind over and over again.

Everyone had noticed their leader's distraction but were truly grateful that he wasn't exploding in anger. Maybe that's because Ji Yao was keeping Rui Fei on a tight leash wherever he went. He was like a cute obedient pet following Ji Yao around.

If he wanted to go beyond the one-meter distance limit he would tell Ji Yao where he was going. Ji Yao would mostly look at him before looking away which was also another thing.

For these few days, Ji Yao hadn't spoken a word to Rui Fei. He would say a few words to the rest of the crew or the concord but not the cub roaming around him twenty-four seven.

At first, Rui Fei would sulk whenever he saw Ji Yao talking to other people and behave coldly towards him like he didn't exist. But after a few days of enduring it, he got used to it and he wasn't sulking anymore.

In fact, he was a little happy making Ji Yao very suspicious. He was right to be suspicious. Rui Fei was not one that would wrong himself for long.

He was unaware that at night he was collecting benefits which is why he always woke up in Ji Yao's bed every morning unable to recall the previous night's events.

He had no idea if he sleepwalked into that bed every night and each morning he would wake up earlier than Ji Yao and sneak back into his bed.

All this time he thought Ji Yao didn't know about his nightly escapades but Ji Yao knew and pretended to be still asleep each morning so as not to scare this pup that snuck into his bed each night. This cycle repeated itself up until they docked on the shores far west of Hyesong.

After much deliberation and discussions, the concord had come up with possible locations where such a place existed. Rumours in this era were as unreliable as in modern times but in some way, they gave insight into the truth.

Rumours and folk tales about a man-eating forest had spread all over Hyesong and had even been adapted into street performances. Some believed the goddess of the forest was angered by the lack of respect of the people chopping down her woodlands so she slaughtered anyone who dared enter.

Others believed it was a creature from Niuq that found its way here when the two worlds merged and settled in that forest killing anyone who dared approach that forest. Several other theories were spread throughout the continent but they all had one thing in common.

Whoever entered that forest or lingered around its borders goes missing and would never be found. This alone was enough to tell Ji Yao where the next keystone was so he docked in a small western town named Lequ.

Its name was well suited because despite it being small it had so many festivals each year attracting plenty of people each month. It wasn't only the colourful decorations, delicacies and fine liquor that attracted people but its clear blue water and sandy beaches.

This place would be equivocal to a beach resort town in the modern era but Ji Yao wasn't interested in being a tourist. He was just passing through and didn't care for such things.

Four ships, one with a distinct sapphire dragon on its sails were especially eye-catching at the bay attracting a lot of onlookers that is until the crew disembarked.

Even this far the name Ji Wen and the ship with black hulls was always on people's lips but this was the first time their humble town had been graced with such a mighty crew's presence.

They knew the pirate king had distinct red hair but the person leading the crew didn't even bother showing his face. His heaven-defying presence both attracted and deterred people.

His black robe embroidered with red patterns drew people's curiosity which was made worse by the veil fluttering with the breeze. The only thing they could partially see was a sharp chin and faint pink lips when the veil flickered.

This made a lot of girls itch to pull that veil and catch a glimpse of the handsome man hiding from the world. Lucky for them they weren't lacking any eye candy. It was as though the universe was compensating for not being able to see Ji Yao's face.

The boy standing next to Ji Yao was also dressed in a black robe giving off couple's outfit vibes. His though was embroidered in gold including his wrist braces wrapped around those slender wrists that were incredibly nice to look at.

The youth was a striking creature that could have women pulling out each other's hair just to be his concubine. But the aggressive air surrounding him would have most thinking twice. He seemed unapproachable but that didn't stop people from looking. 

Let's not even mention the uncle standing next to the purple-robed man, the tall beauty with a stern expression and slim lad with a battle-axe on his shoulder.. Maybe there was a face-con convention happening nearby that attracted these fine looking people to their town.