Black Belly Wife

Soon, the four men from South, East, North and West returned after capturing a very familiar face――the one-eyed pirate.

Chu Changge slightly raised his sword eyebrows, and he looked at them indifferently, as if he was listening to them.

"Say it." North Guardian pushed the one-eyed pirate forward.

The one-eyed pirate stood firmly on his feet, glanced at Chu Changge and said, "The ship is gone."

Chu Changge's dark eyes sank as he asked, "What do you mean that the ship is gone?"

"There's no ship coming at all!" North Guardian said, "He's the one who's making up the rumour."

"I didn't! There was clearly a ship out at sea earlier, and Wei Qian has also seen......" Halfway through his sentence, the one-eyed pirate suddenly exclaimed, "Where's Wei Qian?!" And then he looked around, trying to find Wei Qian.

The four men from the South, East, North and West looked at each other. Wei Qian should be on the beach catching crabs, but just now, there was no one else on the beach except for the one-eyed pirate. Where had Wei Qian gone to?

Chu Changge pondered for a moment and instructed, "Split up and go find him."

"Yes." South, East, North and West turned around and were about to leave when they heard the one-eyed pirate say, "You won't find him, so don't bother looking."

"Why?" Lu-er had an anxious look on her face. How could Wei Qian disappear for no reason at all?

The one-eyed pirate looked at Lu-er and said, "Because he has left with the ship."

"No way!" Lu-er didn't believe that Wei Qian would abandon them and left by himself.

The one-eyed pirate said, "When we found the ship, we agreed that he would continue watching after it, and I would come back to report. But now the boat has disappeared into thin air, and he has disappeared too. What explanation is there other than that he left with the ship?"

"But…..." Lu-er turned to Murong Yunshu for help.

Murong Yunshu ignored Lu-er's stare and asked the one-eyed pirate, "Did you get a good look at that ship?"

"No." The one-eyed pirate shook his head, then suddenly snapped his eyes up again and said, "I remember Wei Qian saying at the time that it was his big brother coming to pick him up."

Murong Yunshu thought for a moment and asked, "Is there something wrong with your eye?"

"It's your eyes that are the problem!" The one-eyed pirate countered grumpily.

"If you don't want to live, just say so!!" The North Guardian threateningly warned, "Properly answer when Madam asks you, and don't whine."

"You!" The one-eyed pirate was furious and tried to resist but knew it was ineffective, so he said sullenly, "There's nothing wrong with my eye!"

Murong Yunshu inquired, "In that case, why can't you see the ship clearly, but he knew that it was his eldest brother's ship?"

One-eyed pirate: "Maybe he has a pair of good eyes to see far."

Murong Yunshu's dark eyebrows unfurled as she said, "It's not impossible. I remember there is a term called dim-sighted from old age, and you probably fall into that category right now."

The corners of the one-eyed pirate's mouth slightly twitched as he muttered in his mind, 'children's words carry no harm. Children's words carry no harm......'

It was not that he did not want to retort, nor was it that he could not retort. But the fact that he had been together with them for so long made him understand the boundless joy he found in his struggle with Heaven and the endless entertainment he had when he fought on the earth. However, fighting with the freaks only exasperated him. He still wanted to live a few more years, so he decided to hold his tongue......no, to adopt an ignorant attitude for the time being.

At this point, Murong Yunshu added, "Perhaps Wei Qian was just hoping that it was his big brother's boat."

The one-eyed pirate suddenly realised, "Do you suspect that the people on that ship are enemies and not friends, and they have captured Wei Qian?"

Murong Yunshu nodded, "Other than that, there is no other explanation."

"Why don't you doubt that Wei Qian left by himself? You have only known him for two months. " The one-eyed pirate was not convinced. By all accounts, he had known them first. Why was he an untrustworthy person in their hearts? [T/N]

"It has nothing to do with how long we've known each other." Murong Yunshu explained, "Even if he wanted to leave on his own, his big brother would not agree."

The one-eyed pirate frowned, getting even more as he listened.

Murong Yunshu added, "If it were indeed the General who returned, he would have brought us to see King Sheng." In fact, in her anticipation, it should be King Sheng himself who would come to welcome her. If King Sheng hadn’t welcomed her personally, then the favour she owed him would have to be repaid in silver, and how the favour should be compensated depending on the situation.

When the one-eyed pirate heard the word 'King Sheng', his expression tensed up as he asked, "Wei Qian is one of King Sheng's men?"

"Yes. His eldest brother is Wei Zhentian, the number one valiant general under King Sheng's command!" Lu-er said with a proud look on her face. [+]

Seeing this, Murong Yunshu's phoenix eyes slightly moved as she looked meaningfully at Lu-er and smiled before looking at the one-eyed pirate, "You seem to be very interested in King Sheng."

The one-eyed pirate twisted his head, "You think too much."

"Is that so?" Murong Yunshu looked at Chu Changge. What do you think?

Chu Changge said, "He is a former subordinate of Emperor Tiancheng."

Murong Yunshu was surprised. Emperor Tiancheng was King Sheng's father, so why did the one-eyed pirate become a pirate instead of joining King Sheng's side?

As if he could see Murong Yunshu's doubts, the one-eyed pirate said expressionlessly, "King Jin had put assassins to lie in ambush in every port, including Yanzhou." If he set foot in Yanzhou, not only would he be surrounded on four sides by the songs of Chu, he would also drag the Crown Prince down with him.

"King Jin?" Murong Yunshu looked at Chu Changge in confusion.

Chu Changge said, "It is the recently deceased Emperor Tianqi. He was the younger brother of Emperor Tiancheng. In order to spend his life with a concubine, Emperor Tiancheng passed the throne to then King Jin and made an agreement with him not to abolish the Crown Prince. After his accession, King Jin not only reneged on his promise to abolish the Crown Prince, but he also sent his men to kill Emperor Tiancheng and the men who accompanied him secretly. He was one of those accompanying him, the then Commander of the Imperial Army――Chen Ting."

After listening to Chu Changge's account, Murong Yunshu's heart could not help but feel a little admiration for the one-eyed pirate. How could one not admire a courtier who would rather be a fugitive just for his Emperor? Suddenly she felt that whatever he had done before could now be written off. For he had a red-bellied devotion and a whole body that clanked with iron bone.

The one-eyed pirate Chen Ting, on the other hand, was full of shock, "How did you know my name?!" It was true that he had told these old stories to Chu Changge, but he had definitely not revealed his name. King Jin had long destroyed his reputation, background, battle achievements, and merits, and no third person besides him and King Jin knew his identity. How could Chu Changge know?

Murong Yunshu also looked at Chu Changge in confusion. She was equally curious as to why Chu Changge knew so much about this little-known history as if he had experienced it himself.

Originally, Chu Changge did not want to mention these past events, but since he had let it slip, he had no choice but to go all the way through the secret as he said, "There is your tablet in the Chu family’s ancestral hall."

! Murong Yunshu looked at Chu Changge and then at the one-eyed pirate. "Are you related?"

"I don't know." Chu Changge bristled and said, "I only know that my mother used to offer incense to him every year on the first day of the tenth lunar month."

Murong Yunshu looked at Chen Ting again. She was sure he would know more about this.

As expected, Chen Ting was too excited to speak. Only after a long time did he say with infinite remorse, "If I had known that your mother had set up a tablet for me, I would never have thrown you overboard in the first place."

"......are you sure you want to rehash that old story?" Chu Changge's face showed a fierce light. If he hadn't been forced to hear that history that day and guessed that he was the 'benefactor' his mother had spoken of, he would have cut him in half with a slash.

Since Chen Ting's heart still fluttered with fear, he drew back his neck, kept silent and shook his head. He would save his life for him to die on the battlefield.

"My mother once said that you saved our whole family." Chu Changge said coolly, in an awkward tone.

"How?! It was your father who saved me." Chen Ting said, "Back then, when the assassin, unfortunately, killed his Majesty, I was ordered to flee with Noble Consort Yue to Black Wind Mountain, but I met an ambush halfway. It was your father who appeared in time to save my life."

"You should have already been on our mountain." Chu Changge explained, "My father wouldn't save someone unless that person had stepped into the Black Wind Mountain."

Chen Ting: "Yes, it was because I knew the rules of the Mojiao Sect at the time that I fled there with Noble Consort Yue."

"What rules?" Murong Yunshu looked at Chu Changge in confusion.

"Those who step into Black Wind Mountain belong to the Mojiao Sect, no matter whether they are alive or dead." The one who answered Murong Yunshu was not Chu Changge, but the four people South, East, North and West as they stood in a line next to each other. Their faces matched with expressions of righteous indignation. "The four of you wouldn't have......mistakenly intruded into Black Wind Mountain and were forced by him to join the Mojiao Sect as guardians, would you?"

The four of them nodded with tears in their eyes. They mistook the demon (Chu Changge) for a good man because they were once young and ignorant. After drinking and talking to each other as brothers and expressing their ambitions, he encouraged them to go into Black Wind Mountain to right wrongs following Heaven's decree. As a result, they didn't right wrongs per Heaven's decree, but they nearly got their heads shaved. They couldn't do anything about it as the Leader only gave them two options――joining the Mojiao Sect or having their heads shaved and sent to the Shaolin Temple. As courageous and upright men, how could they become monks? Since then, their miserable lives began. It continued until now, and it would continue to do so. [+]

They missed the days of being warriors. To save a man was called being a warrior. To kill a man was called killing for the people, and to 'borrow' some silver was called robbing the rich to help the poor. What about now? When they wanted to save someone, they would be accused of having an ulterior motive. If they didn't save someone, they would be called cold and heartless. If they killed someone, they would be called indiscriminately slaughtering innocent people. If they didn't kill someone, they would be said to be pricked by their conscience. Even their casual remarks were treated as misleading the public with rumours.

Ai!

South, East, North and West secretly wiped a handful of bitter tears. In fact, ah, bad people were all forced out to come out as the bad ones. They were the living examples of this statement.

Seeing the four of them looking remorseful, Murong Yunshu shook her head in amusement and said, "Why don't you just go elsewhere if you feel sorry for yourself so that no one will feel sick of looking at you and have to retaliate against you in the future."

South, East, North and West suddenly seemed like Madam had anointed their head with the purest cream. One moment, they were like little daughters-in-law who had been treated wrongly, but now each of them had an unusually flattering smile on their faces as they said in unison, "It's an honour for us to join the Mojiao Sect."

Murong Yunshu was dumbfounded. They didn’t even dare to run away. It seemed that someone had terribly poisoned them!

Chu Changge, on the other hand, looked as if nothing was wrong and said with a long smile, "This Sect Leader is deeply pleased that you have such understanding."

The four men from South East North, and West followed suit, laughing with gritted teeth and murderous rage.

Suddenly, a soft and frightening voice came from the dense forest to their side――"I'm glad that you're all here."