The black ship steadily crossed the Warmwater River and stopped at a riverbank. After everyone jumped off the ship, the black ship slowly submerged into the water in front of everyone. Ye Chui stood on the mast’s observation platform and, at the moment the great ship sank, pinched an orchid finger and stepped onto the shore.
Those captain and crew still wore expressions of utter astonishment. They were not uneducated common folk. In this world of swords and magic, they knew the greatness of magical power, but they had never seen or heard of someone like Ye Chui who could summon a black ship. The captain secretly marvelled in his heart, as expected of a man worth one hundred thousand gold coins!
However, a flicker of fear passed through the captain’s eyes. Although Ye Chui had treated them very amiably along the way, he had heard plenty of tales about silencing witnesses by murder, and Ye Chui’s group had long been labelled as brutal in his mind. Would he let them go?
The strange and stirring music beside Ye Chui had already stopped. He pinched an orchid finger and walked towards the captain with a cheap grin on his face.
“Captain Ye Chui Sparrow…” The captain still remembered the name Ye Chui had introduced himself with earlier. His voice trembled slightly, “We, we will not tell anyone about what happened on the ship. Please trust me…”
“Do not be afraid.” Ye Chui said with a smile. He waved his hand, and a bag of gold coins appeared in it, looking like it contained several hundred. He casually tossed the gold coins into the captain’s arms, “This is for you.”
“For, for me!?” The captain was stunned.
“Take it to buy a new ship, or do some other business. This amount should be enough as startup capital.” Ye Chui explained. He was not a bleeding heart, only, although Debbie, Green and the others had not yet figured out what was going on, Ye Chui knew full well in his heart that the iceberg that had capsized the cargo ship was not due to someone framing them, it was all his doing.
And with the cargo ship sunk, this old captain’s losses were not just the ship, but also the prisoners locked below deck being transported. No doubt at some dock south of the Warmwater River, the city guards were still waiting for the cargo ship’s arrival. Losing the prisoners, this old captain could not bear the blame. Ye Chui was almost certain that once this old captain got the gold coins he gave, he would definitely take the huge sum and slip away. That would be for the best.
The captain’s originally fearful eyes immediately lit up, and his hands trembled as he reached out to take the bag of gold coins.
At this moment, a female swordsman in golden armour suddenly appeared beside Ye Chui. It was Gilgar, whom Debbie had just summoned.
“Wait a moment first.” Gilgar took the gold coins from Ye Chui’s hand, “Please swear upon these gold coins that you will not reveal anything that happened on the ship.”
The Golden Oath!
Ye Chui glanced at Debbie, and Debbie nodded. The sailor who attacked them might have been sent by the Anduin family, which made Debbie very concerned. It was best not to let word of what happened on the ship spread. Debbie did not want the Anduin family to know she was already aware of their plans, the little girl was now harbouring a bellyful of anger: she wanted to see what these bastards (no mistake) were up to!
The captain and crew looked baffled, but still followed Gilgar’s words and made the Golden Oath. A breath from Gilgar’s body quietly merged into the captain and crew. This was the power of the oath. If they did not break it, they would face no danger, but if they did, the gold would turn into sword energy and instantly shred them, just like Ryan and the others in Stan Town who had died under the Golden Oath.
After all this was done, Ye Chui and the others bid farewell to the captain’s group and set off on foot.
The place Ye Chui chose to dock was very far from the dock, so it was also extremely remote. They did not even know exactly where this was. South of the Warmwater River was a prosperous area across the entire Castro Highway, yet there were still desolate and uninhabited places. Ye Chui’s group walked for about half an hour before finding a gravel road. After following it for a stretch, they came upon a fishing village.
It was called a village, but it was much larger than those villages on the Elven Plains. The village had some shops, inns, and even a blacksmith’s shop that sold weapons and armour, though the main items sold in this blacksmith’s shop were still fish hooks and fish spears. At the village entrance, there was also a horse rental stable.
Ye Chui and the others found an inn in the village where they could eat and enjoyed a hearty meal of fresh fish. This was the one thing that was never in short supply here.
It was right in the middle of the day, and there were quite a few diners in the inn. Their arguing voices could be heard clearly without needing to eavesdrop, and what made Ye Chui’s group find it very amusing was that the topic they were discussing happened to be related to them,
“I heard the news in Forge City just now. Apparently, that Beggar Prince has just become engaged to the young lady of the Moonstone family.”
“Was it not said that the young lady did not fancy the Beggar Prince at all?”
“This is unavoidable. I heard that the Beggar Prince, in a fit of anger, directly *** the arrogant young lady right there. This happened just yesterday, and many people saw it with their own eyes. The Moonstone family, to protect their reputation, had no choice but to promptly announce the prince and young lady’s engagement.”
“*** in the street? This Beggar Prince really went and did it…”
“Tsk tsk, that Miss Xiuyi of the Moonstone family, I have seen her once. She is truly a beautiful beauty.”
“No matter how beautiful, she is not for us drunkards to enjoy. If you ask me, the prostitutes in the flea dens of Forge City are not bad either…”
The drinkers’ topic soon veered off into directions not suitable for children, but their earlier words also left Ye Chui sighing endlessly.
“The Moonstone family is truly decisive, announcing the engagement so quickly, but what is this about *** in the street?” Ye Chui shook his head.
Debbie chimed in, “These drunkards are just spouting nonsense.”
Then the two suddenly noticed that everyone else at the table had gone quiet, looking at them, yesterday when they sent the Sixth Prince and Xiuyi back, it was just the two of them. They had not told the others exactly what they did, only that Ye Chui mentioned the Beggar Prince would thank him properly later, but now this situation…
“Little brother, little sister, what exactly did you two do that was so heinous yesterday?” Reisha asked in surprise.
Debbie chuckled and jumped in, “We just found a way to take that Miss Xiuyi’s vir·ginity, to see if she dares to set her sights on Ye Chui again.”
The others, including Ye Chui: “!!!”
Girl, do not use this kind of phrasing that so easily leads to misunderstandings, alright!?
In the end, Ye Chui had to seriously explain in detail what happened yesterday afternoon. What Debbie meant by taking her vir·ginity was not the R-rated thing they imagined, but simply making the Sixth Prince and Xiuyi cook the rice into cooked rice and have it witnessed by others. Only then did everyone calm their restless hearts. Now it seemed the Sixth Prince really ought to thank Ye Chui properly, he owed him a huge favour.
After finishing lunch, Ye Chui’s group rented a carriage at the village entrance’s rental stable, with a dedicated coachman driving them towards Forge City. Ye Chui’s group of six squeezed into the somewhat cramped carriage compartment.
At this point, Ye Chui thought of something very important.
“Our guild is now a four-star guild. Most magic guilds and mercenary groups decide on their emblem totem when they are one-star, but our guild has yet to decide. This time in Forge City, we must hurry to the mercenary guild there and finalise the totem.” Ye Chui said to everyone.
He had actually been concerned about this matter. For that half month by Lake Wenga, he had been thinking about it, “Do any of you have suitable patterns?” He looked at the others.
“I have a pattern…” Reisha spoke first. She drew a piece of paper from her *** and handed it to Ye Chui, “During this time when I recite the Bible, this pattern inexplicably appears in my mind. If I am not mistaken, this should be the divine beast worshipped by the Holy Church in the Age of Gods. I think using it as our guild’s emblem totem would be most fitting.”
Ye Chui opened the paper that still carried a bit of warmth, but his expression instantly became odd.
The pattern on the paper was a few simple strokes, yet it already outlined the unique divine aura of that divine beast. After a long while, he said with sudden realisation, “The divine beast served by the Holy Church… is an alpaca?”
“What is an alpaca?” Reisha asked curiously.
“The scientific name is ***, a kind of divine beast.”
“?”
“Never mind.” Ye Chui put away the paper and looked at the others, “Do any of you have other pattern suggestions?”
Green, Jacob, and Guni all shook their heads.
“Heh heh, Ye Chui, you asked at just the right time. I happened to think of a super majestic and domineering pattern. I will draw it for you right now.” But Debbie followed up with a smile. She borrowed paper and a quill from Green, propped it on a wooden board, and buried her head in drawing.
Moments later, she proudly held up the paper for the others to see, “What do you think, majestic or not, domineering or not?”
“Little sister, this is… a wolf head?” Reisha looked at the pattern and said somewhat surprised.
Jacob also frowned, “But this wolf looks a bit strange…”
“This is one I created based on the giant wolf’s appearance plus my own creative flourish.” Debbie waved the wolf head in her hand smugly. She looked at Ye Chui and instantly turned into an art girl explaining, “Ye Chui, what do you think of it? Not only is it majestic, I cleverly added a touch of gentleness to it. Of course, the most vivid part is the three stripes on its forehead. Look, does it not look very serious and dignified? Our guild might as well use this wolf head pattern as the guild’s emblem totem!”
Ye Chui: “… I would rather die than use a husky as the guild emblem!”
Bloody hell, this wolf head pattern that Debbie drew from inspiration of the giant wolf and her secondary creation was clearly a grinning husky silly laughing at people, alright!
“What is a husky?” Debbie was immediately stunned.
“A kind of divine beast on the same level as the alpaca…” Ye Chui could not help but complain. It was truly hard to imagine what realm Debbie had reached to create this pattern of a husky that did not exist in this world!
In the end, Ye Chui sighed and took out his own work, unfolding it for everyone to see.
The pattern was very simple: a circle with a smirking mouth and slanted eyes, giving a cheeky feeling.
“Guildmaster, what is this?” Green immediately asked.
“This is called goofy, look at this pattern, is it not very goofy? It represents our guild’s unyielding spirit against various powers, facing all crises with an optimistic and carefree attitude.” Ye Chui said smugly. He was very satisfied with this pattern he thought of, “Looks like we will use this pattern.”
“No way, I think it is nowhere near as good as my majestic wolf head!” Debbie immediately argued.
“Using a divine beast is better, I think it has the most dignity.” Reisha also joined in without yielding. She usually did not like arguing with Ye Chui or Debbie, but when it involved the divine beast of her faith, her will was uncharacteristically firm.
“The goofy one is the best!” Ye Chui followed up.
Thus, the three core members of the guild immediately launched into a debate. Even when they reached the gates of Forge City, they had not argued to any conclusion. In the end, it was Guni who woke them with a single sentence and resolved all the trouble,
“How about putting these three patterns together to form one pattern?”
Three patterns combined?
In the middle the goofy one, on the left the alpaca, on the right the husky…
“I approve!” Green immediately supported.
Jacob did not want to continue the argument either and hurriedly agreed to this proposal that offended no one.
Finally, Ye Chui, Debbie, and Reisha realised none of them could convince the others, so they had no choice but to agree to this plan as well.
Thus, the three-in-one guild emblem totem was born just like that. Later, Ye Chui shamefacedly introduced it to others as representing their guild’s spiritual aspects: optimism (goofy), bravery (husky), and dignity (alpaca)…
