Volume 3 – When he bravely forged ahead on the sea waves
Chapter VI Travelers from Yunqin
“Excuse me.” Gude Johnsen shyly scratched his head; “Without your consent, we ate your……..”
“It does not matter, we don’t mind.” Liu Zhenhan grabbed his hand and shook it lightly, “Eat your full.”
Other beastman sailors also came closer and nodded their head to say h.e.l.lo, while their mouths were still busy chewing the bamboo shoots. There was a fairly flattering expression on their faces.
“This…” Hailun did not know what to say, “Are people from the famous Eastern Silk continent really like this? I am so confused. At first, I mistook your ship for an evil human ship! I was really frightened to death!”
“Evil human?” Gude could not help but laugh: “Are humans really that evil and scary? How did I never notice?”
“Ha ha” A sudden burst of hearty laughter sounded from the cabin.
Liu Zhenhan’s gaze immediately went toward the source of laughter. He saw a skinny old man, clad in a refined white silk robe, walking out of the cabin. He had a fairly human-like face with broad chin, large forehead and white hair. He was smiling while looking at Liu Zhenhan and Hailun, as if sizing them up.
The skinny old man had a genial face with traces of grey patches on his skin, indicating the signs of old age. He was full of scholarly aura and the air of elegance was clearly visible in his gait. He appeared like an aloof sage who had just now woken up from a deep slumber.
Liu Zhenhan felt as if she was looking at the image of an old scholar who had just now come out of a portrait.
Looking at a familiar oriental face, Liu Zhenhan had mixed feelings.
As if questioning the uncanny similarities of this world with his own.
“Welcome, O respectable Beamon sacrifices. I am honored to have you on board. I have read countless records and books on Beamon sacred sacrifices. You may not believe it but I am already aware about your elegant demeanor and your sacred embodiment as the worshippers of War-G.o.d Campas.” The old man said with a laugh: “Your presence has increased the glory of our ship.”
“O elder of the East, may the G.o.d of War bless you.” Hailun replied courteously in a humble manner, while also displaying her etiquette as a Beamon n.o.ble.
Actually, she was very confused right now because she was unable to understand how a human was sharing the ship with beastmen?
“In accordance with the customs of the West, I formally introduce myself. You two can call me Fugesen Xu (Ferguson Xu).” The old man said: “Or just call me Mr. Xu.”
“My name is Hailun. I am a n.o.ble from Beamon Kingdom and also a Beamon soul singer.” Hailun put her hand on her chest gently and introduced herself then pointed to Liu Zhenhan, said: “This is my lover, Li Cha. He is an inborn soul singer, a Pigman who is also a Yalong sacrifice.”
(TL Note: Yalong means Asian Dragon. She is basically hinting that Liu Zhenhan is a dragon sacrifice.)
Hailun was a sly fox woman. She knew when to play her tricks so she declared Liu Zhenhan’s ident.i.ty as a dragon sacrifice from the get go. She did so to prevent the other party from harboring any evil intentions, to plant fear and dread in their hearts.
Of course, these beastman sailors did not appear like typical hoodlums from the eastern continent; it didn’t even seem like they were looking for trouble. In fact, unlike the dominantly carnivorous bearmen of Beamon Kingdom, these bearmen were actually eating bamboo like crazy. Hailun was somewhat skeptical; who knows these black-and-white bears might even try to eat them as well? Hailun had learned about various species from Qin continent, some with strange eating habits. It was said that people of Sangri County were savage; they not only were cannibals but also ate excrement.
She was a fox after all; being sly and wary was in her nature.
“Yalong sacrifice?” Mr. Xu was startled for a moment but his facial expression went back to being dry and relaxed soon, “O distinguished and honorable sacrifices, you have really made me show a lack of knowledge which makes me feel ashamed of myself. Mr. Li Cha, earlier when I saw you from behind, I actually thought that you were a human from the Eastern Silk continent. I never thought that you would actually turn out to be a Beamon sacrifice!”
(TL ranting: The old man had seen the back profile of Liu Zhenhan initially from the cabin and mistook him for an oriental human being. Well, the old man isn’t mistaken because Liu Zhenhan really is an oriental (Chinese) human from a different world.)
“Ahem, well, you see, Li Cha has a peculiar appearance.” Hailun pulled the corners of her mouth and smiled.
“Although I do not often travel about in the Qin continent, I have certainly heard legends about rare Beamon sacrifices who are not only a dragon sacrifice but also an inborn soul singer.” Mr. Xu subconsciously rotated the scarlet jade ring worn on his thumb and smiled.
Liu Zhenhan’s gaze, like a starving leech, immediately stuck at the spot on the old man’s finger. He noticed a Banzhi ring on his pale and skinny thumb. He could tell that it was composed of some kind of magnificent material with wonderful patterns carved on it, exuding strange extravagance.
Liu Zhenhan, from the corner of his eyes, glanced at the turtle sh.e.l.l that was placed not far away on the deck. He was trying to compare the glaze in his machete with that Banzhi but realized that his machete did not have such type of extravagant glaze at all.
Liu Zhenhan suddenly felt that this old man was not as saintly as he seemed because he was actually wearing two Banzhis, one in each thumb.
(TL Note: Banzhi is a term used for an ornamental thumb ring, often made from jade, worn by archers in ancient times to protect the right thumb when drawing a bowstring)
“Mr. Xu, please forgive me for being presumptuous but….” Hailun couldn’t stop herself from asking: “Why do you dare to enter the waters of the Sea race? Even if you have their permission, no one is allowed to sail in the direction of Beamon Kingdom’s coastal boundary. I don’t know whether you know or not but several human countries have signed treaties with the sea race, however, since they have always been hostile to beastman race, the sea race put additional conditions to ban any trade ships from approaching the Beamon Kingdom via sea route.”
“Miss Hailun, we are actually not a trader’s group from the Eastern Silk continent as you think. We are just travelers who have sailed across the Aegean Sea, all the way from our homeland in the Sang continent, to come here.” Mr. Xu said.
“Oh?” Hailun was surprised but waited for him to finish.
“Many years ago, my ancestors lived in the most powerful country on the Qin continent – the Yunqin Empire. It was famous for having outstanding alchemists. Our oriental alchemists were similar to the human magicians, but we did not study magic to hurt people. We bent magic to our will and used some wonderful matrix methods, but we mostly focused on one thing, our main goal was to extend one’s lifespan, for example, consider the lifespan of elves and dwarves of the Qin continent.” Mr. Xu looked toward the horizon, as if recollecting memories from the past.
“Life magician!” Liu Zhenhan could not help but harbor immense respect for the alchemists.
“This interpretation is quite charming! You are certainly the most intelligent Beamon inborn soul singer.” Mr. Xu approvingly smiled at Liu Zhenhan, “At that time, our Yunqin Empire swept across the entire eastern continent, quelling biggest human countries of that era and ultimately establishing the most splendid and largest empire. Our Yunqin Empire was so magnificent that we attracted the world’s attention, so we had to build walls, stretching for about ten thousand miles, to protect our national territory.”
“10,000 miles?” Hailun held her breath.
“Yes.” Mr. Xu nodded and said: “10,000 miles long.”
“Great territory, indeed!” Hailun could not conceal her changing countenance.
“Our king, who was later called the Emperor, decreed that my forefathers would go out on expeditions in search of the medicine of immortality for his eternal life, so that he could rule over Yunqin Empire for eternity and ensure its safety. My ancestors led 3000 virgin boys and virgin girls and countless imperial guards and sailed in all directions, looking for countless years but still could not find the elixir. His Majesty’s decree clearly stated that the search teams were not supposed to return unless they had found the immortality medicine, so my ancestors never dared to return to the Yunqin Empire. After a long journey across seas and several continents; my ancestors were tired, so all search teams gathered at the Sang continent and anch.o.r.ed their ships there. Henceforth, they started living on the Sang continent and installed their roots there. Their population grew with pa.s.sing time and the Sang continent ended up being their second home. But we still dream of returning to our native land, so every 50 years, we send ships in search of the elixir, in the hope that soon we will be able to fulfill His Majesty’s desire and proudly return to our homeland.”
“Immortality?” Hailun shook her head and said: “Even the great Beamon clans that are naturally blessed with longevity cannot live forever.”
Liu Zhenhan’s facial muscles slightly convulsed, as if trying to conceal the tempest of mood fluctuations going on within his heart.
Impossible, it is hard to believe that this world is not my world. Liu Zhenhan smiled wryly in his heart and said to himself.
(TL note: Liu Zhenhan is shocked because ancient China has a similar story about an emperor sending people in search of elixir.)
(TL Note: I saw readers getting confused, thinking that Liu Zhenhan has turned into a pigman after coming to this world. He has just injured his nose. His nose has swollen and resembles the nose of a pigman, however, he doesn’t display any characteristics of a typical pigman. Such as, he is not fat, potbellied, cowardly, foolish etc.
He is, instead, muscular and smart but he pretends to be foolish in front of Hailun because he doesn’t want her to panic. He also doesn’t want her or anyone else to find out that he is a human, and a trained army a.s.sa.s.sin, so he plays along with others when they mistake him for a pigman.)