Edited by the awesome Minak Amie. Thanks for the hard work! The chapters will be slightly longer and hope can finished chapter 2 by next week.
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The twoships faced one another, the distance so close that any movement on theopposite side could clearly be seen by Feng Ming and the others.
The attireof the two people who appeared gave off an unusual feeling, especially theperson leading. His waist belt was embellished with all kinds of rare,luxurious, and precious stones. But strangely, he lacked a sword. His lazymanner of walking was as if he just woke up from an afternoon nap, with bothhands behind his back. He slowly made his way to the head of the deck, facinghead to head with Feng Ming who was gripping his sword hilt. His blood-soakedbody serving as a sign of the violent battle he just went through.
Standing inthe same area, their contrasting appearances made it seem like they lived in separateworlds.
At thismoment, the two simply looked at one another.
Feng Mingobserved the strange man while the other, likewise, scrutinized Feng Ming.
Hisever-present wicked smile turned into a smirk as he spoke,
“Are you XiLei’s Duke Ming and the Xiao Family’s young Lord, Feng Ming?”
His last two words came out like a gentle caress from the tongue, giving off afeeling of playfulness.
Rong Hu andLuo Yun felt indignant about the man’s attitude.
However,Feng Ming during this critical moment was distracted by his own thoughts.
I can always turn this situation around by makingan unexpected move. We’re already like a piece of meat on a chopping board,might as well go all out and throw away a pot that is already broken.
Coming upwith an idea, Feng Ming let out a little laugh that was like a spring breeze. Abrilliant smile bloomed across his face as he softly praised, “I never expectedthat even the captain of pirates could be so imposing.”
Right now, if I recklessly provoke them, I wouldonly be treated as a joke. But still, I can’t even hold the sword correctly dueto my nervousness.
Slowly, herelaxed his grip on the sword and gracefully cupped his hands together ingreeting, “Indeed, I am Feng Ming. May this master of the infamous Dan Linpirates enlighten me with your honourable name?”
His calm andunperturbed manner made Luo Yun and the others by his side greatly surprised.Their opinion of the young lord in front of them began to change.
One mustknow that these men of the Xiao Family are all exceedingly proud, each andevery one of them incredibly brave. They would rather die than concede to anenemy. But even they, in a situation like this, found their courage waveringslightly. They never imagined this incapable young lord of theirs would be ableto surprise them time and time again this night with his performance.
He Di andKong Liu reflected on the previous battle and how the other sidecounter-attacked spectacularly. They continuously felt shocked and at awetowards Feng Ming’s group, but now, looking at Duke Ming’s smile, were caughtoff guard and once again, slightly surprised.
The rumoursthey had heard were that Xi Lei’s King loved and spoiled him too much, leadingto him acting ostentatiously, only able to rely on his beautiful and elegantface. But looking at him now, it appears the rumours did no justice for thereal Duke Ming.
As long asHe Di gave the command, they could easily kill him, but knowing this, the manbefore them still was not frightened to the point where he trembled and beggedfor mercy. In He Di’s opinion, this admirable and handsome man before him couldbe considered of first class quality among the influential people of the 11Kingdoms.
So, thatbold Zi Yan was protecting a person like this.
His mindsuddenly became lost in thought as he recalled the image of Zi Yan leaning onthe ship that fateful night, but he quickly tossed those thoughts away. He Disilently measured up Feng Ming calmly, and with a slight chuckle said, “DukeMing, stop joking around… hehe, how could we be the infamous Dan Lin pirates?”
The faces ofall those on Feng Ming’s side similarly revealed an expression that said “Whowould believe you!?” He Di pretended to gently hit his own forehead, “Oh yeah!It seems we forgot to raise our shabby flag. Kong Liu, go do it!”
Kong Liuimmediately shouted the order to the men behind him, “Raise the flag!”
“Raise theflag!”
Soon after,a distinctive flag was flapping in the wind, as it was raised, it filled thevision of the Xiao Family’s men.
How manytimes had Rong Tian forced him to memorize all the flags of the world? He couldeven recognize the flag of the smallest kingdom, so how could he not know whatthe flag in front of him meant? Dumbfoundedly, he gazed at it for a while.
FM: “Princeof Dan Lin?”
“Correct!”He Di shook his head in agreement a few times and suddenly took up a respectfulappearance. Standing on the deck of his ship, he made a smooth and clearceremonial salute towards Feng Ming. “Dan Lin’s second prince, He Di, greets XiLei’s Duke Ming and Xiao Family’s young Lord.”
Kong Liu,who stood behind him, followed his action, saluting as well.
Theoriginally harsh and violent confrontation between the two sides was suddenlymixed with a little bit of nondescript etiquette, greatly confusing everyone.
“XiaoFamily’s young Lord, Feng Ming, greets Dan Lin’s second prince.” With a smile,Feng Ming returned the greeting to He Di with utmost courtesy.
Rong Tian’sgroup of experts followed suit, acting with utmost courtesy towards thepirates. However, the Xiao Family’s men followed the example of Luo Yun, whofixed his gaze on He Di’s neck. They had no regards towards anything else,merely wanting to wreak havoc and kill all their enemies. Their hands werepositioned readily at the hilt of their swords in a battle stance.
However,Feng Ming did not disappoint. As the old saying goes, “etiquette demandsreciprocity.” After all the polite greeting was exchanged, it was time to getserious. With a restrained smile on his face, Feng Ming’s serious and direvoice accusingly inquired,
“Forgive mefor being so straight forward, but just now His Highness, Dan Lin’s secondprince, initiated a surprise attack here at the Tong Kingdom’s river valley.Dan Lin and my Xiao Family have no resentment towards one another, so why didyou viciously attack us? Or is it that this unreasonable behaviour is Dan Lin’sway of behaving towards outsiders?”
In front ofDan Lin’s royalty, Feng Ming’s attitude will change accordingly. Of course, ifhe were handling pirates, his attitude would also be different.
One mustknow, pirates after killing people can vanish without a trace, therefore theyhave no need to consider the aftermath of their evil doings.
But if theperpetrators are Dan Lin’s royalty, it is a completely different matter. Afterall, a monk can run away, but the temple will not move. This analogy reallyfits the situation with the island kingdom to a T. Even if they were to bedestroyed here today, as long as Rong Tian receives news, he will definitelyget revenge for them.
Therefore,inside his little head, after analysing and concluding, Feng Ming decided that
…after calculatingeverything…maybe…probably…should be the case… the possibility of getting killedis not too high.
Of course, if that prince is a complete lunatic,then it’s incredibly difficult for me to say.
More importantly, when did I actually go aroundoffending him, ah?