Chapter 433: Pirates

Pei Min looked around the narrow, cramped cabin that stank so badly he could barely stand upright.

The heat and humidity made his mother’s condition, already gravely ill, grow even worse in such a harsh environment.

He didn’t want his mother to die like this—at least not in such a painful and suffocating way inside this cabin.

“Please, give me some water… My mother can’t hold on much longer…”

Pei Min knelt humbly at the cabin entrance, crying as he reached his hand through the small opening beneath the prison cell.

The only response he received was pain and the sound of his finger bones breaking.

A hard boot sole slammed onto the back of his hand.

Enduring the pain without crying out, Pei Min gritted his teeth and continued pleading: “Just a little water, just a little water is enough, I beg you… You need a living sacrifice. If my mother dies, you won’t benefit either!”

This reasoning seemed to strike a chord, causing the cultivator guarding the cell to change his mind.

Half a bowl of dirty water was thrust through the small door with disgust.

But Pei Min received it as if it were a treasure, quickly cradling the bowl and bringing it to his mother’s lips.

Pei’s Mother shook her head: “Min’er, I can’t go on…”

“No, you’ll get better. We’ve survived so many dangers,” Pei Min’s voice choked with tears.

“Don’t give up. You always taught me not to give up, so how can you give up yourself? Hang in there, don’t leave Min’er alone…”

Pei’s Mother sighed softly and drank the water.

‘I can hold on a little longer, but what’s the use… I’m going to die sooner or later anyway. I don’t care if I die, but Min’er… Damn these pirates!’

“Ever since the Dragonkind came to the East Sea, the pirates there have been scared out of their wits. They fled in panic and no longer dare to cause trouble on the East Sea!”

A sailor from a small city in the East Sea said proudly, his face beaming as he boasted about his hometown’s good fortune.

“Thump—”

Uncle Zhao kicked him irritably: “So they’ve all run over to our side!”

Jiang Ke’er’s small fishing village was located to the south of the East Sea, on the fringe of the East Sea Domain.

The prosperous East Sea had always been a lawless place overrun by pirates.

For many years, cultivators were not adept at naval combat, allowing the pirates born on those islands to become exceptionally rampant.

The East Sea had essentially become a pirate’s paradise.

Among them, the most powerful had grown strong enough to raid coastal cities, no longer limited to ships at sea.

But the situation had completely changed since the arrival of the Dragonkind.

The tide had turned.

Li Yuan, being the type who wouldn’t do anything without benefit, had recruited the Dragonkind not only to strengthen the Eastern Spirit Demon Clan’s power but primarily to handle the East Sea affairs.

The East Sea was a Fengshui Treasure Land with many undeveloped resources, but rampant pirates prevented any exploitation.

The pirates were masters of water combat; hiding in the sea made them untouchable by land-based cultivators, and the abundant water-attribute Spiritual Power in the area also boosted their Water-type Cultivation Methods.

However, the Dragonkind were the ancestors of water manipulation.

No matter how water-savvy the pirates were, they became a joke before Dragonkind, who were born with the ability to control water.

In order to repay the Eastern Spirit Demon Clan’s kindness and to develop their own city and exploit East Sea resources, the Dragonkind began a carpet-style cleansing of the East Sea pirates.

The end of the East Sea pirates had come.

The biggest beneficiary of the East Sea cleansing was the Dragonkind themselves, so their cleansing operation spared no effort.

Within three months, even the most powerful East Sea pirates were forced to flee southward, flooding into the southeastern waters of Dongsheng Shenzhou.

They had only one way south; to the north was the polar ice, where they would freeze into popsicles and have no business.

But this caused great suffering for the southern boatmen.

Originally, there were already many pirates in the south, not as extreme as in the East Sea, but now with the addition of refugees from the East Sea, the situation suddenly became even worse than the East Sea.

Moreover, these refugees, having lost their homes and been driven out of their lairs, were full of pent-up anger, and thus showed no mercy.

The southern boatmen cried out in distress, petitioning the Dragonkind to come south.

However, the Dragonkind were short on manpower and also had to deal with retaliation from the East Sea pirates, so they could not yet attend to the southern sea area.

“How many called in sick today?” Zhao Dazhu said, looking at the empty deck with a headache.

“Five…”

Obviously, everyone knew full well whether they were really sick.

With the current situation in the East Sea, who would risk their life to go out to sea? At worst, they would lose a few days’ pay, which was better than risking death at sea.

“A bunch of cowards! Pirates don’t rob fishing boats!” Zhao Dazhu spat.

“I heard a lot of fishing boats have gone missing recently,” the first mate said softly.

“These pirates have been pushed to the edge, what won’t they do?”

“We don’t have money, why would they rob us?”

“Who knows.”

Zhao Dazhu was the “Uncle Zhao” that Qiao Xiaoxian mentioned.

Standing on the deck of the fishing boat, Jiang Ke’er and Qiao Xiaoxian were earnestly mending the fishing nets, seemingly unconcerned about the pirates.

“You two pretty girls, why did you risk your lives to come on this boat?” Uncle Zhao said, his head aching as he looked at them.

“Pirates aren’t interested in us, but they’d be very interested in you!”

“It’s okay, we’re covering our faces; the pirates won’t be able to tell,” Jiang Ke’er laughed.

“You girls be careful. If you encounter pirates later, don’t make a sound and get discovered,” Uncle Zhao warned.

“If it weren’t that we’re really short-handed, I would never let the two of you take the risk to come on board…”

“Don’t worry, Uncle Zhao,” Jiang Ke’er said. “If pirates come, we’ll hide and not cause you any trouble.”

“You must watch out for yourselves,” Uncle Zhao said, still looking worried.

“Sigh, if it weren’t that my wife’s illness requires money for treatment, I wouldn’t risk this trip either…”

“No risk, no reward! No one dares to go out to sea these days, so our catch won’t be small!” Jiang Ke’er comforted him.

“That’s true, but we need to be alive to spend it!”

Uncle Zhao chuckled and set the boat out to sea.

Jiang Ke’er’s work was not heavy; she mainly helped organize the fishing nets.

Once the nets were ready, they would be handed to the sailors to cast and haul. Uncle Zhao, feeling sorry for them as girls, didn’t want them to do the heavy work.

The catch brought in would be sorted and stored in the temporary holding tanks or freezer in the hold.

The second task for the two girls was to help with sorting.

It wasn’t difficult work, just requiring caution to avoid being pricked by the poisonous fins or spines of some fish.

“Poor little fish, I hope you’ll roll a better race in your next life…” Jiang Ke’er muttered to herself while sorting.

The surrounding sailors chuckled quietly, now seeing Jiang Ke’er as just a naive and innocent girl who hadn’t seen much of the world’s hardships and was overflowing with compassion.

The calm working atmosphere continued until evening.

Gazing into the distance, Jiang Ke’er’s eyes focused. “Uncle Zhao, let’s go back.”

“No way. Tonight is a good time to fish for Amber Carp. You can’t net Amber Carp; you can only catch them by line. And now is the annual Amber Carp fishing season!” Zhao Dazhu refused.

“I came out this trip just for Amber Carp. If I can land a few Amber Carp, that’ll earn more than an entire day’s catch!”

“But there’s a boat coming this way.”