Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 565: The Overlooked

Zhao Changhe could not hear the conversation happening elsewhere, but once he deduced that Hai Qianfan was part of some royal pirate crew, he could understand why Hai Qianfan had left the third leader position open for Lady Three.

From their perspective, Lady Three’s escape was likely something she and Hai Pinglan had agreed upon. Since they later rejoined under Hai Pinglan, it made sense politically to leave Lady Three’s position vacant and wait for her return. It was a matter of making a statement.

But just as Lady Three could not understand why they had betrayed her, Hai Pinglan also struggled to grasp their motivation for turning traitor.

They were once loyalists, unable to accept Lady Three’s mother being unjustly killed, and they had protected the young Lady Three during her escape. When the misunderstanding was later resolved, perhaps they felt they needed to atone, serving Hai Pinglan loyally—raiding and gathering resources—all without fail over the years.

So why, at the critical moment when Hai Pinglan began his plans to counter the Sea Emperor, did they suddenly betray him?

“Could it be that they’ve been influenced or controlled by the Sea Emperor?” Xia Chichi suggested, joining in to help Hai Pinglan analyze the situation.

Hai Pinglan shook his head. “If that were the case, I would know. I’m more sensitive to the Sea Emperor’s presence than he realizes. One of the conditions of our uneasy cooperation was that it wouldn’t interfere with my trusted men. If it did, everything would fall apart immediately. Hai Qianfan and Hai Changkong are always under my watch—there shouldn’t have been any issue. I’m certain that as recently as a few months ago, the Sea Emperor hadn’t even found the pirates’ location.”

Xia Chichi frowned. “Then what’s the reason? Did they get found recently and fear the Sea Emperor’s power?”

Hai Pinglan’s gaze grew distant. “I’d like to know that myself.”

On Dongan Island, Lady Three coldly stared at Hai Qianfan, waiting for his explanation.

Hai Qianfan looked up at the sky for a moment. It was clear and bright, without a single cloud.

Suddenly, he smiled and said, “It’s actually quite simple. You’re all caught up in your own struggle against gods and demons, but you’ve forgotten one thing—our ordinary human nature.”

Lady Three’s expression remained cold. “Explain.”

“When I was young, the Dragon King took me in, taught me martial arts, and treated me well. Later, I followed him into exile across the sea. Your mother led everyone through countless hardships, and we all had a deep respect for her. In those early days, we were passionate and ready to give everything for our family. That much was true.” Hai Qianfan lowered his gaze, meeting Lady Three’s eyes with a hint of warmth. “Lady Three, if you’d stayed, perhaps things would have turned out differently...”

Lady Three was momentarily taken aback.

“Lady Three, the pirate crew was formed to protect you when we left Penglai. When you said to disband, it was already over. Later, when His Majesty reached out to us and resolved the misunderstanding, the old brothers were genuinely moved. Honestly, I was excited too. I was even willing to continue serving...”

“Wait, what misunderstanding?” Lady Three interjected.

Hai Qianfan glanced around at the crowd. There were too many people present, including the water figure, so he did not elaborate. He simply shook his head and said, “In any case, we took up the pirate banner again for His Majesty. Zhao Changhe was right when he called us a royal pirate crew. But the problem was this: pirates are often isolated, and His Majesty couldn’t trust us unconditionally. Even among the old brothers, there were doubts about whether I had other intentions. So, we needed your name—to maintain your position—to keep everyone’s suspicions at bay.”

Lady Three responded calmly, “Makes sense.”

“But Lady Three...” Hai Qianfan sighed. “For years, you led the pirates across the Eastern Sea, powerful and commanding, with a single word bringing thousands to heel. Your authority was no less than that of any king. Yet most of what we earned went to Penglai, and the force that I worked so hard to build was kept in reserve, waiting for you to return... If you were in my place, how would you feel?”

Lady Three replied, “I would try to slowly build my own faction, change course, and claim the throne myself.”

Hai Qianfan nodded. “Exactly. Over the years, some of the old brothers either died in battle or retired to Taiping Island to handle logistics. I trained people like Hua Zhenming, and the pirate crew began to evolve. Eventually, we renamed ourselves the Furious Pirates, and I declared myself leader. That was the beginning of my preparations to cut ties with Penglai.”

Zhao Changhe could not help but interject, “So that’s why the Heavenly Origin Pirates were also called the Furious Pirates? I hadn’t thought of that.”

Hai Qianfan continued, “It was around that time that Lady Three came to us as the Black Tortoise, establishing a trade link. At first, I was happy—it meant we had another outlet for our goods, independent of Penglai, as well as technical support for shipbuilding from the Great Xia Empire. But that visit also made me realize just how influential Lady Three still was among the pirates. The constant mention of her as the true leader, the curiosity about her, combined with her beauty and strength—even the newer members embraced Lady Three without hesitation. The old brothers were loyal without question. I had no choice but to act like I was following orders... Lady Three’s involvement reestablished the identity of the Furious Pirates as hers, undermining years of my preparation to cut ties.”

Lady Three stared ahead in silence, lost in thought.

Zhao Changhe said, “If Lady Three were to die, that wouldn’t be a problem anymore, right?”

“Yup. If she died, it would solve a lot of problems.” Hai Qianfan glanced at Hai Changkong and added coldly, “The same goes for Hai Changkong.”

Hai Changkong smiled but said nothing.

Hai Qianfan continued, “This battle has been planned well in advance. It really had nothing to do with Lady Three in the beginning.”

Zhao Changhe commented, “But it just so happened that she arrived at this critical moment?” n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

“Not only did she arrive, but also did so during a moment when His Majesty was reconciling the past, and there was a significant chance of a father-daughter reunion. Hai Changkong’s long-held hopes would be dashed, and so would mine. The pirates would be disbanded, and at best, we’d retire as minor officials. But it would be more likely that we’d be discarded once we’ve outlived our usefulness.”

“So, after thinking it through, you decided it was better to join the Sea Emperor?”

Hai Qianfan did not deny it, which was enough of an answer.

“Lady Three’s existence has become your obsession.” Zhao Changhe sighed. “To get rid of her, you’ve abandoned everything you once stood for. Have you considered that even if you kill Lady Three, the pirates won’t necessarily belong to you? The Sea Emperor will tell you what to do. You’d be doing nothing more than replacing one master with another.”

Hai Qianfan’s expression did not change. “The Sea Emperor has propped up plenty of kings from the island nations—one more like me doesn’t matter. All I have to do is worship him. Compared to that, Hai Pinglan would never allow me to control the pirates forever.”

Zhao Changhe nodded. “So that’s why you leaked the crew’s location to the Sea Tribe for the night raid. Your real goal was to use them to eliminate Lady Three. And since there were plenty of loyalists to her and Hai Pinglan on Dongan Island, you figured you might as well get rid of them all at once.”

“Exactly.”

“And all those innocent people caught up in it didn’t matter to you?”

“The rest were just brothel girls, cooks, errand boys, and laborers—do they really count as people?”

Lady Three looked up at the sky, silent.

Hai Qianfan said that they were too focused on their fight against gods and demons, forgetting to consider ordinary human nature.

That might be true. Whether it was Hai Pinglan or Lady Three herself, they had not considered those things, leading to unexpected betrayals from people they’d never imagined, nearly causing everything to fall apart.

But wasn’t Hai Qianfan just as bad? No... he was even worse. He had ignored the value of the even more ordinary people, disregarding not just their lives but their very humanity.

Zhao Changhe clicked his tongue. “Too bad you didn’t anticipate that Lady Three wasn’t at the second layer of the Profound Mysteries but the third. The water figure couldn’t take her down, and you couldn’t move against her in secret because the entire pirate crew was watching. That must’ve been frustrating, huh?”

Hai Qianfan glanced at Lady Three, who had remained silent, then at the water figure, now fully reformed, and finally spoke up again. “None of this originally had anything to do with you two. You could’ve stayed away. Now that you’re here, there’s no point in talking further. The answers have been given, and you two don’t have the strength to handle all of us at once. Are you satisfied enough to die now?”

Zhao Changhe looked puzzled. “That’s odd. Why are you so sure we can’t handle you all? Because of your army?”

Hai Qianfan smirked. “The water figure might have been damaged, but Lady Three is also injured. She can’t take down the water figure quickly, or else she wouldn’t be standing here listening to stories. She’s buying time to recover.”

Zhao Changhe shrugged. “But I’m not injured.”

“You?” Hai Qianfan sized him up for a moment, then burst into laughter. “You may be strong, but do you really think you can handle me, Changkong, and Zhenming all at once?”

Zhao Changhe spoke seriously, “I think I can... Three moves? No, maybe just one?”

Hai Qianfan’s laughter grew louder. “My head is right here—if you think you can take it in one move, come and try!”

Before he even finished speaking, Zhao Changhe swung his saber in a horizontal arc.

The sea breeze seemed to soften, and the crashing waves became gentle mist, as though the air had lost its tension, masking the hidden threat.

By the time Hai Qianfan realized, the tip of Zhao Changhe’s saber was already at his throat.

Listening to the Spring Rain in a Little Pavilion at Night.

Hai Qianfan was at the second layer of the Profound Mysteries, and he was naturally prepared. He raised his saber vertically just in time to block Zhao Changhe’s strike, and his laughter grew even louder. “Is that your one—”

Before he could utter the word “move,” the sound of wind rose behind him. Another saber, just as swift, glided like an osprey, brushing lightly against his neck.

Blood spurted out suddenly, and Hai Qianfan’s eyes widened in disbelief, his smile frozen on his face.

He turned in disbelief. “Hai Changkong, you—”

Zhao Changhe seemed to have anticipated this all along. He immediately redirected Dragon Bird to cut across Hua Zhenming’s throat before he even realized what had happened.

The two fell simultaneously, failing to understand why they’d died.

Hai Changkong sheathed his blade, spitting to the side. “Who told you I was just like you? Like you, my ass.”