After the feast and staying the night in the village, the group traveled further southeast to the sea.
As they now traveled with the group of ‘pirates’, who were really just remnants of the loyalists to the previous king, their traveling speed dropped to simple horseback travel. They did not use carriages, as in that case, they would need to only pass through roads, which they sometimes wanted to avoid.
During the trip, Hua Ziyan was killing off any demonic beasts they encountered, which was far more frequent here where the country rulers did not regularly dispatch people to control the demonic beast population. They were also encountering more of them off the road. She still wanted to practice her techniques, since it was not long since she was able to start fighting with the Spiritual Qi Fists, and yet lacked the experience.
During the fight earlier, while Wu Long and Wei Lan went separately, Hua Ziyan had to be within a certain range of Shen Min so that she could help her.
The sight of this petite and extremely beautiful young lady crushing demonic beasts into a bloody pulp with large fists made of Spiritual Qi that were levitating around her was etched into the minds of the ‘pirates’ since it was too striking of a visual impact.
Wu Long sometimes commented and helped her, explaining what she did great and what she could improve.
“Is he even qualified to teach her?”
One of Cao Mei’s crew members asked Shen Min at one point in time, as looking at the fact that he was a whole major realm lower than her, it was a little strange that he was teaching her.
“Of course he is, he is the one who taught her that technique after all”
Wei Lan answered the man instead of Shen Min who simply ignored him. He was a little shocked at this attitude, as previously he could swear that she was a sweet lady who talked with everyone without discriminating and smiled so brightly that it melted quite a lot of hearts. Shen Min was a lot better at controlling her physique now, but there were still times when her light side manifested without her intent, taking over for some time until she resumed control.
Wei Lan’s voice was also a little cold, as the subtle mockery in the man’s voice did not escape her.
“Yan Gil, I suggest you take a little distance from our guests”
Cao Mei said as she noticed quite a lot of looks of envy from the men in her crew when they looked at Wu Long. She knew them all too well not to see what thoughts were sometimes going through their heads. So when she saw the man who went to ask his question make his horse approach Shen Min’s horse to do so she frowned. The man respectfully nodded and led his horse further away.
What kept them at bay in front of Cao Mei was loyalty, even if she was a top beauty. And she was also a lot stronger than them. In fact, the first thing they had to go through upon entering her crew was being beaten by her in a fair match, and being told that she was not interested in men who could not defeat her, so they had to either get stronger or abandon any weird thoughts.
But the sudden appearance of so many beautiful women who were all flocking around one handsome, but in their view, otherwise seemingly not superior to them man, was stimulating them not in a positive way. The fact they were strong did not discourage them since it seemed they were not against being with a man weaker than them, judging by Wu Long’s cultivation base.
The displeasure of all of the beauties shown on their faces at the man’s subtle hint also did not escape Cao Mei’s sharp eyes, as she was used to keeping an eye on the surroundings, and be always aware of people’s expressions. When people were stuck on the same ship for weeks, sometimes months, any single spark of displeasure could easily turn into an uncontrollable wildfire of conflict. And being a captain of such a crew required her to have good observational skills and intuition.
At the same time, a little curiosity was subtly making its way into her mind as she wanted to know what made so many beautiful, and clearly talented as well as exceptional in various fields women so loyal to this man. His superior looks could not possibly be the only reason. And the fact that they all accepted being with him despite there being other women suggested to her that there was something more than met the eye.
His lower cultivation base was also mind-boggling since he was able to kill two army officers in the Qi Manifestation Realm with ease as if he was simply taking a stroll.
The other women in the crew also had the same thought, as there was no way so many exceptional women would choose to be with a man who had other women if there was nothing special in him other than looks.
But the more they saw him interact with his women, the more they understood his charm. He made all his women comfortable and did not forget to give his attention to each one separately during the travel. Even Wei Lan who was yet to acknowledge becoming his woman was given attention and care. She did not notice it, but to the surrounding people, she did not look any different in terms of her feelings toward Wu Long than others.
He also clearly heard the remark of the person before but seemed to not mind it at all. Which to the surrounding women looked a lot like confidence, but in reality, it was more of an indifference. He was not the least bit concerned with how he looked in the eyes of other men, after all.
There were a lot more attempts to strike up a conversation with women around Wu Long, which were all met with a lukewarm and distant response. Wu Long trusted his women and was not so insecure as to worry about other men being not far away from or talking to his women. Which did not mean he would not kill anyone who tried anything funny of course.
During the next stop, Cao Mei assembled every one of her male subordinates a little away from the camp, as her trusted aide stood on her side and glared at them as well. There were also some of them standing behind her as they were more level-headed. But the group that was becoming a little troublesome was not small, a little more than half of the male crew.
“Are you pigs?! We may be traveling with them for now, but what do you think you are doing by antagonizing him?” .𝒄𝒐𝒎
Cao Mei’s voice was filled with irritation as she never thought a few beauties would make her crew so undisciplined.
“But… Captain, is it really not strange to you that a man whose only good point seems to be his looks is going around with such fine women?”
One of them replied with reluctance, as they were not used to arguing with her. But the feeling of unfairness and envy they felt was just too intense.
Not everyone was able to keep their head cool like the people behind Cao Mei, and those were those who had lovers and families. Not to mention, that those people were mostly her mother’s trusted men, the descendants of the loyalist army that escaped to the islands.
The rowdy crowd in front of her was composed of those who joined the crew for various reasons to make up the numbers, some of them simply looking for a job, and regularly went to visit brothels when they returned to the archipelago to vent off their steam.
“Whether it is strange or not should not concern you. I understand that you are backed up from many months of life on land where we cannot go into cities, and the appearance of such beautiful women might be a little too stimulating, but we are going home to the archipelago soon, so try to keep it in your pants for now.
Not to mention, you may have been too busy when the fight was going all around you, but that man killed two Qi Manifestation Realm officers with ease”
Cao Mei first sighed, as she was well aware of what kind of people these men were. If she just shouted at them without at least reasoning a little, it would leave some dissatisfaction within them that could then bloom into unfavorable outcomes, so she had to sympathize a little instead of antagonizing them. She also added more persuading reasons not to mess with Wu Long, to which she got astonished and disbelieving expressions.
“Also, if you offend him, do you think you won’t offend the women with him? Do you want to deal with two Foundation Building Realm practitioners on your own? Since I can’t help you against them”
She added on to nail in the message. The men in front of her nodded, but she still saw some unreconciled expressions, which made her regret the decision to thank the group by transporting them. If this continued, it could very quickly evolve into mutiny on the ship. She looked to her side as the man nodded, agreeing to talk to them man-to-men on the topic and ensure discipline going forward.