Chapter 5: Travelers from the East

Time went back to when Lin Qi and Cripple were making their deal. The heavy wooden door of the tavern was pushed open forcefully. A group of men wearing black silk cloaks walked in with strange steps. The howling cold wind rushed in from behind them. A biting chill quickly spread through the warm tavern. The rough men who were sweating and shouting loudly all put down their cups and looked over.

“Tsk, rich gentlemen!” a shifty-eyed man swallowed greedily.

Cloaks made of black silk, silk from the East. In the Gaul Empire, this was precious goods that only noble lords could enjoy. Even ordinary nobles could not afford the expensive price of a bolt of silk. Only the great nobles could make clothes from silk. As for ordinary minor nobles, having a pair of silk stockings was something to boast about.

“Hey, wealthy fat sheep!” Several burly men with arms as thick as an ordinary man’s thigh looked at the group with great interest. Their greedy eyes scanned them over and over. In the middle of the night, a group of guests wearing silk cloaks actually came to Cripple’s Tavern in the Dock District. It was like a bunch of little lambs voluntarily walking into a wolf’s den. How thought-provoking it was!

Especially since these guests looked so frail and weak!

They all wore strange hats. The round hats were over a foot tall, with flat tops on which rested black jade-carved poisonous lizards. All of them appeared particularly small and thin compared to the big men in the tavern. The tallest among them was only about six feet, far shorter than the seven or eight-foot tall men in the tavern.

What was even more captivating was that all dozen or so travelers had pale, fair faces. Their complexions were as pale as a dead person’s, especially the young man leading them. His face was so white it was almost transparent, with a faint, unhealthy bluish tint. With such physiques and such complexions, they were clearly a bunch of weaklings. The brave men in the tavern were confident that any one of them could easily handle these rich ‘gentlemen fat sheep’.

Walking with light steps that made a rustling sound, the group of nineteen young men with pale, smooth, and beardless faces slowly entered the tavern. The two men at the back closed the heavy oak door, blocking out the howling wind.

The leading young man gave a light cough. He extended his right hand from under his cloak and grabbed a snow-white silk handkerchief to wipe his nose vigorously. A flash of jewels and treasures sparkled. Almost all the hundreds of big men in the tavern stood up at once. They stared excitedly at the young man’s right hand—what a valuable hand it was! His fingers were covered with rings, a total of nine gold rings inlaid with large gems and jades!

Huge rubies, dazzling sapphires, rare and precious emeralds, and among them even two deep ‘tiger’s eye stones’. These gems were extremely valuable. The noble lords of Borelly City were willing to spend a fortune on them without batting an eye! Especially those two tiger’s eye stones, legendary for their miraculous effects on men, enabling them to be triumphant and undefeated in bed, were worth a fortune!

Fat sheep, unprecedented fat sheep! Even plundering a cargo ship at sea wouldn’t yield profits comparable to one of this young man’s fingers!

Lisha, the barmaid closest to the tavern door, laughed loudly. She rushed toward the young man with a fragrant breeze, pressing his head against her plump breasts. Lisha only wore a thin bodice on her upper body, with most of her large, white breasts, each the size of a child’s head, exposed. She hugged the young man warmly, and her right hand habitually reached down toward his lower body.

This was Lisha’s signature move at Cripple’s Tavern. Whether it was sailors from ships, workers from the docks, or brave men from various other trades, if Lisha teased them with this set of actions, they would generously hand over all the coins in their wallets to her!

But this time, Lisha made a huge mistake. The young man never dreamed that he would be so warmly ‘assaulted’ by a woman just after entering Cripple’s Tavern! Faced with Lisha’s bizarre actions, he, who was usually extremely alert, couldn’t react at all.

Lisha successfully rubbed her breasts against the young man’s face several times, and her small, fair hand also reached his crotch. She gently squeezed with her five fingers, but all she felt was thin, smooth silk clothing—there was nothing else there, empty!

“You!” Lisha exclaimed in surprise! What was wrong with this young man? Was he a woman disguised as a man? Why didn’t he have that thing?

“Lowly woman, your entire clan should be executed!” The young man twisted his body, and a great force broke free from Lisha’s enthusiastic embrace. A stinging slap struck Lisha’s face, sending her flying back seven or eight steps. The slap was incredibly powerful. As Lisha’s body flew through the air, a stream of blood shot from the corner of her mouth, and several large teeth flew out mixed with the blood.

“Hey, Easterner!” The big man with a black beard, who had just raised his cup and was shouting with his pirates, parted the crowd and slowly walked toward the young man who had struck Lisha. He spoke in halting Eastern language and sneered, “This is not a place where you can act recklessly. You actually dared to injure the beautiful and lovely Miss Lisha. I think you should give her sufficient compensation!”

All the big men greedily stared at these young men. Their eyes were full of malice.

Except for the young man who had struck, the men behind him slightly hunched their backs, standing solemnly in what appeared to be the most humble and respectful posture. Even their eyes were fixed on the ground in front of their toes. Since they had entered the tavern, they hadn’t moved an inch, maintaining this rather uncomfortable posture.

The young man who had injured someone sneered arrogantly. He slightly raised his head and said in a voice that was both hoarse and sharp, “A lowly woman, dead is dead, what does it matter? Not just her, but all of you, heh heh!”

Blackbeard stopped several meters away from the young men. As he had been approaching them, he had sensed a dangerous aura. It felt even more dangerous than when he had suddenly encountered the Berserker warships of the Five Great Archipelagos in the northern icy ocean two years ago! Blackbeard trusted his intuition. This small group of seemingly extremely weak young men were highly dangerous, possibly even fatal individuals.

Damn Easterners!

Only seasoned sailors knew how many dangerous people and things existed in the East.

These nineteen young men gave off the same feeling as the poisonous lizards on their hats—silent, but deadly enough.

Coughing awkwardly, Blackbeard wanted to retreat.

Just then, Cripple silently emerged from behind the bar.

“This is Cripple’s Tavern. You are all my guests. And guests are not allowed to fight in Cripple’s Tavern.”