"Be good."

  It was a double entendre: telling her not to tickle him, and not to go after the "Pearl Bell Orchid" anymore.

  Hua Duomei caught his meaning, but refused to give a response, only staring at the man with the tip of her tongue pressed to the corner of her mouth.

  Leisalon hissed the words out between his teeth, "The Nanyang Islands are covered with dense jungles, even the locals don't dare to enter casually. Those days I told you to stay behind, but you wouldn't rest properly—you actually went into the jungle alone."

  "All the flowers and trees in that jungle are rare in the Central Plains. When I caught a whiff of that unfamiliar scent, I naturally followed it in. Even though the plants were everywhere, I wasn't scared, and I was extremely careful when picking them, I never picked them bare-handed without any precaution. Take that 'Pearl Bell Orchid' for example: after I picked it, I even asked the Feng family ship hands that came along with us. They're all old hands, they know a lot more than I do."

  Four years ago, Leisalon, in the identity of a simple merchant, started doing overseas business together with the "Haining Feng Family", which was primarily in the shipping industry. The Haining Feng Family's fleet brought him to Nanyang, and the cooperation between the two sides has continued to this day: he supplies the goods from Nanyang, most of which are spices and aromatic herbs, while the Feng Family provides the shipping, and every trip there are always several experienced Feng family ship hands sailing along.

  At this moment, Hua Duomei's words suddenly stopped, her expression frozen in a daze.

  Suddenly, it was as if she had realized some great truth of life, her watery eyes lit up.

  "So after all this, Lord Leisalon was worried about me!" She smiled broadly. "You're afraid I got bitten by some unknown mosquito in the jungle, attacked by venomous snakes and scorpions, or touched some forbidden plant, poisoned and couldn't climb back out of the forest, aren't you?"

  Leisalon still glared at her resentfully, his firm jaw pressed into a line and no words spoken, but that look in Hua Duomei's eyes was indescribably cute.

  Her heart melted into honey, she suppressed her proud and wanton smile, stood on tiptoe and kissed his taut corner of the mouth.

  "You woman..." his face flushed, he grabbed her and kissed her fiercely.

  After a while of tangled passion, she pressed against his rough cheek, breathing lightly, and asked: "When did you start getting mixed up with that infamous Wolf Ghost? And even brought the big girl from Linked Island onto your ship? Lord, next, are you going to tell me that all these years you've actually been plundering and looting at sea with Lu Zheng, and that the legitimate Nanyang business is just a cover, all to get me to sail out and suffer with you?"

  "If that were true, what would you do?" the man asked with a half-smile.

  She shrugged her delicate shoulders, "If that's really the case, I've never actually done this kind of raiding and looting work. Now that I've got the chance, of course I can't let it go. Give me ships and men, if I set my mind to it, in less than two years, this Landlord's name on the seas will surely catch up to Wolf Ghost and the Twelve Linked Islands."

  A deep, pleasant laugh rumbled out from Leisalon's chest.

  "You don't believe me?" Her pretty face tilted slightly, she pulled back a little, her willowy eyebrows lifted.

  "I believe you." Leisalon nodded slightly, and said slowly, "Unfortunately, the legitimate business is not a cover, it's completely real. If the Landlord wants to show off her prowess on the high seas, fight ruthlessly, and make a great name for herself the way she did on the rivers, she's going to be disappointed." Even if it were possible, he would never allow her to become a pirate lady.

  Hua Duomei smiled coquettishly and snorted lightly, "You're already mixed up with the two biggest pirate forces, Wolf Ghost and the Twelve Linked Islands, aren't you afraid I'll get the chance to show my talent?"

  "Don't do anything reckless." His brows furrowed upward.

  "When did I do anything reckless? I'm just telling the truth, that's all."

  If he didn't make this clear to her, this lawless woman would definitely come up with a whole bunch of other tricks. Leisalon sighed silently to himself, adjusted his breathing, and let go of her.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  "Years ago, the big girl of Linked Island was abducted by Wolf Ghost, imprisoned on Xiamei Island. Then she gave herself to him. The identities of the pair on the ship right now are indeed what you think, but the one we actually have a real connection with is still the Haining Feng Family."

  Her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, she tilted her beautiful head and waited for him to continue.

  Leisalon took the telescope from her hand, and scanned the surrounding sea surface. He asked in a steady voice, "Did you hear what I called that man just now?"

  Hua Duomei was startled, her eyes rolled around.

  "This morning you two were hiding away together the whole time, talking god knows what in secret. How could I hear what you called him?" That's why, while he met with that Wolf Ghost, she went to have fun with the big girl.

  There was nothing unusual on the sea, Leisalon put down the telescope. "I called him Young Master Tang." He paused slightly, the corner of his mouth hooked, "His surname is Feng, Feng Shantang."

  Her pretty face froze again, something clicked in her mind, and Hua Duomei suddenly understood.

  "Wolf Ghost is a man of the Haining Feng Family! That cold-faced man is the Feng family young master!" Her beautiful eyes widened wider and wider, the absolute secrecy made her so excited her cheeks flushed. "Wow! So that means the Haining Feng Family actually does this no-capital business too! Good, very good, what a fine case of selling dog meat under a sheep's head. They look so proper and honest on the outside, but their dirty work is perfectly seamless!" The Haining Feng Family was a real big clan in Jiangnan, they'd fooled the world for so many years. Leisalon couldn't help but smile bitterly.

  "There's a lot of connections involved. Wolf Ghost originally appeared to catch a traitor from the Feng family, that's why Feng Shantang became an evil pirate in disguise. He's hunted this Feng traitor for years at sea, but every time he missed by just a little, let the man slip right under his nose. This time, he's got solid clues in hand, and taking this favorable ship is to avoid attention while he lays his trap in Nanyang."

  "So you mean... he faked his death on Xiamei Island?" she asked.

  That year, the martial arts world of the Central Plains was buzzing, especially along the coast, there were so many rumors. Everyone was talking about how "Xiamei Island" was completely destroyed, Wolf Ghost was shot down into the East Ocean cliffs, and all that.

  Leisalon nodded lightly. "Turning from visible to invisible, this move was necessary." "Necessary my ass!" the woman snapped angrily. Leisalon was stunned.

  While he was stunned, the woman's slender fingers poked furiously at his chest, poked once, then poked again and again.

  "I ask you! If I was beaten and thrown off a thousand-foot cliff, and died, would you be sad? Would you be sad?!"

  "I..." he furrowed his brows, his face darkening, and grabbed her fidgeting fingers.

  Not forcing him to answer right away, she continued immediately, "Hmph! When Wolf Ghost fell off the cliff, that big girl from Linked Island had no idea it was a fake death trick back then. Leisalon, if it were you, if you got beaten badly and fell off a cliff, I think... I would be absolutely heartbroken, so, so sad, sad to the point I'm numb and confused, my brain can't work, I can't take care of anything, I can only do stupid things on instinct. So if you dare to learn from that bastard cold-faced man and do this sort of despicable thing to make me sad, I will never forgive you, do you hear me? I will never forgive you!"

  "Daxiang..." he called her hoarsely, Leisalon's left chest hammered, like a mountain collapsing and the earth caving in.

  His Landlord was bold in her actions, arrogant in her bearing, rarely said three proper words in a row, sometimes she really made people so angry they grind their teeth, but right now, even though her words were threatening and her expression indignant, the shining depths of her eyes were brimming over with so much, so full, such heart-stirring affection.

  When he'd met this most contradictory, intriguing flower in the world, how could he not accept it?

  His strong, muscular arm reached out, longing to pull her into his embrace.

  Who knew Hua Duomei would take a small step back, not letting him hold her.

  She took the telescope back from his hand, then turned around to face away from him.

  Her left chest was beating so loudly, thump, thump, thump...

  Saying those things driven by her feelings, she felt the shyness of having laid her heart bare right under his eyes.

  The top of her head tingled faintly, her throat felt tight, her eye sockets were frighteningly hot, something was just about to spill over, and her body openly felt this powerful heat, like tides and waves, crashing in wave after wave, almost swallowing her whole.

  So annoying!

  Faced with her own overly pure self, she really was at a complete loss.

  Suddenly, a strong broad chest pressed against her back, two iron-strong arms suddenly wrapped around her from behind her head, pressing her soft body back into a larger, hotter warmth, their body heat mingling together.

  Resarlow leaned slightly forward, his square jaw brushing gently against her hair, again and again.

  He should have responded, should have told her that for her, he also held deep affection.

  She was willing to follow him, leave her hometown and family for him. She did not know how much joy filled his heart!

  He pressed his lips, took a deep breath. "Daxiang, listen to me."

  Huh?

  "I'm actually—"

  "A pirate!"

  "I'm not!" His face darkened. He had already told her, the business he ran was completely legitimate!

  "No, there really are pirates here!" Huaduomei shouted, directly holding up the telescope, telling him to look.

  A large hand gripped the telescope, he narrowed his sharp eyes, and the black dot on the distant sea level instantly enlarged in the lens.

  It was indeed a pirate ship, its pitch-black sails fully billowing in the wind, the enemy's black flag with a skull and scythe was hoisted high on the mainmast, fluttering wide in the wind.

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