Postscript II.
2018-01-11
Author: Floating Tower (诸生浮屠)
“Learning martial arts is苦的.” Ward patted the little boy’s head.
The little one raised his head seriously and said, “I’m not afraid of hardships. Can you teach me?”
Ward put away his sword, stood up, and said, “Maybe when you grow up a bit.”
About ten minutes later, a woman came out of the kitchen carrying a large bowl of fish soup and black bread. Because they were near the sea and had abundant catch, the residents of Arendelle lived quite well, at least sufficient meat was available. The pot was simmering with a vegetable stew. The woman first served a bowl of fish soup for Ward, and then made a bowl of vegetable porridge for the little boy, feeling a bit awkward as she said, “I’m sorry for the hospitality, this is all we have to eat.”
Ward took a sip of the fish soup and smiled, saying, “It tastes very good.”
Hearing this, the woman could not help but show a slight smile. She tore off a piece of black bread and put it in her bowl to soften it as she began to eat. The little boy glanced at Ward from time to time and then looked at his mother.
The three of them remained silent.
The woman felt a bit uneasy, while Ward was reminded of his past. Back when he was a hunter, life was not much different from the scene before him now.
Suddenly, he twitched his ears, frowned, and stood up.
“You all stay here and don’t go out.”
He stepped out of the house with big strides, and the woman’s expression seemed to guess something, showing a hint of panic.
Ward went outside and directly grabbed a rather disheveled man from the corner and slammed him against the wall after shutting the door.
Not far away, several fierce-looking men quickly approached.
“Cough cough…”
The man slammed against the wall had a vicious expression, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. He gritted his teeth and said, “Who are you? How dare you meddle in Sea Shark Gang’s affairs? Haven’t you heard of our boss Blood Shark’s reputation? I advise you not to poke your nose into this or you’ll find yourself feeding the sharks in the sea!”
Ward appeared to be a down-and-out sailor, and the man believed he had heard of the Blood Shark’s reputation.
But he was disappointed. To Ward, a rat was just a rat; no matter how grandiose the nickname, it could not change the fact that they were all filthy rats hiding under the surface.
Three to five fierce men were moving closer, hiding knives and similar weapons.
People living in the slums had a keen instinct for danger, and at the first sign of a potential fight, they quickly hid. These rats were notorious for human trafficking and all kinds of crimes, and no slum dweller wanted to get involved; at this moment, they were afraid of not hiding fast enough.
Ward’s brows furrowed tightly.
He tossed the man in his hand aside and walked forward. The glint of a knife emerged as the group of fierce men surrounded him.
A vague scream from a woman reached his ears.
Crack!
But the next moment, the sound of bone snapping erupted, the man’s arm holding the knife twisted in a bizarre manner, and he let out a piercing scream. Ward executed a whip kick, sending one of the rats who tried to sneak attack him flying five meters away, knocking him unconscious when he hit the ground. These lowly rats could bully the civilians, but that was all.
“You wait!”
The bloodied man climbed up, threatening, “You dare to mess with Sea Shark Gang? Just wait to feed the sharks in the sea! And that wretched woman will be sold off to a brothel, living a fate worse than death!”
The remaining rats that could move fled outside, not caring about the others who could not move.
Ward spat on the ground, his hand gripping the sword hilt trembling slightly, as if he was trying hard to suppress something. This was Arendelle, the pearl of the Frozen Kingdom, Queen Anna’s territory; he could not go around killing people recklessly.
………………
Dock Area.
On a merchant ship, the burly first mate furrowed his brow, looking over at the dock and said solemnly, “Where’s Ward? Why is he missing?”
Beside him, a short and stout sailor revealed a lewd smile and said, “Someone just saw him leave with a woman with a big butt and a child. I was wondering why this guy never looks for women when he comes ashore; turns out he likes that type.”
Sailors’ lives were very dull; strong liquor and whores were their favorite pastimes.
The first mate’s mouth showed a similar lewd smile, but he quickly pulled a straight face and said, “When we set off, remember to call him back. Don’t let him forget all about time while having fun with women.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than a small, skinny sailor rushed over in panic, loudly announcing, “Not good! Boss! I just saw Ward fighting with Sea Shark Gang people in the slums. Now they’ve gone to call for reinforcements; something big is about to happen.”
The faces of all the sailors immediately turned ugly.
One of the bearded sailors spat on the ground and said grimly, “This guy really knows how to get into trouble! What do we do now?”
“The Sea Shark Gang is the local tyrant around here, and they have quite a few lives on their hands. We can’t handle them head-on,” another sailor added.
The first mate’s expression also turned grim as he cursed, “That bastard! Immediately send someone to notify the captain to get the goods off quickly. No matter what, he’s one of us; now we must go and bring him back. After unloading the goods, we should leave quickly. The Sea Shark Gang won’t let this go.”
Though they disliked Ward’s unruliness, they could not abandon him now.
The expressions of the others were somewhat hesitant, but they quickly sprang into action, some cursing, “That bastard! Ruining my fun after just a couple of days; when we reach Blackwater Port, he has to treat me to drinks and whores!”
“Yes! Let him treat us to drinks and whores!”
“Catch him, beat him up! … Then make him treat us to drinks and whores! … Make him stand aside and watch!”
A barrage of foul language.
But despite the cursing, many sailors quickly picked up their weapons.
Their merchant caravan sailed the route from North Sea coast to Eastern Kingdom, filled with dangers; many of the sailors share their lives for each other.
………………
On the other side.
Like a storm approaching, several fierce-looking men stepped out from the dark alley, concealing their weapons, and gathered towards the slums. A small squad of patrolling guards noticed something irregular and tried to approach, but soon two young men, carrying coin pouches, found their captain. The captain weighed the coin pouch in his hand, and immediately said with a smile, “Don’t make too much noise. Just take care of that sailor. If this gets out of hand, none of us will have a good ending.”
Some sailors ventured into the city to find the captain, while others grabbed their weapons and headed toward the slums.
“As much as possible, avoid confronting Sea Shark Gang members. We just need to take Ward back to the ship.” The first mate pondered for a moment and gritted his teeth, “Once we’re on the ship, they won’t dare to make a fuss. Don’t worry about that woman; let Sea Shark Gang handle her.”
He wanted to save Ward, but he also had to be responsible for his subordinates’ lives.
At this moment, sacrificing that poor woman was the only option.
Totally offending these local tyrants would lead to endless troubles; various rats would seek them out in Arendelle in the future.
One by one, rats armed with weapons emerged from the dark corners, quickly gathering over a hundred people. The slums descended into chaos; many people were so terrified that they locked themselves inside their rooms, tightly shutting their doors and windows. They did not rush to act but surrounded the woman’s house until a fierce-looking man, covered in scars from his forehead down to his neck, arrived.
“Is it you who opposed our Sea Shark Gang?” Blood Shark Vick, a Northern man, a wanted criminal, turned a new leaf and allied with the nobles to become the leader of the rats, acting ruthlessly and viciously.
The woman appeared without warning, standing behind Ward, trembling in fear but refusing to hide in the house.
“I’m sorry,” she trembled behind Ward, “I brought you trouble. You should leave quickly. Don’t worry about us.”
Ward smiled.
He did not move, merely gripping his trembling palm around the sword hilt.
“Very courageous,” Blood Shark sneered, observing Ward from the start. Upon seeing his trembling palm, Blood Shark was convinced that Ward’s inner self was not as calm as he pretended; he could see that Ward was so scared he couldn’t stop shaking his hand, but was just forcing himself to act composed.
Blood Shark revealed a mocking grin, his eyes scanning the surroundings. Even though the doors and windows were tightly shut, many people were peeking in; this was a great opportunity to establish his authority, making it easy for him to take control of this territory in the future.
“I sent two men yesterday to catch this woman; was it you who did it?” Blood Shark glared at Ward fiercely, “Where are they?”
Ward replied with an expressionless face, “Dead.”
Blood Shark’s face instantly darkened, growling, “Courting death!”
Ward’s arm veins bulged; although his face showed no changes, an uncontrollable bloodthirsty excitement enveloped his heart. He hadn’t felt such a thirst for blood and violence in a long time; the emotions that had been forcibly suppressed due to strong liquor boiled over, causing his body to tremble involuntarily.
Blood Shark was quite satisfied with Ward’s performance.
Because with just one sentence, he made the seemingly fierce sailor tremble in fear. He enjoyed the feeling and prepared to win without a fight. But just then, a rat scurried over and whispered something to him; he immediately squinted and said darkly, “Seize them.”
A group of sailors was approaching.
It was obvious they were coming for the man before him, and he could not let these sailors take the man away, so he needed to capture him first.
Seven or eight fierce henchmen with weapons approached, grinning wickedly.
Ward’s trembling body made them think he felt “fear”. Dealing with such a completely terrified enemy was far too easy. If it weren’t for their boss wanting to assert his authority, he wouldn’t have needed to call so many people over.
A glint of cold light emerged.
One of the henchmen could not resist pulling out a short knife and charging forward, while the continuously trembling Ward suddenly stopped. Bloodshot eyes appeared in his gaze as he side-stepped into the enemy’s body, then quickly reversed to grab the enemy’s wrist and wrest the knife away, slashing horizontally. Blood gushed forth instantly, and the enemy behind him clutched his throat and convulsed before collapsing.
All of this happened in an instant.
And when the first enemy fell, Ward seemed to have shed some kind of shackles. His expression was calm yet terrifying as he unsheathed his long sword with a clang.
………………
