The captain answered honestly, "Normally, people go out on ships along the routes that have been explored by their predecessors. If they go out on the wrong route, they may easily encounter unknown turbulence or reefs, and die without a complete body. Therefore, there are very few truly explored areas in the vast ocean, and there are a lot of islands that have never been discovered... Well, for example, the island where the two of you live in seclusion, we have never found it before."
Zhao Changhe nodded. Let alone an island, even if there was a continent, it wouldn't be easy to find.
The captain continued, "The Tianyuan Pirates have been roaming the East China Sea for nearly thirty years, with ups and downs, sometimes wreaking havoc and sometimes lying dormant. I don't know if it's due to internal reasons or something else. Anyway, they have been roaming around a lot, and they know a lot of unknown places... This time they angered the Sea God, and I heard that they fled the base where they had been stationed for a long time. Now no one knows where they have fled to. We need to search again. We are a multi-national alliance, and I am just one of them."
Sanniang said, "Oh, so you are a general. Which country are you from?"
The captain said, "We are from Java... I am Admiral Lai Qi."
Zhao Changhe listened absentmindedly to the familiar place name and the mismatched Chinese name, his mind a little distracted.
Sanniang was laughing: "Oh, General, I am so sorry for your disrespect."
Lai Qi was embarrassed and remained silent.
Considering their sea vessels which are not much better than fishing boats and with tattered equipment, it is a bit embarrassing to call them admirals. They are not as convincing as Lingling Admiral Xing Daorong... In fact, they are an army reorganized from fishing boats and merchant ships. Until now, people on the ship are used to calling them captains instead of generals.
Sanniang knew that these small countries were generally like this. Many of the "countries" had a population smaller than that of a county, no, some were just towns, so it was difficult for them to organize a strong navy. So she did not ridicule him, but just said, "How are you going to find people with just these few ships? Even if you find someone, won't you just send them away?"
Lai Qi said: "Many countries have united together, not just us."
Sanniang deliberately asked: "Since the Sea God is called God, if He can't be found, does He still need you to search for Him?"
Lai Qi said awkwardly: "There should be an order soon."
The sea god did not issue an order to say where the pirate group was. Blind believers thought it was a test from God, while those who were more rational knew that the so-called sea god was not omniscient and omnipotent. Even in the sea, there were many things that He could not know.
Not only was he not omniscient, he even failed to wipe out the pirates, and let them escape. He could have boasted about it as a glorious victory, but the essence was that he let people escape, which was a bit different from the expectations of a "god".
But since the Sea God has personally taken action, He must also be looking for it, and he might find it soon. Sanniang's question was even more malicious, because she herself couldn't find the pirate group at the moment, but she could use the enemy's ship to find her mother's home.
Turtle felt very happy when he thought of this, and said contemptuously: "I thought you had a clear goal to suppress the bandits, but after all this time you don't even know where the people are... Since multiple countries are looking for them separately, how can you communicate with each other after you find them?"
Lai Qi said: "We will gather at Dong'an Island. That is also the headquarters of the coalition forces. Penglai General Hai Changkong will be the commander-in-chief. We will arrive in seven days."
When she heard the name, Sanniang suddenly became distracted.
Zhao Changhe took over the conversation: "It's okay, you can go out."
Lai Qi apologized with a smile and said, "Enjoy your meal, both of you."
Zhao Changhe stood up and closed the door, then slowly walked back, picked up the wine pot and poured a glass for Sanniang: "What's wrong, enemy?"
The last time Sanniang told a story, she didn’t get to the key points and glossed over them. For example, regarding the cause of her mother’s death, Sanniang said, “I’ll tell you about it later.”
After all, it is a matter between parents, so it is understandable that they are unwilling to discuss it in detail.
But now Sanniang spoke very naturally. She took a sip of the wine from Zhao Changhe and whispered, "Hai Changkong is Hai Pinglan's personal guard. Like Hai Qianfan, they were both given surnames and were actually adopted sons... Hai Changkong was still a teenager under 20 years old when he fled to the sea with Hai Pinglan. He also made great contributions along the way. I was very close to him when I was a child."
"Adopted son, conceptually, does he also have the qualifications to succeed to the throne? If you are not here." Zhao Changhe keenly discovered the key point.
Sanniang laughed dumbly, "Maybe. Although he has hundreds of adopted sons, it is possible that one of the best ones could be the one who killed me, provided that mother and I were not around... When mother was still around, no one would really think they had hope, and they wouldn't have made a fuss over this, and they didn't have the strength to do so. When mother is gone, it is possible that they would hunt me down because of this."
"Well… "
"Yes, he was the one who tried his best to hunt me down." Sanniang smiled and said, "He can be considered an enemy, but I find that I can't seem to muster any hatred towards him."
Zhao Changhe said: "Because the real core enemy is not him, you can't hate Hai Pinglan. So much time has passed, and you are lazy, so you will not bear a grudge against a minor character."
Sanniang lay on the table and muttered, "Not really, because it's just a mess."
Zhao Changhe asked, "What's going on?" Sanniang muttered, "I told you before that the cause of my mother's death is a mystery... Someone proposed to establish a country in Penglai before, and Hai Pinglan supported it. He could not forget the time when he was a separatist in Jiangnan and was determined to restore his country. Penglai has a good climate and a large population. Isn't it a small Jiangnan?"
"Your mother objects?"
"My mother was against it at first. She was far away from her homeland and had always considered the sea as a place to escape. She had never thought of settling down there. When she saw that the sea had calmed down and she had lost her ambition and wanted to settle down on the island, my mother was very unhappy."
"In the beginning, originally..."
"Yes, and then I don't know why, but I agreed. It should have been a happy ending, and everyone was busy preparing for the founding of the country, but on the eve of the ceremony, Hai Pinglan announced that she had been attacked and killed."
Zhao Changhe: “?”
Sanniang laughed and said, "The funny thing is that Hai Pinglan himself was also seriously injured. Tell me, was he really injured by an enemy attack, or was he counterattacked when he was trying to kill my mother?"
Zhao Changhe was speechless.
Sanniang said, "My first reaction is that the two sides are arguing over power, such as who will be the king? After all, it was Niang who was in charge of all these years, and her prestige among the pirates is the highest. If she wants to be the queen, Hai Pinglan seems to be unable to compete. But how could Hai Pinglan be willing to give the throne to his wife? So they fought and killed each other by mistake."
Zhao Changhe said: "That's basically the only way to think about it, right? There's no other reason to think of. Of course, if we say that the couple had an argument over something else and it led to the manslaughter, it would also make sense in reality..."
"Right. Even when trying to find other reasons, they were sure that it was murder."
"Well, there's no point in being attacked in your own palace. Where is the enemy?"
"Yes, at that time everyone thought that the couple was fighting for the throne. How could the pirates loyal to my mother be happy? I was not happy either. In fact, I was the most excited person at that time. I went to ask for an explanation, followed by Hai Qianfan and a large group of capable generals." Sanniang sighed and said, "Tell me, do you think I should take advantage of the opportunity when he was seriously injured to force him to abdicate and seize the throne?"
Zhao Changhe scratched his head: "Similar, too similar."
"Those who were loyal to him, such as Hai Changkong, naturally started a civil war with us. Later, he personally suppressed the war from his sickbed. Hai Qianfan protected me as I retreated, and a group of people ran back to the sea to become pirates again." Sanniang said: "Later, I also said that he continued to encircle and suppress the pirates, treating them as complete enemies. I couldn't bear to see the pirates die or get hurt, so I went to land."
Zhao Changhe was stunned for a while, then suddenly frowned.
Sanniang asked, "Why, did you find any problem?"
Zhao Changhe did find a problem - in fact, from the beginning to the end, there was no solid evidence whether Hai Pinglan was the one who killed him...
Hai Pinglan personally took action to suppress his daughter, and then he suppressed the bandits, which gave people the impression that it was absolutely true. In fact, as a king, it should be said that it was a normal reaction. After all, there were emperors who were pushed down by their children.
Sanniang didn't think so much at the time, so she ran away and believed in God, hoping that the gods would come to the world and let people know that the emperor's hegemony is all dust.
But then she calmed down for so many years, and became a mature woman from a young girl, a venerable person in a religion, and above all others. When Sanniang recalled the past, she should have gradually felt that something was wrong, so she started to say "the cause of death is a mystery" and "not sure if he killed her."
But there is still a problem here…
If there really was a misunderstanding, Hai Pinglan would have a thousand ways to convey it to the Tianyuan Pirates and try to resolve the misunderstanding after a while. But they haven't even tried to explain it over the years, and have allowed the misunderstanding to exist, and even organized a coalition to attack... So it might not be a misunderstanding.
This mess of accounts has become a thorn in the side, and Guigui has no mood to keep thinking about it. Moreover, because he has a thought in his mind that "it's not him", he doesn't want to take the initiative to investigate the case and solve the truth. What if it is confirmed to be him, what should he do
It would be better to give up and run away. To her, the Four Symbols Sect's affairs were far more important than the mess at sea. If it weren't for this trip to the sea, she might not even want to take a second look.
Looking at Sanniang lying on the table, Zhao Changhe suddenly said, "I suggest you... go ask him."
Sanniang raised her head: "Hmm?"
"I used to be afraid of meeting Xia Longyuan, but it turns out that it's okay to meet him. The pressure I put on myself doesn't exist at all." Zhao Changhe said, "You should ask him... If it's not him, then we have identified the enemy, and we can go and take revenge together. You are now a third-level secret treasure, and your strength may be better than your father's. If there is something he can't do, you two can do it together..."
Sanniang narrowed her eyes and looked at him steadily: "What if it's him?"
Zhao Changhe said, "We have been treating him as an enemy for so many years. He is who he is. Is there any difference from before? If he is, it is ridiculous to deceive yourself that he might not be. As a dignified Xuanwu Reverend, don't you even have the courage to face your enemy?"
(End of this chapter)