Chapter 5: Undercurrents (Part 1) Seeking Collections

  Tang Jie punched out this fist, and with a loud "bang", he directly punched a hole in the door panel, just big enough for his arm to stretch out.

  He fumbled with his hand outside the door and happened to touch the door bolt.

  He fiddled with it for a couple of times, opened the door bolt and walked out himself.

  As soon as he walked out of the narrow and small black room, Tang Jie couldn't help but stretch his body vigorously. It was really unbearable to curl up in there.

  He looked around, but saw that the passageway of the cabin was hung with several dim yellow oil lamps. The light flickered with the movement of the boat on the waves, and a noisy sound came from a nearby cabin.

  Tang Jie walked quietly over and took a peek inside through the half-closed door.

  This was a fairly spacious cabin for sailors, two sturdy and powerful sailors were leaning on a table with their hands clasped together. Their thick arms had muscles bulging like boulders, and large blue veins writhing under their skin like snakes, full of strength.

  Around them was a group of cheering sailors, some holding a bottle of wine, with flushed faces loudly shouting, while others sat on a barrel, betting on who would win or lose between the two men, loudly shouting and flipping the gold coins in front of them, making a clinking sound.

  The room was filled with a strong smell of alcohol and sweat.

  Tang Jie discovered that the two arm-wrestling men, one of whom was Beer Barrel William, had gradually gained the upper hand and were on the verge of winning.

  Skinny bamboo pole Bill was on the side, shouting: "William, kill him, just a little bit more, hurry up and kill him! Use all your strength that you used on the women's belly!"

  "Shut up!" William bellowed, suddenly using force, and with a loud crash, he knocked the sailor in front of him to the ground.

  The sailors around him burst into a round of excited cheers, Bill laughed and threw him a bottle of wine, shouting: "Good job William!"

  William took the bottle and gulped down a mouthful of strong liquor, laughing loudly, and raised the bottle among the sailors: "Kill without blinking!"

  The surrounding sailors raised their bottles and shouted in unison: "No mercy!!"

  "Who are we?" William exclaimed loudly.

  The sailors stamped their feet and let out a uniform shout: "We are pirates!"

  "Free and easy pirates!!"

  A burst of wild cheering erupted in the sailors' quarters, as if they were going to blow off the top deck. Some sang pirate songs at the top of their lungs, while others danced with abandon, and Tang Jie could even see a few sailors who had lost an arm or an eye tapping out the beat and shouting as they drank.

  What a group of carefree and happy-go-lucky guys!

  Tang Jie looked at their faces with joyful and carefree expressions, his anger dissipated a bit, and he couldn't help but feel a little envious.

  He could see from their expressions at this moment that they were a group of men who didn't know how to decorate and hide themselves, they would sing when they were happy, laugh loudly when they were excited, shout loudly when they were angry, and cry when they were sad. They expressed their emotions nakedly under the embrace of the sea.

  For they knew that the merciful and loving sea god Tirra would embrace all of them, even if one day they died, their souls and bodies would return to the bosom of sea god Tirra, becoming a free and unbridled wave in the vast ocean, continuing to be passionate and majestic!

  "What a bunch of simple-minded happy-go-lucky fools......" Tuo Jian, who came from modern society, certainly knew that being able to express his passion so recklessly was a kind of luxury.

  He smiled and quietly left the half-closed door, not wanting to disturb their revelry, for he knew that although the sailors on this ship were extremely simple, quick to take offense and bear grudges, they also harbored extreme hostility and exclusion towards everything and everyone outside of this ship.

  To blend in with such a group of people, either become one of them or gain their recognition through strength.

  But before that, there's something even more important to do, which is to find food!

  Man is iron, rice is steel, skipping a meal makes one anxious.

  Fortunately, the provisions were not difficult to find in this hold, for the careless sailors did not think much of storing them away, as under Captain Bar's strict rules no sailor would dare to steal food, or they would get a good ten lashes.

  Tang Jie found a cargo hold filled with stacked food, mostly dry rations, and many salted fish hanging from the ship's cabin.

  He opened a sealed small wooden bucket and found that it was basically dried meat. He was hungry at this time, so he didn't care about anything else, hid a few pieces in his arms, and slipped out.

  Tang Jie looked around and found that almost all the sailors had gone below deck, either carousing or resting in their cabins. It was clearly not a very safe thing to be wandering around down there.

  He climbed up onto the deck.

  As he emerged from the cabin, a refreshing sea breeze hit him in the face, causing Tang Jie's spirits to lift.

  The deck was almost devoid of human figures, and even the stars above were invisible. The sea wind filled the sails to the fullest, and all around there was only the sound of waves, giving people a sense of unspeakable silence.

  Tang Jie walked up to the deck, preparing to find a secluded corner to secretly eat something, but heard a drunken voice coming over: "Who's there!"

  Tang Jie's heart tightened, just as he was about to turn around and slip into the cabin under the cover of the thick night darkness. He heard that voice again, laughing and saying: "Don't hide anymore, come here! I've seen you! I can smell the dried meat in your arms, come on, everyone gets a share!"

  Tang Jie followed the sound, narrowed his eyes and looked over, but saw a person standing on the helm platform, beckoning to him.

  As the dim and sparse night color continued, Tang Jie walked over, but found that this person was different from the pirates on other ships. He was dressed neatly, wearing a black long shirt with all buttons buttoned up tightly, only with some obvious friction marks on his hands, feet and hem of his clothes.

  The man with a messy beard and disheveled appearance held a bottle of wine in his hand, drunk and staggering. When he saw Tang Jie approaching, he let out a loud guffaw: "Ah, it's you, young fellow!"

  He handed over the wine in his hand: "Come on, have a drink?"

  Tang Jie's gaze was fixed on him with a strange intensity, the man's attire reminded him of a priest, except that he wasn't holding a Bible. He took the wine bottle, brought his nose to the opening and sniffed, a pungent smell assaulted his nostrils, causing him to wrinkle his brow, pinching his nose as he tossed the bottle back.

  "I can't drink such strong liquor..." Tang Jie smiled wryly "Thanks a lot!"

  The man chuckled and raised his wine bottle, gesturing to Tang Jie: "I'm Horen, you must be that Tang Jie?"

  Tang Jie was somewhat surprised: "I'm still a celebrity?"

  Horn took a sip, wiped his mouth: "This boat is just this big, what can be hidden? When you were picked up, I was also watching from the side."

  Tang Jie hastily asked: "How did I get caught up in this?"

  Horne chuckled: "It was Bill who found you, and William pulled you aboard. We all thought you were dead at the time, but it turns out you're still alive! This is the first time we've ever fished a live person out of the sea - you're one lucky guy!"

  As he spoke, he smacked his lips a few times, as if savoring the taste of the liquor: "Rum, spicy and sweet, just like women, the best liquor in the world! You don't drink a little, it's a pity!" He said, and handed the bottle to Tang Jie again, with an encouraging look: "Try a small mouthful, you'll fall in love with it!"

  Tang Jie was moved by his enthusiasm, took the wine bottle, looked at him with half-doubtful eyes, and gestured to his body: "You..."

  Horne also made a gesture to let Tang Jie try the taste, then smiled and said: "You're wondering why I look different from others on the ship?"

  He looked at Tang Jie with his head raised, eyes closed, savoring the rum as if it were a sacrament, and chuckled: "I am a pastor..."

  "Pffft!!" Tang Jie heard this sentence, a mouthful of wine sprayed out, and the wine that entered his throat was like a knife cutting through his esophagus.

  "Cough, cough..." Tang Jie coughed violently, pointing at the pastor in front of him, his rough voice filled with incredulity. "You say you're a pastor? A pirate pastor? A pastoral pirate?"

  "Haw haw! I've had folks knowin' me for a parson, too, and their eyes gettin' as big as the wheel of this ship. But you're the first one to be choked by rum on my vessel!"

  Tang Jie was choked by the wine, and tears flowed out. He took a bite of dried meat, chewing hard, trying to use the flavor of the dried meat to dilute the strong taste of the wine.

  Horne bluntly took a piece of dried meat from in front of him and chewed on it loudly, saying to himself, "Did you take it yourself?"

  Tang Jie retorted: "How did you know?"

  Horne chuckled: "Bar is a petty ghost, he wouldn't spare these good dried meats for you to eat!"

  Tang Jie shrugged: "Isn't he very angry now?"

  Horne winked at him: "Can't you just not let him know?"

  Tang Jie chuckled and his expression hesitated for a moment, but he still asked the question in his heart: "Since you are a pastor, why are you on a pirate ship? Were you also caught by them?"

  Horne smiled faintly: "That's a long story, do you have that much time?"

  Tang Jie smiled and said: "Anyway, I don't have anything else to do!"