Chapter 428: Elder Cousin, Younger Cousin! (1/2)
Chapter 428: Elder Cousin, Younger Cousin!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Everyone's faces were red from the cold, but their eyes were bright from excitement.
One after another, the cooks, the sailors, the riggers, the helmsmen, the guards, the bowmen… they continued to disembark from the ships. After everyone left, a young man, his face honed by the wind and frost, finally appeared on the first ship.
This youth didn't seem very old, but his eyes were those of a calm and time-tested veteran. They weren't the eyes a young man should have, and were more appropriate for a middle-aged man of thirty or forty who had a story to tell.
”I'm finally back!”
Wang Liang let out a cold breath of air. Taking in the dense, lively, and amiable crowd of sailors as well as the familiar yet empty harbor cloaked in white, he internally sighed.
Though he had set out from here only half a year ago, it had felt so long that it seemed like another life.
He had seen and experienced far too much on this adventure.
Breathing in a lungful of cold air, Wang Liang raised his robe and began to descend the wooden ship stairs. The steps creaked as he walked, each creak resounding in every sailor's ear.
”Captain!”
”Captain!”
”Captain!”
……
……
As they watched Wang Liang walk down, everyone in the harbor—the sailors, the riggers, the guards, the cooks, the navigators, the archers, the crossbowmen, and the lookouts—began to cheer.
Each pair of eyes was filled with passion and worship. It was like this descending youth was some famous and influential figure.
Wave after wave of cheers rose up from the crowd, and not even the snowstorm or the bitter cold could stop them. Even the guards of the Wang Clan momentarily forgot who Wang Liang was and, just like everyone else, cheered him on as their most important captain.
In their hearts, his identity as captain was clearly higher and worthier of respect than his identity as Young Master Liang.
He had finally disembarked, his feet meeting solid ground. As he met the numerous eyes, Wang Liang finally spoke his first words after stepping onto the mainland: ”We've returned! Just like I promised you all. You will all receive what you want, and that is 'fortune'!”
”Captain!”
”Captain!”
……
The already-excited crowd instantly grew even more passionate. Those shining eyes inspired absolute trust in them. Every one of them was a most loyal follower and guard of Wang Liang.
Anyone, anyone… if anyone wanted to harm Wang Liang, they would tear that person to pieces!
Just when the crowd was most excited, the clopping of hooves came from the distance, drawing their attention.
This galloping was faint at first, but it quickly became a great rumble, a stampede of horses heading toward the harbor.
”Look over there!”
Someone pointed into the distance and shouted. In a flash, everyone looked in that direction, where they saw a black and grandiose tide surging toward the harbor.
”Creeeee!”
At the very front, a golden eagle cried out, its wings cutting through the snow like metal.
And right under the golden eagle was a youth of sixteen or seventeen wearing a fur coat, his brows straight and his eyes bright, leading the group. Though he was young, this youth's every movement seemed to carry a certain majesty that made other people trust him.
”Young Master! It's Young Master Chong!”
The Wang Clan guards were the first in the crowd to recognize him. Others soon followed. There were currently few people in the capital that didn't know the Wang Clan's Qilin son.
Quite a few of the members of the fleet had joined because of this youngest scion of the Wang Clan. Of course, some of them had come because of his reputation, but even more because of the legendary Wootz Steel weapons, and others because of his astonishing wealth.
”Elder Cousin, you've finally returned!”
Wang Chong rode his horse through the snow. As he approached the frozen ground of the harbor and the iced-over water, he was able to pick out Wang Liang in the very back of the crowd with just a glance.
He galloped past the crowd, dismounted, took a step forward, and then embraced his cousin.
”Hahaha, I'm back, I'm back…”
Wang Liang also laughed and hugged Wang Chong back.
This ocean adventure had truly been arduous, one in which he had barely escaped with his life, almost dying at sea. Yet now that he had smoothly returned home, the person Wang Liang was most grateful to was Wang Chong.
If not for Wang Chong, he would never have left the walls of the capital. Perhaps he would still be in the marketplace, making his flying birds and selling his little toys.
If not for Wang Chong, he would have never known about the marvelous world that existed outside of his home, or the vastness of the ocean.