Chapter Nineteen : Red Dragon Part I

A/N – So here we are! 3 years later and I have finally added the next chapter. If it is any consolation I do feel awful about leaving this story in the lurch! I hope that you do enjoy it and leave me some honest feedback as it has always been so helpful in the past
By the way just to let you know that I believe it will now be 23 chapters (odd number but what can you do!) as I want to tell Gan Ning's and Shang's story separately and not have them all inter-locking in some messy heap! Therefore it will be two chapters for Gan Ning, then two for Shang then the Epilogue. Well at least that's what I have planned... I may be able to squeeze in an additional chapter I don't know but it is all depending on whether I can make sense of all my old notes!
Anyway all the best and please keep reading

FIVE YEARS LATER

The ship lay stagnant on the semi-icy waters of the Yangtze River, the cool blue of the water barely lapping against the sides of the ship in the vast expanse of its surroundings. A lone pirate strolled steadily out onto the deck, his body hunched in on itself in an attempt to keep the wintry chill from working their way inside his clothing and freezing him to the bone. He exhaled deeply, a strong white vapour escaped into the air, lingering in the dull fog before slowly dissipating away. He and his crew had been stranded out towards the East China Sea for the best part of a sennight, with no hope that any wind would pick up in the dead lull and lead them to land.
His hair, somewhat riddled with dirt and frost, lay in an odd tattered state about his head and his skin was dry and sore, deeply affected by the harsh weather.
Not many of the crew would brave the upper decks with the conditions as they were but today was special for this pirate. This day meant everything to him. A day when he could peel back the black memories of the past and bring them to light, a time where he could reflect and remember all that he had lost and welcome back that familiar pang of anxiety and longing into his heart. For five years to this day he had been exiled, banished from all that he had known to be real, a life that had been cut from him like a blade to flesh. He would stand and gaze out into the distance and think of her. The one woman he had ever allowed himself to love and he would wonder. Wonder what had become of her. The questions would replay in his mind over and over again until they almost became frustrating to think of. Was she still alive? Was their child safe? What had become of all that he had known?
Five years had gone by quickly as they had slowly, with each new day inching by trepidly with no hint of reason or closure. A day so forced into obscurity that it would rear its ugly head when the person least wanted or expected it to. For this day was one to be remembered all too harshly and had shaped him to be the person he is today.
The man sighed, willing himself to stand a few moments more up on the ice strewn deck and allow his mind the clear freshness of the air to think in. His men knew never to ask what troubled their captain and they also knew what would befall them if they did. The pirate liked his privacy as a lack of it in the past had cost him everything, he found it difficult to show emotions and even more difficult to trust those that he would bestow his emotions to. He had become a deep shell of a man that moved from one place to the next like a shadow, untouchable and silent.

Gan Ning did not even go by his name a choice he took in order to preserve whatever protection he could over his past, to keep himself safe above all. Therefore he had assumed the name of his sword Kiran. All of his crew either referred to him as 'Sir' or 'Captain' he would have it no other way. When asked his name he would only reply Kiran and nothing else. No surname, no trace, no past.

His attention was drawn to the approaching of footsteps behind him as his second-in-command Zhou Shu walked up.
"Sir" He addressed him firmly. "It is not wise to stand out here for too long, the men below deck are concerned that you may catch your death and then where would we be?" He said with the hint of a chuckle.
Gan Ning smirked if only for a second and kept his arms held tightly across his chest. "They'd most likely be swimming at the bottom of the waters with not even their wits about them." He crooked an eyebrow back at Zhou Shu who simply smiled and nodded.
After a few moments silence of observing the horizon, Zhou Shu spoke again this time a bit more warily, "Will you come inside, sir?"
Gan Ning cleared his throat in an awkward manner, wishing not to have to explain the reasons for his solace. "I will, man. My men can spare me a few more moments surely." He said gruffly. Not turning around this time to see his comrade's reaction. He knew he had made his point however when the footsteps slowly retreated from whence they came.
Gan Ning knew he would have to go back down eventually and face the jovial faces of his crew, join in the drinking and the gambling of the little treasures that they held. However despite his inability to trust new people, it would always amaze him how warmed he felt in their company and how that five years amongst some of the best men that he had ever knew had more than helped him to rebuild that barrier between him and the past that he had always hoped he could forget.
Gan Ning allowed his thoughts to stray to her one more time before pressing his fingers to his lips in some sort of silent prayer and striding back across the ship to the decks below.

Gan Ning entered into the dimly lit quarters below deck; the stale stench of ale pierced the air mingling with the sour sweat-stained smell of pirates who had not been able to bathe for the freezing waters. It was the kind of odour that left a taste in your mouth.
Gan Ning grimaced but knowing that he didn't probably smell too righteous himself he took his place over by the ale barrels in the corner. He picked up his familiar mug and started guzzling the tasteless ale contents down his gullet. It may have been unpleasant but it was all they had.
The rest of the men slurred in a hazy hubbub of inane conversation, laughing and slamming their hands loudly down on the wooden tables. Gan Ning groaned, rubbing his fingers into his temples in a useless attempt to concentrate amidst the noise.

"When he is gone, wait for me in our garden."...

Gan Ning's last words to Shang resonated in his head. Why had he chosen to say that? He should have told her to meet him somewhere so that they could have run away together. He should have told her so many times that he loved her until the words didn't have meaning anymore. The main frustration with regret was that you know that the decision you had made was ultimately the only one you could have. If they had run away together Sun Quan would never have given up searching for them, what kind of happiness and peace would they have found if they had to constantly look over their shoulders?
In time they would have grown to resent one another and that prospect seemed the worst of all.

...Shang fumbled with Gan Ning's hand as the Wu guards forcibly dragged him from her, a sharp hollow void opened in the pit of her stomach as his hand slipped out of hers; his eyes said everything, that she must wait, be patient, be strong. Her mouth opened in a soundless cry, an indescribable place in her chest clenched so tightly that she painfully held in the wail she wanted to let out. Her knees fell to the floor and she felt so filled with despair that she wanted to lie down and just die. How was love ever good?
Gan Ning watched helplessly as he was pulled further and further away, his heart collapsed in on itself as he saw her break down knowing there was nothing he could do to stop it, to comfort her. He had prayed so strongly in that instant that she would be okay that if any fate could befall him he didn't care; he would welcome if it would just to spare her the anguish. Although he had held a small glimmer of hope that he would see Shang again, most of his pain in that moment was born out of the belief that he never would. The crowds followed to heckle him out of the stadium, to a point where no matter how he tried to crane his head he could no longer see her. That image of her would forever be burned into his mind, his soul.

Gan Ning felt the well-known lump rise in his chest. He rubbed his hands tiredly over his face and remained hidden in that cocoon before his attention was turned to approaching heavy footsteps.
He looked up to see one of his generals Li Jian approaching the table. Li Jian was only a few years older than Gan Ning and reminded Gan Ning a lot of how he had been in his youth; troublesome and disgruntled. He was a rather handsome man but his face had been marred by a deep scar that ran from the right corner of his lip and across his cheek. It is said he had attained it as a young boy trying to defend his mother against a group of brigands. Sadly he became an orphan, much like Gan Ning, which left Li Jian to fend for himself. He eventually found refuge with a band of pirates of whom ultimately shaped him into being the dark shadow of a man that he was today.
"Have you any more of that?"
Gan Ning spanned his arm out to welcome him to sit down. Despite their similar pasts, Gan Ning and Li Jian never saw eye to eye, but just as his relationship had been with Ling Tong at the start he didn't particularly care just so long as he didn't cause any trouble.
Li Jian gulped down his mug, not even wincing at how awful it tasted. "How much longer are we going to stay like this?"
Gan Ning shrugged his shoulders, "There's nothing I can do Jian. I cannot control the winds."
Li Jian scowled inwardly, disgusted by how flippant their supposed Captain could be, he re-filled his mug and drank deeply again. "I was talking to a few men yesterday and I believe that maybe we could take out a few rowing boats to try to find land and get provisions. No ships have passed in the whole time that we have been stuck here, nothing to loot..."
Gan Ning listened absently, swirling the dregs of his ale in his mug. Li Jian looked him up and down but continued anyway, "...all we are doing here is idleness. We are the Red Dragon Pirates!" He exasperated, "We should be putting our name out as it once was; not drifting in this pathetic den of wasteland."
"And you believe the best thing to do is to send out men blindly? We don't even know which way to piss let alone finding the nearest land."
Li Jian's temper brewed gently beneath the surface. "We will die here, sir."
"Don't be silly, man!" Gan Ning groaned in aggravation. "We have enough food and ale to last at least another week. The winds cannot be dormant for much longer, just be patient before you blow your own head off."
Li Jian's jaw twitched, "Well maybe I just have the guts to do something about it rather than wait here till we rot!"
The room went deadly silent as Li Jian's voice roared above the merrymaking. Each man stood quickly with their hands to their swords as Li Jian and Gan Ning sat with their eyes like daggers at each other. Gan Ning shook his head reassuringly to Zhou Shu as he sidled up.
Li Jian held his gaze, unafraid by the tension that hung in the air, Gan Ning slowly rose himself to his feet the sound of his heels and the sharp screech of the bench beneath him was the only sound that briefly broke the silence.
"Take your men at first light. If you are successful then so be it, we will await your return." His voice low and cautious, "If not, then I have lost nothing... save one feckless fire of a man with no honour."
Li Jian glowered, his hands trembling in an attempt to keep down his rage.
Gan Ning turned his gaze from him slowly and addressed the room, "Any man who wishes to go with Li Jian, be my guest."
All the men deeply respected Gan Ning and he smiled inwardly as he knew that Li Jian would most likely go alone, they all kept their hands tightly on the heel of their swords until Gan Ning had completely left the room. Li Jian stormed above deck the ale mugs clattering in his wake. A few moments passed before they all settled back into their own activities again but this time a little quieter than before.

Gan Ning grunted as he made a harsh impact with the hard ground, a sharp pain shot all the way down the right side of his body, the sun glaring in his eyes as he tried his best to roll onto his back. Two of the Wu guards instantly dropped down from horseback and began to lay into him, their firsts refreshing old bruises from Gan Ning's time in imprisonment. He buckled over, groaning in pain, as one of their boots drove into his stomach; winding him.
He forced himself to get up trying to fight them back, successfully swinging a crippling punch to one guard's privates; two broader Wu guards joined them suddenly, grabbed Gan Ning and viciously pulled his arms behind his back almost to the point of ripping them from his sockets. Gan Ning growled, struggling was almost useless but he wouldn't give in, the first Wu guard got back to his feet clutching himself tenderly before bringing his fist again and again into Gan Ning's stomach. The rigidity of his body caused the pain to double, he took every blow stifling his cries as best he could, the Wu guard then leant forward and gripped Gan Ning's hair tugging his head back. Gan Ning squinted, wincing as the grip pulled at his scalp causing salty sweat to run into the open cut on his eyebrow.
"Don't ever come back." A voice warned in the swirling array of blinding sunshine.
The two men behind him let go, Gan Ning felt his body slack, the burning sensation in his muscles beginning to set in. He watched as one by one they all made their way back to their steeds to leave.
He huffed and chuckled, his body falling forward weakly, "You punch like a girl."
The same guard twisted instantly on his heel, letting out a large war cry as he brought his knee straight into Gan Ning's face. The pain was crushing, Gan Ning sailed backwards, blood splattering from his mouth as he shuddered on the floor. He coughed and brought up bile, retching into the sand beneath him.
He thought they may kill him there but they didn't, the sound of galloping hooves dissipated into the distance.

Gan Ning couldn't be sure how long he lay there, the thickening acidity of bile in his mouth thoroughly dehydrated him and he was sure that his arm was broken. Even if he could get up; where would he go? He had never been afraid of death but to die out here with no dignity was not the way he had wanted to go.
He sighed as he rolled onto his back, taking care not to put too much pressure on his arm, he licked at his chapped lips wincing as he ran over another cut. He took in his surroundings and consequently confirmed that he was in the middle of nowhere. It was absolutely barren.
Gan Ning prepared himself for the inevitable, maybe that prayer for Shang had led him here, maybe he was to die so that she could be spared the anguish of waiting for him? Had he made some sort of pact with the Devil?
However a few moments went by and a new scurry of hooves echoed in the distance, his delirium pushed Gan Ning to the brink of unconsciousness, he managed to keep his eyes open long enough to see the silhouette of a man in the sun. A man with a long brown pony-tail and a pair of nun- chucks at his waist...

His eyes snapped open as an indescribable explosion of pain soared in his shoulder; he instantly shot up gripping for a weapon in defence that was not there. He felt a steadying hand on his other shoulder holding him down.
"I'm sorry." Ling Tong said, "I wanted to try to set it while you were unconscious."
Gan Ning groaned rolling on to his good side, clutching the throbbing muscle. "Well, you have never been one to be subtle..." He muttered, smirking as best as he could.
Ling Tong sighed, "Very funny...Here sit up." He commanded helping Gan Ning to rest against the mound of sand behind him. Gan Ning looked down as Ling Tong dipped a rag into the slightly salted water beside him and began to dab at his wounds.
Gan Ning winced each time, the healing almost as brutal as the punches had been. Ling Tong continued in silence wrapping his various cuts with gauze. When he was done he passed Gan Ning a water satchel, "Don't drink too fast." He warned.
Gan Ning sipped as best he could, his thirst almost unbearable. When he was satisfied, he leant back and sighed. "Thank you."
Ling Tong averted his gaze placed his hands on his knees and slowly eased himself to his feet. "I have bought you a fresh horse. Damn difficult for me to have done so... but I managed to slip out without being seen..."
Gan Ning grunted as he pulled himself to his feet, the pain in his arm slowly dulling to an sensitive ache, he hobbled over to the black stallion beside Ling Tong's horse and brushed its mane. "He is just the same as my horse." He rested his head with relief against the neck of the steed. "I cannot thank you enough, brother."
Ling Tong sighed, wishing above all things that they were in different circumstances, wishing quite selfishly that none of this had happened. He was so angry at the pain that his friends had caused themselves. It needn't have happened if Shang and Gan Ning had had some self-control. But then who was he to question the wild actions of the heart?
"Here." He said, Gan Ning turned and his heart leapt as he saw his sword glimmering brightly in Ling Tong's outstretched arms. He almost felt like he was going to cry, as he hobbled forward to run his hands along the familiar engravings at the handle.
"You've got to go on." Ling Tong told him. "She won't survive if you die. You have to come back. I don't care how long it takes, even if I have to come and find you. I will."
Gan Ning looked at the determination in his dear friend's eyes and knew that he would keep his word on that. "I look forward to that day, Ling Tong."
He gripped Ling Tong's shoulder gratefully and pulled him in for a hug, not caring that his body ached with the pressure against his bruises. "You are a brilliant man and I am indebted to you forever." Gan Ning said, his gratitude almost choking him to tears.
Ling Tong pulled back and smiled to break any chance that Gan Ning felt awkward with the tears he was trying to hide, "No you don't." He said firmly and with that he passed him two more water satchels and as much food that he had. Ling Tong then clambered atop his horse. "Goodbye brother. I'll see you soon." Ling Tong said who was getting slightly choked up himself.
Gan Ning nodded and bowed to Ling Tong modestly. Gan Ning watched as Ling Tong quickly hit his heels backwards and spurred the horse home. He was overwhelmed by the courage of his friend for helping him and knew that whatever prayer he had made before had been thrown back in his face by whatever great Creator there was. He must wait, he must be patient, he must be strong... and as Gan Ning eased himself up onto the black steed he knew that he would.

"Ha-ha! You see!" Gan Ning laughed heartily, slamming his hand of cards down on the table, "Best of three."
Zhou Shu and his younger brother Zhou Jin both looked wearily to one another, Zhou Shu shook his head in disbelief, "I just don't understand it. No one is that lucky..." He looked at his brother and smirked, "And I used to believe that Zhou Jin hid tricks up his sleeves."
Gan Ning gave a broad smile; he had always been good at cards even back in the days when he was with Huang Zu's army, "No tricks...No sleeves!" Gan Ning rubbed his bare wrists up to his arms.
His handsome features all the more prominent from his new shaven appearance. The warmer weather began to set in only a few days after Li Jian had left the ship in search of land and although there was still no stiff wind, the discomfort from the condition of his hair and caused Gan Ning to shave it off; which had left him with a very rugged stubble. Although Gan Ning was only in his late twenties, he looked as fresh-faced as he had before his days of Wu, before all the pain and turmoil in his life there had caused him to withdraw into himself. He felt better for it though, almost as if a slight change could make all the difference.

Li Jian had returned by the end of the next week, warmly welcomed by the men as he had brought back plenty of fresh ale and provisions to get them through the next month. Gan Ning admitted that he had been wrong and they had left it at that. Li Jian's pride was too high to accept any semblance of a friendship but he still was part of the crew no doubt.
The nearest land lay only a few miles west of them, Li Jian had spent some time there getting to know the place, scoping for any other pirates in the area who could cause some unwelcome attention. He spoke extensively of a small old inn on the waterfront where he had enjoyed the company of a few 'ladies of the night', the place was never closed and served any passer by whether it be in the dark recesses of night or when the sun was at its highest in the sky. Intermittently the other men would ask inappropriate questions about the various acts of foreplay and the eagerness of the women. The questions became cruder as the wine and ale flowed. Li Jian, rarely one to laugh, thoroughly enjoyed the attention and said he would introduce the men to some of his 'friends' when they arrived there.
Gan Ning rolled his eyes, shaking his head and smirking, "I don't believe those men were ever starving for food..."
The innuendo broke all 3 of the men into riotous laughter as the look upon the pirates' faces across the other side of the room only added to the joke more.

The Zhou brothers, in fact, had been the very early members of Gan Ning's crew. When Gan Ning had finally reached the nearest glimpse of civilisation 5 years ago he had met them down in a small town at the riverside selling fish with their father. Their father had owed a great deal of coinage to a man named Shi Qiang, a very dangerous outlaw who had managed to salvage a living at the expense of others. It was said that you never met Shi Qiang in person only his thugs and his whereabouts were as elusive as his identity. Li Jian had spoken many times of Shi Qiang and claimed to have met him but as much as the men humoured his stories they didn't believe it. Shi Qiang headed a large crew of hellish men, who did what they liked to who they liked with no sense of remorse or reprimand. He apparently owned a black ship with red sails that was full of great stolen treasure from his journeys out into native lands but no one had ever seen this ship or known anyone to have done.
Either way Zhou He, Zhou Shu and Jin's father, was very serious about the man who had this hold over his life and when Gan Ning was taken in by the Zhou family he promised their father, that for his kindness, he would do something about it.
The next time one of Shi Qiang's men turned up to collect payment, Gan Ning and Zhou Shu followed him.

"Quiet!" Gan Ning hushed Zhou Shu as he scrambled down into the hiding space beside him.
Gan Ning had been living with the Zhou family for a little under a month and in that short space of time he had grown to trust them. They were good, honest and hard-working people who had shown him nothing but kindness and understanding when he gave so little in return. Zhou Shu didn't even know Gan Ning's past and he didn't dare to ask; it was clear that Gan Ning had come from a rough background. When he had nearly fallen from his horse that day on the riverbank, the state of which he was in answered any questions that they had about where he had come from. A place not to speak about either because it caused him too much pain or fear, they would never know which.
"Sorry, Kiran" Zhou Shu whispered, craning his neck to peer over the wall.
He could see the nameless man walking down the river deck; this was the man that would visit his father on a weekly basis to collect his debts. Gan Ning had remained reserved about it at first, dressing just as simple townsfolk presenting himself as an employee for Zhou He, he made note of the way that the man spoke, his attitude, his weaknesses, his soft spots. Analysing the prey in every way he could so that when it came to confronting him he knew exactly how to work him.
"Have you never seen where he's gone before?" Gan Ning whispered back.
"No." Zhou Shu mumbled defensively, "Father would never allow us...he couldn't run the risk that we wouldn't come back. Besides if anything happened to me it would be only him and Zhou Jin..."
"Okay okay." Gan Ning taunted in mock defence, "I was only asking..." throwing Zhou Shu a cheeky smile before turning back to look at where the man went.
"He's boarding one of those ships!" Gan Ning murmured excitedly.
"What's so great about that!? We can't get on unseen?"
"He has a ship." Gan Ning wiggled his eyebrows, "It's been a long time since I commandeered one."
Zhou Shu's eyes widen in shock, "You-you were a pirate?"
Gan Ning suddenly realised what he had just said and that dark look of thought came across his face that Zhou Shu hated to see. Almost as if Gan Ning was back whether he had come from.
"Just the son of one" He said vaguely, with a tone that signified the conversation was over. "Come on!" He gestured, scrambling out from behind the wall to run down to the riverbank and with amazing dexterity and without pause for thought he launched himself into the waters and made a slow crawl underneath the decking.
Zhou Shu took a sharp intake of breath to prepare himself and followed suit.

They could hear the man speaking above on the ship deck to one of his crew, clearly someone who feared him greatly due to the hesitant way in which he spoke to him.
"H-How did it go, Jie?"
"The Zhou family are short this week. I may have to start knocking the old man around, what use is it being this easy with them all the time?"
"Shi Qiang has always told us that that is the best way to earn their trust then the surprise of a brutal attack would cause them to be more fearful in future..."
"I know that piss-stain!" Growled the man, who they knew now as Jie, "I think it's better to have that from day one... Total and utter obedience, that way we wouldn't have to stand for short comings!"
"You're right Jie."
"Course I'm right. Now get the sails up we got to get going, Shi Qiang may not threaten common townsfolk but his men cannot be late (!)" Jie sneered, a man who was clearly tired of this 'omniscient' ruler
Gan Ning scanned the ship's exterior quickly trying to find a way to climb aboard. His smile widened as he saw little wooden crevices dipping into the stern. It was very nice craftsmanship but they clearly didn't think of any security breaches. "Come on Zhou Shu." He ordered swimming quickly up to the back of the ship and climbed upwards with great agility that he was almost on the top deck before Zhou Shu had even put his hand into the first crevice.

"NO! " Jie yelled, fisting up his little sidekick by the scruff of his neck and hurtling him into the flagstaff. The smaller much younger man scrambled in his hunched over position desperately trying to shield his face. "I said that the Shen family owed 4 and 50 NOT 4 and 15!"
"I-I'm sorry Jie, you know I thought..."
"Well DON'T; don't think you witless poor excuse for a man. Maybe if you knew you mouth from you arse-crack then you wouldn't still be a babe in swaddling! How am I supposed to take this back to Shi Qiang now? We're going to have to turn the ship back and go and visit the Shen family again aren't we? We're not going to look very hard then will we?"
"Jie, I will take it out of my wage packet, I won't have it all this month. I can fix this I-I can."
Jie stepped back and contemplated the weasel before him. "What use is that? When I can have it all?"
He gestured to one of his other hard-faced men, "Meng Shu, break his legs and throw him overboard."
"NOOOOO!" He cried out petrified, "PLEASE PLEASE JIE! I BEG YOU!"
Meng Shu gathered the young lad up, reaching around behind him to grab his war hammer, his victim squealing like a pig as he tried to kick out of his grasp. Jie watched on in enjoyment as Meng Shu raised the hammer far above his head and –
"So you think that you are so tough that you let one of your lovers kill men for you?" A mocking voice came from above and behind him.
Jie turned around to see a man standing, with his arms folded, up at the upper stern deck. His hair long and held upward by a deep red bandana, his chest bare and covered with tattoos.
"Who in the fu-"
"My name is not important." Gan Ning threw his hand up nonchalantly before hopping down to the deck below, he reached up and over his back to pull his faithful sword. "What is important is that you, and you..." He pointed at Meng Shu who was still in suspended animation, "...just stop what you're doing so that we can have a talk."
Jie stood partly open mouthed, repulsed at the thought that this random person had so casually wandered onto his ship.
"And could you just do me a favourrrr..." Gan Ning hummed picking up the still-shaking victim, "...What's your name, man?"
"Uh-uh..."
"Well Uh-Uh do me a favour and start swimming back to shore." He winked, patted the young lad on the back and chucked him ceremoniously into the sea. Zhou Shu tried to stifle his laughter as he watched from the stern, hidden behind a few ale barrels.
"Now" Gan Ning said very seriously, his tone losing all shred of humour amazingly retreating back into the warrior that he was. "I don't know who this Shi Qiang is and quite frankly it makes no difference to me if I ever do. But I am tired of seeing people I care about threatened and ashamed...it makes me just twitchy..." Gan Ning pretended that he had a discomfort in his neck, rolling his head backwards like squaring up for a fight, he spun his sword in his hand decoratively before catching it perfectly and holding it out in front of him, "...I want this ship. I imagine that you are in command here Jie so it's best I resolve this matter with you..."
"JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU –"
Jie's words were cut dead, by the sound of whipping wind and the sight of spinning metal, as Gan Ning's sword landed directly into his chest. Gan Ning stood, a little flustered with the gusto at which he had thrown the weapon, watching as Jie's head flopped down and crumbled into the deck. The Zhou's money rolled out of his money pouch and into the pool of blood forming around his dead body.
The rest of the men on deck stood absolutely flabbergasted their faces a mixture of shock and relief. Not one of them stood forward to speak, they were just in awe of this man that stepped forward and had ripped the proverbial rug from Jie's feet. It had come to pass, that most of the men hadn't been this demonised army of Shi Qiang as stories had made them out to be most of the men onboard this ship were not of high enough rank to have ever stepped on board 'The Black Ship' and therefore held no real loyalty to a man they had never seen. Jie had tortured and tormented the men, and of those previous, for too long that they were pleased to be rid of him.
These were the men that became part of the Red Dragon Pirates.

Gan Ning almost forgot what secure land felt like when he deposited himself down onto the banks of the town of Koei, the place that Li Jian had been speaking so long about. It took awhile for his internal equilibrium to balance properly to walking on firm ground. It was pitch black by the time the ship had finally moored and the men were eager to spend time away from life at sea.
In the end, all of it made no difference to Gan Ning because he couldn't allow himself to attach himself too freely to anyone or any place. If the last five years since leaving Wu had taught him anything it was to be like this. His return to the seas prevented him from being anywhere for too long and avoided any chance that he may be recognized.
He glanced ahead at as his men as they slowly strode up the bank towards Li Jian's famous Inn, leaving Gan Ning to his devices as he took awhile to take in his surroundings. He took this as just the next part of stepping stones to seeing Shang again, each stone so far had brought him to here safely and he was grateful for it. Gan Ning could almost feel her on the horizon. Next year, Gan Ning told himself, next year I will see her again.
However little did Gan Ning know how much his life was going to change, over the next 5 years, when he stepped into that Inn...