Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 839 - 780: Pirates and Dragons

The ancient house stood on the mountain, three-storied and occupied respectively by seagulls, monkeys, and woodworms. The dilapidated courtyard belonged to the weeds; most of the mottled fences had collapsed, marking the abandoned years of the old house like a timepiece. Whenever the sea breeze blew, the house would groan and whistle, the termite-eaten load-bearing pillars would emit an unpleasant noise, and a few of the green vines that acted as a binder on the outer walls would break.

Seen from the mountain side, it was desolate in the twilight, like a gravely ill old man braving the wind. Despite the ruins, it still retained the dignity of its architecture.

From the sea side, it was finished, a half-decayed zombie. The other side of the wall had completely collapsed, and there was a terrifying crack running from the top to the bottom of the main hall, perfectly bisecting the old house. The main hall, now half-filled with bird droppings, had a skylight left in the kitchen, and the cellar preserved a vast seascape.

After sunset, its ghastly wounds appeared even more hideous; shadows cast by the sunlight and the ancient house became shrouded in dense fog, its gloomy atmosphere resembling a ghostly realm. The briny sea breeze backfilled the interior, and the heavy moisture made the night colder still.

Then they came.

Boots wrapped in seaweed kicked the seagulls; their nests overturned, the frightened birds cried out a few times before flying away. Water dripped onto the rotten planks, and Octopus Face wearing a tricorn hat chuckled at the fleeing seagulls. Turning around, the slime trailing from his coat hem absorbed the stench of excrement completely.

"Lads! Clean up this place fast! Tonight’s a banquet! If it’s not cleaned up before ’he’ arrives, you’ll jump down from here!" The captain pulled out a plank and carelessly tossed it to make a diving board that reached straight to the sea. The old house shuddered, and that diving board plummeted, taking three or four seconds before it splashed into the sea.

"Boss, the piece you tossed, that was a support plank from the roof beam."

Before finishing his sentence, the attic collapsed. Octopus Face Captain and his ghostly minion holding a bucket lock eyes indifferently. Waving his hand, "You just got much less work to do, no problem. You, you, and you, you lot will stay on the roof tonight."

The sailors didn’t seem to mind; they clambered up the third floor along the wall and, clutching soggy cloths, scrubbed the ruins. The whole house was filled with the noise of chaotic footsteps, but not a shadow was seen. Then two scrawny sailors, skin dangling from their bones, appeared at the door with a huge metal box on their backs, bending like crescent moons.

"Boss! The Cursed Coin Box is here, where should we put it?"

"Outside the house! Just drop it anywhere and get two men to guard it!" he screamed louder, "First Mate! First Mate! Where the hell is my precious rum barrel stored?! And the meat! Throw away the fish!! I’m allergic to seafood, but wait, keep the oranges!! Hurry up and find me a damn cook; I’ll make him a pirate captain, Vice Captain!"

As night darkened, the sailors lit torches; it took great effort to ignite the soaked cloth, which accidentally set the curtains ablaze.

The captain nodded in satisfaction. "Good, now it’s bright enough." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The haunted house was now eerily silent except for the hissing of the flames. Ghosts stood in the firelight, gazing into the dark sea.

"He’s here, he’s here! ’He’ has arrived!! Get jumping, lads! The banquet begins!!!" The captain raised his glass and danced a few steps toward the looming huge shadow emerging from the sea. Shouts went up, the ghostly screams intensified along with the rising white ridge lines from the sea. White Dragon flapped its wings, whipping up a storm that rushed towards the mountaintop house, blowing pirates tumbling over, their mouths spewing filthy curses, yet the jubilant mood was undiminished.

Bordelis squatted in the gap of the old house, as if nestled within a gigantic cake. Lowering his head, he saluted the captain, and purifying magic fell from the sky. The hideous ghostly crew and pirates turned into seafood humans again were restored to humanity in this rain, embracing each other excitedly, hungrily savoring the vitality of life.

"I’m alive again?! Haha, I can feel the warmth!! And this damned deliciousness!!"

"Eat! Feast without restraint!! After tonight, you won’t have the ’stomach’ or ’appetite’ anymore!!!"

"Praise the dragon, my heart and treasure!!!"

These undead greedy souls who lost their life to the curse, found themselves living once again in the cleansing realm of the White Dragon, indulging in pleasure and soaking their heads in alcohol.

"Boss! Bob croaked, he drowned in the brandy!!!" the other crew members burst into laughter, fiddling with the body that was beginning to chill.

"Tsk!" The captain, with his cunning face restored, held his own goblet, his left hand adorned with a gold ring and greased with fat, "Do I really need to arrange this? You stupid bumpkin! Throw him into the sea; let him roll off to guard the ship tonight." The souls of the ghostly crew members belong to the ghost ship, and when they leave the White Dragon’s realm, these slick-tongued humans would become undying spirits.

The captain then took a chunk of lamb shank, chewed it fiercely, told a few trashy jokes to the crew, and staggered drunkenly beside Bordelis, winking and making faces.

"Brother, we are a match made in heaven. How about you come to our side? The treatment is negotiable, with you on board; we can become kings of the sea, the greatest pirates!"

Bordelis, holding a big barrel of orange juice mixed with alcohol, a concoction by some muddled fool, rolled his eyes at the pirate captain, thinking: Kings of the sea, a mere breath from Princess would freeze you lot to death.

"No deal, Drake, I have my mission."

Drake outright vomited; apologetically shaking his hand, he wiped his mouth with his soaked sleeve, "Ugh, that nostalgic nausea, take it or leave it! But, Bordelis, I, Drake, acknowledge you as a friend. I will save your life at a critical moment; I guarantee it!"

Bordelis smiled; Drake’s drunken ravings were always amusing, ridiculous yet filled with sincere camaraderie. That’s why White Dragon didn’t detest these ghost pirates; they were bound by the Cursed Coin and the ghost ship, maintaining their humanity amidst the agony of the undead. Bordelis respected these cursed souls and was willing to mingle with them.

"Got some new crew members?"

"Yeah, more greedy fools got their hands on the Gold Coin, and we dragged them back, bolstering the ghost ship’s crew." Drake’s Cursed Coin, an evil treasure passed down through generations in these waters, turned humans who touched it into sensationless undead. This was not out of the will of the pirate captain Drake but because during the long span of plundering, his Gold Coin gained a spirit of its own, becoming evil due to human greed. These coins, would secretly "disappear" when Drake was unaware, tempting those greedy humans.

Bordelis glanced around.

"I don’t see any new faces."

"They’ve got malnutrition, acclimation issues, and scurvy. They can’t attend the feast without proper care, so I’ve arranged experienced sailors to look after those pathetic Woodworms. Maybe they touched the Gold Coin not out of greed." But as humans, they couldn’t survive any longer.

Drake didn’t want to continue on that topic; he once again showed his shameless smile.

"How do you like the ship I gave you? I just seized it, was thinking of setting that stinking dog’s head in the figurehead, but considering you can’t accept a pirate’s ’art’, what a pity."

Bordelis snorted, as Zhang Yi caught a sailor plummeting from the rooftop, tossing him next to Drake.

"Marvelous, I’m considering whether to fit a seawater purifier for my Dragon’s Nest, the deck is as sticky with curses as barnacles in the ship’s hold."

"Hey, I’ve got to keep some personal flair, by the way, I wrote your name in the captain’s cabin, with the powdered brain of the former owner."

"Damn it, you disgusting stinking pirate."