Chapter 3: Prologue (2): Heated Argument
Zhan Dongyue’s dark eyes filled with rage as he stood his ground, crossing his arms across his chest in anger. It was unusual for the usually calm young master to be angry. Had he been born into one of those lower-class families, he would be considered an unfilial son to be lashing out at his parents.
He repeated, “I said, Xiao Tian is my friend, and he is coming with me!”
His father turned a deaf ear on him, ignoring him as usual. Dongyue understood Zhan Yihai too well. He looked down on the poor, forgetting that he was once poor. But Xiao Tian, the man he had saved from the shore the other day, was unnecessarily poor. He just had amnesia!
Xiao Tian had been a name Dongyue had chosen for this man who he saw as a brother because the sky (Tian in Chinese) was clear and bright when he had seen him that afternoon. Hence, he was called ‘Little Sky’. The man was shaking when he brought him to the Zhans’ mansion, and his mother had permitted it, leaving his father no choice but to agree.
But for the initial few weeks, after he had shown some recovery following the healing sessions by the Miracle Healer, he slaved like a servant. The head servant, Yihai’s steward Chang Yihong, turned out to be a big bully, and when Dongyue found out the torment his friend was subjected to, he moved Xiao Tian into his chambers to share his personal space with him. Nobody was allowed to touch or order Xiao Tian again.
This time, Dongyue had a plan. It was his greatest wish to become an explorer, and he loved reading books on historical places and geography. He resolved that he should set out and bring glory to the Zhans by being the first in the family to go on a dangerous expedition to the city of Sanggui through the seas of Puying, largely mentioned to be filled with perils.
But Dongyue was not stupid or digging his own grave! Though he was cloistered away from the rest of the world, he read everything in books, those which could be beneficial or even detrimental. He knew how to do things that he had not experienced in real life and lacked hands-on experience. He predicted that the weather should not be in its worst state during this month. He studied the seafarers’ charts and determined the safest route he would take!
Hopefully, now that he was already an adult, his father would never lock him up again or call him an abomination! After the incident with Qimeng when he was eight, Dongyue had heard his father speak to his mother behind closed doors, calling him an abomination.
He coped with his loneliness by painting and dreaming. Even his mother, who would come to see him from time to time, was not invested in his paintings, which he had placed much effort in their creation. Gradually, the figure in his paintings took on a unique form - a young woman! Her facial features were extremely well-defined; she had large round eyes and a slim waist. Since he liked his mother to wear pink, the beauty in his art had also been wearing a pink garment.
Dongyue had seen the young woman in his dreams more than once, but he realised that she should be a figment of his imagination. As an explorer who loved studying warfarers’ charts and conducting geographical analyses on the lands of Yilong, he longed to venture out of the city. Following his rage when his parents belittled his good friend, his soft-hearted mother attempted to assuage him and convince them to stay, but his father said not a word.
“I will bring glory to the Zhan family,” was the last he said before walking away in the silence, taking his friend and loading his bags with the merchandise that he would bring with him to the city of Sanggui. He had firmly decided to take on the Zhans’ business as a trader, fearlessly riding out with his trading vessel to brave the risky waters of the seas of Puying.
Sightings of pirates were uncommon, but few had made it back alive. It was a one-way ticket to hell, but the obstinate Dongyue was confident he would be able to make a difference. As the man cursed with the horoscope of the Doom Star, he believed himself to have a very resilient destiny. He was unlike any other, and what others could not do, he strived to do.
But the night before the phenomenon, he had a strange dream.
A woman, with eyes glittering like stars, and appeared as beautiful as the night. She had a slim waist and a petite figure. But when he came closer to her, he could not make out her appearance enough. She walked gracefully and confidently, as if not giving a care about the world.
In his dream, she was his goddess. But he knew very well, that a person with a curse like him, would probably never live to find true love. The worst case was that he would afflict the person who loved him if she was not strong enough to take the brutality of his cursed horoscope. He couldn’t allow anyone to perish because of him.
Twenty years ago, the patriotic citizens of the city of Yilong were in grief when the ruler, King Huaxia’s elderly mother and young wife passed due to famine. Significantly weakened, the king ordered the citizens to mourn his loss. Dongyue, who was conceived earlier, was born a few months before the mourning period ended. For this reason, he was estranged from his father, and even his mother also feared him, though she cared for her flesh and blood.
Psychics predicted that he had the horoscope of the ‘Doom Star’, and thus cursed. Unintentionally, he would afflict others with his curse and bring adversity to the Zhans’ family business. He was a bane to many, but the kindest soul ever in Yilong.
The psychics had also ruled that he was not to have any contact with any female member apart from his mother, or any servant in the household since it would aggravate their condition and cause their lifespans to shorten.
Ultimately, those who saw him shunned him like a disease, because of his appearance. He had charming, benevolent eyes and a distinguished look about him, but it was his hair that was the problem. He was born with silvery hair, which was just as pale as his skin! Nobody understood why he had such a hair colour that made him stand out from everyone. Some saw him as a demon, and many were uncomfortable in his presence.
So along with his friend Xiao Tian, and another man who sold himself in the marketplace as a servant, Ya Xing, who also had prior experiences working on a ship, he was determined to set sail the next morning. Eventually, his mother gave up on swaying him from his plan, and with a last hug, she escorted him to the jetty and bid him a long goodbye.
He knelt and tapped his head on the ground thrice, which in culture indicated he was going to leave for a long time, and hence he wanted her to take care of herself.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone