Pan Long had never imagined that lingering to watch out of curiosity would make the wary crew take him for a Greenwood outlaw.
But when he thought over his situation, he couldn't help laughing.
He was alone, with hardly any luggage. He had spent freely, boarded early, and sat at the bow watching other people carry their luggage aboard, nodding as he watched.
Well... If I were a guard on this boat and saw someone acting like that, I'd probably think he was a Greenwood outlaw scouting a target too...
He gave a rueful laugh, thought for a moment, then went to visit the captain.
The captain's surname was Sun, though Pan Long didn't know his given name. Everyone called him "Old Sun," which, at first hearing, sounded a little like the Monkey King.
But this Old Sun was far burlier than the Monkey King. He stood over eight feet tall, with a thick chest, broad shoulders, and arms thicker than an ordinary man's thighs. It was summer, and his light clothing showed off enormous muscles. He looked like one of those men from Pan Long's previous life who trained at a gym specifically to build muscle.
With his dark face, full beard, and voice as loud as a great bell, he could have walked straight out of Romance of the Three Kingdoms as Third Master Zhang. Even in the Northlands, a strapping man like him was rare.
When Pan Long saw him, the captain stood at the stern with his arms folded, gazing into the distance. The Heaven and Earth Essence around him rose and fell like waves, keeping perfect time with the river. With each surge, the essence condensed further. He seemed to be borrowing the power of the waves to compress it completely and draw it into