Gold Tiger King - Ch. 1

Journey of the Tiger Cub

Rated E10+ Ten and Up

It is said that long ago, during the early years of the Sui dynasty, a young Chinese adventurer sought to discover the secrets of the world. He travelled across the land and beyond, finding himself on an island that would eventually be known as Taiwan. In the year 595, the young adventurer fell in love with a Yingpu woman from a village of red pottery. Their child was born on the twenty-first of May, 597. Dīng sì, the year of the snake.

“He will be as strong as a tree,” the boy’s mother would say, “With leaves that never pale.”

Together, the young adventurer and his wife decided on the name 豔樹, pronounced Yen-shu.

Yen-shu’s parents loved him very much, and the village cared for him as well. Together, Yen-shu and his father would go on adventures around the island, meeting new people and discovering the secrets of the world. Sometimes his mother would come along, but she eventually came to have more and more responsibilities in the village.

At the turn of the century, Yen-shu and his father returned to their village after a long adventure. Yen-shu’s father saw smoke billowing behind trees and broke into a sprint. Alas, their home was ablaze. A band of pirates had come to raid and pillage. Every one of the village warriors laid dead in pools of blood. Children were being ripped away from their mothers. And standing over the dead body of the Yen-shu’s was the pirate leader: Captain Long.

The pirate captain pulled his sword from her body and looked up to see the young adventurer rushing toward him in anger. Yen-shu watched as his father fought Captain Long and two of his crew. The boy would not remember this, but his father fought valiantly and skillfully. The two pirate goons were no match for his martial prowess. His drive kept him as sharp as their blades, nearly outmatching all three of them. But Captain Long used cheap tricks to defeat the young adventurer.

Yen-shu did not cry as he witnessed his father’s execution. He did not cry as the body fell next to his mother’s corpse. Captain Long picked the boy up by his clothes. Yen-shu watched his family disappear beyond the horizon, and it was then that his cries were heard from the Zhuoshui River to the coasts of the mainland. He was only three.

Yen-shu was the only one of the kidnapped children to survive the first year in Captain Long’s three po fleet. He worked hard and eventually was moved to the captain’s ship. He was trained to fight with the sword and impressed the captain so much that he was made an official part of the crew. Therefore, Yen-shu adopted the surname of Long as was the case with all members of the Water Dragon pirates.

Over the next two years, children who were kidnapped by Long’s crew looked up to Yen-shu and worked hard to earn their own spot as official Water Dragons. At the age of six, Yen-shu began to show his potential for great leadership as the young crewmates came to respect him even more than the captain. Long became paranoid that Yen-shu was going to grow up and stage a mutiny, so he would call him into his quarters once a week to beat him. The captain told him that this was going to make him stronger, and Yen-shu believed him. Because of this, Yen-shu would emerge from his beatings with a smile on his face, however bruised and bloodied.

The younger crewmembers would see this and have even more respect for him. Some of them even offered themselves up to take the beating in Yen-shu’s place. Captain Long saw this and realized that his plans were backfiring. He didn’t want to kill the boy, so he sold Yen-shu into slavery. The night before, Long told Yen-shu in a drunken stupor that he had no regrets.

“You will always be a Water Dragon,” Long grumbled. “You will always be Long Yen-shu. I’m just doing what’s best for the crew.”

#

Word found its way to Wugong about a boy slave on the market that was different from the others. He always held his chin high and didn’t look as weak or depressed as everyone else. Intrigued, the Duke of Wugong sent a trusted emissary to see for himself. It was true. Long Yen-shu, the slave who stood tall. The emissary asked the slavemaster why he hadn’t been bought, and he was met with a startling response.

“He used to sail with pirates,” the slavemaster said. “Maybe he even was a pirate.”

The emissary looked at Yen-shu, and the boy smirked.

After returning to the home of Li Yuan, the Duke of Wugong, the emissary delivered his report in the inner courtyard.

“What of his family?” The duke asked.

“He had none, Gong Ye,” the emissary answered respectfully. “His surname is that of the pirate he served under.”

“But you say he was only six or seven years old.”

“Yes, but a child raised by pirates may cause trouble.”

Yuan scratched his chin and looked up into the leaves of the tree he was sitting under.

“Was he truly special?” Yuan inquired.

“Well,” the emissary stammered. “He certainly seemed very confident, Gong Ye.”

The duke smiled and turned to the emissary with a raised brow.

In the year 604, Yen-shu was sold to the family of Li Yuan. It is here where the forgotten legend of the Gold Tiger King always starts. A tale of pain, growth, and friendship. An adventure of mythical proportions. A story of a boy who becomes a man like no other. His name is Long Yen-shu.

TO BE CONTINUED