Chapter 15: Setting Sail

The fifth day of the ninth month was a fine and sunny day.

Holding a sachet in her hands, Su Mengling struggled to weave her way through the bustling crowd. The Tide-Watching Pier was packed to the brim with people today, and every step forward required a tremendous amount of effort.

"Zhuo Yun!" Su Mengling finally spotted a familiar figure in the sea of faces and called out loudly.

Zhuo Yun was busy giving instructions to Lan Sheng. Hearing someone call her name, she turned her head and searched through the crowd.

"Sister Zhuo Yun!" Su Mengling popped out from the crowd, offering Zhuo Yun a sweet smile.

"Little Sister Mengling, why are you here?" Zhuo Yun asked in surprise.

"The great army is setting out today, so I came to see Big Brother off and present him with a sachet I embroidered myself. Do you know where he is?" Su Mengling asked, her large eyes blinking.

Zhuo Yun gave a gentle smile, reached out to pat Mengling's forehead, and said, "You silly girl!" She then turned around, pointed toward the rear, and said, "My brother is over there, on the largest ship. Can you see it?"

Following the direction Zhuo Yun pointed, Su Mengling saw her beloved Big Brother standing tall on the majestic warship, commanding the rivers and mountains with grand aspirations.

With a sweet "Thank you" to Zhuo Yun, she quickly ran toward the large vessel.

"Big Brother!" A soft and melodious voice rang out from behind. Zhuo Hua stopped his conversation with the Star Lords and turned toward the sound.

"Big Brother, why didn't you call me when you set out today?" Su Mengling looked at Zhuo Hua with stars in her eyes, feeling somewhat aggrieved.

Realizing it was her, Zhuo Hua waved his hand at the people around him, signaling them to withdraw for the moment. The surrounding Star Lords nodded, bowed, and stepped back.

"The Tide-Watching Pier is utter chaos today, and it is rather inconvenient for a young lady like you to be here. That is why I did not inform you, Mengling."

"It's fine! I know Big Brother is busy with state affairs every day and has no time to visit me, so I embroidered this while waiting for you. Today, as you set out on your campaign, I made a special trip to bring it to you."

Su Mengling brought her hands out from behind her back, presenting a pale yellow sachet to Zhuo Hua.

Embroidered on the pale yellow satin of the sachet was a mighty three-legged golden crow, accompanied by a graceful character meaning "smoke". The back of the sachet was inscribed with two lines of verse: *My lord cared naught for mountain foot's breeze, yet lofty pride stirred torrents with ease.*

Zhuo Hua inhaled gently, and a subtle, refined fragrance drifted into his nostrils. Instantly, his mood lifted, and the vexation that had plagued him for days was swept away.

"It is millennial dragon saliva incense. My father acquired it from eastern sea merchants during his trading expeditions years ago. I have kept it with me ever since, and today I am giving it to Big Brother along with this sachet." Su Mengling beamed with joy, holding the sachet high up near Zhuo Hua's nose.

"Dragon saliva incense is worth more than ten thousand gold; how could you bear to give it to me?" Zhuo Hua reached out, took the sachet, and brought it to his nose to inhale repeatedly.

"Although the dragon saliva incense is precious, if it can trade for a single night of sound sleep for Big Brother, then it is well worth the price." Seeing that Zhuo Hua had accepted the sachet, Su Mengling was overflowing with happiness, her brows and eyes radiating delight.

"How did you know I suffer from insomnia?" Zhuo Hua asked with a smile, holding the sachet in his palm.

Su Mengling lifted her chin triumphantly and said, "One day when I went to play at Sister Zhuo Yun's place, I saw her brewing a soothing broth and asked who it was for."

"So Little Fish told you she was brewing it because I couldn't sleep lately, and that's how you found out, is that it?"

Su Mengling chuckled, stuck out her tongue, and said, "That's right! When I was little, my father told me that sachets made with dragon saliva incense are the best remedy for sleeplessness. I was curious at the time why such a vast Cloud Palace couldn't find even a scrap of dragon saliva incense."

Zhuo Hua sniffed the sachet once more, tucked it into his robes with a satisfied expression, and said, "It is not that the Cloud Palace lacks it. In the past, the Lin Dragon Clan paid tribute every year, but ever since the great upheaval in the Dragon Palace and Lin Bai's succession as the new patriarch, I waived their annual tribute for the past few years. Moreover, the reserves in the Cloud Palace treasury were exhausted two months ago."

Su Mengling smiled with amusement. "Does that mean my piece of dragon saliva incense is a unique treasure in the entire Cloud Palace?"

Zhuo Hua laughed. "Of course it is a treasure. Fragrance of this size and quality is rarely seen even among the dragon clan's annual tributes."

"Since I gave you a treasure, shouldn't Big Brother give me one in return? A gentleman says: courtesy demands reciprocity." Su Mengling looked at Zhuo Hua with a crafty gaze.

Zhuo Hua pondered for a moment, drew a delicate snuff bottle from his sleeve, and handed it to Su Mengling.

Su Mengling took it. Engraved upon the finger-sized snuff bottle was a magnificent and wondrous landscape, depicting towering mountain peaks, endlessly flowing rivers, and a boundless ocean.

"Is this the scenery of the Cloud-Top Heavenly Palace?" Su Mengling asked, looking up at Zhuo Hua.

"No, though it looks very much like it. What is painted here is the wondrous scenery within the Mysterious Yellow Void," Zhuo Hua answered with a smile.

"You gave me a personal item you have carried with you since childhood, so naturally I must return the favor with a personal item I have carried since childhood as well." Pointing at the snuff bottle in her hand, Zhuo Hua said, "I grabbed this snuff bottle from a pile of items during my *zhoulu* ceremony, and I have kept it with me ever since. I can no longer remember how many years have passed. Now, I give it to you."

Overjoyed, Su Mengling quickly put the snuff bottle away and praised, "Big Brother is truly a supreme genius, knowing even at such a tender age that one must hold the realm in the palm of one's hand!"

Looking at the bustling crowd on the pier, Su Mengling let out a long sigh.

"Why are you sighing so deeply at such a young age?" Zhuo Hua asked with a smile.

"Seeing those loved ones saying their farewells on the pier, and thinking that Mengling will be parted from Big Brother for so long, my heart aches." With that, Su Mengling lowered her head, and tears fell uncontrollably.

"It will not be for very long. I shall return in two or three months," Zhuo Hua comforted her.

"But!" Su Mengling lifted her tear-stained face and said mournfully, "For Big Brother, it may be two or three months, but for Mengling, it will feel as long as ten or twenty years."

Seeing her cry so bitterly, Zhuo Hua stepped forward, patted her back, and said, "Then I will hurry back as soon as possible, without a moment's delay."

With tears shimmering in her eyes, Su Mengling pleaded, "Big Brother, can you truly not take Mengling with you? Mengling promises to be very well-behaved and swears not to wander around. Big Brother, please take me with you."

Zhuo Hua shook his head with a smile. "I truly cannot agree to this. This campaign's journey is fraught with peril, and all sorts of unforeseen accidents may occur. Stay safely in the Cloud-Top Heavenly Palace and wait for my return; I will bring you delicious treats."

Stamping her foot in anger, Su Mengling slapped Zhuo Hua's hand away and said, "I don't want treats! Stop always treating me like a child."

With that, she bowed to Zhuo Hua and hurried away.

Zhuo Hua stood in place, somewhat dazed. After a moment, he shook his head, refusing to untangle this messy knot of threads any further.

A long blast of a horn echoed through the air. The dragon-tooth giant ships and bull-ox warships in the fleet pulled their sea anchors up from the ocean floor, and sturdy sailors hoisted the towering sails to their highest positions.

A signalman ran up to Lin Bai, dropped to one knee, cupped his fists, and reported, "Reporting to the Palace Master, the fleet has fully weighed anchor and is ready to leave port."

Lin Bai gave a hum of acknowledgment and told the signalman, "Send the signal to the port; grant permission to set sail."

"Understood!" The soldier scurried back up the towering signal platform, unhooked two flags—one red and one yellow—from his back, and began waving them in a rhythmic pattern.

Before long, a signal platform at the far end of the port returned the flag signal.

Simultaneously, the flagman on the lead dragon-tooth giant ship of the fleet hoisted three resounding sets of signals: *Golden Crow! Golden Crow! Golden Crow!*

This was the battle song of the Mysterious Yellow army, proclaiming invincibility and the conquest of all obstacles.

A dozen massive vessels hoisted their sails in succession and slowly passed through the strait outside the port. After sailing southward for a brief moment, the leading flagship suddenly made a right-angle turn and headed straight toward the east.

Lan Sheng stood on the bridge, the sea breeze blowing against his face bringing him a sense of delight.

"Your Excellency, how long will our ship sail on the ocean?" Lan Sheng asked.

"Half an hour," Zhuo Hua replied.

"Half an hour? Meaning we're almost at the end?" Lan Sheng asked in disbelief. "And then?"

"Then we will pass through the barrier and arrive at the Eastern Ying Continent," Zhuo Hua answered calmly.

"What? The Eastern Ying Continent? Doesn't our Void have only four great continents? Where did the Eastern Ying Continent come from?"

"Ahem! Ahem!" Zhuo Hua coughed lightly. "There is indeed a great continent to the east of the ancient mainland, known as the Eastern Ying Continent. This continent is vast in territory, comparable to the Western Qi Continent."

"Then why can't it be seen now? Where is it?" Lan Sheng asked eagerly.

"Right beneath your feet," Zhuo Hua said, pointing toward the bottom of the ship.

At that very moment, what seemed like a transparent wall slowly approached the dragon-tooth giant ship, and the colossal vessel passed through the transparent wall without a scratch.

Simultaneously, the enormous sails on all the ships were lowered horizontally—one on each side—flapping up and down as if beating their wings in preparation for flight.

"Return to the cabin! Once we pass the barrier, there will be no air left," Zhuo Hua said, turning to walk back inside.

At that moment, Lan Sheng's mind could no longer keep up, for he saw that the surging waves beneath the ship had now plummeted like a giant waterfall, and the ocean beneath his feet had transformed into a bottomless abyss. Most of the ship had already lifted into the air, flying through this pitch-black space.

*Is this already the Void?* A massive question mark flashed through Lan Sheng's mind.

By this time, he finally felt a suffocating tightness in his chest; there was not the slightest trace of air left here, making it impossible to breathe.

Panicked, Lan Sheng ran back to the bridge, gasping heavily the moment he crossed the threshold.

"The Eastern Ying Continent... where did the Eastern Ying Continent go?" Lan Sheng shouted between heavy gasps.