After listening to Cheng Xiao chatter for most of an hour, Qing Xia maintained a gentle smile throughout. The feeling of seeing an old friend was truly wonderful. During these years beyond the pass, even the chance of seeing Han people was slim, let alone familiar faces.

After talking for a long while, Cheng Xiao finally stopped, saying embarrassedly: “Don’t blame me for being so talkative. It’s just been far too long since I’ve seen you. You heartless thing, you don’t even know to send letters back regularly, making me worry.”

Qing Xia smiled and said: “Beyond the pass, one often goes months without seeing a single soul. Where would I send letters from?”

“Ah!” Cheng Xiao sighed and said: “You, a woman traveling alone across such vast distances – how dangerous! Listen to me, now that you’re back this time, don’t go out again. Stay here with me and wait properly. If Young Master Qin finishes his business, he will surely return. Look at yourself – you even have wrinkles at the corners of your eyes now. You’re not young anymore, yet you still want to run around like this?”

Qing Xia shook her head with a smile and said: “Cheng Xiao, I came today to bid you farewell.”

“What? You’re leaving again?”

“Yes,” Qing Xia nodded and said: “This time, I might not return very quickly. If he comes back, give this to him.”

A thick envelope was placed in Cheng Xiao’s hands. The round-bellied woman’s eyes suddenly became moist, and she said reluctantly: “Where are you going to suffer this time? Can’t you just rest for a while? With this aimless searching of yours, can you really find him?”

“Perhaps it’s very difficult,” Qing Xia suddenly smiled brilliantly, lifting her head. Sunlight fell on her face with an otherworldly kind of ethereal beauty. “But going everywhere to look around, there will always be a glimmer of hope. More and more people will know I’m looking for him, and sooner or later he’ll hear the news. Then, perhaps he won’t have the heart to stay away and will come back to see me.”

“Cheng Xiao, thank you. I must go now. Take good care of yourself.”

With that, Qing Xia stood up, put on her wind hood, and her wide cloak wrapped her entire body within it. Her milk-white linen robe made her petite frame appear even more slender. Cheng Xiao couldn’t help but ask: “At least tell me where you’re going. Are you going beyond the pass again? Haven’t you already traveled everywhere there?”

Qing Xia shook her head. A face veil covered her face, revealing only a pair of brilliant eyes.

“I’m going to sea. I may travel very far, but I will always return. This place, after all, is my home.”

The woman smiled radiantly, turned and left, passing through the noisy main hall. Her white-clad figure appeared so ordinary that she vanished into the bustling crowd in the blink of an eye.

Qing Xia rode for more than half a month before reaching the trading port of Cihai City in Eastern Qi.

Hai City was the capital of Eastern Qi, but this was the most prosperous and wealthy place in Eastern Qi, called Cihai City by the Eastern Qi people. Even though Eastern Qi princes were now in rebellion with various political powers standing side by side, it still didn’t diminish the prosperity here.

Four years ago, Penglai Immortal Valley had already opened a secret passage, and Zhu Yuanqing had led a group of loyal and reliable Penglai disciples out of the valley. Although the Qingpeng Seven Tribes nominally acknowledged Qing Xia as their master, currently it seemed only the Penglai Engineering Department truly followed Qing Xia’s name. The other departments, after thousands of years of worldly experience, had mostly developed divided loyalties, secretly allying with and submitting to the powerful. For instance, the Southern Border Wuxian Poison Department had split in two, belonging respectively to Eastern Qi and Southern Chu. This was only what was visible on the surface – what remained unknown was countless times more.

Qing Xia had no ambitions for the world and didn’t mind this. Zhu Yuanqing was alert and far-sighted, naturally understanding the reasons behind this, so he didn’t force matters either. He just quietly and dutifully managed his own forces on the mainland. After all, Penglai had lived underground for many years. Even though they possessed some advanced technology, it was very difficult to become a regional power. Without hundreds of years of accumulation, it would be very hard to have the ability to compete with various nobles.

Upon reaching the port, Penglai disciples had been waiting for a long time. When Qing Xia left three years ago, she had asked Zhu Yuanqing to build her a large ship suitable for ocean voyages. Now, not only was the great ship completed, but Qing Xia also obtained a nautical chart from the Penglai disciples. Seeing this chart, Qing Xia became even more certain that the so-called Liang Si was indeed someone from the modern era. Looking at this Zheng He navigation chart that the Ming Dynasty had paid for with countless silver and lives, Qing Xia couldn’t help but chuckle softly. The wonders of worldly affairs were beyond words – who could have imagined that one day she would use Zheng He’s navigation chart to cross the oceans before Zheng He himself?

Then came recruiting sailors, which was more troublesome. Qing Xia found it very difficult to find professional sailors willing to go so far away for many years without returning home. However, there were some idle young masters from wealthy families in Hai City who, hearing about this great ship going to sea for exploration, were all frantically eager to board this ship called Siyuan to see the world.

Qing Xia thus stayed in Hai City for more than half a month. During this half month, Eastern Qi’s civil war had become increasingly fierce. It was heard that the Ji’nan King Qi Yu and Taiping King Qi Yan had joined forces and instigated spies in the capital to rebel, forcing Crown Prince Qi’an, who was stationed in the capital, into complete chaos. The great army had charged into Hai City, and Qi’an had been retreating all the way, already heading toward Cihai City.

Qing Xia frowned slightly upon hearing this. Having experienced all those past events with Chu Li and Qin Zhiyan, she found it very difficult to believe everything she saw with her eyes anymore. Moreover, Qi’an was low-key but meticulous in his thinking – he absolutely wouldn’t suffer such a miserable defeat. Compared to other Hai City people’s panic, Qing Xia, who had been publicly acknowledged as his sister by Qi’an in the Taihe Great Hall of Northern Qin that day, showed no major emotional fluctuations. Besides, even if he really had problems, it wasn’t something she could prevent. Victory and defeat had always been thus – she needn’t worry unnecessarily.

Just when the flames of war reached Cihai City directly, the heavens, which had been blind for many years, suddenly opened their eyes. When Qing Xia was recruiting people at the wharf that morning, she suddenly encountered the four Western missionaries she had met on the streets of Pengyang five years ago.

It turned out these fellows had completely failed in their missionary work in China. After several years of travel, they hadn’t developed a single believer, and their lives were extremely impoverished. So they conceived the idea of returning to God’s side and wanted to board a ship back to their homeland.

Unfortunately, fate didn’t comply with their wishes. During their years in China, to make a living, these men had sold almost everything they owned. If their clothes weren’t already too tattered, these fellows might have long since sold their last pair of underwear for noodles. Thus, these men without a penny to their names wanted to secretly sneak onto outbound cargo ships, but were discovered by ship owners and chased off. Just when a group of burly sailors were about to give the men a beating, Qing Xia appeared out of nowhere and took them away, thus gaining these most experienced and enthusiastic free laborers who required no wages.

Early the next morning, the great ship Siyuan with one captain, four helmsmen, and more than thirty sailors finally set sail amid the rumbling sounds of warfare at the city gates, raising its sails to voyage toward the vast and boundless sea.

Ji’nan King Qi Yu, dressed in golden robes, walked proudly through the streets of Cihai City, feeling unusually happy and pleased. All his life he had been suppressed by his elder brother, and his father had never taken him seriously. Now he had finally waited for the old thing to die, and with external help had defeated his big brother – how could he not feel elated?

Just as he was full of joy, a young man in dark blue robes and Southern Chu hat suddenly rode forward and said in a deep voice: “Ji’nan King, you must keep what our Great Emperor instructed firmly in mind.”

The low words immediately fell like a basin of cold water poured over Qi Yu’s head. He quickly said submissively: “Yes, yes, I will certainly remember and not forget in the slightest.”

“That’s good,” Xu Quan nodded and said: “Since that’s the case, I won’t hinder the Ji’nan King from taking control of Cihai City and becoming Eastern Qi’s new master.”

Qi Yu smiled and said: “Minister Xu, please go ahead. Cihai City’s prosperity is no less than that of Hai City, the imperial capital. Minister Xu might as well visit our Hai City Quarter and taste the charm of our Eastern Qi women.”

“Thank you for Your Highness’s kind intention. Xu naturally cannot let himself come here for nothing.”

The two men smiled knowingly, but hidden within those smiles were so many unknown storms.

As soon as he left the main street, Xu Quan’s smiling face turned grim. He looked left and right, then ducked into a sedan chair carried by his subordinates. In a short while, he had changed into splendid robes and swaggered out with a group of subordinates toward Hai City Quarter.

The surroundings gradually became quiet. Not long after, a long-bearded man who bore only three parts resemblance to Xu Quan was seen walking out of the sedan chair with his head lowered, wearing ordinary commoner’s clothes. He disappeared around the corner in a flash, then vanished into the noisy crowd.

At the wharf of Hai City port, the long-bearded man nonchalantly walked into a small boat dock. Soon the small boat was drifting and rowing along, with fishermen leisurely casting nets at the bow, looking like typical fishing folk.

The small boat traveled for a while before finally stopping at a somewhat secluded bay. Several net-casting fishermen immediately looked around in all directions – their posture and movements, where was there any resemblance to ordinary fishing folk?

A man in black robes slowly walked out from the boat dock. His eyes were like a frozen mirror lake, faintly containing sharp edges that were restrained but not revealed. His entire bearing was reserved, yet one could still see the severity and decisiveness of someone who frequently held high positions. With sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, handsome and jade-like – he was unmistakably the Southern Chu Great Emperor who had devoured territories in all directions and held half the world’s military forces in his hands: Chu Li!

The disguised Xu Quan stepped forward respectfully and said: “Your Majesty, everything was as you predicted. Qi Yu indeed fell for it. Compared to his brother, he truly falls far short.”

Five years of tempering had transformed Chu Li from the formerly sharp-edged, decisive, and proudly aloof ruler. Now he was more like an emperor who held sway over the world, with everything under his control, calm and composed. His voice low and deep, he slowly said: “Qi’an can also be considered a person of note, but unfortunately his womanly kindness and loss of fortune ultimately made it difficult for him to support Eastern Qi’s pillars.”