In three days, Meng Jianqing didn’t encounter a single ship.
This wasn’t the season for ships to go to sea.
On the fourth day, the vast, boundless Black Water Channel appeared ahead.
The Black Water Current flowed from the southeast, vast and surging, heading northwest.
In the morning light, he spotted a ship sailing in the Black Water Channel far ahead.
Meng Jianqing returned to the cabin, first broke open the oil vats and let the clear oil flow throughout the hold, then returned to the cabin roof.
If this ship proved hostile rather than friendly, he still had enough time to break the wine vats and ignite the entire vessel.
As the ship drew closer, Meng Jianqing suddenly realized it wasn’t heading to Japan but was merely following the current across the Black Water Channel toward the northeastern coast.
He leaped down and ran to the bow, using fragments of the ship’s rudder to light a fire, adding several pieces of wet cloth to send smoke straight up into the sky.
He hoped that the ship would understand his meaning.
The sea vessel indeed understood the smoke was a distress signal, increased speed, and finally intercepted him before his ship drifted into the Black Water Channel.
The young man standing proudly at the bow with an imposing appearance was greatly surprised to see Meng Jianqing in Imperial Guard uniform, yet showed none of the awe or wariness common people typically displayed. He called out loudly, “Official, what happened to your ship?”
Meng Jianqing answered with a question, “May I ask who you are? Where do you come from and where are you going?”
The young man replied, “We’re islanders from the sea, coming from Southeast Asia, heading to Yingtian!”
With strong northwest winds, this wasn’t the season for Southeast Asian vessels to sail north.
After brief consideration, Meng Jianqing said, “Coming from Southeast Asia, you must have passed Guangzhou and Quanzhou. Do you have transit documents from those Maritime Trade Bureaus?”
The young man smiled, “In this deep winter, with such strong north winds near the coast, how would we dare approach shore rashly? We’ve sailed the outer seas the entire way without entering ports—where would we get documents? Besides, if we hadn’t been sailing the outer seas, we wouldn’t have encountered you!”
His words carried hidden barbs with an implicit warning.
As they spoke, Meng Jianqing carefully observed their vessel. The sails rotated freely around the mast, apparently able to catch wind from eight directions. Through small windows in the hold, long oars extended, rising and falling with perfect uniformity, not like human operation. No wonder they could sail against the wind this season.
Whether ship or crew, they weren’t what ordinary families could possess.
If the other party was hostile rather than friendly—
As Meng Jianqing assessed them, they were assessing him. The northwest wind carried the smell of clear oil from Meng Jianqing’s ship. If this Imperial Guard had ulterior motives and intended arson, he could very likely burn their ship—
He tilted his head slightly toward the cabin, “Jiao’er, subdue this Imperial Guard first.”
A young woman in the cabin responded softly.
Meng Jianqing had grown alert when he saw the head tilt, but was still startled when a white silk ribbon suddenly danced out from the cabin like a giant python. The white silk flew across the air, followed by a white-robed woman. Meng Jianqing quickly rolled and leaped down from the cabin roof. The white silk whistled over the cabin roof, then like a shadow swept toward Meng Jianqing on deck.
Not wanting to entangle with his opponent, Meng Jianqing rolled close to the ground into the ship’s cabin, kicked and shattered a wine vat with his flying leg, spun and kicked back to break another wine vat.
The entire cabin roof was simultaneously swept away by the white silk. Meng Jianqing lunged forward urgently. The white silk swept past his back, its remaining force still causing waves of pain. But he had used the lunge to deliver an elbow strike that smashed the third wine vat, then burst through the wall to land on the stern deck.
The white silk followed closely. Meng Jianqing pressed close and swung his blade, feeling the silk wind cause stinging pain in his arm, while his blade edge nearly cut through the white silk. The white-robed woman exclaimed, “Eh!” and the white silk snaked backward, paused briefly, then suddenly shot out. Meng Jianqing’s left hand whipped out his long rope, entangling with the white silk. His right hand sheathed the short blade and quickly drew out the fire folder he carried, shook it in the wind until it blazed, then threw it toward the three broken wine vats.
An arrow suddenly shot from the opposite ship, precisely severing the burning end and extinguishing the sparks.
Meng Jianqing was startled and blurted out, “Instructor Kong!”
Instructor Kong had shown off this archery skill during leisure time.
But if Instructor Kong was on the opposite ship, this trouble was even greater. When Instructor Kong drew his bow, his arrows never missed.
Two more arrows followed, aimed at both his arms.
Meng Jianqing immediately released the rope, gripped his blade with both hands, and angled his body to block the arrows. The left arrow grazed his arm as it flew past, completely tearing his clothes and leaving the scratch burning like fire. The right arrow was blocked by his short blade—amid ringing sounds, the hundred-forged precious blade he’d brought from Jiangwu Hall trembled as if about to shatter. Meng Jianqing retreated urgently to dissipate the arrow’s force, letting it slide along the blade.
The white-robed woman’s skirt swirled as her white silk whipped back, striking the fourth and fifth arrows mid-air. The two long arrows’ directions shifted slightly, whistling past Meng Jianqing’s left and right sides.
Fortunately, Meng Jianqing’s cry prevented a sixth and seventh arrow.
On the opposite ship, standing at the watchtower railing, observing him, was indeed Kong Xuan, Instructor Kong!
After several years, Instructor Kong still had that peachy-eyed, fragrant appearance. Meng Jianqing felt especially warm, steadied himself, and called out loudly, “Jiangwu Hall Third Class student Meng Jianqing greets Instructor Kong!”
Instructor Kong finally recognized him and laughed heartily, “You little rascal, you’ve made progress—dodging my five arrows!”
The white-robed woman leaped back to her ship first, standing beside the young man. When Meng Jianqing saw her face clearly, he couldn’t help but be secretly startled. In the morning light, that woman’s appearance was truly as dazzling as sunlight itself.
The young man had been observing him. Seeing his momentary confusion followed by immediate return of attention to Instructor Kong, he nodded secretly, thinking that without this instant of admiration upon first sight, this person would be too unfeeling and unfathomable. Yet turning his gaze away so decisively without lingering was also rare.
Instructor Kong leaped down from the watchtower, but Meng Jianqing only walked to his own ship’s bow before stopping, bowing respectfully and saying, “Please forgive me, Instructor Kong. This student has official duties and cannot conveniently board your ship to pay respects.”
Instructor Kong laughed and cursed, “Little bastard, you’re guarding against me, and I have to guard against you too! Even if you wanted to come over, I couldn’t let you! I’ll send some men to your side to repair your rudder and sails, then you can go your way!”
Meng Jianqing knew he was deliberately provoking him, so he stood with his hands clasped without responding, quickly recalling everything about Instructor Kong. But he suddenly discovered that the backgrounds and origins of all Jiangwu Hall instructors seemed beyond the Imperial Guard’s authority to investigate or preserve. Qin Youming’s database contained only commonly known information about this area, unremarkable, that was why he couldn’t paint a true picture of Instructor Kong.
Though Instructor Kong laughed and cursed, he didn’t delay any essential tasks. He sent four sailors over who cut away a large section of the deck to make a new rudder and replaced his sail. These four sailors remained on his ship to operate it, following behind Instructor Kong’s vessel—Instructor Kong was also guarding against him setting fires again, sailing north. The four sailors only ate and slept on deck, never approaching the cabin to avoid mutual misunderstandings.
The young man called himself Yun Yanran, and the white-robed woman was his sister Yun Yanjiao. Beyond this, they didn’t discuss family background or origins. With mutual reservations on both sides, they truly treated each other with respect throughout the journey.
Outside Hangzhou Bay, Instructor Kong temporarily stopped his ship, waiting for the four sailors to deliver Meng Jianqing’s ship to Hangzhou before returning in a small boat, then set sail and departed.
The Hangzhou Regional Military Commission received word and immediately dispatched troops to meet them. Hu Jinyong and Yan Fuping were first to leap aboard, embracing Meng Jianqing on both sides with smiles, “Good fellow, gone so many days—if you hadn’t returned, your two subordinates were about to slit their throats and apologize to your Commander Shen!”
Setting foot on land again, Meng Jianqing’s heart was filled with countless emotions.
Looking back at that damaged sea vessel, his heart was filled with infinite vastness and melancholy.