Yun Ye stood on the Dadi’s bridge looking at the pitch-black sky outside, his heart filled with desolation. The South Seas climate in August was unpredictable—violent storms arrived in an instant. The massive Dadi before heaven’s might was like a single leaf, one moment pushed by giant waves to the wave crest, the next moment sliding down into a deep valley. All five enormous sail blades had been lowered. At this time, the Dadi could only drift with the current. Fortunately, with the ocean current’s help, the Dadi was still slowly approaching Quanzhou.

Pang Yuhai had an iron bucket hung around his neck and was tied to a pillar, continuously spewing vomit from his mouth. Li Yifu’s face was deathly pale. He wasn’t vomiting—people who grew up by the East Sea were not unfamiliar with life on ships. What he worried about was whether the Dadi could survive such huge wind and waves.

The most composed was actually Yumin, who usually kept a low profile. Someone who could still recite sage writings at this time was no ordinary person. The sailors thought he had gone mad and carefully circled around him, hurrying to their posts.

Pang Yuhai felt that heaven and earth could no longer be distinguished, just like his already muddled brain. The high spirits from the Academy had been blown away without a trace by this storm.

Yan Yuan sighed deeply: “The more I look up at it, the higher it seems; the more I bore into it, the harder it becomes. I see it before me, and suddenly it is behind. The Master skillfully leads people step by step, broadens me with culture, restrains me with ritual propriety—I cannot stop even if I want to. Having exhausted my abilities, something seems to stand towering above me. Though I wish to follow it, there is no way forward. Only then do I know that the wise have no doubts, the benevolent have no worries, and the brave have no fear!”

Li Yifu widened his eyes and asked Yumin: “You recited this passage from the sages incorrectly, right? They’re all from the Zihan Chapter. You can’t randomly blend them together and speak them. One stick here, one pole there—you’re insulting the sage’s writings.”

Yumin walked over to help Pang Yuhai wipe his mouth, then removed the small iron bucket from his neck, poured the vomit into the sewage trough, and staggered over to embrace the pillar, saying to Li Yifu: “I deliberately recited it wrong, just waiting for the Master to become furious. Perhaps the old gentleman will come rescue us.”

Pang Yuhai said with difficulty: “When you enter a temple, worship that temple’s Buddha. We’re on the great sea. Seeking help from the Master is like climbing a tree to catch fish. Now you should pray to the Dragon King of the Sea.”

Yumin cried out with a bitter face: “I’ve already prayed to the Dragon King! The Dragon King was my primary target for prayers. But as soon as I prayed twice, what was originally just violent wind and rain now added thunder and lightning. My heavens! This is the Dragon King’s fury!”

Just as Li Yifu was about to speak, the cabin door was thrown open. The soaking wet Man-Bear charged into the cabin bringing a gust of fresh sea breeze, immediately saying to the three of them: “The Commander orders you three to the bridge. The Participant Officer recording the sea route hit his head. Now you’re needed to go up and continue recording.”

The three who had just been scared to death heard Man-Bear’s words and immediately grabbed their pen pouches to follow Man-Bear, preparing to go to the bridge. Going from the lower cabin up to the deck, they finally understood just how fierce the fierce wind was. Man-Bear fastened safety ropes around all three of their waists before inching step by step toward climbing the bridge. Li Yifu felt his nose was about to be blown flat by the strong wind. His two nostrils became complete decorations, completely unable to breathe. When he tried to speak, briny seawater immediately poured into his mouth and went straight down his throat without any hesitation. Heaven only knows why rainwater would be salty.

They reached the bridge without major incident, their souls still unsettled, and saw Yun Ye standing firmly on the bridge. Heavy rain washed the huge glass in front of him until nothing could be seen.

“Li Yifu, record the heading. Pang Yuhai, record orders. Yumin, you’re responsible for verification.” After Yun Ye issued the orders, he continued looking at the glass window, his two ears constantly moving back and forth. He had already sensed that the storm was moving away.

Having work to do, the three temporarily forgot their fear. The teacher’s appearance at least gave the three some comfort. The creaking sounds the Dadi made also no longer seemed so terrifying.

Liu Renyuan turned back to Yun Ye and said: “Commander, we’ve already left the storm center. The heading now has a slight error. There are clouds in the sky—we can’t use star navigation. The compass can only point direction without error. This subordinate suggests we not make corrections now. Let’s get out of the storm first. We must stay far from the coast. If we accidentally hit a reef, the Dadi will be finished.”

Yun Ye nodded, signaling Liu Renyuan to continue steering. He himself resentfully pounded the platform with one fist. Could it be that the Lingnan Navy truly couldn’t escape calamity this time?

The three students didn’t dare look at the teacher’s reddened eyes. They lowered their heads and hurriedly did their own work. Being on the world’s greatest warship gave them no sense of security—wasn’t this sea excessively terrifying?

Li Yifu saw for the first time the spectacle of lightning striking the sea surface. When silver-snake-like lightning contacted the sea surface, large clusters of fire burst forth. He didn’t dare imagine the scene of lightning striking the Dadi.

“What are you afraid of? The Dadi has lightning rods. Those iron wires reach deep into the sea. If we encounter a lightning strike, as long as you stay in the cabin, the lightning will be conducted into the sea by the iron wires. It won’t hurt you.”

Seeing Li Yifu was somewhat afraid, Yun Ye deliberately offered some explanation to set the three minds at ease. Speaking of which, each had plenty of crafty thoughts, but they were actually all half-grown children. Being able to persist in doing their recordings properly was already quite commendable.

The farther from the storm, the more the Dadi finally calmed down and no longer tossed so violently. When dawn came, countless sailors poured out the cabin doors and began repairing facilities damaged by the storm.

The situation was better than anticipated. The Dadi was unharmed. Several barrels of gunpowder on the ship had been soaked, but the rest was wrapped very tightly. Looking at the coast, this place wasn’t far from Quanzhou, but the sky remained terrifyingly overcast. Clearly another storm was brewing. August was the South Seas’ least suitable month for sailing. Heaven seemed to want to release all demons and monsters in this month to hunt for food, and the food was those drifting on the sea.

Heavy rain in Quanzhou. Cursing the damned weather wasn’t just Yun Ye—High Mountain Yangtze was even more furiously enraged. Each additional day of delay reduced her chances of victory by one measure. Those pirates scattered onto various warships who wanted to set fires found the heavy rain the greatest obstacle. The ship captains wouldn’t allow them to approach the powder magazines, so the only place they could set fire to was the sails.

As long as the sails were destroyed, these warships would become cripples—unable to evade, unable to move, with only the eight-ox crossbows on one side able to engage the enemy. High Mountain Yangtze believed such a Lingnan Navy was not invincible.

At dawn, heaven perhaps heard High Mountain Yangtze’s prayers. The clouds dispersed and rain ceased. A brilliant sun leaped from the sea surface, illuminating the mist and haze over the sea, appearing especially beautiful. After appreciating the beautiful scene for a moment, High Mountain Yangtze ordered: “Prepare gifts. We’re going to visit Great General Lu Chengqing. The time is about right.”

Xiumei sent High Mountain Yangtze onto the small boat, then led a group of maids on the ship flying kites. The golden kites in the sky appeared very conspicuous. The Lingnan Navy soldiers watched those charming maids running back and forth, forcibly swallowing large lumps of saliva. Damn it! Three months on a ship, even a sow would turn into Diao Chan, let alone these absolutely beautiful women dressed very lightly, running around barefoot. Those white tender little feet—just touching them once would be worth having one’s hand chopped off by the Great General.

Lu Chengqing had been very happy these past few days. Hearing that High Mountain Yangtze had prepared generous gifts and was specially coming to visit him, he smiled even more happily. He deliberately sprayed some Yun family’s secret fragrance on himself. It was said to have mysterious effects—a small bottle cost one gold coin. Although Lu Chengqing detested Yun Ye, he never refused good things produced by the Yun family.

High Mountain Yangtze brought nine maids and two guards onto Lu Chengqing’s flagship. Seeing only several women and two thin Wa guards, Lu Chengqing deliberately dismissed his own guards, keeping only twelve of his most loyal household retainers. Romantic scenes weren’t suitable for everyone to witness. He forgot that the most loyal guards weren’t necessarily the most formidable guards.

“Not visiting the Great General until today—Yangtze has been discourteous.” As soon as High Mountain Yangtze saw Lu Chengqing, she bowed gracefully. Her wide collar slightly opened, two jade hills appearing and disappearing, making Lu Chengqing’s heart itch unbearably. But since this was a formal visit, he could only suppress his restless thoughts and receive her according to protocol.

“I wonder what important matter brings the Lady to see this commander? Not to mention that our past cooperation has been very pleasant—now you and I are all one family. Whatever requests you have, speak freely. As long as it’s within this commander’s capabilities, your wishes will certainly be fulfilled.”

“Yangtze first thanks the Great General for his kind intentions. Coming this time, Yangtze has one small request that I hope the Great General will grant. Yangtze led troops here in surrender. The sea route was long and distant. The ships at my side are all dilapidated and worn. Now we still need to travel north along the Yangtze. These ships can no longer bear the load. Yangtze doesn’t dare ask for warships—I only want to request some tung oil from the Great General to refurbish the ships, so Yangtze can ride these broken ships and persist to Chang’an, avoiding the hardship of traveling by land.”

Before High Mountain Yangtze finished speaking, Lu Chengqing burst into loud laughter, pointing at a large warehouse on shore and saying: “I thought it was some request—it’s just tung oil! That warehouse is full of it. There’s also tung oil lime paste. If you need to patch leaks, just send people to take it. Such an inexpensive item—it hardly warrants the Lady coming specially to entreat me.”

High Mountain Yangtze shyly lowered her head. Lu Chengqing looked at the faint yellow down behind High Mountain Yangtze’s ear and couldn’t help but pause, deliberately observing High Mountain Yangtze’s features. His heart immediately began pounding wildly. Damn it! The capital’s rumors said this woman hadn’t been defiled by Yuan Gaesu Wen. Everyone thought it was nonsense. She was already an Empress—how could she maintain her intact virtue?

Now looking at her physiognomy, she was absolutely a virgin who had not experienced intimate relations. Could it be that fortune smiled upon him—he wouldn’t have to wade through someone’s secondhand goods?

His thoughts were filthy, but his hands were very efficient. He quickly wrote the order and handed it to High Mountain Yangtze. As their hands touched in the exchange, Lu Chengqing said meaningfully to High Mountain Yangtze: “Gao Jianwu is being kept as a captive. Yuan Gaesu Wen will also be kept at Anzhou. In the capital, you have your mortal enemy Yun Ye. The Lady should make early arrangements as the best strategy.”