"It's only several dozen li from here to the royal capital," He Lingchuan said, patting him on the back. "Head on back. Once you've found out what's going on, come find me in the capital."
A-Hao agreed. After taking a dozen steps forward, he could not resist looking back, but there was no longer anyone behind him.
*Are these two outsiders human or ghosts?* But they were certainly generous with their silver.
A-Hao looked down at the silver ingot in his hand. His eyes darted about for a few moments, and he strode quickly toward the alley where he had been beaten earlier.
His partner was still unconscious in the alley, covered by the wicker baskets.
Just as He Lingchuan had said, this man would not wake before tomorrow morning.
A-Hao inspected the scene carefully. There was no sign that the baskets had been moved; clearly, no one had noticed the tall man lying unconscious here.
The sea was only thirty to fifty paces away. A-Hao crept to the mouth of the alley and peered out. It was dead quiet; no one was passing by.
*What a chance.* Turning back into the alley, he drew a dagger from his boot and plunged it straight into the tall man's heart!
The tall man did not even twitch, losing his life in a daze of stupor.
Afraid he might still be alive, A-Hao stabbed the heart twice more, cursing under his breath with every thrust: "You bastard, you're fish food now! That's what you get for crossing Master Hao!"
*Couldn't beat you in a fair fight usually, but think I can't finish you off today?*
He wiped the blood off the blade onto the tall man's clothes, broke off a broken table leg at hand, jammed it into the wound, and twisted it hard several times. Then, dragging and hauling the body several dozen paces, he threw the corpse into the sea.
All the sewage and wastewater from the nearby residents drained into this coastal channel; the foul stench was nauseating, and people rarely came near.
To prevent the corpse from floating up, he even tied a large rock to it.
With a splash, his companion was gone without a trace.
"Stay down there and watch your daddy rise in the world," A-Hao said, dusting off his hands, feeling utterly invigorated.
Over the past six months, the tall man had constantly bullied and extorted money from him. Today, he had finally vented all that pent-up resentment.
At the crack of dawn, A-Hao stopped by a griddle stall and ordered two pan-fried flatbreads stuffed not only with Chinese chives, but also savory preserved mustard greens and rich, fatty pork—so succulent that every bite sizzled with juice.
The stall vendor piled on generous fillings but did not dare charge him. A-Hao grandly shoved three copper coins into his hands: "Take it! Keep the change."
Having eaten and drunk his fill, he went behind an abandoned house, picked up a brick, and struck his own forehead.
He didn't dare hit too hard on the first strike; it stung, but broke no skin. Only with the second strike did blood flow freely, allowing him to clutch his head and head back to the gang.
The moment he saw the gang boss, he broke into tearful lamentations, claiming he had managed with great difficulty to land two fat sheep today and squeeze out thirty taels of silver, only for the tall guy to be blinded by greed, knock him unconscious, and make off with the cash.
The gang boss knew the tall guy's character all too well and believed seventy percent of the tale immediately. He dispatched men to track down the tall man while offering a few words of comfort to A-Hao, tossing him half a plaster of wound medicine before sending him on his way.
"Dawn's breaking! Up, everyone, up!" someone shouted above, clacking a wooden night-watch rattle and making the deck boards creak noisily underfoot. "We're docking! Julu Port is here! Hurry up and disembark!"
*Why are we docking at Julu Port again?* He Lingchuan sat up at the sound, stunned for a few breaths before recalling his mission.
He had been ordered by Zhong Shengguang to retrieve the Bright Lantern Cup from the Shanjin Plain.
That object was of paramount importance to General Red.
And so, here he was again.
"Boss, let's get off the ship!" Hu Min said cheerily beside him, hoisting his pack.
Anyone who had drifted across the open ocean for months on end would be just as desperate to set foot on dry land.
An ocean-going vessel was nothing more than a giant floating cage.
The voyagers on board scrambled down in a frantic rush; only He Lingchuan trailed behind at an unhurried pace.
What was the rush? Only a few days ago, he had stepped onto the docks right here.
Both times, disembarking at Julu Port; both times, seeking the Bright Lantern Cup.
The Panlong World and reality had almost converged.
By the time he let out a second yawn, Door Plank and the others had joined up with him.
For this long journey, he had brought Hu Min, Door Plank, A'luo, and the elite squad he had trained back in Yuheng City—a total of ten men.
Door Plank rolled his neck as he walked, popping the joints with a dry clatter. "Drifting for seventy or eighty days... mushrooms even sprouted on my mattress! If A'luo hadn't warned me they were poisonous, I would've chewed them up in my sleep."
The cabin was damp and gloomy, pervaded by an enduring stench of rotting feet; it was no surprise that termites, rats, bugs, and mushrooms thrived there.
At that moment, another voyager approached them. Nearing forty years of age, he had graying hair and a tall, thin frame.
"Mister He!" He waved to He Lingchuan, crow's feet crinkling around his eyes as he smiled. "We made a deal! Once we're off the ship, you're staying at my place for a couple of days!"
This man was named Wang Wei. He had boarded at Blade Harbor and spent ten-odd days on the vessel, three or four of which were spent drinking with He Lingchuan.
He was a private academy tutor whose home was in Julu Port. Whenever the farming season grew busy, the school had a break because the students had to go home and help harvest the grain.
With no income during this stretch, Wang Wei had to travel as an independent peddler to supplement his household finances.
He had an intensely warm and outgoing personality, getting along splendidly with He Lingchuan and his group.
"Words spilled over wine, how can you take them seriously?" He Lingchuan waved a hand. "With so many of us, we won't trouble you. An inn will do fine."
"How could that do?" Wang Wei shook his head like a rattle-drum. "Julu Port is short on everything except pickpockets. If you stay at an inn overnight, when you open your eyes at dawn, you'll be stripped clean of everything except the clothes on your back!"
Hu Min grinned. "Master Wang, aren't you running an inn yourself these days?"
Wang Wei replied with complete solemnity, "That's different, totally different! Normally, my home is off-limits to outsiders."
As they were about to step off the ship, He Lingchuan looked at the jetty. "Was this dock just renovated?"
The timbers of the jetty seemed freshly lacquered, the scent of tung oil still lingering, and few barnacles clung to the rocks below.
Though it was also Julu Port, this dock was completely different from the one he had seen a few days earlier—it was brand new.
A sailor tying mooring lines on the jetty overheard and called back, "Not renovated—brand new! Funded by the Maritime Trade Office, finished and opened for use just three months ago."
Stepping off the ship, even though the oncoming sea breeze carried the same heavy, briny stench, He Lingchuan unconsciously paused in his tracks.
*This is Julu Port?*
The berths along the jetty were nearly full, with merchant ships and fishing vessels of every description bobbing gently with the swell.
Porters carried cargo back and forth like industrious worker ants; travelers bustled aboard and ashore, haggling with captains along the way.
The buildings on shore were a mix of new and old, but most had been maintained and tidied up; even where patched, their storefronts were clean.
The roads were not quite as wide as those on He Lingchuan's Suoding Island, but they were relatively smooth and level.
On the docks of the later era, what one saw most were beggars and refugees.
Here, however, rows of donkey carts and ox carts lined the dock, their drivers calling out vigorously for fares.
All in all, the port was nearly as bustling as Baisha Port. People came and went in brisk industry, each with a clear purpose in mind.
In the Julu Port of the later era, neither the number of ships nor passengers amounted to even thirty percent of this.
*Oho, so Julu Port was once this prosperous?*
Wang Wei asked He Lingchuan, "What is it?"
"It's quite bustling here," He Lingchuan said honestly. "Beyond what I expected."
Chapter 1106