Chapter 69: The Sampan Seeking Death

Lin Qian and Zheng Zhilong came down from the watchtower.

The gravity on Lin Qian's face had vanished, replaced by a sharp look of complete confidence.

His gaze swept to the islander guarding the tower; the man's heart seized in panic, and he knelt, saying, "This humble one missed it with his eyes. Please, Helmsman, mete out the punishment."

Lin Qian shot Zheng Zhilong a look, and Zheng Zhilong immediately said, "Rise and await the Helmsman's judgment!"

The islander on tower duty rose nervously. Lin Qian handed him the telescope: "This 'thousand-li eye' is yours for now. Keep a close watch on that lookout on the reef for me — when he comes, when he leaves, who he meets, what he eats, what he leaves behind — note it all down and report to me daily. Understood?"

The islander took the telescope and nodded heavily.

Lin Qian softened his tone: "Do this job well, and your fault is forgiven — more than that, you'll have merit. I'll reward you with a fishing boat."

"Truly?" The islander was overjoyed, and once it sank in, he stammered out repeated thanks.

On the way down the mountain, Lin Qian said to Zheng Zhilong, "Don't assign anyone else to tower watch for the next few days. Let him guard the tower by day, have someone relieve him at night, and send a few more men up with his daily meals."

Zheng Zhilong: "Rest assured, Helmsman. I understand."

Even in Manila, a telescope was a rare commodity, let alone in the Great Ming.

When he was in Manila, Lin Qian had bought several telescopes, most of which he'd taken apart for sextants; only two remained in his keeping.

Which meant he couldn't set up more watch posts to monitor that lookout even if he wanted to.

And for that reason, the watchtower on the hill was all the more crucial.

After coming down the mountain, Lin Qian sent islanders disguised as fishermen to sail around and reconnoiter the waters behind the lookout's position — no large vessel was seen following.

Since the lookout had been found, keeping watch on the Hu estate had lost its purpose, so Lin sent a man ashore to recall Bai Qing.

Two days later, Lin Qian had basically mapped out the lookout's pattern of activity.

Essentially, he came to the reef at daybreak every day and sailed off to the southwestern shore before nightfall.

Because in these times almost no ship left port at night, and visibility was too poor after dark, no nighttime watch had been arranged.

Early that morning, after roll call, Lin Qian ordered the Santa Ana to weigh anchor and leave port.

Lei Sanxiang bellowed orders to the crew: "Prepare to weigh anchor! Everyone to the capstan positions — hurry, run!"

Chen Jiao looked up at the wind pennant on the mast and shouted, "Wind from the southeast — port side running before the wind."

Lin Qian said, "Sail along the coastline."

Chen Jiao said to the helmsman, "Course due west."

After some time, the Santa Ana finished weighing anchor, her snow-white sails dropped, and she slowly sailed west.

After passing Great Sharp Peak west of the island, Chen Jiao ordered again, "Half wheel to port, course southwest. Sheetsmen, haul tight on the starboard braces — mind the clews, prepare to shift sails!"

At Chen Jiao's command, helmsman and sheetsmen moved in unison, working in perfect coordination, and the Santa Ana turned smoothly.

As the soft sails once again filled with wind, the ship's speed gradually picked up.

Lin Qian walked to the stern deck and saw Nan'ao Island growing smaller and smaller, shrinking to a speck between sea and sky.

Lin Qian took out his telescope and scanned the horizon. After searching for a moment, he indeed spotted a small sampan directly astern, with one man standing on it, rowing furiously.

But the Santa Ana was at full speed, a good 8 knots — no amount of human rowing could catch her now.

In the telescope, the sampan's silhouette kept shrinking.

Lin Qian lowered the telescope. After a long while, he asked, "Where are we?"

Chen Jiao, standing beside him, said, "Ahead is the southern mouth of the E Creek; beyond that lies Ma'er Cove."

"Furl the main topsail and fore topsail," Lin Qian ordered. "Prepare to anchor temporarily at Ma'er Cove."

"Aye." Chen Jiao acknowledged and shouted the order to the sheetsmen.

As the galleon slowed, the sampan rowing desperately behind finally drew a little closer.

And more than a dozen li behind that sampan—

Bai Qing also stood on a small boat, rowing forward.

She couldn't see the sampan at all from where she was, let alone the Santa Ana — she was on this course because Lin Qian had told her the route in advance.

So when she finally struggled her way to Ma'er Cove and spotted the Santa Ana from afar, along with a sampan hiding behind the rocks, she couldn't help feeling relieved she hadn't lost them.

Bai Qing copied the sampan's example and hid her boat behind the rocks.

Once hidden, she poked her head out and observed quietly.

The man on the sampan ahead was sturdy of build with powerful limbs — clearly no weather-beaten fisherman.

He stood barefoot on the boat, his gaze fixed dead on the Santa Ana.

Perhaps sensing the eyes on him, the man turned his head back without warning.

Bai Qing reacted swiftly, yanking her head back — she hadn't been spotted.

After waiting behind the rocks for a long while, Bai Qing gripped her dagger and cautiously poked her head out from behind the rocks again.

The man had now sat down on the sampan, chewing on dried fish.

After finishing, he stood up straight again, cast a glance at the Santa Ana, then bent down and picked up a knife from the sampan to wipe it.

Bai Qing saw it clearly — the blade was covered in reddish-brown blood rust, and no matter how long he wiped, it wouldn't come off.

That was blood rust; judging by the degree of corrosion, the blood couldn't have been on it for more than ten days.

Bai Qing had a strong premonition that this man was one of the crew who had seized the ship at Ma'er Cove. She could swim over in one breath, drag him into the water, subdue him without the slightest effort, and then force the whereabouts of Scholar Zhou out of him.

But since the Helmsman had only told her to watch, she wouldn't get clever and do more than she was asked.

After the Santa Ana anchored at Ma'er Cove, she sent crewmen ashore in small boats to search.

The shore was desolate and uninhabited, covered in reeds that stretched beyond the eye's reach.

The crew searched all day and found nothing. As the sun slanted west, the sound of a gong rang out from the Santa Ana.

Hearing the gong, the crewmen returned to the shore and took the small boats back to the Santa Ana.

Once all the crew were aboard, the Santa Ana extended her boom, recovered the small boats, then raised sail again and headed back.

The man on the sampan had long since grown bored from waiting — all afternoon he'd wiped the knife again and again, and had caught every crab and mussel around the rocks in front of him.

Seeing the Santa Ana turn back, she finally mustered her spirits and rowed to avoid the Santa Ana's line of sight.

Just as Bai Qing thought the man was about to row after her, he remained perfectly still.

Only after the Santa Ana had sailed far away did the man rise and work his oar—heading straight for Bai Qing.

Bai Qing's heart suddenly raced. She crouched low, revealing only a pair of eyes through the crevice between the rocks, staring fixedly at the man. With one hand working the boat's oar, she slowly moved around the reef, staying out of his sight.

Thanks to Bai Qing's superb boat-handling skill, she sculled with a single hand without making a sound of water, all while hugging the reef closely without the slightest scrape or bump.

She actually let the man sail right past the reef where she was hiding without him spotting any flaw.

Only after the man had sailed far away did Bai Qing let out a breath of relief. She reached up to wipe her forehead—and found it covered in sweat.

Peering out from the crevice, Bai Qing saw the man heading southeast, and suspicion immediately welled up in her heart.

That direction was clearly open sea, with no islands in sight, and nightfall was approaching. Was he trying to seek death, sailing a little sampan out there so recklessly?

Yahei

Pink Round

Pen