Chapter 36

Flame‑red, bowl‑sized blossoms drifted with the sea current from beneath the ironclad warship; Zhou Shuo gazed into the distance at layers of buildings, while patches of red forest covered the left and right hillsides, many large and small decked ships and sailboats were moored in the bay, and the wharf was filled with human voices—they had arrived at Peach God Harbor of the Divine Wind Country.

"That's the Divine Wind Country's specialty peach trees, beautiful, right?" Yao Yue Ru pointed at the fiery red on the left and right mountain ridges of the natural pier and asked Zhou Shuo.

"Beautiful, red and lovely." Zhou Shuo looked at the distant red, then glanced at Yao Yue Ru's and Yao Yue Ting's faces beside her, nodded slightly in confirmation—indeed, the sisters' skin was crystal‑clear and translucently red, like roses dusted with dew.

"Warm winds in the immortal spring, spring resides in the sea‑country." Yao Yue Ting listened to Zhou Shuo's plain narration, her face faintly blushing; gazing at the endless peach‑blossom forest in the distance, poetic inspiration struck her and she recited two lines.

"Good poem." Zhou Shuo listened to Yao Yue Ting's two lines, nodded sincerely in praise—this Divine Wind Country truly is a spring‑like‑year‑round holiday resort, and those two lines are exquisitely subtle, achieving the intended mood.

"A pity there are only two lines—can you continue them?" Seeing Zhou Shuo's praise, Yao Yue Ru couldn't help but ask.

"I can't, I really can't write poetry." Zhou Shuo's face flushed slightly embarrassed—truly, I can't; I know a few peach‑blossom poems, but none fit the scene, and even if I plagiarized, my feelings might not measure up.

"It's just two lines of chanting—we've reached the shore." Yao Yue Ting looked at Zhou Shuo's slightly embarrassed face, gave her sister a slight glare with her double pupils, and reminded him that they were already nearing the dock.

"Well then, let's go—prepare to disembark and have a look at our Ru Ting Residence." Seeing Zhou Shuo's embarrassed look, Yao Yue Ru also felt awkward, couldn't find anything nice to say, so she grabbed his arm to change the subject.

"Ru Ting Residence?" Zhou Shuo first felt embarrassed, then a bit dazed, not even noticing the soft fragrance on his arm.

"It's the villa we acquired in the Divine Wind Country; the name is one Yao Yue Ting and I chose together—Ru Ting Residence." Yao Yue Ru explained naturally, but while the speaker meant nothing by it, the listener, Zhou Shuo, took it to heart.

Zhou Shuo's mind momentarily froze, then a tingling numbness spread across his scalp—he had just studied the 《Taiyin Heavenly Born Divine Chapter》, was still eating his soft‑rice meals, and now another 'Ru Ting Residence' villa appeared; between him and the sister‑pair, the feeling of 'unequal match, mismatched doors' grew stronger.

The Divine Wind Country is an island nation in the South Sea, generation after generation allegiance to the Tianzhou Dynasty; its land boasts a thousand li of peach blossoms in full bloom, four seasons like spring, and its laws impose no restrictions on foreigners, making it an excellent leisure destination—whether wealthy merchants of the Great Qian or nobles of the Yunmeng, all own villas there, sailing to the Divine Wind Country to cool off in summer and warm up in winter; the Yaochi Sect is based in Yinzhou, possesses superb shipbuilding skills, has ventured into maritime trade, is wealthy and influential, and owning a villa in the Divine Wind Country is merely a trifle for them.

In that awkward feeling, Zhou Shuo followed the sister‑pair to the Ru Ting Residence villa; he saw the estate covering a hundred mu, secluded and exquisite, fully furnished, with many maids and servants inside—even if uninhabited, maintaining it for a month would cost a great deal of money, and the sisters' wealth could hardly be described as 'a thousand gold'.

The more time he spent with the sister‑pair, the stronger Zhou Shuo's sense of inferiority became; to keep that feeling from growing and to make the distance untouchable, besides cultivating he began actively studying calligraphy and painting with Yao Yue Ting, learning music and dance from Yao Yue Ru, and doing refined accomplishments to cultivate his temperament—making learning enjoyable and life fulfilling.

While studying, Zhou Shuo did not neglect his own affairs; he took time to return to the Qin Era World, but instead of going straight to find Wei Zhuang, he first observed the Qin Era World's time and moon phases, calculated its lunar cycle, and adjusted the data of the Taiyin Body‑Refining Technique.

Because of his studies, Zhou Shuo gradually realized that, although time in the Qin Era World, the Yang God World, and the Modern World appears similar, there are actually huge differences: the distances between sun, moon, and earth are completely different, which also causes the length of day and night to differ among them, leading to different flow rates of time—the Yang God World flows slowest, the Modern World next, and the Qin Era World slowest of all.

The flow rates of the three worlds are completely different, but fortunately some regularities are the same—for example, the earth‑moon system, the lunar‑tide cycle differs among the worlds; therefore, for cultivation methods that involve celestial phenomena, one must recalculate and adjust them.

At night, when all was silent in Xinzheng City, before the bustling Purple Orchid Pavilion, Zhou Shuo returned after more than three months; a woman in purple gauze came toward him, opening with the standard greeting of the establishment.

"Oh dear, sir…"

"No need, I want to see Brother Wei Zhuang." Zhou Shuo looked at the unfamiliar charming girl, smiled, and raised his hand to stop her spiel.

"May I ask who you are?" the woman's expression flickered with surprise as she sized Zhou Shuo up and down.

"Zhou Shuo." Zhou Shuo likewise examined the woman; her knuckles revealed muscle, and her posture and steps showed she was no ordinary courtesan—no surprise, since the Purple Orchid Pavilion is the Drifting Sand's old nest, and the women here all possess some skill in self‑defense.

"Please follow me." Upon hearing Zhou Shuo's name, the woman nodded immediately, led him upstairs, through a long corridor, pushed open a sliding door, and after Zhou Shuo entered, she closed the door behind her and left.

"You've finally come." A tall, slender figure stood by the window, gazing at the moon over Xinzheng's sky.

"I'm here, though I lost some time." Zhou Shuo watched the figure with its back to him, gazing at the moon—an imposing presence—while speaking he pulled out a paper from his pocket and tossed it over; although he had been timing things, comparing the lunar cycle inevitably cost him a bit of time, and it had already exceeded three months.

"But in the end it succeeded." Wei Zhuang turned, caught the thrown object, glanced briefly at the mantra and diagram on it, using his Guigu lineage's eye to assess it, then gave a slight nod.

"So we're even now." Zhou Shuo gave a small shrug.

"No." Wei Zhuang refused.

"Can you guarantee that this technique will restore her to her original state!"

"Has the condition of Her Highness the Crimson Lotus Princess worsened?" Zhou Shuo raised his eyebrows slightly.

"No, it hasn't." Wei Zhuang shook his head lightly.

"Let her practice it for a month first, then I'll come back to check on her; if this set of techniques doesn't work, I'll help her think of something else." Zhou Shuo looked at the calm, water‑like man and offered his solution.

"Good." Wei Zhuang said nothing more, knelt at the small table in the room, pushed out a wine jug, and filled Zhou Shuo's cup.

"What about Han Fei?" Zhou Shuo scanned the desolate, dark room; the Purple Orchid Pavilion seemed much quieter than before, Han Fei wasn't here, nor was Zi Nu—had they both died off‑script?

"He…" Wei Zhuang poured himself a drink, then trailed off.

"And Zi Nu?" Zhou Shuo didn't touch the wine jug, looking at the silent Wei Zhuang, his eyebrows twitched.

"You're looking for me?" a clear voice came from behind, a fragrant breeze drifted in from outside, and a graceful figure settled down beside him.

"It's been really hard to see you, Hall Master Zhou, lately—I was just going to ask where you've been." Zi Nu's face bore a flower‑like smile, her eyes gazing tenderly at Zhou Shuo.

"Miss Zi Nu now calls me Hall Master Zhou—sigh, it's only been a few months since we last met, and already you're so formal." Zhou Shuo looked at the woman's smiling face and couldn't help chuckling; she was clearly still alive, so Han Fei probably wasn't dead either—likely he's not in Han but in Qin, and his death date can't be far off.

"Then what would you like me to call you?" Zi Nu raised her delicate brows slightly, asking; the Drifting Sand and the Fangsheng Hall were merely allies, with only some friendship.

"Hmm, I'll have to think about that, but Miss Zi Nu, I suddenly feel inspired—you have an outstanding lute maiden here named Nong Yu; could you summon her to play a piece for me?"

Zhou Shuo lifted the bronze jug, smiling at Zi Nu; whether it was her or Wei Zhuang, both attitudes had turned cold—probably because Han Fei wasn't around, and he didn't know how the battle between the Drifting Sand and Nightfall was going, but that wasn't his concern; the urgent matter was to get Nong Yu out, for in this world he had only one capable subordinate, Li Kai, and he couldn't afford to lose him—word from Iron‑Old‑Cai said Li Kai was doing well in his development over in Liang.

After spending some days studying alongside the sister‑pair in the Yang God World, Zhou Shuo conducted extensive investigations and uncovered the corresponding values of the three worlds; aside from cultivation, each world's technological resources have their strengths and weaknesses, and the Qin Era World excels in that it possesses various heavenly materials and earthly treasures hard to find in the Yang God World, plus the technique of smelting swords and refining the essence of metals—this metallic essence could replace blood‑pattern steel as flying‑sword material, so the Qin Era World's forces cannot be abandoned.

"When did you develop a love for listening to the qin?" Zi Nu stared at Zhou Shuo, not answering but throwing the question back.

"This hobby just sprang up spontaneously." Zhou Shuo spread his right hand, simultaneously gazing at the gloomy, cold Zi Nu and Wei Zhuang, his tone pausing slightly—could it be that the mountain‑bird melody has already occurred?

"She wouldn't not be at the Purple Orchid Pavilion, would she?" Zhou Shuo probed.

"How is she at the Purple Orchid Pavilion? And if she isn't there, what then?" Wei Zhuang set down his wine jug.

"Simple: if she's there, I'll take her away, together with Lady Hu—my reason being that her father serves me." Zhou Shuo looked at the aloof Wei Zhuang, then spoke openly; his doings regarding Li Kai were not concealed, and anyone paying attention could notice.

"Then what price are you prepared to pay?" Wei Zhuang didn't answer, but threw the question back.

"Name your price!"

"Ji Wuye dies, and you take Nong Yu." Wei Zhuang stated his condition.

"Deal." Zhou Shuo agreed instantly—this was the most satisfying transaction he had made since his transmigration.