Chapter 716: Zhu Yue's Response

Afternoon, the center of the camp.

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) spread out several pieces of bark in front of him.

On them were drawn strange dots and lines, as well as simple geometric shapes.

Xu Da, Tang He, and several clever youths gathered around.

They all looked puzzled.

"Elder brother, what new thing are you making?" Xu Da asked.

"It's not an object." Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) shook his head.

He pointed his finger at the diagram.

"It's a reply."

"A reply?" Tang He froze, "To whom, and how?"

"To the east."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) raised his head.

His gaze seemed to be directed toward an extremely distant, invisible barrier.

"They have sent us two 'messages' before; although fragmented, we understood their meaning."

"Now it's our turn to say something."

He looked at the crowd.

"We don't have their ability to send messages over a thousand li."

"But we have things visible to the eye."

"Light, and smoke."

He pointed to the pile of high-quality coal beside him.

"This coal, when burned, produces black, thick smoke that can rise high."

"If lit at a fixed time with a fixed method, the shape and timing of the smoke column will follow a pattern."

He then pointed to a bundle of makeshift flags.

"Then, using these flags, we will wave them in simple patterns on the high ground of the stone formation."

"If someone far away deliberately looks this way, they might notice these unusual signs."

Xu Da frowned.

"Will this work? How far can it be seen? What if nobody looks..."

"It's better than doing nothing."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) spoke with firm resolve.

"This is the only proactive attempt we can make now, with the smallest cost."

"If it fails, we will only have spent some coal and manpower."

He picked up a charcoal stick and drew a circle on the bark, marking three dots inside.

"Starting tomorrow, for three consecutive days."

"Each day at noon, when the sun is best, we will simultaneously light four specially prepared smoke piles at the base of the watchtowers at the four corners of the camp."

"I want the smoke columns to be straight, burning for at least half an hour."

"At the same time, assign two people to the highest point of the stone formation."

"Using the two largest flags, they will swing them in the order 'horizontal three, vertical three, draw a circle,' repeatedly."

"Each motion, hold steady for thirty breaths."

He looked around at everyone.

"Remember, this is not reckless arson."

"We are informing any possible distant friends—"

"Huai Xi riverbank, under the knife-and-plow flag."

"We are still alive, our hearts not dead, our eyes looking eastward."

"Do you understand?"

Several youths felt their blood surge, and they nodded vigorously.

"Understood!"

Tang He still had doubts.

"Chief Zhu, this method... can it really reach the other side of the light curtain?"

"I don't know."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) said calmly.

"But beacon smoke on a clear day can serve as a signal; this is the principle we can most rely on right now."

"Let's do it."

"Even if this attempt sinks without a trace, we will have taken the first step."

The next day, at noon.

Sunlight pierced the clouds, shining on the riverbank.

At the four corners of the camp, the specially made earthen stoves were lit simultaneously.

With bellows aiding combustion, the selected coal lumps rose as four thick, black, straight smoke columns.

They shot up into the sky, especially conspicuous against the blue sky.

At the center of the camp, atop the stone formation.

Two youths with steady arms vigorously waved the simple but brightly colored flags.

He swung it horizontally three times.

He raised it vertically three times.

He traced a large circle as standard as possible with both arms.

The movements were simple, even clumsy.

But on the desolate riverbank, against the backdrop of four smoke columns, this regular flag signaling conveyed a stubborn tenacity.

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) stood beneath the stone formation.

He looked up at the waving flag, at the rising black smoke.

His mood was not calm.

This was like throwing a small stone into an endless deep sea.

He hoped to hear a faint echo from the far shore.

Vague.

Even somewhat naive.

But this was a probe he had to make as Zhu Yue, as a survivor with memories of another world trapped here, beyond struggling to survive.

He did not know whether anyone in the Chen dynasty was observing this sky.

He did not know whether a "pinhole" could see this smoke and flag.

He also did not know whether, even if seen, one could understand the meaning behind this crude signal: "still here, wishing to connect."

He only knew that he had to do it.

To send out his own voice.

Even if that voice was barely audible.

The flag fluttered in the wind.

The black smoke rose straight to the clouds.

The noon sunlight.

He silently etched all of this, scattering it toward the unseen vast expanse of the east.