Chapter 741: Spring City, Jinan Prefecture

The fine rain was like silk, covering the river with a thin veil.

The dark green and quiet fields and villages on both banks were shrouded in the misty rain, as if they were in the misty Jiangnan.

However, this was the Xiaoqing River waterway outside Jinan City.

Li Yan and the others left from the Tongzhou wharf; if they took the land route, they would need to disembark at Cangzhou, travel over mountains and ridges, and it would take many days.

Fortunately, from Tongzhou to Jinan Prefecture, they could take the grain transport waterway the whole way, passing through wharves like Linqing, Dongchang, Dongping Lake, and Jining, and could reach Jinan City directly.

Although it took a detour, it saved at least seven days of travel.

The only uncomfortable thing was that it always rained along the way, but the abnormal summer rain in recent days didn't bring much coolness, but added a bit of damp and heavy stuffiness, and the water lines hanging from the ship's side never seemed to stop dripping.

The treasure ship "Cloud Sail" that Fatty Lin found had sails that seemed to have absorbed enough moisture, carrying a hint of pitch black, bulging heavily, which made the boatmen expend a lot of effort.

"Melon-headed, this rain is falling so much that even the bone joints are getting moldy."

Sha Li Fei leaned against the cabin door, complaining while looking at the rain curtain.

His short jacket was half-open, revealing a tuft of large chest hair, constantly shaking his clothes, trying to snatch a trace of coolness outside the cabin, and his body was soaked with the fishy smell of sweat.

As for Wang Daoxuan, he sat cross-legged with his eyes closed in a corner of the cabin, his blue cloth Daoist robe spotless.

He sat cross-legged in meditation, holding a Daoist scripture to read, without a single drop of sweat on his forehead.

"Daoist Wang has great ability, being able to be so refreshed in this stuffy weather." Fatty Lin on the side couldn't help but praise.

Wang Daoxuan's eyelids lifted slightly, his gaze seeming to pierce through the ship's planks, looking toward the south and sighing: "The circulation of the Qi of Heaven and Earth has its own laws. This continuous overcast rain is not a sign of the summer heat in the north, but carries a southern dampness. The land of Qi and Lu, with Taishan as the town and spring water as the root, such a scene is probably not an auspicious sign."

"Jinan Fucheng is called 'Spring City', with hundreds of springs breathing in the city and dense underground rivers beneath the city. Under such weather, the accumulation of water vapor is even worse, and if one is not careful, anomalies may arise..."

If others said this, it might just be a guess.

But since Wang Daoxuan practiced the "Five Heads Divine Formula" and completed the inheritance, the various miscellaneous arts he had learned before had also been integrated, and he had guessed correctly many times while watching the mountains and moon along the way, so the crowd was quite convinced.

Kuai Dayou was carving a wooden component with a carving knife, and upon hearing this, he looked up and said disdainfully: "Afraid of a bird, you are the Twelve Yuan Chen; if there is really some evil object making trouble, wouldn't it be just right to make a name for ourselves?"

"We don't have that leisure..."

Sha Li Fei shook his head, leaned over to the side and teased: "It's you, saying this thing is mysterious, when exactly will it be done? Don't lose face when the time comes."

"Just wait and see, don't talk without keeping your word!"

Kuai Dayou twisted his mouth and looked at the outside of the cabin calmly.

Outside the cabin on the deck, two more people were sitting.

Because it rained and was stuffy for days, the smell in the cabin was really bad. Long Yan'er practiced Gu arts and couldn't stand the dirty and strange smell, so she set up a cool shed outside, while reading a book and preparing some strange powders in a medicine jar.

And Li Yan stood alone at the bow of the ship, the fine rain wetting the edge of his bamboo hat, dripping down.

His nose was too sensitive and couldn't stand this smell either.

He naturally heard Kuai Dayou's words.

Luo Mingzi asked him to investigate the situation in Jiangnan and let Kong Shangzhao accompany him; he understood the meaning, nothing more than taking advantage of this opportunity to let Kong Shangzhao join the Twelve Yuan Chen.

Kuai Dayou was someone who liked to join in the fun, so he made a

Seeing that it was very troublesome for Lu San and the others to help Wang Daoxuan set up a temporary Dharma altar that day, he said he could make a mechanical Dharma altar that could be used as a backpack on ordinary days and transformed into a Dharma altar with a gentle turn when needed.

As long as he succeeded, he would let both him and Kong Shangzhao join the Twelve Twelve Yuan Chen.

Sha Lifei had long admired these two.

One was well-read in the classics, skilled in reasoning and analysis, and able to peel back the layers from scattered books and documents to find various clues.

The other was a genius from a Northern school artisan family, whose hands could turn decay into magic.

Although their martial arts were average and they could not stand alone, they were both rare logistical talents.

Thus, with Li Yan's tacit approval, Sha Lifei went with the flow and made this bet.

To be honest, the only thing that needed to be done was to observe their character along the way.

The Twelve Twelve Yuan Chen were all partners who shared life and death; nowadays, there were plenty of people who wanted to join them, but if they really didn't get along, even with heaven-defying skills, they wouldn't be accepted into the team.

What really concerned Li Yan was what Wang Daoxuan had just said.

In his previous life, there was also a Little Ice Age at this time.

According to reasoning, the north should still be cool after entering summer, but it had turned into the scorching heat and humidity only found in the south.

Various signs indicated that this celestial anomaly was also somewhat different from his previous life.

Coupled with the fact that the humanitarian revolution had already begun, the unheard-of steam engine powered by Gāng and Shà two types of Qi had appeared.

What would the future be like?

Li Yan could not judge it now.

And Taishan, what exactly had happened there?

Just as Li Yan was thinking, the treasure ship had reached the Banchiao Wharf area, and the noise of people came through the curtain of rain.

"Young Master Lin, ahead is Banchiao Wharf, we are almost there!"

The boat captain wiped the rain off his face and shouted a reminder.

Hearing this, everyone walked out onto the deck.

They saw ships coming and going at the wharf, not stopping because of the rain, but appearing even busier.

Large and small wooden sailboats, black-awning boats, and cargo ships crowded the waterway, their sails rolled up or half-hanging, dripping wet.

The sound of human hauling chants, the shouts of sailors, and the muffled thuds of ship collisions mixed with the peddling of vendors on the shore wrapped in oilcloth, forming a symphony in the rain and mist.

The stone slabs of the wharf were washed dark and shiny by the rain, and countless porters in coir raincoats and straw sandals carried sacks and cargo boxes back and forth between the ship decks and the slippery shore, splashing up flowers of mud and water.

The air was filled with the unique earthy smell of river water, the scent of damp wood, and the fishy smell and sweat unavoidable in the wharf area, suppressed by the rain but stubbornly steaming up.

The status of Jinan Wharf as a waterway hub went without saying.

The Xiaoqing River waterway they were traveling on was first built in the Shaoxi period of the Southern Song Dynasty, starting from Jinan and flowing east through Zibo, Weifang, and Dongying, before emptying into the Bohai Sea; it was the only artificial canal in the Qilu land that connected the inland with the coast.

Sea salt from the coast was transported upstream along the Xiaoqing River to Jinan, and then distributed by land to central and western Lu, as well as Yuzhou and Jizhou; the products of Jinan and its surrounding areas were loaded onto ships at the wharf, flowed downstream to the Bohai Bay, and then transshipped to Liaodong, the Korean Peninsula, and even Japan.

It was this wharf that made Jinan an important transit node for north-south materials and sea-land cargo.

The closer they got to the city, the richer the scenery along the river became.

Residential houses with blue bricks and gray tiles stood by the water, occasionally interspersed with shops and warehouses with high eaves, their various signboards dampened by the rain, their colors dim.

Finally, when the huge wall outline of Jinan Prefecture, thick, ancient, and looming in the rain and mist, appeared in their field of vision.

The treasure ship took some effort to find a berth at the crowded wharf to dock.

The anchor chain plunged into the turbid river water, and the gangplank was set onto the slippery stone steps.

Li Yan and the others packed their luggage and stepped onto the land of Banchiao Wharf.

Upon landing, they immediately felt the coolness and stickiness coming from the wet stone slabs.

The crowd surged in the rain, coir raincoats and bamboo hats forming a gray moving barrier. Shouts, arguments, and the sounds of cargo loading were exceptionally clear, accompanied by the raindrops.