Chapter 71

“Don’t hold them back—let them run. Something valuable may have drawn them!” Gervas said.

Upon hearing this, the knights exchanged glances and immediately stopped restraining the horses.

Whoohoo!

Freed from restraint, the Flame Horses hesitated no longer; with a long neigh, they bolted into the gorge.

Gervas also spurred his horse to follow beside them.

Not long after, the Flame Horses reached the middle of the gorge, slowed their pace, and then a patch of crimson grass came into view.

The crimson grassland was distributed in a distinctive pattern, as if paint had been splashed down from a cliff’s edge, with over a dozen patches of varying sizes scattered around.

The largest patches reached forty to fifty meters in diameter; the smallest still spanned five to six meters.

The Flame Horses had already begun feasting voraciously on these crimson patches.

Lei Meng and the others seated atop the Flame Horses were deeply puzzled by the grasses and turned their gazes toward Gervas.

“Don’t worry—these are Dragon’s Blood Grass!”

“What? My lord, these are the legendary Dragon’s Blood Grass?” Lei Meng exclaimed in surprise.

“Correct. Last time we found Dragon’s Blood Stone; now we’ve found Dragon’s Blood Grass—likely from the same great dragon!” Gervas nodded.

Lei Meng suddenly understood. “No wonder my Wolf Chaser was so excited—Dragon’s Blood Grass is even more irresistible to creatures with dragon blood than Night Scent Grass!”

“My lord, what are the effects of Dragon’s Blood Grass?” Mi Gen and the others asked, curious.

“Dragon’s Blood Grass enhances the bloodline and boosts the strength of any beast or low-rank beast with dragon blood—like the Flame Horses. They might even break through into true beasts!”

“Make Flame Horses break through into beasts? That’s too powerful!” Mi Gen and the others’ eyes sparkled; after all, Flame Horses were their mounts—if they could ride a beast, they’d laugh in their dreams.

But Lei Meng quickly realized: “My lord, this Dragon’s Blood Grass is extremely precious—shouldn’t we stop them from eating so much?!”

“No need. I planned to use this Dragon’s Blood Grass to feed them anyway. There’s plenty here—let them eat now; enough will remain for seeding.”

Thus, after letting several Flame Horses feast happily, Gervas ordered a hundred square meters of Dragon’s Blood Grass to be gathered and packed for transport.

Leaving it here, sealing both entrances, and letting it grow freely would’ve been fine too.

But Dragon’s Blood Grass is far rarer than Night Scent Grass—encountering it is a matter of chance.

So to be safe, Gervas had to uproot and take some to cultivate around the castle.

When the party returned to Wheatfield Town, the more-than-ten-meter-long Fire-Swallowing Python on the cart naturally drew another round of cheers from the townsfolk.

But since all these beasts looked monstrous and terrifying, even the “well-traveled” townsfolk found them fresh and astonishing every time, marveling at the lord’s great deeds.

As per custom, the Fire-Swallowing Python’s corpse was left to parade through the town for half an hour; Gervas then hurried back to the castle.

Upon returning, Old John immediately came to report on the Stormwind.

Indeed, as Gervas had suspected, the intelligence from the sea was grounded in fact.

According to the servant sent to inquire, the Stormwind had already been repaired by last evening.

Old Jack had planned to send someone to the castle this morning to deliver the good news to the lord.

But unexpectedly, it was Gervas who sent someone to ask first.

“My lord, Old Jack says that as long as we relaunch the Stormwind into the water, we can test-sail anytime!”

“Excellent! I’ll take men to Seashore Village immediately!” Gervas was pleased.

At that moment, remembering the Dragon’s Blood Grass he’d brought back, he said: “Old John, I’ve brought back a batch of Dragon’s Blood Grass. Arrange for men to plant it—remember to fence it off so the Flame Horses don’t trample it, and water it with the Swan Lake spring water!”

“My lord, I suggest planting the Dragon’s Blood Grass in the abandoned farm on the castle’s eastern side.”

“Currently, Bloodstorm Domain has few livestock; most of the farmland’s pastures lie fallow, yet they still have intact wooden fences that can keep the Flame Horses separate from other animals!”

Gervas recalled the pasture—it currently held only a few cows and sheep, acquired from the previous Tulip Caravan exchange.

Compared to the abandoned farm capable of supporting thousands of livestock, dozens of cows and sheep were negligible.

“Fine, Old John—entrust all of this to you.”

After entrusting the Dragon’s Blood Grass to Old John, Gervas led the knights and fifty soldiers straight to Seashore Village.

“Your Majesty!”

“Rise, Old Jack. The servant reported the Stormwind is ready to launch—is that true?”

“Yes, my lord!”

“Good. Old Jack, let’s head to the coast together!”

Taking Old Jack and two elderly villagers with them, Gervas’s party headed straight for the shore.

These two elders had once been fishermen and knew basic sailboat handling.

Though too old now to operate the vessel themselves, they could still teach others.

This was also because the Stormwind was a single-masted sailboat; a double- or triple-masted vessel would require truly experienced sailors.

……

Arriving at the shore, the Stormwind stood on the sand.

Gervas examined it closely—the previous holes were completely repaired.

“Then prepare to launch!”

This world also had the tradition of “breaking champagne.”

Of course, this world had no champagne—clay jars were used instead.

The symbolism was the same: “Break the jar in advance, so you’ll never need to seal a last message inside it as a drift bottle!”

With a sharp crack, as the clay jar shattered, “Launch!”

Then, under the backward pull of over fifty soldiers, the Stormwind began slowly sliding down the coastal slope on rollers.

Splash! The Stormwind successfully entered the water.

The dozen or so men already aboard immediately maneuvered the ship toward the rocky shore nearby.

Today’s weather was clear and calm; the rocky shore happened to be just slightly lower than the ship’s gunwales—so by laying planks, the rest could board directly.

“Everyone, board the ship!”

Soon, seven knights and fifty soldiers all boarded.

As a merchant vessel, even with double the crew, it felt far from crowded.

“Old Jack!”

“My lord, I’m here!”

“I appoint you captain of the Stormwind—responsible for steering and giving orders!” Old Jack, besides repairing ships, also understood sailing.

“Yes, my lord!”

Old Jack, thrilled, stepped to the stern helm: “Raise the sails! Set sail!”

Whoosh!

Under the guidance of the two elderly fishermen, four soldiers slowly lowered the sails.

The sea breeze filled the sails, the hull creaked, and the shore began to slowly recede—the ship moved!

“Set sail!”