Chapter 792: The Great Ship and the Little Ship (1/2, Request Subscription)

Han Jiang.

It's called a river, but as far as the eye can see, it's nothing but endless water, and more endless water.

From every direction, every angle, all you can see is the azure waters of Han Jiang—there is no end in sight.

If not for the ship still steadily moving toward its destination, Fang Yue might have thought they were circling in place.

"Ye Ge, the wind's too strong up here—go below and rest more," Jing Yan said, gently supporting Fang Yue.

"I'm fine… cough! Cough!"

Fang Yue coughed hard twice, covering his mouth; when he pulled his hand away, he froze, his expression suddenly hollow and dim.

On his parchment-converted right palm, a fresh streak of crimson had appeared.

What troubled Fang Yue wasn't the wound—but that handkerchief, it never came back.

【Time Reversal】 only reverses the body itself; external objects are not restored.

Now that the handkerchief fell into the hands of those black-robed figures, retrieving it might never happen—or worse, he might never get another chance.

The handkerchief itself is worthless, but its former owner…

Fang Yue took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

This wasn't the time for despair.

He knew: what mattered most now was survival.

Han Jiang is no safe place—even those black-robed beings were swallowed by it.

This mysterious, profound Han Jiang was like a monster with a gaping maw; no matter what it devoured, Fang Yue wouldn't be surprised.

Yet strangely, no one can walk upon Han Jiang's waters—or even touch them—otherwise, disaster follows.

But this massive ship beneath his feet sails through Han Jiang like an ordinary vessel.

Fang Yue looked toward the ship's "helmsman."

More precisely, it was a giant wooden wheel, upon whose surface floated the face of an old man; the wheel itself seemed the old man's body, shifting at his will, controlling the ship's movement.

No one remembers the old man's real name anymore; everyone calls him "Helmsman Lao."

No one knows how long Helmsman Lao has lived, but ever since this ship appeared on Han Jiang, he has been its helmsman.

Helmsman Lao rarely speaks—he only eats stones.

Black stones, Blood Stones, Disaster Stones, Silver Stones, Gold Stones… any stone, he eats.

That human face is the entrance through which he swallows them.

Only after swallowing stones and absorbing their energy does Helmsman Lao propel the great ship forward.

But not just anyone has the right to command the Han Jiang Great Ship.

Theoretically, to truly activate Helmsman Lao, you need at least one Gold Stone as startup capital—he won't move the ship from Hanjiang Wharf or Qingcheng Wharf without it.

But in practice, no one on board paid for it; Helmsman Lao moved on his own.

The reason is simple… as previously mentioned, Helmsman Lao is alive—he has personal ties to the 【Heavenly Sword】, so he unconditionally carried Tian Ruichi and the others away from Hanjiang Wharf, even ignoring the Rain-Class pursuers behind them, fully cooperating to escape.

But that was only the beginning; now, business is business.

Helmsman Lao acts like a gold-devouring beast, having scavenged nearly all the Black Stones and Blood Stones from this group—yet the ship's speed hasn't increased much; it still crawls forward sluggishly.

If Fang Yue and the others don't give stones, the Han Jiang Great Ship won't budge.

And if the stones run out before the ship reaches Qingcheng Wharf…

They'll have no choice but to risk targeting the strange water-creatures beneath Han Jiang.

Hunt the underwater horrors, obtain Ghost Stones!

How dangerous a prospect this is.

Han Jiang is mysterious and unpredictable; the horrors beneath its waters are infinitely perilous.

Not even considering how terrifying those water-horrors are—even if they could kill them, no one dares jump into Han Jiang.

Han Jiang's waters are something you cannot even touch—let alone sink into.

"Ye Brother, maybe you could…"

As if sensing Fang Yue's thought, Jing Yan whispered low.

But Fang Yue shook his head.

He couldn't risk it—his parchment-converted right hand, and the parchment that had absorbed the flute fragments, had once suppressed Han Jiang's strange phenomena.

But no one could guarantee that jumping into Han Jiang while possessing these two items would leave him unharmed.

Especially after witnessing the black-robed man being swallowed by Han Jiang, Fang Yue felt profound dread toward the waters beneath his feet.

If he could, he'd leave the ship right now—he didn't want to stay here even a second longer.

He touched the 【Gold Stone】 in his pocket, hesitating.

He had fed other stones to the parchment; it accepted them all, yet showed no sign of awakening.

The only hope remained this single Gold Stone.

But equally, this Han Jiang Great Ship also needed stones to move—and if trouble arose, this Gold Stone might be needed to save them.

So Fang Yue decided to wait. He didn't know exactly what he was waiting for, but he didn't want to spend the Gold Stone yet. After all, they'd killed plenty of horrors along the way and collected many low-grade Ghost Stones—enough for now to satisfy Helmsman Lao's appetite.

"Ye Brother, are you feeling better? I owe my escape entirely to your help. Don't worry—I'll make sure my master treats your injuries fully once we reach Jingcheng!"

Tian Ruichi now walked up from behind, but Fang Yue dared not let his master treat his wounds.

Tian Ruichi's peculiar constitution, and his near-transformation into a Half Sword Spirit, filled Fang Yue with deep wariness toward this stranger known as the Heavenly Sword.

Such a being—he should avoid him entirely until he had sufficient strength.

Thanking Tian Ruichi's kindness, Fang Yue looked down at his right hand.

The parchment's final 【Time Reversal】 only restored the severed, parchment-converted hand.

The wounds inflicted by the black-robed man still lingered within him, needing time to heal.

In broad daylight like this, 【Breath of Night】 couldn't function either. After popping some pills, without 【Breath of Night】, his drug resistance kicked in, and Fang Yue could only stare helplessly.

Without the sheepskin scroll, he couldn't use Time Rewind either, so his means of recovery were naturally a bit lacking.

"Right, speaking of which, I saw a lot of small boats also moored at the wharf at Hanjiang Wharf. Could those black-robed men in pursuit use those small boats to chase us?"

Jing Yan suddenly seemed to recall something and asked.

Fang Yue looked at Tian Ruichi in confusion as well, but the latter shook his head slightly.

"You've misunderstood. The only vessel that can cross Han Jiang is this great ship of Han Jiang controlled by Old Helmsman. Although the fare is absurdly expensive, it is the only ship in all of Qing Guo that can cross Han Jiang! As for those small boats and skiffs you saw at Hanjiang Wharf, those are small vessels that the imperial clan has spent the last hundred years researching and imitating the construction of the great ship of Han Jiang, and finally created."

(End of chapter)