Chapter 803: Jingcheng in Upheaval (2/2, please subscribe)

The wooden board was, naturally, no ordinary wooden board.

It was a plank from one of Han Jiang's great ships, and it had to be damp enough — the longer it had been in contact with Han Jiang, the more effective it would be.

This was only the first step: curbing the breeding of the red-eye.

If it worked, it would prove that Qingchen's line of thinking was correct, and the next step could naturally proceed.

The so-called tidal plank — the one that had been in contact with Han Jiang the longest — was naturally the section at the bottom of the hull.

In theory, the part on the outside of the hull would be the most suitable, but for safety's sake, just keeping a portion from the interior would do.

With a plan in hand, the group quickly set to work. Fang Yue glanced toward the deck, calculating that Tian Ruichi had gone to talk with Old Helmsman some time ago, and it still wasn't over — he wondered how the conversation was going.

If it was all just a misunderstanding, and the course could be adjusted through communication, then naturally everyone would be happy; otherwise, they'd have to start considering their next contingency.

Setting aside his thoughts, Fang Yue went to deal with the wooden board issue first.

……

The bow.

Tian Ruichi stood before Old Helmsman, his expression complicated.

"Old Helmsman, where are you taking us?"

"……"

Old Helmsman said nothing, didn't even open his eyes. Like a slab of withered tree bark, stuck to the helm, utterly still.

"Old Helmsman, answer me! Where are you taking us? What exactly was Master's order? I'm not the only one on this ship. If it were only me, no matter what Master meant, no matter what Old Helmsman thought, I wouldn't have a single word of complaint — this life of mine was given to me by Master in the first place. But the others on the ship are innocent; they're all my friends…"

Tian Ruichi was still speaking when Old Helmsman's withered, bark-like skin slowly twitched; he opened his eyes and cut him off.

"Blazing Flame Sect."

"What…"

"Your master told me to carry you to Blazing Flame Sect."

"But, this… why? Master clearly knows I was ordered to escort people back to the capital…"

"……"

Seeing Old Helmsman about to close his eyes and drift off again, Tian Ruichi urged anxiously: "Old Helmsman! Answer me!"

"The Heavenly Devouring is imminent, Jingcheng is in upheaval, await orders at Blazing Flame Sect. If after the Heavenly Devouring your master is still alive, I will come fetch you back to the capital myself; if not, you are to leave on your own, and never set foot in Jingcheng again for the rest of your life — those are your master's exact words. Beyond that, I know nothing."

What?!

Jingcheng is in upheaval? Master might die?

Tian Ruichi's face changed, and he said hurriedly: "Old Helmsman, correct the course — I want to go back to the capital! Jingcheng is in upheaval, Master is in danger, how could I sit by and do nothing!"

"……"

This time, Old Helmsman closed his eyes completely, and no matter what Tian Ruichi said, he gave no response.

Tian Ruichi clenched his fists, his heart full of worry.

Although his master's Sky Sword swordsmanship was unrivaled, Jingcheng was a place where crouching tigers and hidden dragons abounded; if something truly major happened, even his master would struggle to protect himself.

Going back might not help much either, but Tian Ruichi just wanted to stay by his master's side, to repay his master's kindness.

Seeing that Old Helmsman truly paid him no attention at all, Tian Ruichi stamped his feet in agitation. After thinking for a while, he gritted his teeth and returned to the cabin.

The moment he was back in the cabin, Tian Ruichi found that none of them were there.

Only the Special Envoy's men were running up and down carrying short wooden boards.

Tian Ruichi stopped someone to ask, then climbed up to the deck in confusion, went to the stern, and only then saw a group of people crowded together in a circle, as if something had happened.

Could it be… Jing Yan is dead?

Tian Ruichi's heart gave a sudden lurch.

Before he left, Fang Yue and the others had still been discussing how to save Jing Yan; now, the moment he came back, this was the scene — it was inevitable that Tian Ruichi's thoughts ran darker. He wasn't close to Jing Yan himself, but Jing Yan and Fang Yue had been through life and death together, and Fang Yue had done him a kindness, so by that reckoning, Jing Yan's death still hit him hard, and a sense of sorrow welled up unbidden in his heart.

At a time like this, Brother Ye must surely need my comfort.

Suppressing his emotions, Tian Ruichi quickly squeezed into the crowd.

But when he looked carefully inside, he found the situation seemed rather different from what he'd imagined, and he froze on the spot.

He saw Fang Yue and the others, late at night, had set up a few small pots and lit fires.

Some were charcoal-grilling, some were boiling in water, some were slow-sealing…

And their ingredients were… wooden boards.

Fang Yue, for his part, was using a small dagger to pry mussels and laver off the damp wooden boards, scraping the mussels and moss down and carefully placing them into a dish — in this short while, three small dishes' worth had already piled up in front of him.

Beside him, someone else had taken a dish of mussels and was grinding them finely into powder.

Some were being set aside for Qingchen's convenience, prepared to be taken as medicine; others needed to be taken to a few other small pots for material processing.

And beside these people, the barely-breathing Jing Yan was being forcibly fed a bowl of green soup by Qingchen, his complexion quickly growing rosier.

"You, what are you…?"

"Making an antidote."

Qingchen was concise, leaving Tian Ruichi somewhat dumbfounded.

It was Fang Yue who patiently explained the situation.

"In other words, Jing Yan will be all right?"

"Mm, from how things look now, curbing the red-eye's breeding has already shown results — it's just that the current materials only offer a temporary curb. Qingchen told us to strip everything off the boards, try every kind of cooking method, pour it into Jing Yan, and see how he reacts, so we can find the best solution.

By the way, how did your talk with Old Helmsman go? Is he willing to correct the course?"

Hearing Fang Yue bring this up, Tian Ruichi's expression dimmed.

"No. Old Helmsman won't correct the course… but I'm going back to the capital!"

On those last four words, Tian Ruichi's face was set with resolve.

Fang Yue noticed the shift in his mood and asked, puzzled: "What happened?"

Tian Ruichi was a simple sort, and quickly relayed Elder Duo's words to Fang Yue.

Heaven-Devouring… Jingcheng…

Even a Rain-Rank Heaven Sword could fall…

Fang Yue lowered his head, frowning in thought for a moment, then looked up and said, "Don't rush. We definitely need to go to Jingcheng. As for how to make Elder Duo 'behave,' we'll discuss it slowly…"

"Aaaaaah!"

Fang Yue was just saying this when Jing Yan suddenly let out a string of blood-curdling screams.

Fang Yue looked over and saw Qingchen, expressionless, driving a red-hot, charcoal-like wooden board into Jing Yan's chest — which was why Jing Yan was screaming in agony.

This treatment method was so brutally crude it didn't even treat Jing Yan like a person…

Fang Yue noticed Lin Ling beside him shrink her neck, and the look in her eyes toward Qingchen gained a shade of complexity.

"Ye Ge, confirmed — the high-temperature roasted wooden board works best. The other plans can be shelved; just get a few more high-temperature boards. Next step: transfer those still-active parasitic red eyes inside Jing Yan's body."

Saying so, Qingchen took out a dagger and, under Jing Yan's terrified gaze, cut a long gash along Jing Yan's right arm.

"Press your arm flat against the deck and hold that position. Don't move."

(End of Chapter)