Chapter 16

Sunrise on the ocean has always been very moving. The sun rose higher from the coastline and dyed the sky in fiery red. As the color gradually lightened, it created a beautiful scenery.

Yet, Ling Qingyu was full of resentment. Anyone who was sleeping like a dead pig, lifted onto a cliff and slapped on the face until she was awake would not be moved by the beautiful scenery.

“How about, I will kill one hundred people for you without charge. Just don’t look at me like this,” said Yan San with a good temper. “You should think quickly about how we can get rid of those four-legged beasts and get my revenge!”

Yan San awakened in the darkest time before dawn. When he woke, he found himself sleeping on the original beach. The others were all sleeping in the bushes. Of course, what he paid attention to was not this. But, he remembered that the huge beasts actually tricked him! A raging fire appear in this heart. However, since he had no knowledge about the beasts, he didn’t even think before sneaking to Ling Qingyu’s side, picking her up, and carefully carrying her over the others. He ran to the top of the little cliff and looked at the bay as he began to grind his teeth. Then, he lightly patted Ling Qingyu awake.

Ling Qingyu was speechless. In order to save this highly skilled, though unreliable, martial artist, they had went through a lot of trouble. But, such a skilled person is necessary for survival in the wild. That guy, Shi Fang, gave him a lot of snake blood. At the moment, he was full of energy. His eyes also shined with green light. He was badly hurt by snake bites yesterday and was fainted the entire time without food or water.

The giant lizards are actually not combative beasts. But, they have large bodies and can run fast. Their breaths also carry poison. Yet, you had to provoke them and have already been targeted. It’s possible that as long as they see anything with two-legs, they will attack. Aren’t you the number one assassin in the world? In a situation like this, you should be able to kill all these lizards. Why should I go!

Ling Qingyu’s gaze was too contemptuous, so Yan San kept shaking his head. “It’s not hard to kill them. But, these beautiful little guys may be the only ones in existence. It may be possible to tame them and have them watch your yard. It could be quite good.”

Only you would use Komodo dragons to watch a yard!

Ling Qingyu yawned. “I can’t help you. You should wait until Zheng Xi and the others wake up, then go catch the lizards together.” Thinking a moment, she continued, “With so many big men, why are you asking me, a little girl?”

Yan San leaned sideways and thought about this. Then, he said seriously, “Tell me the truth, are you really not a man? When we were on the ship, there was a ship-full of shirtless men. Yet, you didn’t even blush. You also went to watch a spring palace scene with live players in the middle of the night. When fighting for food, you were more savage than wolves. Of course, you were also calm when saving everyone. But, not a single one of these things is what a sheltered little girl can do!”

Yan San’s gaze sweeped across Ling Qingyu’s plump body and thought: anyone who considers you as a woman is a pig.

Ling Qingyu clenched her teeth as she started to calculate. If she slapped him, or pushed him down, or used some tricks on his lower body, he might respond without restraint. Since martial arts are not on a simple spectrum, violence is not desirable.

Ling Qingyu breathed in to relax. I’ll just pretend everything he said is air!

Ling Qingyu’s deep breath woke the little cloud leopard in her bosom. The little cloud leopard crawled up with confused eyes and didn’t pay attention to the two humans. Under the gorgeous sun, he immediately saw lizards crawling out from the bottom of the giant cliff. Then, without hesitation, he jumped down from Ling Qingyu’s arms and ran down with his short little legs.

“Ah! Xiao Bai!” Ling Qingyu called as the little cloud leopard ran further away. She didn’t see the lizards coming out of the caves and only thought about losing the little cloud leopard before chasing after him.

“What is that? So ugly!” exclaimed Yan San with dislike. Then, he realized that Ling Qingyu had already went down the cliff after the ugly thing toward the bay. He secretly felt pleased. Even though she said she didn’t want to go, she still went. I, Yan San, really have quite the influence on both men and women.

After eating the snake gall, Ling Qingyu’s body was more agile. Her running speed also increased by many times. But, even then, she still couldn’t catch up to Xiao Bai’s short limbs. Ling Qingyu felt frustrated as she chased after him.

Before her frustration had lasted a minute, it turned into shock as she saw a crowd of huge lizards. With the speed she was running at while chasing after Xiao Bai, she was charging right into the lizards.

“Ah!” Ling Qingyu half-screamed before Yan San stopped her. With one hand on her collar and another holding her mouth, Yan San jumped toward the side lightly to hide them behind a big rock.

Then, the two of them peeked out carefully from the back of the rock.

“Wu, wu, wu.”

“Heng, heng, heng.”

“Wu, wu, wu, wu, wu, wu.”

“Heng, heng, heng, heng, heng, heng.”

Xiao Bai crouched in front of the lizards. In front of the crowd of humongous lizards, his little body was like an ant. But, he still held his head high. With his proud voice, one could see that he had the upper hand. The two sides conversed. Then, the large lizards actually lowered their voice and fell to the ground. One of them crawled in front of Xiao Bai, lowered its head and let Xiao Bai bite his body. After violently drinking for a while, Xiao Bai made a satisfied sound. The lizard retreated and another lizard started licking its wounds.

“Wu, wu, wu, wu.” After finishing his meal, Xiao Bai called toward Ling Qingyu, who was staring with wide eyes behind the rock.

“It’s telling me to go over?” asked Ling Qingyu with uncertainty. After seeing Xiao Bai’s contemptuous gaze, she immediately straightened her body and walked to Xiao Bai.

“Wu, wu, wu, wu, wu!” called Xiao Bai toward the lizards. Then, the lizards lowered their heads in front of Ling Qingyu as a sign of sincerity.

“Boss! You really didn’t lie to me! You’re actually the king of beasts!” Yan San ran joyfully over from the rock. He poked his scabbard arrogantly at the lizard’s head. “So many beautiful little guys. Boss, we should take them all back. Give me one as well.”

Before he even finished speaking, the number one assassin in the world received another face full of spit. And…. fainted.

Ling Qingyu looked at the collapsed Yan San, then turned around to look at the little cloud leopard. The king of beasts is probably this little guy. It’s a pity. I had wanted to raise him as a pet.

Xiao Bai saw Ling Qingyu in a daze. He grabbed her clothes, climbed to her chest, then burrowed inside. With a little yawn, he went back to sleep.

“Wait, don’t sleep.” Ling Qingyu grabbed the little cloud leopard’s neck and twisted him out. She laughed and said, “You tell them to give us some space. We can co-exist and not disturb each other.”

“Wu wu wu wu wu wu wu wu, wu wu wu wu wu, wu wu wu wu wu, wu wu wu wu.” Even though the little cloud leopard was just roaring, Ling Qingyu found that she actually understood him. He basically said: they are originally the cloud leopard’s food. With him here, they won’t come close. So, they mainly move around the other side of the six hundred meter rock cliff. This is just an outer yard where the lizards play.”

Then, the little cloud leopard called toward the lizards. They quickly lined up and moved back to the caves.

After the lizards left, the little cloud leopard glared angrily at Ling Qingyu, before burrowing back into her meaty chest to continue sleeping.

Ling Qingyu breathed a long sigh of relief. There will be a blessing after a disaster. The ancients did not deceive me. Watching the sky gradually light up, then looking down at Yan San, she decided to ignore him. The lizard’s poison should only paralyze him. He will wake up after some time. Since there weren’t anyone close by, it was perfect timing.

Ling Qingyu took her clothes off and dropped the little cloud leopard nearby. Then she went into the ocean for a bath.

The ocean floor here was different from the original beach. There were corals in the first beach. If she walked in barefoot, she would definitely be cut. However, under the water here, there were soft sand and smooth stones.

Stones? Ling Qingyu, who was just joyfully washing her body, suddenly stopped. Bending her waist, she grabbed a stone from the seafloor. Her eyes shined. All those who had struggled in seafaring did it for money. Seeing this top quality blood amber, her heart started beating uncontrollably.

Ling Qingyu plunged into the water and slowly extended her hand into the ocean floor. It was covered by a variety of amber.

A treasury!

Rare goods are treasured. With so many ambers, she could not bring all of them back. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be worth as much.

As her excitement passed, Ling Qingyu’s head began to work. On this island, there are golden nanmu, rosewood, and huanghuali trees. For shipbuilding, there are gold oil sandalwood and iron wood. For fragrances, there are qinan and agarwood. If they spend some effort, they can find scattered patches of longnao trees. For medical herbs, she heard Shi Fang talk about sumu, myrrh, ginseng, and ganoderma. These precious species of plants with different origins are all gathered here. There are also ambers on the seafloor. These findings aren’t scientific. In her memories, there shouldn’t be a place like this.

Unless, Ling Qingyu made a bold assumption, this is an independent island with its own ecosystem. This place would have to be completely isolated. If anyone came, it wouldn’t be able to maintain its precious objects. Since her original world didn’t have any records of this island, could it be unique to this world? If it is a zone like Bermuda, then the reason the Aeolus was able to arrive is because of the change in currents due to the volcanic eruption.

As if confirming her thoughts, a huge wave came from afar, but suddenly distorted around three kilometers away from the shore. Then, it dissipated and turned into a gentle wave, slowly coming over.

Ling Qingyu started having cold sweats. If this really is an independent space, then it may be easy to come in, but how will they leave? In her shock, Ling Qingyu’s brain started to imagine a different scenario. If they live like a group of savages on this island, then as the only female, she would be responsible for reproduction. Then, this island would be full of her own tribe.

That is too scary! Ling Qingyu quickly shook her head to clear her mind. Clenching her fist, she thought, even if I, Ling Qingyu, have to make a crack in this space myself, I would still find a way to go back! There are still enemies living a comfortable and wealthy life in the Wu County!

Ling Qingyu ran onto the cliff, put on her clothes, then began to make plans. No matter if they have a chance to leave or not, they must fix the Aeolus first. That means, there must be organization; a living area, a work area, a logging area, and a collection area.

—

Even Gu Sui looked at the talking Ling Qingyu with admiration.

This time, Ling Qingyu was the one who slapped all of them awake. Then, she brought them to this bay and started explaining her plans and arrangements on the beach. At first, everyone carefully guarded against lizards that might suddenly appear. But after a while, they found that the lizards really disappeared without a trace as Ling Qingyu said. They became more relaxed and also more excited as they listened to her admirable conduct.

“So, we will split up like this. There are snakes in the forest, so we shouldn’t go too deep. Lu Yao, Yang Zhao and Yan San. You guys will rotate to explore.” Ling Qingyu clapped her hands. “Now, all the big men, go and start carrying things over!”

Once they started, Gu Sui and Yang Zhao’s management abilities shone. Since people learned of Yang Zhao’s identity, Ding Dong and others automatically followed him. Even though there were only around twenty people, each did the work of two and didn’t waste any efforts.

Sure enough, capable subordinates are treasures! Ling Qingyu watched as the living area gradually formed. She was impressed. Then, she glanced at Yan San, who was basking in the sun, with an angry face and said, “Yan San, don’t blame me for not reminding you. There are arrangements for food distribution. Look, even little Shiyi has gone to gather fruits. Aren’t you afraid of starving to death?”

Yan San felt depressed. After awakening, he couldn’t see a single lizard. And to be honest, with the kind of work everyone is doing, no one valued his martial skills. Yang Zhao and Lu Yao were using their brute strength. The feeling of being useless despite his skills felt was horrible. After considering what might happen if he were really useless to the rest, Yan San decided to let go of his noble ideas and said, “If you are willing to help me get a parrot, I can go into the mountains with you.”

Climb the mountain! Ling Qingyu’s eyes swept through the dense jungle, then looked at the mountain range at the back. There are Yang Zhao and Gu Sui here. In addition, with Zhu Weili, Huang Jing and Zhou Tan, rebuilding the Aeolus should be no problem. However, the last few times they went deeper into the forest, they realized that other than Ling Qingyu, any other person who went deeper would be chased away by snakes. She was the only one who can explore.

Yan San’s martial arts were quite good. Bringing him would be much safer. However, there may be numerous exotic creatures hidden within the mountain range. With this guy’s attitude, bringing him would be like carrying a timed bomb!

Ling Qingyu watched as the little merchant, named Cai Jingfang, collected fruits with Ye Shiyi. Oh, this Cai Qingfang. Because of Zhu Weili’s reveal, people mostly ignored him. Later on, Ling Qingyu remembered that they still had this person. Hoping that he might be another big character, she had approached him to chat. The result was that this Cai Jingfang was just a regular farmer from Quanzhou. Because he could read a few words, everyone at home hoped that he would be a ranked scholar. He took tests for 10 years, starting from the age of thirteen. By the time he finally passed, he was already in poverty and got laughed at by the other farmers. Cai Jingfang sold all of his books and went to Quanzhou with only a silver and two coppers. He had hoped to go sailing with others, but even to be a small merchant on a ship, he would still have to spend a hundred silvers. With his situation, everyone ignored him. There were even others who threw him out the door. Helplessly, when he saw the Aeolus about to depart, he could only try his luck. He didn’t expect that he was actually allowed on the ship.

Ling Qingyu was shocked speechless. A silver and two coppers. He was quite daring!

“Yan San, I thought of something you can do.” Ling Qingyu looked at Ye Shiyi, then the waves at the coastline. Yesterday, Zheng Xi and she swam over. There really was a divide. On one side was the shallow sea; but across the line was the bottomless ocean with great waves that dissipated at the divide. Along that line, their sight also became distorted so that the the scenery further away seemed blurry. There also seemed to be a huge whirlpool.

“I remember reading before that it’s possible to train in the tide. It would increase your strength tremendously. Do you want to take Ye Shiyi over?”

Yan San looked at her and said, “Why not tell Lu Yao to take him? Lu Yao is practicing an orthodox kung fu style. Mine is used for killing people.”

“All paths become one. In the end, all kung fu are used for killing,” said Ling Qingyu softly. “I won’t ask about Lu Yao and Ye Shiyi’s situation. But since Ye Shiyi calls me sister, I have to help him a little. Besides, you are the one who is not doing anything, not Lu Yao!”

Yan San squinted his eyes. He had been paying attention to the little guy for a while. The little guy’s skeleton is quite miraculous. He really is a perfect candidate for practicing martial arts. Stealing Lu Yao’s disciple is also quite fun. According to Ling Qingyu, they may be staying for a while long, so it would be an interesting thing to do.

—

“Miss, you really want to go alone?” asked Zheng Xi again as he organized some things at the side.

“Don’t worry. I won’t go far.” Ling Qingyu put the basket Huang Jing made on her shoulder. Over the past few days, the bay had made much progress. They built a couple cottages. And under Ling Qingyu’s instruction, there were even bathrooms and privies. In order to prevent the seawater from being contaminated, Ling Qingyu bid Zhu Weili make a simple sewage system. There were a lot of white cloths within the commodities they had on the Aeolus, so they came into good use here. Even though he complained occasionally, Zhou Tan was really unparalleled as he showed his tailoring skills despite being a jeweler and metalsmith.

Everything was organized well. Yan San had taken Ye Shiyi into the sea to challenge the peak of martial arts. Originally, Yan San didn’t believe Ling Qingyu’s suggestion. So, at night, he sneaked to the waters. Even though he had powerful martial art skills, he still didn’t know how to swim. So, he held his breath and walked on the seafloor. After finding the boundary line, he realized that the power of the ocean at the bottom was something no common man can withstand. It was perfect for practicing inner strength. This reignited his desire to challenge the higher realms.

Ling Qingyu felt bored. In terms of planning, Zhu Weili was much more proficient than her. The laborious shipbuilding work was also not something she could do. She also wanted to keep her life instead of challenging the tide with Yan San, Lu Yao and Ye Shiyi. Thinking back and forth, she was still drawn to the mountain full of treasures. So, Huang Jing made her a basket. Bringing two sets of clothes that Zhou Tan made, she was ready to climb the mountain.

“I have to ask. Boss, do you recognize them?” Shi Fang described a variety of medical herbs in detail. Even though the bay had many rare herbs, it was still incomparable to what they saw in the forest. When he heard that Ling Qingyu planned to enter it, he was the first to agree. Then, he continuously spoke to her about which ones she should pick and bring back.

“I know! Don’t worry. When you guys had left me before, I was still able to find all of you. Nothing happened to me!” Ling Qingyu finished her preparations and smiled at the crowd of men facing her with worry.