Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 22 Coffin Ship

Rong Wanyin gritted her teeth and shook her head, clearing her mind of the image of the bones lying inside. She suppressed her fear, slapped the water hard, and with a mighty effort, they finally landed safely in the coffin...

Rong Wanyin had an extremely keen sense of smell. She tried her best to distance herself from the wooden planks, but she could still smell the faint stench of corpses mixed in with the strong aroma of wood. The stench was like black, sticky mud, tightly wrapped around you, impossible to shake off, and it made you feel nauseous.

The two men almost collapsed in the coffin. But at this moment, an explosion was heard in the pavilion.

"Oh no! It looks like there's a lot of kerosene hidden in the pavilion. The coffin is heavy and the speed is too slow. If there's another explosion, we might all be injured. We have to leave here quickly." Rong Wanyin said anxiously.

"But this... the coffin is too heavy, and moving too slowly. Miss Rong, please don't worry about me, just go quickly..." Yan Mingzhang felt unbearable pain in his body and almost fainted. These were the only words he kept saying over and over again: he was a burden to her.

"Bang!" There was another thunderous explosion, and the "treasure box" shook violently several times!

"Why is there so much water here?" When Rong Wanyin touched the "treasure chest" and found that the water was above her ankles, she panicked.

The "treasure chest" is leaking!
When it rains, it pours...

There was another explosion, and a heat wave hit. The "treasure chest" began to shake violently. Oh no, the "treasure chest" was about to overturn!

Rong Wanyin had just thought of this, but before she could react, a huge wave overturned the "treasure chest" and trapped the two of them underneath the "treasure chest."

The heavy wooden board suddenly hit the back of Rong Wanyin's head. She felt dizzy and her grip slowly loosened...

The two of them slowly sank into the water.
-
"Where are you, my lord?"

It’s the sound of the long wind!

"We... are here!" Rong Wanyin tried hard to open her eyes and wanted to shout, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she was poured with several mouthfuls of water.

Changfeng couldn't hear his own voice! He couldn't see himself either!
"Hua La" is the sound of wind hitting the water, once, twice, three times...

Why is the sound getting farther and farther away!
No, Changfeng, come back soon!

Rong Wanyin treaded hard to keep her head above water. She slapped the water hard, trying to tell Changfeng that they were here!

"Miss Rong!" Changfeng seemed to sense something suddenly. He turned around and saw Rong Wanyin splashing on the water.

Changfeng rowed the "boat" over with all his might and pulled Rong Wanyin aboard. Rong Wanyin then realized that this wasn't a boat at all, but rather a collection of door panels. It couldn't possibly carry many people, so Changfeng was the only one there. It seemed that as soon as they left, Changfeng had gone to unload the door panels.

Rong Wanyin pointed her finger into the water, unable to utter a word. "Go! Go!"
Changfeng understood, dived into the water, picked up Yan Mingzhang, and dragged him onto the wooden board.

Fortunately, fortunately it hasn’t drifted far away, Rong Wanyin thought so and collapsed on the wooden board.

The three of them practically filled the door panel, but this wasn't a boat; it was supported by a single bamboo pole, making it only slightly faster than a coffin. Rong Wanyin supported the nearly unconscious Yan Mingzhang, preventing him from falling. Suddenly, she noticed the many buoys in the water. Then, thinking of how Butler Wen had managed to move people silently, she seemed to recall something: "Changfeng, quickly pull that buoy! There must be a rope underneath it. If we pull on it, we'll go much faster!"

The wooden board was light, and Changfeng and Rong Wanyin pulled the rope and finally drove away from the pavilion quickly.

Waves of explosions were heard, and Rong Wanyin only felt waves of heat...

The three finally reached the shore, where Mo Yun led his servants to rescue them. Next to them lay Wen Yi and his wife, tied up like two giant dumplings. They lay in the mud on the shore, half their faces submerged in the mud and water, and on the other half there was a large footprint, which, judging by its size, must have been Mo Yun's. The two men lay on the ground, their "heroic deeds" well known to everyone. As the saying goes, when a wall falls, everyone pushes it down. Although no one paid any attention to them, as everyone came and went to help rescue them, someone would always "accidentally" step on them or kick them. The two men wailed and cursed, until they no longer had the energy to curse.

The footsteps back and forth are so noisy...
-
It's so noisy...

Yan Mingzhang was awakened by a noisy sound. It was the servants cleaning the yard.

Yan Mingzhang was about to get up to pour himself some water when he pulled the wound on his back, which caused some pain. Changfeng, who had just entered the room, grabbed him and said, "Sir, Doctor Yan said you need to rest more."

"Changfeng, cough cough cough... I'm really better now... I can't stand lying down anymore." Yan Mingzhang said with a smile, "Have you sent out the memorial I wrote? Cough cough cough..."

"Sir, don't worry! It has been sent out." Changfeng poured water for Yan Mingzhang and handed it over.

"How...is she?" Yan Mingzhang looked a little hesitant.

"Huh? Oh, you mean Miss Rong. She's still the same. Sitting in front of that big window, looking at the pavilion, and has hardly eaten anything for several days. The waterways under this lake are interconnected in all directions, and it's impossible to find anyone. I'm afraid... I don't know whether Miss Wen is alive or dead. Maybe it's a good thing that she hasn't been found." Changfeng sighed.

"Changfeng, go buy something for me." Yan Mingzhang said.

Rong Wanyin sat by the window of Tinglanxuan, the room where Wen Xin had lived before, leaning on the window frame, staring at the burnt pavilion in the distance in a daze.

At this time, Yan Mingzhang came in with an oil-paper package. He sat down next to the eight-immortals table and opened the oil-paper package.

"Thank you, I'm not hungry, I just want to be alone for a while." Rong Wanyin said without even turning her head.

"Oh, I won't disturb you. I just want to eat a gourd chicken here. Let you smell it." Yan Mingzhang said as he opened the fan and fanned the gourd chicken.

"Sir, why is it always so difficult to be a good person? Sister Xin was so gentle, why... I don't know what happened to her. How can people be so bad! Do you think bad people really shouldn't be killed? Who is right and who is wrong? I really don't know." Rong Wanyin's eyes were filled with sadness and confusion.

"We'll find her eventually. I've sent all the yamen runners out to look for her, and I've also hired local villagers who are good at swimming to fish in the lake and nearby tributaries. Maybe we can't find her, or maybe it's even better. There are so many waterways under the water. If you're a good swimmer, you can swim out through the underground river. Maybe she's somewhere else and has started a new life." Yan Mingzhang comforted him softly, "There is indeed a lot of darkness in the world, but there can also be light, and there are a lot of gray areas where good and evil are hard to distinguish. It's hard to judge right and wrong, so we can only do things with a clear conscience!"

Yan Mingzhang tore off a chicken leg and fanned it even harder.

(End of this chapter)