Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 172 Returning to Aid Minzhou, Three Bowls of Wine Before Passing the Hill (Seeking Votes and Subscriptions)

Several days have passed in the blink of an eye.

Wang Cheng's evil spirit body and his living body separated again. The evil spirit body continued to oversee the construction of the vassal state and prepare for the upcoming war in the East Sea Kingdom, while the living body returned to Minzhou with the envoy fleet along with Shen Yueye.

Inside the cabin, Wang Fugui, who had already been promoted to hereditary commander of a thousand households, changed into a majestic imperial robe with a qilin design.

On the other side, Shen Yueye used the illusion technique of [Heart Moon Fox] to transform into a maid in green robes and serve him.

While she may not be as stunningly beautiful as her real appearance, she is still pretty and charming, pleasing to the eye.

Somewhat contrary to the natural order, the commander was using a small brush to apply balsam juice to the "little maid's" delicate hands.

"Next time, we can try using tung oil refined with the [Yang Transformation] technique; the effect might be even better."

Ever since the two of them played the game of the King Catching the Fox Spirit, they developed a certain tacit understanding as the mighty King and his peerless enchantress, and their interactions became much more relaxed.

Because they were startled by their master/father's sudden arrival that night, the two thieves, feeling guilty, dared not venture any further.

Moreover, the disappearance of their fellow apprentice Zheng Qian meant they could no longer hide away a thousand miles from Shen Yuting and continue their romantic escapades.

"Master said there were no signs of a struggle at the scene where my senior brother disappeared. He was a perfectly healthy person who just vanished into thin air."

After inspecting the scene, Zheng thought that if his family hadn't been running the Five Tigers Sect for hundreds of years, he would have accidentally fallen into some kind of karst cave or blessed land.

A mere sixth-rank official like myself was powerless to resist; the methods of those upright gentry were utterly sinister.

Wang Cheng specifically asked his senior brother Zhang Quan and discovered that Zheng Qian, Zheng Shiniang, and several elites under Lin Daoqian had disappeared in exactly the same way.

This series of disappearances went unnoticed by anyone; not a single clue could be found.

They naturally combined these missing persons cases and pinned the blame on Qingliu.

Shen Yueye understood Zheng Qian and the Zheng family behind him better than Wang Cheng:

"The Wuhumen Shipyard was the second largest shipyard in the entire Great Zhao Dynasty, after the Longjiang Shipyard in Southern Zhili. It is said that it built half of the treasure ships in the treasure fleet and several 'Heavenly Treasure Ships'."

If anyone can truly decipher Zheng He's treasure maps drawn in ciphertext, then no one is more likely to be able to do so than them.

However, Zheng Qian was the third child in his family. Entering my father's household meant that he could not inherit the true mantle of the Zheng family. Everyone who knew him knew this.

Aside from the elders, the most capable member of the Zheng family among the younger generation was probably his eldest brother, Zheng Jin, who had cultivated to the fifth rank of "Master Craftsman".

Therefore, I think it's more likely that Zheng Qian's disappearance was a mistake, and Qingliu's real target was actually Zheng Jin.

If those people realize this, they might continue committing crimes; they are unlikely to abandon this key figure.

Although your master reminded Zheng Shi that day, we still need to meet Zheng Jin as soon as possible so that we can follow the clues to find Zheng Qian.

My father deduced that to achieve something similar to a blessed land, the worlds in a novelist's book, the landscapes and grottoes of an artist, and even the Azure Snail Dojo passed down by a living deity of the highest rank could all be realized, and he urged us to pay close attention.

Wang Cheng had no objection to his senior's plan:

"There should be enough time."

Since their goal is to decipher the nautical charts, those who are captured are at least not in immediate danger of death; at worst, they will be enslaved.

On the bright side, if the upright officials had been more magnanimous and instead of using torture, they had tested them with beauty and money to motivate them, and perhaps Third Brother would have been so happy he'd forgotten all about home.

Shen Yueye raised her foot and kicked his shin, saying angrily:

"You, a sixth-rank official with the extraordinary skill of 'listening to thunder,' would you also like to experience their honey trap?"

Wang Cheng pulled his legs together, trapping the girl's small feet, and said with a grin:

"How could that be? With the perspective honed by my senior sister, I'm already immune to all beauty."

I added in my mind, "Unless Sister Axiao tortures me."

At that moment, a soldier outside suddenly reported:

"Lord Commander, we're almost at the anchorage you mentioned."

The two walked out of the cabin together and onto the deck of the five-masted ship.

In addition to the mission's own ten warships, they saw that there were many merchant ships following behind, not only flying their own merchant flags, but also most of them flying the Five Peaks Flag.

This represents the long-standing authority of the Donghai Kingdom:

"No pirate at sea shall survive unless they are under the control of the Five Peaks Flag!"

From the time of Wang Zeng, merchant ships flying this flag could sail freely in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, free from plunder by other pirates, and even receive protection from coastal government troops.

At that time, Wufengqi relied on its monopolistic armed forces to protect merchant ships, forming a maritime security special zone and maritime trade order.

Although the Donghai Kingdom has now lost the suppression of Wang Zeng, a third-rank [living ghost god].

However, once reorganized and with its upstream and downstream operations connected, Wufengqi can still maintain necessary maritime order on major shipping routes.

First half: Yuegang goes without saying. For Wang Cheng, it was his base camp, which he had conquered with his own sword and spear. He also owned most of the property of Baoshan Thousand Household Office, and most of the soldiers were Tanka people under his command.

The middle section: A group of generals who guard the seas and those who tread the seas are responsible for suppressing pirates and coastal evils, maintaining stability in the region. On the surface, they are indeed checking and balancing each other, but in reality, most of them are surnamed Wang. The latter section: This is the most powerful Donghai Kingdom.

Wang Cheng naturally had the confidence to relaunch the dual-flag system, which emphasized both the business flag and the battle flag.

They even went further and carried forward the work built upon their father's foundation.

"A free package for our own people; a basic package for nine taels of silver; a premium package for ninety-nine taels of silver; a glory package for nine hundred and ninety-nine taels of silver; and a supreme package for nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine taels of silver."

The higher the level of the flag's package, the more thorough the services provided to them by the entire industry chain consisting of vassal states, soldiers, and bandits.

Of course, when a system is newly established, customer service may not always be the best it can be.

But if you're not my customer, then the service will definitely be inadequate!
I may not know exactly who bought my flag, but I definitely remember who didn't.

Especially those ships belonging to the upright gentry, if you don't want to make fair deals with me, I also know a little about fists and guns!
Looking up, he saw that both the envoy Luo Wenlong and the captain Li Jingjiang were already waiting on the deck.

"Commander Wang, are you really going to disembark here?"

As far as I know, your Zhenhaiwei Commander Xing Baichuan is not an easy person to talk to. Asking him to send a ship to pick you up is simply a pipe dream.

Although we need to send the delegation back to the capital by water first, dropping you off halfway through the journey won't be a problem."

Luo Wenlong also said:
"Yes, Brother Fugui, this place isn't even on the main shipping routes. How will you get back south after you get off the ship?"

Wang Cheng thanked the two for their kindness, pointed towards the distant island, and smiled:

"Haha, how can public resources be used for private purposes?"
The official's ship has arrived.

This is the very place where Han Shushu held the promotion ceremony, which allowed Wang Cheng to obtain the [Dragon's Blood] inheritance and the monkey brain sea urchin cluster.

From afar, a powerful fleet, led by two sailing warships, the "Qingyi" and the "Babao," and consisting of four or five other warships, could be seen circling around from behind the small island.

These two sailing warships alone were enough to challenge the mission's fleet, and a series of exclamations arose from the other merchant ships:
"Hiss! It's a pirate fleet from the West!"

"Run! Run! The delegation can't defeat them!"

If Wang Cheng hadn't given prior warning, the fighters on the five-masted sealed ship would have also sounded the alarm in their shock.

In reality, it was just Wang Cheng's private armed force outside of the army, bandits, and vassal states—the Green Robe Escort Agency.

Yes, you could also call them the people!
Wang Cheng and Shen Yueye received the news while they were still on their way back to provide support.

After mysteriously disappearing, Zheng Qian, who didn't know where he was taken, slowly woke up in a forest. He looked around and found that there was no one around.

He touched the back of his head, which still felt a bit heavy.

"Hiss! What did I do here?"

He took out three precious gold Wuzhu coins from his body, which had been passed down from the Han Dynasty and were made by the [Water Balance Commandant].

He used a tortoise shell with natural Bagua patterns on its back to cast a divination, demonstrating the secret and orthodox method of the Six Lines Coin Divination that he had painstakingly studied for many years.

First time: Initial line, three reversed positions (old yang—)
Second time: Second line, two backs and one character (Lesser Yin)
Third time: Three lines, two backs and one character (Lesser Yin)
Fourth time: Fourth line, two backs and one character (Lesser Yin)
Fifth time: Fifth line, two backs and one character (Lesser Yang—)
Sixth time: Six lines, three meanings (Old Yin)
Arrange the trigrams from bottom to top, and quickly form the Water-Thunder Tun hexagram ().

The upper trigram is Kan (坎): representing water, danger, hardship, peril, and predicament.

The lower trigram is Zhen (震): representing thunder, action, vibration, vitality, and striving.

The hexagram texts, which I had long memorized, quickly surfaced in my mind. My attention lingered on the text of the first line of the "Tun" hexagram: "Hesitation, it is advantageous to remain steadfast, it is advantageous to establish a lord."

The words "Tunpanhuan" seemed to have flooded his head, instantly submerging Zheng Qian in the deep sea. The current situation was clearly very bad.

"It is advantageous to remain steadfast and establish a marquisate" is like a ray of light piercing through the darkness, bringing him a glimmer of hope.

I secretly said:

"Now is not the time to rush in recklessly; we must remain calm."

As for the literal meaning of "establishing feudal lords," it simply means the emperor enfeoffing feudal lords. However, in the current context, there are other interpretations.

He suddenly raised his head and looked up at the sky above:
"Preserve myself, find allies, and rely on someone who can help me escape this predicament!"

I breathed a slight sigh of relief and glanced at the plants and trees around me.

To my astonishment, they were all composed of countless characters in a flamboyant and elegant style, such as "giant trees reaching the sky," "covering the sky and blocking out the sun," and "a large insect lurks here."

When he blinked and examined it more closely, there was no longer any distorted writing; it was just ordinary flowers, plants, and trees.

When he stood up, he suddenly felt a daze, as if he had forgotten something important.

Driven by instinct, he picked up a baton that had fallen to the ground and continued walking forward.

In the distance, at the end of a winding mountain path, stood a tavern, with a wine flag hanging in front of the door bearing five somewhat faded characters:
“Three bowls and you’re done!”

Zheng Qian didn't notice anything unusual about those five words and strode over.

(End of this chapter)