Song of Adolescence

Chapter 198 Phoenix Takes Flight

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Lei Wujie looked at the ship and his heart stirred. He asked, "Can this ship sail to Three Snake Islands?"

Zhenzhu glanced at him with an odd expression. "You’re so strange. Why do you keep going on about Three Snake Islands? There are only venomous snakes on the islands. If you get bitten just once, you’ll die immediately."

"I just want to go have a look. After all, that’s the legendary boundary of the sea." Lei Wujie laughed. "You haven't answered my question yet."

"Yes, it can. This is a cedar longboat and there are only 62 of them in all of Beili." Zhenzhu’s brows furrowed as she thought for a while. "I remember my dad said that it is 44 zhang long and 18 zhang wide. It is the largest and fastest ship in Beili. Also, the cedar longboat is the only ship in the world that can sail that far into the sea."

"I see." Lei Wujie made a sudden realisation and said, "Zhenzhu, you know boats well."

"I heard it all from my dad. Back then, my dad was the top craftsman in our city, and he was also called on to contribute in the construction of the cedar longboats," Zhenzhu bragged with some pride.

"I understand." Lei Wujie nodded and picked up the fishing bag. "Then I will go back to my friends first."

"Are you coming back tomorrow?" Zhenzhu was slightly disappointed.

"Of course. Will the fish market still be here tomorrow?" Lei Wujie asked.

"Yes, this time, it’s the large fish market so it’ll be here for three days," Zhenzhu said with a smile.

"Then I will bring my friends here tomorrow," Lei Wujie told Zhenzhu. Then, he turned his head and glanced at the large ship thoughtfully.

Tidal View Inn.

Although the name was elegant, it was actually a bit shabby and deserted. It could almost be a match for Xiao Se’s Fallen Snow Villa. Xiao Se was lying on the bed tiredly, his eyes half-closed. Tang Lian sat at a small table to the side. Seeing that the sky was getting darker, he took out the flint and lit a candle.

"Da-shixiong." It was unprecedented for Xiao Se to call out ‘shixiong’.

"I know what you want to say," Tang Lian interrupted him and continued for him, "I'm hungry too."

Both their stomachs growled at the same time.

Tang Lian sighed. "We shouldn't have let that useless kid go out. This useless kid is too unreliable. It’s been more than four hours and he’s still not back. Who knows where he’s gone off to play. Could… something have happened to him?"

"No, we’ve hidden our tracks well along the way. No one has followed us. After the fight at Lei Clan Fort, the Hidden River suffered quite a loss too. There has been no movement from them recently." Xiao Se thought for a while. "I’m guessing…

"He must have drowned in the sea!"

Tang Lian nodded with a wry smile. "I really hope what you said is true."

"Hey, da-shixiong, why are you following this stinky fox now to trash talk me behind my back?" Lei Wujie kicked the door open, walked a few steps in and dropped a large pot of sea crabs onto the table with a clatter. "I not only bought the sea crabs and even cooked them for you. Was it easy for me?"

Suddenly, the scent of crabs filled the room. Xiao Se, who was on the verge of dying on the bed, immediately jumped out of the bed, moved a stool over and sat down at the table. However, his tone was still frosty as he said, "You were supposed to go out and buy food, but you went to buy raw crabs back to cook. Where did you get them?"

"That's a long story. I went to the famous seaside fish market. There was such a big tortoise there." Lei Wujie gestured exaggeratedly. "There was also such a long blue-spotted fish."

Xiao Se was eating a crab, but when he heard the last part, he was stunned and he threw the crab onto the table. "Such a big sea turtle, such a long blue-spotted fish. Okay, let’s not talk about you forgetting the time because you went shopping, but let me ask you this. Why did you bring back a whole lot of crabs, and nothing else but crabs!"

Lei Wujie raised a finger and said proudly, "Because it’s cheap. Look, such a big pot, I kid you not, only ten coppers!"

Tang Lian and Xiao Se exchanged a look. Half of Tang Lian's anger had dissipated at the sight of food and he’d already returned to his usual gracious and kind-hearted head disciple self. "Lei-shidi wasn’t wrong for his considerations. We still need to borrow a ship to sail into the open sea. Who knows how much that’s going to cost. Xiao Se, your body is weak now, so don’t get angry."

"Peh." Xiao Se spit out the word perfectly, and he didn't look like a seriously ill person at all as he rapped the table. "I’m the owner of Fallen Snow Villa and I’m the man who won a whole city at Grand Golden Terrace. Would I have no money to find a boat? I will buy the whole damn boat for you!"

"Okay, okay, okay. Villa Master Xiao is the overlord. Villa Master Xiao is so mighty." Lei Wujie picked up the pot of crabs and looked like he was going to take it away. "Then, Young Master Xiao, are you still eating this?"

"I’ll eat!" Xiao Se pressed down on the pot of crabs.

The three of them finally settled down to eat the crabs quietly. All of a sudden, there was only the sound of shelling and slurping in the room. As they were eating, Xiao Se suddenly wondered out loud, "And what’s the story with these seashells?"

"A local fisherman girl gave them to me." Lei Wujie smiled and said, "But I promised to give her a mirror in return. Xiao Se, do you have a mirror on you? Give me one?"

"All right," Xiao Se answered simply. He took out a small silver mirror from his sleeves and placed it on the table.

"Isn’t it a bit small?" Lei Wujie grabbed it hurriedly even as he regarded it with disdain. "It’ll make me look stingy, though it does look rather delicate." Although the mirror was small, the carving of the patterns on its corners were extremely detailed.

"This was made by the palace craftsman, Zuo San. One of it can buy a thousand of the bronze mirrors you mentioned." Xiao Se smirked. "I see that you have a rare chance at a peach blossom, so I’ll give it to you despite my better judgement."

"Peach blossom?" Lei Wujie was taken aback for a while, and then he retorted, "Xiao Se, you’re such a jerk. You’re afraid that I will steal Miss Ye from you, so you’ll grab at any chance to send me away, right! No way, I tell you!"

"Shut up!" Xiao Se glared at him.

"I didn't expect you to be this sort of a person, Xiao Se! I, Lei Wujie, have been blind. We already agreed that good men play fair…" Lei Wujie went on and on about himself. Xiao Se couldn’t be bothered to pay attention and continued to eat his crab with his head down.

"All right, all right!" Tang Lian yelled. "Stop stirring up trouble. Did you find out about the ship, as I told you to?"

Lei Wujie turned aside indignantly. "I've asked around. The boats here can’t sail that far. Also, the government officials won’t allow passage."

"Ordinary fishermen are forbidden from sailing beyond a hundred miles into the open sea. That is the Sea Territories district. Twelve years ago, Beili issued a ban on sea travel. Since then, only the official ships of the Eastern Municipal Government and merchant ships that have obtained an official travel pass can sail into the open sea," Xiao Se explained.

"Only you know everything!" Lei Wujie said dourly. "Since you already know, why’d you make me go ask around? Wasted my time."

"I wanted you to go and see if any large merchant ships had docked around here recently. Large merchant ships usually have the travel pass," Xiao Se said.

"There’s one," Lei Wujie said suddenly. "It's a very big boat, called a cedar longboat. The girl said that this boat can go very far out to sea."

"Cedar longboat!" Xiao Se and Tang Lian were both surprised.

"Yes, there was also a very impressive flag on the ship. On it was a phoenix that looked like it had burst into flames and was about to fly off!" Lei Wujie recalled.

"Is that an official ship of the government?" Tang Lian frowned slightly and asked Xiao Se.

Xiao Se shook his head and looked solemn. "No, the emblem painted on the flag is called “Phoenix Takes Flight,” which is the crest of the Qingzhou Mu family.”

"Mu family?"

"Yes, the richest family in Qingzhou, the Mu family."

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