Chapter 277: The Island

A broad river surged through a mountain gorge, boats coming and going over its waters. On one cargo vessel, a merchant in blue-green robes stood at the bow as the ship cut through wind and waves. After gazing ahead for a while, he returned to the cargo hold, patted the goods beneath their oilcloth covering, and inspected them again. Confirming that nothing was amiss, he was in an excellent mood.

A crewman passing on watch laughed. "Once this whole shipment reaches the capital, the proprietor will make another tidy profit, won't he?"

The merchant smiled. "Don't worry. None of you will miss out. Once the goods are sold, I'll let everyone eat, drink, and enjoy themselves properly."

"That's what we were waiting to hear!" Everyone burst out laughing.

Someone called jokingly, "Proprietor, will you take us to Among the White Clouds and let us broaden our horizons?"

"Get lost! You think I pick my money up off the ground?" the merchant snapped, waving him away.

"Hahaha..." Another round of laughter followed.

Still smiling himself, the merchant returned to the cabin and went down into the lowest hold. Eight men sat in two rows in the dimness, straining at the oars.

He called loudly, "Put a little more strength into it, everyone! Once we're through this gorge, the capital is right ahead."

Five of the eight young men exchanged glances, delight appearing on their faces. Just as he had said, when the ship emerged from the gorge, the vast Qi capital came into view ahead. The current gradually gentled, and the vessel finally pulled in at a riverside wharf outside the city. Many ships were already moored there. A gangplank was laid down, and people began disembarking one after another.

A friend of the merchant was waiting at the wharf. The merchant went ashore to meet him, and the two greeted each other with cheerful conversation.

The five young oarsmen disembarked as well and approached the merchant. One cupped his hands. "Proprietor, shouldn't our wages be settled now?"

The merchant looked somewhat impatient. He turned and called to one of his crewmen, "Pay them."

The crewman immediately beckoned. "Come over here."

"Thank you, Proprietor." The five young men cupped their hands in thanks and went over.

Before long, however, all five returned. Each held up a silver coin. One of them said, "Proprietor, didn't we agree on five hundred copper coins apiece? Why are we getting only one hundred?"

The merchant said, "You think everything you ate and drank along the way cost nothing?"

The young man exclaimed, "Didn't we agree that food and lodging were included?"

"I say, you young fellows aren't looking for trouble, are you?" The merchant clasped his hands behind his back and sneered. Seven or eight crewmen from the ship immediately crowded around, some drawing knives in open intimidation.

The five young men looked furious but seemed not to dare say anything. In the end, under the threat, they lowered their heads and slunk away resentfully, drawing a burst of mocking laughter behind them. Only after they had gone some distance did the five exchange smiles again.

One looked toward the towering walls of the distant capital and said excitedly, "We finally made it!"

The young man in the middle said, "We'll split up by that grove ahead. Go separately to the different city gates and keep your eyes open for the markers Boss left behind."

Just as he said, the group dispersed beside the grove. The young man who had given the order stayed beneath the trees to wait for everyone to return and regroup. He had not waited long when thunderous hoofbeats came from the official road in the distance. Turning, he saw five riders galloping quickly toward him.

As the five horses swept past, the young man's eyes lit up. He sprang to his feet and shouted, "Dayong! Dayong!"

The five young riders looked back, immediately reined in, wheeled their mounts around, and raced back. They jumped down beside the grove, and both sides erupted into cheers, throwing their arms around one another in excitement.

A caravan was approaching not far away. The first young man immediately hissed for silence again and again, signaling for everyone to restrain themselves so outsiders would not notice anything odd.

The young fellow called Dayong clapped him on the shoulder. "Zhao Mancang, you got here before us. Did Boss send you to meet us?"

Zhao Mancang grinned awkwardly. "Our group only just arrived too. The others went looking for the markers."

Dayong looked around. "Since someone's already searching, let's wait here."

Zhao Mancang looked at their horses in surprise. "You came on horseback? Where did you get the horses?"

Dayong looked even more surprised. "There are horses everywhere on these grasslands. Where do you think we got them? If we didn't ride, were we supposed to walk?"

Zhao Mancang asked, "If you were riding, how did you only get here now?"

One of them muttered, "Don't even mention it. In the State of Zhao, a bunch of soldiers seized us and tried to press us into the army. We finally found a way to escape, but it delayed us badly. Otherwise we'd have arrived ages ago." Then he asked, "What about you, Mancang? Why did you only just get here?"

Zhao Mancang hemmed and hawed without answering.

The others immediately crowded around and pressured him until he finally confessed honestly. "We kept finding merchant caravans traveling in the same direction, did work for them, and hitched along with them."

Someone sneered. "You even worked for people? Too much strength and nowhere to spend it? That's a stupid enough method."

Zhao Mancang immediately defended himself. "It was for safety! We don't know the people or the roads here, but merchant caravans travel these routes all the time. They know the way and know how to smooth things over at checkpoints. We ran into people pressing men into military service too. Luckily the caravan helped settle it, or we might have been seized as well."

The group chattered beside the grove for quite a while. Before long, the scouts returned. Seeing the others produced another round of excited greetings. Then they reported that the route marker had been found outside the east gate.

Dayong immediately sent three men on horseback to the other three city gates to find the remaining scouts, lest they keep searching everywhere.

Once the two groups had all gathered, they went together to the east gate. On a rock outside the city, they found a simple drawing of a bird in flight—the agreed marker. The direction of the bird's flight pointed straight toward the east gate.

To avoid attracting attention, they entered the city separately. Following marker after marker, they eventually found an abandoned residence in a remote district.

They pushed open the gate and entered, only to find Yuan Feng sitting there on a chair, slowly drinking tea and lazily waving a palm-leaf fan.

"Captain Feng!" the group cried in delight.

"What are you shouting for? Afraid people don't know you're here?" Yuan Feng pointed his fan toward the gate. "Close it!"

Someone immediately shut the gate.

Dayong sidled up to Yuan Feng with a cheeky grin. "Captain Feng, what number are we? Did we arrive near the front?"

Smack!

Yuan Feng slapped him on the head with the fan. "On the way in, at least a dozen pairs of eyes saw you arrive. Inside, there are already more than a hundred people waiting for you. You tell me whether you're near the front. And you still have the face to ask?"

The entire group wilted.

"Remember this. Now that you're here, there's no 'Captain Feng.' Use your own brains!" Yuan Feng pointed the fan farther inside. "Go stay in there. Ask them for brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and write down clearly everything that happened on your way here..."

At the Tofu House, steam billowed through the kitchen of the rear residence. Yuan Huo and Niu Shan were making tofu. Yuan Gang stood nearby watching.

Outside, Niu Lin, who was responsible for grinding soybeans while also keeping watch, knocked and entered. "Boss, Shopkeeper Gao is looking for you."

Yuan Gang turned and went out. He walked straight to the front entrance and found Shopkeeper Gao pacing there. "Something wrong?"

Shopkeeper Gao opened his hand to reveal ten gold coins. "Madam Qin from Among the White Clouds came to eat tofu just now. Besides paying for the food, she left these."

Yuan Gang asked, "What for?"

Shopkeeper Gao said, "She said the girls from Among the White Clouds will often come here to eat in the future, but it isn't convenient for them to sit out in public. She wants us to partition off a private room for them. She gave ten gold coins and said they'd cover the labor and expenses."

"No," Yuan Gang refused flatly, turning to leave.

Shopkeeper Gao grabbed his arm and smiled bitterly. "I thought it was inappropriate too, but when Third Young Master went to Among the White Clouds for entertainment, Madam Qin specifically brought it up with him. Third Young Master already agreed on the spot."

"He said we're reorganizing the properties around here anyway, so we might as well make them a private room while we're at it. It wouldn't be much trouble. You know what Third Young Master is like. He cares about face. He agreed to it in front of a whole group of women and friends. If we can't do it, where is he supposed to put his face?"

Yuan Gang fell silent for a moment. "Handle it however you think best. But listen carefully to one thing: don't let it interfere with our side."

Seeing him relent, Shopkeeper Gao immediately beamed and nodded repeatedly. "I understand, I understand! We can't let anyone steal our recipe easily. Don't worry, Proprietor. I'll arrange it properly!"

Yuan Gang turned and walked away.

"Uh..." Shopkeeper Gao stared after him speechlessly. He had still wanted to ask about hiring more people, but with this proprietor's temperament, where did he resemble a businessman at all? He could only shake his head and leave, planning to ask the next time they met.

The boundless sea stretched beneath the sky, blue waves without end. A man in a conical hat skimmed over the water, stepping across the waves at great speed. From time to time, he stopped on the sea's surface to look around. Eventually, a reef rose from the water ahead. He swept over and landed on it.

The exposed rock was only the size of five or six tables. At high tide, it would probably disappear beneath the sea.

For ships sailing these waters, a reef like this was dangerous. Once submerged, it became invisible from the surface. A vessel that struck it could easily be wrecked.

The man in the conical hat stood on the reef and scanned the surroundings, occasionally taking the wine flask from his waist and drinking a couple of mouthfuls. In the distance, a seagoing ship gradually appeared.

The man froze, watched it for a while, and confirmed that it was coming toward this area. He immediately crouched behind the reef and concealed himself. When there were no reefs available and he encountered a ship, he would dive straight into the water to hide.

After a long wait, a large seagoing vessel passed roughly a hundred zhang to one side of the reef and continued onward.

The hidden man watched where it was headed. He quickly removed his conical hat, set down his wine flask, and silently slipped into the sea from behind the reef, using the rock itself as cover. Then he submerged and sped forward beneath the water. When he surfaced again, he was directly beneath the ship's stern.

He caught hold of the stern but did not climb aboard. Remaining vigilant, he let the vessel tow him along, occasionally peering around either side of the stern to watch where it was going.

By evening, the sea glittered beneath the fading light. Reefs could be seen jutting from the water here and there, and an island appeared ahead.

"What kind of damned place is this?"

"They're paying us and we're earning money. Who cares what damned place it is?"

"I'm saying there are too many hidden reefs here. One mistake and we'll smash the ship apart."

"But nothing happened, did it? The route they gave us back at that wharf was useful enough."

Voices drifted from the ship. The man hanging beneath the stern released his grip and sank into the sea. Swimming underwater, he reached a reef off to one side, then surfaced behind it and quietly observed the island. Masts crowded the waters all around the island. A great many large ships were anchored there. At a glance, there were too many to count.

[End of Chapter 277]