Chapter 1116: Giant Deer Port

“What’s so difficult about that?” Fushan Yue said nonchalantly. “Next time I go back home, I’ll take you with me.”

“Great, thanks! I truly want to witness the Demon King’s charisma in person.” Fushan Lie had also participated in the Battle of Panlong, so he must have known all the details of that conflict.

“It’s nothing, what are friends for?” Fushan Yue said offhandedly, “The old man should like you.”

He Lingchuan smiled, “I believe your father and I will also hit it off immediately.”

Back on Suoding Island, He Lingchuan ordered food and wine to be prepared. Fushan Yue, meanwhile, sent Taozi back to his quarters and changed his clothes.

While he was gone, the mirror asked He Lingchuan:

“Aren’t you angry about Fushan Yue’s actions?”

“Angry about what? I knew his temperament before we even became friends.” He Lingchuan closed his eyes. “State Preceptor Shuangye specifically sent him here to make things difficult for me.”

If State Preceptor Shuangye had sent other subordinates to the Yangshan Archipelago, it would be hard to guarantee they wouldn’t end up like Yu Zecheng, given He Lingchuan’s methods.

But by sending Fushan Yue, he not only put He Lingchuan in a difficult position and drove a wedge between their friendship, but State Preceptor Shuangye also managed to vent some of his frustration from being outmaneuvered previously.

Such people always kill several birds with one stone.

“Besides,” He Lingchuan continued, “Fushan Yue suddenly doing such an annoying thing is nine-tenths a deliberate test of my reaction.” He knew Fushan Yue very well. “Once the test is over, it probably won’t happen again.”

“You can see he was clearly interested in the Evil Orb, but he didn’t even ask how I made it. Because he knows I definitely wouldn’t tell him,” He Lingchuan commented. “This person actually knows his limits.”

“So how will you counter State Preceptor Shuangye’s move?”

“Nothing special. Just be sincere with Fushan Yue. This fellow may seem like a troublemaker, but he has a clear sense of right and wrong deep down.” He Lingchuan stretched his neck, making a few cracking sounds. “My intentions are as clear as the sun and moon, open and aboveboard. How could he possibly have other ideas? Well, Fang Canran is actually the same. They both have independent personalities and don’t blindly follow.”

Personally, he believed neither of them was an ingrate; both were people worth winning over.

Fushan Yue, in particular, was different from his father.

Fushan Lie relied on military achievements for promotion and had long been tied to the great empire of Beijia. However, Fushan Yue would only need to inherit the throne in the future. He Lingchuan could sense that he had no strong sense of belonging to Beijia, and even less fondness for Lingxu City.

He had always been out of place among the upper echelons of Lingxu’s elite.

Now, who truly welcomed him and who only wanted to use him—didn’t Fushan Yue know that deep down?

“What is ‘personality’?” The mirror had only heard of ‘divinity’.

“Nothing. Even if I’m wrong, it’s no big deal,” He Lingchuan chuckled. “The Yangshan Archipelago is here now. Since it’s already revealed itself to the whole world, there will be plenty of people wanting to spy on it, and two more won’t make a difference.”

By then, the food and wine were ready. Servants brought them to the boat, and Fushan Yue arrived.

So, the two of them rowed the small boat out to sea and drank heartily under the bright moon.

They felt as if they were back at Pianxiang Villa in Lingxu City.

Back then, they also boated and drank wine on the small lake behind the mountain, enjoying themselves immensely.

Fushan Yue, just like in those days, got half-drunk and slammed the table, cursing his old man and listing all of Fushan Lie’s misdeeds.

He Lingchuan listened on the side.

Hmm, it seemed Fushan Lie had the same personality in reality, not much different from his portrayal in the Panlong world.

The Great Square Pot truly was a miraculous treasure, capable of simulating even Fushan Lie’s character so closely to reality.

Fushan Yue suddenly patted He Lingchuan’s shoulder, reeking of alcohol, and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t make things difficult for you here!”

He Lingchuan swirled the wine in his cup. “What makes you say that?”

He hadn’t expected Fushan Yue to be so direct.

However, it did align with Fushan Yue’s nature, so He Lingchuan wasn’t surprised.

“Lingxu City sent me, and I couldn’t very well refuse. Besides, I wanted to come myself,” Fushan Yue chuckled. “If I didn’t come, Lingxu City would send someone else to do these things anyway. So, it might as well be me.”

He had drunk a lot, but his tongue wasn’t tied; his words flowed even more smoothly.

But every word he said made sense.

Even if Fushan Yue hadn’t taken on this task, Lingxu City and State Preceptor Shuangye would still find a way to gather information on the Yangshan Archipelago.

Thinking of State Preceptor Shuangye’s tactics, He Lingchuan felt a headache coming on. Rather than being secretly plotted against, it was better to play Fushan Yue as an open card.

“As for the information Lingxu City wants, you can just tell me, and I’ll report it regularly to get by,” Fushan Yue said, his breath smelling of alcohol but his eyes clear. “That way, I won’t have to go through much trouble, and you won’t have to worry. How good is that?”

He Lingchuan was moved. “Are you really willing to do that?”

“Why not?” Fushan Yue replied. “But I must warn you, don’t give me intelligence that’s too outrageous. If State Preceptor Shuangye sees through it immediately, this trick won’t work anymore.”

“Alright, it’ll be entirely plausible.”

The two exchanged glances and burst into laughter.

Everything was unspoken.

He Lingchuan was impressed. Fushan Yue truly lived up to his name, managing to escape an awkward situation and put himself in the most comfortable position right away.

In this regard, Fang Canran wasn’t as uninhibited as he was.

State Preceptor Shuangye’s plan to sow discord between their friendship had also failed.

He had still underestimated Fushan Yue.

After all, he had never truly spent time with Fushan Yue and hadn’t deeply understood the true nature of this Prince of Chiyan.

It wasn’t until the bright moon set in the west that the two returned, having thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

The gentle summer wind blew He Lingchuan and his companions all the way to Julu Port.

The journey took only six and a half days, mostly with favorable winds. Dong Rui finally had a comfortable long voyage and felt refreshed upon disembarking.

They were on a large ship belonging to the Yangshan Archipelago, which had spacious cabins where one could stretch out at night. The food was also good; when eating rice, there was no worry of finding unfamiliar bugs.

At most, the cured meat stored in the galley would grow a layer of white mold, which could be scraped off and washed before eating.

He frequently traveled to Daofeng Port and knew well that one should never take a deep breath when disembarking there, otherwise the stench would be unbearable.

Seeing other passengers covering their noses and shouting about the smell, some even gagging and vomiting over the side of the boat from the stench, he calmly scoffed at them:

“Hmph, ignorant.”

On this trip, Lingguang also came along, specifically making fragrant pellets for the two of them. With these plugged into their noses, they would be immune to the port’s fishy stench.

However, only Dong Rui used them.

He Lingchuan disliked blocking his senses.

The longer Dong Rui spent with him, the more he felt there were increasingly peculiar habits about this young man.

“This place...” Dong Rui commented upon disembarking, “This place really isn’t much.”

The Yangshan Archipelago itself was involved in port and shipping businesses. Although Dong Rui wasn’t involved in operations, he had seen enough to know how things worked, even if he hadn’t experienced it directly.

“This port is too small, and the roads leading to and from the docks are in terrible condition.” He was so busy looking around that he didn’t notice his foot sinking into a puddle of black, foul-smelling water with a splash. “Ugh! There are so many potholes on the main road!”

His conclusion was, “Compared to Yang... compared to our place, it’s far worse.”

People were constantly coming and going nearby, and he didn’t want to reveal where he was from.

Suoding Island’s roads were always wide and straight, and any damage was repaired the same night. Although cargo transport was frequent, the docks never smelled, because the fishing wharf was on the east coast, completely separate from the cargo terminal. Everything was well-organized; goods were rarely left out in the open, unlike here where they were piled haphazardly everywhere. He even saw someone frantically shouting:

“Where are my goods? Which rotten scoundrel dares to steal my stuff?!”

Looking around the docks, the buildings were dull, dilapidated, and old. The pillar at the entrance of a nearby warehouse was even crooked, barely held up by two wooden planks.

Dong Rui had always taken the conditions of Suoding Island for granted when traveling in and out, but today, he realized the significant difference upon comparison. So, their Yangshan Archipelago had already been developed so well?

He Lingchuan also assessed cautiously, “This place is not very prosperous.”

There were many people loading and unloading, and many ships at the dock, but the port itself was indeed a bit small.

Although it was clearly a good deep-water port, large ocean-going vessels rarely anchored there.

This indicated that Julu Port mostly conducted local business, with few foreign visitors from afar.

Doing only local business meant small profits, because only small, not very wealthy nations were located near Julu Port.

The buildings around the dock were uniformly old, dilapidated, and sparse. It was hard to tell how long it had been since any new houses were built.

If the busiest terminal of an international port looked like this, how could one expect other parts of the port to be any better?

Broadly speaking, if such an important hub connecting land and sea was like this, how much better could the rest of the Shanjin Plains be?

“Let’s go. First, we find a place to stay, then we look for the person.”

Near the docks, there were many sparsely clothed beggars, old and young, either expressionless or their eyes darting, sizing up every passerby. A few children with disproportionately large heads and small bodies sat at the foot of a wall, sunning themselves and picking fleas from their ragged clothes, looking more like monkeys than Lingguang on He Lingchuan’s shoulder.

Getting closer, one could smell a strong stench from them.

Two children were playing and roughhousing in the flowing crowd, and in an instant, they were heading straight for He Lingchuan.

These two clearly looked like newly arrived sea travelers, and Dong Rui still had a bulging bundle on his back.

However, He Lingchuan had traveled extensively for years; how could he not see through such a trick? His eyes flickered slightly, and he whispered something to Dong Rui, who nodded.

The two children were giggling and playing hide-and-seek, just about to bump into He Lingchuan when, unexpectedly, a heavy object dropped from above, landing with a thud on the little boy.

This thing was hairy, moving, squealing, and even pulling his hair!

The boy screamed in fright, only to realize that what had just tried to pull a scam on him was a fat monkey with yellowish-green fur!

When he screamed, the fat monkey also opened its mouth and shrieked back at him, revealing huge, sharp canine teeth.

Although it was less than two feet tall, when it opened its mouth, it produced high-decibel noise that drowned out the sounds of the two children.

The two children dared not linger and turned to run away immediately.

Only then did the fat monkey close its mouth, jump onto Dong Rui’s shoulder to scratch its ear, and then hand him a small, patched purse.

Dong Rui took it, shook it a few times, and heard the clinking of copper coins inside.