Chapter 1123: Another Julu Harbor

"It's only a few dozen miles from here to the capital," He Lingchuan said, patting his back. "You go back. Once you've found out what's happening, come find me in the capital."

Ah Hao agreed. After walking about ten paces, he couldn't help but look back, but no one was there.

Were these two outsiders human or ghosts? But they were incredibly generous.

Ah Hao glanced at the silver ingot in his hand, his eyes darting around, then strode quickly towards the alley where he had been beaten earlier.

His companion was still unconscious in the alley, covered by a basket.

Just as He Lingchuan had said, the man wouldn't wake up before morning.

Ah Hao checked carefully; there were no signs the basket had been moved, indicating that no one had discovered the tall man lying unconscious there.

The sea was only fifty paces away. Ah Hao peered out from the alley entrance; it was quiet, and no one was passing by.

What a perfect opportunity. He went back into the alley, pulled a short knife from his boot, and plunged it into the tall man's heart!

The tall man didn't move; he died in a daze.

Fearing he wasn't dead, Ah Hao stabbed him two more times in the chest, muttering curses as he did so: "I'll feed your scumbag body to the fish! This is what happens when you offend Lord Hao! I couldn't beat you before, but today, I'm certainly not afraid of failing to kill you!"

He wiped the blood from the knife on the tall man's clothes, then casually broke off a leg from a broken table, thrust it into the wound, and stirred it vigorously a few times. After that, he dragged the body dozens of paces and threw it into the sea.

All the domestic sewage from nearby residents was discharged into this waterway, making it foul-smelling and rarely approached by people.

To prevent the body from floating, he also tied a large stone to it.

With a splash, his companion disappeared from sight.

"Just sink here and watch me rise in the world," Ah Hao said, clapping his hands, feeling refreshed.

For the past six months, the tall man had often tormented him and extorted money from him. Today, Ah Hao finally got his revenge.

As dawn broke, Ah Hao went to a food stall and ordered two griddle cakes. Inside, there was not only chives but also fragrant pickled vegetables and fatty pork, so rich that oil oozed out with every bite.

The stall owner, who had given him generous portions, dared not accept payment. Ah Hao, with a flourish, handed him three copper coins: "Take it! No change needed."

After eating his fill, he went behind a dilapidated house, picked up a brick, and hit himself on the forehead.

The first hit wasn't hard enough; it only hurt without causing injury. The second hit made blood stream down, allowing him to cover his head and return to the gang.

Upon seeing the gang leader, he tearfully recounted how he had finally found two "fat sheep" today, acquiring thirty taels of silver. But the tall man, his eyes gleaming at the large sum, had knocked him unconscious, stolen the money, and fled.

The gang leader knew the tall man's character all too well and believed about seventy percent of the story. He dispatched men to search for the tall man, offered a few words of comfort to Ah Hao, and gave him half a packet of wound medicine before sending him away.

"It's dawn, everyone wake up!" someone shouted from above, banging a wooden clapper and making the deck creak. "We're docking, Julu Port! Hurry and disembark!"

Why were they docking at Julu Port again? He Lingchuan sat up at the sound, taking a few moments to remember his mission.

He had been dispatched by Zhong Shengguang to retrieve the Beacon Lamp from the Blinking Gold Plain.

That item was extremely important to General Hong.

So, he was here again.

"Boss, hurry and disembark!" Hu Min said cheerfully, shouldering his pack.

Anyone who had drifted on the open sea for months would be just as eager to set foot on land.

A large ocean-going ship was nothing more than a floating prison.

The sea travelers on board rushed down in a hurry, but He Lingchuan slowly followed behind.

What was the rush? He had just stepped onto this very pier a few days ago.

They were all disembarking at Julu Port, and all were going to search for the Beacon Lamp.

The Panlong world and reality had almost merged.

As he yawned for the second time, Menban and the others met up with him.

For this long journey, he had brought Hu Min, Menban, A Luo, and his elite squad trained in Yuheng City, totaling exactly ten people.

Menban rotated his neck as he walked, making a series of cracking sounds. "After seventy or eighty days adrift, mushrooms started growing on my mattress! If A Luo hadn't said they were poisonous, I would have chewed on them while sleeping at night."

The ship's cabin was dark and damp, and a persistent smell of rotting feet lingered. It wouldn't have been surprising to find termites, rats, insects, or mushrooms growing there.

Another sea traveler, a tall, thin man nearing forty with slightly greying hair, approached them.

"Mr. He!" he called out, raising a hand to He Lingchuan, wrinkles appearing at the corners of his eyes as he smiled. "We agreed you'd stay at my humble home for a couple of days once we disembarked!"

This man, named Wang Wei, had boarded the ship at Daofeng Port. He had traveled with the ship for about ten days, spending three or four of those days drinking with He Lingchuan.

He was a private tutor whose home was in Julu Port. His school would close during the busy farming season because students had to return home to help harvest crops.

With no income during this period, Wang Wei had to take on odd jobs to supplement his household expenses.

His personality was fiery and passionate, and he got along very well with He Lingchuan and the others.

"How can you take drunken ramblings seriously?" He Lingchuan waved his hand. "There are too many of us to trouble you. Staying at an inn will be fine."

"How can that be?" Wang Wei shook his head like a rattle drum. "Julu Port is lacking in many things, but it has no shortage of pickpockets. If you stay at an inn overnight, you'll wake up to find everything stolen except the clothes on your back!"

Hu Min chuckled, "Aren't you also running an inn, Teacher Wang?"

Wang Wei replied earnestly, "That's different, entirely different. My home usually doesn't allow outsiders."

As they were about to disembark, He Lingchuan looked at the gangplank and asked, "Has this pier just been renovated?"

The wood of the gangplank looked freshly painted, the tung oil smell hadn't fully dissipated, and there weren't many barnacles clinging to the rocks.

Although also in Julu Port, this pier was different from the one he had seen a few days prior; it was very new.

A sailor tying ropes on the gangplank heard him and replied, "It's not renovated; it's newly built! The Maritime Trade Office funded it, and it was completed and put into use three months ago."

After disembarking, although the sea breeze carried the same strong fishy smell, He Lingchuan instinctively stopped.

This was Julu Port?

The berths beside the gangplank were almost full, with various merchant and fishing boats gently swaying with the waves.

Porters carried goods back and forth like diligent worker ants; passengers boarded and disembarked, even bargaining with the captains.

The buildings on shore were a mix of new and old, but most had been tidied up; even patched, their facades were clean.

The roads weren't as wide as those on He Lingchuan's Suoding Island, but they were relatively even.

In later generations, the most common sight by the docks was beggars and refugees.

But here, many donkey carts and ox carts were parked by the pier, their drivers actively soliciting business.

All in all, this port was as bustling as Baisha Port. People coming and going were busy and knew what they had to do.

In later generations, Julu Port would have less than thirty percent of the ships and passengers seen here.

Oh, so Julu Port used to be this prosperous?

Wang Wei asked He Lingchuan, "What's wrong?"

"It's quite prosperous here," He Lingchuan said truthfully. "Unexpectedly so."