Dong Si shook his head. "A man like me can't just stay at the dock all day. I need to go out to sea and see the world. Don't worry, I'll be back soon."
Sheng He said, "A man doesn't need to go to sea to prove himself."
Dong Si wore an expression that seemed to say, "You just don't get it." "The point isn't being a man; the point is being inexperienced."
"You're still young..." Seeing Sheng He's unshaven face, he promptly changed his tune: "You're old. You wouldn't understand."
Sheng He, still in his twenties, was left speechless.
It seemed that in Ambassador Dong's eyes, whether he was young or old could change at any moment.
Knowing it was useless to argue further, Sheng He forced himself to say something against his true feelings. "I'm worried about you. At least let me send some people with you, then I'll feel at ease."
Dong Si patted him on the shoulder again. "You're underestimating me. But since you're worried, I'll accept your kind offer."
"Better send me some skilled hands," he added. "And plenty of them."
Sheng He said, "...Alright. Don't come back too late. I don't want to be uneasy."
Standing nearby, Xia Chanyi couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth. Something about this conversation felt oddly strange.
Dong Si looked at Xia Chanyi and formally introduced her to Sheng He. "This is Captain Xia. She'll stay here while we're at sea. If anything comes up, you can reach out to her."
Xia Chanyi clasped her hands and bowed to Sheng He in greeting. "Please take care of me."
Sheng He didn't dare underestimate the women of Gefeng. He quickly returned the bow. "I wouldn't dare."
Only after Dong Si's Freedom II had left the dock did he ride quickly back to the east county town to report the situation.
On the calm sea, a large cargo ship was sailing steadily.
Yun Chengxuan stood in the lookout room, holding his "far-seer" and gazing into the distance from the watchtower. He kept exclaiming, "Wow, my far-seer sees so far, so far away."
Jiang Jin was using a compass to check their heading.
The distance from Donghu Commandery to Xunfeng Island wasn't too great, but ships in this era weren't fast. At their current speed, it would take about ten hours or a bit more.
Xie Nanxiao envied Yun Chengxuan's far-seer, but at the moment, he was captivated by the novel object in Jiang Jin's hand. "What is that?" he asked.
Jiang Jin looked up. "What does it look like to you?"
Xie Nanxiao studied the compass in her hand, frowning thoughtfully. "It looks a bit like a south-pointer, but not quite."
Jiang Jin smiled. "You can think of it as an improved version of the south-pointer. It's called a compass, and it points direction very accurately. Look, it has the directions marked, along with numbers, scales..."
The compass, called the south-pointer, had already been invented in this era, but its craftsmanship was crude and its accuracy limited. It hadn't been used for navigation yet.
That was one of the reasons maritime technology was so restricted; once out on the vast sea, it was hard to tell direction.
Xie Nanxiao's eyes lit up. "Can this be used on land too? If we have this, would we not get lost when entering the deep mountains?"
Jiang Jin nodded. "That's right. It works on land too."
Xie Nanxiao was full of admiration. "Amazing!"
Envy was practically spilling from his eyes.
Jiang Jin smiled and took out a compass and a telescope from her travel bag, handing them to him. "Here."
Xie Nanxiao couldn't believe it, but he snatched them up quickly, as if afraid Jiang Jin might change her mind. "My Lord, these... are they for me?"
He felt an overwhelming, almost suffocating happiness. He had become the second person to own a compass and the fourth to own a telescope!
Jiang Jin poured cold water on his excitement. "I've also given them to Dong Si."
Xie Nanxiao said, "...Alright." His feeling of suffocation eased a little.
She had plenty of compasses in her storage space, but she hadn't needed them before, so she had forgotten about them. It was only this voyage that reminded her.
Barring any unforeseen events, she planned to have Xie Nanxiao take charge of Xunfeng Island for now. When it came to the sea, both compasses and telescopes were essential.
That was also why she gave them to Dong Si; the sea was treacherous, and more equipment meant more safety.
"Auntie!" Yun Chengxuan whined, poking Jiang Jin's arm.
Jiang Jin helplessly handed him a compass. "Can you even read it? Have you learned to write the four cardinal directions yet?"
Yun Chengxuan excitedly took it. "Auntie, I not only know how to write east, south, west, and north, but also up, down, left, and right. And I can count to a hundred!"
Jiang Jin was speechless.
As the three chatted in the lookout room, the ship gradually slowed down.
Xie Nanxiao snorted. "I knew they'd pull some trick."
Jiang Jin wasn't bothered. She glanced at her pocket watch. It really was getting late. "Come on, let's go down and take a look."
"Don't you do anything," she told her nephew, not wanting him to act without restraint.
Yun Chengxuan was busy thinking of a name for his new compass. He waved a hand at Jiang Jin. "Auntie, I'm not a child. Don't worry."
Soon, the three reached the steering cabin. "Why are we slowing down?" Jiang Jin asked.
Gan Ren looked at Jiang Jin. "Lord of Gefeng, we've already sailed far enough. Time to turn back and head home."
As he was about to order the ship to turn around, Xie Nanxiao blocked him. "This is my Lord's ship. I think you'd better follow orders."
Gan Ren frowned. "It's not that I'm unwilling to go on. But any further and we'll be in deep water. It's dangerous."
Xie Nanxiao sneered. "You noble families aren't all that, are you? You said you'd send us veterans, but it turns out you're nothing special. If you've never even been into deep water, what kind of veterans are you?"
Feeling his professional pride questioned, Gan Ren suppressed his anger but wouldn't dwell on the issue. "Go yourselves if you want. We're heading back."
Jiang Jin actually laughed. "Then go ahead. We don't need you to steer our ship."
It took a moment for Gan Ren to grasp her meaning. His heart jumped. "What... what do you mean?"
Before he could finish, Xie Nanxiao had already thrown a punch into his gut.
"Ahhh!" A scream, and Gan Ren fell to the ground.
Xie Nanxiao went over and kicked him again. "Even your Sheng family lord doesn't dare talk to my Lord like that. Who do you think you are?"
Gan Ren spat out blood, rolled his eyes, and fainted.
His two deputies were terrified and shouted, moving to help, but the moment they stirred, two Dragon Shadow Guards subdued them and tied them up.
Even the unconscious Gan Ren was bound, the Dragon Shadow Guards handling him so roughly that they woke him up.
Xie Nanxiao had been measured in his force; otherwise, given Gan Ren's physique, he wouldn't have survived the beating.
Faint and dizzy, Gan Ren was both frightened and furious. "What do you think you're doing? Don't forget, I'm under the Sheng family!"
Xie Nanxiao sneered. "It's exactly because you're under the Sheng family that we're tying you up."
"You—" Gan Ren was fuming.
"Gag him," Jiang Jin ordered.
"On it!" Xie Nanxiao grabbed some dirty cloth strip lying nearby—he had no idea what it was used for—and quickly stuffed it into Gan Ren's mouth.
The Dragon Shadow Guards picked up two more dirty cloth strips, ready to gag the two deputies. Both men frantically shook their heads. "No, please, we won't yell—mmph!"
Before they could finish, the Dragon Shadow Guards ruthlessly stuffed the cloths in.
Never let a proactive situation turn into a reactive one; that was one of the rules Jiang Jin had taught them.
Jiang Jin looked at the other two men standing nearby, trembling in fear, and spoke to reassure them.
"What are you afraid of? You're on our side. You two are steering this ship now. Full speed ahead. Destination: Xunfeng Island."
The "own side," Chen Mi and Meng Shui, felt utterly panicked.
They had thought this would be a simple, routine voyage. They never expected things to turn out like this. Meng Shui's voice shook as he asked, "To... to Xunfeng Island?"
Except for Chen Bing, who remained at the Ze’a District dock to teach, Jiang Jin took Chen Mi and Meng Shui with her, while Dong Si brought Guo Meng and Xiao He.
