Heirs of the Seven Swords of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 1961: The Seven Constellations of the Azure Dragon (Part )

To the west of the endless fog, a huge ship slowly approached and stopped two or three miles away from the fog.

This ship is naturally the mirage that set sail for the second time.

This time, Mirage took longer than the first time to reach the sea where the fog was.

After several months, the Yin-Yang School members could not determine whether the fog had spread. In addition, although the fog was very conspicuous in theory, you would unconsciously ignore it before you actually realized its existence.

So Mirage reduced its speed to ensure that the ship would not be caught off guard and drive directly into the fog.

The mirage is so huge!
Although the Gongshu family's high-tech technology allowed it to successfully move on the sea at a fairly fast speed, it was completely impossible to perform precise control - it was very difficult to stop it after it started, and it was also very difficult to start it again after it stopped.

This is also one of the reasons why the Mirage stopped so far away when it was moored at Sanghai Port. If it got any closer, it would easily not be able to stop and would crash directly into the port.

It is the same now. We must drop anchor and stop far away, otherwise part of the hull may be accidentally plunged into the fog.

As the Mirage stopped, the three cloud-breaking crossbows on board, which were manufactured and installed by Gongshu Chou himself, immediately adjusted their positions and all pointed in the direction of the fog - of course, due to the different positions of the three crossbows, the specific areas that could be covered were also different.

The base of the Cloud-Breaking Crossbow has been specially designed, and the crossbow body can turn 360 degrees without blind spots, but the adjustable range on the vertical axis is much smaller, only about 45 degrees.

The highest point of the mirage is inside the Toad Palace.

Xinghun folded his arms, with his usual sneer on his face, looking at the Moon God across from him:
"Lord Moon God, we have arrived. Now it's up to you."

"Of course." Moon Goddess ignored Xinghun's angry look and replied calmly, "But astrology can only achieve the best effect at night, so please don't be anxious, Master Xinghun."

"I'm not in a hurry. Lady Moon Goddess can take your time to prepare. I'll just go and see how the crossbows are prepared." Xing Hun did not continue to provoke Moon Goddess. It seemed that he was just looking for trouble out of habit.

After Xinghun left, the Moon Goddess instructed the two sisters, Ehuang and Nvying, who were standing behind her, "Go and prepare to activate the stargazing instrument."

Ehuang and Nuying don’t understand... or are not good at astrology, but they don’t need to know astrology to operate the astronomical instrument.

Because in the end it was still the Moon Goddess who controlled the instrument, the two of them were just assisting, which was equivalent to putting in some effort, so it didn't matter whether they understood it or not.

The stargazing instruments in the Qin Dynasty were not the same as the ancient astronomical instruments in the previous life of Gu Xun.

Although they look similar, their actual effects and methods of use are completely different.

The latter is a scientific instrument, the former a metaphysical instrument.

Although the astrology of the Yin-Yang School also has certain scientific components, the main part is still metaphysical, and the emphasis is on pursuing a ray of mysterious sensation to peek into destiny.

The function of the astrolabe is to help users of astrology obtain that divine inspiration more easily.

Driving the astronomical instrument requires the consumption of true Qi - it is not that it can only be driven by true Qi, but for the Moon Goddess, there is no need to try other methods.

In order to increase the chances of success of astrology tonight, the Moon Goddess asked Mrs. Xiang and her sister to power the instrument. She would only need to concentrate on performing astrology at that time.

The two sisters didn't say anything, just nodded and walked out side by side.

Only Yue Shen was left in the room. She suddenly said to the air, "Do you think this will work?"

A ball of fire suddenly rose in the house, and when the light faded, Yan Fei's figure appeared:

"Since Donghuang Taiyi has made such an arrangement, I think he is confident."

The Moon Goddess didn't dwell on this question for too long, and instead asked, "Is Gu Xun on the ship now?"

"He should be there, but I don't know where he is." Yan Fei replied indifferently.

"With him here, do you think you can still achieve your goal?" Moon Goddess asked again.

"If we don't try, who can predict the outcome?" Yan Fei remained calm. "The destination of Mirage's journey is unknown to all of us, and he is no exception."

………………

Deep inside the bottom deck of the mirage, where the dawn is imprisoned.

In a blink of an eye, Tianming had been trapped on the ship for two months.

It was undoubtedly very draining to stay alone in this ghost place. Even though Tianming often "met" with Qianlong and Xinghun would occasionally come over for a stroll, it was still too lonely for him.

The handsome and lively young man two months ago is now lying on the bed like a puddle of mud, with a face full of decadence and depravity.

He didn't really become completely devastated and lose his fighting spirit, but he was indeed exhausted and distracted.

The only difference between him and the person in the small dark room is that the Yin-Yang family is not stingy with lamp oil and allows him to keep the lights on for twelve hours a day.

Probably because they were worried that he would be too bored, the Yin-Yang family even provided him with some books to pass the time.

Most of them are leisure books written by novelists, so we can call them novels.

But in reality, the difference is quite big, and the content is not very interesting.

Tianming, who has been through many battles and has enough experience to write a novel, is not very interested in these stories with no beginning or end, but because he is too bored, he still read the whole book.

Then it got even more boring.

Sometimes he couldn't help but wonder, which was more torturous, the days when he was wandering the streets, suffering from hunger and cold, or the days when he was imprisoned in this small space and unable to move.

From a rational point of view, there is no doubt that not having enough food is more uncomfortable, but his rationality has been almost worn out.

"It seems like you've been tortured a lot these days."

A laughing voice suddenly sounded from outside Tianming's room.

Tianming, whose thoughts were disordered and distracted, thought he was hallucinating at first - this was not the first time. He did not react too much, just tilted his head a little.

Then the door opened.

Gu Xun walked in.

Tianming's eyes suddenly widened when he saw this scene out of the corner of his eye.

He has had auditory hallucinations recently, but they haven't developed into visual hallucinations yet. If nothing goes wrong, it should be a real person!

Gu Xun didn't rush to talk to Tianming. After feeling the turbid air in the room, he frowned and then raised his hand and waved.

A strong wind immediately blew up in the house, blowing away all the dirty exhaust gas and replacing it with fresh air - relatively fresh air.

In the deep areas of the mirage, there is basically no real fresh air.

The people of Yin-Yang School did not abuse Tianming. They cleaned up all the domestic waste in his room very diligently. However, no matter how they cleaned it, the place was inevitably dirty - Tianming's confusion might be related to this bad environment.

A strong cold wind blew through the sky at dawn, catching him off guard and causing him to shiver. His mind instantly became much clearer, and he quickly climbed out of bed.

"Uncle Gu!"

Tianming was very excited at first and wanted to say something, but he suddenly remembered the murder of his father. The smile on his face suddenly disappeared, and his voice suddenly became weak.

Gu Xun smiled when he saw this, fetched a chair and sat down first, then said:
"Don't think too much about things that cannot be done for the time being. Take care of your current troubles first." Tianming's face was very embarrassed when he heard this. He didn't know what attitude he should take towards Gu Xun.

After struggling for a long time, he could only lower his head and whispered, "Are you here to save me?"

"No." Gu Xun smiled and shook his head, "I just came to see you."

"As for saving you... the Mirage has already sailed to the sea. You can't escape from this door without the Mirage. There's no need to bother."

"That's better than being locked up and mentally tortured by them!" Tianming became excited again when talking about this topic.

He had really had enough of this day.

"Well... you can go back and negotiate with the Yin-Yang family and ask them to change your cell to a room on the upper deck, with windows that offer good ventilation and a view of the scenery." Gu Xun smiled and gave him some advice, "If they don't agree, just say you're about to commit suicide, and they'll give in."

"As for further freedom... to be honest, you don't have to be so persistent."

"It's so boring at sea. Even if they allow you to move freely, it's nothing more than going to the Zibei Water Pavilion to look at the fish... Do you like those fish very much?"

"But... there are other places on the Mirage! Places I haven't been to yet." Tianming was obviously not interested in the fish in the Zibei Water Pavilion, but he did not give up on his pursuit of freedom and still wanted to struggle.

"Yes, there is, but do you think the Yin-Yang family will let you get close to those places?" Gu Xun spread his hands and asked, "Or do you think you can break free from the Yin-Yang family's captivity and hide away to move freely?"

"The latter... isn't possible?"

"I told you that you were able to hide before because the Yin-Yang family didn't want to intervene." Gu Xun persuaded earnestly, "Do you think you can avoid them so easily now?"

"Even if you manage to do it, life will be very difficult, and you may even have trouble getting food and drink."

"Don't forget, the temperature is getting lower and lower, winter is coming soon!"

Winter is a difficult time for everyone in this era.

Tianming wouldn't freeze to death, but why would he have to hide here and there and endure hunger and cold when he could stay in the house and live a good life?

Tianming thought about it and felt that what Gu Xun said was correct, so he could only nod and agree:

"you're right……"

"But can the Yin-Yang family really agree to my request?"

"Of course." Gu Xun nodded and replied, "Mirage is at sea, you can't escape, there is no need for them to continue to guard you closely."

"If anything bad happens to you, they'll be in big trouble."

“Humph…” Tianming laughed at himself, “I have never been so important in my life.”

"What on earth do they want from me?"

Gu Xun shook his head, "I can't say for sure now, anyway... I can't live without you."

"Then can I still survive?" Tianming looked at Gu Xun and asked with a complicated expression.

He looked confused and a little sad.

The mental depression eventually affected his mood.

Gu Xun shook his head again, "I still can't say for sure. Maybe it can, maybe it can't. I can't even say for sure whether your problem can be solved by this."

"You can only know what the ending will be if you take it one step at a time."

Tianming sighed, turned over and fell back on the bed, and said dejectedly, "Why...why am I so unlucky? Why do I have to get into these inexplicable troubles?"

"There's no point in dwelling on these issues." Seeing this, Gu Xun tried to persuade them.

Tianming was very angry when he heard this, "Why is it meaningless? I don't know the result, can't I even ask the reason? "

Gu Xun didn't care about Tian Ming's anger, and explained calmly, "I said, it's meaningless, not impossible."

"If we really want to find out the reason, your... let's call it trouble, all originated from your father. He used a power that he shouldn't have used, and thus suffered a 'curse'."

"The 'curse' here is just a description I gave. It has no actual meaning."

"And if we talk about your father's assassination, we have to trace it back to Yan Dan, the previous leader of your Mohist school."

"If he hadn't insisted on assassinating Ying Zheng, your father wouldn't have had to risk his life with Canhong."

"But at the same time, it can also be blamed on Ying Zheng - if he hadn't captured your mother for his own ambition of immortality, your father might not have risked his life."

"In the future, it can be traced back to more people, including many people you know and don't know, people you know and don't know."

"Who do you think is the culprit? Who is the accomplice? Who is the innocent person?"

"..." Tianming was silent for a long time before replying, "There will always be a day when everything will be settled."

Gu Xun smiled and said, "Of course, there will be such a day, but it is definitely not today, and it is not something you should consider right now."

"Let's find a way to survive first."

Tianming rested his head on his arms, looked at the roof, and fell into silence.
"..."

"Did you come here today just to tell me all this?" After a long silence, Tianming suddenly asked Gu Xun.

Gu Xun shook his head. "I just came to see you. As for what I said, it was just by chance. I just happened to catch you asking."

"Otherwise... that's all. I should leave now."

"If someone from the Yin-Yang family happens to come looking for you, I'll have to find a way to cover it up."

"Before I leave, I will help you create some noise. The people from the Yin-Yang family should come over soon to check on you. If you want to propose conditions, you can take this opportunity."

After saying that, Gu Xunren left and closed the door, but he just closed it casually and did not lock it... In fact, there was no way to lock it.

Tianming looked up and glanced at the half-open door. After hesitating for a while, he still did not take any action.

………………

The land of Baiyue, the new road to Lingnan.

Although the empire's southern expedition against the Baiyue was unsuccessful, it did not end in failure.

In the past, anyone who wanted to travel between the Central Plains and the Baiyue could only do so along the mountain trails of the Wuling Mountains or the crisscrossing waterways from north to south.

These roads are not really roads at all. They are inaccessible to vehicles and extremely difficult for people to walk on. They are not much different from the desperate situation in Western Shu.

Now, the empire has finally built a proper road in and out of Lingnan, which can be used for both pedestrians and military mobilization.

Of course, the road has not been completed yet, only half of it has been completed. The most troublesome part south of the Wuling Mountains has not been built yet - the land has not been completely conquered, so it cannot be built even if we want to.