Legendary Son-in-Law: The Man with Poison Talismans

Lin Mu paused in fastening his belt, then turned to look at her: "No need to come?"

He was still savoring the composure and loss of control he had just experienced when he heard this sentence.

"I felt pregnant yesterday," the Empress said, her tone as if reporting a confirmed official matter that did not require further verification from him.

Lin Mu stopped halfway through tying his belt. He stood at the foot of the bed, as if he had just realized something: "Pregnant? It's only been a few days, how do you know you're pregnant? Maybe you aren't."

As he spoke, he took half a step closer to the bed, as if he wanted to verify with his actions whether this conclusion was too hasty.

The Empress looked up at him, "Don't I know about the changes in my own body?"

After the Empress finished speaking, seeing his posture of still wanting to move forward, she raised her hand and cast a ring of fire resistance.

A crimson halo exploded from her body, gently pushing Lin Mu back a few steps, the force just right between "making you retreat" and "not hurting you".

After being pushed away, Lin Mu stood a few steps away. Before his suspicion could even take shape, it was suppressed by her glare.

Chapter 336 Going to Sea

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to argue again, but seeing her eyes, which had completely regained their composure, he swallowed the rest of his words.

"From now on, our relationship is merely that of ruler and subject." As the Empress said this, she sat up and began to put on her dragon robe with swift movements, without looking up at him. "Don't worry, I will not interfere with your life."

Just like that, Lin Mu was discarded casually, like an object that had just been used.

-

He still has a thought swirling in his mind.

Women are fickle; they really don't recognize you once you put on your clothes.

No wonder people say that the imperial family is the most ruthless; everything happens so suddenly, without any transition.

And so, Lin Mu trained at Canghai Camp for another two months.

Swimming, climbing masts, identifying wind direction, getting used to the ship's rocking—from initially gagging while holding onto the ship's railing as soon as I boarded, to later being able to walk steadily in a straight line on the swaying deck.

Sunlight streamed down from the sea, falling on his face, which had become roughened by the sea breeze, as if gradually shedding his old habits from the land and replacing them with the new rhythm of the ship.

During this period, he also took some time to visit the border village several times, and followed the "Sealing Manual" left by the Celestial Venerable to walk around the pass and reinforce the seals that had potential problems.

Lin Mu's gaze pierced through the barrier, and he saw an ancient beast king in the distance.

When it lay down, it looked like a small mountain, with all four feet on the ground, a broad back, and a pair of folded fleshy wings on its back. Its tiger head was lowered, as if it were dozing off.

He had heard from the guards here that once this thing stood up, it was as tall as a three-story building, and its claws could crack the ground when they landed.

But at this moment it just lay quietly, as if asleep, without moving.

He scanned the area again, making sure everything was quiet and there were no signs of other beast kings approaching, before turning his gaze away and tightening the last seal.

When the seal was applied, the ground trembled slightly, but quickly returned to calm.

He stood up, brushed the pebbles and dust off his palms, and turned back to the camp along the same route.

The guard walked beside him, casually remarking, "The area outside the pass is vast, and there are many monsters of all shapes and sizes. Fortunately, this barrier makes them think this is just a cliff, preventing them from crossing. Apart from the time the seal loosened last time, they haven't caused any disturbances."

……

Two months later, the date for setting sail was set.

Before setting off, Lin Mu met with Gu Qingyi and Chunxing to check on all the necessary supplies and personnel. The departure dock was located at the mouth of the Beach River in the Woma Forest. The boat was anchored on the water, gently rocking with the waves.

That morning, the morning mist hung like a semi-transparent veil over the mouth of the Beach River, with a faint milky white halo floating on the water.

Six large ships were moored side by side on the dock, their drafts extremely deep. Their heavy hulls rose and fell gently with the tides, and their mooring lines were taut and occasionally emitted a dull creak.

The dock was filled with soldiers from the Canghai Camp, a dark mass, yet strangely quiet.

They lined up in formation and boarded the ship one by one along the wide gangplank, their steps synchronized, making the planks creak.

Sailors stood on the sides of each ship, busy checking the sails and anchor chains, occasionally shouting out a call that carried quickly through the mist.

Lin Mu stood at the bow of the first ship, finalizing the roster with Gu Qingyi.

Chunxing paced back and forth along the gangplank, watching the supplies being loaded onto the ship.

Gu Qingyi stood with her hands behind her back beside Lin Mu, her robes fluttering in the sea breeze. She squinted slightly, watched the boarding progress for a while, and said in a low voice, "The third team is half an hour slower than expected, but it's still within the margin of error."

Lin Mu grunted in response, without turning around, his gaze still sweeping over the ranks of soldiers on the dock. After a few moments, he said, "Have Chunxing urge the fourth team to stop blocking the gangplank entrance."

Gu Qingyi turned her head and made a gesture downwards.

A messenger on the dock saw it immediately and ran quickly toward Chunxing.

Qin Yumo stood beside the mooring pillar at the edge of the dock. Her moon-white, narrow-sleeved long dress clung to her lower abdomen in the wind, revealing a faint curve there.

She unconsciously placed one hand lightly on her waist, and with the other hand she gathered the stray hairs that had been ruffled by the wind, her gaze falling on the two figures side by side at the bow of the boat.

Everyone in the Lin family knows about this.

She had a poor appetite this month and had vomited twice this morning. Although she didn't deliberately spread the word, the nannies and maids in the mansion knew about it, and Lin Mu had known for a long time.

So this time when she went to sea, she didn't mention a word about wanting to go along, and Lin Mu didn't either. They both understood that the rough seas would be too much for her current body to handle.

Madam Qin and Old Master Qin also arrived and stood next to Qin Yumo.

Before leaving, Lin Mu gave them the acorns as well. After Madam Qin's reawakening, she looked noticeably younger, with darker hair and fewer wrinkles on her face. Standing by the dock, she resembled a tree that had just been watered, radiating renewed vitality.

With the help of the acorn, Grandpa Qin successfully leveled up to level 40 without encountering any bottlenecks. He was quite emotional, as if something that had been stuck for years had finally been loosened from the outside.

The Empress herself also came.

She did not join the crowd seeing her off, but stood on a slightly elevated stone platform at the far end of the dock, accompanied only by two servants. Sunlight fell on her dark robes and on her expressionless face.

Lin Mu withdrew his gaze and did not look in the direction of the stone platform again.

He stood on the largest flagship at the very front, its bow high, the flags on the mast taut in the wind.

Beneath my feet was a heavy deck, and all around me were six large ships lined up in formation.

He raised his right hand, without turning around, and pressed it down decisively.

Two strong soldiers simultaneously blew the huge horn at the bow of the ship. The deep, resonant sound rolled across the water, drowning out all the noise on the dock.

The first sound fell, followed immediately by the second, carrying an undeniable authority that made one's chest feel slightly tight.

Oars extended simultaneously from the sides of the six large ships.

Thick, long wooden oars protruded from the oar holes on the side of the gunwale, row after row, neat and orderly, with water droplets still dripping from the oar blades.

The sailors sat on the benches in the cabin. Hearing the beat of the horn, they all strained together. With the first stroke, the water was split open, white waves surged, and the ship shuddered violently.

Then came the second stroke, and the third stroke.

The sound of oars cutting through the water came from the bow of the boat, splash—splash—splash, one stroke after another, steady and powerful.

The voice was neither hurried nor slow, yet it carried an irreversible force, gradually pushing away the faces and words on the dock.

Lin Mu gripped the gunwale in front of him.

His fingertips rested on the cool wood, and he could feel the continuous vibrations from the boat in his palm. He stared straight ahead, the river unfolding before him, wide as a sheet of white silk, leading to the estuary and beyond, to the distant horizon where the sea and sky met.

He did not look back.

Chapter 337 Snow Falls on the Vast Sea

The dark figure on the high stone platform behind him remained motionless until all six large ships had passed the bend in the river mouth and their sails had covered half the sky. Only then did he slowly lower his hand from his lower abdomen.

Two female officials silently protected her at her side.

The wind on the stone platform was stronger than at the dock, making her robes flutter, but she stood firm, watching the black dots gradually shrink until the farthest flag was also merged into the white light where the water and sky met.

Only then did she turn around and walk down the stone platform.

……

The fleet sailed out of the river mouth and truly entered the sea.

The scene of the river stretching out like white silk just now was gone in an instant, leaving only the boundless blue sea in front of me.

The sea was vast, with undulating, fine waves rolling one after another towards the horizon.

Where the sky meets the water, it's blurred into a white blur, indistinguishable from the sky. The large ship, aided by the remaining wind at the river mouth, sailed northward.

The weather had already turned cold, and the sea breeze, carrying a chill, swept onto the deck, causing people's breath to condense into white mist, which then dispersed in the wind.

The sea was relatively calm for the first two days.

During the day, when the sun shines down, the seawater shimmers with varying shades of blue-green, looking quite bright and clear.

During a break in the voyage, Lin Mu moved a low wooden stool to the side of the ship, sat down, and lowered a simple fishing line. The hook sank into the deep sea, and he waited intermittently for a fish to bite.

Gu Qingyi would occasionally come up to the deck and stand next to him. They didn't say much, and the two of them would just watch the sea rise and fall together.

Occasionally, they would catch one or two sea fish, and the two of them would chat for a while, talking about what dangers they might encounter on the road ahead, about places they had never seen before on the continent of Marfa, and about the mess that Mengzhong or Bich had not yet cleaned up.

There were no flashing swords, no howling monsters; the salty sea breeze passed between the two, drawing them even closer.

When he has free time, Lin Mu will close his eyes and concentrate, sinking into his consciousness to look at those floating points of light.

The one representing the skull hung there quietly, its flashing rhythm steady and normal, just like always, without any unusual movement or abnormal flickering.

I don't know if we'll be able to find Crescent Moon Island on this voyage.

Before we knew it, it was the third day of our voyage.

The humidity at sea grew heavier day by day, and the sky gradually sank lower.

The once clear azure blue was slowly covered by a thick layer of gray clouds, making it completely impenetrable.

The sea remained calm with little wind, and the waves gently rolled in. However, the distant horizon had been swallowed up by the fog, and a thin veil of white mist shrouded the world.

The fog grew thicker and thicker. The waves not far from the boat were still clearly visible, but further away, all that remained was a chaotic gray-white, and nothing could be distinguished.

The air was damp and chilling to the bone.

The six large ships had no choice but to drop anchor one after another, waiting for the fog to dissipate before they could leave. As the sound of the anchor chains sinking into the water reached up through the water, the hulls of the six large ships swayed gently on the surface of the sea.

Lin Mu looked up at the overcast sky and guessed that with the sky so gloomy and damp, it was probably going to rain.

But the first thing to fall wasn't the rain.

Tiny white specks drifted slowly down from the gray sky.