Chapter 181 — The Taixuan Canon of Calculation
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
"I thank the Grand Libationer for his concern. I am so poor that all I have left is money, and so I paid a high price to hire a fast ship; it will be here shortly. The pill furnace aboard it I refined myself -- it is a quick one. " Shen Wanyun and the others exchanged glances, thinking, "A miser, as expected -- he even refines his own pill furnaces.
It must be a little boat.
But that he actually knows artifact forging? He has never once set foot in the Hall of Divine Craft -- where did he learn to forge? " There was a Hall of Divine Craft in the Grand Academy, where one studied the refining of artifacts and treasures; its Directors also held office in the imperial court, and it was Directors of the Hall of Divine Craft who filled the key posts at the Imperial Shipyard and the Ordnance Yard.
Since entering the Grand Academy, Shen Mu had never once gone to the Hall of Divine Craft; there was no way he could have learned the arts of forging and casting. Before long the tower ships rose one after another and sailed off from the Grand Academy. The monk Yunque and the others waited until they were sick with anxiety, when suddenly a battered, ramshackle tower ship came lurching through the air and settled, swaying, before the Hall of the Grand Academy.
"Our ship has arrived! " Shen Mu said with a smile. Shen Wanyun, Yunque, Yue Qinghong and the others frowned deeply.
The ship was riddled with holes and leaking wind on every side; its mast had been hacked off, and there was not even a sail. Onto the deck came a burly fellow stripped to the waist, savage of face -- plainly no good man -- his whole body covered in tattoos. He waved to Shen Mu and laughed aloud: "Brother Shen!
Late, I'm late! " Shen Mu went up with Snow Fox and the dragon qilin in tow, smiling.
"A day or two late is no matter. What has happened to your ship? When I saw it last it was in fine shape -- how has it come to this in a few days?
" "Don't ask.
I ran a cargo trip, and then I ran into that brazen woman from the Three Marvels Fort. She loosed her bugs on me, and I was going too fast and plowed right into the swarm -- it nearly turned my treasure ship into a sieve. " Fan Yunxiao glanced at Shen Wanyun and the others and chuckled.
"Gentlemen scholars, when you take up your official posts in the future, be sure to look after our humble little house. We have gone straight lately, you know. " Yunque muttered, "With the ship in this state, it won't simply come apart in midair, will it?
" Shen Mu had the same misgiving; this Cloud-Chasing pirate ship was in truth too badly damaged, and looked ready to fall to pieces at any moment. "It won't, it won't! " Fan Yunxiao pledged grandly, thumping his chest.
"My brothers reinforced the hull with runes long ago -- it is solid as can be. Brother Shen, when you have the leisure, would you build me an iron-hulled ship? Refine a couple more furnaces for me, and use dark iron for the hull -- wood is really too brittle.
" Shen Mu pondered. "That would cost a great deal of money.
The dark iron alone would be no small expense.
Can your house produce so much? And do you have drawings?
" Fan Yunxiao rubbed his hands vigorously.
"These years I have been robbing folk all over. . . pah, pah -- doing business all over, and I've put by a good sum.
My whole fortune together should be enough to forge an iron-hulled ship. As for drawings, those are hard to come by. .
. Gentlemen, please come aboard. We can talk once we are on the ship. " They boarded the vessel.
Yue Qinghong looked about: the crew were every one of them tattooed and murderous-looking; some bore long sword scars, some were missing a nose or an eye, and killing intent hung about them all -- plainly no good men. The battered ship rose slowly into the air and crawled out of the capital like an old ox dragging a broken cart. At this sight the company grew even more downcast.