Chapter 12

After boarding the ship, everyone entered the cabin.

This type of large ship that travels north and south is generally divided into three levels. The first level is the public area, while the second and third levels are the resting areas for passengers.

After boarding, everyone first found their rooms to unpack their luggage.

Once they had put away their bags, they found themselves with nothing much to do.

Si Tu Tang ran to knock on everyone’s door, and after finally gathering everyone together, she enthusiastically suggested, “Why don’t we play the Leaf Game?”

After saying this, she looked expectantly at the other three, but received three pairs of cold and confused eyes in return.

“No way? You actually don’t know what the Leaf Game is?” Si Tu Tang asked in shock.

“The Leaf Game is a well-known card gambling game in the Que Feng Dynasty. Haven’t you all played it before?”

“I haven’t,” Long Ling said.

The remaining Su Rong and Qing Xian simultaneously shook their heads to indicate they hadn’t played either.

Si Tu Tang opened her bag and, while rummaging through it, said, “I was afraid there would be some boring times, so I specifically brought the Leaf Game along. Today it’s finally coming in handy.”

She placed the Leaf Game on the eight immortals table in the center of the room and said, “Since you’ve all never played before, how about this: the first round, you three play, and I’ll guide you from the side.”

“Once you understand the rules, we’ll all play together,” Si Tu Tang asked.

Since they had nothing else to do anyway, everyone nodded in agreement.

Si Tu Tang shuffled the cards and dealt them to the three in turn, explaining the rules as she dealt: “The way to play the Leaf Game is to draw cards in turn, with big capturing small.”

“Before playing a card, you need to keep it face down so others can’t see it.”

“After playing a card, it’s placed face up, and you need to deduce the unplayed cards from those already played.”

The rules were simple, and after one round, Su Rong and the others quickly got the hang of it.

Then the four happily began their card-playing session.

After figuring out the strategy, Su Rong basically never lost, while Si Tu Tang, who was initially the most confident veteran player, ended up losing the most.

The second biggest loser was Long Ling. He stared straight at Su Rong and Qing Xian across from him and joked, “You two are really in sync tonight.”

Hearing this, Qing Xian’s usually cold face instantly turned red. He glared at Long Ling and said, “It’s just that your card skills are poor.”

Si Tu Tang didn’t say anything, just looked at her cards in a way that suggested she was questioning her life choices. How had she managed to play such a good hand into a dead end?

As the four laughed and joked, the ship suddenly began to sway.

Si Tu Tang’s body swayed, and she suddenly lurched towards Long Ling beside her.

Long Ling didn’t react in time, and before he knew it, he had embraced her in his arms.

For a moment, they stared at each other, wide-eyed. A moment later, they both awkwardly turned their heads, pretending nothing had happened.

But the ship was still swaying. Su Rong walked to the window and looked at the rising waves outside, remaining silent for a while.

“How did such big waves suddenly come up? It’s like we’ve encountered a water ghost,” Si Tu Tang said as she got up and staggered to the window.

Su Rong still didn’t speak, just looked at the flying waves before her with deep eyes.

“Ugh—”

Su Rong turned around at the sound and saw Qing Xian vomiting while holding onto the bedpost.

“Cousin, what’s wrong?” Long Ling asked anxiously.

Qing Xian waved his hand, not in the mood to answer him, just retching uncomfortably.

Si Tu Tang said, “Young Master Qing Xian, you seem to be seasick. With the waves so big now, it’s normal to be seasick. Why don’t you go back to your room and rest for a bit?”

Su Rong frowned and walked over to Qing Xian, asking, “Can you walk?”

Qing Xian nodded and was about to let go of the bed railing to walk back to his own room.

Suddenly, a wave hit, and he lost his balance, falling to the right.

Su Rong, who was standing beside him, quickly caught him, her slender arm supporting his lean waist.

This incident made Qing Xian even paler, his expression bitter.

Su Rong simply picked him up by the waist and walked out of the room.

The ship was still swaying, but Su Rong’s steps were steady. Qing Xian, nestled in her arms, looked at the woman’s perfectly curved jaw, and after a moment, buried his head in her embrace contentedly.

Feeling his movement, Su Rong looked down and asked, “Feeling better?”

“…No,” Qing Xian replied in a muffled voice.

Su Rong carried him to his room and then placed him on the bed.

As soon as he landed on the bed, Qing Xian once again felt the violent swaying. He closed his eyes uncomfortably, not wanting to trouble Su Rong further.

Su Rong, standing by the bed, glanced at him and then turned to leave the room.

Seeing her about to leave, Qing Xian didn’t try to keep her.

He just buried himself in the blanket with some disappointment, enduring with difficulty.

The wind and waves outside had not yet stopped, and even sleeping in the ship, one could hear the roar of the sea waves outside.

Qing Xian covered himself entirely with the blanket, separating himself from the wind and rain outside.

Although he wasn’t afraid of ghosts and monsters, he found it somewhat difficult to endure the howling sound of the waves outside the window.

Especially now, when he felt his stomach churning, he felt like vomiting even without speaking.

Finally, he couldn’t hold back and vomited again, holding onto the bed railing.

After vomiting, he collapsed powerlessly by the bed, faintly hearing the sound of the door opening.

He thought it was Long Ling coming to check on him out of concern, so he kept his eyes closed and didn’t speak.

Until that person came closer, and a familiar cold orchid fragrance reached his nose.

The orchid scent was cold and aloof, yet it allowed his muddled mind a moment of relief.

He opened his eyes and indeed saw Su Rong standing by the bed.

Qing Xian looked at her with a pale face, not knowing what to say.

He felt that at this moment, he must look dirty and ugly, and wanted to hide away.

But then he heard Su Rong say, “Can you sit up? I bought you some seasickness medicine and a few tangerines. You should feel better after eating them.”

There were always a few people who got seasick on the ship, so there was a place selling seasickness medicine on the first floor, as well as a small shop selling fruits.

Su Rong had bought the medicine and, passing by, saw the bright yellow tangerines inside and went in to buy a few.

Qing Xian looked at the pills and tangerines in her hand, his eyes a bit red.

“Thank you.”

Su Rong smiled and said, “Tsk, why are you about to cry again?”

Saying this, she pushed the seasickness pill into Qing Xian’s mouth and said, “Chew.”

Qing Xian curved his lips, chewing the pill in his mouth delicately.

He looked a bit like a small squirrel from Mount Wudao.

Su Rong hooked her lip and picked up a tangerine, starting to peel it.

After thoroughly swallowing the pill, Qing Xian felt the ship suddenly stop swaying.

He asked Su Rong, “Has the storm stopped?”

Hearing this, Su Rong turned her head to look out the window and saw red lights appearing on the sea surface in the distance.

First two, then four, then eight… more and more red lights lit up on the sea surface, like bright red fireworks, seemingly able to illuminate the night sky for a moment.

Qing Xian saw it too and said, “Su Rong, it’s so beautiful!”

Su Rong turned to look at him, casually reaching out to pull up his fallen blanket, and said, “Mm.”

Then there was a knock on the door, and Si Tu Tang’s voice came through: “Su Rong, I was just about to call you out to see. It’s so beautiful, but I don’t know what it is.”

“Divine Lanterns.”

“Divine Lanterns.”

Su Rong and Qing Xian spoke in unison, then looked at each other before quickly looking away.

Su Rong said to Si Tu Tang, “Whenever the wind and waves are treacherous, Divine Lanterns might appear. Coming from afar, they gradually calm the wind.”

Si Tu Tang exclaimed in surprise, “Is it that magical? Then wouldn’t the sailors at sea often see such a wondrous sight?”

Su Rong said, “Divine Lanterns are rarely seen. Only those with Buddhist affinity encounter them.”

As she said this, Su Rong was looking at Si Tu Tang. For some reason, she had a feeling that the Divine Lanterns had come for this person.

If it were just about unusual behavior, then Qing Xian and Lin Long would be even more so, but she didn’t think either of them had Buddhist affinity.

Yet when she looked at Si Tu Tang, she had this feeling.

But it was just her own wild guess after all. She lowered her eyes and handed the peeled tangerine to Qing Xian.

Qing Xian also looked at the Divine Lanterns on the sea surface with some curiosity, but he didn’t associate the Divine Lanterns with Si Tu Tang.

He looked at the tangerine in his hand, from which all the fibers had been carefully removed, leaving only the bright yellow pulp.

He thought with some reluctance: If only he could keep this tangerine forever, this was the first time Su Rong had peeled a tangerine for him.

But Su Rong didn’t have such romantic thoughts. She saw Qing Xian holding the tangerine without moving for a long time and asked directly, “Why haven’t you eaten it yet? If you’re not going to eat it, I’ll eat it myself.”

As she said this, she reached out to grab Qing Xian’s tangerine. Qing Xian pulled his hand into his chest, hiding the tangerine along with it.

“No, I’ll eat it right away.”

Su Rong looked at him amusedly, not understanding what was so precious about a tangerine.

“It seems you’re not in much distress anymore. I’ll call someone to clean up the room for you,” Su Rong said, standing up to leave.

Qing Xian quickly called out to her, “Will you come back?”

Su Rong looked at him strangely and said, “What would I come back for? The Divine Lanterns are gone, I should go to sleep too.”

Qing Xian lowered his head and said glumly, “Oh.”

“Alright, I’m right next door. If anything happens, knock on the wall. I’ll be able to hear,” Su Rong said helplessly.

Hearing this, Qing Xian pressed his lips together, revealing a bit of a smile, and nodded.

Su Rong didn’t look back and walked straight out of the room.

Not long after Su Rong left, someone came in to clean the room. Their movements were swift and their expression normal, clearly used to such scenes.

After the cleaning was done, Qing Xian thanked them and lay back down.

He turned once on the bed, moving closer to the wall, and stretched his hand out from under the blanket.

He somewhat wanted to knock on the wall. His fingers curled slightly then straightened again. In the end, he just touched the wall and then lay flat to sleep.

…

The next day, after the rain, the sky cleared, and a long rainbow appeared over the sea.

Su Rong stood on the deck by the side of the ship, hearing people discussing the magical scene from the previous night.

“Hey, Su Rong, you’re here. I was wondering why I hadn’t seen you and Qing Xian,” Si Tu Tang said.

“Qing Xian?” Su Rong was a bit confused. By this time, he should have been up.

“I haven’t seen him all day. At this hour, he should be up by now, right? I thought he was with you,” Si Tu Tang said.

“Didn’t Lin Long go look for him?” Su Rong asked.

“I don’t know. Lin Long has been fiddling with something in his room since early morning. As a grown woman, how could I enter a man’s room without permission?” Si Tu Tang looked at the sea surface, saying somewhat helplessly.

Su Rong nodded and said, “I’ll go look for Qing Xian.”

Si Tu Tang waved her hand and said, “You go ahead. I’ll admire the beautiful scenery. It’s the first time I’ve seen such a beautiful flying rainbow.”

In the distance, a long rainbow in the sky seemed like a colorful bridge connecting heaven and earth, its brilliant colors inlaid in the azure sky.

The view before them was vast and open. Sea birds flew over the sea surface, stirring up ripples.

The sea breeze gently blew past, and the flag on the ship’s mast fluttered lightly in the wind…