"Your Highness, the Heavenly Demon Cult is, after all, one of the Three Sacred Grounds. Although it has gone without a Cult Master for more than forty years, it still cannot be underestimated."
The middle-aged man said, "Forty years without a Cult Master, and yet it has not been destroyed and still commands such strength—that shows how powerful its cohesion is. If it were the Great Thunderclap Monastery or the Dao Sect, would they dare go forty years without a Tathagata or a Dao Master? Underestimating the Heavenly Demon Cult will only cost us."
The Crown Prince of Yankang waved his hand. "Rest assured, I will not underestimate the Heavenly Demon Cult. It could eliminate Grand Preceptor Sun Nantuo without a sound, kill even the monks of Nantuo's secondary palace, and uproot Nantuo Monastery entirely, yet the outside world received not a word of it. That shows how great its power is. How could I possibly underestimate such a cult?"
The middle-aged man looked puzzled, and the Crown Prince continued, "This time I need not lift a finger myself to have the Heavenly Demon Cult destroyed. The Dao Sect and the Great Thunderclap Monastery—their feud with the Heavenly Demon Cult is older than their feud with the State of Yankang. Both sacred grounds have long dreamed of wiping out this chief of demonic sects; they simply never had the chance. If..."
He said slowly, "If the Emperor of Yankang no longer opposed those sects, if the Emperor of Yankang no longer supported the State Preceptor's reforms, if the Emperor of Yankang dismissed the State Preceptor, if the Emperor of Yankang could make the struggle between the sects and the state vanish like smoke—do you think the Dao Sect and the Great Thunderclap Monastery would be willing to join hands with such an emperor? Do you think they would support him?"
The middle-aged man trembled slightly and looked at the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince's gaze was deep and unfathomable. He said calmly, "My imperial father has great talent and bold strategy, but he trusts the State Preceptor far too much. He trusts him to the point that most of the court is filled with the State Preceptor's men. This is digging at the very roots of our Ling family! Father has already let the State Preceptor grow too powerful. If the Preceptor ever rebelled, Father would have no means to stop him. If this goes on, the State Preceptor of Yankang will swallow everything—the heavens will change, and the dynasty itself will be replaced!"
His gaze sharpened, and he said in a deep voice, "The elders of our Ling family, the loyal and worthy men of our house—they have all seen this coming. That is why Eighth Granduncle supported me. He once admonished Father, but Father would not listen, trusting only the State Preceptor. Left with no choice, Eighth Granduncle placed his hopes in me to bring about a change."
His passion surged, tinged with grief and indignation. "Eighth Granduncle was an elder of the Ling family who won this realm together with Emperor Gaozong. He is the Eighth Imperial Uncle of our Yankang. He did not hesitate to bear the name of a traitor, making contact with the sects of the jianghu and with officials and generals across the land—all to pave the way for me, to topple the State Preceptor from power. Alas, he failed by a hair's breadth! And after death he could not even keep his whole body—the rebel State Preceptor cut off his head, and there are still rumors in court and country that he was disloyal!"
The Crown Prince shed tears, then slammed his hand heavily on the table, his eyes red. "I cannot watch the realm of the Ling family be destroyed in my father's hands, even if I must be an unfilial son! Loyalty and filial piety cannot both be served—I may be unfilial, but I am loyal to the Ling family! Some things must be done; they cannot be left undone!"
He paced back and forth in agitation. "What a joke—my little brothers and sisters still live in drunken stupor and sweet dreams, utterly unaware that calamity is about to strike our Ling family! Father has already been reduced to a figurehead by the State Preceptor. Once the Ling family is driven from the throne, they too will be wiped out to the last ember! I cannot let that happen. I cannot let this demon of the demonic path take over another's nest! I will become emperor, and I will turn the tide!"
At the Hukou Manufactory, the Heavenly Works Hall and the Artisan Hall had spent ten days finally forging the five towered boats. Everyone installed the fifteen alchemy furnaces Qin Mu had made, mounting them on the ships and connecting them to the bronze beasts.
Qin Mu had slightly modified the blueprints for the towered boats, changing some of the layout. Each ship needed three alchemy furnaces and carried three bronze beasts—two at the stern, one at the bottom of the hull—and the beasts' heads could turn in all directions.
The original wooden towered boats had been rebuilt from dark iron and dark bronze, and their weight had increased enormously. A single alchemy furnace could never lift them into the air, so two more were added, and another bronze beast was installed at the bottom of the hull that could spout fire downward, so that takeoff and landing would not be too bumpy.
Of the five iron-hulled towered boats, three were large and two were small. Small as the sparrows were, they had all the vital organs—even the two smaller boats had guest cabins fully equipped.
Qin Mu had the five ships painted with a wood-grain lacquer so that they looked like five wooden towered boats and would not shock the world.
Fan Yunxiao was beside himself with excitement, pacing around the five towered boats, and hurriedly said, "Cult Master, which ship is mine?"
Qin Mu pointed at the smaller one, and Fan Yunxiao's face immediately fell. "Could I have a big one instead?"
"The big ships are for carrying troops and fighting wars; they are not as fast as the small ones."
Qin Mu said, "If you intend to keep being a fire bandit, you should choose a small ship. If you choose a big one, you could carry passengers, I suppose, but big ships eat a lot of medicine, and in peaceful times the fares you collect may not even cover the cost of the medicine."
Fan Yunxiao hesitated. "Then I'll take the small ship. What is the other small ship for?"
Though it was called a small ship, it was hardly small—over a hundred feet long, nearly forty feet wide, and fifty feet high, able to carry twenty or thirty people.
Qin Mu had the Heavenly Demon Cult disciples change their clothes and drive away the three big ships, then had the remaining small ship sent to the Grand Academy, saying, "The New Year is almost here. This small ship is for my own travels. Incense Master Fan, you have now joined the Bandit Hall of the Sacred Cult. The Bandit Hall is one of the cult's halls, so I shall not say much more—it is a livelihood for the cult's disciples after all. But robbing money is fine; robbing lives is not. And robbing women is out of the question too."
Fan Yunxiao laughed. "I came from the Dao Sect. Though the old Dao Master drove me out, we fire bandits have never robbed lives or women. Rest assured—of the three hundred and sixty trades, each produces a master. I will do outstandingly well and not fail the Cult Master's high hopes and nurturing!"
Qin Mu was dumbstruck, and only after a long while did he wave his hand. Fan Yunxiao eagerly boarded the remaining small ship, while a dozen or so other fire bandits pushed with all their might, shoving the iron ship out of the workshop along the wooden rails.
Outside, the snow had stopped. It was freezing cold, and there were hardly any people left in the manufactory.
Fan Yunxiao shouted, "Light the furnaces, set sail! This ship is our new Cloud-Chasing Bandit Ship! We're not going straight anymore—we'll fly the fire bandits' banner, and out there lies the open sky and countless riches!"
The iron-hulled towered boat rose slowly, gathering speed, and suddenly shot into the sky. From aboard came the cries of the fire bandits: "It's cold, so cold! Boss Fan, don't stand on the deck—come inside and warm up!"
Qin Mu watched them leave, then started back, bringing the Dragon Qilin, Hu Ling'er, and the Doutian Demon King back to the capital.
These past days the snow had fallen without cease. Even though it had stopped now, the sky remained gloomy with dark clouds, no sunlight in sight, and a cold wind howled; everything was frozen.
"It's been ten days since I last saw the sun," Hu Ling'er said, looking up at the sky.
She could not stay put in the workshop and kept running outside.
Qin Mu was slightly taken aback. Ten days without seeing the sun? This snowfall had been rather heavy, but why was the sun still not out after the snow had stopped?
He did not think much of it. The New Year was drawing closer, and the capital had taken on a festive air, with lanterns and decorations everywhere. As Qin Mu entered the city, he saw towered boats and great warships flying up into the sky one after another. Besides soldiers, those ships also carried court officials—who knew what they were flying into the sky for.
"It doesn't look like they're going off to war."
Qin Mu looked up and saw the dozen or so towered boats flying higher and higher, heading straight up into the high sky rather than anywhere else, and he wondered.
He returned to the Grand Academy, where the scholars were all chatting about the New Year; no one mentioned the court officials flying up into the clouds. Some were also discussing the towered boat moored before the scholars' quarters, saying, "I wonder which rich young lord has so much money as to keep a towered boat just for getting around."
The next day the sky was still dark and overcast. Gu Linuan gathered the scholars of the Grand Academy and announced, "The Emperor has granted the New Year holiday. You may all go home for the festival."
The whole mountain erupted in cheers.
Qin Mu looked up and saw several more towered boats rising into the sky, heading for the high heavens.
Meanwhile, aboard the Cloud-Chasing Bandit Ship, Fan Yunxiao stood trembling at the bow, snapped off the icicles hanging from his nose, looked down, and asked, "Second Brother, where are we now?"
A fire bandit looked down, worked out their position from the terrain, and said, "We're over the Li River already."
"Why is it snowing over the Li River too?"
Fan Yunxiao was astonished. Pointing at the mountains and rivers below covered in white snow, he said, "That's not right. The Li River lies at the very southern edge of the Southern Borderlands—even in deep winter you could go about bare-chested there. How come the mountains are sealed in snow this year?"
Many fire bandits came out of the cabins and looked down, clicking their tongues in wonder.
Fan Yunxiao's face suddenly changed slightly, and he said hurriedly, "We've flown tens of thousands of li from the capital to get here. Have any of you seen the sun?"
The dozen-odd fire bandits looked at one another and shook their heads.
Fan Yunxiao drew a cold breath. Looking up at the pale, gloomy clouds, he muttered, "A single cloud covering tens of thousands of li—does that look like an ordinary cloud to you? And this snow—even the Southern Borderlands is buried in it. Next year will be no year of peace, I fear, but a famine year with corpses of the starved everywhere... When people go hungry and cannot fill their bellies, they rebel... And here I thought I could enjoy a few years of peace and make a few fortunes. Second Brother, open the furnaces to full power—we're flying further south!"
After more than two hours, the Cloud-Chasing Bandit Ship flew out of the Southern Borderlands and into the sky above the Southern Sea. Suddenly a dazzling light appeared ahead, and when they flew to it, the blazing sun was pouring out its rays in full abandon, shining on the sea until it gleamed as translucent as sapphire.
Fan Yunxiao looked back and drew in a sharp breath.
One colossal dark cloud covered the entire territory of the State of Yankang!
In the Grand Academy, Qin Mu was packing, ready to board a ship back to the Great Ruins, when a Directorate official came striding over, calling out loudly, "Zhongsan Dafu, by imperial command, all officials of rank six and above in the capital must attend court! Those who fail will be charged!"
Qin Mu set down his bundle and said to Hu Ling'er, "You all stay here. I'll go to the palace and see what this is about."
It was his first time attending court. When he arrived at the great hall, it was already packed with a sea of people—hundreds upon hundreds of officials crammed inside. Fortunately the Golden Luan Hall was large enough to hold them all.
Emperor Yanfeng sat in the Golden Luan Hall, worry written on his face, asking from time to time, "Has the State Preceptor arrived yet?"
Hearing that the State Preceptor of Yankang had not arrived, the worry on Emperor Yanfeng's face deepened.
After a moment, the Emperor cleared his throat. His voice rolled like a great bell as he said gravely, "We shall not wait for the State Preceptor. My dear ministers, it has been more than ten days since any of you have seen the sun, has it not? We ourselves have not seen the sun for more than ten days—nor, for that matter, has the whole State of Yankang. These past days memorials from officials across the land have come flying in like snowflakes. From the desert north to the far south, from Sunrise Island in the east to Mishui Pass in the west—heavy snow, six or seven days of heavy snow!"
He rose from the Dragon Throne, pointed upward, his finger trembling slightly. "One single cloud has covered the whole realm of Yankang!"