Taofu cupped his fists and replied, "Your subordinate will go paint the nas right away!"
Qin Ziwen climbed onto the deck along with him.
It was also his first ti seeing a ghost ship, and he was very curious.
On the deck, a ghostly shipwright shifted aside to give Qin Ziwen room.
A rope coiled around the yardarm moved gently, like a little snake, winding behind Qin Ziwen.
The rope lightly tapped his shoulder.
Qin Ziwen turned around, and the rope, as if startled, hurriedly retracted, standing upright and swaying gently, as if waving hello.
"Hello." Qin Ziwen rembered that after repairing a ship there was a small chance of awakening the ship's ghosts, turning them into special crew.
So far on this ship he had only seen the ghostly shipwrights from the shipyard. Could these moving cables be the special crew?
It was not impossible.
Stepping on the slightly damp deck, although the planks had hardened sowhat and were no longer as brittle as when the ship first set sail, they still retained a moist feel, like boards wet from rain.
In the gaps, he could still see water plants and shells stubbornly stuck.
The overall tone was gloomy, carrying an oppressive, cold aura.
Aside from the cables, the other strange change on the ship was the rudder located toward the stern.
On the millstone-sized wooden rudder the grain was pronounced, uneven and rough.
If one looked closely, the uneven surface actually ford a crude human face.
When Qin Ziwen approached the rudder, the face carved into the rudder, which had been keeping its eyes tightly shut, opened them. Two wooden rolling eyeballs, as if alive, turned as Qin Ziwen moved, staring fixedly at him.
"Can you steer a ship?" Qin Ziwen asked, intrigued, addressing the face rudder.
The face rudder did not seem able to speak, only staring at Qin Ziwen. After a mont, the unpiloted rudder began to turn on its own.
"Interesting." Qin Ziwen walked around a bit more, then went into the cabin to take a look.
He found that although the three lower levels below were sowhat dilapidated, they were at least not damp.
On Lower Deck, there were four openings around, and behind each opening a ballista was mounted.
"These things are repaired too?"
Qin Ziwen was surprised.
The style of these ballistae was unusual.
They bore a five-or-six-tenths resemblance to vehicle-mounted crossbows, but differed in many details.
For example, the winch drum was positioned at the rear of the ballista, operable by two people simultaneously.
The bolts were shorter, only about one point six ters long, but their heads were conical, better suited to flying through water.
The bolt heads were designed specifically for penetrating armor.
Outside the ship, the finished ghost gold plating was brought over, ghostly shipwrights floated beside the hull, and hamred nails while affixing the tal mbrane to the exterior.
While everyone was busy, Qin Ziwen went to the Tavern.
He had dropped in occasionally these past few days, but hardly ever encountered any custors.
Even when there were patrons, they were usually hurried travelers who grabbed so food, paid, and left.
He took out a physical copy of Robinson Crusoe and sat behind the counter to pass the ti.
After reading for a while, he couldn't help but marvel that the island Robinson encountered was quite large, far bigger than their current island.
A sound ca from outside the door.
Imdiately after, the curtain was pushed aside.
Three burly n wearing bamboo hats and straw raincoats walked into the Tavern. Once inside, they looked around and slapped the table with their palms.
"Owner, bring half a jin of beef."
Qin Ziwen put down the book, "No beef, but there is dragon at. Want so?"
"Hahahahaha." The bearded man on the left burst into loud laughter at this.
"Interesting, interesting."
"Dragon at? Do you take us for fools? My two brothers and I have traveled mountains and rivers, roaming the jianghu for years, and we've never heard of dragon at.
Today I want to see if your shabby shop can actually produce dragon at. If you can't, I won't let you off." The short-browed, yellow-bearded man on the right showed a an expression and rolled up his sleeves.
The man in the middle, with hollow cheeks and narrow eyes, coughed, "Forget it, I suppose the owner is joking with us. Owner, bring the at first, don't mind my brother."
Qin Ziwen observed the three and found they carried a strong jianghu aura, sowhat similar to the first ti he t Du Yu.
He couldn't help but release three Insight scans, directed at the three n.
[Common·Human: ☆☆☆☆]
To his surprise, all three showed as four stars, the kind of innate talent physique.
When Du Yu had first arrived in Ho without an Enhancent Card, he had also only been four-star strength.
In terms of raw power, these three could be called innately gifted.
A plan ford in Qin Ziwen's mind. He turned to the kitchen, found Du Yu,
then called for Younger Brother. The three of them together lifted the Tarbosaurus skull and carried it back into the Tavern through the rear door.
Just as they returned to the kitchen, the curtain was pushed aside. The short-browed, yellow-bearded man poked his head in, and seeing the three in the kitchen he looked puzzled. "I just thought you ran off."
His words suddenly stopped, and he stared dumbfounded at the gigantic head of the Tarbosaurus in the kitchen.
"What is this!?"
"A dragon." Qin Ziwen smiled, "I told you I sell dragon at. You didn't believe , so I brought the dragon we slaughtered a few days ago for you to see. Don't say I'm lying. This isn't a shady shop; I never sell fake goods."
The short-browed, yellow-bearded man could not speak for a long ti. He considered himself and his two brothers well-traveled and worldly, yet they had never seen anything like this.
If it was a dragon he was unsure, but he did not dare deny it.
Its head was larger than a table. Even a tiger coming down from the mountain or a shoreline boar-dragon wouldn't compare; it would probably swallow a tiger whole with a single bite.
"Did you kill this?" The short-browed, yellow-bearded man still found it hard to believe.
At this mont, the other two who had heard the commotion in the main room ca to the kitchen.
Upon seeing the Tarbosaurus head, the two fell silent.
"Impressive, impressive!" The left man cupped his fists with both hands and said in a deep voice.
"Wait." The hollow-cheeked man suddenly fixed his gaze on Du Yu, his tone filled with astonishnt, "You are... could you be Du Yu, the tiger fighter from Tongzhou?"
"Who are you?" Du Yu asked.
Soone could call out his na—could they be from the sa hotown?
The hollow-cheeked man said, "My na is Yan Da from Taicang. These two are my brothers by the sa mother, Yan San and Yan Wu."
"I have long heard of Brother Du's fa. I once saw Master Qiu's tiger-fighting painting made for Brother Du at Guo Family Village, but I never had the honor of eting you. I heard two years ago Brother Du was exiled and that Lu Sheng fell ill on the journey. I did not expect..." Yan Da sounded both moved and delighted.
"Lu Sheng fell ill, huh."
Hearing rumors of his own death from others, Du Yu felt the absurdity and amusent in his heart, then shook his head and smiled, feeling sowhat relieved.
Being able to sever the ties and not implicate the constable who escorted him was a good thing.
After all, he had no way back. Let that other world's "Du Yu" be carried away by the wind.
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