Chapter 211: Chapter 177: Sea Ship
Below the rock strata, the Ink Silk Clone slowly unfurled, extending over ten tendrils to dig and navigate through the rock.
After the collapse, the underground palace had sunk to an extreme depth. Li Ang directed the Ink Silk Clone to survey the surroundings and found several unmanned outposts the garrison had left outside the underground palace.
They seemed largely unaware of the Sword Immortal Tomb. Coupled with the frequent earthquakes, they hadn’t invested much manpower or resources into excavating this area. It was simply too deep; if another collapse occurred, rescue would be impossible.
This, however, gave Li Ang an opening. The Ink Silk Clone quickly found the remains of Jiao Cheng’s subordinates and eliminated all traces. It also navigated the twisted, deformed corridors to find the stone box that had initially contained Mo Si.
Back then, after Li Ang killed Jiao Cheng, his fingers had touched the inside of the stone box, leading to the Mo Si infestation. Overcome by excruciating pain, Li Ang had only managed to sink Jiao Cheng’s corpse to the riverbed and flee to the surface. The stone box, however, was lost in the dim underground environment.
I didn’t expect to find it again.
Li Ang had the Ink Silk Clone open the stone box. It was empty, but a line of small characters was engraved on the bottom.
[Wu County Changmen Sea Hawk No. 39]
Wu County? Li Ang’s heart stirred. Wu County was Suzhou. Historically, its name had changed multiple times, including Wu County and Wu State.
Chang Gate was an ancient city gate of Suzhou, located in the city’s northwest. The name ’Chang’ meant ’connecting with the heavens,’ symbolizing that Wu Kingdom was blessed by the Heavenly God and grew increasingly powerful.
As for Sea Hawk No. 39... I have no idea what that means.
After a moment of contemplation, Li Ang had the Ink Silk Clone retrieve the stone box and continue exploring.
The numerous Third-Level Demon Red-eyed Purple Lady Bees that had originally inhabited the underground palace had either been crushed by the rockfall, suffocated, or starved to death.
Following the trail of numerous Red-eyed Purple Lady Bee corpses, the Ink Silk Clone found the pyramid-shaped giant beehive they had been protecting.
Nearly a year had passed since the underground palace’s collapse. Most of the eggs in the beehive had shriveled and died in the excessively stuffy environment. Only three black bee eggs, scattered at the bottom, still showed faint signs of life.
Li Ang had read in *Hundred Beasts Studies* that Red-eyed Purple Lady Bees actively hunt prey and lay eggs inside their victims, which then hatch.
When no large living creatures were nearby, the Queen Bee had to activate the eggs herself. As for the activation method... is it by providing high-calorie Royal Jelly?
Li Ang hesitated for a moment but chose not to destroy the three eggs, instead having the Ink Silk Clone collect them too.
The parasitic ability of the Red-eyed Purple Lady Bees was quite interesting. Historically, many Academic Palace Doctors had attempted to use them for biological Prevention and Control, specifically to eliminate other Low-level Demon Beasts. A high bounty of two hundred school credits per egg was even offered for Red-eyed Purple Lady Queen Bee eggs.
Li Ang wasn’t interested in claiming the bounty; he simply adhered to the principle of never leaving empty-handed.
Exploring the entire underground palace yielded no further clues about the Sword Immortal, nor did Li Ang find Jiao Cheng’s body. It was possible the Dark River had changed course and swept the body away to some unknown location.
That’s fine. Since I can’t find Jiao Cheng’s body, the garrison isn’t likely to find it either.
Li Ang felt a slight twinge of regret. He had the Ink Silk Clone erase all traces, then transform into a drill. It bored through to the surface, and Li Ang had it leave the underground palace, going into hiding in the mountains a hundred miles east of Chang’an.
In the Golden City Mansion, Chai Chai and Li Leqing celebrated passing the preliminary exam for a while before plunging back into intensive study and tutoring. The preliminary exam, which selected five thousand candidates from ten thousand, was just the first hurdle; re-examinations and final exams were still to come. They couldn’t afford to slack off.
With the two of them so busy, Li Ang felt there was little he could do to help, so he found an excuse the next morning to go to the Academic Palace. He went to the Academic Palace to apply to Su Feng, the Doctor of Science, for a patent on the iodine and potassium iodide he had previously produced during the Li Shenbin case.
Iodine could be used to create preservatives, disinfectants, and medications, replacing irritating high-concentration pure wine. Furthermore, adding potassium iodide to salt could prevent goiter. As before, Li Ang would entrust the Academic Palace Patent Office with contacting Chang’an business firms to authorize the patent and produce these two items.
Since the introduction of Allicin, deaths from Blood Sores in Yu Country had significantly decreased. However, Allicin’s drawback of being difficult to store persisted. In some regions, its price remained high, making it unaffordable for many citizens of Yu Country. If the production of tincture of iodine could be scaled up, people with minor cuts and abrasions could directly apply it to their wounds to disinfect them, preventing infection and life-threatening complications.
After submitting the patent application, Li Ang went to the Book Collection Pavilion. During the Academic Palace holidays, fewer faculty members were present, but the pavilion remained open. He borrowed some books to search for information regarding "Wu County Changmen Sea Hawk No. 39."
After looking through more than ten books, Li Ang finally found relevant clues in county gazetteers.
Sea Hawk was the name of a medium-sized seagoing vessel.
"The sides of the ship were fitted with floatboards, shaped like hawk wings, to help the vessel catch the wind; even in raging storms, there was no fear of capsizing."
This type of ship had structures on both sides, akin to anti-rolling boards, which effectively improved its maneuverability in rough seas by reducing sway and preventing capsizing. They were produced in Suzhou during the Former Sui period but were later superseded by more advanced ship designs.
"In the early Former Sui period, the three-tiered system of provinces, commanderies, and counties was changed to a two-tiered system of provinces and counties. In the ninth year of Kaihuang, Wu State was renamed Suzhou. In the first year of Daye, Suzhou reverted to Wu State. In the third year of Daye, the provincial and county system was again changed to a commandery and county system, and Wu State was once more called Wu County."
This meant the stone box dated to at least after the third year of Daye in the Former Sui, but before the establishment of Yu Country.
Li Ang quickly determined the approximate era of the stone box. Wu County Changmen Sea Hawk No. 39 was likely the thirty-ninth Sea Hawk model vessel produced at the Chang Gate shipyard in Former Sui Suzhou. The stone box very likely came from that ship.
He squinted, thinking, The Sword Immortal himself, after returning from the Endless Sea, began secretly building tombs in various places to bury the items he brought back. Considering Mo Si was placed inside the stone box... the crew of Sea Hawk No. 39 were probably the first to discover Mo Si. However, for some reason, they perished in the Endless Sea, and the Sword Immortal must have found the stone box and brought it back to Yu Country.
During the Former Sui period, many Emperors were keen on exploring the Endless Sea, repeatedly organizing fleets to search for the legendary Immortality Elixir. Many private merchants also ventured into the Endless Sea, risking their lives for spices, coral, exotic treasures, and wealth. It was all too common for ships to be wrecked, their crews and cargo lost to the depths.
Of course, it’s also possible the Sword Immortal had a mischievous streak and simply chose an antique box to store Mo Si, intending to baffle anyone who found it later. But that possibility is too remote to consider.
Shipwrecks from the Former Sui period... tsk. Three or four hundred years have passed. Generations have come and gone at the shipyards; finding records will be incredibly difficult... Should I make a trip to Suzhou?