Chapter 4769 — The Ancient Warship
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
When all was ready, the ancient warship, accompanied by the cheers of countless people and the long, mellow, archaic and desolate note of a horn, slowly drew away from the Western Isle docks, cleaving the waves toward the endless sea.
An ancient warship was a rare sight, and Weizhao had meant to take the chance to look around properly. But he was told he could only move about in the living quarters; the confidential areas—the weapons arrays and the like—were open only to the ship's own operators, and no outsiders were permitted to come within half a step, Liu Ziqi and Ren Zhongyuan included.
Only then did Weizhao understand: this ancient warship was not even rented out, as it were. All operations were handled by its original crew, and everyone else was merely a temporary passenger.
"And here I thought I'd get an eyeful. What a pity." Having reached this conclusion, Weizhao could only shake his head in disappointment.
"Yes, what a shame!" Ning Xuefei, standing beside him, sighed along with him. Her interest in this ancient warship was no less than his—if anything, greater—yet she could not even take a look around, wasting such a fine opportunity! Though she was the princess of the Western Isle, she had never had the chance to ride an ancient warship like this before.
"You two, stop complaining. I heard my master say that some academies still keep the design blueprints of ancient warships in their collections. When the time comes, we'll find a way to get a look at them—and who knows, Feifei, you might even knock together a copy with Jingjing!" Huo Yudie consoled them with a chuckle. For some reason, she had a particular fondness for the words of the secular world.
"Really? Then it's worth a try!" Ning Xuefei's eyes lit up at once.
Weizhao was speechless at her reaction. Even if they really could get the blueprints, it was not as though a ship could simply be built at will! Han Jingyi merely had a gift for forging products of a transcendent age of technology—but Weizhao had thought of someone else!
That was the King of Junk. Perhaps one day, he might be able to forge a warship as well.
Just then a light, melodious horn sounded through the ship. Weizhao blinked. "Has something happened?"
"No—that light horn means it's mealtime. Let's head over." Huo Yudie smiled and at once led the two of them toward the dining hall.
Weizhao had seen the dining hall of the Northern Isle's giant treasure ship before and already thought it lavish in the extreme. But when he beheld the over-the-top dining hall of this ancient warship, a thought sprang into his mind at once: the Eastern Isle folk really do know how to live!
Not only Weizhao—even Ning Xuefei wore a look of dumbstruck amazement. This princess of the Western Isle had seen no small number of fine things, but a dining hall aboard a ship this extravagant was truly a first for her.
Gilded splendor would only look vulgar; this dining hall before them was simply an indoor paradise of the highest taste. Delicacies of every kind were laid out here and there among exquisite pools of immortal stone and jade, and a few steps in any direction let one help oneself. It was elegant in a most uncommon way, and it made one's appetite stir and one's praises flow without thinking.
Ning Xuefei cheerfully took a dish of pastries from a tray floating on the jade pool, tasted one, and her eyes went wide. She praised it without end: "Mm, mm—Weizhao, you try some too. These pastries are delicious, not a bit worse than what we have on the Western Isle!"
"Really?" Weizhao took a piece, half believing, half doubting.