Zheng Xi yawned, rubbed his eyes and patted his face. After feeling somewhat awake, he widened his eyes and looked ahead.
It was the middle of the night; the sky was covered in dark clouds. Neither moonlight nor starlight were present. The wind slowly grew bigger.
Zheng Xi looked at the wind flag that was flapping around. This wind came fast. Earlier, the night sky was still full of stars; but now, the wind was blowing so intensely!
Looks like there will be a downpour, thought Zheng Xi. He rubbed his eyes again. Since Sanyu was surrounded by small islands and hidden reefs, Ling Qingyu told Ding Dong and the rowers to rest and only left Zheng Xi and two sailors on deck. Looks like this situation will require Ling Qingyu and the others. Heavy rain is coming.
Zheng Xi yelled down, "Tian Keng, go call the head and others over. I'm afraid that there will be heavy rain."
After shouting a few times and not hearing any response, Zheng Xi set the rudder still and walked out the door. He immediately saw that two small ships had already been lowered into the ocean. Tian Keng, another sailor, and a few prisoners were sitting on the ship, preparing to row away.
"Tian Keng! Head! Get up, people are running away!"
Tian Keng waved toward Zheng Xi and cut the rope connecting to the small boat with a blade. The boat immediately drifted away from the Aeolus.
"Zheng Xi, check the sails. Lu Yao, go find Gu Sui and Yang Zhao and check the oars. Fang Shi, you go check the lower cabin." Ling Yu gave orders to everyone while putting on her outer coat. After assigning tasks, she suddenly stopped and stretched out her hand to feel the wind. A sulphur smell filled her nose. When she lifted her head toward the sky, her face sank.
"Miss, the rolling mechanisms of the sails are damaged. The masts of the middle and front sails are destroyed. I'm afraid they will fall once a strong wind blows."
"Head, all the oars had been thrown into the ocean. Hu Yu and some others are missing," yelled Gu Sui as he ran up. He had been watching Hu Yu and the others. But for some reason, he fell into a deep sleep today. Such a mistake. Could it be that the previous days were too comfortable and he lost his vigilance?
"We will catch those little bastards!" yelled Zhang Dahu.
"No need. Zheng Xi, check if we can lower the sails! Gu Sui, go check the bottom cabin. If there are holes or gaps, think of ways to fill them up. Everyone who can't swim get on deck and tie yourselves with ropes!" called Ling Qingyu as she turned.
"Understood." Gu Sui lead a few others down.
"Yang Zhao, go get some ropes. Make sure you stabilize yourselves, then go help Gu Sui," said Ling Qingyu toward Yang Zhao and the others.
"What happened?" Yan San walked out in a daze.
"Peng!" A loud bang came from the distance. An enormous smoke rose from the distance in the dark night. A ball of red exploded in the sky, dying it in blood red. The explosive sound reverberated in the ocean.
"Find a place to hold on to!" shouted Ling Qingyu as she grabbed a rope hanging on the bow and circled it around herself.
The formerly silent ocean suddenly became lively. Rolling thunder covered the sky. A huge, ten meter high wave rushed over.
"Sail down!" Ding Dong grabbed a rope and tied it to his body. The remaining sailors went to the side of the other sail and lowered it with Zheng Xi.
The canvas had not even lowered halfway when a crunching sound was heard. The broken middle and front masts fell and violently crashed into the water.
"It's stuck! The sail can't be lowered!" screamed the sailors fearfully at the back sail and the tail sail. With such a big storm, if they can't lower the sails, the ship may be flipped over.
"Yan San, cut the mast! Cut them all down!" Seeing the wave approach even closer, Ling Qingyu called to Yan San at the side as she tied a rope to the bow.
"Wah!" Yan San widened his eyes at the enormous wave approaching them. It took Ling Qingyu several calls before he could focus again. He took out his treasured sword and cut all the masts down with a few elegant sweeps. He turned his head, planning to ask Ling Qingyu if he were handsome. But, the enormous wave had finally rushed to the Aeolus. So, the flying Yan San, who was acting handsome, got hit into the ocean.
Another person who fell into the ocean was Ye Shiyi, who had just ran out of the tower.
Ling Qingyu didn't think at all and jumped in.
There was a slight heat in the water. The bottom was turbid. Ling Qingyu widened her eyes more to search for the two figures.
A small shadow struggled in the water with his eyes closed. A somewhat bigger one directly sank down.
Ling Qingyu didn't hesitate and rushed to the bigger figure. She grabbed his arm and swam to the smaller body. She held the neck of the smaller figure so he would stop struggling and floated to the surface.
At this time, the sea surface seemed as if it were boiling. A series of enormous waves rolled over and battered the Aeolus like a piece of paper.
Ling Qingyu's eyes were filled with seawater and couldn't open completely. Her hands could barely exert any force as she held a person in each and had to kicked at the water to keep her balance. She felt upset at herself. Why was I stupid. To actually jump in! Being a saint won't end well! But, if she were to abandon these two people now, she wouldn't be able to bear it. When her hand couldn't hold on anymore, Ling Qingyu felt her waist tighten as the rope tied around her was pulled toward the Aeolus.
On the Aeolus, Ding Dong and the sailors had crawled and rolled into the cabins.
Zheng Xi pulled at the rope with Yang Zhao and Lu Yao. Yang Zhao and Lu Yao had their backs against the ship, holding tightly onto the rope. Even though the Aeolus was rocking up and down with the enormous waves, their feet were nailed like roots. The rope was pulled back, little by little.
"Go to the lower cabin, not the tower," said the panting Ling Qingyu, sprawled on the floor as she saw Lu Yao preparing to carry Ye Shiyi to the tower.
Yang Zhao helped Yan San and Ling Qingyu. With Zheng Xi, Lu Yao and Ye Shiyi, they held on to each other and finally stumbled into the entrance of the lower cabins.
Closing the door, Ling Qingyu let out a breath. Seeing most of the people on the ship gathered here, rolling with the Aeolus, she couldn't help but laugh, but immediately stopped. "Zheng Xi, open the escape compartment and put everyone in there."
It wasn't until Zheng Xi opened a door that looked the same as the ship's hull that everyone realized there was a hidden compartment between the sailor's cabin and the cargo compartment.
The area inside was not large. Roughly twenty people can squeeze in there. But, it's also a good thing since they won't have the space to roll around.
Closing the door, the cabin was pitch black.
In the dark space, there was only silence. Even the sound of the enormous waves outside seemed far away. Only the sound of rapid breathing remained.
"Don't be afraid," said Ling Qingyu calmly.
"Miss, what happened? Is it a big storm?" Zheng Xi's voice trembled. He had never seen such a fearsome storm. He had also never seen such huge waves without rain. Even the enormous Aeolus was like an ant in front of them.
"It's not a big storm. It should be a volcanic eruption. Probably not only a volcano on the Philippine islands but also volcanoes at the bottom of the ocean." Ling Qingyu's voice was filled with exhaustion. She had used almost all of her strength when she jumped in the ocean to save people earlier.
"Volcanic eruption?" asked Gu Sui, not understanding.
"Yes. This area has frequent volcanic activity. I didn't expect our luck to be so bad. To actually encounter such a big eruption." Stopping for a moment, Ling Qingyu continued, "No. I should say it was fortunate. If we were in Sanyu right now, there wouldn't be anywhere to escape to. With such a big eruption, Sanyu's port is probably in ruins."
"Then, Hu Yu and the others are probably dead?" asked a young man.
Ling Qingyu laughed and whispered, "Probably so dead that even dregs will not be left."
Unfortunately, I don't even know what will happen to us. This escape cabin was designed for unexpected events. The entire room is sealed. The floor was made with light wood that can float. Even if the Aeolus is disintegrated, this cabin can act like a separate boat. I can only hope that the Aeolus won't directly sink to the bottom.
The eruption of volcanoes on the Philippine islands and underwater lasted three days and three nights; followed by a hundred meters high tsunami that reached the Zhou Empire's Guangzhou and Quanzhou (same as the Quan Province, Zhou = province).
The surface of the ocean was like boiled water, with enormous waves lingering, rolling up and down. The ocean currents changed their paths as the upper and lower levels of water flipped. Countless vortexes appeared.
The Aeolus was thrown around in this storm. The hull was pressured by the waves and cracks appeared everywhere. The tower collapsed. The deck cracked. Only the core body floated and was fortunate enough to bypass a vortex.
Seven days later. The ship finally calmed.