Chapter Eighteen: Hidden Marks
Ling Qingyu slept until noon of the second morning, when she woke from starvation. Opening her eyes, she saw Ye Shiyi's worried little face, with dark circles around his eyes.
Seeing her wake up, Ye Shiyi touched his face. Not only were his eyes somewhat red, but there were also tears he was trying to hold back. Ling Qingyu felt bad and said softly, "Oh Shiyi. Is there food? Sister is hungry."
"Yes, there is. Brother Lu made some fish soup in the morning. Brother Zheng also roasted some breadfruits. They are all waiting for you to wake up. Let me go tell them."
Ling Qingyu watched as Ye Shiyi ran out and sighed. She looked at her basket. It was still covered by a piece of white cloth she had fastened on top.Not a single string had moved. Her heart started beating faster as she grabbed the basket. First, she stored all the fruits and the crystal grass. Thinking a moment, she also took out the gems, but leaving everything else.
"Miss, miss, you are finally awake." Zheng Xi rushed in with a bowl of breadfruits. Follow him, Lu Yao walked in with a bowl of fish soup. Ling Qingyu also saw a crowd gathered outside, including Yang Zhao, Gu Sui and others.
"I really am fine. Just a bit exhausted!" shouted Ling Qingyu toward the people outside. She beckoned Gu Sui and Yang Zhao to come in. Along with Shi Fang, who just rushed other, the small room was completely full. Some people laughed outside and said a few words about how everything is good now that they knew the boss is fine before everyone left.
Ling Qingyu drank a few gulps of soup without minding her image, then ate a breadfruit. After wiping her mouth, she took out each of her gains from the basket to show the people in the room.
Agarwood, qinan, duru, ginseng, ganoderma, longnao, sumu. Each time she brought one out, Shi Fang and Zheng Xi would yelled out in shock.
"There were also many things I had never seen before on the mountain. I can collect a few next time for Doctor Shi to look at." Seeing their expressions, Ling Qingyu quickly added, "But I won't be gone for so long again. I have a sense of where things are. Oh, next time, I will have to trouble one of you to come with me. I can't carry so much."
All of these were hard to find in the world. The most precious were those herbs that can save one's life. Shi Fang was already experimenting with turning them into pills for easy carry. He wanted to ask Ling Qingyu to bring him; but thinking again, he would just be a burden, so he held back.
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Ling Qingyu rested in the camp for a few days. During this time, the dock's construction was completed and Huang Jing started measuring the amount of wood they need. Zhu Weili visited Ling Qingyu a few times to verify blueprints for the new Aeolus. Seeing this progress, Ling Qingyu waved her hand and told everyone to rest for a day.
The crowd cheered. They took off their clothes and jumped into the ocean.
Ling Qingyu was first smiling and watching them play around, but then felt something amiss. Most of their backs had hidden marks that disappeared the moment they face away from sunlight.
Ling Qingyu frowned. She suddenly remembered that on the mountain, she had seen a patch of grade nine ginseng. As she took the fourth piece, Xiao Bai pushed her hand away. When she looked at her hand under the sun, she had also seen the hidden marks. When she planted the fourth piece of ginseng back, the mark disappeared.
Ling Qingyu rose and walked toward the sailors' cottage. They all lived in a common space. Pushing the door open, she saw that the room was piled with amber. Even on their beds.
Greed. Even though she didn't know what the consequence of those hidden marks will be, it can't be anything good.
Ling Qingyu quickly walked to the water and waved everyone over. When they had gathered, she said, "Everyone need to throw the amber in their rooms back into the ocean." When she saw their faces full of confusion, she frowned and said, "There are too many weird phenomenons on this island. It's not a place where we can take as many things as we want. You should look at each other under the sun. See something on your backs?"
Everyone started investigating each other. Only Lu Yao, Ye Shiyi, Yang Zhao and Gu Sui's backs were clean. Even Yan San had them. Shi Fang had the most. Ling Qingyu looked around speechlessly and saw a patch of cleared dirt on the bay.
"I don't care if you guys believe it or not, but this island has its own consciousness. It is allowing us to survive. But, if we take too much, it doesn't mean that the island will let us off. If everyone believes me, then please throw the ambers back and only leave a few. How many, hehe, that will depend on when the marks on your backs disappear."
"We believe boss!" called out the crowd. Then, they each went to grab baskets and buckets to collect the amber. As they threw the ambers back into the ocean, they asked others to look at their backs.
"What about me?" Shi Fang asked with despair. He was different than the others. They could easily throw back the ambers they collected, but he dug up medical herbs. The majority had also been turned into pills. There was no way to return them!
"Find some seeds to plant. See if that has an effect." Ling Qingyu shook her head. She couldn't blame them. Everyone has some greed in their hearts. Only a few can resist the vast wealth in front of them.
I can understand Shi Fang, but Yan San. How did you get these marks? Ling Qingyu turned around to look at Yan San with suspicion.
Yan San leaned his head back and thought hard about what he took. If taking too many things will get a person cursed, then how could he, who didn't take any useless grass or collect any fruits or even cut a tree, be cursed!
"Third master," said Ye Shiyi as he pulled on Yan San's shirt. "When you broke through the third level yesterday, you palmed the seafloor. I remember a lot of rocks flying to the other side." Ye Shiyi pointed to the border.
"Oh!" Ling Qingyu couldn't help but laugh out loud. She patted Yan San and said, "Good thing you wanted to challenge the highest level of martial arts. You should go bring back every single piece!"
Yan San looked at the border with a bitter face. His eyes glanced at the others, then he suddenly smiled. He grabbed Lu Yao and Yang Zhao's shoulders and said, "You guys saw the little guy, Ye Shiyi's skills. How about it? Want to learn the Jade Sea Tide skill? Seeing that we are all sailing on the same ship, I'll teach you guys for free. No charge."
"Then the way to train the skill must be to retrieve the missing ambers?" Lu Yao rolled his eyes at Yan San.
"Of course. That place is like another world. The water pressure on the seafloor is a lot greater than here. Using the Jade Sea Skill to train one's inner strength far surpasses any other method. If you pick up ambers at the same time, its effect will obviously be greater." Yan San laughed. Originally, Yan Jiu (Jiu = nine; San = three) had to kill tomb raiders at a brothel to obtain this skill tome. After getting it, they found that it was completely useless. Even more, they were being chased and had to escape overseas. Who would have known that this Jade Sea Tide was actually the highest level of martial arts, but could only be practiced in a place like this! This could be fortune after a disaster?
Lu Yao and Yang Zhao looked at each other as they felt tempted.
"Third master, do you think I can practice too?" Zheng Xi squeezed in front of Yan San and said, "I have trained a bit before and know the basics."
Yan San laughed as more and more people crowded in front of him. "Of course you can! Even if you guys can't reach my level of peerless martial arts, you can still strengthen your bodies! I just have one request. Each one of you must collect one hundred ambers before I will teach you the next level of the skill!"
Ling Qingyu facepalmed. Heavens. Master Yan San. How many did you send flying!
When everyone's marks disappeared (of course, not including Yan San and Shi Fang), they were able to each keep around twenty pieces each. Ling Qingyu also found a young man who only had a single one, but still had marks. Walking over, she grabbed the crystal-clear, blood-colored amber that was as big as a soccer ball and said, "You can go find some more. It also has to do with the quality."
After losing the blood amber, all the marks on the young man immediately disappeared. Before, everyone had touched this piece of amber. No matter who held it, marks would appear. Finally, it landed in the hands of this young man, who didn't want to let go. Seeing that Ling Qingyu was able to hold this blood amber in her hand without any marks appearing, everyone had the same thought: if it is not for the boss, we would all be dead long ago. To reach this island and survive till now is all due to the benevolence of the boss. Thinking about this point, they immediately suppressed their greedy hearts.
Ling Qingyu could guess their thoughts. But then, she looked at the amber in her hand and thought privately: if everything had a set limit, wouldn't wood for shipbuilding also have a limit? If so, they should calculate how much they need first, then have people log wood in turn to make sure they obtain enough.
Ling Qingyu threw the amber up and down and got ready to fling it afar. Shi Fang suddenly called out and hugged her arm, "Oh my dear aunt, you can't throw this away. This is a really precious thing! It can calm one's nerves and save a life."
Ling Qingyu looked at her hand. There was nothing there. It looks like the island has agreed for her to take this away. Okay. If it's free, then why not take it. Mmm. I should also try picking around and see how many I can have! Ling Qingyu looked around at the surrounding people. It looks like it would be best to try it when there is no one here or right before they set sail. There is no hurry. More importantly, they need some wood now.