Chapter 190 — The Road to Artificer Hall

CHAPTER 190

The Road to Artificer Hall

Artificer Hall's traveling boat had three different kinds of wood along one side.

Shi Feng stood at Qingyun City's eastern landing and examined the repairs. One strip was dark with age. Another still showed fresh tool marks. The third had been painted to match both and failed.

Gongsun Ce crouched beside the mooring post.

“Was that section replaced after a fall?” Gongsun Ce asked.

“A hard landing,” He Zhen said.

“Is there a difference?” Sima Lan asked.

“There's a boat left to travel in,” He Zhen said.

The princess considered the answer, then stepped aboard. Her late Foundation Establishment cultivation let her balance easily on the narrow plank. She carried her own bag. No palace servants followed with cushions or a second carriage.

Gongsun Ce checked the wooden rail once before joining her. Shi Feng stepped on last and put his everyday bag beside a bench. The storage ring kept the prize medicines and other valuables out of sight.

He had reached late Foundation Establishment. The broken sword from the final stayed wrapped separately. He wasn't going to throw away the weapon merely because Gu Zhan's spear exposed its limit.

A shabby bundle landed beside his feet.

Li Changyuan climbed aboard holding a packet of buns.

“You're coming too?” Shi Feng asked.

“The road goes the same way,” Li Changyuan said.

He Zhen stopped checking the boat's controls for a moment. Then he returned to his work without adding an explanation.

The old man sat at the least damaged bench and began eating.

Shi Feng thought, He chose that seat quickly. He's traveled in this thing before.

He didn't ask why. A man could have friends at a sect without announcing his whole history at a landing.

The mooring rope fell away. He Zhen fed qi into the boat, and the old artifact rose slowly above the wooden platform. A porter below waved them clear of the nearest roof. The vessel tilted, straightened, and carried them east.

Sima Lan gripped the rail.

“Does it always make that sound?” Sima Lan asked.

A wooden fitting clicked near the stern.

“Only when it moves,” Li Changyuan said.

He Zhen's mouth tightened. Gongsun Ce laughed before checking the rail a second time.

By noon, Qingyun City had disappeared behind the hills.

The boat flew above the road rather than the highest peaks. Its pace was steady, not impressive. A sleek vessel bearing Martial Palace's mark passed them with a bright trail and enough noise to make the patched rail tremble.

One passenger on the faster vessel looked back. His laughter reached them before the distance swallowed it.

He Zhen kept the old boat level.

“We could travel faster,” He Zhen said. “We'd spend more stones and replace the left balancing plate afterward.”

“Then this pace works,” Shi Feng said.

He wasn't racing somebody else's transport for applause. The sect had promised him inner-disciple entry. It hadn't promised that every piece of furniture would look expensive.

Gongsun Ce watched the passing vessel until it vanished.

“They had a new three-part balancing array,” Gongsun Ce said.

“And six people doing nothing on deck,” Li Changyuan said. “Buy the fitting if you like it. Don't buy all six fools with it.”

Sima Lan laughed. He Zhen found something worth inspecting beside the stern.

Shi Feng looked at the small wooden figure in Gongsun Ce's lap. The prince had removed its damaged shoulder cover and was comparing two replacement pins. This was a better use of the journey than arguing about another sect's paintwork.

“Does it still move?” Shi Feng asked.

“The arm does,” Gongsun Ce said. “The elbow keeps catching.”

Shi Feng held the cover while Gongsun Ce tested the joint. He didn't pretend to know the whole design. He could see where the fresh scrape met the wood, and that was enough to keep the cover clear while the prince adjusted it.

The arm bent properly on the next try.

Gongsun Ce nodded his thanks and put the tools away. His choice of Artificer Hall had a clear purpose. The sect could teach work he wanted to learn, whether its boat looked grand or not.

They stopped beside a road station before dusk.

He Zhen lowered the boat onto a prepared bed of sand and went to register the vessel. Sima Lan stretched her legs. Gongsun Ce carried the repaired puppet under one arm as if worried the inn might charge it for a room.

Li Changyuan remained on the bench.

“You aren't coming down?” Shi Feng asked.

“The buns aren't finished,” Li Changyuan said.

“They've gone cold,” Shi Feng said.

“They were cold when I bought them,” Li Changyuan said. “That seller had no talent for lying.”

Shi Feng laughed and went to the station kitchen. He bought a simple meal, checked the returning merchant notices, and sat where he could see the boat. There was no reason to keep staring west while supper cooled.

For a moment he remembered how Ling Qingzhu used to sit across from him, pretending she hadn't waited for the first dish.

The memory hurt. He let it pass without blaming the people eating nearby.

Sima Lan joined the table after paying for her own bowl. She asked which hills belonged to Artificer Hall. Shi Feng didn't know, and he said so. He Zhen returned in time to point out the route on a board beside the kitchen door.

“By tomorrow morning,” He Zhen said. “We'll pass the outer workshops before reaching the main gate.”

“Before the main gate?” Gongsun Ce asked.

“People still need tools outside a sect,” He Zhen said. “Not every furnace makes a treasure.”

That pleased Shi Feng. Xu Changhe's notes had held ordinary repairs beside sword practice and patrol records. A sect could have thousands of people doing useful work without every one being a hidden immortal.

After the meal, they returned to the boat. Li Changyuan had saved one bun, though nobody wanted it. He ate it himself and used the empty paper to wrap a loose wooden wheel in his bundle.

By morning, the road station was behind them.

Ahead, smoke rose from a line of workshops beneath the mountain. Artificer Hall's territory had begun.