The nearest Hangyuan Platform to Rizhao was located in a wasteland town ten miles to the north. Because the Hangyuan was so massive, it required a vast, open space to land; consequently, the platforms for every city were built in extremely remote areas.
Since Ming Zhu’s fear of heights prevented him from flying on a sword, Zhou Fuxue had no choice but to hire a horse carriage, slowly ferrying him toward the Hangyuan Platform.
Zhou Fuxue was a jack-of-all-trades—at the very least, he was far more useful than his two senior brothers, who lived as if their hands had never touched a drop of spring water. He sat at the front, clumsily driving the carriage while listening listlessly to the conversation between Ming Zhu and Lu Qingkong inside.
Ming Zhu asked, "Are we really going to take the Hangyuan?"
Lu Qingkong replied with utter indifference, "If we don't, do you plan on running all the way to Shuoyu City?"
Inside the cramped carriage, there was only a small low table. Ming Zhu lay sprawled across it, his face ashen and his eyes devoid of spirit, whimpering weakly like a wilted plant.
Lu Qingkong was using a rusted dagger to meticulously carve a lump of iron. Multitasking, he said, "Besides, there will definitely be private cabins on the Hangyuan. Once we board, just stay inside and don't come out. Treat it like an inn. Hiss... stop talking to me, I just messed up another cut."
Ming Zhu automatically ignored the last sentence, his face clouded with misery. "But the moment I think about flying in the sky, I can't help but..."
Just imagining the terrifying sensation of weightlessness while suspended in mid-air made his face turn pale. He covered his mouth, looking as if he were about to retch.
Lu Qingkong snapped, "Ming Zhu! If you're going to puke, get the hell out and do it!"
Ming Zhu stammered, "I... I-I-I can't help it... *urgh*..."
Lu Qingkong: "..."
Fortunately, he hadn't eaten anything all night, so even though he wanted to vomit, there was nothing to bring up. He could only lean over the table and dry heave a few times until he was completely drained of energy.
Lu Qingkong ignored him and continued carving his project.
After a while, Ming Zhu recovered slightly. Feeling bored, he tugged at Lu Qingkong’s sleeve and asked tentatively, "Are we *really* going to take the Hangyuan?"
Lu Qingkong: "..."
Pushed beyond his limit, he slammed the razor-sharp dagger into the small table and glared at Ming Zhu with a sinister expression. "You've asked that eight hundred times on this trip alone. Aren't you tired of it? If you say one more word, I'll stuff you into the Zhenyu Pearl and let you taste the feeling of being in the sky ahead of schedule! From now on, you—do not speak to me! Say one more useless word and I'll kill you!"
Ming Zhu immediately fell silent.
The three of them spent over an hour swaying in the carriage before they finally found the wide Hangyuan Platform amidst a stretch of wasteland.
The platform was built among broken wells and ruined walls, but the surrounding area was lined with tile-roofed houses and buzzing with the clamor of people. It didn't look like a mere relay station; instead, it was even more bustling than the town at the foot of Mount Rizhao. Carriages laden with luggage traveled along the roads, all heading in the same direction—toward the center of the Hangyuan Platform.
Wearing his veiled hat, Ming Zhu stepped down from the carriage. Watching the crowds coming and going, he remarked with a pale face, "Are all these people here to take the Hangyuan? There sure are a lot of people who aren't afraid to die."
Lu Qingkong glanced casually at a simple map near the entrance. "The Hangyuan is a tool developed by the State of Shishen over thirty years ago to replace flight techniques for long-distance travel. In all these years, I've never heard of anyone falling to their death. Don't worry about others—keep moving. There’s a place selling Jade Tokens next to the platform."
Ming Zhu dawdled, unwilling to board the Hangyuan for the life of him. Lu Qingkong didn't care; he went ahead to buy the Jade Tokens, leaving his eldest senior brother to be watched by the youngest.
Ming Zhu lifted the black veil slightly, squinting at the high platform in the distance. "Thirteen, look at all these ordinary people without a lick of spiritual power. If the Hangyuan really falls, what are they going to do?"
Zhou Fuxue pulled down the hand lifting the veil and said calmly, "Senior Brother, there is no need for such groundless fears. Even if you fall, the Hangyuan won't. Rest assured."
Ming Zhu: "..."
He did not feel comforted in the slightest.
Ming Zhu dragged his feet, refusing to head toward the platform. Zhou Fuxue didn't say anything; he simply watched him with cold, indifferent eyes, much like he did when calling him for morning lessons. Sure enough, Ming Zhu soon admitted defeat and was pulled toward the platform by Zhou Fuxue.
Lu Qingkong had already purchased three Jade Tokens. When he saw Ming Zhu approaching, a mysterious smile actually appeared on his face. Combined with the lingering gloom that always surrounded him, it made Ming Zhu instinctively shiver.
"W-what is it?" Ming Zhu asked. "Don't smile like that."
Lu Qingkong lightly shook the Jade Tokens in his hand, revealing a small character for "Lower" engraved on them. He said with a half-smile, "I'm truly sorry, Senior Brother. The private cabins on the Hangyuan were all booked. There were only three seats left near the windows that we could make do with. Since we're in a hurry, I bought them."
Ming Zhu’s vision went dark.
In Ming Zhu’s eyes, the cold smile on Lu Qingkong’s gloomy face looked like that of a malevolent spirit, and his voice seemed to echo from hell: "For the sake of our Junior Brother’s training, Eldest Senior Brother will just have to endure this hardship."
Ming Zhu nodded with feigned composure, then turned and bolted. However, before he could take two steps, his wrist was caught by Zhou Fuxue. "Senior Brother, where are you going?"
Ming Zhu struggled, only to discover to his shock that Zhou Fuxue’s strength was greater than his own. For a moment, he couldn't break free.
Without Ming Zhu noticing when, Zhou Fuxue had leaned in close. His chest pressed against Ming Zhu’s back, trapping him in his embrace. A cool, refreshing scent of pear blossoms wafted over him.
Ming Zhu tilted his head and wrinkled his nose.
Only then did Ming Zhu realize that the little brat who used to follow him around all day had, at some point, grown taller and broader than himself.
Zhou Fuxue held both of Ming Zhu's hands and lowered his voice. "Senior Brother, you promised to accompany me to Shuoyu City. Are you going to go back on your word?"
Though Ming Zhu had a mountain of flaws, aside from his beautiful face, his word being as good as gold was perhaps his only other virtue that Zhou Fuxue truly admired.
Sure enough, after Zhou Fuxue said this, Ming Zhu stopped struggling. He held his breath for a long time before saying, "I... I'm going to find a place to wash my face. I'll be right back."
Having said that, he broke free from Zhou Fuxue and vanished in a flash.
Zhou Fuxue wasn't afraid of him escaping. He watched Ming Zhu rush headlong into a nearby inn before turning around to look coldly at Lu Qingkong. "Did you do that on purpose? Very few people travel from Rizhao to Shuoyu City. How could there be no private cabins left?"
Lu Qingkong’s hand, which had been tossing the Jade Tokens, paused. He looked at Zhou Fuxue with an expression that asked, "Are you an idiot?" However, to prevent Zhou Fuxue from tattling to Ming Zhu later, he explained impatiently, "Blame your own bad luck. All the remaining cabins for this trip to Shuoyu City, both upper and lower class, were booked by a single demon cultivator. We're lucky to have seats at all, so don't ask for too much."
"A demon cultivator?" Zhou Fuxue frowned.
"I heard they're traveling from the State of Shishen to Shuoyu City," Lu Qingkong said, clicking his tongue in annoyance, clearly dissatisfied himself. "Demon cultivators in this world really are more obnoxious than the last."
While the two were talking, a massive, transparent formation suddenly rose from the ground of the empty Hangyuan Platform, soaring into the sky. Then, a man dressed in a white robe adorned with the Great Kite emblem stood on the high platform and shouted, "Hangyuan, descend!"
At that moment, a sharp screech echoed from the horizon. Amidst the dense mists and clouds, a pair of massive, pitch-black wings flapped as a Great Kite slowly pushed through the fog. Because its form was so colossal, it blotted out the sun, casting a strange, oppressive shadow over the land.
It wasn't until it drew closer that everyone realized it wasn't a living Great Kite at all, but a massive ship made of Shishen wood. The main frame at the bottom of the ship was the withered skeleton of a Great Kite that Lu Qingkong had been rambling about, faintly revealing dense and intricate talismans.
The entire skeletal structure of the ship was made from the bones of a single Great Kite. Though the creature had been dead for many years, the withered bones still radiated an overwhelming amount of spiritual energy. Combined with the State of Shishen’s artifact-controlling formations, the claim that it could carry ten thousand tons of weight certainly didn't seem like a lie.
From the moment the Hangyuan flapped its wings and flew in, Lu Qingkong’s eyes, which usually looked like stagnant water, suddenly rippled with excitement. He stared fanatically at the Great Kite that seemed within reach, murmuring under his breath, "So this is Shishen’s... Great Kite."
It was also Zhou Fuxue’s first time seeing a Great Kite. He was momentarily stunned by its vast, sea-like presence, but he quickly regained his composure, unlike Lu Qingkong, who looked as if he were about to throw himself at it in his obsession.
The Hangyuan flew into the formation, its wings drooping slightly as it slowly descended along the array. The formation was likely a massive barrier; despite the immense commotion of such a giant object landing, the people standing by the platform didn't feel a single gust of wind. They could only faintly sense the ground beneath their feet trembling.
In a few moments, the Hangyuan came to a complete stop on the platform, revealing a hull as large as a small mountain.
The entire Hangyuan was like a luxurious tavern, with corridors filled with people. It had three levels in total; the higher one went, the fewer people there were, and the more extravagant the decorations became. On the wide corridor of the top level, there were even a few lightly dressed dancing girls looking down with smiles and laughter.
Once the Hangyuan stopped, the massive ancient wings slowly lowered, forming a slanted staircase. A moment later, the people who had reached Rizhao began to file out.
Ming Zhu returned at some unknown point. He really had gone to wash his face; it was dripping with water droplets. He held his veiled hat in his hand as he stared at the massive Hangyuan before him with a pale face, his thoughts unreadable.
Soon, the crowd at the exit thinned. The white-robed man standing on the platform raised his voice again: "Enter!"
That single word seemed to carry the force of thunder, pressing down on the crowd by the platform.
Since there were few people traveling from Mount Rizhao to Shuoyu City, they had all boarded in a short time. Only Ming Zhu and his companions were still dawdling below.
Zhou Fuxue grabbed his arm. "Senior Brother, whether you like it or not, you're getting on this Hangyuan."
Ming Zhu hugged a nearby pillar with one hand, refusing to let go. "You—you let me catch my breath! Just a little longer!"
Lu Qingkong stood by with his arms crossed, saying lazily, "If you wait any longer, the Hangyuan will leave."
Ming Zhu wailed, "I won't go!"
The man by the Hangyuan watched the three of them wasting time and frowned. "You three, are you getting on or not?"
Ming Zhu: "Absolutely not!"
Zhou Fuxue was at his wit's end. Losing his patience, he scooped Ming Zhu up by the waist, threw him over his shoulder, and strode toward the Hangyuan’s steps.
Ming Zhu hadn't expected him to be so rebellious. He immediately began flailing against Zhou Fuxue’s back. "Zhou Thirteen! Zhou Fuxue! You think you're so capable now, don't you? Have you forgotten the rules of our Rizhao? Put me down this instant! I'm counting to three!"
Lu Qingkong watched from the side with a cold eye. Seeing Ming Zhu’s posturing, he gave a cold laugh and counted for him: "One, two, three. Alright, the count is over. What do you plan to do, Eldest Senior Brother?"
Ming Zhu: "..."
As he was carried over Zhou Fuxue’s shoulder, his long-suffering stomach happened to be pressed right against the shoulder bone. After only a few moments of struggling, he immediately covered his mouth, his face turning green. "If you don't put me down... I'm going to... puke..."
Perhaps their commotion was too loud, for a man dressed in magnificent robes slowly appeared on the top corridor of the Hangyuan. He held a glass wine cup in his hand, and half of his face was covered by an intricate, openwork mask. His crimson demonic pupils looked down coldly at the farce below.
However, he soon seemed to see something of interest. His thin lips curled into a slight smile as he drained the fine nectar in his cup. With a gentle rub of his well-defined fingers, the glass wine cup turned to ash between his fingertips and scattered with the wind.
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Is Everyone Else's Eldest Disciple Like This? | Chapter 24 | The Great Kite of Shishen | Novela.app | Novela.app
