Chapter 25 - Dark Patterns

Qingyu slept until noon of the next day. She woke up due to hunger. When she opened her eyes, she saw Shiyi's worried little face with two big dark circles under his eyes.

Seeing her wake up, Shiyi touched her face. His eyes were red and he was doing his best to hold back the tears in his eyes. Qingyu felt uncomfortable watching him, and said softly, "Shiyi, is there anything to eat? I'm hungry."

Shiyi immediately answered, "Yes! Brother Lu has made fish soup early in the morning while Brother Zheng baked bread and fruit. They are waiting for you to wake up. I will go and call them."

Seeing Shiyi running out, Qingyu sighed, then looked at her backpack. The basket was still covered with the white cloth she had pressed on it in advance, and even the hair next to it was not moved.

She felt a slight movement in her heart so she took the basket then put away the fruits and green grass first. She thought for a while then took out the gems and put them away but left the rest in the basket.

"Miss, you're finally awake." Zheng Xi rushed in holding a bowl of breadfruit, followed by Lu Yao carrying fish soup. Through the wide open door, she could see Yang Zhao, Gu Sui and a group of people standing outside.

"I'm really fine, just a little weak!" Qingyu shouted to the outside of the door, and then called Gu Sui and Yang Zhao to come in. Together with Shi Fang who came later, they crowded the small house tightly. The people outside laughed a few times, said a few words to the boss, "We are glad you're fine," and then dispersed.

Qingyu first drank the soup in big gulps without any care for manners, ate a breadfruit then wiped her mouth. After she finished eating, while in front of everyone in the room, she took out her harvest from the basket one by one.

She presented to them Agarwood, Kynam, Golden Chain Tree, Ginseng, Lingzhi mushroom, Borneol and Japanese Pagoda Tree. They were taken out one by one, and each one of them made Shi Fang and Zheng Xi exclaim in amazement.

Qingyu immediately gave instructions, "There are still many species I haven't seen on the mountain. I'll collect some next time. Doctor Shi, please take a look at what they are."

Seeing everyone's faces after she said that she is planning to go back to the mountain, Qingyu hurriedly said, "I won't be gone for so long. I roughly know where these things are. Well, next time, I may have to trouble one of you to come with me. I can't carry so many."

Each of these things is hard to find in the world and even rarer are the medicinal herbs, which can save lives. Shi Fang has been experimenting with making them into pills so that they can be carried easily. He originally wanted to ask Qingyu to take him along, but then he thought that if he went, he would be nothing more than a burden, so he didn't mention it in the end.

Qingyu rested in the camp for a few days. During these days, the simple dock on the bay had been built. Huang Jing had begun to measure the amount of wood they would need and Zhu Weili had consulted with Qingyu several times with the design drawings of the new Fengshen then finalized the materials. After all the planning, Qingyu advised everyone to rest for a day. There was a cheer from the crowd, and everyone took off their clothes and pants and jumped into the sea.

Qingyu watched them playing with a smile at first but then she felt something was wrong. In the sunlight, some people had faint dark lines on their backs, but they disappeared once they were away from the sunlight.

Qingyu frowned as she suddenly remembered that when she was on the mountain, she saw a field of grade nine ginseng. When she picked the fourth one, Xiaobai pushed her hand away. At that time, under the sunlight that was shining through the gaps in the trees, this kind of dark pattern appeared on the back of her hand. She planted the fourth ginseng back and the dark pattern disappeared.

Qingyu stood up and walked towards the sailors' wooden house. The sailors lived in a large house with bunk beds. When she opened the door, she saw that the house was full of amber, some of which was even on the bedside. They were greedy! Although she doesn't know what the final outcome of those dark patterns will be, it will definitely be not a good thing.

Qingyu walked quickly to the water's edge and waved for everyone to come up. After everyone gathered, she said, "Everyone, throw all the amber in your house back into the sea."

Seeing that everyone looked puzzled, she rubbed her brows in exasperation and said, "There are too many treasures on this island, but we can't take as much as we want. Look at each other, face the sun, and see what's on your back?"

Everyone asked someone to check, and only Lu Yao, Shiyi, Yang Zhao, and Gu Sui's backs were clean. Even Yan San had dark patterns, and Shi Fang's back had the most dark patterns. Qingyu looked speechlessly at a piece of land that had been mined cleanly by the bay.

Qingyu continued to explain, "Whether you believe it or not, this island has its own spirit. It allows us to survive here and take some products, but it does not mean it can tolerate our excessive demands. If you believe me, please pour the amber back first and only leave a little. Maybe you will ask how much do you have to return? Put back the amber until the dark patterns on your back disappear."

"We believe in the boss!" everyone said, and then they stood up, some took frames, some took buckets, and went back to collect amber, throwing it while asking people to watch their backs.

"What about me?" Shi Fang asked with a sad face. He was different from others. Others could throw back the amber they picked up, but he dug medicinal herbs, and most of them had been made into pills. How could he plant them back?

"Let's find some seeds and see if they work." Qingyu shook her head. In fact, it was not everyone's fault. Everyone has selfish desires. How many people can resist temptation, let alone such a huge fortune?

I can understand Shi Fang, but Yan San, what did you do to have this many dark patterns? Qingyu turned to look at Yan San and asked. As for him, he looked back at her with a face full of confusion.

Yan San was looking up, thinking hard. If taking too many things from the island would result in a curse, then why was he cursed when he never picked those useless grasses. He never did any work like gathering food, never chopped down trees, and never went into the water like a fool, fishing for stones while shouting like an idiot.

"Third Master," Shiyi pulled the corner of his clothes and said, "When you broke through the third layer the day before yesterday, you happily struck the bottom of the sea with one palm. I remember that many rocks were knocked away by you and went over there." Shiyi then pointed to the boundary line.

"Pfft!" Qingyu couldn't help laughing, then patted the stunned Yan San. She then said, "Just in time for you to challenge a higher level of martial arts! Go pick them up one by one!"

Yan San looked at the border with a bitter face, his eyes turned to the others, and suddenly smiled, then hooked his hands on the shoulders of Lu Yao and Yang Zhao, and said, "You also saw the little guy Shiyi. Do you want to practice the Blue Sea Tide Skill? Since we are all in the same boat now, I will teach you for free."

Lu Yao glanced at him and said, "Then your way to practice is to go over there, pick up the amber and throw it back to our side?"

Yan San smiled and responded, "That's right! That place is like two different worlds. The pressure on the seabed beyond the line is much greater than our side of the line. Using the breathing mode of the Blue Sea Tide Technique, it can help you cultivate your internal strength far better than other methods. If you use the mode of picking up and throwing at the same time, the effect will naturally be greater."

He had snatched the martial arts secret book for this technique from the Red Mansion because he heard that it was a secret treasure obtained by Yan Jiu after killing a tomb-robbing family. Who knew that when he took it and looked at it, it was actually useless?

He was relentlessly chased by the people of the Red Mansion and had to resort to fleeing overseas. Unexpectedly, the Blue Sea Tide technique is indeed a top-level martial arts method but it can only be practiced in a place like this! Is this a blessing in disguise?

Lu Yao and Yang Zhao looked at each other and were convinced. Zheng Xi came up to Yan San and asked,

"Master San, do you think I'm suitable for practice? I've practiced before so I already have some basics."

Seeing more and more people approaching him, Yan San smiled and said, "Of course you can! Even if you can't practice my peerless martial arts, it's no problem to strengthen your body! I have a requirement though. Each person must pick up 100 pearls before I teach you the next level of martial arts!"

Qingyu held her forehead with his hand and thought, "Oh my God! Master Yan San, how many of them did you send flying?"

When the dark patterns on everyone's body basically disappeared, unfortunately, this did not include Yan San and Shi Fang. It turns out that everyone could only keep a little over 20 pieces.

Qingyu saw that a young man only had one left on his hand, but his back still had dark patterns. She walked over and took a blood-red translucent amber as big as a football from the young man. She then said, "You can pick up some more after returning this. The patterns may also be related to the quality of the items you took."

As soon as the blood amber was taken away from the man's hand, the dark lines on his body disappeared. Before, everyone had taken this piece of amber, but whoever took it would have dark lines on his body. Finally, when it came to his hands, he was really reluctant to part with it.

Seeing Qingyu holding the blood-red amber and his back without any dark lines, everyone thought of the same thing. If it weren't for the boss, they would have died long ago. Coming to this island and being able to survive now was already a favor given by the boss. Thinking of this, everyone felt relieved and their jealousy and doubts disappeared.

Qingyu didn't know what was going on in these men's minds. She just looked at the amber in her hand and thought to herself, if everything has a fixed number, then does the wood for shipbuilding also have a fixed number? If so, then we have to calculate it first, and then cut down the trees in turns. We can't cut off the rootsand make sure we have to leave some life.

Qingyu tossed the amber and was about to throw it away when he heard Shi Fang yelling and holding his hand, saying, "Young miss, don't throw it away. This is a top-quality item! It can calm the soul and save lives."

Qingyu looked at her hands and there were no dark patterns on it. It looked like the island agreed to let her take it away. Well, she could go pick and choose things and see how much she could take! However, she thought of all the people around her and decided to wait until night when no one was around, or until the sail was about to start.

There was no need to rush in the next few days. At the moment, the most important thing was just to gather the wood to build the ship.