Ji Yanlai, who possessed amazing powers of prediction, was no doubt a formidable opponent of Yuwen Tong's in this game. Yuwen Tong, with his retentive memory, was able to deduce what faces the others had in hand, while Ji Yanlai, because of his intuition which was almost always right, barely needed to think before making accurate judgements.

Having realized this, Ling Zhang felt that he had to change his tactics. Before this moment, he had been playing on a fair-play basis, but now he decisively sided with Yuwen Tong, deciding to join hands with him.

Ji Yanlai glanced at the two of them and then took the first card.

Ji Yanlai indeed had unnaturally good luck – or unnaturally accurate sixth sense. He could always promptly make the optimum decision. Yuwen Tong, on the other hand, had extraordinary memory, exceptional powers of deduction and Ling Zhang, who also had some powers of prediction, at his back. It transpired that he and Ji Yanlai were evenly matched.

Eventually, the others present were not expecting to see who would be the winner, but were judging which one of them had the upper hand. Of course, there was also someone who was in the dark about what was really going on – Yuwen Jin.

It could be said that Yuwen Jin was the only one present unaware of both Ji Yanlai's mysterious abilities and the enigmatic Force of Blood in Ling Zhang. As he saw that Ji Yanlai was single-handedly playing against Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang without letting the latter two get one over him, he was filled with admiration for Ji Yanlai.

"Wow! That's really impressive, Clan Leader!" Yuwen Jin exclaimed in awe.

Everybody else on the vessel addressed Ji Yanlai as Clan Leader, so Yuwen Jin followed suit, but he had never been told what kind of clan Ji Yanlai was leading. He only had a sneaking suspicion that Ji Yanlai was the leader of some mysterious Jianghu sect.

Judging from how members of the Millennium Pavilion had been dealing with things, they were indeed making a Jianghu sect of themselves.

Ji Yanlai was also amazed that Yuwen Tong, with merely his eidetic memory, had so far managed to keep up with him. Both photographic memory and gifts passed down from ancestors counted as abilities endowed by Providence, so the two of them were on a level playing ground when it came to card games.

"I won," said Yuwen Tong, putting down his last card.

Ling Zhang looked at his faces and was relieved. They won yet again.

All the others heaved a long sigh of relief as well, feeling that they finally extricated themselves from the nervous atmosphere.

Ji Yanlai lifted his brows and put down the remainder of his cards. He had predicted that luck would not be with him in this round, that he would be dealt a poor hand. He had foretold that he would lose, so this outcome did not strike him as unacceptable.

Both sides had won in as many hands as the ones in which they had lost, so it constituted a draw game, but for the spectators, the thrilling process mattered more than the outcome.

Thus, thanks to Yuwen Jin's brilliant suggestion, people on the vessel managed to while away the first stage of the voyage playing cards. When the fleet entered the South Ocean, they put away the card table and psyched themselves up for what lay ahead.

As expected, they received invitations from the countries along their route when the fleet was crossing the waters bordering those countries.

Because they were on a rescue mission, Yuwen Tong did not have his men get ashore but exchanged usual pleasantries with the officials from those countries and told them that he would visit their monarchs on his way back.

"We'll be arriving in those waters in five days," said an envoy from a mini-state near the South Ocean, who was quite experienced and acting as a guide for them. "The weather's fairly good these days, and the sea's pretty quiet, so we won't have much difficulty approaching that area. Still, so far nobody has come back after entering those waters. They're fraught with perils. It's very inadvisable for us to get too close."

The envoy cautioned them not to get too close to those waters, but they were here to rescue Ji Yanlai's father, and there was no way they could do that without entering that area.

But it was indeed unwise to rush into things. They needed to observe the situation from the outside first.

"Have there been any new rumors about that island?" Ling Zhang inquired of the envoy.

The envoy responded, "I heard that not long ago several other flotillas went in there, but just like all their predecessors, none of them returned. Two months ago there was a faint quake from the ground under these waters, which threw everybody into a panic. I don't think anybody would dare venture into that area anytime soon."

A quake? As there had been a quake, it meant that there was indeed something in there, though it was no proof of the existence of an island. No matter what, a quake was better than nothing.

"By the way, there's another group of people interested in that island. They arrived here two days earlier than us," added that envoy.

Since they were now on the South Ocean, these natives were relatively better informed.

"Who are they?" asked Ling Zhang.

Given that this envoy had specially brought this up, those visitors were by no means ordinary people.

Unsurprisingly, the envoy replied, "A flotilla from the Fangcun Kingdom. It's said that the King of the South Ocean brought his eldest trueborn son here."

The King of the South Ocean, monarch of the Fangcun Kingdom, and his eldest trueborn son? Ling Zhang gave it some thought and then said to Yuwen Tong, "Weren't they at the celebration?"

Yuwen Tong inclined his head. "They were, but they took their leave when the celebration was over. It would seem they directly went south after that."

Ling Zhang asked the envoy another few questions about that Fangcun flotilla, but the envoy had merely got wind of the matter during a short conversation with the few acquaintances of his who had come to deliver invitations to Yuwen Tong a couple of days ago, so he did not know much about it.

"Your Majesty may stay here for another day if you wish to hear more details. I promise I'll figure out a way to get more information about them," said the envoy.

Yuwen Tong looked at Ji Yanlai. As they were here to rescue Ji Yanlai's father, he felt obliged to ask Ji Yanlai his opinion about whether or not they should stay.

Ji Yanlai thought about it for a brief moment and said, "It does no harm to collect more intelligence."

Yuwen Tong, having cottoned on to what he meant, gave the order for the fleet to anchor and then let the envoys go ashore to make some inquiries.

Naturally, Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong would not rely entirely on them. They sent another batch of men ashore to gather intelligence. The members of Jiahe Chamber of Commerce on another vessel also chose to get ashore and the fleet would pick them up on its way back from the island.

Ling Zhang was very curious about the local customs and practices in the countries near the South Ocean. Though standing on a vessel, he could see the harbor in the distance, which was busy and uproarious.

He found that there were not many big ships in the harbor, that the biggest ones were about the size of medium-sized warships of their fleet, and they were few in number. Most of the boats there were fishing boats and small-sized sailboats. Also, the hustle of the harbor was different from that of harbors of the Great Wen. Harbors of the Great Wen were vast and normally heaving with merchant ships, cargo ships and dockers, but this harbor was more like some kind of trading market, lined with small-sized ships and fishing boats. Many were doing business with locals right on their boats. The facilities on the shore were also rather primitive, and there was sand everywhere. Goods were stacked up right on the wharf and the beach flanking the wharf, and the whole place was full of outcries. It was basically a market.

There were not many merchant ships either. The fleet did not approach the harbor, but though they were a fairly long distance away, people on the shore were all curiously looking in this direction, appearing awestruck.

Ling Zhang had extraordinary hearing and could faintly hear the voices from the dock but was unable to understand a single word of theirs.

The ship of Jiahe Chamber of Commerce caused quite a sensation when pulling up to shore. Watching from a long way off, Ling Zhang found this scene amazing. Not only did these people speak different languages, but their clothing was much bolder than that of Great-Wen people. There were even some females wearing crop tops or short-sleeved shirts.

"Is–Is everybody here wearing so little?" asked Ling Zhang, astounded, not daring look in the direction of the shore again.

Yuwen Tong gave a little cough and withdrew his eyes as well.

Ling Zhaowu on the side said, "It's a local custom."

Ling Zhaowu had heard some members of caravans who had traveled south talk about the custom in these mini-states, so he related it to Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong. The envoy from a mini-state had mentioned it to Ling Zhang and the others, but they were still shocked when they were actually seeing it with their own eyes.

"What's that?!" someone suddenly exclaimed in astonishment, pointing in the direction of something gigantic on the shore.

Ling Zhang followed the speaker's gaze and found that it was a very tall animal, which had gray skin, big eyes, large ears, a pair of curved tusks and an eccentric long nose. It had a seat fixed on its back and a man was sitting in it. The ground seemed to quake every time the animal's foot landed and its cry was quite sonorous.

He knew the answer to this particular question. "An elephant."

On one occasion some people had traveled from South Xinjiang to the capital city on elephants. In the Xia dynasty, someone had gifted the then emperor with an elephant. Also, there were records and pictures of it.

"That's right." Ling Zhaowu nodded. "This species of animal is peculiar to this land. They're large and capable of causing extensive damage and could be a means of transport too."

Most of them had only heard about such animals or seen pictures of them. Now that they were seeing one with their own eyes, they couldn't help but size it up for quite a while.

"You said this thing can cause extensive damage. Does that mean it could be useful in war?" asked Yuwen Jin.

"Yes. The relatively powerful ones of these microstates train elephants for war," said Ling Zhaowu.

Yuwen Tong said, "I've also read about similar things in a book, but northern areas are not suitable for raising these animals, and it's not easy for them to cross the jungle in South Xinjiang, so we don't have to worry about them showing up in our country in large numbers to make trouble."

The prospect of that struck Ling Zhang as pretty interesting. He wondered what those elephants, which looked pretty docile and were carrying people on their backs, would be like when fighting a war.

The scene on the shore was so fascinating that Ling Zhang, Yuwen Tong and the others gazed for quite a while on the deck. Some of Ling Zhaowu's caravans had traveled to this place before, so he knew more about it than the others. Standing on the side, he answered their questions from time to time, but there were also things that he did not know much about.

Ling Zhang said to Yuwen Tong, "We may tour around all these countries when we have the time."

Yuwen Tong was non-committal about it. They had plans to travel around the world, and he didn't see why they shouldn't come to these countries.

Ling Zhaowu said, "These places are fraught with danger too. There are many uncivilized, xenophobic tribes here. They kill outsiders on sight and it's said that there are even cannibals among them."

Cannibals? Ling Zhang's and the others' eyes widened with shock. Did they hear right?

Ling Zhaowu, however, told them that they had not misheard, that such tribes did exist, that they were brutal savages.

Everybody's curiosity was piqued. After all, they had never heard of anybody practicing cannibalism, except for some ravenous people who had eaten each other's children in times of severe famine resulting from war. Besides, people eating each other's children had been a tragic phenomenon that had happened in exceptional circumstances, but a tribe of cannibals who actually ate people regularly was unbelievably horrifying.

Ling Zhaowu, having only heard about it from some members of a caravan, did not know much and thus was unable to fully sate their curiosity.

"How about we go and check this tribe of cannibals out after rescuing your father?" Yuwen Jin, quite audacious, said to Ji Yanlai. Actually he was trying to sound out the others about it.

Ji Yanlai was not very curious about tribes of this kind. The so-called "tribes of cannibals" held far less appeal for him than good food and fun gadgets did, but he was not strongly against the idea, so he replied with a non-committal inclination of the head, "All right."

Ling Zhang wasn't very curious about it either. The very words of "tribes of cannibals" struck him as unpleasant. It did not take a genius to see what a nightmarish place it must be for ordinary people. "We'll have to go back to the Great Wen after rescuing the Clan Leader's father."

Yuwen Jin, somewhat disappointed at these words, looked at Yuwen Tong.

Yuwen Tong said, "None of the envoys from the couple of statelets mentioned anything about tribes of cannibals. Seeing as those people practise cannibalism, they must be savage and live like beasts, and the place they inhabit must be some isolated backwater with poor transportation. Finding them would definitely take a lot of doing. Willing to satisfy your curiosity as I am, I'm afraid your new missus wouldn't be very happy when she finds out I've left you on the other side of the South Ocean."

Yuwen Jin was taken aback. "You're going to leave me here, cousin?"

"I'm too busy to spare any time to look for some tribe of cannibals with you," said Yuwen Tong.

Yuwen Jin, fearing that Yuwen Tong might really leave him alone in a foreign land, had no choice but to drop the idea.

...

The fleet berthed a short way off the coast for a day. Those sent ashore to gather intelligence returned to the vessel before the envoy.

"The King of the South Ocean and his eldest trueborn son have indeed arrived, but they've set sail already, and their destination is the very island we're looking for. They brought a guide too, and the guide is assigned by the king of a mini-state in this area, which means apart from the fleet of the King of the South Ocean, the royal household has also got involved.

But it seems the royal household of that mini-state have no information about the source of that quake either. I think they won't be able to locate the island anytime soon. We should be able to catch up with them if we set off right away. So far there still hasn't been anybody knowing exactly where that island is, and neither has there been anybody who has returned after entering those waters.

And, that envoy still hasn't come out of the royal palace. Nobody knows what their king is up to."

One of those responsible for collecting intelligence reported to the others what he had got.

Everybody had a grave look on his face. Yuwen Jin looked at Yuwen Tong and said, "I think we'd better not venture into those waters until we're sure it's safe to do that."

Though having jokingly suggested they visit a tribe of cannibals to check it out, Yuwen Jin was quite prudent when it came to important matters. He knew that his main duty during this journey to that island was to ensure Yuwen Tong's safety. After hearing that hitherto nobody had returned from those waters, Yuwen Jin became a little worried about this journey. They did have a lot of men, but if there was indeed something very dangerous in there, they might have to flee, and fleeing on the sea was far from fun. This was no laughing matter.

While speaking, Yuwen Jin gave Ling Zhang a significant look.

Ling Zhang caught on to what he meant. Actually he happened to have just thought of something, so he said, "Jin has a point. It'd indeed be reckless of us to venture into that area knowing nothing about it. Since it is in these microstates that the rumors have been circulating, there's got to be someone who managed to flee that island. I mean, who else could have started these rumors? If we find that person, maybe we'll be able to figure out a way to leave that place after getting in there.

And there's another thing. Didn't that envoy say that their king had given up trying to find that island because there had never been any progress? Why is he suddenly sending his men to join the King of the South Ocean on the search? Some flotillas had traveled south before us, bringing back news of our journey to this place, so their king definitely was informed of our arrival. Considering that envoy's unduly warm hospitality, I'm sure they think highly of our caravans. The Fangcun Kingdom stands no comparison with the Great Wen in any respect. That king, as long as he's not stupid, should know which side to pick. But somehow he was so anxious to have his men go south with the King of the South Ocean he ignored the opportunity to cooperate with us. The way I see it, he must have got wind of something. The reason why he sent some men to go south with the fleet of the King of the South Ocean in such hurry was either because time was short or because he was worried we might beat him to something. I think we should start with him and see if we could worm some information out of him."

At Ling Zhang's words, the light suddenly dawned on the others.

"That's right. Why didn't I think of that? If nobody had seen the island and come back alive, how could the rumors have started? There's got to be someone who made it out of there, which means there is a way out of that place," said Yuwen Jin, feeling relieved. Given that someone had survived that island and brought back information, this journey could be much less dangerous than expected.

"All of us were too anxious, which was why we failed to think of this," observed Ling Zhaowu thoughtfully.

Everybody else felt that Ling Zhang had got a point, so they naturally agreed to stay and make some more inquiries.

Ling Zhang shifted his gaze to Ji Yanlai, intending to hear his opinions.

Ji Yanlai, catching on, said, "The closer we are to those waters, the more strongly I could sense my father. Now that he's still alive, I guess I could wait another few days. Besides, you're right about one thing – this rumor would never have spread so widely had nobody ever made it out of there alive. Since there is a way out of those waters, I'm sure my father can get out of there if he wants to. It must be because he has some unfinished business there that he hasn't left that island. I'll go with you guys to ask that king about it. With my abilities, I'll be able to save you some time."

Since Ji Yanlai raised no objection either, the others looked at Yuwen Tong, waiting for him to make a decision.

Yuwen Tong said, "We'll continue staying here tonight and see if that envoy returns. If he doesn't, we'll pay their royal palace a visit at night."