Chapter 72: Lagoon
Santa Ana Officer’s Restaurant.
Lin Qian frowned as he listened to Bai Qing recount the night’s experiences, his expression serious: “We owe it to you this time, but you’re not allowed to act on your own in the future.”
Bai Qing solemnly agreed.
Lei Sanxiang: “Bai Family sister, did you see Zhou Xiucai and the others in Ship City?”
Bai Qing shook her head: “I didn’t dare get close, afraid of alerting the enemy, but I saw Chen Jia Er Ge’s body. Zhou Zhiku and the other surviving crew members should also be there, cough cough…”
After Bai Qing finished speaking, she coughed for a while. She had worn wet clothes all night yesterday catching a chill and forced herself mentally; now her body was starting to fail her.
Lin Qian instructed his subordinate: “Go invite Doctor Su.”
The subordinate accepted the order and withdrew.
Lin Qian said again: “Tell Chen Bo to brew a bowl of brown sugar water with plenty of ginger slices.”
“Alright.” A crew member outside responded and went to relay the message.
Not long after, a crew member brought up a bowl of steaming brown sugar ginger water and handed it to Bai Qing.
Bai Qing took it, blew away the steam, took a sip, and broke out in a slight sweat on her forehead.
Chen Jiao murmured: “In the early years, I heard people mention South China Sea Ship City. I thought it was just a newly written storybook tale then, but it’s real.”
“How does the story go?” Lin Qian pressed.
Chen Jiao smiled bitterly: “Some say it’s the Sea Dragon King’s Coral Palace, others say it’s the Sea Yama King’s Hall of Yama, and some say it’s a ghost stronghold built by Chen Youliang’s old subordinates who fled to sea two hundred years ago… all rural rumors.”
Holding the brown sugar water, Bai Qing said: “Boat people have similar stories, saying Ship City is something like Soul’s Resting Place, but after seeing Chen Jia Er Ge’s body, I understood—what Soul’s Resting Place? Ship City is clearly full of villains.”
Lin Qian rubbed his brow, constantly pondering these folk stories.
Great Ming commoners are generally superstitious; these orally transmitted stories have circulated to this day, embellished with unknown amounts of oil and vinegar.
But they are not entirely without value.
What Chen Jiao said about the “Sea Dragon King’s Coral Palace” caught Lin Qian’s attention.
In Lin Qian’s view, Ship City should be built in a coral reef lagoon.
Such coral reef lagoons are generally ring-shaped, with uplifts around enclosing a body of sea, hence called lagoons.
The surrounding coral reefs block the waves, forming a natural sheltered harbor, thus keeping Ship City from disintegrating in the surges.
The reef Bai Qing passed when entering Ship City was the coral reef.
Coral reefs usually have high and low parts; the route Bai Qing took out was exactly the low part of the coral reef.
But coral reefs’ wave-blocking ability is ultimately limited; once a typhoon hits, Ship City can hardly escape destruction.
So Ship City is probably not as twisted and entangled as Bai Qing described.
Rather, it should be a ship camp with wooden boards laid between ships, forming an effect similar to iron chains linking boats during the Battle of Red Cliffs.
It was moonless and windy then, and with Bai Qing mentally tense, she inevitably misjudged.
Without a typhoon, Ship City assembles, gathered in the lagoon for revelry; when a typhoon comes, it disperses, each returning to shore to shelter from wind.
Precisely this tidal-like freedom of coming and going has kept Li Kuiqi’s lair location unknown all these years as he roamed the Fujian-Guangdong coasts.
At this thought, Lin Qian walked to the window and looked at the sky outside.
Now it was already August; after an entire summer of scorching, the Southeast sea surface temperature had peaked.
Just as cold air moved south, with cold and warm airflows converging over the ocean surface, extremely prone to spawning typhoons.
Moreover, with the subtropical high pressure belt retreating east and falling south, typhoons under its influence more easily pass through Fujian, Guangdong, and Zhejiang provinces.
This is the so-called autumn typhoon.
Once a typhoon strikes, Ship City will dismantle to shelter from wind, and where Zhou Xiucai and the other would be transported becomes unknown.
Time waits for no one; must hurry to save them!
While pondering.
Zheng Zhilong suddenly asked: “Bai Family elder sister, did you just say there are women on Ship City?”
Bai Qing nodded: “Mm, and quite a few women; from far away you could hear the yowling of cats in heat.”
Zheng Zhilong thought and asked again: “How old are those women approximately? What do they look like?”
Lei Sanxiang couldn’t stand listening anymore and grumbled: “Zheng little brother, what time is it, and you’re thinking of women? If you’re really that pent up, wait till this is over—I’ll take you.”
Zheng Zhilong said: “Third Brother misunderstood; I’m not asking about Ship City’s women out of lust.”
Then Zheng Zhilong cupped his hands to Bai Qing: “Bai Family elder sister, this is indeed abrupt, but with major matters at hand I can’t mind etiquette—please tell truthfully.”
Bai Qing laughed: “Yiguan brother knows manners, but I’ve been raised like a boy by my mother since childhood, without shore people’s men-women taboos. Zheng brother, ask whatever.”
She paused, thought carefully, then said: “It was dark, couldn’t see clearly, but from the cries they should all be young women with good figures, crying out vigorously.”
Lin Qian suddenly asked: “Are there flower boats around Ship City?”
Zheng Zhilong glanced at Lin Qian, thinking: “The helmsman guessed my thoughts just from my few questions?”
Bai Qing stared at the brown sugar water, silently recalling.
Zheng Zhilong described flower boats: “Flower boats large like tower ships, grain barges, Guangzhou ships; small like black-awning boats, usually with a madam at the bow and a pair of red lanterns at the door…”
Bai Qing waved to stop him: “I know what flower boats look like.”
She thought a moment, slowly shaking her head: “No.”
Zheng Zhilong surprised, hurriedly said: “Please think again, sister; those young women in Ship City must come from flower boats.”
“No, not a single flower boat.” Bai Qing’s tone certain.
Zheng Zhilong about to ask more, but Lin Qian clapped: “That’s right, there shouldn’t be a single one!”
Zheng Zhilong confused, hurriedly asked: “How is that right? With no flower boats, where did the women come from?”
“From the shore!” Lin Qian said slowly.
Zheng Zhilong’s eyes brightened: “Right, why didn’t I think! Yes! From the shore—they find them ashore, blindfold and send over, send back. Much safer than flower boats!”
Chen Jiao upon hearing seemed thoughtful.
Lei Sanxiang completely baffled, scratching his head: “What are you saying? How’d it turn to women? Blindfold or not? What does it mean?”
Zheng Zhilong said: “Prostitutes…”
At that moment a woman’s voice from outside the door: “You… finished chatting?”
Everyone recognized it was Doctor Su’s daughter Su Qingmei.
Zheng Zhilong clamped his mouth shut, blushing hard.
Bai Qing seeing couldn’t help light laugh.
Lin Qian said: “Miss Su? Please come in.”
Su Qingmei with medicine box, head down, face red, entered saying: “Helmsman, Father has too many patients can’t leave. He heard Bai Family sister’s symptoms—said just a chill. Since she and I both women, easier for me to examine, so sent me.”
Lin Qian smiled: “Thank you.”
Su Qingmei sat at the table, took pulse pillow from medicine box placed on table, had Bai Qing put wrist on for pulse.
Bai Qing placed hand, smiled weakly: “Thank you, little Doctor Su.”
Su Qingmei secretly pulled face at her, then serious, began pulsing.
Everyone quieted; before this girl, none dared mention flower boats or prostitutes.
Moments later Su Qingmei withdrew hand, checked tongue coating, asked Bai Qing’s symptoms, thought then said: “Elder Sister Bai has wind evil invading body, insufficient internal qi, causing poor qi-blood circulation. Use acrid-warm exterior-releasing formula.”
Bewildered looks appeared on everyone’s faces.
Bai Langzai said: “Little Doctor Su, Elder Sister’s illness isn’t serious, right?”
Su Qingmei seeing expressions realized not testing skill, hurriedly: “Not serious, ordinary chill. Drink cinnamon twig decoction, sweat it out, fine.”
Bai Langzai sighed in relief.
Su Qingmei wrote cinnamon twig decoction prescription, gave Bai Langzai: “Get medicine per this. Soak feet before sleep, cover well at night. Before recovery avoid raw-cold, greasy, chilling—that boat congee… don’t eat.”
Bai Langzai pocketed prescription, nodded assent to each.
Su Qingmei done with patient, bid everyone farewell preparing to leave ship; Bai Langzai pulled silver ingot from bosom gave as consultation fee.
Little girl feigned refusal few times, then grinning accepted.
After Su Qingmei left, Lei Sanxiang urged: “Little miss finally gone, Zheng brother continue the prostitutes bit.”
Unexpectedly as Zheng Zhilong opened mouth, Su Qingmei returned, muttering: “Oops, forgot pulse pillow.”
She just reached door, heard Lei Sanxiang’s words.
Instantly Su Qingmei’s face flushed red again.
