novelraw Chapter 23 : Chapter 23
Chapter 23 : Chapter 23
Chapter 23: The Fusang Divine Tree
The bow was crowded, the atmosphere buzzing with excitement.
Everyone was thrilled.
“That’s definitely the Fusang tree from myths, the divine tree where the Golden Crow resides,” Gao Huan declared confidently.
He was solemn, not his usual playful self, still reeling from his father’s death. But his vast knowledge of myths compelled him to explain the incomprehensible.
…
I stood at the crowd’s rear, gazing into the distance.
Deep in the sea, two massive mulberry trees leaned on each other, their rugged trunks stretching toward the sky with lush branches.
The bronze ship was likely hundreds or thousands of miles away.
The trunks appeared faint, like the moon seen from countless miles at dawn. Only such distance caused this effect.
I’d once viewed a snow mountain from hundreds of miles, familiar with that distant blur.
These trees were far beyond that distance. Their height, several times that of a snow mountain, seemed to touch the heavens.
“The trunks are thicker than a mountain, their height… tens of thousands of meters.”
If not for the bright, moon-shaped leaves, I’d suspect it was a mirage.
As the bronze ship surged forward, closing the distance, the trunks grew clearer, revealing gnarled, ravine-like textures.
Mist rose from the sea.
Golden flowers, leafless with white roots in the water, bloomed in the fog, exuding a refreshing fragrance.
Large ones spanned ten meters, small ones fist-sized, all glowing like thousands of divine lamps, turning the sea into a starry expanse.
Gao Huan, forgetting his grief, flushed with excitement: “Xihe flowers!”
“Xihe flowers grow eternally with the Fusang tree, in the Tanggu Sea.”
“Xihe flowers bloom by swallowing Golden Crow flames. Mortals burn if they eat them; small demons become great ones.”
“We know where we are now!”
“The Tanggu Sea.”
“The Tanggu Sea is the nexus of mortal, underworld, and divine realms, said to span 1.5 million miles.”
Someone scoffed, “You’re exaggerating— 1.5 million miles? Is that even the distance from Earth to the moon?”
“The Earth-moon distance is about 380,000 kilometers, not miles,” Cai Yutong, now in new clothes, sunglasses, and a mask, said beside me.
Gao Huan, defensive of his mythic expertise, retorted, “Is 1.5 million miles so unbelievable? Know how big the world of Chi County Divine Land is?”
“The Lüshi Chunqiu records the world within the four poles as 509,700,000 miles east to west, and the same north to south. Your thinking’s still mortal— I won’t argue.”
“We’re not on Earth anymore. We’re in the underworld, the ghostly realm.”
“Gulp!”
“Gurgle!”
…
Toward the Fusang trees, the sea turned golden-red, as if endless divine flames burned below.
The outer waters boiled, bubbling like vats. The mist thickened, engulfing the ship in white.
“Crash—”
From the depths near the divine trees, a three-legged giant bird soared from the seabed.
Its radiance lit the white mist in vibrant colors.
“It’s a Golden Crow… see, that’s a Golden Crow! It doesn’t perch in the Fusang tree but nests beneath in the sea,” Gao Huan shouted, proving himself right.
Mythic texts, though flawed, weren’t baseless.
“The Golden Crow corpse in the tomb forest feels like a juvenile compared to this one,” I said.
This Golden Crow’s wings spanned tens of thousands of meters, like clouds.
One flap raised ten-meter waves.
Its heat and light, even blocked by the ship’s defenses, stung eyes and scorched skin.
A curious researcher tossed a thumb-thick rebar.
It flew past the ship’s barrier, not reaching the sea, turning red-hot, nearly melting.
Everyone stared, stunned.
The outside was that terrifying?
The air’s temperature must be thousands of degrees, no wonder it could burn skies and boil seas.
Was this the mythical Golden Crow’s power?
The adult Golden Crow, midair, glanced at the ship, seeing its juvenile corpse. But it dared not approach, sensing a chilling aura.
A terror it had never felt from any being in this world.
Too frightening!
It flapped upward to the clear sky, heading west.
Soon, it became a blazing sun.
…
In the deck’s tomb forest.
Near the juvenile Golden Crow’s corpse, under a tombstone, a red-robed skeleton gazed at the departing Golden Crow.
Her black hair, silky, reached her feet.
Standing casually, she exuded elegance and presence. Even as bones, her former beauty was imaginable.
Her hollow eye sockets held thumb-sized spiritual flames.
Looking at her bone arm, threaded with blood, life essence stirred within. She whispered, “That boy must be from the ancient clan. Only their blood can awaken a corpse, regrow flesh, revive the dead, returning to the yang order of life.”
“Pity, our marriage-yang ritual was half-done before he escaped.”
She looked at Qi Shanshan, unconscious, murmuring, “I’ll hide my bones in her body, using her flesh and life to evade the life laws blocking reversal.”
…
Since passing the “Tanggu Sea,” the sea had day and night.
Many speculated multiple Golden Crows lived in its depths, becoming suns, flying east to west, creating day and night.
No one knew east from west.
They judged by Earth’s sun, assuming the ship sailed north.
The Fusang trees were gone, the ship seeming to leap through space to another sea, free of terrifying souls.
The sea was calm, mirror-like.
The water, scarlet, unnatural, like blood. Even filtered, the color remained— no one dared drink.
For now…
The generator was irreparable, perishable food spoiled. From yesterday, food and water were rationed, meals cut from three to half a day.
Another day passed.
Coffins appeared on the sea, drifting in the ship’s direction, leaving long wakes.
This world felt heavy with yin, unbanished by Fusang trees or Golden Crows.
The initial “soul sea” seemed the resting place for all cosmic souls. This “blood sea” felt like the destination of all beings’ blood.
In the afternoon.
Giant birds flew from the horizon, hunting, their cries loud. Scythe-mouthed, gull-like birds pecked open coffins, eating decayed flesh and bones.
Life signs lifted the crew’s spirits, easing past grief and fear.
They guessed land was near.
Heartening— docking meant survival.
In recent days, except near the bone demon’s grave, I searched the ship but found no trace of Qi Shanshan.
“Did the bone demon eat her?”
I’d suspected this, as the ghost was the ship’s greatest danger.
I had to investigate.
I wanted to repay Qi Shanshan’s favor, freeing myself from obligation, and felt a crisis— the bone demon would eventually emerge.
Better to eliminate the threat than wait.
But first, I needed to boost my strength— I didn’t want to die rashly.