Black Sail
Chapter 40: XL. Junlin Sword

Chapter 40: XL. Junlin Sword

On the pier.

"This box contains a trace of spell power I’ve planted. As soon as it’s opened, it will transform into a raven and fly back to me, and I’ll know you’ve picked up the person. The strategic deployment will begin, and we’ll tear open a route."

Fen carefully passed a palm-sized wax-sealed wooden box to Liszt.

"Damn, that’s awesome, let me take a look."

Shadi reached out to grab it.

"You’re too curious, Swan, keep an eye on him. Don’t let him touch the box."

Fen instructed.

Swan nodded and, to be safe, added, "If something goes wrong when picking up the person and we get cornered, relying solely on this is not reliable."

Fen vetoed, "The Moon Wheel Knight and the Heavenly Punisher are not pushovers. As long as the Aran Constitutional Soldiers are still searching, they’ll surely arrive; they must be concealed for now. Plus, Swan, you haven’t been here long and haven’t seen Liszt in action because most of the time, we don’t need him. If he were small fry, I would be the Captain of Black Sail by now. Honestly, it’s me who writes the ship’s log; he just palms off the responsibilities."

Liszt’s forehead creased as he said, "You shouldn’t say that in front of me. My Kirin Arm is acting up."

Liszt pretended to be in extreme pain, about to explode.

"Really?"

Shadi took two steps back, afraid Liszt was about to go berserk.

Fen smiled without a word, remembering how Liszt bragged that he once wounded a Kirin in Lingyun Cave, and its blood splattered on his hand, giving him the Kirin Arm. People in the Western Continent didn’t even know what a Kirin looked like, probably thinking it was something like a deer mixed with a dragon.

In reality, Fen had seen such a thing in the library of the Pedan National Arcane Academy. It was called a Curse Sword named Junlin Sword.

Seven hundred years ago, there was a country called the Radiant Country, which has long been destroyed. Its ruler was a woman, one of the few female Emperors in history, and her standing could be said to be the official ’big sister’ of the Western Continent.

The so-called "Junlin Sword" wasn’t the weapon used by the Empress but was created out of the fear that the thirty-three Radiant Knights who had fought for her territory would rebel. She had the strongest Magician of the time forge thirty-three Curse Swords known as Junlin and gave them to each knight to show both favor and might so that the Curse Swords would claim their souls.

According to the book, the moment one grasped the Junlin Sword, it would merge directly into the flesh, and the unrivaled curse would instantly obliterate the soul.

Then the Empress spectacularly brought about her own demise.

Indeed, thirty-two were killed, but one of them had a soul that did not belong to this world, so the Curse Sword lost its effect. Instead, it bore the resentment of the deceased knights, and eventually, that knight used the Junlin Sword to kill the Empress, ending the country’s dynasty.

What was in Liszt’s left hand was the Junlin Sword.

Fen had broadly guessed Liszt’s origin but out of polite discretion hadn’t brought it up explicitly.

"I’m really about to flare up, Kirin Arm, Cloud-pushing Palm, the unparalleled sword—I’m warning you, First Officer, you better be careful. After you’re dead, I’ll have Brother Sha take over as First Officer."

Liszt clasped his arm, speaking emphatically.

Every joke contains a bit of seriousness. Fen also sensed the underlying seriousness but didn’t care. The rules were set in stone—anyone who wanted to abandon ship would be killed by the others; bringing it up now was pointless.

"This isn’t the time for nonsense." Fen was already fed up with Liszt’s idiotic remarks. When Rein had first arrived, he was quite a serious man, but look at what he had become, all this talk of going berserk every day, "It will take some time to reach Lavender Town. Claude and his men can’t ride horses either; it will spook the quarry. Once you have the person, regardless of whether there’s someone following or not, open the box immediately, and all plans will be set in motion. Good luck."

"Not a bit of humor in you, off I go."

Liszt left with Shadi and Swan.

About forty-five minutes later.

The distance to Lavender Town couldn’t be covered by foot alone, so Liszt and Swan bought two fine horses at a post station on the main road, one hundred and eighty silver coins each, nearly the price of a Golden Dragon, but now wasn’t the time to save money.

Shadi would later lead Claude and his group to walk to Lavender Town. There were too many of them, and riding horses would be too conspicuous.

As Londen City was a major trading city, the surrounding roads were all stone-paved. Even on rainy days, travel was unimpeded. Reaching Lavender Town to the southwest would take an hour.

By the time Claude and his group arrived at Lavender Town, they bought horses on the spot and, after gathering their people, all rode back to the secret port.

The Black Sail group had already done their reconnaissance on Lavender Town; it was not a poor town by any means. They cultivated a large amount of a special kind of red lavender, then distilled it into essential oils, blended it with other accessories to create high-end perfumes, and sold them to the wealthy people of Aran. Such luxury goods were the most profitable. The local area needed carriages for transport, so it was impossible for it not to have horses.

An hour later.

Liszt and Swan, having trekked their way, had arrived at Lavender Town.

The plains were almost completely flat, with red and purple lavender fields as far as the eye could see, almost waist-high, providing a stunning and fragrant sight.

The central township also featured purple and red brick tile roofs, roughly housing six to seven hundred families—a world apart from the poor inland towns.

Due to the large celestial bodies in the sky of this world, even during daylight, navigation was exceptionally easy.

The group had already scoped out the place on a previous visit.

Now, familiar with the path, they headed straight for the woods to the east and, after travelling about five miles, arrived at a lakeside villa. All that could be done then was to wait.

First, they would wait for Claude’s group to arrive so that the experienced regular soldiers could scout the surrounding few miles as sentries, preparing to provide assistance.

Finally.

Wait for Caroso and Goria to come, and of course, the most important mysterious person; then they’d make a direct break for the secret port and set sail successfully.

If only it were that simple.

That was what Liszt thought.

The rendezvous point.

The Earl’s resort property was incomparably luxurious; nestled in the lush greenery of the foothills were exquisitely fenced grounds with gothic spire iron gates, a recently groomed garden fountain, a magnificently architect-designed three-story lakeside mansion. The water in the small lake was clear enough to see the white sand and aquatic plants on the lake bed, and one could even fish for freshwater fish for fun.

Liszt and Swan tied up their horses to the trees in the forest, knowing peace and calm were impossible. In no time, the area would become a battlefield.

"We’ll just wait for Shadi to come; for the next few days, we can only cook outdoors."

Liszt did not know when those people would arrive, so the earlier he got there, the better; he had prepared several days’ worth of dried meat.

"Mhm."

Swan spoke even less than Ox.

After ensuring no one was in the villa, the two men allowed themselves a moment’s relaxation. Still, one couldn’t be too careful—it was like walking on a tightrope.

Therefore, they were not in the mood to rest inside the villa but remained unsettled by the lakeside.

Liszt hoped Shadi would come sooner rather than later; conversation with this Tiger-man was painfully dull, probably from lingering too long in the Thief Guild and becoming somewhat shadowy.

"So, you’re originally from Aisnor Province too?"

Liszt forced the conversation, remembering the place from the time of Old Aran when it was one of Aran’s provinces—truly Old Aran people. Wolman was from the Great Wetland, Ox hailed from the Mirror Sea, far and away, and Rein was from some high plateau or another with an absurd altitude.

"Yes, after all, our tribe’s roots are there."

Swan replied calmly.

Liszt, with his tongue pressed against his cheek, silently questioned: Why couldn’t he mention Aisnor’s beautiful landscapes or beautiful women? Conversations like this, so heavy, were impossible to carry on.

Crouching like a street ruffian, Liszt smoked restlessly, finding it hard to get by. He really wanted a fling with Goria.

Although Liszt didn’t publicly disparage the Thief Guild, the organization was, in a sense, quite murky—and too foul-smelling. Who knew when someone could be struck down from within.

"Have you ever met Diaz in person?"

Liszt asked. Diaz indeed possessed certain talents, his power spreading across multiple nations without fragmenting. He had his own theories on how to control the hearts of people.