Jinan Prefecture, the City of Springs

A fine rain fell like silk threads, veiling the river in a thin gauze.

The ink-green, silent fields and villages on both banks were shrouded in hazy rain, as though they had been transported to Jiangnan amid misty rain.

Yet this was the Xiaoqing River waterway outside Jinan City.

Li Yan and the others had departed from Tongzhou Wharf. Had they traveled by land, they would have needed to disembark at Cangzhou and cross mountains and ridges along the way, spending many more days on the journey.

Fortunately, the entire route from Tongzhou to Jinan Prefecture could be traveled by the grain-transport waterways. Following the Grand Canal through Linqing, Dongchang, Dongping Lake, Jining, and other wharves, they could go straight to Jinan City.

Though the route took them in a circle, it saved them at least seven days of travel.

The only unpleasant part was the constant rain along the way. Yet the abnormal summer rains of recent days had brought little coolness. Instead, they added several layers of damp, oppressive heat, and the streams of water hanging from the ship's side seemed never to stop dripping.

The treasure ship "Cloud Sail" that Fatty Lin had found seemed to have soaked up the moisture in its sails. They bulged heavily, carrying a trace of blackness, forcing the boatmen to expend a great deal of effort.

"Damn it, with rain like this, even my bones are growing mold."

Sha LiFei leaned against the cabin doorway and complained as he gazed at the curtain of rain.

His short jacket hung half open, revealing a tuft of thick chest hair. He kept shaking out his clothes, trying to snatch the single thread of coolness outside the cabin, while his body was slick with sweat and reeked of it.

As for Wang Dao Xuan,