Seeing his junior brother Ding so full of courage and utterly fearless, Pan Yunzhou could hardly say anything more, lest this martial prodigy look down on him.
The two soon finished climbing the wooden gangway and stepped aboard the Painted Airship.
It had a deck and a three-story cabin structure, but no rudder, mast, sails, or anything of the sort was in sight.
"Why insist on having a deck? What's the point? Couldn't they make the whole thing cabins? Just to make it look like a ship?" Ding Songyan offered his opinions as though talking to himself.
Pan Yunzhou knew nothing about mechanical constructs, so he could only pretend not to hear, lest he expose his ignorance.
Glancing at him, Ding Songyan grumbled inwardly:
In my previous life, I'd never have let a topic raised by someone I wanted to please fall flat. Even if you don't know anything about it, there are ways to keep the conversation going. Giving everyone a laugh is good too. The worst thing is an awkward silence.
Just then, a man and a woman dressed as attendants came forward. Both had pleasing looks and bearing, yet their clothes were thin: one wore a vermilion lantern-sleeved robe, the other a short tunic and gauze skirt, in stark contrast to the cold of the New Year season.
Standing to either side, they spoke in unison:
"Honored guests, please enter the cabin."
Ding Songyan glanced over the attendants and walked toward the cabin, his manner composed and utterly at ease. Pan Yunzhou had never experienced anything like this, but with his junior brother as an example, he too appeared calm as usual, though a little stiff.
The moment they entered the cabin, they felt warmth like spring. Thick carpets with the flavor of foreign races lay underfoot,