Bear-Snake Great Pill, Worth Ten Merits (Third Update)

Qin Geng stood at the bow, gripping the dark Purple Clay Teapot. He raised it high, his voice exploding like thunder over the noisy river.

"Keep your eyes peeled! Stop staring at the shit and the corpses! Look for teapots like this!"

With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the Purple Clay Teapot to an officer on the neighboring boat. "This is what those foreign bastards use to move their cargo! Whether it's hidden in a rice jar, a flour sack, or someone's crotch, having one of these means a capital crime: colluding with foreigners!"

The officer caught it in a fluster. It was so cold it bit into his hand, as though he were touching a block of ancient ice. He shuddered.

Most of the soldiers from the southern navy were rough men trained in hard, straightforward martial arts. None of them had ever seen anything like this.

They exchanged baffled looks, staring at the unremarkable Purple Clay Teapot. How much cargo could something the size of a palm hold? Could it fit guns and cannons?

"Move aside! Let me see!"

A thin old man pushed through the crowd, a compass strapped to his back and a string of copper coins hanging from his waist. He was an elderly Attendant from the Geomancy Office who had come aboard.

He darted forward, snatched the Purple Clay Teapot from the officer, and narrowed his cloudy eyes. His fingers rubbed rapidly over its surface before he drew a paper talisman from his robe and stuck it over the spout.

Sss!

The talisman burst into flame without a spark, spewing black smoke amid a wind that howled like wailing ghosts.

"Good heavens!"

The elderly Attendant's face changed. He sucked in a sharp breath. "This is wicked sorcery! The foreigners have crossed Western