"Has it left...?"
Zhang Ming raised the sail, hoping to follow the Black-Awning Boat in his sailboat.
But the wind was far too weak tonight, and the sailboat moved slowly. Zhang Ming had no choice but to lower his little wooden raft and row after it.
Yet the moment the distance between them reached a certain threshold, the Black-Awning Boat suddenly "vanished" from his perception!
It was not because it had gone too far away. It had simply... disappeared.
"So there really is a world hidden here..." Zhang Ming felt a stir of excitement. Naturally, when his little raft reached the same spot as the Black-Awning Boat, it did not vanish along with it.
He was not too discouraged. He returned to his bedroom and brought out the potted World Tree, hoping to sense the world's direction.
Unfortunately, the World Tree's leaves could only point him toward worlds that favored him: Earth and the Black Tortoise World. As for the one before him, he could not sense it even though it was practically within reach.
"Damn it, why am I not a world hunter?" Zhang Ming sighed at the sky, feeling rather helpless.
"If there's an intelligent civilization behind that Black-Awning Boat, they probably won't give up on me so easily. After all, I'm alone. If humans from Earth encountered something like this, they'd definitely do everything they could to bring me back for observation."
"Or... whatever's behind it is just something like a program."
"It might show up again tomorrow night."
With that thought, Zhang Ming settled into his workshop and carefully prepared various strange objects that might prove useful.
Life that day went on as usual.
They ate and drank as they always did.
Still, his companions clearly had something on their minds.
Even the Giant