The End of the Wall
The boat traveled along the top of the wall for nearly an hour. The wall maintained the same width, the same direction, and the same surface texture, as if it were being continuously and repeatedly laid out by a ruler of a fixed length. Long Tian squatted at the bow of the boat, his gaze never leaving the direction in front of the wall.
About an hour after the ship had traveled, a new color change began to appear on the sea ahead. Unlike the previous bands of color and variations in water hue, this change occurred near the end of the horizontal structure. After extending for a considerable distance, the wall suddenly broke vertically ahead—not with a fractured surface, but rather where the wall ended, converging into a smooth, flat end, as if precisely severed by a cutting machine. The end of the wall formed a clean right-angle cut with the sea surface, its edges smooth and without any signs of breakage.
As the boat approached the end of the wall, more details gradually emerged from its smooth surface. In the center was a circular mark embedded in stone, its shape identical to the structure seen in the air chambers and cavities. A fine ring of serrations encircled its edge, as if it had been carved into the surface and then filled with some dark material, maintaining its sharp shape even under continuous exposure. At the center of the circular mark was a vertical groove, its width matching the thickness of the thin piece Long Tian had previously received. Long Tian stood up at the bow, the boat stopping a few feet from the end. He disembarked, stepped onto the wall, and stood before the end, examining the circular mark embedded in the surface and the vertical groove.
He didn't take out the thin slice. Instead, he stood in front of the end face, placed his palm against its surface, and stopped near the circular mark. The aura of the Origin Return Pearl traveled along the stone of the end face to the area around the mark. Some of the aura was absorbed when it touched the serrated edge of the mark, while the rest circled along the serrations and returned to his palm. He withdrew his hand, stood in front of the end face for a moment, memorized its position and the direction it faced, and then turned and walked back to the ship along the top of the wall.
"The end of the wall was closed. Its facing direction was southeast, perfectly aligning with the extended line on the light screen map." He crouched down at the bow, opened his leather pouch, took out the silk map, drew a vertical line at the end of the wall's top line to mark the direction the facing direction was, then put the map away, stood up, and gazed at the vast expanse of sea directly opposite the facing direction. There were no other structures on the sea, only the continuously spreading deep blue water, shining evenly in the afternoon sunlight, a scene of tranquility.
After turning around, the boat began its return journey along the same route. The speed was slightly faster than on the way there, as if it were traveling along a familiar waterway. Long Tian sat at the bow for a while, mentally going through the length of the entire wall, the number of shallow channels it passed through, the location of the chambers, and the sequence of changes after the Imperial Seal was integrated, confirming that they could form a complete chain corresponding to each other.
Yu Jin walked over from the hatch, squatted down beside him, and followed his gaze to the open sea. He looked for a moment, then said, "The direction directly opposite the end should be the final location. After you finish walking along the walls, there are no more walls to mark the path; only the sea remains."
Long Tian nodded, slung the leather bag back over his shoulder, and sat at the bow of the boat for a while longer, watching the sea recede along the course. His Dragon Shadow remained suspended in a constant position above his shoulders, the light layer on his forehead glowing in the afternoon sun like a calibrated scope, maintaining its alignment with the target as it moved. The boat left the end of the long wall far behind, gradually merging into the distant band of color on the sea in the evening light, becoming a thinner, darker line until it finally disappeared completely at the edge of his vision.
Long Tian sat at the bow, reviewing all the points recorded during the return voyage. He arranged them in order, confirming that their directions, spacing, and triggering conditions were consistent, the logical chain complete, without breaks or omissions. After confirming, he rolled up the silk map and put it back in his leather pouch. Sitting on the deck, he gazed at the gradually darkening sea ahead, reconfirming the direction the end of the map was facing, maintaining his distance from the continuous layer of light. The ship continued along the route they had come from after nightfall. The Dragon Shadow's light layer increased its brightness at night, illuminating a section of water ahead of the bow. The seawater appeared a Mo Lan under the light, calmer than during the day, with only the occasional ripples from the water stirred up by the passing ship within the illuminated area. The outline of Longfish Bay appeared before dawn. After entering the port, Long Tian and Yu Jin went ashore and walked out of Longfish Bay along the dirt road.