Three Traveling Together

"Li Shaojun, have you ever heard of the Mohists's Mechanized City?"

The official business was going too smoothly, and Zhang Xuezhou was thinking that Li Shaojun needed to find a good Pill Furnace, but he couldn't go to Chang'an City for a while, which made Zhang Xuezhou have some ulterior motives.

Even if they couldn't find the Mohists's mechanical city, he and Gongsun Hong should have no problem finding some agarwood.

This involves some risk, but the potential returns are quite good.

Especially since the water area is Zhang Xuezhou's home turf, and he feels that he has been having exceptionally good luck these days, Zhang Xuezhou can't help but want to strike while the iron is hot.

After galloping on horseback for more than ten days, he didn't have much time to be lucid afterward.

If the rest of the time were spent on a long voyage on a ship, Zhang Xuezhou felt he would be happy to accept it, as long as the ship didn't capsize.

But before doing this, Zhang Xuezhou needed to do a few things.

He asked Li Shaojun in a low voice, which made Li Shaojun's eyes dart back and forth.

"You think we can find a good Pill Furnace in the Mohists's Mechanical City?" Li Shaojun asked doubtfully, then suddenly realized, "I've discovered you're a little bit smarter than me. The Mohists's craftsmanship is unparalleled in the world; they must have a treasure that can imitate Pill Furnace. Even if their Pill Furnace aren't used for alchemy, we should be able to use them to fill in!"

"That makes sense!"

"Shall we exchange ideas?"

Zhang Xuezhou originally wanted to ask Li Shaojun about the Mohists Mechanical City to see if going to sea was a reliable idea, but he didn't expect that Li Shaojun was also interested in the Mohists Mechanical City.

Judging from Li Shaojun's tone, the other party should have some relevant clues.

"You go first," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"Why am I always the one to go first?" Li Shaojun said. "It's not fair that I always suffer the first loss!"

"Let's play rock-paper-scissors," Zhang Xuezhou suggested.

"Let's play rock-paper-scissors!"

Li Shaojun responded angrily once, but after losing all three rounds of rock-paper-scissors, his face inevitably scrunched up in a bitter expression.

"Is it the case that whoever wins goes first?" Li Shaojun asked in a low voice.

"There's such a rule?" Zhang Xuezhou asked in surprise.

"Of course there has to be," Li Shaojun said, "Otherwise it would be too unfair to the losers!"

"I think what you said makes some sense," Zhang Xuezhou agreed.

"That makes a lot of sense," Li Shaojun nodded repeatedly. "If we keep playing like this, who'll want to play the next round with you!"

"That's true," Zhang Xuezhou said. "Then let's decide. Whoever wins goes first, and we'll play rock-paper-scissors three more times to settle the score. Whoever goes back on their word 999 times!"

"Make a deal!"

Li Shaojun felt there was nothing wrong with the situation.

Regardless of whether he wins or loses, he at least got another chance to play rock-paper-scissors.

But after defeating Zhang Xuezhou three times in a row, he looked Zhang Xuezhou up and down, but still couldn't figure out how Zhang Xuezhou controlled the wins and losses.

Li Shaojun was certain that he was fully conscious and had not been affected by Zhang Xuezhou's Technique Method.

But in the three rounds of rock-paper-scissors, whenever Zhang Xuezhou wanted to win, the other party would win; whenever the other party wanted to lose, Li Shaojun would win every time.

This kind of thing happening once is a coincidence, twice is luck, but if you still can't react after three times, then there's something wrong with your head.

"Teach me this skill," Li Shaojun pleaded. "If I had your skill, I'd be playing rock-paper-scissors with people every day. What would I need to run a Daoist temple for then!"

This skill can't be taught!

Zhang Xuezhou shook his head repeatedly.

The game of rock-paper-scissors is all about mindset; the more you want to win, the easier it is to be countered.

He understood psychology and was familiar with Li Shaojun. He could guess almost 80-90% of Li Shaojun's mindset when playing rock-paper-scissors, which was enough to make him win every game against Li Shaojun.

However, if it were a complete stranger, Zhang Xuezhou's chances of winning wouldn't be very high if he lacked understanding of the person's temperament.

There's virtually no chance of getting rich by playing rock-paper-scissors, not even for Zhang Xuezhou.

"You're so stingy! Even if I develop some great skills in the future, I won't teach you!"

Li Shaojun retorted angrily, but he would never go back on his word when it came to keeping his promises.

"The Mohists's Mechanical City can fly, walk, and swim; it's hard to find anything like it within the Great Han's borders, except perhaps at sea," Li Shaojun said. "Originally, no one knew that the Mohists's Grand Master had done this, but one day a strange fog arose on the East Sea coast. In the distance, a mechanical city could be seen sitting quietly in the vast sea, surrounded by numerous reefs. Thus, the fact that the Mohists's Mechanical City had entered the sea became known!"

"Where is the Mechanical City?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"Then we'll have to search at sea," Li Shaojun said. "Only by finding that rocky beach at sea can we find the Mechanical City!"

The presence of reefs means the water is not deep!

"No, it's very deep. The Mechanized City is enormous. Judging from the foggy scenery that day, if we consider the depth of the water, the Mechanized City might be at least thirty zhang deep!"

Have you ever seen a foggy scene?

"I happen to have spotted it!"

Li Shaojun agreed triumphantly.

The fog he saw was a mirage; seeing it was one thing, but finding it was quite another.

Li Shaojun had spent many years in the Northern Border region and had searched for many beaches in the East China Sea, but none of them looked like the one shrouded in mist.

"That's quite a coincidence," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"It's your turn to speak," Li Shaojun said.

"I don't know anything about the Mechanized City," Zhang Xuezhou said. "But I know someone who's very familiar with the East China Sea. He goes out to sea often and has a wealth of maritime experience!"

"You mean the old fishermen?" Li Shaojun asked doubtfully. "You can find tons of those on the beach. They're pretty useless!"

"What about the old fisherman at the Divine Ability Realm?" Zhang Xuezhou asked with a smile.

"Where did this amazing old fisherman come from? I've never heard of him before!"

Li Shaojun was astonished, feeling that this was completely absurd. He had not yet reached the Divine Ability Realm, yet the fisherman had already achieved a high level of cultivation.

"He's planning to take me to the Mechanical City, but he definitely won't want to bring along useless people," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"Who's useless? Who are you calling useless?" Li Shaojun shouted. "Tell me about yourself! What makes you think you can go to the East Sea to find the Mechanized City!"

"He's willing to take me along, so he must have seen my strengths. What can I do about it?" Zhang Xuezhou said, shrugging.

"I admit you have some skills, but without reliable information and not being good at swimming, you can't be of much use in finding the Mechanized City," Li Shaojun said, scratching his head. "You wouldn't happen to have caught the eye of that old fisherman, and he's planning to rob and kill you at sea, would he?"

"I have nothing of value; I am not worth being murdered for my money!"

Zhang Xuezhou waved his hand, glancing at Li Shaojun, clearly wanting him to provide more useful information.

Zhang Xuezhou doesn't need to use this information himself, but if he could, he really wanted Li Shaojun to join the team.

Compared to a duo, a trio is the most stable combination, as they can restrain each other, rather than him being forced to rely on Gongsun Hong.

"If we need to find the Mechanized City, this might be your closest chance," Zhang Xuezhou said in a low voice. "If you only know that little bit of information, I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to join my team!"

"Are you really going?"

"Really going!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

He had conveyed the imperial decree and was currently on official leave, while Gongsun Hong was also free, so choosing another day was clearly not as good as today.

Moreover, they are not far from the East China Sea at the moment, and if they wait any longer, the possibility of them acting together will be low.

Most importantly, Zhang Xuezhou felt that he was currently quite lucky, and if the opportunity arose, he would try his luck.

If they can propel the team on a long voyage, he might wake up in twelve days and find himself in the Mechanized City; at the very least, he could salvage a couple of pieces of sandalwood.

His words were certain and he spoke with great conviction, which made Li Shaojun think for a long time.

He finally pulled an extremely exquisite wooden bird out of his sleeve.

Li Shaojun threw the little bird into the air, and the bird immediately flapped its wings and flew up.

After circling the room, the little bird returned to Li Shaojun's hand.

"This is the Mohists's mechanical bird. As long as it can get within five miles of the Mechanical City, there is a high chance that it will return to the Mechanical City!" Li Shaojun said proudly.

"Did you find it?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"Right!"

Li Shaojun readily agreed.

His quick response immediately made Zhang Xuezhou realize that Li Shaojun was not the true owner of the wooden bird.

Having lost the control of its true master, this wooden bird is currently an ownerless magical Law Treasure, and thus may be reclaimed by the Mohists's Mechanical City, becoming a guide for finding the Mechanical City.