Chapter 302: Departure from Yan Dalu

The two months passed rapidly. Xue Wei got familiar with all the crew onboard the ship, and even the ambassador, Tang Tao, became a friend of his.

Everything was ready a few days in advance. The delegation from Yan Dalu that had been aboard the ship had returned home, and a new group of men had been found.

Ten citizens of Yan Dalu had been picked. Amongst these was one of Yuan Bailong's brothers, and he was chosen to be the leader of the Yan Dalu team.

This time, unlike any before, there was a third group of people joining the delegation between the two continents. This group consisted of Xue Wei, Hei Gou, Bai Tianyi, Lin Xiao, Luoluo and the King.

This third group was led by Xue Wei, but they were mainly there as guests aboard the ship.

Yuan Bailong's brother was named Yuan Qingshan, and he had been informed time and time again that he needed to be polite to all on board, while not losing face for the Yan Dalu continent.

Yuan Qingshan was aware of the difference Xue Wei's arrival had made in the continent, and that everyone was treating him as a deity, and thus he knew what was expected from him.

The experts from the Demon Phoenix Continent were also aware of Xue Wei's importance–even if they were not from the Yan Dalu continent, they came from somewhere where the Sovereign Beasts roamed unhindered, a place where they could decide anything they wanted.

So while the Yan Dalu delegation respected Xue Wei and his friends because of their performance and achievements, Tang Tao respected them because of Xue Wei's heritage and background.

As they boarded the ship, some of the crew members led them to the cabins that were prepared for them. Each cabin could house four people, but since Luoluo and the King were women, they were given a cabin for themselves while Xue Wei, Hei Gou, Bai Tianyi, and Lin Xiao had to share one.

The cabins were rather small and not so luxurious. Considering they had to be onboard the ship for a long time, one could have expected them to look much better, but Xue Wei did not complain, something that caused the crew who had led them there to breathe a sigh of relief.

Everything they needed was within their storage artifacts, and these storage artifacts either resembled necklaces, rings, pouches, or other items that one would carry with them wherever they moved.

They looked around in the cabin before they headed towards the deck of the ship again. The ship was a magnificently carved ship; there were many beautiful adornments on it, like merpeople carved into the woodwork, and other races.

On the figurehead was a massive Vermilion Bird carved out from wood, and it looked stunning in the setting sun.

All crew members, ambassadors and members of the delegation met on top of the deck, and while the experts from Yan Dalu were filled with the excitement of going to sea, the members of the crew and the ones from the Demon Phoenix Continent were all much more casual about it–they had already spent years onboard the ship, so all the novelty had long since been lost.

Xue Wei was calm and collected, but deep within his heart, he too felt expectation and excitement about leaving Yan Dalu.

Now he had experienced life in Chang'an where he was chased constantly, and he had tried the calm and peaceful life in Yan Dalu. But now, it was time to experience another kind of life.

From what he had understood, the Demon Phoenix Continent was not as calm and peaceful as Yan Dalu.

Xue Wei thrived in places that were not peaceful, his blood boiled when he fought, and he could still remember how he felt alive whenever he was in a battle.

The quiet life was good from time to time, but to truly progress, Xue Wei had to fight for every breakthrough he made.

Xue Wei had a plan. When they arrived at the Demon Phoenix Continent, he would leave the delegation for some time to gather information about the Thunder Flame Crown before heading to the Vermilion Bird Clan.

He had no doubt that the crown was with the Vermilion Birds, and it would not be easy to get ahold of it. Fortunately, they had abundant experience in fleeing for their lives, so there should be a good chance for them to survive the theft.

Xue Wei was thinking about the future, but he knew that before he could even get close to the Thunder Flame Crown, he had to get past the Sea of the Enchanted.

This trip was not going to be simple. He had heard many tales from Tang Tao about pirates, beasts, rare races, storms, and other disastrous things they had to overcome before they would safely arrive at the Demon Phoenix Continent.

Contrary to what Xue Wei had expected, the trip would not be made in one long line. Throughout the journey, they would dock at various islands that were too small to be considered continents.

Many such small islands existed along their route. Some of them were uninhabited, while others had small populations living on them.

Of these small populations, there were various races, and some were more evolved than others.

Xue Wei had not seen many races before. He had seen the common human and the different Primordial and Fierce beasts. Now he had encountered another Sovereign Beast, and he had seen the Yan Dalu's multiple-eyed citizens, but that was it.

Now he was excited about seeing the merpeople, meeting the demons, experiencing the difference between all the races. He had found a new interest in them after knowing that they too had descended from a union between humans and beasts–they were practically the same as him!

Luoluo was as excited as Xue Wei. She had never been aboard a ship before, and her eyes were glistening like the stars in the sky, her lips curved into such a large, happy grin that even her eyes had turned into small crescent moons, so narrow that you could barely see the eyes themselves.

Lin Xiao was also curiously gazing at everything around them. None of the people from Chang'an had been aboard a boat before, and all of them were very curious.

While Bai Tianyi was quite casual about it, as he had been onboard ships quite often, Hei Gou was anything but comfortable with their new means of transportation.

He was looking rather skeptically across the deck and into the sea, and every time the ship bobbed slightly, his eyes showed distress.

Everyone soon realized that he was very uncomfortable with the idea of sailing.

Xue Wei walked next to Hei Gou and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Sorry Gou," he said with a slight smile on his lips, "we have no other way of getting to the Demon Phoenix Continent."

Hei Gou said nothing but shook his head resignedly, "I know," he muttered through gritted teeth, unhappily.

"Is this ship sturdy?" he suddenly asked. "I heard Tang Tao say that we would encounter storms and battles on the sea when we are traveling, will the ship be able to handle this?"

"Of course." Xue Wei calmed him down. "Can't you see, the ship arrived here just fine. Since it could arrive here, it can also do the return trip. After all, we are on board now, giving us even more people than before. We should be able to assist them if pirates really come, and in the case of storms, the ship is so large that, although it'll rock, it won't sink."

Xue Wei tried his best to calm down Hei Gou. He had never before seen him so worried about anything as he was now, and while it was somewhat entertaining, they were good friends, martial brothers even, so making fun of him was not acceptable.

However, there was one person in the group who had absolutely no qualms poking fun at people, and while Xue Wei was calming down Hei Gou, a small childish voice suddenly sounded, "Uncle Doggy, don't worry, even if the ship sinks we won't die!"

Luoluo walked towards Hei Gou with a small white rabbit teddy bear in her arms. "Big Brother will capture a big sea creature, and we will use it as our mount!"

Big sparkling eyes looked at Xue Wei as if he was a god that could do anything in her eyes.

"But I didn't think dogs were afraid of water?" Luoluo continued, this time with a musing expression on her face. "Are you really a dog? Even claiming to be a celestial one, you are just like a cat, afraid of water."

Hei Gou glared daggers at Luoluo. He was a Celestial Dog, not some doggy! And he was definitely not a cat! How dare she compare him to a cat! So rude!

Seeing that Hei Gou was currently too busy being aggravated to actually realize that the ship had started moving, Xue Wei chuckled. He did not know if Luoluo had done it on purpose, but her timing was perfect.

Xue Wei went to the bow of the ship and waved at the people waiting at the dock to say their farewells.

Yuan Bailong and Gu Bing'er had arrived, and both of them stood there, hand in hand, and looked at Xue Wei with gratitude.

Gu Bing'er was an iron woman, but she could not help it; at that moment, tears started dropping from her eyes, as she held her son in her arms.

She had no idea how her life would have turned out if it were not for Xue Wei and his friends' arrival in Yan Dalu.

Not only had they saved their families from the clutches of the Baili family, but they had also been elevated to the most influential families in the continent, and not even the King was above them anymore.

Not only this, Gu Bing'er was a woman from a prominent family. She was likely to have been married off to someone as a wedding alliance, but now she had ended up together with a man she truly loved, and who truly loved her.

She felt as if she had been given a future, that she had been given a life. Everything she had now was thanks to Xue Wei, so she felt emotional when she saw him leaving.

Yuan Bailong, by her side, seemed to understand her train of thought. He did not get jealous; rather, he understood her emotions as he was sharing them. To them, Xue Wei, Hei Gou, Bai Tianyi, Lin Xiao, and Luoluo had proven to be saviors.

Even Yuan Bailong felt his eyes sting and he reached out, taking his wife and child into his arms and hugged them tightly.

Seeing the scene in the harbor, Xue Wei smiled. Although he had arrived at Yan Dalu by mistake, he did not feel that the years here had been wasted. Looking at what he had done for them, he felt accomplished, and a feeling of pride sprouted in his heart.

At the same time, he also felt slightly sour. When would he be able to hold Wang Xiaoyun the same way as Yuan Bailong held Gu Bing'er?

Thinking like this, he could not help but smile wryly. He did not even know how long it would take before he could arrive back at Chang'an, and although he did not miss the continent too much, he missed Wang Xiaoyun with all of his heart.