Phoenix Descends – Queen with a Thousand Pets - Chapter 14

The escape cabin only had a small amount of water and food. Even with careful distribution, they were quickly consumed. In the darkness, the crew couldn’t tell day from night nor had any concept of time. Ling Qingyu fainted many times. When she felt that she couldn’t hold on anymore, she realized that the ship had stopped rocking.

Next to Ling Qingyu, a hand grabbed her, preventing her from rising up.

In the darkness, she could hear Gu Sui laughing, “This time, it is a matter for us men. Head, please stay back.”

The cabin door was pushed open. Hints of sunlight shone inside. Yang Zhao released Ling Qingyu’s hand and jumped out of the cabin. Gu Sui followed closely. Then, it was Lu Yao, Yan San, Zheng Xi. One by one, they climbed out from the hatch.

“Let’s go too.” Not hearing any warnings, Ling Qingyu motioned toward the four merchants huddling in the corner.

Then, she lifted Ye Shiyi and crawled out as well.

Leaving the escape compartment, she could see sunlight penetrating through holes in the bulkhead. Her vision was somewhat fuzzy, but she could see a mess in the passageway leading out. Many cases of goods were smashed and scattered across the floor. Good thing the Aeolus was tilted. The passageway was slanted up. The outside cabin door was already open and light filled the opening as if it were a stairway to heaven.

She shook her head to clear these thoughts. Ling Qingyu carefully navigated around the scattered porcelain and walked with Ye Shiyi toward the light.

“Wah~oh~Ah hahaha!”

Before she got to the opening, she heard frenzied cheering outside.

Ling Qingyu quicked her pace. She peaked her head into the light and Zheng Xi greeted her, “Miss, it’s land!”

Stepping on deck, Ling Qingyu felt a flash in front of her eyes. Then, vivid colors poured in. What a beautiful view!

The Aeolus was tilted on its side, lying in a shallow bay. Below it, the water was so clear that it didn’t seem like real seawater. There were orange-colored corals underwater with colorful fish swimming around them. The fine waves covered a silver-white beach. The beach was filled with coconut palm trees. In the distance, there was a dense green jungle that rose into the mountains.

The men who went up first had already jumped into the water and ran joyfully onto the beach. They had completely lost their starved look.

“Being young is good!” Ling Qingyu exclaimed. She rubbed her much thinner stomach. After that, she noticed the few people next to her, staring at her with strange faces, and she coughed to hide her words.

“Great lady, can this servant help you down?” Gu Sui had a teasing smile as he reached out and lifted Ling Qingyu. He weighed her and laughed. “Even though Miss was starved for so many days, it seems you didn’t lose any weight.”

Even if Ling Qingyu’s face was thicker than the city wall, her face still turned red. She said angrily, “This is called being solid. Don’t you know? Let me down!”

“Hahaha,” laughed Gu Sui and helped Ling Qingyu jump into the water. Coral spurs under the surface were sharp. Suddenly, strands of blood flowed out from the bottom of her feet.

The water was shallow, but it still reached Gu Sui’s chest. Ling Qingyu was in his arms and half of her body was submerged in the water.

Ling Qingyu quieted down. Starving for so many days, she didn’t have much energy left. It would be extremely difficult to swim onto the beach. With sincerity, she said, “Thank you.”

“Haha. Without you, we would probably be fish food now.” Gu Sui laughed.

“Of course. Only this leader’s quick judgment and immediate action made it possible. Now, you guys can stop having second thoughts in the future!” Ling Qingyu followed suit and boasted without hesitation or shame.

Seeing Gu Sui’s laughing face, Ling Qingyu added another sentence. “At least until we return to the Zhou Empire.”

“Yes, yes. Gu Sui is loyal to head is as clear as the sun and moon. How can I have second thoughts?” Gu Sui laughed again, then quickly walked toward the beach.

Sailors who had reached land first were already climbing on coconut trees. After a short time, coconuts started falling one by one. Under Zheng Xi’s guidance, Yan San’s famous treasured sword was used to break open the coconuts one by one.

Gu Sui got to land and put Ling Qingyu down under a tree before sitting tiredly on the ground. Zheng Xi delivered the broken coconuts.

After eating its flesh and drinking its juice, the people exhausted to their limits quickly fell asleep. Ling Qingyu was the first.

—

After a while, she was suddenly woken by the wave. Light seawater with a salty smell touched her face. Ling Qingyu coughed and awoke. 

Seeing her body half covered in seawater, she immediately jumped up. Turning around, the beach didn’t have a single person. After pausing for a second and patting her head, she whispered. Could it be that I transmigrated again?

“Ah!” A scream came from afar.

Ling Qingyu was shocked. Following that, a few more screams came from the depths of the jungle. After thinking for a moment, she tied her pants and hid her ponytail.

There were bushes around a hundred meters away from the beach. When Ling Qingyu approached them, she realized they were made out of many types of aromatic plants, such as sandalwood, boswellia wood, and Bhandari flowers. There were also various precious herbs. Beyond these stood the lush tropical rainforest with all kinds of towering trees. Ling Qingyu took a quick look and saw agarwood and rosewood, along with many unique, unknown flowers.

There were no roads in the forest, and it was so dense that there was barely ground to step on. Ling Qingyu broke a tree branch, and pushed away the obstacles ahead, in order to advance.

The calls in front of her became even more fierce. Ling Qingyu quickened her pace. But not paying attention, she slipped. Only by grabbing a nearby tree branch did she not fall.

Ling Qingyu steadied herself and carefully looked down. She found herself on a short cliff. On one side was the beach she had just come from. On the other side was a wider beach. Shallow and clear seawater flashed with colorful lights. The beach was filled with an abundance of palm trees.

The person screaming was on top of a tree branch. Under the tree were several giant lizards that were more than three meters long. Another group of people was being chased by the lizards into the forest.

“Hou.” A loud call came from within the forest. The chasing lizards immediately stopped and gathered at a steep rock wall, around six hundred meters high, on the side of the beach.

The person who climbed the tree took the chance to come down and regrouped with the people in the forest.

Ling Qingyu saw them meeting up and felt relieved. But then, she heard the group of people scream out again. She immediately ran deeper into the jungle as if her bottom was on fire.

They were too far apart and Ling Qingyu couldn’t see what happened. But her instincts told her that she should get to the larger group. Otherwise, this beautiful and mysterious heaven might take her life when she loses focus.

Observing the distance and the route, Ling Qingyu began to climb along the cliff toward the mountain. The jungle on both sides of the beach led up the mountain. As long as she kept to the path, she should be able to meet them.

In the forest, various calls could be heard left and right. Ling Qingyu adjusted her route by listening to the direction of the calls.

Even though the forest was so dense that she didn’t have any footholds, she still enjoyed the pleasing view. All kinds of flowers were blooming and there were also red and purple fruits hanging from the branches. She also saw a breadfruit tree filled with fruits. Ling Qingyu recognized some of these plants that were not only around the equator, but likewise in Africa and Madagascar.

Ling Qingyu picked a breadfruit, peeled it and sat on the ground to start eating. She saw that the path the group took was twisted as if they were being chased. But her path didn’t seem to have any danger, other than the occasional scrape. Ling Qingyu felt somewhat relieved. Who told you to leave me? You guys deserve it.