Chapter 119: Piloting the Starship
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In the days that followed, once the installers had become proficient at assembling the prefabricated houses, Wang Keyue handed the work over entirely to a craftsman with experience in house construction.
The day before she was due to collect the seriously wounded, Wang Keyue put on the Shape-Shifting Mask and appeared before everyone disguised as Divine Physician Wang. For one thing, she wanted to use the physician’s reputation to calm the unsettled populace. For another, she intended to use the Beginner Traditional Medicine Skill Card on Wen Dali, so that when the wounded and sick arrived, he would have the chance to hone his medical skills.
The appearance of Divine Physician Wang sent the entire mountain estate into an uproar. Red flags fluttered everywhere, crowds filled the grounds, and gongs and drums thundered through the air. Even Wang Keyue found herself growing a little jealous.
When the common people saw Divine Physician Wang, they behaved exactly like fans meeting their idol. Their enthusiasm and excitement were almost feverish. Even men and women in their sixties, backs bent with age, moved as briskly as young people and refused to be outdone.
After finally calming the people and settling the agitated elderly women, Wang Keyue at last managed to catch her breath. She summoned her inexpensive disciple, Wen Dali, into the inner room for a private conversation.
Wen Dali was so overwhelmed by the honor that the moment he saw Wang Keyue, he dropped to his knees and kowtowed. The grand spectacle he had witnessed earlier seemed to have left him speechless; he stammered so badly that he could not form a complete sentence.
“All right, Dali. Listen to me. Your master is occupied with countless affairs and has had no time to teach you medicine. Have you ever resented me for that?”
“No! No! No! Master, your disciple would never resent you. I never asked to study medicine. As long as I can remain by your side and serve you, I will be satisfied.” At last, Wen Dali managed to get his tongue working properly.
“You must study medicine. In a few days, I will have a large number of injured and sick people for you to care for.” As she spoke, Wang Keyue took out the Beginner Traditional Medicine Skill Card. “I have a way for you to learn quickly, but the process will be rather difficult, and you will have to endure some suffering. Are you willing?”
“I am willing!” Wen Dali exclaimed, his heart pounding with excitement.
“Very well. Even if it hurts, try to endure it. It should be over in two or three hours.” After warning him, Wang Keyue no longer hesitated and used the skill card on him.
There was no need for concern. The pain caused by a beginner skill card was not particularly intense. Even a delicate girl like her could bear it; how could a sturdy man like him possibly fail to endure it?
Sure enough, Wen Dali sat cross-legged on the floor, his face turning visibly red as the veins on his forehead bulged. Wang Keyue could not remain there waiting for him indefinitely. After confirming that he was not causing any trouble, she had a servant stand guard outside the room. Then, after giving Orange One his instructions, she prepared to leave the city and collect the five hundred wounded and sick.
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She decided to bring Zhou Mingkai as well—the young man who was determined to become a driver. That way, she would at least have someone to chat with along the journey.
Zhou Mingkai was ecstatic. He had never imagined that he would get to accompany his master on an expedition. But when he saw the so-called vehicle waiting before him, he became even more flustered.
He had thought that he had already mastered beast driving and had even become the monitor of the beast-driving class. Yet the mech-beast before him was nothing like the small ones he knew. It was a colossal, bizarre-looking contraption, as tall as a three-story building and shaped rather like a small house.
Wang Keyue gazed at the enormous object before her. This was the spacecraft she had received after completing the assassination mission, and she intended to use it to transport the wounded and sick back home. According to Little Treasure, the spacecraft could only be considered a small passenger vessel. It could intelligently carry a little over two hundred people at a time, so Wang Keyue planned to make two trips.
Even so, learning to operate the spacecraft properly would require considerable practice.
“Little Yueyue, go ahead and fly without worry. I’ll connect directly to the cockpit and assist you,” Little Treasure encouraged her.
With Little Treasure’s reassurance, Wang Keyue stopped hesitating and boarded the spacecraft with Zhou Mingkai.
The cockpit was spacious, while the passenger section was divided into two levels, each capable of carrying more than a hundred people. The seats were simple folding models, with an aisle running down the middle—somewhat like the layout of a high-speed train.
With Little Treasure’s explanations and assistance, Wang Keyue finally started the spacecraft and slowly lifted it into the air.
Once it reached a certain altitude, the entire mountain estate and the surrounding villagers could see the enormous object. Those who were more perceptive began speculating that it must be an immortal artifact belonging to the Immortal Senior. The rumor spread from one person to ten, then from ten to a hundred, until everyone accepted it as fact. For a time, their awe of the Immortal Senior grew even stronger.
At an altitude of ten thousand meters, Zhou Mingkai felt completely bewildered. Had they not said he would be driving a mech-beast? And did mech-beasts not all travel along the ground? How had this one suddenly shot into the sky?
His stomach churned violently.
“Ugh…”
This was bad. He was about to be sick.
The moment Wang Keyue noticed his increasingly pale face, she realized he was airsick and hurriedly gestured toward the restroom behind them.
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Zhou Mingkai opened the restroom door and leaned over the basin, vomiting violently. The sound made Wang Keyue feel sorry for him. She had wanted to give him the chance to experience the joy of flight, but it seemed this boy was suited only to driving on land.
Just as she was thinking this, Zhou Mingkai emerged with a pale face, swayed back to the copilot’s seat, and forced a smile at Wang Keyue. The smile looked even worse than tears.
“Master, I will definitely learn to operate this mech-beast. Please rest assured!” Zhou Mingkai declared, patting his chest with determination.
Seeing the stubborn young man, Wang Keyue could not bring herself to advise him to give up. Instead, she took a motion-sickness pill from the medical kit in her spatial storage and handed it to him.
“Take this medicine. You’ll feel much better.”
Zhou Mingkai accepted it with both hands, deeply grateful, and swallowed it in one gulp.
“Thank you, Master. I will study hard. I absolutely will not hold you back.”
The spacecraft accelerated further, and in less than a day, it arrived at the Xiao family’s military camp. Xiao Hongyu had received Wang Keyue’s message long ago and had been waiting for her at the camp. What he had never expected was that the thing arriving would be a spacecraft.
This little girl was truly fearless!
Just look at her—she had scared the local natives half to death. Every one of them seemed ready to lose their minds. What had once been a perfectly respectable military camp now looked like an asylum.
“Silence!” Xiao Hongyu ordered.
One of the deputy generals relayed the command through a loudspeaker so that every soldier could hear it.
“This is an immortal artifact belonging to Daoist Xuanqing of the Nine Mountains. None of you are to show disrespect!”
When everyone heard that it was an immortal artifact belonging to the Immortal Senior, they finally understood. The commotion quieted at once. The soldiers picked up their broadswords and resumed their daily training.
Nevertheless, they could not suppress their curiosity. Every now and then, they stole glances at the wondrous immortal artifact.
Lewaen
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