Chapter 66: Journey to Huazhou (Part Two)

The Seventh Prince glanced at Su Nanxing upon hearing her words, opened his mouth as if to speak, but closed it again. He sat across from them, fiddling with his teacup, while Qin Sihou, Mu Zhong, and Long Linyi had yet to join them. Su Nanxing thought to herself, at least the boy knows his place, then reached out to draw Tao Ming closer and said, "The Wei River region is vast. If we were to travel by carriage, it would take months to reach the imperial city."

Tao Ming grew anxious at once. "Ruanruan and Nuonuo are almost one year old!"

Su Nanxing kissed Tao Ming gently on the cheek to soothe her. "Don't worry, don't worry. You’ll soon find out—there are talented people in Wei River."

The Seventh Prince tried to restrain himself, but failed. "I'm still here. Could you not be so—demonstrative?"

Su Nanxing ignored him. Tao Ming, weighed down by her worries, fell silent, and only the cheerful chatter of Ruanruan and Nuonuo filled the carriage.

After about half an hour, the carriage stopped. Outside, Mu Zhong announced, "Master, the teleportation array is here."

The Seventh Prince stood and got out of the carriage. Tao Ming was about to rise, but Su Nanxing held her back. "Wait a moment."

Tao Ming nodded, calling the two children to gather their things and prepare to alight.

Soon, the Seventh Prince called from outside, "Come out."

Tao Ming covered her face, and the four of them exited the carriage in turn.

In front of them was a circular pattern about five meters in diameter, with twelve stone pillars evenly spaced around the circumference. Tao Ming thought, this must be the teleportation array, though it seemed awfully small.

She whispered to Su Nanxing, "Isn't this array a bit small?"

Su Nanxing chuckled softly, "This is only the entrance."

Tao Ming’s curiosity was piqued, and she wished she could rush forward to examine it. Unfortunately, the Seventh Prince stood ahead, unmoving, so she could only wait.

After a short while, Qin Sihou approached from the other side and said quietly, "Everything’s arranged. Let’s begin."

The Seventh Prince nodded. The group stepped onto the small teleportation array, and Tao Ming felt her vision blur. Suddenly, they were in a spacious chamber.

The room was enormous, with many portals set into the walls. Above each door hung a sign, bearing different names.

Tao Ming turned to see the nearest two signs: one read "Luoshui City," and the other "Qingliu City."

Su Nanxing murmured beside her, "Doesn't this look like a train station?"

Tao Ming, still marveling, nodded.

The Seventh Prince surveyed the room, saw everyone was present, and strode to the left, glancing up at the sign over the door before entering.

Tao Ming followed, seeing the sign read "Tianhua City."

Inside the door was another circular teleportation array, this one about a hundred meters in diameter, with even more stone pillars around its edge.

A voice from behind the door called out, "How many?"

The Seventh Prince replied, "Eight."

"What kind of compartment?"

The prince considered briefly. "Cloud Shuttle compartment."

"Fifty purple crystal coins."

Tao Ming was stunned. So expensive!

The Seventh Prince paid, and immediately several people carried over a giant white wooden box. Tao Ming estimated it to be at least twenty meters long, ten meters wide, and three meters high.

They placed the box at the center of the teleportation array, opened a door in its side, and the prince gestured for everyone to enter. Tao Ming followed silently.

Inside the Cloud Shuttle compartment, it resembled an apartment: a living room at the entrance, surrounded by bedrooms.

In the living room, white, sofa-like long benches formed a circle, with several low tables before them, laden with food, drinks, and items Tao Ming didn’t recognize.

Once all eight had entered, someone outside announced, "Seal it and start," before shutting the door.

Qin Sihou, Mu Zhong, and Long Linyi went to a corner of the living room, opened a cabinet, and took out some wine, chatting and drinking. Their shared barbecue the previous night had brought them closer.

Ruanruan wriggled free from Su Nanxing’s arms, kicked off her shoes, and climbed onto the long bench, bouncing and exclaiming, "Mama, Mama! This is even softer than our sofa at home—it feels like a cloud!"

Nuonuo looked at Tao Ming with anticipation. Tao Ming set her on the floor, and she climbed up to bounce as well. "It really is soft!"

The two little ones happily jumped back and forth. Tao Ming looked at the Seventh Prince and asked, "Will we have to pay if they break it?"

The prince smiled, "Don’t worry. It won’t break."

Tao Ming sat on the long bench, feeling herself sink into it. She shifted and remarked, "It’s really soft! What’s inside?"

Su Nanxing went over to the two children, steadying them so they wouldn’t fall, and said casually, "Cloud fleece from Floating Mountain."

Tao Ming wanted to slice it open to see what cloud fleece was, but remembered she had no money and thought better of it.

Su Nanxing noticed her restless gaze and laughed. "The Su family has plenty. I’ll show you when we go home."

The Seventh Prince grumbled, "Yet they never lower their prices for me."

Tao Ming glanced at Su Nanxing questioningly, and she smiled. "These large teleportation arrays are all set up by the Su family, and all the amenities are supplied by them. But the Su family only keeps the operating costs; all profits go to the royal family."

The prince interjected, "I understand what you’re saying, but what are those strange terms?"

No sooner had he spoken than Tao Ming felt the entire compartment tremble slightly, then settle.

Su Nanxing said gently, "Don’t worry. The array has activated."

The Seventh Prince tossed out, "I have some private matters to attend to. Make yourselves comfortable," and pushed open a door, disappearing inside.

Tao Ming wandered around, hoping to find a window and see outside, but found none. She returned to Su Nanxing and said, "There isn’t a single window."

Ruanruan, tired from jumping, looked at Tao Ming. "Mama, can I run barefoot?"

Tao Ming glanced at the floor, which was carpeted, and nodded.

Ruanruan pulled Nuonuo along, and the two roamed the room.

Su Nanxing drew Tao Ming down onto the bench and said, "Large teleportation arrays cross mountains and rivers, often encountering turbulence outside. The compartments are engraved with protective spells, so naturally there are no windows."

Tao Ming sighed, "It’s so unscientific!"

Su Nanxing laughed. "Science is an Earth concept; Wei River has its own path of development."

After her exclamation, Tao Ming remembered the main issue. "How long do we have to stay here?"

Su Nanxing slipped her arm around her and asked, "Did you bring paper and pen?"

Tao Ming took them out. Su Nanxing drew a circle in the lower right corner. "This is where we started—Cloud Immortal City in Yun Prefecture."

She drew a river vertically down the center of the page. "This is the Wei River."

Then, slightly to the left on the other side of the river, she drew another circle. "This is our destination—Tianhua City in Hua Prefecture."

Above Tianhua City, just to the left, she drew a smaller circle. "This is the Imperial City of Heavenly Saints."

Finally, she measured the distance between the locations with her hands. "If all goes well, we’ll reach Tianhua City in six or seven hours."

Tao Ming looked at the map and asked, "Where is the Qiluo tribe?"

Su Nanxing drew a tiny circle below and to the right of the starting point. "Here."

"How big is Wei River? It took us two days to get from the Qiluo tribe to Cloud Immortal City."

Su Nanxing drew a large circle encompassing all the previous smaller circles, and tapped the blank spaces within. "Mei Prefecture, Fu Prefecture, Luo Prefecture, Qing Prefecture, Cheng Prefecture, Pu Prefecture, He Prefecture, Tong Prefecture, Yi Prefecture, Lin Prefecture, plus Yun Prefecture and Hua Prefecture—Wei River has twelve prefectures, each covering over a hundred million hectares."

Tao Ming groaned, "Can you express that in square kilometers?"

Su Nanxing: "..."