The Toad Temple's Immortal Gu

A mirage. Zhang Dahua gazed at the sunset over the Persian Gulf, his fingertips tracing a weathered date-palm mast beside the dock. “This craft came from Western warships in the old days,” he said, running his fingers over the fine carvings around a knot in the wood. “Later, it took root along the Gulf of Oman, and every boatyard passed the art of hollowing out masts down from parent to child.” The sound of adzes and chisels rang out from a workshop in the distance. More than twenty craftsmen were gathered around a sandalwood pillar, their carving knives spiraling lotus-vine patterns along a mast shaft thirty centimeters wide. Fine pieces of mother-of-pearl were set into the hollow grooves. They say that, at the craft’s height, the masts of over five thousand merchant ships came from these families. More than ten thousand carved wooden poles once piled up along the shore, and when the wind blew, the scent of sawdust drifted across the entire dock. The bronze carving knife passed down from his father was still tucked at his waist. The blade reflected the setting sun, revealing a third-generation craftsman reproducing a century-old eagle-beaked beast motif on a new mast.

Empress Xiaolie had close ties with the tribes of the northern desert, and the Hou family had long been stationed at the border. With the northern frontier at peace, the attendants of the Protectorate followed Emperor Ming, while the maple-leaf corridor of Mingdu stood as impregnable as a fortress.

Ji Yufeng followed Hou Sanjue in Daming Prefecture, mingling with scholars and literati, gathering talented people from across the land, spreading his writing far and wide, and drawing on a vast range of books;

Liu Shihang served in Daming Prefecture under Hou Feixue, the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s Pacification Commissioner, gathering fellow martial artists to meet and spar as friends;

Hou Yiyuan, the eldest son of the Duke, followed Emperor Ming on foreign affairs, chasing quick success and immediate gain, and pursuing fame, wealth, influence, and love.

Through the deep-sea underworld river sailed golden spear sailfish, swimming in pairs and schools, while giant arapaima possessed astonishing suction.

We cannot determine the exact locations of the twenty-two pillars recorded in the ancient texts. Ships sailing the sea stretch beyond the horizon.

Pulis, Wilson, and Tierney led a fleet of seventeen ships