78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ZcT3PY68C
The sky was gray and sickly.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEZSGnKCtld
The junk drifted. No wind filled its torn sails. No current pushed its cracked hull. It simply sat on the water, turning slowly in circles, as if the sea had forgotten it existed.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxOVEOVp6H
General Feng Jian stood at the bow, scanning the horizon. Nothing. No land. No ships. No birds. Just water in every direction.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjF8O9nmwb
"We are stranded," he said to no one in particular.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9ffSv5fJv
The navigator, Master Chen, knelt beside a bucket of seawater. He had been vomiting for an hour. "The storm last night threw us off course. I cannot tell where we are. No stars. No landmarks. Nothing."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdCjCnaX10n
"How far from land?"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5e0F93GmO
Chen shook his head. "Could be a day. Could be a week. Could be we are sailing in circles until we starve."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoxIuHBO9Tr
"Can we turn back?" the general asked.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQEUZ5gfgs
Chen pointed at the empty sea behind them. "No wind. No current. The oars are useless in this dead water. We cannot go forward, and we cannot go backward. We are trapped."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsTHIVYfqU
The general turned to the crew. They sat in small groups, their faces pale, their eyes hollow. The servants huddled near the cabin where Liang Wei lay.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGIj07OTmiO
"How is the master?" the general asked.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbB0s4zuGY
The young woman who had first seen the purple flames – her name was Li Hua – looked up. "He is awake. Barely. He asked for water."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjS05ec6hJC
The general walked to the cabin.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpTUfmJvaG
Liang Wei lay on a pile of torn sailcloth. His robe was stuck to his chest with dried blood. The arrows had been removed, but the wounds were still raw. The cannonball dent on his ribs had turned purple and black. His face was burned, but his eyes were open.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSX1BmA0ltu
General," he whispered.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr5iHVq1AkF
"Master. Don't speak. Save your strength."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6kwId4eB8j
Liang Wei shook his head slowly. "We are not moving."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKtIRdIoTP5
"No. There is no wind."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL9XsD5tDsX
"It is not the wind." Liang Wei tried to sit up, winced, and fell back. "The purple flame. The soul‑seeking arrows. They are gone, but they left something behind. A curse. The water around us is dead."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZKEbpcPJT
The general frowned. "Dead water?"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbMsomfNC55
"The dragon lines. The currents of qi beneath the sea. The arrows disturbed them. We are stuck in a pocket of stillness." Liang Wei closed his eyes.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjOSJEQIT5F
His chest rose and fell slowly. "But we have only one option. A last resort."78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPL41pnYtIp
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigBH2fHErs
"What last resort?"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbnOlCeePCv
"There is a way to invoke the spirit of a sea dragon. Not a living one – a dead one, preserved. I saw it once, long ago, in a secret temple. Even the emperor does not come close to that place. It is guarded by elites – the same families who have protected that temple for generations, the ones who made me untouchable to anyone including the emperor."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmfXTMYvozh
The general frowned. "Did you train with their ancestors ?"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12PIOrNZlB
Liang Wei nodded weakly. "When I was young, I was chosen to study with them. They showed me the dead dragon. Its body was coiled around a pillar of jade, preserved by magic. Its spirit still lingered. The temple monks had learned to invoke it in times of dire need. They taught me the invocation – but only for the gravest danger."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrY5qmY8QLz
"Then why didn't you summon it earlier? Before the cannon fire?"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8ps4niTfK
"Because it is not something you can call at will," Liang Wei said. "The dragon's spirit is proud and easily angered. It only answers when there is no other hope. And there is a warning." He opened his eyes. "No impure mortal may set eyes on it during the invocation. If anyone looks upon the dragon's form, the spell will break. And the dragon's wrath will bring havoc upon us all."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfnskEHqRw
The general swallowed. "How do we do this?"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡepCOgHTtG9
"Help me to the bow. Have everyone kneel with their faces to the deck. No one opens their eyes until I say. Not for any reason."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Le7GWRqEb
***
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPrhdA8WNj
The general mobilized everyone.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9pOxYcHipS
The crew patched the holes in the hull – there were three, from cannonballs and splintered wood. They used canvas, rope, and a thick paste made from rice and tar. It would not hold forever, but it might hold long enough.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZzZsQeHUi5
The servants gathered the remaining food and water. Two weeks' worth, if rationed. Maybe three.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGJlmWGNk4
The guards stood watch at the four corners of the junk, spears in hand, scanning for threats that might not come.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtF8m6hYvw
After an hour, Liang Wei emerged from the cabin.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLEWMG019Wl
He walked slowly, leaning on a staff carved from a broken oar. His robe had been changed. His wounds were wrapped in clean cloth. He still looked like a dead man walking.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2zg7CvEUG
"Master, you should rest," Li Hua said.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzCbsvOO3fM
"I will rest when we are moving." He made his way to the bow, facing the empty sea. "Everyone stay back. Do not interrupt. Do not speak. Do not open your eyes."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJ6zkvZftr
Liang Wei stood at the bow, leaning on a staff carved from a broken oar. His wounds had been wrapped, but blood still seeped through. He looked like a man who should be in a coffin, not commanding a ship.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboMgOtwkhQ
General Feng Jian stood beside him, one hand on the master's arm to keep him steady. Everyone else – the crew, the servants, the guards – knelt on the deck, their foreheads pressed to the wooden planks. Their eyes were shut.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ506Q86P3sR
"Remember," Liang Wei said, his voice thin but clear. "No one opens their eyes. No matter what you hear. No matter what you feel. The dragon will come. Do not look upon it."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTxveJ4sWh
He raised his hands.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wEwO5LDl5
He began to chant.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHRRdFfUuNr
The words were old – older than Chinese, older than any language spoken on land. They were the tongue of the deep, the speech of tides and currents. He had learned them from the temple monks, who had learned them from the dead dragon's spirit itself.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9DIkLX5Fa
The air grew cold.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj3PtwwNTbJ
The water began to glow.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1gheES1gL
A soft blue light rose from the depths, spreading outward in rings. The junk shuddered. Then, slowly, it began to move. Not much. A few feet. Then more. The light carried it forward, as if the sea itself had become a river.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0v0mE6T6v
"It is working," the general whispered. He kept his eyes fixed on Liang Wei's back.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkIWZzd8bNR
The light grew brighter. The water beneath the junk turned turquoise, then silver, then gold. A shape formed below the surface – long, serpentine, enormous. A dragon.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgvZYu06oL
Not a living dragon. A spirit – translucent, glowing, its scales like polished moonlight. It coiled beneath the junk, wrapping itself around the hull, and began to pull.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDXnWY9hYF
The junk surged forward.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaW40GYaJRq
The crew felt the movement. Some wept with relief. Others prayed silently. All kept their eyes shut.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQCV0qstDlA
The dragon carried them for what felt like hours. The water rushed past. The wind – real wind, not the dragon's breath – began to fill what remained of the sails. The junk was moving faster than it had since leaving port.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKooDawgsB
And then one man opened his eyes.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNxIOhrL4hK
His name was Zhang Wei – a young guard, no older than twenty, who had joined Liang Wei's household only a year ago. He had never seen magic before. He had never believed in dragons.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgn9SPU5SXs
But he felt the light on his face. He heard the water hissing. He smelled the salt and something else – something ancient and powerful.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVc1c1h8G1v
Curiosity burned in him.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnwkjAmKPxs
He lifted his head.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMe1wpBTIv
He saw the dragon.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORbwVfO4ob
It was beautiful. Its scales were the color of deep ocean, shifting from blue to green to black. Its eyes were twin suns, burning gold. Its body stretched for miles beneath the waves, translucent and glowing. For a moment, Zhang Wei forgot to breathe.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡix6k5YHXRz
The dragon turned its head.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0ZFneSiKu
Their eyes met.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlO3x8XHQly
The dragon's mouth opened. A voice — not a roar, but words — came from its throat. Human words.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUT9rOF1Qo
"Sacrilege."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2pBPku2eW
The word hung in the air, heavy as stone.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWuQaC21ZvW
"A grave sin. An impure mortal has looked upon my sacred form with evil eyes. Only death can calm my wrath."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡecO6hSz2bD
Master Liang Wei raised his hands, shouting at the spirit. "Forgive him! He is young! He knew not what he did!"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoK1q7hI83b
The dragon did not listen. Its golden eyes blazed. Its body turned, coils shifting, and its massive tail rose from the water.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUwW3zZt7I
"Forgiveness is not mine to give," the dragon said. "Only vengeance."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQsqZZyXHWc
The tail came down.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTySDMTIuhD
It struck the junk's stern with a crack like thunder. Wood splintered. A guard flew into the sea. The entire ship lurched, throwing everyone sideways.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjiN3bApfoi
Then the dragon dove.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiul9lCRzn8
Its glowing form sank into the depths, disappearing into darkness. The light vanished.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLBZ0wfAscV
The sea went dark.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaciFfyeIhe
Then the storm came.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfaRa2KVis
It did not build gradually. It exploded. Wind slammed into the junk from all directions at once. Rain fell sideways, needle‑sharp. Waves rose – not from the horizon, but from directly beneath the hull, as if the sea itself was vomiting in rage.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSTUMqsbWt7
The junk lifted into the air, hung for a terrible moment, then crashed down.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUt6Cw8tmj
The crew screamed. The servants wept. The guards grabbed onto anything they could.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrvN4dvrxHR
Liang Wei fell to his knees on the bow, his staff clattering away. The general grabbed him before he slid overboard.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaPm1wOaoIu
"The dragon is angry," Liang Wei shouted. "He will not stop until we are all at the bottom!"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoENglDKQd
Another wave crashed over the deck. Men and women slid across the planks, screaming, grabbing, drowning. The mast cracked, then fell, taking the torn sails with it.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGNBZboh5M
The junk spun. The junk sank. The junk rose.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX70FdCMzuW
Zhang Wei, the young guard, clung to a barrel. His face was white with terror – and guilt. He knew what he had done.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDakuKpfih
There was no time for blame.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrV6BBiHAzh
The sea swallowed them all.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6ZkXi4Cn7
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ecVLTXRNP
and then Add to home screen.