In the Library, Li Ang held a stack of scrolls and placed them on the table.
Investigating the so-called "Wu County Chang Gate Sea Hawk No. 39" was not an easy task. With the passage of years, things had changed, and the original location of the Chang Gate Shipyard no longer existed. Fortunately, there were still fragments of information within the thick stack of scrolls.
Throughout the Former Sui dynasty, many emperors were obsessed with the search for the legendary Overseas Immortal Mountain in the Endless Sea, hoping to find the Immortality Elixir and rule eternally. This led the shipbuilding and maritime trade of Former Sui to be exceptionally developed. The Construction Supervision spared no expense in building large sea vessels whose performance remained outstanding, even by today’s standards. Additionally, large-scale maritime merchant fleets among the common people reached as far as the Western Country to conduct trade.
"Sea Hawk is the name of a mid-sized sea vessel. The Chang Gate Shipyard was the first to produce it in the fourth year of Daye. Because of its stability and reliability, it was purchased by various trading companies for sea trade."
"At that time, among the various Suzhou merchants, the Yiyuan Trading Company was undoubtedly the most prestigious. At its peak, it owned more than two hundred sea vessels, large and small, and had over twenty thousand sailors and laborers. The Su Family, which managed the Yiyuan Trading Company, even had family members serve as Changshi officials—second only to the Suzhou Inspector."
"However, in the Tenth Year of Daye, frequent natural disasters occurred along the coastline, and the sea conditions worsened, resulting in many ships sinking. Yiyuan Trading Company suffered a particularly severe blow and quickly declined. The Su Family, as if cursed, had family members mysteriously pass away one by one."
Li Ang looked at the scroll, his brow furrowed. The Former Sui era was different from that of the Yu Country; at that time, cultivation sects were numerous, and their members moved between the mortal and transcendent worlds more frequently. Some cultivators would bind themselves to merchant companies and gangs, acting as Tributes to resolve troubles for them in exchange for cultivation resources. Given the scale of Yiyuan Trading Company, hiring a cultivator would not have been difficult. Yet, within a span of just three years, from the Tenth Year of Daye to the 13th year of Daye, nearly two thousand direct and collateral members of the Su family died, leaving only four hundred. At that time, there had been no epidemic in Wu County to explain such a loss of life, leading to rumors among the people that the Su Family had salvaged something from the seafloor that should not have been disturbed, bringing irreversible misfortune to the family.
The reason this story has been passed down is that the Su Family Master at the time, perhaps in an attempt to save his family, built a grand mansion in the Southern Suburb of Suzhou. The mansion covered an extensive area, and its architectural style was strikingly different from popular contemporary designs. It lacked a central courtyard for separation; instead, all the houses were tightly joined, featuring a highly complex internal structure full of hidden doors, secret passages, and concealed chambers. A stranger entering would easily get lost and had to be led by a guide. Rumor had it that the Su Family Master built such a mansion to fend off the curse against his family—the more complex the mansion, the more it could delay the Evil Spirit coming to claim lives, buying a chance for the family’s survival.
Whether this strategy ultimately worked remains unknown. Over a decade later, with the assassination of the Former Sui Emperor, the Sui Empire collapsed thunderously. Each state fell into chaos, and war was rampant. The Su family, along with countless other noble families, was submerged in the river of history.
Li Ang silently noted, The scrolls clearly record that the Su’s Trading Company bought the first forty Sea Hawks from the Chang Gate Shipyard. This means the stone box inscribed with ’Sea Hawk No. 39,’ which contained the Mo Si, indeed belonged to the Su’s Trading Company.
He then wondered, But what happened to that ship, and the entire Su family...?
The best way to clarify this would undeniably be to find the shipwreck, family chronicles, or tomb epitaphs.
After leaving the Library, Li Ang immediately controlled his Mo Si Clone to sneak into the Southern Suburb of Suzhou at night. After some searching, he found the ruins of the Su’s Mansion. The ruins sat atop a hillside, long since covered by wild grass and vines. Beneath the overgrowth, only a few stone bricks and tiles remained—those that previous villagers hadn’t carried away.
Some scattered remnants of wooden structures show clear signs of burning. It’s unclear whether the fire was set by the Su family themselves or due to the chaos during the Late Sui period...
The Mo Si Clone searched for a while, but perhaps because the Su family was incredibly wealthy and envied at the time, even the underground sections of the mansion ruins had been dug up and thoroughly looted, leaving nothing of value.
Resignedly, Li Ang directed the Mo Si Clone to continue southward, arriving at a gravehill. Prominent noble families all had family tombs, where ten or even dozens of generations were buried. According to the traditions of such families, these tombs should have been guarded to prevent robbers from desecrating graves, stealing burial goods, or even pilfering offerings.
The investigation remained unsuccessful. The Su family had collapsed too quickly to even dispatch guards for their ancestral graves, resulting in most burial sites being robbed and tombstones and coffins destroyed.
Li Ang noted, Only a few tomb epitaphs remain. The inscriptions record the lives of Great Scholars or important officials from the Su family, dating from before the Daye Period, unrelated to the strange event that led to the demise of the Su family. Orıginal content can be found at 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭⚫𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦⚫𝘯𝘦𝘵
Has the trail gone cold again...?
A hint of frustration welled up in Li Ang’s heart. It hadn’t been easy to follow these faint clues to this point, especially now that he seemed so close to the origin of the Mo Si.
The Mo Si Clone stood still for a long time and sighed. Well, time to go back.
As the Mo Si Clone turned around to retrace its steps, its Spiritual Sense accidentally swept across the valley and unexpectedly discovered something: offerings placed in front of a gravestone, still relatively fresh.
The Mo Si Clone immediately went underground and approached the gravestone silently. There was no mistake: in front of the ancient gravestone lay fruit, vegetarian dishes, wine, and pastries that had not yet completely decayed. The gravestone itself had been scraped many years ago, and only faint traces could be discerned, suggesting the tomb’s occupant was surnamed Su and the dates matched with the Late Sui period.
Li Ang observed through the clone, The offerings look quite fresh, as if they were placed here about a fortnight ago.
His thoughts raced. This gravestone is at the entrance of the valley, concealed by trees, making it quite hidden. Could these offerings have been placed by descendants of the Su family? Due to the family’s decline, they might lack the means to repair or maintain the ancestral tombs, only able to pay tribute to one of their ancestors’ graves.
The more he considered it, the more plausible it seemed, especially after noting that while the grave itself was unremarkable, the burial goods interred with it must have been somewhat precious.
Where could the descendants of the Su family be...?
The Mo Si Clone searched the area but found no trace of a Spiritual Energy Track, and any footprints had been obliterated by the forest’s natural processes. However, in a small depression in the earth near the grave, it found... a single strand of cat hair—light grey fur, with the salty scent of sea wind, belonging to a ship cat.