Chapter 51: Exactly the Same, Bai Yu Feels Her Vision Swimming

“There are no beds upstairs either.”

“There is some hay in the side room. I will go ask if we can use it. We can just sleep on the floor. After drifting on the water for so many days, I just want to get a good night’s sleep.”

“No need to ask, just make do. We are only resting here for two days. Once we confirm our direction, we will leave. Let’s not disturb them too much.”

“That works. We will sleep on the second floor floor; it won’t be too damp.”

…

Bai Xi stood on the third floor of their house, looking at the building not far away. She asked Bai Yu beside her, “Eldest Sister, do you think they will come over? They are strangers after all, I am not quite at ease.”

“It is fine. Even if they harbor ill intentions, Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai are here. They saw them just now, so they won’t dare come over.” Bai Yu had great confidence in the two wolves’ guarding abilities.

“True, they are wolves after all,” Bai Xi breathed a sigh of relief, then added, “But even without Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai, if they tried to sneak over and cause trouble, we could handle it with our current skills.”

“Mhm, they cannot beat us,” Bai Yu turned around and pulled Bai Miao, who had been standing on her tiptoes to watch. “Let’s go, back to the room to sleep.”

Bai Xi followed her into the room.

The night passed peacefully.

Early the next morning, Bai Yu woke up as usual. When she walked out onto the balcony, she saw several people nearby processing timber. This had been agreed upon yesterday.

The steward had paid money. Aside from food, they needed some wood from the island, mainly to repair some issues on the ship to ensure it could still handle a long journey back to their starting point.

There was plenty of timber stored on the island. The wood brought over from the Forest Plane, aside from what was needed for building the houses, had all been dried and stored in the rooms that were currently unused.

Now that this group needed to patch their ship, this timber could be used directly.

After watching for a while, Bai Yu went downstairs to help organize the wood, taking the opportunity to inquire about the direction home.

When they had first arrived, although they had a fixed direction the whole way, that was during the day. At night, the ship drifted with the current, and they had no idea where they had floated. So even if they wanted to go back now, they didn’t know which way to head.

These people had extensive experience living at sea and should be able to determine the direction.

Sure enough, when Bai Yu asked, someone explained the situation to her.

“We also got lost on our way here, but the direction back is straight to the east. We have experienced people on the ship who can estimate the general location of this island based on your trees and the types of fish and shrimp in the sea. He has already gone to check, and we should have results within a day or two.”

“The ocean is so vast. Without someone who knows the directions, who would dare venture out?”

“By the way, you have lived on the island for so long, and it looks like you need some supplies that must be traded for. Where do you usually go?”

Bai Yu came up with a few plausible reasons: “Some things we brought with us when we came. Some were traded from passing ships, and some we specifically went out to sea to find ships to trade with. But that depends on luck. And some… like the bowls you used for dinner yesterday, those floated here directly from the sea.”

At least the part about the bowls floating in from the sea was true.

And since things could float over, as long as a ship sailed a bit further out, it was perfectly normal to happen upon a passing fleet.

Hearing her say this, the men didn’t doubt her.

“Then if you go a long time without encountering a fleet, you must run short on living supplies.”

“We just trade for more whenever we meet a fleet.”

“Is there silver or coin on the island?”

“Are you stupid? They can just trade fresh water and food. Those are the things drifting ships need most. Trading those for less valuable supplies on a ship, any fleet would be willing. Isn’t that right, little girl?”

Bai Yu smiled.

She didn’t know for sure, but she felt the man’s logic was sound.

After chatting for a while, Bai Yu had a general understanding of these people’s situation. The one primarily responsible for determining direction was the navigator on the ship; the rest were ordinary sailors. They knew more about sea survival than Bai Yu, but they weren’t very good at discerning directions.

For this reason, their main job was repairing the ship.

She helped process the wood for a while longer until Bai Xi woke up.

Among the three sisters living together, Bai Xi was primarily responsible for the three meals a day.

By this time, the people from the ship had already eaten breakfast. There were no outsiders in the kitchen, but Bai Xi still didn’t use the seasonings from the Check-in rewards; she simply cooked a pot of potato rice.

But this wasn’t their entire meal. Since it was inconvenient to cook here, they could go to the Magic Plane or the White Mist Plane to cook. Either way, they wouldn’t mistreat the three sisters’ stomachs.

After breakfast, Bai Yu chatted with the sailors again and learned that the steward had a “Great Map” which marked the locations of various currently known countries.

Although this map wasn’t detailed, the fleets going out to sea used the locations on the map as a reference. Generally, there wouldn’t be major errors; even if there were, it would only be a matter of a day or two’s journey.

For a fleet traveling the sea, an error of a day or two wasn’t a big problem. After all, every time they went to sea, if they were going to a slightly distant country, it would take at least three to five months. For longer trips, three to five years wasn’t impossible. As long as the direction was correct, they could always find their way back.

Confirming this, Bai Yu became even more interested in that map and wanted to find a chance to look at it closely.

However, a map was very important. Looking at it wasn’t a big deal, but they certainly wouldn’t just let someone borrow it for nothing. So, while Bai Yu looked around for someone to see the map, she also brought along Bai Miao, who had a super-strong memory.

Before long, she found the steward, who was leading some men to determine the island’s location.

And what he held in his hand was exactly the map Bai Yu wanted to see.

Bai Yu went straight up to ask.

The steward didn’t say much and handed the map directly to her. Fearing she wouldn’t understand it, he specifically explained some of the content on the map.

Calling it a map was a bit of a stretch; it was actually information on various country names. Aside from their own country’s details being more thorough, other countries were just general areas and names, along with the sailing times for fleets traveling between the two nations.

And, of course, the specific directions.

“The country we went to before was this one, which is rich in various spices,” the steward pointed to a country on the map, then pointed to a blank space. “On the return journey, we encountered danger roughly here, which caused us to be separated from the main fleet. After that, we drifted at sea. From that position to this island, half a month has passed. We don’t know the exact location of your island, but we have been heading east the whole time. If nothing is amiss, it should be within this range.”

The steward drew a circle on the map.

Although it was just a circle on the map, the area was actually quite large. Moving forward, they couldn’t just simply head east; they had to determine a specific bearing, or they might very well miss their mark.

The navigator beside them glanced at the map and locked onto a circle with his hand. “What can be confirmed for now is that it is within this range. I need to further confirm the conditions here before I can narrow the range down again.”

Bai Miao, held in Bai Yu’s arms, also poked her head out to look closely at the map.

Seeing her expression, the steward said with a smile, “Your younger sister is very cute.”

“Yes, she is very good and sensible,” Bai Yu said with a smile, letting Bai Miao look at the map while she spoke to the steward. “It hasn’t been easy for you all, getting separated even though you were following a fleet. Without an experienced person, I’m afraid things would easily go wrong at sea.”

“Indeed. Although going out to sea for business is profitable, it is truly dangerous,” the steward sighed. “I don’t know what the situation is back in the country this time. Before we left last time, many places began implementing a Sea Ban. I hope there haven’t been too many changes and that we can return safely.”

“Does the Sea Ban mean we can no longer go out to sea for business?” Bai Yu asked.

The steward nodded. “Once the Sea Ban is strictly enforced, it becomes extremely dangerous whether you are heading out or coming back. Not to mention the risk of encountering sea bandits. Sometimes I really wish I could be like you, finding a hidden paradise outside of official control to settle down in. But all my friends and family are here, and I simply cannot abandon them.”

Bai Yu had learned many things through the contents of her books by now, so she could roughly understand the steward’s sentiment. She followed his train of thought, saying, “Even in a hidden paradise, one still needs to buy salt and cloth¹. Without those things, life would be very difficult.”

“That is true. As long as one lives in this world, finding a way to stay in a hidden paradise is incredibly difficult,” the steward sighed, shaking his head.

By then, Bai Miao had finished looking at everything on the map. She turned around and wrapped her arms around Bai Yu’s neck.

Bai Yu looked at her, then spoke to the steward again. “Then we will leave you to your work. We won’t disturb you any longer.”

“Alright.”

With that, Bai Yu carried Bai Miao back. After returning to their quarters, she placed her down by the table.

Set before them were the paper and brushes they had obtained from the New Plane.

“Miao Miao, can you remember it?”

“I remember.” Bai Miao gripped the brush and began to sketch the map she had just seen onto the white paper.

She included all the text from the map, as well as the distances and sailing times between the different countries.

As she drew, she turned to look at Bai Yu. “Eldest Sister, this part takes one month, and this part takes two months. It needs to be a bit larger.”

“You mean the distance should be further, right?” Bai Yu looked at the drawing and pulled another sheet of white paper from the side. “Then draw two versions. Use the distances you’re thinking of for the second one.”

Bai Miao nodded. She quickly drew the same content on the second sheet, then began working with both hands at once, creating two maps that were similar yet different.

One side was an exact replica of the map in the steward’s hands, while the other was a new map she had drawn based on the sailing distances marked on the original.

Once she finished, she put down her brush and sat there for a moment, her brow furrowed in concentration.

“What’s wrong?” Bai Yu leaned down to ask.

Bai Miao’s brow remained furrowed. After a long moment, she climbed down from her chair and walked over to a cabinet filled with books. She pulled out a volume and, without hesitation, flipped to a specific page, spreading it out next to her newly drawn map.

Then her eyes suddenly lit up. She pointed at the two diagrams and turned around excitedly. “Eldest Sister, they look the same!”

Bai Yu looked down in shock, but no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t see how Bai Miao’s drawing and the map in the book were the same.

After all, on the steward’s map, most countries were represented by nothing more than a small dot.

Bai Miao remained enthusiastic, pointing them out one by one. “This side is this side, this part is this part, this part is this part, and this place is the same as this one. Eldest Sister, they are exactly the same!”

Bai Yu felt her head start to spin.

Translator’s Notes