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墨書 Inktalez
Sitting on the ladder, Will Hackman rummaged through the piles of clutter in the attic. "I remember it should be here, but since it wasn't of much use, I haven't touched it in ages."
After a long time of searching, the old man finally found his target. "Found it, it's this one."
Bai Yujing, supporting the ladder below, couldn't help but feel excited. "Did you really find it? What is it?"
"My ancestor was a shipwright who came here in the late 17th century. At that time, Skye Island was still an uninhabited island. It was my ancestors who, along with others, established the first dock and built ships capable of ocean voyages. I've heard that my ancestor even participated in the construction of galleons, though I don't know if that's true." The old man slowly descended, while Bai Yujing's gaze was fixed on what he held—a dilapidated wooden box.
The box was quite large; an adult could barely lift it with both arms. It looked somewhat heavy, and there seemed to be quite a bit inside. Although the old man was already sixty-two years old, he appeared robust and lifted it effortlessly. He placed it on the ground, and dust immediately scattered everywhere. "This contains some old items left by our family. If there's anything of value, it should be inside; feel free to take a look."
Bai Yujing asked, "Isn't there any family history or a registry? A family tree would also be helpful!"
Emma shook her head and explained to Bai Yujing that in the West, only nobles had such things; ordinary people did not place much importance on family heritage and names. In Europe, many grandfathers, fathers, and grandsons share the same name because most people never leave their homeland. They simply go by Old Edward, Big Edward, and Little Edward. Therefore, unless one is noble, it's hard to trace where a person’s ancestors came from or what they did.
Bai Yujing opened the box to find various broken items inside—some commemorative badges, coins, ancient silver cups that were tarnished beyond recognition, rusty iron pieces, and a jumble of other things.
"It's all in here. If there's nothing important inside, I wouldn't remember," Will Hackman said as he watched Bai Yujing examine each item carefully before placing them back down without much success. He felt somewhat apologetic towards Bai Yujing.
Bai Yujing shook his head. "That's not the case; the information you provided about your ancestor being a shipwright is already very valuable to me and has given me plenty of insights. I'm just hoping to see if there's more to discover."
Suddenly, Bai Yujing noticed a parchment on the ground. His heart skipped a beat as he picked it up; the string binding the parchment had already rotted away and came apart easily with a gentle tug.
Carefully unrolling the parchment revealed a design blueprint of a large ship filled with numerous English words and numerical symbols along with drawings from various angles and structural diagrams that fully displayed the design data of the ship.
Bai Yujing completely unfurled the parchment and laid it on the table. Alice and another person who had been tasting the food offered by the old man also turned their attention to it. The blueprint was quite long and contained extensive information that was well-preserved.
Will Hackman leaned in closer. "This doesn't seem like a ship; it feels... strange."
Bai Yujing noticed this too; this was not a ship but rather a hot air balloon airship. Emma immediately said, "Of course this isn't a ship; this is a hot air balloon airship! Mr. Hackman, your ancestor was a great creator and inventor who invented hot air balloon airships more than a century before the Montgolfier Brothers in the late 18th century. He was a genius."
Bai Yujing and Emma exchanged glances, and Bai Yujing said, "It seems that it was your ancestor, Mr. Hackman, who designed the hot air balloon airship and sent Lemuel Gulliver to the legendary Lilliput."
"What? Lilliput? That legendary Lilliput? I must be hearing things! And you mean that Lemuel Gulliver, is he the Gulliver?" Will Hackman also heard their conversation and felt incredulous.
Bai Yujing had no intention of hiding anything from Old Will, so he nodded. "According to the information we have, your ancestor should have known Lemuel Gulliver. This diary is left by Lemuel Gulliver, and it is written in the Lilliputian Language, which is why you might think it’s not any language you know."
Old Will looked at the notes Bai Yujing took out. "My goodness, I always thought it was a book of magic. It turns out to be notes left by Gulliver. Goodness, isn't he a character from a novel?"
Bai Yujing shook the diary. "This diary proves that he was a real person, and he even knew the author of Gulliver's Travels."
Alice looked at the large ship. "Is this the ship that went to our homeland back then? Are we going to take this big ship there?"
Bai Yujing immediately shook his head. "No, no, no. This ship was designed three hundred years ago. Although it was a great invention that surpassed the technology of its time, we now have better transportation and flying tools that are safer and faster than this."
Kaka nodded. "My father also told me that the development of the human world is incredibly fast; it really is true."
Bai Yujing nodded and smiled. "Thank you for your praise."
As they reached the end of the parchment scroll, they found a note from the original designer: "This is my greatest masterpiece in life. Unfortunately, I am too old to go on adventures with them. Even more regrettable is that I sent them off by Fairy Pool but did not wait for their return—Wayne Hackman."
Bai Yujing read this passage slowly while Emma searched through the box for other clues. In the end, she found nothing worth noting except for a pile of scrap metal and a silver pot barely worth two coins.
Emma shook her head. "Ian, I didn’t find any clues about Legendary Land or Lilliput, let alone the address of Sky Island. There’s nothing related to Lemuel Gulliver either."
Bai Yujing shook his head. "No, I think we have already found something."
Emma was taken aback. "What? Where did you find it?"
She immediately looked at the parchment scroll placed on the table. The only scroll Bai Yujing had just examined must contain hidden information within it; however, Emma had gone through it from beginning to end and found nothing noteworthy aside from some historical information about those times.
Bai Yujing said, "I remember going through Lemuel Gulliver's notes with you, which ended with me leaving some things on this island that you might be interested in. Inside, there are directions on how to reach Sky Island, precautions, and some trinkets. As for the buried location, I recorded it on the last page. My legend starts where it ends; the rest is up to you."
Bai Yujing pointed to the final remarks of Wayne Hackman on the hot air balloon design and gently said, "I sent them off by Fairy Pool but did not wait for them to return there!"
Emma was a pretty smart girl; upon hearing Bai Yujing's hint, she immediately understood: "The things are at Fairy Pool."
"That's right. That is where Lemuel Gulliver's legend began and where he buried his own legend."
Bai Yujing's voice grew louder. "From where it starts, it ends there; that was his sentiment at the time. There’s no mistake this time; it must be there."
Will Hackman chimed in, "Although I don't quite understand what you all are talking about, it seems like you've found what you were looking for. Congratulations!"
Will Hackman opened his arms, and Bai Yujing and Emma each hugged the old man. After running around for days, they finally pinpointed their target, feeling as if a heavy stone had been lifted from their chests. Emma, especially impatient, couldn't help but shout with joy.
The old man didn't know the details; he only knew that Bai Yujing had told him some general things earlier. However, Alice and Kaka understood that when Bai Yujing informed them they had found Gulliver's relics containing methods and addresses to reach their hometown, they cheered together.
After the celebration, Bai Yujing bowed to the old man and said, "Because there are many complicated matters, I haven't had time to explain everything to Mr. Hackman. I apologize for that. Now we must leave here for another place, so we can only bid you farewell. Next time we visit you, we will definitely share all our experiences."
Will Hackman didn't mind at all: "I imagine it will be a story full of wonders and legends; I look forward to you telling me."
When Bai Yujing and Emma left, they also took Alice and Kaka back home. The old man told the two Leprechauns that they could come to his house anytime and seek his help with anything.
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