“Miss Mulan, please rest assured. The fabric of the hot air balloon was specially ordered by Sir to be made. It is extremely strong. Even a knife cannot easily cut through it.”
Old Eagle said with a smile, “Even if it gets a tear, the hot air balloon will not drop suddenly. It will only descend slowly.”
“Then how high can we fly?” Qing Mulan asked.
“I once tried it and reached over three hundred zhang at the highest!”
Old Eagle said, “It was not that we could not go higher, but we had tied all our ropes together and only had three hundred zhang. Later I found more ropes, but Sir would not let me try again.”
For safety reasons, during training and test flights, a safety rope was always tied to the bottom of the hot air balloon’s basket in case strong winds carried it away.
Old Eagle had used up all the spare ropes in that experiment.
“It was not that I forbade you to try. You had not yet fully mastered the techniques of operating the hot air balloon. Flying too high is unsafe.”
Jin Feng said, “You have to eat one mouthful at a time. If you take too big a step, you will pull a muscle. If you really want to try, you can attempt five hundred zhang later.”
“Yes!” Old Eagle quickly nodded.
“Wind speed varies at different heights. No wind on the ground does not mean there is no wind above.”
Jin Feng reminded him, “Once you get used to five hundred zhang, come and discuss higher altitudes with me. You must never decide on your own. If I find out, you will never touch a hot air balloon again in your life. Understand?”
Hot air balloons are generally quite safe, but accidents have still happened.
Wind also comes in layers. Sometimes there is no wind at ground level, yet there can be fierce gales at a thousand metres up.
Jin Feng really did not want to see Old Eagle fall from the sky one day.
Flying too high would also make oxygen thinner, requiring oxygen tanks.
With his current resources, even separating oxygen was a problem, let alone making oxygen tanks.
Besides, being able to fly five hundred zhang high was already enough for his needs. There was no need to let Old Eagle take unnecessary risks.
“Understood!”
Old Eagle knew Jin Feng was thinking of his safety and stopped being stubborn.
This time Jin Feng had agreed to let him go a hundred or so zhang higher. He was already very satisfied.
He stepped on the blower a few times. The flames shot higher, and the hot air balloon rose faster and faster.
“Three hundred zhang? How high is that?” Qing Mulan was still thinking about what was said earlier.
“A bit higher than this mountain, probably.”
Jin Feng pointed at Yulei Mountain beside them.
“Higher than this mountain?”
Qing Mulan’s eyes widened.
Beiqian Xun, standing next to her, became even more nervous.
The woven vines of the basket were deformed from her grip.
“We are going up high to look far and observe the surrounding terrain. If we cannot go higher than this mountain, what is the point of looking?”
At this point, Jin Feng turned to Old Eagle. “By the way, is the rope we prepared this time enough?”
“Do not worry, Sir. This time I brought four cartloads of hemp rope. That is a full thousand zhang!”
Old Eagle’s eyes lit up when he heard this. “Sir, how many zhang do we need? While we have not gone too high yet, I can shout down to them.”
Jin Feng thought for a moment and answered, “Three hundred and fifty zhang should be enough.”
Three hundred and fifty zhang was over a thousand metres. That was plenty for observing the surroundings.
“Yes!”
Old Eagle felt a little disappointed at Jin Feng’s decision, but he still obediently shouted down below to prepare three hundred and fifty zhang of rope.
“Sir, did you not just tell Old Eagle to fly five hundred zhang earlier?” Qing Mulan urged. “Why do we not just go five hundred zhang this time?”
“Not today. There is wind up there.” Jin Feng shook his head.
“You have not gone up yet. How do you know there is wind above?”
“Look at the clouds in the sky. Are they not drifting continuously?” Jin Feng pointed into the distance. “If there is no wind, how are they moving?”
As if to prove Jin Feng’s words, a gust of wind came right after he finished speaking.
Though it was not strong, it still made the basket sway.
Qing Mulan was startled and instinctively grabbed Jin Feng’s arm, holding on tightly.
Wei Datong also gripped the basket firmly. His face turned slightly pale, but he managed not to make a sound.
As for Old Eagle, he was long accustomed to it. His feet seemed nailed to the basket floor. He did not even hold the basket, yet not a drop of fuel oil spilled from his hand.
The ones who reacted most strongly were Beiqian Xun and Jin Feng.
Beiqian Xun had a fear of heights. She had been holding back her fear the whole time and had not shown it.
But that gust of wind completely shattered her composure. She let out a sharp scream and plopped down on her bottom.
At that exact moment, the basket swayed again.
Beiqian Xun saw a leg beside her and instinctively hugged it.
Jin Feng’s expression changed dramatically at the same time. The corner of his mouth twitched violently several times.
Right now, Jin Feng’s right arm was tightly held by Qing Mulan, and his left leg was gripped firmly by Beiqian Xun. He looked exactly like a scoundrel trying to abandon two girlfriends at once, only to be stopped by both of them.
It was a scene Jin Feng would never have dared dream of in his previous life.
Now his dream had come true.
But he felt no joy at all, only full-faced agony.
Beiqian Xun was holding too tightly. Jin Feng felt his leg was about to be crushed.
“Qianxun, lighter! Lighter! My leg is about to break!”
Once the basket stopped swaying, Jin Feng quickly pried Qing Mulan off him and patted Beiqian Xun’s face. “Do not be afraid. The wind has stopped!”
He really had not known before that Beiqian Xun, who could take on more than a dozen escort agents at once, actually suffered from a fear of heights.
If he had known, he would never have brought her along…
Beiqian Xun finally calmed down. When she realised she was hugging Jin Feng’s thigh and clutching his trousers tightly, her small face turned bright red. She quickly let go of Jin Feng’s leg.
As ill luck would have it, another gust of wind came. Already flustered, Beiqian Xun was frightened into another scream. Without thinking, she reached out and hugged Jin Feng’s leg again.
This time she did not hug just one leg. She wrapped both arms around both of Jin Feng’s legs.
Jin Feng’s legs had been slightly apart. After being hugged like this, they were forced tightly together.
The sudden change, combined with the basket’s swaying, nearly made Jin Feng fall. He quickly grabbed the basket edge to steady himself.
“Old Eagle, how about we land for a bit and let Qianxun get off?”
Jin Feng asked with a bitter smile all over his face.
A few more incidents like this and his leg would really be broken by Beiqian Xun.
Before Old Eagle could answer, Beiqian Xun stubbornly shook her head first. “No… no need… I can manage!”
After saying that, she let go of Jin Feng’s legs, lowered her head and said, “Sir… I am sorry. I have never ridden in one of these before… I lost my composure.”
“Sir, we are already almost two hundred zhang up. Going down and coming back up again would take a long time.”
Old Eagle looked down at Beiqian Xun. “Miss Qianxun, do not stand up to look outside. Just pretend you are riding in a carriage. It might feel better that way.”
“Alright!”
Beiqian Xun reached out and held the edge of the basket. She obediently closed her eyes and imagined herself sitting in a carriage.
“A carriage sways a few times. What is there to be afraid of?” Beiqian Xun comforted herself in her heart.
Believe it or not, Old Eagle’s method actually worked quite well. Beiqian Xun really stopped feeling afraid.
Jin Feng confirmed that Beiqian Xun had truly calmed down before he let out a breath of relief and signalled Old Eagle to continue ascending.
Qing Mulan, the fearless one, had also fully adapted to the basket’s swaying. She pulled Jin Feng’s arm and asked,
“Sir, have you ever touched a cloud? What do clouds feel like?”
