Nan and Mu did not understand the meaning, but they both leapt aside and hooked out with their feet.
The half-sunken boat immediately flipped over on the water surface, upside down in the water, and the lantern at the stern was held in Mu Aotie’s hand.
“Ah…” The merman suddenly let out a miserable scream. Two flashes of sword light passed, cutting off both of its arms at the roots.
There was no one else but Yu Qing. Not stopping there, he went to the side of the boat, turned the merman upside down, and plunged it headfirst into the hole at the bottom of the boat. Then, with one sword strike, he chopped off the merman’s tail fin and yanked the swim bladder from its body, before signalling again, “Turn it over.”
Little Hei, dangling in the air, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the show, slapping his two little feet above, causing drops of water to fall.
Taking off his shoes had become a habit for him. He had taken them off shortly after boarding, and now the shoes he had left on the boat were nowhere to be found.
Splash! The boat leapt out of the water, flipped in the air, and crashed back onto the surface.
The water in the cabin had been emptied, but half of the merman’s body poked out from the hole in the middle of the cabin. Its eyes rolled back from time to time, clearly dizzy from the torment of pain.
The three martial brothers landed on the boat one after another and found that the merman’s body could not seal the hole at the bottom of the boat tightly. Water was still gurgling out little by little, and the blood from the merman was dripping down, mixing with the accumulated water at the bottom of the boat.
Yu Qing said to Nan Zhu, “The little guy up there is very active. Find something for him to do. Give him a water bowl and let him bail out the water.”
This was easy enough. The usually serious Nan Zhu suddenly grinned and immediately pulled out a water bowl from his personal bundle for drinking on the way. He shouted into the air, “Little Hei, come down. I have a very important task for you.”
Hearing that it was something important, Little Hei immediately had his big staff send him down.
As soon as he landed on the boat, the big staff in his hand immediately shrank into a regular staff. Without a word, he swung the staff and smashed it onto the merman’s head with a loud bang. He was so full of hatred for evil that he looked like he was about to take the enemy’s head.
Despite his small size, he was stronger than an average adult. The force of this strike was not light at all. It smashed the merman’s head open, causing it to bleed profusely and roll its eyes before fainting on the spot.
This strike greatly frightened the three martial brothers. They still wanted to pry open the merman’s mouth, so what would happen if you beat it to death with one strike?
Yet, not satisfied with just one strike, he let out a howl and swung the big staff to strike again.
No one had expected him to do this. Besides, everyone was used to him playing with his staff, so no one was on guard. Now everyone was startled. How could they let him swing a second strike? Yu Qing immediately reached out and grabbed the staff to stop it, shouting, “Stop!” His sword also clanged loudly against Little Hei’s head. “Are you out of your mind?”
He realised that this little guy was someone who dared to do anything. No wonder he had dared to carry a staff and break into the You Cliff all by himself back at Youjiao Wharf.
That time breaking into the You Cliff had truly frightened everyone into a cold sweat, and they still felt lingering fear to this day.
It was a place no one in the world dared to trespass, yet this reckless brat dared to do so. Somehow, he had carried a staff and strolled past it all by himself, which was extremely thrilling. Later, the You Cliff saw he was just a ragged child and did not hold it against him, even sending him back to the Miaoqing Hall. However, they did warn the adults, ordering that there be no next time, otherwise they would hold Wu Hei accountable.
That time was the first time they saw Wu Hei give this kid a severe beating.
However, the severe beating did not seem to mean much. His physical recovery ability was too formidable. For this kid, the injuries from a beating counted for absolutely nothing!
Nan Zhu quickly came over and pulled Little Hei away, telling him gently, “Little Hei, we cannot kill it yet. We need a live captive for interrogation. Here, take the bowl. I am giving you a very important task. See the water gushing out from the bottom of the boat? Bail it out. Whether we can save the boat we are riding depends on you.”
“Alright!” Little Hei agreed readily and snatched the bowl into his hand.
However, holding the staff in one hand and the bowl in the other, while barefoot, the three martial brothers found the sight somewhat familiar.
Splash, splash. Little Hei was already busy, continuously bailing out the water and rapidly lowering the water level in the cabin.
Mu Aotie hung the lantern he was holding back on the fishing rod at the stern.
Yu Qing checked the merman’s condition and found it was not dead, just unconscious. He then placed a palm on the merman’s head and circulated his energy to stimulate its brain and body.
Soon, the merman’s body trembled, and it slowly opened its eyes and woke up.
As soon as it opened its eyes, it saw a ring.
The ring on Yu Qing’s finger was waved in front of its eyes, and he asked, “Why do you want to get it?”
The merman closed its eyes and said nothing.
Yu Qing asked again, “For the sake of this ring, you did not hesitate to break the rules of the Nether Temple. Is this ring that important?”
The merman’s chest heaved slightly, but it still remained silent.
Yu Qing said, “Not going to talk? You should know what will happen when you reach the Nether Temple. I can also make you wish for death but be unable to die, making your life worse than death. How about this? As long as you tell the truth, I will let you go and will not even report you to the Nether Temple.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the merman suddenly opened its eyes. Its gaze flickered, seemingly showing some movement. However, after a slight hesitation, it seemed to have made a final decision and closed its eyes again.
Yu Qing looked at the ring in his hand. He was now certain that this ring should not be just an ordinary token. Otherwise, the merman would not have taken such a huge risk. He did not know what secret this ring held that could make this sea creature refuse to reveal the truth even at the cost of its life.
Torture it again? Yu Qing looked back at the nearly disappearing light on the distant sea. There was no time to slowly wear it down now. He still needed to concentrate and use the Guan character technique to check the route, so he blurted out, “Little Hei, give it another strike!”
Little Hei, who had dropped the bowl, immediately grabbed his staff and shouted, “Villain!”
Bang! Another strike smashed its head open, causing it to bleed profusely. The merman rolled its eyes and fainted again.
With a wave of Yu Qing’s hand, Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie quickly picked up the wooden boards from the water surface and started rowing fast again.
Yu Qing himself stood at the front to observe again. After pointing out the direction once more, he opened the swim bladder and took out the silver notes inside. After a brief count, he found that there were over seventy thousand taels in total, including the silver notes he had given earlier.
With his back to his two senior martial brothers, he immediately and unobtrusively stuffed all the silver notes into his clothes and hid the swim bladder in his sleeve.
Just then, Nan Zhu asked, “Are we really going to send this merman to the Nether Temple?”
Yu Qing countered, “Can you guarantee that after we kill it or make it disappear, the Nether Temple will not be able to find out that we did it?”
Nan Zhu fell silent. He truly did not dare to guarantee that. He did not know if anyone had seen them board this boatman’s boat. With a fat man and a child, their target was obvious enough.
Yu Qing suddenly sighed, “If we send it to the Nether Temple, we will not know how to explain how we found the route to escape. It is truly disgusting to run into such bad luck.”
It was indeed disgusting, putting him in a dilemma.
Nan Zhu said, “What is there to be difficult about? Just tell them how you found the route.”
Yu Qing could not be bothered to respond. He could not explain the Guan character technique to him. He could not even tell his own martial brothers, let alone outsiders. He could only silently make up his mind.
The group originally wanted to catch up with the boats ahead to find out if heading in this direction meant going to the Sea Market or Xingluo Island. However, before they could catch up, they saw the brilliant lights in the distance.
That was definitely not the sight of Xingluo Island. Xingluo Island was not that bright and splendid.
The Sea Market! The group’s spirits lifted, and they sped up.
This time they saw the destination, so there was no need to chase those two boats. They could navigate the route at their own discretion.
Later, they could not even find those two boats. Many boats were approaching the coastline from near and far.
When they were about to approach the coastline, they realised there was trouble. There were too many boats gathering from all over the place. If they got any closer, they could not avoid the nearby boats noticing the abnormalities on their boat. Little Hei was still there, splashing and bailing water continuously.
The biggest problem was how to bring the merman ashore to find a place for interrogation without being discovered. The process might be very difficult.
After pondering for a while, Yu Qing suddenly said, “Distance yourselves from me. Go ashore from underwater first and keep your distance from me. I will handle the rest.”
Nan and Mu immediately looked full of worry, which could not be concealed even by the exceptionally prosperous and brilliant scene ahead.
Mu Aotie said, “Fifteenth brother, they might not be able to find out it was us.”
He was hinting at silencing the witness, but it involved a huge gamble.
Yu Qing said, “I think I will probably have to make a trip to the Nether Temple. I have heard of its name for a long time, so it would not hurt to go and see it.” Turning back and seeing the two wanting to object, he added casually, “Since this merman knows the hidden story behind this ring, the Nether Temple might know it too. Rather than searching for that Li Niang aimlessly, we might as well go to the Nether Temple to look for clues.”
Nan Zhu reminded, “What if the Nether Temple is just like this merman and wants to swallow this ring? Wouldn’t you be walking into the tiger’s mouth?”
Yu Qing said, “Rest assured, nothing will happen. As long as I reveal my identity as ‘Ashiheng’, not to mention whether bringing up Ying Xiaotang would be useful, at least one thing is certain. The Nether Temple might dare to make a move on me for other matters, but they might not dare to do so because of this ring. As long as this ring truly hides some secret known to the Nether Temple, I am afraid they would not dare to touch me even if they were given ten times the courage. If there is no secret, there is even less need to make a move on ‘Ashiheng’.”
Nan Zhu was surprised and doubtful. “What do you mean? I do not understand. Do not play tricks on me. This is no joke.”
A trace of self-mockery appeared on the corner of Yu Qing’s mouth. “Although our experience of exploring the Little Cloud Realm together with Qianliu Mountain, the Sinan Prefecture, and the Daye Department is just a facade, it should still have some deterrent effect at times. Does the Nether Temple dare to guarantee that I am not being watched by these three factions? Does the Nether Temple dare to guarantee that those three factions do not know I entered the Nether Temple with this ring? As long as the situation is slightly wrong, I will give a hint and remind them, letting the Nether Temple weigh for themselves what it means for those three factions to be lurking behind the scenes, watching like tigers.”
Hearing this, both Nan and Mu showed thoughtful expressions.
Yu Qing turned back and said, “For this matter, it would be inconvenient for you to follow. With more people, once our stories do not match, we will be exposed. This time, I will show up alone. Going to the meeting with a single blade is enough!” As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around, walked to the unconscious merman, placed a palm on the top of its head, and secretly used his internal energy to destroy its life.
Blood immediately flowed from the merman’s mouth and nose. It had been silenced. The issue of the route could only have been guided by it before its death.