“Yes,” Emei agreed and followed the instructions.
When the two went out, they both wrapped themselves in large cloak capes and travelled in a carriage.
The carriage went straight to the riverbank and stopped. The two got out of the carriage, and without needing anyone else to accompany them, walked down the steps by the coast together to a ferry boat in the Nether Sea.
The merman, whose half-fish tail was gliding in the water, immediately reached out to hold the side of the boat and proactively solicited passengers, asking, “Where are you two going?”
Xu Wenbin reached out and pushed aside his cloak, revealing a jade pendant hanging at his waist. The pendant faintly depicted a scene of a human and a merman conversing, with the human on the bank and the merman looking up from the water, just like their current standoff.
Seeing the jade pendant, the merman was taken aback for a moment, then said no more. He plunged into the water, went to the stern, and steadied the boat.
After the two on the bank boarded the boat directly, Emei lit the lantern hanging on the boat.
The ferry left the shore, carrying the two away quickly.
Since the passengers did not say where they were going, the merman ferrying them did not ask either. He just pushed the boat along, skimming past the bustling places on the sea surface, gradually reaching the coast beyond the lights, and arriving at the foot of the cliff of the Nether Temple.
When the two on the boat disembarked, Xu Wenbin said, “We still need the boat to return, please wait a moment.”
The merman pushing the boat glanced at the scenery on the cliff and said respectfully, “Yes.”
After that, Emei reached out to support Xu Wenbin, and they rose into the air on the spot, soaring straight up along the steep cliff, and landed easily on the mountain peak.
Changkong and Baiyun flashed over and blocked their way.
Xu Wenbin lifted his hat, revealing his true face, and smiled faintly, “Masters, it has been a long time. Is the Grand Master available?”
Changkong and Baiyun were surprised, both put their palms together, and then gestured to invite them in.
Emei, who was curiously looking at the White Bone Temple, wanted to follow, but was stopped by Changkong’s outstretched hand.
Xu Wenbin looked back and instructed, “You cannot be casual here. Just wait here, I will be right back.”
“Yes,” Emei agreed, and then watched the two young monks accompany the young master away, watching the young master enter the main hall of the temple.
Actually, Xu Wenbin did not stay inside for long before coming out. After returning, he stood by the cliff, bathed in the night and gazing at the vast sea, his expression solemn.
Emei was somewhat surprised and tried to ask, “Young master, how did it go?”
Xu Wenbin slowly turned his head to look at the main hall of the temple, then looked at Changkong who was seeing them off, “I exhausted my words, but could not ask about the cause and effect. The Grand Master seems to have some unspoken difficulties.”
Changkong stood silently to the side, looking completely unruffled.
At this time, Baiyun was seen arriving quickly. After putting his palms together in salute, he said, “Young master, the Grand Master has some good words to give, and I hope you can take them to heart. The Grand Master says that what kind of person one is determines what kind of path one will walk. Some people seem to be on the same path as you, but in reality, they are not. You cannot walk his path for him, and he cannot walk your path for you.
If his life is not meant to end, even if you did not intervene last time, he would not necessarily have died. If he is doomed to disaster, even if you intervene this time, you may not be able to save him.
His personal character has long determined the amount of fortune and disaster he attracts. You can block one disaster for him, but it is impossible to block all disasters for him, at least not with your current ability to intervene and determine. The young master should not intervene too much under the banner of the Duke of Xuan. To avoid burdening others and yourself, you should know when to stop!”
“I will remember the Grand Master’s words,” Xu Wenbin said politely, then turned his head to look at the sea again, sighing lightly with a complex expression, “This time, we can only leave it to their fate. Emei, let us go back.”
Since the Nether Temple refused to intervene, he truly had no other way. The power he could mobilise in the Sea Market was indeed very limited, let alone the mysterious and unpredictable Nether Sea. He did not even know where Yu Qing and the others had gone now. If he waited to find a way to slowly figure it out, the matter would have long gone cold.
Changkong and Baiyun put their palms together and bowed to see them off.
Emei supported Xu Wenbin and flew down, carrying him to drift down diagonally onto the ferry boat.
The boat carried the two away, rippling through the waves…
The bright moon was bright, yet it was hard to pierce through the thick clouds.
It was a pitch-black world. Only under the illumination of the bow lantern could one see the faint mist slowly drifting. The water surface was as quiet as a mirror. Those who did not know would find it hard to believe this was the sea surface, as faint mist slowly overflowed from the water.
The moving ferry boat broke the tranquility of the water surface.
“Old Fifteen, are the two boats behind us following us?”
Nan Zhu, who kept looking back from time to time, noticed something unusual and could not help but give a reminder.
Mu Aotie was already staring intently, and could faintly see two points of bow lantern light.
Yu Qing’s eyesight was better than theirs, and he had discovered it long ago. He just had not been sure before. Now, after going through so many twists and turns, they were still following, so it was basically certain that they were following him.
As for who was watching, he did not know either. Who knew which faction’s men it was.
In short, Nan Zhu’s words instantly made him alert and feel the danger. Since even Nan Zhu could see the other party was following, would the other party realise they had alerted the snake by beating the grass, and would they take further action?
Regardless of whether the other party was just watching, Yu Qing did not want to take that unnecessary risk. Besides, he did not want others to know where he was going or who he was going to meet. He immediately flashed to the stern and half squatted down.
The merman in the water, holding the boat and wagging his tail, looked up and chuckled, revealing saw-tooth-like teeth. The scales on his lower body occasionally reflected light under the hanging lantern.
Yu Qing looked down and said, “Someone is following us.”
The merman chuckled and replied, “The Nether Sea is so big. Where they want to go is their freedom.”
It had heard the conversation of the three and knew someone was following, but to it, it was obviously irrelevant. It did not care whether it was being followed.
Yu Qing said, “To avoid the unexpected, put out the lights.”
Without the lights, those behind would naturally lose their tracking target.
The merman immediately said in a sharp voice, “This will not do. The guest is here, the lantern is here. This is the rule. If I break the rule, the sea race over there will not spare me. It is no use even if you give me more boat money.”
Yu Qing threatened, “If something really happens to us, you will not get the boat money.”
The merman said, “You can rest assured about this. If the people behind cause something to happen to you, they will have to make up my freight. My kin will not send them out of the Nether Sea either. Whether something happens to you or not, my money will not be less.”
The three martial brothers looked at each other in silence.
Yu Qing was silent for a moment. Out of necessity, he could only settle for the next best thing. “Shaking them off is fine, right? Do not tell me you cannot do it.”
Others might not be clear, but he had figured out the trick of this Nether Sea. He knew there were large teleportation arrays everywhere. If one took the wrong path, they would end up in another sea area. This was also the confidence he had in not being afraid of others knowing he had gone out to sea. As long as one had the mind, one was not afraid of being followed on the Nether Sea.
The merman chuckled again, “This is naturally no problem. It is just that going around and around will delay the time to reach the target destination. You have to add money.”
Yu Qing knew it would be like this. He really did not want to spend this money, which was why he had wanted to take advantage of the cheapness before and asked them to put out the lights.
Now there was no other way, but he still pretended to be reluctant. “That depends on how much you want to add. If it is too much, forget it.”
The merman said, “I will not ask for too much from you. For three people, just add ten thousand taels.”
Yu Qing was silent for a moment and asked again, “How much more time will it take to get there?”
The merman said, “Rest assured, guest. I am not that cheap, and I do not want to run for too long. I estimate it will take an extra three hours to go around.”
Yu Qing estimated that it would be around noon before they could reach Zilan Island, but it was acceptable. He immediately asked, “Are you sure you can shake them off?”
The merman grinned happily again, “If I cannot shake them off, you do not pay. Even the previous money is waived. We have this kind of reputation.”
Yu Qing looked at the two following points of light again. Not daring to delay any longer, he immediately said, “Alright, it is settled. As long as you can shake them off, I will add ten thousand taels.”
“Alright, watch me.”
The merman agreed happily, not afraid of them defaulting on the debt. He immediately swung his tail in the water with large movements, pushing the boat to turn around.
In a moment, it was as if an illusion appeared before the three martial brothers. The surroundings seemed to have no change, but the two boat lanterns that had been following suddenly disappeared.
Nan Zhu exclaimed in surprise, “Did they put out their lights?”
The merman chuckled, smiling without speaking.
Yu Qing, however, knew it clearly and also saw it with the Observation Technique. This time, they did not take the passage between the large arrays, but had broken into the array. They should have been teleported to another sea area. As for where they had been teleported to, he did not know. How to go to Zilan Island next was not something he could control, and he could only rely on the ferrying merman…
“Huh, they are gone.”
Long Xingyun, who was standing at the bow staring, suddenly found that the boat lantern of the tracking target was gone, and immediately exclaimed in surprise and doubt.
The people on the two boats in front and behind also saw it, and everyone felt strange.
Long Xingyun immediately turned his head and shouted, “Boatman, did the boat we are following illegally put out its lantern?”
The merman pushing the boat behind said, “How is that possible? Absolutely impossible. Unless the ferrying kin was killed by someone, maybe.”
Long Xingyun chuckled, “You think he dares not? Last time…”
Before he could finish his words, Yin Shanhe’s hand had already patted his shoulder, stopping his subsequent words. He shook his head slightly at him, signalling that he should not speak.
Qing Ya, who was on the same boat, also had the urge to roll his eyes. He really did not know whether this young pavilion master was stupid or just used to being reckless. He did not even look at where they were, nor did he think about the relationship between that Tanhua scholar and the Nether Temple. If the ferrying merman really knew that the people tracking them were the ones who killed the sea race last time, whether they would continue to help track them well was really uncertain.
Long Xingyun, after being stunned for a moment, also quickly reacted. After a slight embarrassment, he returned to normal and smoothly changed the subject, “Did not someone commit murder last time? Boatman, you tell me why the boat lantern went out?”
The merman behind said, “It should not be that the boat lantern went out. The situation in the Nether Sea is complex, with barriers hidden everywhere. They probably broke into one.”
Long Xingyun immediately said, “Then hurry up and follow them. We cannot let them get away.”
The speed of the boat immediately increased a bit. After rushing to the approximate location where the target boat had disappeared before, they still could not see the disappeared boat lantern, so the two boats here also stopped.
The merman pushing the boat said, “They really broke into a barrier. They are gone and cannot be found. There is no way to follow anymore.”
Long Xingyun immediately shouted, “Do not stop. Keep looking. I will add another hundred thousand taels for you.”
The merman pushing the boat said, “This is not about money. It is no use even if you give me more money. According to reason, if we followed them into the barrier now, we should still be able to see the boat lantern. Now there is nothing, which means the other party has entered another barrier. This is quite unreasonable. The other party might have discovered they were being followed and is intentionally shaking us off. Now I do not know where they are either. I told you it is not easy to track in the Nether Sea, but you insisted on following. Now, the freight we agreed on cannot be less.”
Long Xingyun immediately turned to face Qing Ya and said angrily, “I said, once we reached the Nether Sea, we would chase them up and take action directly. You insisted on dragging your feet, causing us to miss the good opportunity. What do we do now?”
Qing Ya really wanted to greet his beautiful mother. Taking action openly in front of the sea race, whether it was better to kill the ferrying merman to silence him or not to kill him. You can be reckless because someone will back you up when you make a mess, but can I be reckless and act wantonly?
These words, he could not say in front of the merman, so he could only force a smile and say, “Young pavilion master, please calm down.”
Yin Shanhe reached out and patted Long Xingyun’s shoulder again, also signalling him to calm down. “The one you visited before only said he would not help either side. He did not say he would help you keep it secret. That fellow has quite a reputation. It is not appropriate to take action too ostentatiously. It is understandable that Qing Ya has concerns.”
He was reminding him that there was a merman here.
Seeing him speak, Long Xingyun could only keep a straight face and say, “Then what do we do now? Just let all our efforts go to waste like this?”
Qing Ya, however, looked at the merman at the stern and asked, “Is this the route to Zilan Island?”