This time, it was Yu Qing’s turn to feel suspicious. He asked again, “Master, do you truly not recognise this ring?”
The Dark Monk suddenly reached out and grabbed at him.
Caught off guard, Yu Qing only felt a powerful pull, and the ring in his hand vanished in an instant.
When he looked up again, he saw the other party already examining the ring carefully in his hand. Horror rose in Yu Qing’s heart as he realised that his own cultivation was as childish as a three-year-old before this man.
After examining the ring repeatedly, the Dark Monk looked up and asked him, “Great talent, what exactly are you trying to say?”
Yu Qing quickly ran through his arrangements in his mind once more. Estimating that there should be no major problems, he explained, “When I boarded the ship at Starfall Island, the boatman stared intently at this ring on my hand the moment we met. As I was about to board, the boatman suddenly said it did not want money, only this ring on my hand.” He pointed at the ring in the other party’s hand.
Hearing this, the Dark Monk’s gaze subconsciously fell upon the ring.
“I found it strange and refused, wanting to find another boatman. Then it changed its mind and said money would do as well, so I took its boat. Later, midway through the journey, the boat suddenly stopped moving. I then discovered that it had abandoned me and the boat and fled. I also realised that it intended me harm because of the ring in my hand.”
Hearing this, the Dark Monk’s gaze fell upon the ring once more.
“Sensing something was wrong, I immediately sailed the boat away from that area. I rowed in the Dark Sea for a long time. Just when I thought I would never escape, I suddenly encountered a ferry boat, so I followed it. Not long after following, something went wrong. This boatman suddenly launched an attack from underwater, punching a hole in my boat. Fortunately, I had been guarding against it. I immediately dived into the water to pursue and capture it. Unfortunately, just as I was about to reach the Sea Market, it died from severe injuries. I did not have the chance to interrogate it as to why it would murder me for this ring, so I came to the Dark Temple to demand an explanation.”
After hearing all this, the Dark Monk fell into silence, staring at the ring in his hand. The two young monks exchanged glances.
As for the old monks sitting cross-legged to either side, they remained as if in deep meditation, without any movement.
Afterwards, the Dark Monk stood up and gave a slight nod to the two young monks.
The two monks pressed their palms together towards him. One hoisted the merman corpse from the ground and turned to leave. The other walked to the wall and took down a conch shell hanging there.
The Dark Monk walked barefoot, brushing past Yu Qing without so much as a greeting and went out.
In the end, only Yu Qing and the two old monks who paid no heed to worldly affairs remained in the temple.
After a moment’s hesitation, Yu Qing also quickly walked out. He saw the Dark Monk and the three others heading towards the sea, so he followed, silently trailing behind the three.
Even though they had not invited him to come, he had his reasons for following. His ring was in their hands.
On the side of the temple facing the sea, there was no wall, only a cliff. The three monks directly leapt down.
Yu Qing hurried to the cliff edge and looked down. He saw that the area below was not completely submerged by seawater. There was a large stretch of reef. The three monks had already landed there. He did not hesitate either, and flew down, landing lightly behind them, not knowing what they intended to do.
The merman corpse had been placed on a reef by the sea. The monk named Chang Kong raised the conch shell to his lips and, facing the sea, blew “wu wu” into it.
The sound was deep and melodious.
Chang Kong kept blowing. After a moment, until something caused splashes on the water ahead, he lowered the conch.
Before long, a head with long hair draped over its shoulders suddenly emerged from the water before them. It was a charming woman, wearing a white long dress as she gracefully walked out of the water.
One could see that the long dress did not get wet. When it emerged from the water, it was dry. The water simply ran off the fabric. This was not achieved by using cultivation to force the water dry, but because the material of this silk garment was inherently water-repellent.
Yu Qing had roughly heard of this fabric. It was called merman silk, sold at the Sea Market at a very high price. It was woven by the sea race, the mermen.
The woman’s skin was very fair, and the dress could not conceal the allure of her figure.
Yu Qing did not pay attention to these things. He first noticed the woman’s hair. It was the colour of sky water jade, the hair of a merman. He immediately looked beneath the woman’s skirt, watching as the skirt gradually rose above the water, seeing a pair of bare feet stepping on the reef towards them.
A merman with legs? Yu Qing knew a saying. When a merman has a lover or an enemy on land, its fish tail can transform into two legs to go ashore.
He did not know whether this woman had a lover or an enemy on land.
But this also proved one thing. This merman was already different from ordinary mermen. It was like a fox that could transform into a human, already similar in meaning to a “demon”. It was also similar to the gap between ordinary people and cultivators. In other words, this was already a merman capable of cultivation.
When the woman saw the Dark Monk, she first smiled enchantingly. That smile was truly like bright eyes rippling with waves, incomparably charming.
Then her gaze fell upon Yu Qing’s face, and she froze, clearly somewhat surprised that the Dark Monk would bring an outsider to see her.
Her gaze then fell upon the merman corpse. Her expression instantly became grave. She walked to the corpse, turned over the face-down body, recognised the face, and examined the wounds on the body. Seeing the severed tail fin, her expression became even more indignant.
For a fish, losing its tail means losing the sea. The same is true for a merman. This was a tremendous humiliation to a merman.
The woman immediately turned back, gritted her teeth at the Dark Monk, and asked, “Who did this?”
The Dark Monk slightly tilted his head to indicate, “I have brought the person to you. He is right behind this poor monk.”
At these words, Yu Qing’s heart thumped. He did not know what this bald thief meant. Was he selling him out? One of his hands had subconsciously moved to his sword hilt.
Escape, he no longer held out hope for. It was obvious. If this bald thief wanted to harm him, given his cultivation, there was almost no possibility of escaping.
The woman immediately strode over angrily. Facing the Dark Monk who stood motionless, she waved her hand and shouted coquettishly, “What are you blocking me for? Why don’t you move aside?”
Yu Qing’s face was taut, highly alert. He was also mocking himself inwardly. He had weathered so many great storms. If he were to deliver himself to death like this, it would truly be capsizing in a gutter.
The Dark Monk blocking in front did not move away. He smiled faintly, “Rest assured. If he truly deserves to die, he cannot escape. Do you not want to know why he killed your tribesman?”
The woman said angrily, “Debts are repaid, lives are paid for with lives. It is only right and proper. What else is there to say?” She then tried to force her way past.
A shadow suddenly exploded from the Dark Monk’s body. His monk’s robe and kasaya moved without wind, directly sending Yu Qing behind him staggering back several steps.
Two Dark Monks appeared before the group. One large, one small. The small one was the true body, wrapped within the larger image. The larger one was like an illusion, majestic as a Buddha. An extended Buddha palm pressed against the woman, and forcefully pushed her sliding away, restraining the woman’s impulse.
This scene brought Yu Qing shock. It was one thing for a body’s cultivation to turn the virtual into the real, but for the shadow conjured to actually have colour, identical to the true body, lifelike in every detail. He truly did not know how this was accomplished.
Previously, he had felt that this legendary Dark Monk was somewhat beneath his reputation, not grand enough. Now, with just a slight reveal, the man made him understand what it meant to possess strength second only to the few Supreme Ones.
The woman seemed both shocked and angry. She stared at the figure within the shadow and said angrily, “You actually attacked me?”
The resistance against her was instantly withdrawn. The illusion suddenly retracted, converging back into the Dark Monk’s body. The Dark Monk said, “Even in death, let him die understanding. He said this ferry boatman harboured greed, desired to rob his belongings, and was killed by him in return. He therefore came to the temple to seek an explanation from this poor monk. Do you not feel this poor monk should give him an explanation?”
“Seek an explanation from you?” The woman was stunned for a moment. Clearly, she was also somewhat surprised that he had come of his own accord.
The Dark Monk held prayer beads in one hand, and with the other hand turned like a flower-picking gesture, pinching the ring between two fingers and presenting it before her.
He did not say what the ring was about. He simply presented it to see her reaction.
The woman initially only glanced at it casually. Her gaze was about to move away, but then quickly fixed upon the ring face. Her eyes clearly widened somewhat, clearly showing an expression of disbelief. Then she became somewhat startled and uncertain. Her neck subconsciously stretched forward a little. She stared blankly, examining it closely.
Only then did the Dark Monk ask, “Do you recognise this ring?”
The woman’s gaze moved with difficulty from the ring face. She looked up at him and asked, “Where did you get this ring?”
The Dark Monk again slightly tilted his head back, “It was originally worn on his finger. He said the boatman had taken a fancy to this ring from the very beginning, not wanting money as fare, only this ring. When that was not agreed upon, it was said that money would do. After taking the money, midway through, it attacked him. Do you think this is possible?”
The woman’s gaze collided with Yu Qing’s gaze. Then it fell upon that ring again. She slowly lowered her head somewhat, silent and speechless.
After waiting for a while, the Dark Monk asked again, “This poor monk is asking you. Is there a possibility that greed arose and robbery was attempted?”
The woman looked at Yu Qing again. Gone was the furious rage. Only a face full of strained reluctance remained. She asked, “Little moustache, where did you get this ring?”
Yu Qing, seeing the situation, regained his confidence. His momentum shifted with the wind. He said indifferently, “I came to demand an explanation, not to give one to you. Where the ring came from is my business. It has nothing to do with you.”
He knew clearly that at this time, the more timid and fearful he was, the more easily it would arouse ill intent in others.
Before the Dark Monk, the woman clearly lost her confidence.
It was not hard to understand. Anyone with a certain understanding of the cultivation world knew that although generation after generation of Dark Monks spoke for the sea race, although they counted as being on the sea race’s side, there was also a fundamental principle. At the very least, reason must be upheld. You cannot have a sea race person break the rules and still expect cultivators from all sides to accept their misfortune. How could that work in the long run?
The Dark Monk said again, “You are tacitly admitting it?”
The woman said sheepishly, “I cannot confirm whether this ring is real or not right now. I only saw carvings on the walls of the Water Mansion forbidden grounds, and I have heard elders in the tribe speak of this ring before.”
Having said this much, it was tantamount to already believing that it was indeed possible her tribesman had harboured ill intent first.
But this time, it was instead the Dark Monk’s turn to feel surprised, “What connection does this ring have with your sea race?”
The woman counter-asked, “Have you heard of the ‘Sea Maiden’?”