As for Sect Leader Wang personally, since he has already given up on his son’s life, he must definitely avenge his son. It is impossible for him to hold no resentment in his heart, and impossible to act as if nothing happened. How many people in the world have such a broad mind?
Of course, it is indeed reasonable. Someone killed his son, and he does not even dare to touch them. What would outsiders think? Would the arrogant facade of the Zheluo Mountain not shatter?
With the conversation reaching this point, Tu Xiukui thought for a moment, sighed lightly, and could only give up on the idea. He tried asking, “The Long Xingyun suggested by Qing Ya…”
Wang Xuetang said, “What he said certainly makes sense, but what would it look like if Long Xingyun killed him? Even letting Ashiheng die in a muddled way is better than that. Outsiders will definitely associate it with us doing it, understand?”
Tu Xiukui frowned slightly and said, “Are we going to do it ourselves?”
Wang Xuetang said, “Our Zheluo Mountain is full of experts. Are they all useless? Is it difficult to take out such a thing? If I want to kill him, can he escape? As for how to strike appropriately here in the Sea City, you can ask that Qing Ya to understand more about the relevant situation.”
Tu Xiukui nodded silently and said, “Alright.” Wang Xuetang said, “Once Ashiheng is dead, I will leave the Sea City and return to Zheluo Mountain. Those who understand will naturally understand. Remember to keep the matter clean and do not leave any direct evidence.” “Understood.”
Just then, a knocking sound came from outside. Tu Xiukui turned his head and called out to come in. A Zheluo Mountain disciple entered and reported, “Sect Leader, the Commander of the Zhenhai Division sent someone to deliver a message, asking you to go over as soon as possible.” Tu Xiukui looked at the Sect Leader’s reaction and waved his hand, saying, “I know.” After the disciple withdrew, Wang Xuetang snorted, “It is nothing more than summoning me to ask about the situation of this trip.” Tu Xiukui comforted him, “There is no way around it. When under the eaves, one must bow. It is better to go and communicate.”
“There is a situation.” As soon as Yu Qing and Nan Zhu, who had gone out to stroll and gather information, returned to the Three Rooms Residence, Mu Aotie immediately tilted his head to signal. Yu Qing immediately walked to the window, peered out through the window crack, and saw that the surveillance post on Liu Piaopiao’s side had opened the window again, sending a signal over once more. He pondered for a moment, pushed open half of the window to secure it, made a response, and then turned to Nan Zhu and said, “Seventh Brother, let us go, continue shopping.” Nan Zhu understood and followed him out.
Only Mu Aotie was left alone in the Three Rooms Residence. Xiao Hei had gone out with Hu Youli. Sometimes there was no other way. Xiao Hei was, after all, a child, and keeping him locked in the room all the time without letting him go out was somewhat unreasonable. Seeing him insist on making a fuss to go out with Hu Youli, and thinking that his identity at Youjiao Wharf was now public, they just let him go after making sure he hung the “You Residence Token” on his waist. As for Hu Youli, she had spent quite a lot of money recently and needed to work even harder to earn money. She could not sit still at home, so Xiao Hei went to do business with her. Of course, the three martial brothers repeatedly reminded Hu Youli about Xiao Hei’s mischievous nature, telling her to keep a close eye on him, otherwise accidents could easily happen.
On the bustling streets mixed with demons, ghosts, and monsters, the three martial brothers strolled for a while and came to a clothing store to browse. The shop had a complete range of inner and outer garments, as well as boots and hats, and even armour and chainmail hidden inside clothes. Yu Qing gave Seventh Brother a glance. Nan Zhu immediately made a loud fuss to distract the attending clerk. Yu Qing himself found a row of horizontal poles for hanging clothes. According to the message passing method provided by Liu Piaopiao, he reached under one end of the pole and felt around, finding that there was indeed a groove. The shopkeeper had obviously turned the side with the groove facing down to avoid being an eyesore. Yu Qing really did not know how Liu Piaopiao had noticed this. He reached his fingers inside, felt something, pulled out a paper ball, quickly hid it in his palm, turned around, and strolled back to Nan Zhu’s side.
Upon learning that the task was successful, Nan Zhu used the excuse that he was too fat and the clothes were unsatisfactory, turned around and left, leaving the kindly attending clerks with awkward smiles. In reality, he just could not bear to spend the money. As the saying goes, things in the Sea City are too expensive, absurdly so. In order to divert possible attention, the two continued to visit several more shops. Taking advantage of a moment when no one was paying attention, Yu Qing opened the paper ball to check its contents. After reading it, his expression changed drastically. After that, he had no mood to shop for long. After strolling around a bit more, he called Nan Zhu to turn back, and they returned together.
After returning to the Three Rooms Residence, Yu Qing gave the paper ball to Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie to see. There was nothing else on it, just informing them that the Zheluo Mountain Sect Leader Wang Xuetang had returned, and that Wang Xuetang had given up spending money to save his son, telling them to be extra careful. Mu Aotie, withdrawing his gaze from the paper, said, “I fear the visitors come with no good intentions.” Nan Zhu rubbed the paper into fine powder and sucked his teeth. “This Wang Xuetang is ruthless enough. For wealth and power, he does not even save his own son. This is troublesome. It is as if we killed his son. It is the enmity of killing a son. How many people in the world can turn a blind eye to it?”
Yu Qing’s face was solemn. “Even if he spent a huge sum to save his son, he would not necessarily let us go. I asked that person to keep an eye on the Wang family precisely because I was afraid this situation would arise. I originally hoped the Wang family would have some reservations in the Sea City. After all, there are many people watching us here, and taking action against us might cause trouble, giving us time to finish our business. Now it seems that what we fear most has come. I am afraid there is no way…” He lowered his head and looked at the ring on his finger. Nan Zhu looked at his two junior martial brothers. “Even that person reminded us to be careful. It seems trouble is coming to our door. What should we do?” Mu Aotie frowned and pondered.
Yu Qing raised his hand and touched the spinous process on his cervical vertebra. The discomfort in that area had expanded. One could imagine that the range of mutation had definitely expanded. No one knew what impact it would cause if this thing continued to expand. The cervical and spinal vertebrae are very important parts of the human body. Who knows, one day they might wake up unable to move, becoming a disabled person lying in bed unable to move, and then just wait for death? The feeling of a sword hanging over one’s head, ready to drop at any time, was truly unpleasant. However, forced by the situation, he had to make a difficult decision. “Let us flee. Flee back to Youjiao Wharf first. That is the most orderly place in the world. Once we return to Youjiao Wharf, no one can do anything to us. The Sea City is too chaotic. With the wealth and power of the Wang family, if we stay any longer, we will not be able to withstand their open attacks and hidden arrows. Sooner or later, we will be killed by them.” The other two also raised their hands to touch the spinous processes on the back of their necks, sharing the same worry.
Nan Zhu said, “Why not entrust the matter to Hu Youli? Fifteenth Brother, look, once someone finds Aunt Yao according to the relative seeking notice, just let Hu Youli send a message to contact us. Just let Hu Youli act as our transit agent. There is actually nothing much. At worst, we can give her some fees. Blackie should pay this money, right?” Yu Qing said coldly, “We cannot let Hu Youli get involved in this matter. It is best for her to keep her distance from us and just be at ease as our landlady. Do not have too much involvement with her. Otherwise, in the heat of the enmity of killing a son, the Wang family will probably crush her along with us. We can wait for another opportunity. If we can survive this disaster and come to the Sea City again, we can find Aunt Yao or Hu Youli to inquire, and just ask if anyone who saw the notice has contacted them.” Nan Zhu nodded slightly, thinking it made sense. That fox woman was not bad, and there was no need to implicate her. So it was settled. After tidying up a bit, the three martial brothers sat with legs crossed and waited.
After it got dark, Hu Youli and Xiao Hei finally returned. The three martial brothers immediately put on their cloaks and went downstairs. Without saying much, they just greeted Hu Youli to say goodbye, thanked her for her hospitality, and then left with Xiao Hei. They really did not dare to delay any longer. Leaving early was safer. Hu Youli was a bit dazed, with large and small bags hanging on her front and back. Without time to take off the burden on her body, she threw down the vegetables she had just bought, ran quickly to the balcony to look out, and only saw the figures of three adults and one child slowly disappearing at the street corner. She vaguely saw Xiao Hei looking back in this direction from time to time, feeling an inexplicable sense of loss in her heart. After turning back into the room, she took off the burden on her body, walked into her own room, took out the hidden inscription and looked at it. This time, the tenants had made her a lot of money…
For the three of Yu Qing, the safest way was actually to leave Xiao Hei behind. Otherwise, their intention to leave would be too obvious, easily attracting danger. In the end, they did not do that. As the saying goes, they did not want to implicate Hu Youli. The Sea City at night was brilliantly lit, colourful, gorgeous and enchanting, giving people a sense of deceiving all living beings. The three adults and one child, who were almost at the seaside, suddenly found the road ahead blocked. Xiao Hei, carrying a stick, widened his eyes and opened his mouth wide, looking like a curious baby, staring at a giant centipede ahead. The centipede’s body was over a zhang wide, its shell interwoven with purple and black. Its face was ferocious and terrifying, and it had quite a few shell tumours on its body, either black or purple. How long its body was could not be seen clearly for a moment, but anyway, coiled at the intersection, it was a huge monster. Quite a few passersby had gathered there to watch the fun.
As the three adults and one child walked closer, they discovered that several Zhenhai Division personnel had blocked the giant centipede, not letting it enter the street. “This is a gathering place for all living beings, why do you specifically not allow me to enter?” The giant centipede spoke human words in angry rebuke. It was a man’s voice. The leading Zhenhai Division personnel looked up at it and sighed, “Why can you not listen to reason? It is not that we do not allow you, but your body is too huge. Once you enter the street, what about the other travellers on the street? They will all be swept away by you, and they will all lose their composure because of you. If trouble is caused and things are damaged, should we deal with you or not deal with you at that time? Brother, this is the rule. Interfering with the form of others is not allowed to travel on the streets. Can you not transform into a human form?”
The giant centipede said angrily, “Why should I transform into a human form? Why do you not let humans transform into our forms? I cannot transform into a human, and I will not transform into a human shape. Humans are not nobler than us. Why do you commit such a ridiculous act?” The three martial brothers understood as soon as they heard this. It turned out to be a stubborn non transforming monster. The onlookers could all understand it. People with unsociable personalities were naturally eccentric, so they would become non transforming monsters. The leading Zhenhai Division personnel waved his hand at the towering giant centipede, “I understand your feelings, but there is no way around some things. There is only one kind of human, but there are tens of thousands of kinds of demons. The forms are naturally tens of thousands, and the languages are also tens of thousands. If we live together, for example, with your physique, what about the building sizes? What about the language of communication? Who the hell has the time to learn tens of thousands of languages? Naturally, we do whatever is convenient, with no intention of favouring one over the other. Through long years, why have the various races chosen to transform into human forms? It must have been a choice between advantages and disadvantages. We are also not stopping you from coming to the Sea City. Is there not a lot of open space left by the seaside? Why do you insist on breaking in? You cannot be inconsiderate and make it inconvenient for others just because you have no scruples? My words end here. In short, your form cannot go in. At the very least, you must shrink your body, otherwise we can only enforce the law by force…”
Yu Qing observed the surroundings. He had no mood to finish watching the fun. He tugged at his two senior martial brothers, signalling to leave, while holding Xiao Hei’s hand in his hand. The three adults and one child immediately borrowed a path from the side, passed through the crowded crowd, and finally reached the road by the seaside, where they could already see the dotted ship lights on the sea. As the few of them crossed the road and walked towards the seaside, a group of people carrying banners suddenly marched past in formation. The three martial brothers, who had already crossed to the opposite side of the road, turned around in unison. Their eyes all fixed on the pattern on the banners. It was a swimming fish pattern, very familiar.