Hearing him abruptly blurt out these words, everyone looked at him, not knowing what he meant.
The merman at the back of the boat poked his head out and half-climbed up. “With a question like that, the Nether Sea is vast and boundless. From here you can go anywhere. What do you mean by route?”
Qing Ya hopped on one foot and turned around on the boat, facing him to say, “What I mean is, the route we took all the way here, was it the convenient route to Zilan Island?”
At these words, the merman fell into thought.
Seeing this, no one disturbed him. Long Xingyun touched Qing Ya’s arm with his finger. Though he did not speak, his meaning was obvious. He was asking what was going on.
Qing Ya returned a gesture, indicating they should remain calm and wait, then continued to wait for the merman’s reply.
After quite a while, the merman actually slowly nodded. “Now that you mention it, if I think about it carefully, if we’re talking about going to Zilan Island, then the previous route wasn’t actually wrong.”
Qing Ya asked again, “Do you know how to get to Zilan Island?”
Merman: “If I didn’t know the way, the sea clan wouldn’t have let me out to ferry people.”
Qing Ya: “You don’t need to follow any more. We’ll pay as agreed. Just take us directly to Zilan Island.”
The merman asked in return, “Are you sure?”
“Sure.” Qing Ya nodded.
“Righto.” The merman agreed, pushed with both arms, left the stern where he had been half-leaning, sank back into the water, pushed the ferry to adjust its direction, and continued forward again.
The other ferry continued to follow. On board were Pang Chengqiu and Cui You.
At this point Long Xingyun also couldn’t help but ask, “Brother Qing, what do you mean by this?”
Qing Ya replied, “Actually, among some of the information I previously gathered, someone seemed to have heard that fellow mention ‘Zilan Island,’ but I couldn’t confirm what it meant. Now seeing this situation, and hearing what the boatman said, it seems those three fellows have most likely gone to ‘Zilan Island.'”
Really? After hearing this, Pang Chengqiu on the other boat showed slight confusion in his eyes. He recalled for a moment and felt he had no impression of such information. He suddenly felt rather strange. Most of the news Brother Qing received was passed through him. Why didn’t he know about this? Could it be information from the proprietress’s channel?
Long Xingyun’s eyes brightened. His enthusiasm had clearly returned. He tapped the large sword on Qing Ya’s back with his folding fan. “As expected of Brother Qing from the Sea Market. I truly didn’t find the wrong person. Good. Let’s go to Zilan Island and try our luck.”
On the same boat, Yin Shanhe continued to puff on his pipe. The occasional sudden red glow from the tobacco bowl illuminated his silver-haired face. The rising smoke also lingered for a long time without dispersing, left behind in the void by the boat.
After that, the sound of water splashing and breaking the silence continued. The two boats kept moving forward without stopping. The people on board occasionally exchanged a few words. The rest was that seemingly endless darkness, and that faint, barely-there mist.
In this empty and silent environment, one’s sense of time became particularly distorted. It was difficult to grasp the passage of time by feeling alone. One had to count the cycles of blood qi circulation to have any idea.
The boat drifted and moved forward continuously. No one knew how much time had passed until the thick clouds above showed a faint light. Only then did the people on board roughly know the time. It was already dawn outside.
It was dawn. Although the light was still dark and gloomy, the visible distance had broadened considerably. The shadows of island land at a certain distance could now be vaguely seen from the boat. Perhaps “sensed” would be a more fitting description.
A point of light appeared in the farther distance, attracting the attention of everyone on the boat.
Long Xingyun stared intently and said, “Could we have caught up to that boat from before?”
The merman at the back of the boat laughed with a heh-heh sound. “Impossible. We’re already taking the nearest route. A boat avoiding us would have to take another way around. Even the shortest detour would probably take more than an hour longer than us. It won’t get ahead of us. Sir, you might look carefully at the colour of that light.”
At this reminder, some looked closely, while others were only mildly interested and didn’t feel like looking much.
The former was Long Xingyun. The latter were Qing Ya and Pang Chengqiu. Having spent a long time in the Sea Market, they were fairly familiar with the general geography of the Nether Sea surface. Seeing that light, they already roughly knew what was happening and where they had arrived.
However, neither of them said anything, putting on an appearance of not knowing and not being very sharp.
After staring intently for a while, Long Xingyun let out an “eh?” and said, “The light seems a bit purplish. It seems to be purple light.”
Yin Shanhe was also staring intently. The tobacco bowl suddenly flashed with red light. After puffing out a cloud of smoke, he looked at the sky and then removed the pipe from his mouth to say, “It should be Zilan Island.”
“Zilan Island?” Long Xingyun was startled for a moment, then turned back to ask, “Boatman, is that Zilan Island?”
The merman pushing the boat laughed heh-heh and said, “That’s right. That is Zilan Island.”
As the boat drew closer to the target, the outline of the island where the purple light originated became increasingly clear. Large clusters of cloud-like purple splendour covered the island. It was quite beautiful. The entire island was like a magnificent gem on the Nether Sea.
After the boat neared the shore, the newcomers finally understood the source of the light on the island.
Many giant plants grew on the island. A single stalk of grass was as tall as a tree. The grass itself was dark brown, but beneath its leaves hung thousands of thread-like tendrils, like weeping willows, emitting a magnificent purple lustre. This was the source of the purple light on the island.
Yin Shanhe suddenly asked, “So this is Purple Thatched Grass?”
Qing Ya smiled and said, “That’s right. It’s a man-eating grass. Once ordinary people are entangled by those purple tendrils, it’s hard to break free. Creatures of the Nether Sea are often attracted by its beautiful light and climb ashore to get close, only to lose their lives.”
The merman boatman gave a reminder, “I have delivered you as promised. Please settle the payment. Also, one more question. Do you need the boat to return?”
Qing Ya smiled and said, “Naturally we need to go back, but we may trouble the two boats to wait for us a while.”
Merman boatman: “Waiting for you is no problem. The question is how long. We need to calculate the cost based on time.”
Qing Ya looked at Long Xingyun and the others, then replied, “It’s hard to say how long. How do you calculate payment by time?”
Before the boatman could reply, Long Xingyun directly cut in, “Boatman, there’s nothing to calculate. I’ll give you another one hundred thousand taels for the two boats to return. Just wait obediently.”
Qing Ya was immediately speechless. How long was he expecting them to wait? He thought about it and simply decided not to say anything. The other party was wealthy and generous, so he didn’t need to bother worrying on their behalf any more.
The boatman was naturally pleased to hear this and immediately said straightforwardly, “Fine. As long as you pay a thirty percent deposit first, our two boats can wait for you three days.”
Long Xingyun immediately turned his head to signal Cui You, “Pay up.”
“Yes.” Cui You agreed, took out the money, first paid the agreed amount for this trip, then paid the thirty percent deposit.
Meanwhile Long Xingyun had already jumped onto the shore first. After waiting for Yin Shanhe and Cui You to come up, he discovered that Qing Ya and Pang Chengqiu were standing on the boat with no intention of coming ashore.
Yin Shanhe’s eyes immediately showed vigilance. His fingers instantly gripped the short pipe tighter, and the red light in the tobacco bowl also instantly brightened.
Long Xingyun was also waving and calling out, “Brother Qing, don’t dawdle.”
But Qing Ya shook his head and said, “Young Pavilion Master, I have done what I should and shouldn’t do for you. I won’t participate in the remaining fighting and killing. It’s too dangerous. I’m not getting on this island.”
This time, Yin Shanhe, exhaling smoke, cut in, “Brother Qing, you pointed out this place. The situation is unclear. Since you’ve come, not landing on the island, I’m afraid that’s not appropriate, is it?”
Qing Ya: “Brother Yin, since you can say ‘Purple Thatched Grass,’ you must have heard about Zilan Island’s situation. On the island lurks an inhuman creature called ‘Thousand Armies,’ with profound cultivation and extraordinary martial power. You running here to fight and kill might alert him. I don’t want to face this possible mishap.
No matter how famous I, Qing Ya, am, I’m not so foolish as to lose my head. I still have some self-awareness. I am merely a thug from the Sea Market. Being able to help the Young Pavilion Master is already an honour. No matter how deep our friendship, it hasn’t reached the point of helping the Young Pavilion Master fight and kill and risk my life.
To be honest, I hadn’t actually planned to make this trip personally. I only intended to pass on the information and leave it at that. There was no need to get too deeply involved. However, the Young Pavilion Master was truly ‘too hospitable to refuse.’ I, Qing, had no choice but to make this journey. Let’s stop while we’re ahead. I’ll stay on the boat and quietly await the Young Pavilion Master’s good news.
There’s no need to worry about what I’ll do. More than one or two people know we came here together. If anything really happens to you, I’ll face a heap of trouble when I go back, so there’s completely no need to worry that I’ll cause mischief behind you.
Brother Yin, there’s really no need to force me onto the island. You and I both know in our hearts that our friendship truly hasn’t reached that level. Though you have connections at Thousand Streams Mountain, you don’t have real power after all. In the Sea Market area, what I want, you cannot give me either.
If you’re truly worried about being short-handed, then let’s come back next time fully prepared. It’s not too late to gather more men and find another opportunity. There’s no rush.”
He had spoken to this point. He was one step away from saying that they had never given him any benefit, and that he had already been ordered about by them for free.
Yin Shanhe and Long Xingyun both frowned somewhat. This situation was something they had not anticipated. They truly hadn’t brought many people on this trip. Given their background, there was no need to mobilise a large force when coming to the Sea Market. Gathering men would also be easy. They just hadn’t expected Qing Ya would “know when to stop” at this juncture. They had assumed that whatever they said, the other party would obediently comply.
He had said what he should and shouldn’t say. It was reasonable and in good faith. It truly was not good to pressure him further.
If they had known earlier it would be like this, they really should have brought more people.
Long Xingyun was a man who valued face. How could he return in such disgrace? He immediately said to Yin Shanhe, “Uncle Yin, forget it. A forced melon isn’t sweet. Don’t force our Brother Qing. Besides, with our strength, can’t we handle those three? Especially with you personally taking action. So what if there’s an inhuman creature with profound cultivation on the island?”
Yin Shanhe was silent for a moment, then suddenly turned his head to Cui You and said, “The Young Pavilion Master and I going onto the island is enough. You stay behind and watch the boats with them.”
At the same time, he gave a meaningful look.
Cui You understood what he meant. He indicated he would be careful, and if he discovered any problems, he would immediately call out a warning.
He immediately accepted the order, jumped onto the boat, and politely invited Pang Chengqiu to join Qing Ya on the same boat, so as to maintain some safe distance, at least reserving some space to hurriedly call out a warning.
Qing Ya smiled faintly. He felt the other party was completely unnecessary, but he didn’t mind. He turned back and raised his chin at the boatman, indicating a faintly visible small island shadow opposite them. “Let’s go. We’ll wait over there.”
Long Xingyun also became vigilant upon seeing this, and said in a deep voice, “Qing Ya, what do you mean by this?”
Qing Ya couldn’t help but sigh, “They’re also heading here. Are we supposed to wait for them to run into us? Our two boats had better find a place to hide.”
The merman boatman poked his head out at the stern again, looking like “whatever you decide, we’ll just wait for you to agree and watch the show.”
Long Xingyun drew the folding fan from his waist, opened it and fanned himself, as if he had never said anything.
Qing Ya waved at the boatman again to signal him.
But who knew Yin Shanhe would call out to stop him again, “Brother Qing, you must be more familiar with this place than us. Doesn’t this island have any taboos or anything? Don’t you plan to offer some warning?”
Qing Ya paused slightly at these words. After thinking, he looked toward the island and waved his hand to point at the general direction. “Over there, there is a dark area where you can’t see any Purple Thatched Grass. It’s a reef zone. The inhuman creature ‘Thousand Armies’ should be lurking there. If you can avoid heading that way, try not to go there.
Under normal circumstances, as long as you don’t make too much noise, and as long as you don’t plan to live here long-term, ‘Thousand Armies’ probably won’t concern himself with every little thing.
But then again, if you truly encounter ‘Thousand Armies,’ if a misunderstanding truly occurs, you might as well declare your identities and show you mean no harm.
Though ‘Thousand Armies’ has a solitary temperament, he isn’t brainless. He should know the consequences of provoking you. Even for his own good, he probably won’t make things too difficult for you. In short, once on the island, be as careful and cautious as possible.”
After finishing speaking, he cupped his hands, letting them fend for themselves, then waved again to signal the boatman to set sail.