Yin Shanhe on the other boat naturally caught Long Xingyun with one hand. Looking over, he saw that Yu Qing and the other two had already landed with their hostages beside the carriage and were quickly checking the vehicle for any problems.
Long Xingyun immediately sought his freedom, saying, “Uncle Yin, remove the restrictions on me.”
Yin Shanhe did as asked and removed the restrictions. However, looking at the public environment on the shore, he grabbed Long Xingyun’s arm again, afraid that the stubborn fellow would cause a public scene in Hai Shi and unwilling to let him go.
Once his cultivation flowed freely again, Long Xingyun immediately looked for Yu Qing. He did not see anyone, only a departing carriage. Grinding his teeth in hatred, he said, “You dog, Tanhua!” After speaking, he was about to go ashore.
Yin Shanhe held onto his arm and said, “Forget it, let us go home.”
Long Xingyun looked back at him, guessing his worries, and immediately comforted him, “Uncle Yin, do not worry. I will not cause a public disturbance in Hai Shi. I will challenge him fairly and squarely. Did he not say he wanted to die without resentment? I will grant his wish!”
He had actually fallen for the provocation. Yin Shanhe really did not know what to say to him and asked back, “He dared to provoke you like that. Are you sure you are really his match?”
Long Xingyun said, “Of course. If I can still lose to him in a fair duel, I might as well bump my head and die.”
Yin Shanhe looked at his bruised and swollen face, sighed, and said, “Go home and heal your injuries first. I will not care what you do after a year. Let us go.”
“After a year? I cannot wait for a year.”
“This is the promise I made to him. You must know that this promise bought back your life.”
“But he also just said he would accept my challenge at any time.”
Yin Shanhe switched hands and grabbed his collar. A face covered in blood and scars moved close to his eyes. Suppressing his anger, he warned, “That is right. In our eyes, Qing Ya is just a low level thug in Hai Shi who cannot get on the stage. Openly, he indeed dares not do anything to us. But if he truly wants to make moves in the dark, we cannot be careless either. To save you, I crippled his four limbs. Tell me, can he swallow this anger? He has operated here for many years. This is his territory for doing dirty work, and his eyes and ears are everywhere. If we continue to hang around Hai Shi like this, it will be very dangerous. Do you know what it means that open attacks are easy to dodge, but hidden arrows are hard to guard against? While he is still controlled by A Shi Heng and cannot break free to deal with us, we must go back immediately!”
Long Xingyun stared at him blankly.
Yin Shanhe turned back and shouted at the boatman, “Go, to Xing Luo Island.”
The boatman of the other boat immediately shouted, “Pay my boat fare first.”
The merman whose boat was destroyed also shouted, “And my boat was destroyed by you.”
Yin Shanhe tilted his head to signal Cui You, who immediately paid the money. They were not like Yu Qing and the other two, and would not care about such a small amount of money.
After settling the accounts, the three of them quickly slipped away and left Hai Shi.
The morning sun rose, filling the sky with golden light.
The carriage carrying the three martial brothers traveled through the streets of Hai Shi with almost no stops, except when they passed Hu Youli’s house and went up to check on the situation.
Neither Xiao Hei nor Hu Youli was at home, but there was a note routinely left by Hu Youli. For the sake of making a living and also to look after Xiao Hei, Hu Youli had taken Xiao Hei out to do business early in the morning.
Taking this opportunity, Yu Qing quickly wrote some tiny words on a piece of paper, crumpled it into a small ball, and grabbed Da Tou to come out. He handed the small paper ball to Da Tou with some instructions and then quickly left, before continuing to get into the carriage and drive around.
The carriage barely dared to go to remote places, basically just circling the bustling areas.
They were also waiting for the response of that “godmother”. From Gu Qingzhao’s reaction, it could be seen that this “godmother” was not a misjudgment by Yu Qing, but actually existed.
Around mid morning, a person arrived urgently, found Pang Chengqiu who was following behind the carriage, and whispered some instructions.
Pang Chengqiu immediately ran to the front of the carriage and said to Mu Aotie, who was driving, “Stop by the roadside for a moment.”
Yu Qing pushed aside the curtain and asked, “What is it?”
Pang Chengqiu said, “The madam is here and says she wants to give you instructions.”
Hearing this, Yu Qing then said, “Old Nine, stop by the road.”
Mu Aotie immediately stopped the carriage to the side.
Before long, another carriage arrived. The carriage almost stopped right next to theirs. The coachman jumped off and left, while the followers quickly blocked the road ahead and behind, preventing anyone from approaching.
The carriage curtain was pushed aside, and Gu Qingzhao showed her face, meeting Yu Qing’s eyes. She was the only one in the carriage. “Come with me.”
Yu Qing asked, “Where to?”
Gu Qingzhao said, “To see the person you want to see.”
Yu Qing said, “I am asking where we are meeting.”
Gu Qingzhao said, “To the seaside, to meet on the sea.”
“Meet on the sea?” Yu Qing was somewhat vigilant. To him, it was naturally safer to meet in Hai Shi, where a powerful group was in charge and rules were set. Meeting on the sea had too many uncontrollable factors. The key point was that they were few and weak, and it was too easy to suffer a loss. Otherwise, he would not have taken two hostages back to Hai Shi. After thinking for a moment, he refused, “No, she cannot decide where to meet. I must designate the place.”
Gu Qingzhao said, “She said you would listen to her arrangements.”
Yu Qing chuckled, “Then she has really thought too much.”
Gu Qingzhao said, “She said that if you do not listen to her arrangements, I should pass a message to you.”
Yu Qing was confused. “What message? Are you trying to threaten me? You need to make one thing clear. Qing Ya’s life is in our hands!”
Gu Qingzhao said word by word, “She said the other ring is in her hands.”
“…”
Yu Qing was instantly choked into silence. Nan Zhu, who was firmly controlling Qing Ya, and Mu Aotie, who was driving the carriage, all held their breath. Their inner shock was imaginable.
The person who could say this clearly knew the purpose of their trip.
And regarding who knew this secret, apart from the three of them in Hai Shi, if there was another one, it should be the target they were looking for.
Had the target they had exhausted all means to find finally appeared?
Under Gu Qingzhao’s gaze, Yu Qing’s Adam’s apple moved. Finally, he nodded slowly and said, “Old Nine, go with her.”
Gu Qingzhao smiled slightly, her smile hidden by the swaying curtain.
She then reached out her hand from the other window. The round fan in her hand swayed, and the roadblocks ahead and behind were immediately lifted. The coachman ran back to the carriage shaft and drove the carriage away with clattering hooves.
Mu Aotie immediately turned the carriage around and followed.
Qing Ya, who was restrained in the carriage, flashed his eyes repeatedly. He was somewhat uncertain and could not understand what riddles the two sides were playing. What meeting? What ring?
Before long, the two carriages reached the seaside. The flower boat that Gu Qingzhao had previously ridden was parked on the shore.
Gu Qingzhao got off the carriage wearing a black cloak. Yu Qing and the other two did the same, along with the fully masked Qing Ya, and they all boarded the flower boat.
Pang Chengqiu also wanted to follow them onto the boat, but Gu Qingzhao raised her hand to stop him. Then the boat sailed away from the shore.
This time there were only a few people on the boat. There were no subordinates or the like, and not even servants to pour tea and water. There were only several merfolk silently pushing the boat from the stern.
Pang Chengqiu on the shore watched them go, equally confused and wearing a doubtful expression.
The boat kept moving forward, heading continuously towards the Ming Sea.
When the sun was high in the sky, at the boundary where dark clouds divided the world into light and darkness, the flower boat finally stopped.
The three martial brothers looked around and did not see any other people or boats. Nan Zhu asked, “Where are the people?”
Gu Qingzhao shook her head. “I do not know. I only know we are meeting here. Let us wait.”
Qing Ya, covered in cloth, spoke up. “Gu Qingzhao, what exactly are you doing?”
Gu Qingzhao said, “Do not ask me. You should think about how you will explain yourself later.”
Explain? This word made Qing Ya’s body tremble slightly. He seemed to realize something and instantly fell silent.
After waiting for a while, as the sunlight moved and the flower boat was completely placed in the shadows, a blurry shadow finally appeared not far away. Under the gaze of everyone, the outline gradually became clear, and they realized it was a rather large tower ship.
It was a magnificent tower ship with carved beams and painted pillars, giving a very luxurious feeling. Yet it was pitch black, without any lights on the ship, and as silent as a ghost ship.
After the tower ship steadily docked beside the flower boat, a flash of firelight suddenly appeared in the cabin. It seemed a lamp had finally been lit inside.
Just as the few people were filled with surprise and doubt, a cold and clear voice of a woman came from inside the tower ship. “Board the ship.”
The voice, devoid of any emotion, made Yu Qing and the other two feel a chill down their spines. They previously only knew the phrase “devoid of emotion” and thought it was just a description. They did not expect that such a special voice truly existed in the world.
Qing Ya’s wrapped body obviously trembled again.
Gu Qingzhao had obviously adapted to this voice. She lightly jumped onto the tower ship and waved at Yu Qing and the others.
The three martial brothers had no choice but to carry Qing Ya and jump over as well. After landing on the deck, they, including Gu Qingzhao, all looked down in surprise and found that this was actually an iron ship.
The people had arrived, and the ship also moved. The huge tower ship sailed into the depths of the Ming Sea.
That flower boat was still quietly staying in place. The merfolk pushing the boat all poked their heads out and looked over, because they found that the magnificent tower ship was not being pushed by any merfolk. Vaguely, it seemed some huge creature was dragging it underwater.
Guided by the movement in the cabin, Gu Qingzhao on the deck took the lead and led the few people inside the cabin.
With the dim light in the cabin, the few people could see that they were already in the living room of the tower ship. A moon gate and a bead curtain divided the living room into a front hall and an inner hall.
Standing in the front hall, they could see the general situation in the inner hall through the bead curtain. In the inner hall, a lonely oil lamp was placed on a round table. Beside the round table sat a figure covered in a black cloak. The face could not be seen clearly, only the side of the hooded head.
From the general outline of the cloak, it seemed to be a woman.
Besides this, there seemed to be no one else on the ship.
The atmosphere was gloomy and bizarre.
Yu Qing spoke first to break the silence and asked, “The other ring is in your hands?”
The woman beside the lonely lamp spoke again, with the same cold and clear voice, but answered a different question. “A Shi Heng, known as the Tanhua, along with Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie, speak. How did you know that I am the godmother behind those two? Or you two give me an explanation, Qing Ya and Qingzhao.”