Chapter 25 Transporting Wealth She raised the axe, and everyone gasped.

Shen Cangyu snapped out of her daze, her nose filled with a strange, sour stench. She quickly fetched water to wash herself, dried herself off, and changed into new clothes.

She glanced at her abdomen, where the energy was swirling, already forming the rudiments of an inner core. In a few more days, she would be able to cultivate a complete inner core.

She didn't know if it was the effect of practicing the inner alchemy, but she didn't feel cold even though she wasn't wearing a padded jacket.

She huffed and puffed as she wiped the stains off the floor, then unfolded the water-repelling talisman she had taken down and hung it back on the wall.

Once the water-repelling talisman was hung up, the dirty water in the bucket churned and gradually decreased until only a black clump of mud remained on the surface of the bucket.

Shen Cangyu looked up and, sure enough, the water-repelling talisman hanging on the wall had turned into a puddle of wet pulp, and the once clear ink marks had become blurred. This old talisman was no longer usable.

She removed the soaked paper talisman, took out a new one from her sleeve, and, recalling Pei Wenjing's technique, focused her energy at her fingertips, tracing the incantation on the talisman. The moment she lifted her fingertips, the talisman in her hand came alive, forming a small vortex that absorbed the surrounding moisture.

"It's not difficult at all."

Shen Cangyu clicked her tongue, feeling that she was truly a cultivation genius. It was Kunlun's loss that they didn't choose her to join their inner sect back then.

She pasted the new paper talismans on the wall and picked up the old ones from the table, about to throw them away. Suddenly, she stopped.

Her fingertips scraped against the paper talisman, but the red stain was already deeply imprinted on the paper and could not be scraped off.

There was no cinnabar on the water-repelling talisman, and she didn't recall any red marks on it. These were left when the talisman absorbed the surrounding water, and this red stain looked like... blood?

She frowned, clutched the paper talisman in her hand, and pushed open the door to go out.

Outside the door, there was a scene of chaos. The corridor was covered with water, and several boatmen were sweeping the water out with brooms. At the end of the corridor, the boatmen used scoops to collect the water and poured it out through the open window.

Passengers also rushed out to help; some swept up the water, while others moved their wet luggage to higher ground.

Shen Cangyu waded through the puddles and walked up the long corridor and stairs to the deck, only to find that the situation outside was even worse. There was no shelter on the deck, and the rain poured down relentlessly, filling it up in no time.

To prevent rainwater from flowing down the stairs into the cabin and to prevent excessive water from flooding the ship, the people on deck braved the rain, using wooden buckets to scoop water from the ground and continuously pour it out, hoping to reduce the water accumulation inside the ship in this way.

Shen Cangyu spotted Pei Wenjing in the crowd.

He rolled up his sleeves, revealing his strong arms, and took the bucket of water handed to him from behind. With a "whoosh," he poured the water over the fence, bucket after bucket...

Shen Cangyu looked at his wet hair and couldn't tell whether it was rainwater, sweat, or both.

Why not use a water-repelling talisman?

Shen Cangyu wondered. But soon, an answer came to her mind: "Could it be that he gave all the water-repelling talismans to her and Xu Qiubai, and there were no leftover paper talismans, so there was no way to use them on this boat?"

Pei Wenjing's meridians are now damaged, and he rarely uses mental techniques and Taoist magic anymore. He is unable to perform the water-driving technique, and he has run out of paper talismans. This is the only way he can scoop the water out.

Shen Cangyu touched the remaining water-repelling talismans in her sleeve and was about to walk over when she suddenly heard the boatman behind her say, "There's too much water here. Water is seeping in through the cracks and flooding several rooms. The people living inside have even come out to complain that they can't sleep tonight."

Where is it flooded?

"Over there in the east wing."

Speaking of the east wing, another boatman immediately reacted: "Is Master Zhang's room alright?" Mentioning Master Zhang made him shrink back involuntarily. Master Zhang was one of the wealthiest men on this ship; he was demanding and loved to nitpick, and had given them a hard time the other day.

Now that the side rooms are flooded, I'm afraid he'll find another excuse to retaliate.

"That's strange... Logically speaking, with the rain lasting so long, Master Zhang should have come out and started cursing by now, but the water has overflowed from the room, and we haven't seen him at all. He doesn't even answer the door when we knock..."

A thunderclap flashed, the sky and earth were suddenly bright, and even the ships at sea swayed.

Seeing the passengers walking by, the two boatmen quickly shut their mouths and burrowed into the rain to help scoop water.

Hearing their words, Shen Cangyu clenched his fists, turned around and crawled into the cabin, leaving the sound of the torrential rain behind.

The cabin was filled with a mixture of smells and the noisy shouts of people, creating a buzzing and clamor that made Shen Cangyu squint.

She walked through the crowd toward the flooded east wing.

It was quite a coincidence that the east wing was where she lived. Thinking of the missing Master Zhang they had mentioned, she also thought of the red stain on the water-repelling talisman.

Could it really be such a coincidence?

She pushed through the crowd and stopped in front of a tightly closed door.

There was no light in the passageway; the only source of light was the lanterns carried by the boatmen. As the light shone through, the shadows of the boatmen stretched and swayed on the walls, appearing eerie and ghostly.

Muddy water slowly seeped out from the cracks in the door, swaying with the rocking of the boat in gushes.

Shen Cangyu smelled a fishy odor, not the fishy smell of seawater and fish, but the smell of blood.

She looked down at the water on the ground and saw a faint red in the murky gray.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

She pounded on the wooden door and called out, "Is anyone home?"

People around looked over in astonishment. Someone quickly put down the broom and tried to run over to pull her away: "What are you doing? Do you know who lives here?"

Shen Cangyu waved his hand away and shouted, "Nobody's here? Then I'll open the door."

Shen Cangyu's fingers flew, quickly forming a hand seal: "Universe in the Sleeve." The axe fell into her hand, and amidst the gasps of the crowd, she raised the axe high, a flash of cold light, and the axe blade cleaved deeply into the door panel.

"Stop! What are you doing!" someone screamed from afar, pushing through the crowd and rushing towards her. "This is our master's cabin, how dare you..." The person was dressed in a butler's uniform and looked like one of Master Zhang's men.

Shen Cangyu raised his axe, which drew an arc in the air and floated past his eyes.

The crowd gasped and instinctively recoiled. The man stared at the axe before him like a chicken with its neck choked, the rest of his words stuck in his throat.

"Bang!"

Shen Cangyu's axe slammed into the door lock, chopping down the lock and the wooden board together, sending wood chips flying.

The lock clattered to the ground, and she kicked the wooden board hard, causing the door to slam to both sides and teeter on the verge of collapse.

As the door opened, a stench of blood wafted out.

The room's windows were wide open, howling in the wind. Outside, the gale-force winds and rain pounded into the room, and a flash of lightning illuminated the interior.

People saw the waterlogged body lying on the ground, screamed, and ran away.

Upon seeing the man's ferocious face on the ground, the butler collapsed to the ground, his legs trembling uncontrollably, unable to utter a single complete sentence.

Mr. Zhang, lying on the ground, was pale and ashen-faced, his eyes wide open, blood flowing from his seven orifices.

Shen Cangyu walked over and grabbed his wrist, her brows furrowed. His whole body was swollen, but still limp, suggesting he hadn't been dead for long, though a faint black aura shrouded his body.

She searched his entire body but found no wounds, only blood oozing from his seven orifices and seeping into the water.

Could it be poisoning?

Shen Cangyu stood up and searched the room, only to find it completely empty. There was no food or luggage to be found.

She recalled that she had noticed this when she searched the man; he was completely naked. There were no valuable jade pendants, thumb rings, or landscape plaques, not even a single copper coin. His money pouch was even emptier than hers.

They said this guy was a rich and powerful man, so how come he has no money at all?

Shen Cangyu kicked the trembling butler beside him: "Where is your master's luggage? Is it with you?"

The housekeeper trembled violently upon hearing her words, her voice trembling with tears: "We...we didn't know!"

"Weren't you here to buy goods? Where are the goods? Take me to see them." A voice rang out from not far away. Shen Cangyu looked up and saw Pei Wenjing standing in the crowd.

The butler wiped the sweat from his brow, muttering, "Goods...goods..."

Just then, news came from the onlookers: "Master Zhang's cargo hold is completely empty! Hundreds of boxes of porcelain are gone, not a single one left!"

The sound caused an uproar among the crowd, with whispers and murmurs rising. It seemed that Master Zhang had truly encountered an enemy; not only had he lost both his money and goods, but he had also lost his life. But what method had that enemy used to move over a hundred chests of porcelain in one night without anyone noticing?

At this moment, the boatmen who were watching the commotion received instructions to open all the cargo hold doors and search for the missing cargo.

"Hey! If you're looking for something, just look for it. Don't touch my cloth! You can't afford to pay for it if you get it dirty!" People who were just watching the commotion quickly ran to the cargo hold to keep an eye on their goods when they realized the situation had gotten to them. In no time, the cargo hold was packed with people.

But after checking all the cargo holds, they still couldn't find the missing hundred boxes of porcelain.

"What happened? Could the cargo have just disappeared? This is unbelievable..." The boatmen searched frantically. Now, not only had people died on their ship, but they had also lost their cargo.

No one knows who used what method, but somehow managed to make hundreds of boxes of porcelain disappear overnight.

Upon hearing this, Shen Cangyu's expression suddenly changed, and she ran towards Master Zhang's cabin. Looking at the lock on the door, she realized it was locked from the inside. Even if someone killed Master Zhang, that person could only escape from inside the cabin or through the window. But most of the people on this ship were ordinary mortals, and none of them possessed the ability to scale walls and leap across rooftops.

The wind and rain poured in through the windows, soaking the wooden planks of the walls and even the bedding. The rain erased all traces, leaving Shen Cangyu with nothing.

She looked at the incantation on the bed, her eyes narrowing.

"Five Ghosts Transporting Wealth!"

She and Pei Wenjing spoke at the same time, exchanging a glance and both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.