Seeing Xie Lian awake, Hua Cheng parted his lips slightly, as if about to leave. In a moment of desperation, Xie Lian didn't care about anything else. He raised his hands and wrapped them around his neck, sucking back the magic power that Hua Cheng had sucked away.
Hua Cheng had clearly not expected him to do this. He was momentarily distracted, and his magical power regurgitated. Afraid he'd leave, Xie Lian quickly cupped his face with both hands, rolled over, and pinned Hua Cheng to the ground. He felt a cool spiritual current pour into his body, flowing down his throat into his stomach, bringing a profound warmth. At that moment, the small wooden door of the Puqi Monastery creaked, and a giant, green, caterpillar-like figure crawled out. "Damn it! Who the hell has the nerve to do this? You're a thief! You've stolen from me, and you still dare to disturb my sleep? Achoo! I'll…" Before he could finish his words, he saw two figures outside the monastery, seemingly locked in a passionate kiss. One red, one white, who could they be? He screamed in fear: "Aa ...
Hua Cheng raised his hand slightly, intending to grab Xie Lian's shoulder. Hearing his clamor, he changed his gesture and sent Qi Rong slamming back into the room with a cry of "ouch!" The door slammed shut. Hua Cheng then rolled over, pinning Xie Lian beneath him. He raised his face, panting slightly, a dark light flickering in his eyes as he said, "Your Highness!"
Xie Lian didn't have time to say anything more. He reached out and hooked his hand around his neck, pulling it down again. After absorbing enough mana, he choked and said again, "Transfer—Soul Transfer Technique!"
Unexpectedly, this time, as soon as his soul was pulled out and before it could be flung into the sky, it was blocked by a wall and bounced heavily back into his body, making him scream "Ah!" He opened his eyes, and above him was the starry sky and Hua Cheng's slightly anxious face. Xie Lian sat up, holding his head, and muttered, "...I can't get through."
Was Shi Qingxuan dead? Or had the Black Water Mysterious Ghost strengthened the barrier? Whatever it was, he couldn't get into Shi Qingxuan's mind anymore. Even if he rushed to the South China Sea now, it would definitely be too late.
Seeing him stunned, Hua Cheng said, "Your Highness, I'm sorry."
Xie Lian looked at him, and Hua Cheng added, "But, no one else can interfere in this matter."
Xie Lian waved his hand and said, “…You don’t have to apologize. In fact, even if I were there, there’s nothing I could do.”
Using the Soul Transfer Technique, he could only enter Shi Qingxuan's body. However, Shi Qingxuan was only a mortal. Even if Xie Lian could help him break free from his shackles, how could he possibly stand up to the master of the Black Water Devil Cave? He wouldn't even be able to escape.
After recovering from his shock, Xie Lian quickly returned to the spiritual communication array in the Upper Heaven Palace and asked, "Lingwen, have you set off yet?"
Ling Wen said, "Your Highness! Why did you suddenly go silent for a while? We have already sent a group of priests to the South China Sea. Your Highness Qiying has returned and will also go out to sea soon. However, the Black Water Demon Cave is not easy to enter, and we don't know when we can find it."
Xie Lian said hoarsely, "Wait a moment. I'll set off with you. Perhaps I can remember the route. But please send someone to pick me up at Puqi Monastery."
Lingwen said: "Okay, he's here now."
Xie Lian was startled. He turned around and saw that Hua Cheng had disappeared. Two young priests were walking towards Puqi Village, followed by a tall young man with slightly curly black hair. It was Quan Yizhen.
Xie Lian gave him a slight bow as a greeting, but Quan Yizhen didn't know how to return the gesture, but Xie Lian didn't care. He looked around but didn't see Hua Cheng. He knew he was giving himself time to deal with this matter.
The two of them, along with a group of junior priests, left the South China Sea. Following Xie Lian's advice, they collected dozens of heavy coffins that had once held the dead, just in case. After the boat sped through the water for two or three hours, something strange appeared on the surface of the sea.
The carcasses of numerous giant bony fish floated to the surface of the sea and collided with the ship. The priests became alarmed: "Is this coming?!"
Xie Lian said, “No way! If we’ve already entered the Black Water Demon Cave, the boat definitely can’t stay afloat, and it’s still going so fast.”
However, these were clearly the remains of the battle between General Pei and the navy the night before. Quan Yizhen had been squatting on the side of the ship, maintaining this difficult position, when he suddenly said, "There's a black island ahead, isn't that it?"
Xie Lian looked closely and saw, indeed, a pitch-black island ahead. Furthermore, from a distance, it certainly looked like Blackwater Island!
Xie Lian frowned slightly and said, "It really does look like it. But how could it be found so easily, and the boat didn't sink? Everyone, please be cautious and beware of a trap."
As soon as he finished speaking, he realized it wasn't a trap. A figure stood on the beach, braving the sun, using the same sword he'd used to slash and slash at enemies, slicing wood back and forth to make a coffin. Three completed coffins were lined up nearby, and he was working on a fourth. Xie Lian immediately waved his hand and shouted, "General Pei! It's General Pei! This is the island!"
The ship immediately turned around and sped away. Pei Ming saw the reinforcements arrive, but he wasn't the least bit happy. He stuck his sword into the ground, rubbed his nose, and said gloomily, "Why didn't you come earlier or later, but just when I was almost done? What's the point?"
Quan Yizhen said, "It's good that someone came. I heard that everyone was busy trying to rescue you."
"..." Pei Ming, with a look of "I'm not going to argue with you, kid," turned to Xie Lian and asked, "Your Highness, are you going back first? How did you build this boat? How can it float on the surface of the ghost domain?"
Xie Lian said, “I don’t think it’s the boat’s fault. It’s that the curse of the Black Water Demonic Den has dissipated.”
Pei Ming was stunned. He tried his hand casually and unexpectedly cut down a large number of trees with one sword. His magic power really returned. He was speechless for a moment, shook his head, and said, "If I had known this would happen, why would I have worked so hard to make a coffin?"
This was true. His hard work that night was truly in vain. He had made coffins for four people, but three of them were useless.
A group of priests reached the island and headed straight for the center of the forest. The imps in the dense forest, having never seen such a spectacle, were frightened and fled in all directions. When they reached the Black Water Lake in the forest, they did not encounter the shadowy figures. Without the interference of other rituals, they studied for a while and finally broke through the illusion. The iron prison by the lake and the Netherworld Water Palace both appeared.
As soon as he entered the Netherworld Water Palace, Xie Lian gathered up the skeleton in black, picked it up in his hands, and began running around the hall. It wasn't long before he found the hall. On the mottled wall, two blood-stained iron shackles were now empty. A headless corpse lay in the center of the hall, its blood drained. A group of crazy people were throwing things at the corpse. As the priests entered, the group of crazy people became even more excited. After Pei Ming came in, he was stunned for a long time before he finally dared to confirm who it was. He exclaimed in shock, "...Brother Shui!"
Xie Lian already knew about this and said, “Please, everyone, search here and throughout the entire island to see if you can find Master Fengshi, or… a body.”
However, no matter how hard they searched, there was no trace of Shi Qingxuan on the island.
Did the Black Water Mysterious Ghost take the Wind Master away? Or was the Wind Master killed, his body sunk into the sea, his flesh and blood fed to the fish?
Although Shi Wudu went crazy at the last moment, causing He Xuan to attack and kill people, and he died, it was not Master Feng who killed him personally. Would He Xuan still exchange his life for Master Feng's?
After sending away the annoying lunatics, Pei Ming half-crouched on the ground, lost in thought for a long moment. He sighed, "Senior Brother Shui, you've been so arrogant your whole life, yet you've ended up like this. I don't even know if you can finally rest in peace. It's true that the higher you rise, the harder you fall. Life is full of twists and turns, and even gods can't escape them."
Quan Yizhen, on the other hand, wasn't so emotional. He ran around the Netherworld Water Palace with a "da da da" sound. He came over to take a look and felt very strange. He asked, "Where's his head?"
Xie Lian said, “The Black Water Mysterious Ghost took it.”
Pei Ming asked, "What grudge does this ghost den owner have against him? Also, where is Qingxuan and the Earth Master? Could it be that the Three Officials of Water, Earth, and Wind are all dead?"
Xie Lian said, “It is indeed a great hatred and a grudge. Master Earth Master, it depends on who you ask. The real one is in my hands, and the fake one is the one who took Master Water Master’s head.”
"What?!"
Xie Lian stared at him and whispered, "General Pei probably doesn't know. The Black Water Mysterious Ghost's surname is He and his given name is Xuan."
Hearing this, Pei Ming's expression changed slightly. It seemed that Pei Ming and Ling Wen were not completely ignorant of what Shi Wudu had done. However, it was unclear how much they knew.
After reporting what needed to be reported and handling what needed to be handled, by the time he returned to Puqi Village, nearly a full day had passed. Xie Lian's steps showed a hint of fatigue.
When he returned to Puqi Monastery and opened the door, he heard Qi Rong's ghostly roars and screams: "You damned Huacheng! You damned Xie Lian! You two are so shameless! It was so fucking scary in the middle of the night! You blinded my dog eyes and you still won't compensate me!!"
Hearing his foul language, Xie Lian immediately recalled the horrific scene last night when he and Hua Cheng took turns pinning each other to the ground, draining their magical energy. He hadn't felt embarrassed then, but now he couldn't escape it, and he almost slammed the door and ran out. Hua Cheng was slumped in a chair nearby, his boots folded on the table. When he heard Xie Lian push the door open, he immediately put them down, slapped Qi Rong on the forehead, knocked him unconscious, stood up, and said, "Brother."
Xie Lian nodded, closed the door behind him, and walked over to Qi Rong, who was lying on the ground like a worm, and sat down. He asked, "Did Guzi and the others go out to play?"
Hua Chengdao: "Well, I let him out. Thank you for your hard work."
Xie Lian said, “No. It’s because you’ve worked so hard.”
Hua Cheng smiled. After a moment, he said, "I thought my brother would blame me."
Xie Lian shook his head and said, "Why bother overthinking it, Sanlang? Really not. Actually, you're right about this matter. It's really... not appropriate for others to interfere."
After thinking for a while, he asked, "Sanlang, in your opinion, what will that Black Water Mysterious Ghost do to Master Fengshi?"
After a moment of silence, Hua Cheng said, "I don't know either. Heishui is a very strange person. He has endured so many years alone, and no one can understand what he is thinking."
“No one can understand what he is thinking”—Xie Lian suddenly remembered that this sentence was also a common evaluation of the Blood Rain Scholar by many gods in the Heavenly Court.
The Black Water Sunken Boat emerged from the battle of thousands of demons in Tonglu Mountain, and the Blood Rain Searching Flower was similarly born. He Xuan endured many years alone, and Hua Cheng had endured many more years alone.
What made the Black Water Sinking Boat what it is today is hatred. So, what about Blood Rain Searching Flower?
What makes the Flower City the Flower City it is today?
In an instant, many thoughts flashed through Xie Lian's mind. He shook his head, dismissing the idea of "a noble lady from a wealthy family." He gathered his thoughts and said, "But, Sanlang, I don't understand. The navy's substitution should have been very covert. He kept it a secret for so many years, so how did Heishui find out? If it's inconvenient, you don't have to answer me."
Hua Cheng said, "He's already changed his territory and run away, and he's no longer a fake priest. What's the inconvenience? To put it simply, on the night Heishui died, Shi Wudu went to confirm it."
Xie Lian asked, “Because only when the prey is dead will the True Immortal Baihua move on to the next target?”
Hua Cheng said, "Yes. Heishui didn't know who that person was, but he remembered that face. Later, when he became a ghost, he knew more about the people and things in heaven and earth. Only then did Heishui realize that it was the Water Priest."
No wonder. This is very strange. Why would a dignified Water Priest go to see how an ordinary person died for no reason? Xie Lian said, "But this shouldn't be associated with exchanging lives?"
Hua Cheng said, "That's why he replaced Master Zhendi and sneaked into the Upper Heavenly Court to investigate this matter. He's quite courageous."
Xie Lian said slowly, “If he hadn’t later killed the real geomancer and implicated over two hundred fishermen, he would have been worthy of the title ‘brave and resourceful.’”
Hua Cheng said, "Brother, I don't know if he was the one who killed Master Zhendi. But I'm afraid it was someone else who swept those fishermen into the waves of the East China Sea."
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