"What's wrong?" I asked.

After reading it, Yunwen sighed and said, "Zhou Bo, I think we should stay here and not leave tonight."

I was very surprised. They were talking fine just now, but how could they change in the blink of an eye? This made me wonder what was said in the notebook I brought back. How could she change her mind so suddenly, and make such a decision even though she knew we were in danger.

"I found this booklet in an iron cell. There was a senior there, dressed in clothes that should be those of the Ming Dynasty. I saw that we were from the same origin, and there was a wooden sign on his waist that said 'Exploration'. Out of curiosity about him, I searched his body, and unexpectedly I found this booklet. I saw four big characters 'Searching for the Dragon Envoy' in it, and I thought it might be related to us, so I brought it back." I explained.

She nodded and said, "Zhou Bo, do you still remember Senior Li Mufeng?"

"Of course I remember, even though it's been five hundred years, but it was also because of him that we were able to inherit his legacy and these two dragon-seeking adzes. He is half a master, so how could I forget him?" I said.

"He is our master and also our benefactor who has left us several ways to survive. Shouldn't we do something for him?" Yunwen asked.

"If there is a chance, that's for sure. Otherwise, it would seem we are heartless. Since we have accepted his kindness and put on the Dragon-Seeking Jade he bestowed upon us, it would be unreasonable if we don't help when we should," I said.

"I think so too. That's why we can't leave tonight and should stay, because the owner of this booklet is Li Hanmo, the person that Senior Li Mufeng is worried about. He is also the eldest son who was left in the capital when he was alone outside. He later took this booklet and took a boat to find his father, but unfortunately he was captured by the Sea Monster halfway and later died in the black prison." Yunwen said.

"What does this have to do with whether we stay or not?" I asked.

"The first half of this booklet is the correspondence between Senior Li Mufeng and the court. It is basically a report on work, and then a seal is put on it to indicate what the envoy said. The last report was about thirty years ago. He said that he had found a way to achieve immortality and hoped that the court would send troops to rescue him. There was no further text. You can see that there was a comment under the previous memorials, but there was no comment under the last one. This means that perhaps with the change of dynasties, things and people have changed, and no one has commented on this document anymore." Yunwen said.

"So, the report booklet was finally discovered by his son, who then came to him, which led to the subsequent events, right?" I asked.

"Yes, the messenger returned to this side after thirty years, and promised to go back to report and allow Senior Li Mufeng to return to the capital. However, the messenger found that no one cared about him anymore, so he could only hand it over to Li Mufeng's son, asking him to find a way to secretly bring his father back. He never expected such a change. This is the front part, and the back part talks about Li Hanmo's own last journey. This is the reason why we need to take care of it." Yunwen said.

"What does the text say later?" I asked.

"He said three things. First, the Black Phantom captured him in order to track down his father and find the secret elixir of immortality. Second, the Black Phantom deliberately let the outside world think that they disappeared without a trace and burned a broken ship so that those bandit suppressors would return satisfied. The reason they went to such great lengths to fake their death was that they didn't want more people to know that they were looking for the elixir of immortality, so they staged such a scene. Third, the mermaids defeated the Sea Monster and killed everyone on it, and before he died, he accidentally learned that the mermaids had stolen his father's things and wrote them down." Yunwen said.

"What did the mermaids steal?" I asked.

"【Dragon Soul】." Yunwen said.

"Dragon soul? The soul of a dragon?" I asked.

Yunwen shook her head and said, "The dragon soul is also one of the treasures you saw in Taiqiong Cave. It is actually the scales of a dragon. But dragons are good at hiding. When these dragon scales fall into the mortal world, they can store spiritual energy, so there is a soul. With a soul, one can reproduce endlessly. This is also the reason why Senior Li Mufeng was able to live forever."

"Doesn't Senior Li Mufeng rely on the Yinxi Pot?" I asked.

"You forgot, that was used by his gorilla and his subordinates. He himself never used it, he just hid it." Yunwen said.

"So, what the mermaids stole was the dragon scale, so you think we should get it back for Senior Li Mufeng, right?" I asked.

"This is his son's last wish. If we can help, we can give it a try," Yunwen said.

That being said, after all, we are the ones being hunted now. We don't even have time to escape, so how can we have any other thoughts to help get the things back and fulfill the wish of Li Mufeng's son? This is really putting the cart before the horse, but Yunwen is more or less the same as me, with a heart that must repay favors.

If it weren't for Senior Li Mufeng, I wouldn't be able to find the [Golden Palace], and I wouldn't be able to cure the poison in Yunwen, and Yunwen would have died long ago. If it weren't for the mechanisms and clues left by Senior Li Mufeng, we might have also been killed by the gorillas. These are all favors, and we should repay every drop of kindness with a spring. Now that I know his eldest son's last wish, I should really take it to heart.

"I think this matter needs a long-term plan. We have to take care of ourselves first before we can take care of others. We will definitely help, but we still have to look for opportunities and chances," I said.

Yunwen was a little disappointed, but she still forced a smile and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

So after we finished eating, I went outside to find out what was going on. When I found out that there was no movement, I pulled Yunwen and prepared to go out. The journey was relatively smooth. We went out of the cabin and onto the deck, and then walked out of the deck to the shore. Yunwen led the way in front. We passed by the giant lobster, holding a kerosene lamp, and prepared to take the secret passage out.

But suddenly I heard a noise behind me. I turned around and saw an old man as transparent as white smoke standing there under the moonlight. He said a few words and then started laughing.

The first time is strange, the second time is familiar, and when he appeared again, I didn’t find it so strange anymore.

"What did he say?" I asked.

"He said we were seeking our own death, and tonight we will do the same as him," Yunwen said.

"Hey, even though you are a so-called ghost, it doesn't mean you can just say these unlucky words. Try to do some good deeds, brother," I said.

Yunwen laughed halfway through the translation and said to me, "He is from abroad, how can he know what Yinde is."

I don’t care so much.

My upper body is naked now, but I am not frozen, so I don’t have time to chat.

I continued walking forward with the kerosene lamp. Yunwen knew the way. When we got to a certain place, there was an opening. Yunwen moved the stones and found a dog hole. She said that if I went in, I would be able to find the way up. I went in without thinking much, but before I went in, I saw a huge eye staring at me.

I shone the kerosene lamp and found a person with goose bumps all over his body. He pushed me hard and I rolled to the ground, knocking over the kerosene lamp. I rolled several times before I stopped, and my chest ached slightly.

Yunwen came to help me up quickly, but the kerosene lamp leaked, and the flame burned on the ground. We could also see clearly that the walls of the cave near the secret passage were full of mermaids, densely packed, at least thirty or forty of them, all of them huge in size, and the leading sea water kept making gurgling sounds of water, and there were also clattering sounds of water landing on the ground, like the sound of fish stranded on the ground.

I guess those mermaids are climbing up continuously.

It’s over!

Then I remembered what the old ghost said, we are really courting our own death and will become ghosts tonight.

These mermaids don’t know how to look for people, but they are very good at waiting for people. Since they couldn’t find me, they just sat there and waited for me. How could I have forgotten this?

I sat up and saw something crawling out from the dog hole of the secret passage. It was not a mermaid, but a huge toad with the word "Ling" written on its head, and its posture and expression were all humanoid.

spirit?

Lord Lingchi!

I remember that Yunwen had been attacked by the gate of life and death before, and she had muttered in her dream, begging for mercy in the tone of an antelope witch, and that’s how this word came about!