Chen Jing, with his right hand tied to his chest, disembarked from the large ship, looking somewhat idle.
The others went to hunt down the out-of-control dolls wandering the Misty Lands, leaving him, the wounded, here.
He looked up at the sky—the brightness of the fog—and judged that it was probably not yet noon.
Chen Jing hesitated, wondering whether he should go to the Flying Fish to see his younger siblings off. He was also worried that his injured appearance would cause them concern.
Looking at the perpetually misty sky, Chen Jing sighed and decided not to go see them.
I stood at the port and silently watched the ship leave.
Thinking of this, Chen Jing walked along, searching for the 'Flying Fish' with his eyes.
...
On the Flying Fish.
The Flying Fish has many cabins, which are relatively small. Two people can sleep in wooden hammocks suspended by ropes on both sides, and there are also tables fixed to the ground.
The wooden hammock has a fixed sleeping bag, while the space underneath is used to store luggage.
Wan Tong tucked her luggage underneath, wiped her sweat, and looked at the small window beside her, which was supported by a wooden beam and showed the river outside.
Apart from the calm river and the thick fog, there was nothing to see.
"If only it were near the port..." Wan Tong thought with some regret.
Just then, she heard someone enter the cabin and make footsteps.
Wan Tong turned around alertly and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was Li Huaxing.
Li Huaxing changed into a set of drab, unpatched clothes and tucked his sword in a conspicuous place:
"Wantong, I was on deck just now and I heard the captain say that the departure time will be postponed until tomorrow morning."
"Postponed?" Wan Tong asked, "What happened?"
Li Huaxing nodded: "Yes, it is said that the riverbank guards discovered that the drowned ghosts were among the man-eating water ghosts. The navigator is worried that there may have been some changes in the river that caused the monsters to change their location. They are still investigating."
Upon hearing this, Wan Tong became worried again.
"Was someone killed by a drowned ghost?"
“No,” Li Huaxing said. “They were taken care of by the Black Hand gang.”
Wan Tong asked softly, "Will Brother Jing also go and deal with these monsters?"
Upon hearing this, Li Huaxing didn't look directly at her sister, but instead looked towards the door.
"I don't know. He managed to escape from the slave spirits, so he must be alright."
Wan Tong seemed satisfied with this explanation: "Yes, it'll be alright, Brother Jing is so capable."
She looked out the window again; it was still shrouded in mist, but the calm river below seemed to harbor countless dangers.
...
"Why do you say that in Meijing City?" the man at the head of the long table in the hidden place asked the expert.
The old man opposite the expert also looked at him, waiting for an answer.
"Intuition," the expert replied.
His expression remained unchanged, even though he knew that no one here could clearly see each other's faces and expressions.
“If this were in Meijing City, it would be a massive ritual. The blood sacrifice in Ash City might just be a part of this ritual,” said the man at the head of the long table. “This doesn’t match the information we received before. The other side’s information indicated that there was only one Extreme Realm expert, and a ritual that exceeds the scope of a city cannot be arranged by an Extreme Realm expert. Only a god could do it.”
"If the other side has a god in charge, they don't need to hide anything; they can act openly and honestly. What can we do to stop them?"
The expert looked at the table and asked again, "Is it possible that a cultivator at the pinnacle of cultivation could preside over a god-level ritual?"
The man at the head of the long table said, "Unless the god has already completed most of the divine ritual and he comes to finish it or complete a part of it, it is absolutely impossible."
"What if that's the case?" the expert persisted.
“They have gods, they don’t need to do this in secret, and they even have an Extreme being preside over the ceremony near Ash City…” the person at the head of the long table continued.
"If," the expert emphasized with his hand, "they don't have gods. But gods complete most of the rituals, while this extreme-level expert only needs to perform a portion."
"You mean..." the old man opposite the expert began, "Underground arena?"
The expert nodded.
“This is only a possibility; there is a lack of evidence,” said the person at the head of the long table.
"Yes, it's just speculation," the expert admitted. "But there's no denying that it's a possibility."
"I'll go back and do some divination first. For now, let's discuss our actions within Ash City..." The man at the head of the long table, when he mentioned divination, seemed to remember something and asked, "Has your little apprentice left?"
The expert replied, "That's what I wanted to say later. He guessed who I was and even said he planned to join us to repay a debt of gratitude."
"He guessed it?" the old man opposite the expert exclaimed in surprise. "He's that perceptive?"
The man at the head of the long table nodded and said, "He's a very good kid, very smart, good at drawing inferences, and very perceptive, but..."
"I believe he has the necessary qualities," the expert said.
“But this incident is very dangerous.” The expert said to the elderly man sitting there, “He is still very young and has a lot of hope. Everyone sitting here is prepared to fight to the death. What about him? Is he mentally prepared?”
“Even if he’s willing to fight to the death, we shouldn’t let him go. He’s still a child, what could he possibly know?” said the man shrouded in darkness at the head of the long table. “Isn’t the reason we fight to protect promising talents like him?”
The expert shook his head: "I don't plan to involve him in this either, but at least if we all die in battle, there will be someone to carry on our legacy."
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