Mermaids Weep (22)
At dawn in the port of the Secret Sea, the sky was still shrouded in gray clouds, not a ray of sunlight could penetrate. The sea breeze, carrying a salty and damp scent, gently blew across the empty dock, making everything seem exceptionally desolate.
The deep blue sea was unfathomable, its calm surface undisturbed. The waves gently lapped against the stone walls of the pier, making a rhythmic sound, as if foreshadowing a fierce battle about to take place here.
Lin Xiaowen had been waiting near the dock since early morning. The sea breeze occasionally ruffled his sleeves, and a withered leaf would sometimes fall among them. But he had no time to care about such things. Lin Shiyou had suddenly changed his mind and ordered him to prepare to go out to sea half an hour earlier than usual. With the carriages transporting the rogue cultivators approaching from not far away and the whereabouts of the Han family still unknown, Lin Xiaowen's face became solemn.
The carriage was quiet, save for the creaking of the wheels on the ground. The manager in charge had drugged the "bait" beforehand to prevent them from making any unnecessary noise—a standard procedure for transport. The carriage stopped in front of Lin Xiaowen, and the manager stepped down from the lead carriage, bowed to Lin Xiaowen, and asked, "Second Master, the rest are all here. What do you think?"
Lin Xiaowen glanced coldly at the carriage, then looked at Lin Shiyou on the ship behind them. Seeing that the burly man was gazing at the empty sea in the distance, seemingly unaware of what was happening here, he said, "Wait here, I'll go ask for instructions."
After receiving the order, Manager Qian turned and instructed the guards beside the carriage to remain in place. Lin Xiaowen then boarded the large ship and respectfully bowed to Lin Shiyou, saying, "Brother, the 'bait' has arrived. Do you think we should load it onto the ship now or wait a little longer?"
"Wait for what?" Lin Shiyou asked without turning his head. "Are we going to wait for them to wake up before we take action?"
"Xiaowen, when did you become so indecisive?"
Lin Xiaowen naturally sensed the impatience in Lin Shiyou's tone and, worried that he might become suspicious, quickly added, "How could that be? It's just that the sky is overcast, and I'm afraid that once we get to the sea, a sudden downpour might occur, and then we won't be safe either."
Lin Shiyou paused briefly, then suddenly asked, "How long have we known each other?"
The topic suddenly changed, and Lin Xiaowen was taken aback for a moment before answering, "It's probably been seventy or eighty years..."
“That’s almost a hundred years ago.” Lin Shiyou turned around, his thick eyebrows revealing a pair of deep eyes that were fixed on Lin Xiaowen, as if scrutinizing something.
Lin Xiaowen felt a little nervous under his gaze. Lin Fang's tragic state yesterday was still vivid in his mind. Even someone as calm and collected as Lin Xiaowen felt uneasy in the face of death that could come at any moment.
Why haven't the Han family arrived yet? Could they really go back on their word? A fine layer of cold sweat seeped out on the back of Lin Xiaowen's neck, and the sea breeze brought a chill to his bones.
But at this moment, he had no time to care whether Ye Yingying and her group were untrustworthy. If they really failed to stop all of this before setting sail, he would have no choice but to continue to compromise and follow Lin Shiyou's wishes to get through this ordeal.
Just then, Lin Shiyou suddenly spoke up: "Let's load up all the 'bait'. This time, no one else will go except you and me."
Lin Xiaowen's heart skipped a beat. What did he mean by this? Was he testing him? Or was he going to get rid of him too?
Lin Xiaowen grew increasingly uneasy, but dared not linger and risk Lin Shiyou noticing his deception. He quickly agreed and hurried off the boat. Meeting Manager Qian's half-fawning, half-questioning gaze, Lin Xiaowen frowned: "Have you counted all the quantities?"
"It's all accounted for, all accounted for, except for what you personally did yesterday..."
"Alright!" Lin Xiaowen glared at him and waved his hand to interrupt, "Install them all."
"Alright!" Manager Qian nodded and bowed, then turned around and started calling on the others to get busy.
Lin Xiaowen stared intently as one unconscious rogue cultivator after another was carried onto the ship, his gaze occasionally darting around, trying to find Ye Yingying and the others. But time ticked by, and as the last rogue cultivator was finally loaded onto the ship, there was no other movement from the Lin family.
Manager Qian trotted over to report the situation, only to find Lin Xiaowen standing there with his arms crossed, his index finger tapping idly on his arm, looking quite impatient. He assumed he had angered Lin Xiaowen by being too slow, and said even more respectfully, "Second Master, it's all set up."
Lin Xiaowen glanced at him but didn't say anything. He simply scanned the surroundings again, then slowly strolled around the carriage transporting the cultivators twice, and carefully inspected it again by lifting the curtain. Seeing that everyone had indeed been transported up, Lin Xiaowen couldn't delay any longer and ordered those around him, "Go back, you don't need to come along this time."
No one dared disobey the second-in-command's orders, and most people were happy to avoid witnessing the scene, secretly pleased to hear the order. Only the shrewd and experienced Steward Qian, an older man, keenly sensed the deeper meaning behind it. He looked at Lin Xiaowen with a probing gaze, hesitating whether to dare to ask.
Lin Xiaowen seemed to read his mind, giving him a look to keep quiet. Steward Qian understood, stepping back to watch Lin Xiaowen board the ship. Gazing at Lin Xiaowen's retreating figure, he seemed to see again the two young family heads, one after the other, embarking on their voyage for the sake of their family's rise and fall. Back then, he had watched them depart just as he was now, but times had changed, and the Lin family was no longer the same.
Lin Xiaowen boarded the boat and glanced at Lin Shiyou, who remained standing in the same spot, silently gazing into the distance.
“The bait has all come up,” Lin Xiaowen said, turning to prepare to stow the anchor.
Unexpectedly, Lin Shiyou, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly turned his head and glanced at Lin Xiaowen out of the corner of his eye, and said, "The one you specially took away last night, was it a merman?"
Lin Xiaowen froze, closed his eyes, then opened them again. In an instant, his gaze toward Lin Shiyou was filled with hostility.
“Lin Xiaowen, we have as many Third Masters as we need, anyone can be replaced. But you…” Lin Shiyou’s face grew darker as he spoke, “We’ve worked together for nearly a hundred years, what clan secrets and important matters haven’t passed through your hands? And you think you can deceive me?”
Lin Xiaowen scoffed disdainfully, silently assessing his chances of defeating him: "You know what you're doing, Lin Shiyou. You keep saying you're doing this for the Lin family, but in the end, you've been defeated by your own inner demons!"
Lin Xiaowen, unusually agitated, roared, "The Lin family patriarch is a demonic cultivator! If this news gets out, the Lin family will only be attacked by all sorts of powerful families and sects! Lin Shiyou, you are driving the Lin family to its doom!"
"Inner demons?" Lin Shiyou scoffed. "So what?"
He raised his hand and clenched his fist, his muscles taut, making him appear powerful and strong: "The rules are set by the victors. In the past, this power was held by those so-called 'righteous sects,' but once I reach the pinnacle of my cultivation and slaughter those righteous sword cultivators, the rules of this world will be up to me!"
Lin Xiaowen was shocked. He had only thought that Lin Shiyou had gone mad in order to keep the Lin family in first place in the Secret Sea. He never expected that Lin Shiyou would be so arrogant as to try to swallow the entire cultivation world!
"Lin Shiyou...you're really crazy."
Seeing the black aura creeping back into Lin Shiyou's eyes, Lin Xiaowen sensed something was terribly wrong and immediately assumed a defensive stance, preparing to flee. But Lin Shiyou wouldn't give him the chance. His fist, poised to strike, hurtled towards Lin Xiaowen. Lin Xiaowen's cultivation level was far inferior, and he had no time to react before taking the full force of the punch, which shattered his ribs and caused his internal organs to churn. Lin Xiaowen's breath caught in his throat, and pain surged through his body like an electric current.
This punch was not only a physical blow to Lin Xiaowen, but also a devastating blow to his mind. Lin Xiaowen felt his brain vibrate violently, and a ringing sound echoed in his head, causing him to feel dizzy and the world spinning.
It's over. Lin Xiaowen watched numbly as Lin Shiyou raised his hand again, this time in a palm strike, as if to deliver the final blow. Lin Xiaowen wanted to escape, but his limbs were paralyzed. Just as he watched Lin Shiyou's palm strike hurtling towards him, a sharp sword light descended from the sky, striking straight between the two.
Then, several sword lights arrived one after another, all rushing towards Lin Shiyou, forcing him to retreat a few steps and change his posture to defend himself. Lin Xiaowen looked at the powerful spiritual energy within the sword lights, a smile curling at the corner of his blood-stained mouth.
It seemed his deal was done. Lin Xiaowen's vision went black, and he lost consciousness.
A white figure appeared, stepping through the air, sword light following him like a shadow, relentlessly attacking Lin Shiyou, each move aimed straight for vital points, leaving Lin Shiyou unable to defend himself for a moment. The newcomer was none other than Yun Yanqiu. Not only him, Han Chengjin and Yao Yao also boarded the ship one after another, and under Yun Yanqiu's protection, they approached the unconscious rogue cultivator.
Seeing this, Lin Shiyou roared, and his spiritual pressure rose another level. Yun Yanqiu frowned as she looked at him. Lin Shiyou's eyes were completely black, clearly his consciousness had been completely corrupted by his inner demons. The sword light continued to strike Lin Shiyou, but the completely demon-possessed Lin Shiyou reversed his previous defeat. He raised his thick arm and forcefully deflected several sword lights formed from spiritual energy. He clenched his fist again and roared as he charged towards Yun Yanqiu.
Seeing the situation was unfavorable, Yun Yanqiu stepped to the side and circled behind Lin Shiyou, preparing to condense his sword again. Unexpectedly, Lin Shiyou, who had fallen into demonic possession, reacted astonishingly. Before Yun Yanqiu could even get into position, he changed the direction of his fist and attacked Yun Yanqiu again.
Yun Yanqiu raised his hand and caught Lin Shiyou's punch with a palm strike. The two people's spiritual energy collided, and they were both blasted back several feet.
"Good!" Lin Shiyou not only did not back down, but laughed wildly. "My first step in changing the world will be to sacrifice you!"
Yun Yanqiu took the punch head-on without sustaining a single scratch. He lightly dusted off his sleeves, glanced at the guys still focused on rescuing people in the distance, and realized that now was not the right time to let Lin Shiyou continue causing trouble on the ship.
So he stretched out his palm and waved it at Lin Shiyou, saying provocatively, "Is that all you've got?"
With that, he leaped up and jumped onto the mast using the ropes on the ship. As expected, Lin Shiyou followed, and the two clashed again, each move exchanging blows.
Han Chengjin, standing below, was stunned by the exchange of blows between the Golden Core cultivators and unconsciously looked up to watch. Seeing this, Yao Yao anxiously shouted, "Stop watching! Come up and help!"
Although the number of independent cultivators was small, they were all unconscious and could not be woken up. They had no choice but to carry them off the ship one by one with their men. The Lin family servants below the ship had already been controlled by Han Chengjin. Once all the independent cultivators were taken off the ship, the mission would be complete!
Looking at these familiar faces, Yao Yao was overjoyed. Not long ago, they had been locked in a dark and gloomy room together, and now she could finally fulfill her promise to save them from their suffering! Thinking of this, she mustered her strength and prepared to lift the unconscious Liao Heng.
Just then, Han Chengjin, who was below the boat, suddenly shouted, "Watch out!"
Before Yao Yao could react, she felt her neck being suddenly gripped tightly, and her whole body being lifted up like a chick, making it difficult for her to breathe.
Immediately afterwards, Lin Shiyou's gruff voice suddenly rang out from behind: "You really are a merman."
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