"There's a lot of people here… most of them are cultivators as well.." Shu He's eyes swept across the long stretch of beach; it was over a kilometre in length, yet it was populated nearly head to toe.
"There are normal people here as well?" Na Xue asked curiously. Shu He nodded "Mixed in here and there, I wonder what has brought them all together…".
Shu He picked out a 'treat' from his robe and handed it to Shu Xue "Bear with this for now, it doesn't seem like we can just casually go fishing right now".
"Okay…" She said as she stuffed in in her mouth as her eyes watched the hustle and bustle around them. Shu He felt many stares locked on to them, most of them were filled with curiosity, the rest with clear disdain.
The group walked up to a large campfire that was surrounded by a congregation of different people, some were wearing sect uniforms, others well-made armour, and some could pass for beggars. "Hey, can anyone here tell me what's happening here?" Shu He asked, not putting too much force in his voice yet not sounding weak.
A handful of those surrounding the burning pit turned to him before they glanced at one another, eventually one spoke up, it was a scraggly looking man wearing a torn brown cloak, his face was missing an eye. "Kehe, aye I could, but what are you offering?".
Shu He flicked a coin his way, the man received it, and a smile broke out on his face exposing his missing teeth "That's the stuff!" he placed it away, the others that didn't speak up clicked their tongues as they regretted their hesitation.
"So?"
"It's simple, there's a beast tide going on within the Red Sea".
Shu He frowned "But that's within the sea? Are you all going sailing?".
The scraggly man laughed "Nah! Some members of the endless ocean sect are out there dealing with the bulk of it, but the rest of it will be directed here for us to deal with!".
"And you're just offering yourselves up?"
"It's worth it! It's a good chance to get some good materials, plus get the favour of the sect! If they take notice of us, maybe we can get in! For us self-taught fools it's a godsent chance" he cackled, the others surrounding the fire nodded deeply.
'Now that I look, there isn't a single person here without serious scars and tattered equipment… it must be tough cultivating without a sect' Shu He thought.
"I see…" he held his chin in thought for a moment before his eyes narrowed slightly "Thank you for the information, see you" he began to walk away before the scraggly man yelled out "Hey, wait, are you sure you don't want to stay here and take on the tide with us?! We'll be able to get more then!".
Without even turning back, Shu He waved his hand "No thanks, we're busy". Ignoring the click of tongues behind him the group walked over to an unoccupied area and settled down for the moment.
"A beast tide huh? No wonder we encountered so many monsters sailing here… I wonder what caused it" Na Xue sat on a large rock as she stared out across the ocean that was obscured by a thin mist.
"It might be the Emperor…" Bai Lian said thoughtfully as she frowned causing the other two to flash her questioning looks. "My father said before, that when the Red Sea becomes engulfed in turmoil, it's because the Emperor is angry".
"So, it's a spirit beast?" Shu He asked, his interest piqued.
"I assume so? I've never seen it, nor did my father say much, only that multiple sect masters or the emperor himself would be needed to fight it, so it's best left alone" Bai Lian casually spoke as Shu He sucked air in between his teeth.
'How much of a monster is that thing?!' He was now incredibly glad they hadn't come across it, he remembers Zhou Qiang describing a large beast, but his description didn't seem to do it justice!
"So, what are we doing? Shall we move on?" Na Xue moved the conversation forward. Shu He lent against the same rock "I was thinking that at first, we don't really need to get involved here… but apparently some members of the sect are out there" he gestured out to the sea "If I could catch one of them, maybe I can get a hint on 'the place most precious'".
"Well, if that's what you want to do I'm fine with it" Na Xue shrugged her shoulders while tapping her foot against in the stone, her eyes narrowed slightly "Also… did you realise?" her voice was nearly silent as she spoke.
Shu He nodded, his eyes were facing the ocean, yet his territory was watching the surroundings, or a specific group closely.
"Did they follow us here… or was this their destination in the first place?" his voice not much lounder than the gentle wind passed the ears of his companions.
"Is it the group from Mermaids Tale?" Bai Lian murmured under her breath; detection techniques weren't her forte, so she hadn't realised.
"Yeah, they seem to think we haven't seen them so let them keep thinking that…" light faded from Shu He's eyes for a moment before he stood up and walked a few steps "Let's take a look around some more".
…
The four of them had walked nearly the entire way up the beach while speaking to different groups here and there to gather information, unfortunately for Shu He none of it helped him with the riddle, but there was plenty of information he didn't have on the surrounding areas.
*Crunch*
The bones of a large fish were easily split and crunched by the small girl as her expression beamed with joy as she followed next to Shu He, the onlookers became startled before looking away after hearing the visceral crunch.
"Who would've thought the smallest one among us would be the scariest…" Na Xue's face clearly showed that she had given up. "Does that taste good?" She asked out of doubt.
"Mmm!" Shu Xue nodded her head with her mouth full, sounds of crunching coming from her cheeks.
"How can she eat that…" Bai Lian stared at the white-haired girl in horror while mumbling into her sleeve.
While walking they had encountered a small school of Blackscale Fish congregating near the beach's shallow waters, so Shu Xue happily went and caught one herself and despite the warnings of others, cooked it with her flames and began munching down on it.
They all begged Shu He to stop her, but he couldn't help but stand there laughing awkwardly; He knew what a Blackscale Fish was, not only were the scales made of a material as hard as iron, so were the bones and the flesh was rough without taste, no one used it for food. But he knew his little duck had an entirely different set of taste buds.
Normal food was 'Tasty', but valuable resources were 'REALLY tasty'.
"Shu He, want some?" She held the half-eaten fish up by the tail to him, her head tilting cutely.
"No, you caught it so you should eat it" He smiled as he turned her down. Even his body wouldn't be able to digest it.
All of a sudden, Shu He stopped walking as his head turned to a couple groups of people about 20 meters away, the stop was abrupt, so Na Xue and Bai Lian thought something was wrong and looked the same way.
The two groups were dressed in different clothes, one group were wearing light purple daoist robes with red highlights, while the others were wearing dark blue robes with cyan trimmings, the dark blue robed group had set up a camp already.
"I'm telling you brats to move!" The man at the front of the purple robed group spoke, his eyebrows were thick and nose thin.
"We were here first!" The young man, teenage in age rebuked the thick browed man, though his legs shook slightly.
"Like that matters! We're here now and we're telling you to move, or else!"
"Or else what?! Do you think we're easy to bully just because we're a small sect?!" The young man yelled back.
"It seems you've gotten cocky because of that Senior Brother of yours!" Without another moment of hesitation, the purple robed man's fist reinforced with Qi struck at the young man who barely blocked it with a cross block in time, yet he was sent flying into his compatriots.
"Ren Hai!" Someone yelled as the young boy struggled back up, his face filled with indignation.
"Now, move; Or else you and you friends will suffer much worse" The man put his hand on the sword resting at his him as a dark glint flashed in his eyes.
"…You…" The young boy known as Ren Hai gripped his fists tightly as blood began to flow from his arms.
"Three." A click sounded as the blade begun to leave its sheathe.
"…".
"Two" The blade was drawn.
Ren Hai's shoulder's slumped as he turned to face his companions whose faces were telling him to give up, he sighed.
"Lets g-"
Yet just as he was about to relinquish the spot.
"My! Sorry I'm late, you're Tao Yan's juniors aren't you?" A voice split the scene as the two groups heads turned in a confusion unison to the person that spoke out.
The one who spoke was, of course, Shu He who had a smile on his face as her scratched his head in embarrassment.