This is trouble. YunQingYue's brother has reincarnated as a fish. How are we supposed to locate him? Should YunQingYue go up to the fish and say, "Oh fish, do you know? You were my brother in your past life." The fish says, "..."
The night is deep, the mountain wind gusts, and the surrounding area is a mix of residual snow and pine trees. Not a single light can be seen, only stars and the moon in the sky. "What should we do?" I sit on the ground and look at YunQingYue, asking, "Let's go back, maybe?" "We can't go back anytime soon, do you even remember the way back?" YunQingYue slightly furrows her brow and asks me. YunQingYue's words remind me that I do not remember the way back. It seems like the old man's magic is flawed, one-way only, what kind of mess is this?
We have covered a few hundred miles in a single night. Do we really have to walk all the way back step by step? No need to think about it, I must have been tricked again. Sure enough, that old man hasn't changed. "Not everything in the water is a fish," YunQingYue said after a long while, turning to look at the river. "Indeed, aside from fish, there are also crabs, eels, lobsters, and, oh, turtles. Your brother might have turned into a turtle," I replied. "You are the turtle, you big turtle!" YunQingYue was so angry her face turned red, and she slapped me in the face. I quickly dodged and smiled, "Alright, I was just joking. Don't take it to heart. Let's go down to the river together. You can pinpoint the exact location, and regardless of whether it's a lobster or turtle, I'll catch it for you. You can at least take a glance."
"Mm-hmm," nodded YunQingYue, but then sighed softly, "But since we arrived here, I don't know why, but I feel my brother's location is a bit vague. I can't be sure where he is, I just feel like he should be in this river."
"This river is dozens of meters wide, who knows how long it is, there must be many tributaries along the way. Do you know how large the scope of your statement is?" I looked at her helplessly and asked.
"I know, that's why it's best to find a boat now and go to the surface of the water to check the situation," YunQingYue said to me.
"In this wild mountains and forests, where am I going to find a boat?" I sighed once again.
YunQingYue didn't say anything, she just walked forward a bit and looked towards the riverbank.
Seeing her movement, I stood up as well, walked over to her, and looked down with her.
As a result, with just one glance, I found something very strange.
There was a boat on the river surface, a big one in fact, and it was quietly anchored on the water's edge.
However, what was inexplicable was that there were no lights on the boat at all, and the location where it was moored did not belong to a dock. In the pitch dark night, the boat appeared abruptly like a ghost ship, making people feel uneasy and unable to understand what the boat's purpose was.
"This boat is very strange," I frowned and said to YunQingYue, "this river is obviously a mountain stream, so the water flow is very fast here. Upstream, there might be waterfalls or shallow rapids, so it's not a normal waterway. As far as I know, this kind of river usually only has boats at ferry crossings. This boat is anchored here without reason, and it doesn't feel quite right. Furthermore, we have a custom here that if there are people on a boat that's anchored on the water, they will hang a lamp at the bow at night. This boat doesn't have a lamp, could it be empty?"
"Let's go down and take a look to find out," YunQingYue said to me.
"You're right," I nodded, and slowly walked along the rough path in the tree layer towards the riverbank.
As I made my way down, intentionally keeping my footsteps light so as not to make any noise, I arrived at a flat area by the river bank and hid in a thick patch of reeds.
"Hoo hoo hoo."
It was only then that I noticed the fog on the river surface. The night breeze made the mist damp and chilly.
The reeds swayed as I crouched within them. I peered through a small gap in the reeds and looked up at the boat.
The vessel was about 10 meters long, made entirely of wood, with high bulwarks and a mast standing upright. It didn't appear to be a steamboat.
The bow was moored to an old willow tree on the bank with a thick rope, and a boat board was placed on the shore. From the look of things, there seemed to be people aboard, but for some reason, they had not lit any lights.
"Seven people," I noted.
As I observed the boat's situation, YunQingYue floated out carrying a skull. She had drifted into the reeds outside before I could stop her.
"Hey, what are you doing? You're going to give us away!" I panicked, breaking out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly called her back.
"What are you afraid of? I'm a ghost, they can't see me." YunQingYue replied.
"And that thing you're holding, is it a ghost too?" I glared at her and asked.
"Seeing a skull floating erratically in the middle of the night would be enough to scare someone to death. We still don't know the identities of the people on that boat. If you do something like this, it'll not only expose us, but also frighten innocent people. Do you understand?" I scolded YunQingYue, and finally managed to pull her back into the reeds to hide.
"I don't think they're good people. Scaring them wouldn't hurt," YunQingYue whispered to me after hiding.
"How do you know they're not good people? What did you see?" I asked, furrowing my brow. At the same time, I opened Tianmen and let my Yuan Qi overflow towards the boat.
As the Yuan Qi entered the cabin, a strange scene unfolded. There were seven or eight burly men dressed in black, holding sharp blades, on the boat. However, these men weren't sleeping, they were all crouched on the deck, craning their necks towards the river, as if waiting for something.
I crossed over the hull and probed the water's edge. Only then did I notice that there was a large net with rough ropes set up next to the boat. The net was covered in barb-like hooks, and I didn't know what it was used for.
The seven men were silent, and I could feel their tension from their breathing. They tightly gripped their knives, forks, swords, and halberds, looking as if they were facing a great enemy.
"Splash--"
Just as I was pondering, a sound of water splashing suddenly came from the calm river surface.
Hearing this, the men on the boat trembled. One of the burlier men near the bow subconsciously stood up and looked coldly at the water, clutching his harpoon, ready to throw it out.
However, unexpectedly, just as the man stood up, a dark shadow suddenly broke through the water's surface and instantly wrapped around him, pulling him into the water.
"Ah--"
"Bang-- Splash--"
The man only had time to let out a short cry before he plunged into the water, leaving behind a tumultuous wave, disappearing without a trace.