"Hmm!"
Li Yaner nodded and happily climbed into the bag by herself. The oiled canvas bag was long and slender, a bit crowded for a clay figure and a finger, but with Li Yaner holding it, it fit perfectly.
"Ah... how comfortable!"
Li Yaner let out a long sigh while embracing the finger, her face full of enjoyment, while Gu Shi Yi smiled lewdly,
"Does a finger make you that comfortable?"
Li Yaner had long been accustomed to her bestie's dirty jokes and spat at her,
"Can't you be serious for once?"
"Tell me, you old maid who hasn't touched a man in thirty years, where do all these dirty jokes come from?"
Gu Shi Yi laughed heartily and packed up the oiled canvas bag again. Just then, Old Lady Gu came in with a tray, which held a bowl of clear porridge and two small dishes.
"Shiyi, come and eat!"
Having been alarmed and scared the whole night, Gu Shi Yi was truly hungry. She went over, picked up the bowl and started to eat. While eating, she asked,
"By the way, what happened to Auntie last night?"
Speaking of last night, Old Lady Gu also showed a face full of fright,
"I was staying here in the cabin, and as soon as the monster outside cried out, I passed out..."
Being advanced in years and now frail, she naturally couldn't withstand such a shock, so she didn't know much about what had happened last night.
"Afterward, it was the bodyguards from Sixth Master who woke me up. When I came to, I saw them carrying you inside, and later they also brought this bottle of medicine, instructing me to give it to you..."
Gu Shi Yi nodded upon hearing this, quickly ate up her meal, and then went outside to have a look around. Liu Er and his comrades had the same encounter as her last night; those with stronger bodies managed to hold on until the Fish Kui Beast leaped onto the Light Shield a second time, but those with less courage had passed out from the shock as soon as the Fish Kui Beast roared upon landing on the light shield,
"It seems... that I was the only one who saw that Golden Light!"
Gu Shi Yi murmured to herself,
So was it someone from the Bishui Sect who made their move last night?
While Gu Shi Yi was guessing to herself, inside the first-class cabin on the third floor, a masked woman was asking a burly middle-aged man,
"Have the Elixirs been distributed to them?"
The middle-aged man bowed, his attitude very respectful,
"Master, they have all been distributed..."
The masked woman nodded and said,
"I didn't expect it myself, but last night the Prohibition on the Blood Corrosion Grass suddenly loosened, leaking a trace of its essence out and attracting two Fish Kui Beasts..."
The middle-aged man said,
"The medicinal effects of the Blood Corrosion Grass are indeed too potent; the loosening of the Prohibition was also abrupt. But such a commotion can attract more Exotic Beasts, or perhaps it will alert those with ulterior motives?"
The masked woman thought for a moment and then replied,
"I already scanned the entire boat with my Divine Sense when I boarded. Everyone here is ordinary, with only one person possessing Taoist magic, though he is injured and seems to be nurturing a ghost. Such types are mostly those Itinerant World charlatans who scam people with their ghosts. The others are nothing special, and we don't need to worry about them..."
She paused before adding,
"Last night, I rushed to craft two talismans and resealed the Blood Corrosion Grass. According to calculations, it should hold for more than three days. On this journey, I must continuously strengthen the Seal. I will be in retreat inside the cabin, do not disturb me unless it's an emergency!"
"Yes, Master!"
The middle-aged man bowed in agreement and listened as the masked woman continued,
"Give some Spirit Stones to the people from the Bishui Sect, after all, last night's disturbance with the Exotic Beasts was because of us, and the Magic Artifact consumed much of its energy. Giving them some Spirit Stones is a form of compensation!"
"Yes!"
The middle-aged man bowed and withdrew.
After that, the voyage was smooth sailing. Although they occasionally encountered Fish Kui Beasts, the Array kept them at bay, and there was no recurrence of the perilous night. Gu Shi Yi spent her time on the boat eating and sleeping, her injuries steadily healing, and she was getting plumper by the day. Even though the Five-Color River was beautiful, it became boring after a while, so she returned to her old trade of divining fortunes for the Escort Team.
At first, people didn't believe in her, but after two accurate predictions, they started to have faith in Shiyi. They all took turns asking her to divine their fortunes and analyze their Eight Characters. Gu Shi Yi, well versed in the practice of creating scarcity to drive demand, maintained her image as a sage by restricting herself to one divination a day and charging only three copper coins per divination. Although the fee was modest, she mooched several meals out of it, and by the end, though she hadn't made a name for herself as the Diviner, she had made a group of friends through sharing food and drink.
The Escort Team men, by nature bold and carefree characters of the Itinerant World, treated Gu Shi Yi as one of their own after mixing with her, no longer seeing her as a woman. They were always slapping each other on the back, and everyone became good brothers!