Chu Xinghui, with his sword in hand, followed the direction indicated by the pendant and slowly walked into the thick mist.

He estimated the time and found that after walking for about two quarters of an hour, the surroundings still hadn’t changed in the slightest.

Being trapped in an unchanging environment for too long could easily cause one to lose one’s senses.

He began feeling a little dizzy.

Instinctively, Chu Xinghui closed his eyes.

In the blur, he seemed to hear the sound of waves crashing against the shore.

It was as though he had entered a real mist, and the air was gradually becoming more humid.

He smelled the salty scent of the sea.

Before he opened his eyes, a hoarse yet warm voice came from beside him: “Guest, do you wish to cross the sea?”

Chu Xinghui opened his eyes.

The mist had completely vanished.

He was now facing the sea, standing at a simple pier. In front of him, there was a strange-looking boat floating on the water.

Behind him was a small bustling settlement, with uneven, poorly maintained stone roads lined with inns and eateries, places where travelers could rest—like a shabby town built around the dock.

The surroundings resembled the Eastern Sea region, but Chu Xinghui didn’t remember any such place existing near there.

He looked down at himself again.

His soul had taken on the appearance of his true body, and he looked just like a normal living person.

Chu Xinghui remained silent for a long time, and the old man beside the boat asked once more: “Guest, do you wish to cross the sea?”

Chu Xinghui finally turned his attention to the old man and his boat.

The old man appeared to be a cultivator, though his cultivation was quite low, at the Qi Refining stage.

His boat seemed old and had been in use for years. The boat’s body was coated in faded red paint, and between the wooden planks, seaweed and mud could be seen. It emitted a foul, stagnant smell of aged seawater.

The boat was also very small, clearly unsuitable for long-distance sea travel.

Chu Xinghui looked at the boat’s color and felt a sense of unease, so he quickly looked away.

He didn’t answer the old man’s question about crossing the sea, instead asking: “Old man, do you know which direction I came from?”

The old man smiled cheerfully and naturally replied: “You came from the direction of the outsiders, that’s how all outsiders come.”

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He changed his question: “Do you know where I’m going?”

Without hesitation, the old man replied: “Outsiders only have one destination. There is no other place.”

Chu Xinghui looked around: “Business doesn’t seem to be doing very well here.”

Though there were other people around, no one seemed to be paying any attention to this place.

The old man’s gaze grew even more enthusiastic: “This boat only takes outsiders. You are the only guest today.”

Chu Xinghui changed his question again: “Where is this place?”

The old man nodded in confirmation: “Indeed, this is where you need to go.”

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He gave up trying to converse with the old man and decided to explore other places first.

Just as Chu Xinghui took two steps toward the town, the old man spoke again: “The island master has acquired something good. All outsiders must go see it.”

Chu Xinghui’s footsteps halted.

The words “sea” and “island master” together couldn’t have been more obvious.

He turned back and asked: “Who is the current island master of Bihai Taohua Island?”

Upon hearing this question, the old man’s expression suddenly went blank for a moment.

Then, as if noticing Chu Xinghui for the first time, the old man’s smile became even more eager: “Guest, do you wish to cross the sea?”

His tone, actions, and even the arc of his smile were identical to when he first asked Chu Xinghui the question.

It was creepy.

Chu Xinghui tightened his grip on his sword’s hilt and immediately became more alert.

However, the old man didn’t make any other move. It seemed like he was just a normal boatman.

Chu Xinghui carefully observed the old man for a while, then shook his head: “No need.”

He didn’t stay in place any longer and quickly moved away from the shore, heading toward the town behind him.

The town was small, consisting of only two streets. Its permanent residents were mostly ordinary people and low-ranking cultivators. Half of them ran shops along the street, doing business related to the dock, while the other half made their living from the sea, such as fishing. In addition to the permanent residents, there were also many travelers briefly staying there.

The people around spoke normally, with nothing unusual, and if it weren’t for the strange behavior of the old man earlier, this place would have seemed like an ordinary seaside settlement.

Chu Xinghui spent an hour walking around the town, gaining a general sense of the area.

He was about to continue walking and see if he could reach the outskirts of the town when he suddenly heard his stomach growl.

Chu Xinghui hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head and touched his stomach.

He was hungry.

Since his cultivation had advanced, he hadn’t felt hunger for a long time.

This was not a normal phenomenon.

Chu Xinghui didn’t immediately search for food but instead waited a little longer.

Although he appeared to be just like a living person on the outside, he knew that his physical body hadn’t come along. He was only in his soul form… Was the hunger he was feeling real?

He waited for a long time, but the hunger didn’t subside. In fact, it grew stronger. Soon, the weakness and dizziness from hunger overwhelmed him.

It seemed… no matter whether the hunger was real or not, if he didn’t find food here to fill his stomach, he would likely lose most of his fighting ability.

Chu Xinghui had no choice but to stop enduring hunger and went to search for food in the town.

Most of the people in the town were ordinary folk and low-level cultivators. Transactions were usually done with gold, silver, or low-grade spirit stones.

But he didn’t have a storage pouch on him, so he didn’t have a single coin to his name.

Chu Xinghui could only revert to his old profession, preparing to do some manual labor.

Luckily, before he began his cultivation, he often had to do such things, so he was quite familiar with the process.

Chu Xinghui glanced around and entered an inn that appeared to be doing good business, asking the owner if they needed temporary workers.

Unfortunately, though the inn was busy, they didn’t need any help, and Chu Xinghui didn’t get the job.

Finding work required patience, so he wasn’t discouraged and went to ask at a second place.

After inquiring at three places, he finally found a noodle shop in need of a temporary worker, busy to the point that they gladly took him in once they saw how quick and efficient he was.

Chu Xinghui worked for a day at the shop, managing to get a couple of meals in the process. The shopkeeper was very satisfied with his work and, before he left, gave him an extra bag of buns along with his pay.

Chu Xinghui politely thanked the shopkeeper, but just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard the shopkeeper speak: “Head east and take a boat across the sea.”

Chu Xinghui paused mid-step.

He squinted his eyes, turned around, and double-checked: “What did you say?”

The shopkeeper smiled and repeated: “Head east and take a boat across the sea.”

Chu Xinghui asked: “Where is the boat going?”

The shopkeeper didn’t answer. As if pre-programmed, he continued to speak his lines: “This place is not a place to rest. The destination of all outsiders is across the sea. Go take the boat.”

When Chu Xinghui asked again, the shopkeeper only repeated those few lines and had nothing else to say.

Chu Xinghui gave him a glance, not wasting any more time asking questions, and left the shop.

As soon as he stepped out, the shopkeeper resumed his normal actions, as though nothing unusual had happened.

After leaving the shop, Chu Xinghui took out the white jade pendant that had guided him here and checked the direction again.

The light from the pendant fluctuated with his movements, continuing to lead him toward the sea.

Everything here was telling him… to find the clues, he had to cross the sea.

However, his intuition told him that crossing the sea on that boat wasn’t a good idea.

The sky gradually darkened.

Chu Xinghui glanced up at the sky, his thoughts briefly veering away from the matter at hand.

He wondered how his body was doing and if Xie Liufeng had noticed that his soul was missing.

But the pressing matter was still to leave this strange place as soon as possible.

Chu Xinghui snapped his focus back to the present and continued considering his options.

As the sky darkened further, people in the town began heading home in small groups.

Among them, Chu Xinghui spotted the old man who was in charge of ferrying people across the sea.

He felt a stir in his heart, remembering the oddities of the boat, and decided to wait until nightfall to inspect the boat further.

Resolved, Chu Xinghui walked closer to the boat, finding a spot to sit down and eat a bun while he waited for nightfall.

Just as he was about to take a bite, a hand suddenly reached out from the side and casually took a piece of his bun.

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He glanced at the hand and, for some reason, felt a bit relieved.

He decided to humor this unknown person who had suddenly appeared and handed over another large piece of his bun.

Neither of them spoke. They quietly shared the entire bun.

After finishing the food, Chu Xinghui turned and looked at the person who had appeared beside him: “What are you doing here?”

Xie Liufeng sat down beside him, propped his chin thoughtfully, and after a while, he suddenly remembered: “Ah, that’s right, my partner went missing, so I came to look for him.”

With a sorrowful look, he turned to Chu Xinghui and politely asked: “Good Samaritan, do you happen to know where my partner is?”

Good Samaritan: “…”

The good Samaritan felt like he might soon lose his partner.

Xie Liufeng, having finished his little act, stopped teasing him and shared the strange happenings he had encountered in the town: “As soon as I arrived here, everyone in the town kept urging me to take a boat across the sea. Did you experience the same thing today?”

Chu Xinghui nodded and recounted his experiences in the town, sharing his plans with Xie Liufeng: “I’m thinking of checking out that boat once it gets dark.”

Upon hearing the mention of the boat, Xie Liufeng’s expression turned peculiar.

He was about to explain when the town suddenly became agitated.

First, someone shouted something from a distance, and then the townsfolk began rushing in one direction.

Xie Liufeng, unable to explain any further, grabbed Chu Xinghui and pulled him along to check out the commotion.

The crowd was gathering around… the boat.

Xie Liufeng and Chu Xinghui were close to each other, so they easily squeezed to the front of the crowd and saw what happened ahead.

The boat, which had been intact during the day, was now miserably lying in the water. There was a large hole in the bottom, and water had already accumulated inside. It seemed it was doomed.

Chu Xinghui couldn’t help but look at Xie Liufeng and quietly sent him a voice transmission: “What… happened?”

He instinctively felt that this incident must have something to do with Xie Liufeng.

Xie Liufeng seemed to not know what happened either: “Yes, what did happen?”

He smiled at Chu Xinghui, and, as if seriously guessing, said: “I guess a kind-hearted person must have secretly sabotaged the boat after everyone was persuaded to get on, simply to go against the crowd.”

 

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