I am a full-level celestial master, you let me enter the strange talk of rules?

As he asked the question, Zhang Yangqing's purple eyes were fixed on every subtle expression and change in the eyes of the beautiful woman with peach blossom eyes.

As expected! The moment she heard the question, a fleeting look of regret and pain flashed in the depths of the beautiful woman's eyes. Although she quickly concealed it, she could not escape Zhang Yangqing's observation.

She then explained in a natural tone, "Oh, that's right. You can't stay in the patrol officer's misty area for too long, or you'll become confused and your memory will be muddled. I felt something was wrong, so I quickly retreated and only found my way back after the patrol officer left that area."

She spoke casually, but Zhang Yangqing already understood.

This guy is lying; she definitely didn't come here from her dimension alone!
She most likely has a "partner" in the same line of work.

While traversing the misty areas of the patrolling envoy, they may lose their memories due to the influence of the rules, falling into a situation similar to the mutual destruction he and the chairman experienced.

Ultimately, it's likely that this woman, in a state of mental confusion, killed her own companion in order to escape the fog and reach the village.

That experience was clearly a scar, or rather a sin, that she was unwilling to recall or touch deep within her heart.

This also explains why, when the chairman interacted with the boy with one white eye and showed some tenderness, Zhang Yangqing said something that seemed to be an encouragement but was actually full of hidden meaning.

"If you keep dwelling on the past and can't see the road ahead, you'll only miss out on more, won't you?"

At that time, Zhang Yangqing already suspected that she had the blood of her companions on her hands. That sentence was both a test of her reaction and a psychological suggestion to warn her not to repeat the same mistake. At the same time, it planted a thorn in her heart.

In retrospect, Zhang Yangqing's judgment at the time was at least 90% correct!
How can someone who has killed their own partner possibly be considered merciful?

It's not that he's cold-hearted; it's that the supernatural world deliberately torments outsiders, making them cold-blooded.

Zhang Yangqing's level of vigilance towards her rose again.

In Zhang Yangqing's view, this guy's alliance with us was only temporary and based on mutual interests, with no foundation of trust whatsoever.

In critical moments, she can definitely step up.

This woman is not to be trusted; she can only be used.

If you discover any unusual behavior from her, or if she loses her usefulness, you should abandon her if necessary, and you should silence her without hesitation.

In the world of ghost stories, being merciful to your enemies is being cruel to yourself.

Both harbored their own ulterior motives, but outwardly maintained a cooperative facade as they traversed mountains and valleys, eventually arriving once again at that desolate and eerie dock.

Hidden in the shadows, the beautiful woman with peach blossom eyes pointed to the outlines of several ships that were faintly visible in the mist in the distance and began to share the information she knew: "Although the rules only mention two types of ships, 'life and death ships,' in reality, there are as many as seven types of ships that enter this dock! We can roughly determine the type of ship by observing the clothing and appearance of the 'people' on board."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yangqing immediately realized the real difficulty of this challenge!
He instantly deduced that these seven different ships were likely heading to seven different "ports" or destinations!

Their goal is to find the "life ship" that can carry living people to the area where the immortal tree may exist.

This means that they not only have to accurately identify which of the seven ships is the "living ship," but also ensure that the "living ship" is heading to the correct "port" they want to go to!

Two enormous problems are intertwined, and any misjudgment could lead to utter ruin.

This is several times more difficult than simply distinguishing between life and death!
At this stage, the other chosen ones may still be frantically trying to strike up conversations with dockworkers, attempting to piece together clues about the destinations of the seven ships from their fragmented conversations.

This is undoubtedly a time-consuming, labor-intensive, and uncertain process that could take several days or even longer, possibly ten days to half a month. But Zhang Yangqing's approach was completely different.

He seemed to have no direct clues, but in fact, the clues were already hidden within the established rules.

Rules are never given arbitrarily.

He recalled a key rule:
[Rule 3: If you see a stream flowing backwards and stained with blood, this is the River of Reversal, a place where 'resentment' gathers. If a human drowns in it, their flesh and blood will become part of the stream. If someone strangely steps into it, they can go upstream.]

Zhang Yangqing quickly analyzed the situation: The rules specifically state that the chosen ones need to find the "River of Reversal," so the area where this river is located is very likely their ultimate goal for this trip, the area where the Immortal Tree is located!

Because this is the only rule that provides a general location hint.

But the "countercurrent" itself may be a paradox or a hint.

Looking around, the rivers near the dock all appear to be flowing normally.

So, the true meaning of "going against the current" might refer to the direction in which the river flows, which is opposite to its final destination?
Or, in other words, is it necessary to "go against the current" in some special way to reach it?
Rule 3 also describes the River of Reversal as "bleeding red".

Therefore, it can be inferred that boats that travel on this special river year-round are likely to be stained with an imperceptible "dark red" color!
Therefore, the first step is to find the ship among the seven ships that has dark red marks on its hull and may be heading towards the Reverse River, which is the area of ​​the Undying Tree!

Once the target vessel is located, the next crucial step is to determine whether it is a "living" or "dead" vessel.

There exists a universal piece of information that all chosen ones, including the beautiful woman with almond-shaped eyes, can glean from villagers or laborers—a rule that breeds despair:

"Entering a living ship does not guarantee survival, but entering a dead ship guarantees death."

This rule has plunged countless outsiders into difficulties and fear.

The beautiful woman with almond-shaped eyes confirmed this, her tone filled with confusion and lingering fear: "I've observed for a long time, and, uh, I've also seen other people board the ships. But strangely, no matter whether they boarded what I judged as 'living ships' or 'dead ships,' none of them survived in the end. So, I'm becoming increasingly unsure whether my judgment method is correct, and I even suspect that all ships are dead ends."

She almost let slip that she was trying to trick her former teammates into boarding the ship for experiments, but she certainly didn't dare say it, lest she provoke the man's murderous intent.

But this man had already guessed this and was not swayed by her.

After listening, Zhang Yangqing shook his head and said, "Your judgment may be correct in direction, but your method is wrong."

The beautiful woman with peach blossom eyes was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Huh? Then how do I tell?"

Zhang Yangqing pondered for a moment, his eyes flashing with insight into the essence of the rules, and slowly explained: "Think about it, the reason why the 'living ship' is dangerous is because it carries 'living people,' or rather, beings with independent consciousness and the ability to act."

They are a self-contained system, following rules unknown to us. A strange, outsider attempting to board the ship violates their rules and will inevitably face rejection and attack. Therefore, boarding the live ship is almost certainly a death sentence.

He paused, then dropped a bombshell: "And the only way out lies precisely on the 'dead ship'."

"A dead ship?!" the beautiful woman with peach blossom eyes exclaimed in disbelief. "But doesn't the rule say that only the dead can enter the dead ship? If a living person goes on board, they will be immediately obliterated by the rules of death!"

Zhang Yangqing's lips curled into a meaningful smile as he said, "That's certainly how the rules are. But what if we 'become' dead? Or rather, what if we temporarily put ourselves into a state that the rules deem 'dead'?"

His words were like striking a match in the darkness, instantly illuminating a seemingly impossible yet logical path! (End of Chapter)