Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 346 The Lost Ship

"Fifth Realm?" Qing Wan tilted her head. "If we had that ability, would we still need to ride on your ship?"

Qing Wan felt that if Lu Zheng was at the fifth realm, killing the big toad would be a matter of a word, and it wouldn't cause any big commotion.

Qing Wan paused and continued, "It's just a big toad. It just takes a little time. The main reason is that the toad just now ran away, and he has to chase it."

Qing Wan could sense Lu Zheng leaving here, which proved that the big demon was incompetent and chose to escape.

Ran away... The captain thought to himself that the old Toad was quite powerful, but he was actually forced to escape after being beaten?

But think about it, if the big demon has the upper hand, it will not be possible for it to leave this place.

The captain wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "You two should go back and rest first. I have to direct the boat so we don't get lost."

"Alright." Qing Wan nodded and added, "But if you try to sacrifice people to the demons again, I'll throw you down."

The captain looked embarrassed when he heard this. In the water, there were always big monsters who would treat people as objects for trade, and they had no choice but to take people as offerings.

Seeing that the captain was silent, Qing Wan glared at him and asked, "Is there any problem?"

The captain couldn't help but say, "Those mortals are just slaves. Even if we don't offer them as sacrifices, some monsters will still capture them. Offering some slaves to protect others is the custom here..."

Qing Wan frowned and said, "Are slaves not human beings? Then why don't you offer yourself?"

"This..." the captain said darkly, "Those demons wouldn't look down on people like me... and we're not the only ones who do this."

Qing Wan said calmly, "I haven't met the others, so I can't intervene. But I saw what you did, so I should intervene! Is there a problem?"

The captain looked at the long sword pointed at him and nodded stiffly, "You have a point."

Qing Wan shook her head and said, "It's a pity that there are no laws here. You still have to sail, otherwise..."

The captain felt an inexplicable chill down his spine when he heard this.

Fang Jin, who was standing beside him, said, "Yunmengze is a lawless place. Whoever has the ability decides the rules. You don't have to follow the law. No one will care if you attack them directly. Besides, rules are made by people, and here you can make your own rules."

Qingwan's eyes flickered, and the look she gave the captain changed.

The captain's scalp tingled, and he quickly said, "Gentlemen, I had no choice, and I'm doing this for everyone else... If it weren't for the fact that most of the great monsters in Yunmeng Lake are not kind, ordinary people like us on the ship wouldn't have ended up like this."

The captain spoke with grievance and complained bitterly.

Qing Wan became impatient and said, "Alright, drive your boat properly!"

After saying that, Qing Wan took small steps and left with an unhappy look on her face.

She turned her head slightly to look at Fang Jin who was following beside her and asked, "Your Xuanyang Sect is a local sect after all, why don't you care about these things?"

Seeing Qing Wan asking him again, Fang Jin's expression froze and he whispered, "Well, I'm just a disciple, how would I know about such things?"

Qing Wan narrowed her eyes and asked doubtfully, "How could you not know?"

Fang Jin couldn't help but say, "The Yunmeng Lake is so huge, and our Xuanyang Sect only occupies a small area. We can't manage it all."

"But you, the Xuanyang Sect, certainly have a lot of people, and you have experts. Can't you even deal with these third and fourth realm monsters?" Qing Wan said quietly, "If you take some time out every year, can't you solve the problem? If things keep going like this, those monsters will behave themselves. Ultimately, it's because you just don't want to intervene."

Qing Wan sighed and said, "I'd heard that there were many powerful sects in Yunmeng Lake before, and I thought it was a fairyland. But it turns out there are so many evil demons and ghosts here. It's really disappointing."

While speaking, Qing Wan was still staring at Fang Jin.

"Uh……"

Fang Jin felt uncomfortable when Qing Wan looked at him. He inexplicably felt a sense of shame in his heart and was unable to refute anything for a while.

"Ahem!" Fang Jin coughed dryly and said, "Don't look at me like that. I did help just now. So many people on the boat didn't make a move and were just watching the show."

Qing Wan couldn't help but say in a deep tone: "They are sick."

"What?" Fang Jin was stunned.

Qing Wan said quietly, "There's something wrong with their minds. Your symptoms are milder."

Fang Jin: ...

Are you saying he's mentally ill?
Seeing Qing Wan's serious look, he was speechless.

There was a faint sound of thunder coming from the distance.

Fang Jin looked in the direction of the sound and changed the subject, "The weather in this Daze is so unpredictable! Hahaha, your partner hasn't come back yet?"

……

In the water, Lu Zheng used the wind to control the boat and took a boat full of people towards the previous location.

After some time, the ship arrived at its original location, but the big iron ship was nowhere to be seen.

Lu Zheng saw some corpses of monsters floating around, and confirmed that there was no problem with the location. He quickly guessed something and followed the remaining traces.

In the vast swamp, many water areas are always filled with mist, making it impossible to see the sky and difficult to tell the direction.

Fortunately, the thunderstorm just passed and the sun was faintly visible in the sky.

In addition, Lu Zheng left a mark on Qingwan, so he could vaguely sense Qingwan's location.

After traveling for more than a hundred miles, Lu Zheng finally saw a large ship in front of him.

"came back!"

Qing Wan couldn't help but exclaim in joy when she saw the boat coming.

On the deck, others were waiting for the result. They were all surprised to see Lu Zheng returning with a boatload of people. When the captain learned of the situation, he also hurried over to check on the situation.

Lu Zheng looked at the captain and said, "Please take them aboard and take good care of them."

The captain didn't dare to refuse and nodded repeatedly, "Okay, okay, come on... Oh, right, that big monster?"

Lu Zheng jumped onto the big ship and said calmly, "Dead, nothing left. These people were rescued from the cave of that great demon..."

After hearing this and seeing Lu Zheng returning unharmed and bringing back so many people, no one dared to question it.

But some people were shocked and suspicious. After all, the beings in the Four Realms were not so easy to kill.

What kind of powerful method must be used to kill the big monster without leaving anything behind?
Fang Jin stepped forward and asked with concern: "Fellow Daoist Lu... are you okay?"

Fang Jin wondered whether he should call Lu Zheng "senior", but seeing that Lu Zheng looked even younger than him, he really couldn't say it.

Lu Zheng smiled faintly and said, "No problem, thank you Brother Fang for your help before."

Fang Jin couldn't help but feel ashamed when he heard this, "I didn't help much, I'm sorry to have made you laugh."

Lu Zhengdao: "It's good enough that I can do my best."

Qing Wan who was standing next to him was not worried about Lu Zheng at all. After hearing that the big monster's body was gone, she felt a little regretful. Doesn't this mean that he can't collect the bounty?

Lu Zheng looked at Qing Wan and said, "I need to go into seclusion to regulate my breathing. Please keep an eye on me."

"Okay." Qingwan nodded.

The two went straight back to the room. Lu Zheng entered his little world, while Qing Wan sat cross-legged in the room, studying while guarding the door.

Outside, the captain instructed the crew to take good care of the victims.

In the past, he wouldn't care much about these people.

But Lu Zheng was able to kill the four-level monsters and rescue these people, so he couldn't help but take it seriously.

When the other passengers on the boat saw Lu Zheng return safely, they all had different thoughts.

Some people even found Fang Jin and wanted to ask about the origins of Lu Zheng and the other person.

Fang Jin didn't know much. He only knew that one of the two people was surnamed Lu and the other was surnamed Qing. He didn't know anything else.

Seeing that some people wanted to curry favor with Lu Zheng, Fang Jin didn't want to pay any attention to them at all.

Even he couldn't find a chance to make friends with Lu Zheng and the others, so how could these people be worthy?

When Jing Wei learned that Lu Zheng had returned safely, she breathed a sigh of relief and thought to herself that her choice was indeed the right one.

Lu Zheng's return also made everyone feel at ease, and they could continue their journey without worrying.

The captain continued to sail in the Yunmeng Lake according to the previously planned route.

They traveled a thousand miles and everything went smoothly.

One night, the lake was covered with mist and it was pitch dark.

The moving iron ship had to stop and wait for the fog to dissipate.

However, until noon the next day, the thick fog still did not dissipate, and the sky was dark and difficult to discern the direction.

Even the magnetic needle and magic tools used to find the direction were affected by the abnormal spiritual energy around them and temporarily lost their effectiveness.

Seeing this, the captain had to continue waiting.

Another day passed, and the thick fog dissipated a little, but it was still difficult to see far.

Some passengers on the ship were getting a little impatient waiting, but there was nothing they could do.

After all, if you get lost while sailing in such weather, it would be no joke.

The captain stood at the bow, looking at the misty water with some anxiety.

Most of the people on the boat were going to the Immortal Gate to attend or observe the conference to recruit disciples. If they were delayed, it was possible that some noble person would vent his anger on them.

The captain could only hope that the fog would dissipate as soon as possible, but the weather in Yunmeng Lake was unpredictable and no one could predict whether it would be sunny or rainy the next moment.

Not far away, a monk stared intently, "Is there a large ship over there?"

Upon hearing this, some people around couldn't help but look over.

After a while, someone finally spoke up: "It seems there is a ship, and it's coming towards us."

The captain's eyes widened, but he still couldn't see anything.

However, he trusted the judgment of those practitioners and quickly ordered someone to ring the bell to sound a warning.

After a while, a different bell sounded in response.

The captain heard the unique rhythmic sound and determined which ship was coming from the opposite direction.

When the two large ships approached, the captain saw the appearance of the ship opposite, which was the ship that left the port of Daze City five days earlier than his and headed for Xianmen.

The captain saw the captain of the other ship and asked, "Why are you here? According to the schedule, you shouldn't be returning so soon."

The captain of the other boat said solemnly, "We're lost. We've been wandering around these waters for days now, unable to find a way out. I didn't expect you to end up here. I remember you didn't take this route..."

(End of this chapter)