Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 390 The Mermaid Tribe

The virtues of sages? Lu Zhengjian saw that he had added some literary flavor, and he couldn't help but feel that there was still a lot worth learning from the virtues of the ancient sages.

Mu Bing came close to Lu Zheng, a look of gratitude on her face, "Thank you, Master Lu, for your help. Otherwise, my people..."

The situation just now was very dangerous. If Lu Zheng had not taken action, not only would the cargo on the ship be lost, but many of the tribesmen might have been killed or injured.

Lu Zheng waved his hand and said, "It's not a big deal. After all, we still have to take your ship to Xinghai Bay, and we are doing ourselves a favor."

Mu Bing thanked him after hearing this, and took out a storage bag to express her gratitude, asking Lu Zheng to accept it.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng had no choice but to say, "I'll shamelessly take half, and give the rest to everyone. After all, it wasn't just my effort."

If he doesn't take it, it's not easy for others to take it, and it's not good to make Mu Bing feel that they owe him a favor.

Seeing Lu Zheng being so particular, Mu Bing smiled and said, "Let's do as Mr. Lu says."

Mu Bing took away half of the thank-you gift, and Qing Wan next to her helped to accept the benefit.

Mu Bing distributed the other half of the benefits as a reward to the tribesmen who had just contributed.

Everyone couldn't help but cheer, sweeping away their physical fatigue, and became more respectful to Lu Zheng and the others.

Lu Zheng stood on the deck and slowly adjusted his breathing, then looked around to make sure there was nothing unusual in the nearby waters.

Qing Wan was guarding him from the side. Seeing Lu Zhengzheng looking a little tired, she whispered, "Are you tired?"

"A little." Lu Zheng smiled slightly. "After all, I'm not strong enough to move mountains or fill the sea. Fortunately, I have learned many skills."

If he simply used his righteous energy, Lu Zheng would not be sure to take such a large ship out of that area of water.

Qing Wan couldn't help but look at Shuize and said quietly, "This place is really full of dangers. The weather is unpredictable, with sudden storms and undercurrents..."

In the undercurrent area that Lu Zheng and others had just left, the momentum of several huge whirlpools slowly dissipated.

Before long, the entire water area became calm again.

Not far from the water, a figure was floating on the water, looming.

It was an elderly man, wearing gray clothes, hunched over, with a thick shell faintly visible on a small exposed patch of his back.

Judging from its appearance, it is obvious that it has the blood of the turtle demon clan.

The old man looked in the direction where the large ship had just sailed away, shook his head and sighed, "They actually managed to get away. What a shame! I didn't expect there were experts on board..."

In order to avoid being discovered, he was a little far away and could not see the situation in the turbulent waters clearly, but it was obvious that there was a strong person on the ship who took action to allow the large ship to pass through that area smoothly.

The old man muttered to himself for a while, then took out a palm-sized turtle shell.

He cast a spell with one hand, and the turtle shell shimmered with light.

Immediately, there was a spatial fluctuation and the old man disappeared from the spot.

When he appeared again, the old man had already arrived in another space. The space, which was several miles in size, was filled with water spirit, and a layer of aquatic plants grew on the wet ground.

Some dead aquatic monsters and spiritual fish were scattered everywhere, as well as many natural spiritual objects such as spiritual ores.

These were all things that were sucked in by the vortex just now.

That’s right, the previous undercurrent vortex was arranged by the old man.

There are natural abnormal undercurrents in Yunmengze, but the old man has a space treasure that can also imitate such undercurrents and use space vortexes to absorb spiritual energy and spiritual objects in an area of water.

He saw a large aquatic ship passing by here, so he secretly laid down arrangements on the road along its route.

The old man didn't expect that he would fail this time.

"What a pity! That's a merman merchant ship. I wonder how many valuable things are on it..."

The old man shook his head and muttered to himself, still unable to forget it.

Although he had not gained any benefits in the past, he was very confident this time, and as a result, such a large ship passed through smoothly.

Fortunately, I still managed to catch some miscellaneous things in the water, so it wasn't too bad.

The old man was picking up spiritual objects there and sorting them into categories.

Suddenly, he looked to the side and saw a roll of paper not far away, with a faint spiritual glow.

The old man's eyes lit up and he hurried over.

Before he even got close to the white paper, he felt a repulsive force, a very extraordinary force that made him dare not get too close.

"This is……"

The old man paused and looked at it for a while, "It should be some kind of spiritual object, it must be well preserved."

The old man took out a long jade box and threw it out.

The jade box flew towards the roll of paper, collected it, and warmed it with the spiritual energy in the jade.

The old man chuckled when he saw it, took back the jade box, and prepared to study it slowly later.

Then, the old man continued to clean up the other spiritual objects in this space.

……

Mu Bing asked everyone to rest for a while, but he was still worried that the waters were unsafe, so he took advantage of the night and ordered everyone to sail quickly.

Lu Zheng took a pill from the Yunmeng Sect to speed up his recovery.

It wasn't long before he felt refreshed and adjusted.

Afterwards, Lu Zheng stood at the bow, curiously observing how Mu Bing and the others navigated the ship at night, hoping to learn from their experience. Time slipped away quietly, and soon it was morning.

Qing Wan was breathing in spiritual energy facing the rising sun, and a group of half-grown children were also following Qing Wan's example and practicing there.

However, most of these half-human, half-demon children do not have the foundation for cultivation, and it is impossible for them to absorb and refine the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. They are just imitating others.

The cultivation methods of different monsters are not necessarily the same, so Qing Wan is not in a position to easily guide them in their cultivation.

She is a grass spirit, so there is no harm in absorbing some solar energy.

But it’s hard to say about other monsters. One theory is called “being possessed by the devil”, and another is called “bringing disaster upon oneself”. You can’t learn them randomly.

Qing Wan practiced for a while and said excitedly, "Come on, come on, I'll teach you something new today! Repeat after me, 'Man is born good...'"

A child couldn't help but whisper, "We're not human, are we?"

Qing Wan put her hands behind her back and said seriously, "Why not a human? As long as they look like humans and have a kind heart, they can be called humans. Similarly, even if they are humans, if they have a bad heart, they can't be called human! The saints said..."

Qingwan was like a teacher, explaining principles to these half-grown children.

Although these children don’t quite understand it, it still seems to make sense.

Mu Bing stood not far away, watching Qing Wan teach others, and couldn't help but say: "What a good child. It would be great if my clan had a teacher like Master Lu."

Mu Bing obviously knew that Qing Wan could understand so much at such a young age, and it must have been taught by Lu Zheng.

Hearing this, Lu Zheng, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but say, "She is naturally kind, intelligent, and studious. She has little to do with me."

Lu Zheng recalled that Qing Wan was very small in the past. She was nourished by the cultural energy before she became a spirit. After becoming a spirit, she could distinguish between good and evil. His teachings only accelerated her growth.

Mu Bing then said quietly, "Actually, I envy you guys for being able to travel around and be so free and unrestrained."

Although she is a demon from the fourth realm, as a mermaid, she has to work hard for the survival of her fellow mermaids and has no freedom at all.

Lu Zheng smiled upon hearing this and said, "It's just a show in front of others. The burden on my shoulders is not light either."

Mu Bing's eyes flashed with surprise, and she asked, "What else is there to worry about, Master Lu?"

Lu Zhengdao: "Too many."

Seeing that Lu Zheng didn't elaborate, Mu Bing didn't ask any more questions.

She raised her hand and pointed forward, saying, "In just over a hundred miles, we'll reach a small island where our mermaid tribe gathers. We'll stop there for half a day to move some supplies."

"No problem, I'm not in a hurry." Lu Zheng said.

The sturdy ship sailed through the wind and waves, speeding all the way.

In the distant water, a black dot can be vaguely seen, which is an island.

After walking for a while, some figures rose and fell on the shimmering water.

Qing Wan took a closer look and said, "Someone is swimming. Is he catching fish?"

It was a bit far away, and Qingwan could only see some people splashing in the water, and thought they were fishing.

Mu Bing, who was standing beside him, smiled and explained, "They're not fishing, they're pearling. We have pearl oysters a hundred feet underwater in this area, and they dive here to collect them... The high-quality pearls are then refined and become what you call mermaid pearls, which can be sold for a good price."

"Is that so..." Qing Wan nodded suddenly.

Qing Wan couldn't help but look towards the water surface, her eyes shining as if she wanted to find those pearls through the deep water, but her eyesight was not that good, and she could only see fish swimming in the shallow water.

The mermaids who were collecting pearls in the distance also saw the big ship. After discovering that it was a ship of their own tribe, they swam towards the ship.

When the two sides got closer, Lu Zheng and Qing Wan discovered that the mermaids in the water were real mermaids.

These mermaids are smaller than ordinary people, and their faces are slightly different from humans. The most important thing is that they have human bodies but fish tails.

There are pure-blooded mermaids on the ship, such as Mu Bing, but Mu Bing has completely transformed, so she is very different from the mermaids with fish tails.

When traveling for business or sailing, these mermaids with fish tails find it inconvenient to move around, but they are suitable for pearl farming and pearl collecting here.

The characteristics of mermaids allow them to dive into deep water easily.

Even some of the half-human, half-merman sailors on the ship couldn't do it.

Hearing Mu Bing's story, Qing Wan was amazed, "It really has a tail, it looks so powerful."

Mu Bing smiled when she heard this, "They think people with legs are powerful."

Those with tails envy those with feet, and those with feet envy those with tails. This is also quite common among the mermaids.

The mermaids of Yunmengze have had blood exchanges with humans for a long time.

Due to their different bloodlines, mermaids have different appearances.

Of course, there are also mermaids who maintain pure blood and work hard to transform through practice.

This type of mermaid has the highest status among its kind.

Qing Wan stared at these mermaids, her face full of curiosity.

She had only heard people describe it before, but now seeing it with her own eyes was an eye-opener for her.

The mermaids in the water swam to the side of the big ship, swinging their tails and swimming quickly in the water.

Some mermaids even greeted some of their fellow tribesmen on the boat, obviously they were old acquaintances.

There were also beautiful mermaids singing an unknown song. Even the words were incomprehensible, but the song was melodious and beautiful, as if they were welcoming their tribesmen who had returned from afar.

(End of this chapter)