Chapter 110

Chapter 110: Boats on the Sea
Sailing on the open sea was boring and dull, yet they had to stay alert at every moment in case sea beasts suddenly rushed up from the deep and caused trouble or attacked.

Right now, their small wooden raft was moving steadily across the water.

Suddenly, a tentacle lashed out like lightning.

Crack!

The small raft shattered on the spot.

Wood splinters flew everywhere.

A palace-sized Eight-Legged Sea Monster rose halfway out of the ocean, its tentacles covered in suckers whipping wildly through the air.

Ji Han Zhou stood on his Flying Sword, circling around the Eight-Legged Sea Monster.

The monster’s attention locked onto him. Half of its tentacles shot toward Ji Han Zhou, sharp sonic booms sounding one after another.

The tentacles were extremely fast, but Ji Han Zhou’s sword-riding flight was not slow either. He moved like a light butterfly, weaving with perfect accuracy between four of the tentacles.

Whoosh…

Two more tentacles burst out of the sea, breaking through the waves. Huge sprays of water crashed against Ji Han Zhou, blocking his vision.

He narrowly dodged another tentacle and shouted anxiously: “Senior Sister Yu, I can’t hold on much longer!”

“I’m here.”

Ji Han Zhou looked over on instinct and saw that at some unknown point, Yu Zhao was already standing on top of the Eight-Legged Sea Monster’s head. Calm and relaxed, she lit a small scented cake.

In an instant, a thick, sweet fragrance with a faint smell of wine spread out quickly.

The monster’s tentacles clearly slowed down, and its huge body began to twist and squirm sluggishly.

Poof…

A black column of water shot up into the sky.

Then it fell back down in a thin, steady rain into the sea.

Before long, the surface of the water was covered with floating corpses of sea beasts.

By this time, the Eight-Legged Sea Monster had completely forgotten Ji Han Zhou’s existence. Its tentacles were striking at one another, fighting fiercely.

Huge suckers and broken bits of tentacle flew wildly through the air. It looked especially gruesome.

Ji Han Zhou could not help clicking his tongue in his heart. [Senior Sister Yu’s illusion techniques amaze me every single time.]

“Let’s go. It won’t live much longer.”

Yu Zhao stood on a freshly taken-out wooden raft, perfectly composed, as she spoke to Ji Han Zhou.

Ji Han Zhou nodded and jumped onto the raft.

These past days, sea beasts had harassed them again and again. The two of them had already worked together many times and were used to it by now.

The raft set out once more.

Ji Han Zhou looked at the endless stretch of sea, feeling a bit down. He said, “Senior Sister Yu, how long do you think it’ll be before we run into anyone else?”

Being alone with Senior Sister Yu was definitely something to be happy about. But he had been away from the sect for too long with no news at all. The sect would surely think he had met with an accident and would be worried sick.

Besides, out here on the sea, aside from seawater, there were only all kinds of ugly sea beasts. After seeing too many of them, it just became annoying.

Ji Han Zhou only wanted to get back on shore as soon as possible. He did not want to keep drifting on the sea like this.

Of course, he did not really expect Yu Zhao to know the answer. He just wanted to vent his frustration.

Who would have thought Yu Zhao would answer firmly: “Right now.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the raft under Ji Han Zhou’s feet suddenly sped up. His center of gravity shifted, and he almost fell off the raft.

“Senior Sister Yu…”

Before Ji Han Zhou could finish his sentence, the words stuck in his throat.

Ahead of them, on the surface of the sea, a sesame-sized black dot was slowly moving westward.

Ji Han Zhou grew excited.

A boat!

People!

They had finally met other people!

The people on the distant boat seemed to notice them as well. Their speed slowed down.

Seeing this, Yu Zhao sped up and gave chase.

About the time it took one stick of incense to burn later, the raft stopped at a distance of about ten zhang from the boat.

Yu Zhao cupped her hands and said, “Fellow Daoists, my junior brother and I have unfortunately drifted out here. I hope you can do us a favor and give the two of us a ride. I would be extremely grateful.”

“You can come aboard, but each person has to pay ten high-grade spirit stones as a fare. Otherwise, we won’t be taking you.”

A burly, middle-aged man with a full beard stepped out on the boat and shouted loudly.

Ten high-grade spirit stones were enough to buy a hundred boats just like this one. It was obvious the middle-aged man believed Yu Zhao and Ji Han Zhou had no way to refuse and was taking advantage of the situation to gouge them.

For Yu Zhao and Ji Han Zhou, ten high-grade spirit stones were not a big deal, but when traveling, it was better to stay cautious.

Yu Zhao deliberately put on an angry look and bargained with the middle-aged man for a long time. Only when he pretended he was about to leave did she finally hand over the fare with apparent reluctance.

She was the first to board the boat and quietly swept her gaze around.

There were seven people on the boat in total: two women and five men. From where they stood, they were split into four groups.

The middle-aged man with the beard and a charming woman around forty years old formed one group; the pair of middle-aged man and woman who stood close and intimate were another; and the remaining three men were a third.

One more thing stood out: all seven people on the boat were Golden Core cultivators. The charming woman had the highest cultivation. She was at the Late Golden Core stage. The others were mostly at the Mid Golden Core stage.

Yu Zhao’s heart sank.

[Looks like I really boarded a bandits’ ship.]

After Ji Han Zhou came aboard, he stood one step behind Yu Zhao, watching the others with caution.

“You don’t have to be so tense. Since you are on my boat, you are my customers. I, Boss Wu, will definitely send you safely to shore.”

The middle-aged man grinned, then pointed toward the charming woman and said, “Right, I forgot to introduce you. This is Lady Hua, a Late Golden Core cultivator. Her favorite type is handsome young men like this little brother.”

Lady Hua covered her mouth as she laughed, her body swaying. “Boss Wu, if I don’t like young, handsome gentlemen, would I like an old hairy cabbage like you instead?”

Boss Wu burst out laughing and did not get angry. Then he introduced the affectionate middle-aged pair. “This is Brother Zhao Xian, and this is his Dao companion, Wang Zhen. The two of them are so loving that it makes the rest of us jealous.”

Zhao Xian and Wang Zhen were not talkative types. They simply smiled and nodded in reply.

“The three over there are three brothers from the Long Clan. The tall one is Long One, the slightly shorter one is his second brother, Long Two, and the plump one is the youngest, Long Three.”

When the Long Clan brothers heard Boss Wu introducing them, they did not even bother to turn their heads to look. They treated everyone else as air.

“The three Long brothers are a bit strange. Just ignore them.”

Boss Wu did not mind. He patted the side of the boat and laughed loudly. “As for me, I’m the boss of this boat. You can call me Boss Wu.”

Yu Zhao followed his lead and said, “Boss Wu.”

She still did not know why these people had gathered together, but Boss Wu was clearly the central figure among them.

Before they fell out with each other, Yu Zhao did not mind playing along for a while to see if she could get any useful information.

Boss Wu seemed very pleased with how quickly Yu Zhao adapted. Even his thick beard could not hide his bright white teeth when he smiled.

“Boss Wu, my name is Yu Zhao, and this is my junior brother, Ji Han Zhou. We met with an accident and drifted here. It is thanks to Boss Wu that we can board. I am truly grateful.”

“No need, no need. We are all friends when we are out traveling. There is no need to be so polite.” Boss Wu laughed and waved a hand, looking bold and unrestrained.

If not for his earlier attempt to take advantage of them with the fare, Yu Zhao might really have thought he was an open-hearted man.

But this man’s words and actions did not match. He had to be guarded against.