“Boss, what’s wrong?” Xiao Zhan was puzzled.
“Don’t ask, just stop the boat,” Ye Qiu urged sharply.
Seeing Ye Qiu’s serious expression, Xiao Zhan quickly gave the order, halting the speedboat.
At this point, the speedboat was only forty metres from the ship ahead.
“Old thing, have you noticed anything off?” Ye Qiu asked.
Longbrow True Person gazed ahead and said, “It’s too quiet.”
“This place is lush and serene, yet not a single bird is in sight.”
“Not even the buzz of insects can be heard, it’s abnormal.”
Ye Qiu asked, “Xiao Zhan, how many people are on that ship ahead?”
Xiao Zhan replied, “There are twenty Dragon Gate disciples on Dragon Prosperity II, here to recover bodies.”
“Recover bodies?” Longbrow True Person was confused, “What does that mean?”
Ye Qiu explained, “A Dragon Gate ship sank here with thirty disciples on board. Dragon Prosperity II came to retrieve their bodies.”
Longbrow True Person’s eyes widened, “You said there was a peerless tomb! You lied to me?”
“How could I lie to you?” Ye Qiu said, “Before the ship sank, one of the disciples reported to Zhuque about a peerless tomb here.”
Hearing this, Xiao Zhan secretly gave Ye Qiu a thumbs-up.
*Brilliant move, Boss, pinning it on the dead. If we don’t find the tomb, Longbrow True Person can’t do anything to you.*
After all, the dead can’t testify.
Longbrow True Person asked again, “Little rascal, tell me, is there really a peerless tomb here?”
Ye Qiu replied, “Whether there’s a tomb or not, we’ll know once we sort things out here.”
Longbrow True Person was fuming, “Little rascal, let me be clear, if there’s no peerless tomb, I’ll skin you alive.”
Skin me? You?
Hah…
Ye Qiu smirked disdainfully.
Then, looking at Dragon Prosperity II ahead, he said, “Old thing, haven’t you noticed something’s off with that ship?”
Longbrow True Person observed the ship for a moment and said, “It’s excessively quiet.”
This was exactly Ye Qiu’s concern.
Dragon Prosperity II had twenty Dragon Gate disciples on board, here to recover bodies, which should cause some commotion. Yet, not only was there no sign of anyone, but not even a whisper could be heard.
Far too quiet.
Ye Qiu ordered Xiao Zhan, “Contact the Dragon Gate disciples on Dragon Prosperity II immediately.”
“Yes.”
Xiao Zhan nodded, pulled out his phone, and made a call.
After a while.
Ye Qiu asked, “Any response?”
Xiao Zhan replied, “I called the ship’s phone, no one answered.”
Ye Qiu instructed again, “Contact Zhuque, ask for an update.”
Xiao Zhan dialled Zhuque, inquired, and reported back to Ye Qiu, “Boss, I asked Zhuque, she’s unaware of the situation.”
Ye Qiu pressed, “Did you ask Zhuque when she last contacted the people on Dragon Prosperity II?”
“Zhuque said the last contact was at ten this morning, and there’s been no communication since.”
“Boss, could the disciples on the ship be so exhausted from recovering bodies that they’re all asleep?”
Xiao Zhan shook his head after saying this, “That’s unlikely.”
“Dragon Gate disciples have clear task divisions. Even during rest, someone would be on watch, this shouldn’t happen.”
“I’ll try calling again.”
Xiao Zhan dialled again, but the result was the same, no one answered.
“Strange, why isn’t anyone picking up?”
“Could they not be on the ship?”
“That doesn’t make sense, they’re here to recover bodies. If not on the ship, where would they be?”
Xiao Zhan looked baffled.
“Ding!”
Suddenly, Xiao Zhan’s phone chimed. He checked it and saw a message from Cao Qingcheng with a table attached.
Xiao Zhan opened the table, which listed the names, identities, and contact details of the twenty Dragon Gate disciples on Dragon Prosperity II.
“Boss, Zhuque sent the contact details for those twenty disciples. I’ll call them.”
Xiao Zhan began dialling the first number.
“Sorry, the number you’ve called cannot be reached…”
He tried the second number.
“Sorry, the number you’ve called cannot be reached…”
He dialled the third.
“Sorry, the number you’ve called cannot be reached…”
Xiao Zhan was about to try another when Ye Qiu stopped him, “Enough, stop calling.”
“Boss, what now?” Xiao Zhan asked.
“Let’s check the ship ahead!” Ye Qiu, wary of danger, said, “Xiao Zhan, you and the old thing stay here, I’ll go first.”
“Little rascal, what’s that supposed to mean? Underestimating me?” Longbrow True Person said indignantly, “I’m a peerless master with nine strands of true qi. Without immortals, who dares challenge me?”
With that, Longbrow True Person leapt forward, his feet lightly tapping the water’s surface, landing on Dragon Prosperity II’s deck in an instant.
“Show-off!”
Ye Qiu cursed under his breath and told Xiao Zhan, “Drive the boat!”
The speedboat moved forward.
The forty-metre distance was covered in seconds.
When Ye Qiu boarded Dragon Prosperity II, he felt uneasy and asked Longbrow True Person, “Old thing, find anything?”
Longbrow True Person shook his head, “Not a single soul in sight.”
“That’s impossible!” Xiao Zhan didn’t believe it and rushed into the cabin.
Ye Qiu followed closely.
They searched but found no one, nor any signs of anything unusual on the ship.
Finally, the three gathered on the deck.
“Strange, where did twenty-odd people go?”
“Where could they be?”
Xiao Zhan frowned, saying, “Boss, could they have encountered some emergency and left on a lifeboat?”
“I checked, the lifeboats are still here,” Ye Qiu said, “Old thing, cast a divination.”
Longbrow True Person pulled three copper coins from his robe sleeve, muttering incantations. After a moment, he tossed them, and the coins spun rapidly in the air.
Soon after.
The three coins clattered to the ground.
Longbrow True Person glanced at them, collected the coins, and said, “The divination shows an auspicious omen.”
Ye Qiu’s heart tightened.
Just then, Xiao Zhan exclaimed, “Boss, look!”
Ye Qiu followed Xiao Zhan’s pointing finger to the river, where a floating corpse appeared in his sight.
Then a second corpse, a third.
A fourth…
In moments, twenty corpses floated on the river’s surface!
