Chapter 267 : Dangers Abound
Zhong Heng led the two women toward the native settlement. With no time to hunt along the way, they simply gathered some spirit fruits to fill their stomachs. Fortunately, though spirit fruits weren't abundant on the island, they could still be found with some searching.
Jiang Mo, with her exceptional sense of smell, quickly located a Cloud Departure Fruit tree bearing twenty or so heavy fruits.
Cloud Departure Fruit was an extremely common spirit fruit containing minimal spiritual energy and rather bland in taste—a variety Jiang Mo had tried once and promptly forgotten. However, this previously unremarkable fruit now possessed one redeeming quality: its considerable size, larger than an adult's fist by a full circumference, allowing a woman to satisfy her hunger with just one or two.
Given this modest advantage, the three harvested all the fruits from the tree. Jiang Mo took three, Yun Qingyue took two, and the remainder went to Zhong Heng.
Zhong Heng didn't mind the fruit's bland taste and devoured one in just a few bites.
Seeing his satisfaction, Jiang Mo wondered if the Cloud Departure Fruits on this merperson island were somehow different. She bit into one herself, only to find the taste just as bland as she remembered. Apart from being large and juicy, they were utterly unremarkable... As she mentally complained while filling her stomach, she suddenly sensed something amiss.
After a few more bites of the Cloud Departure Fruit, Jiang Mo abruptly realized what was wrong and looked up to ask the others: "Have you noticed these Cloud Departure Fruits seem to contain absolutely no spiritual energy?"
No matter how unremarkable Cloud Departure Fruits might be, they were still spirit fruits and should contain at least some spiritual energy. Yet these were different—they contained not even a trace of spiritual energy. Not only had Jiang Mo failed to detect any, but when she had the system scan them, the result was the same.
After her reminder, Yun Qingyue and Zhong Heng also noticed this peculiarity, which made them feel somewhat uneasy.
But having come this far with no way to leave, they could do little except continue eating their fruits.
The three silently finished their Cloud Departure Fruits, and after barely satisfying their hunger, resumed their journey. Occasionally, they encountered spirit herbs along the way, but upon examination found these too contained no spiritual energy. Only the rarer varieties held a faint trace of spiritual power.
Jiang Mo secretly had the system test and compare them, discovering that even the rare spirit herbs contained only about one percent of their normal spiritual energy. Logically, in such spiritually sparse conditions, these herbs shouldn't have sprouted at all, yet not only had they grown, they had reached maturity—they simply lacked spiritual energy.
In short, the merperson island was strange, and everything on it was equally strange.
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The three resumed their journey with many questions in mind. After walking for approximately half an hour, they finally caught a distant glimpse of the native settlement Zhong Heng had discovered earlier. For safety, they didn't approach recklessly but instead climbed the tallest nearby tree.
The island, formed countless millennia ago, contained innumerable giant trees. The one selected by Jiang Mo's group stood several dozen zhang tall, offering a comprehensive view of the surroundings from its crown... Perhaps because this giant tree was so impressive, Jiang Mo's trio weren't the only ones who had chosen it. Halfway up, they suddenly came face to face with a stranger.
The person wore azure-colored cultivator robes and had sun-darkened, wheat-colored skin. Clearly not expecting anyone to climb up the tree, he froze momentarily upon seeing Jiang Mo's group. But his expression quickly changed dramatically as he opened his mouth to shout.
Zhong Heng, swift and sharp-eyed, immediately covered the man's mouth with his hand. Jiang Mo moved even faster, leaping up in two or three steps and knocking him unconscious with a chop.
Yun Qingyue, intentionally or not protected behind the other two, witnessed this scene without misunderstanding—while the person indeed wore cultivator robes, his identity was unmistakable. First, his skin color matched that of the island's natives perfectly. Second, crude bows, arrows, and bone knives hung at his waist—clearly a local aboriginal who had simply donned a cultivator's robe.
Zhong Heng studied the person for a moment and realized he was quite young, making it easy to guess what had happened. The youth was likely responsible for lookout duty, but due to the settlement's long period of peace and his youthful carelessness, he had failed to notice the trio's approach.
After a brief consideration, Zhong Heng looked at the two women and made a slashing gesture across his throat, seeking their opinion.
Yun Qingyue immediately shook her head without hesitation. First, they didn't know whether these people were good or evil, making it unnecessary to commit senseless killing. Second, they didn't understand the settlement's background—though these people didn't cultivate, they must possess extraordinary qualities to have established roots in the deep sea. What if they had methods like soul lamps? Killing him now might immediately expose them.
Moreover, should things go awry, they now had a hostage. Or they could take him with them when they left, potentially extracting valuable information—a living person was far more useful than a dead one.
Jiang Mo naturally agreed with this reasoning. Zhong Heng wasn't fond of killing either, so he simply hung the unconscious youth on a tree fork. Concerned about him waking prematurely, Zhong Heng struck the back of his neck again to ensure he wouldn't regain consciousness for the rest of the day.
Having completed these tasks, the three finally had time to observe the distant settlement.
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Just as Jiang Mo's group approached the native settlement, in another jungle a hundred li away, more than a dozen people were desperately fleeing for their lives. Had Jiang Mo's group been present, they would have recognized two familiar faces among them.
Though only one day had passed since landing on the island, Tan Xin's monk robe had already suffered several tears. He ran forward with uneven steps, as if something were pursuing him. He wasn't the only one running desperately—behind him followed a dozen or so cultivators, slower than him but looking even more disheveled.
The person closest behind him was You Yi. The two were old acquaintances, having traveled together for some time in the Canglán Secret Realm eighty years ago. Now, You Yi ran while looking back, gnashing his teeth: "Why won't they stop chasing us? What do these people want?"
Tan Xin ran at top speed, too breathless to respond. Occasionally glancing back, he saw their pursuers closing in—about a dozen strange people wearing hemp clothing, possessing strength ordinary cultivators could never match, wielding crude weapons cultivators would never deign to use. Though they had never met before, these people had attacked immediately upon sight!
Like Jiang Mo's group, Tan Xin and You Yi had been carried to the merperson island in the mouth of the same great fish. At that time, Tan Xin had also remained conscious like Jiang Mo's group and awakened the others after landing.
Unlike Jiang Mo's group, however, Tan Xin hadn't left on his own, and those he had awakened chose to stick together—except for a few demonic cultivators who had fallen in with righteous path circles. Even when spirit beasts attacked during the night, they hadn't scattered but had retreated while fighting, making their way inland. Eventually, they had somehow shaken off the spirit beasts.
Dawn broke shortly after, but their dangers hadn't ended—they soon encountered this group of strange people.
Their attire made it clear these couldn't possibly be companions from the ghost ship; they were native-born locals. Initially, considering they were all human beings, the cultivators thought they might communicate and inquire about the island. However, the person who approached hadn't even opened his mouth before being knocked down by a single punch.
The cultivators were shocked, then angered, and naturally a fight broke out.
Having cultivated for many years, the cultivators had not only developed spiritual energy but also bodies tempered to extraordinary toughness through successive lightning tribulations. They had expected to gain the upper hand, easily defeating these aboriginals before proceeding with their inquiries.
Reality proved their expectations far too optimistic. How could humans who had established roots in the deep sea spirit beast territory be simple adversaries? Though these people lacked spiritual energy, their fists were formidable. After just a few brief exchanges, the group of forty to fifty cultivators was immediately reduced by half. The rest were either knocked unconscious or beaten so badly they couldn't rise from the ground.
This had occurred despite their numerical advantage. Now with their numbers halved, continuing to fight head-on would be foolish. Those who recognized the situation immediately fled, and the others naturally followed suit.
This explained their current predicament. Tan Xin, being swift of foot, quickly reached the front, while those cultivators who fell behind and were caught by the aboriginals had mostly been subdued. Who knew what fate awaited them?
Since the Canglán Secret Realm eighty years ago, You Yi seemed to have developed a profound understanding of his own unfortunate constitution. Though he hadn't experienced such bad luck since then, when faced with such danger now, he adapted surprisingly quickly. Seeing Tan Xin look back to assess the situation, he continued speaking to himself: "Junior Brother Tan Xin, what do you think those people will do with all the people they've captured? Surely they won't kill and eat them?"
Tan Xin didn't respond, but the few cultivators following not far behind heard You Yi's words, and cold sweat immediately broke out on their backs. After exchanging glances, they ran even faster.
You Yi and Tan Xin were nearly overtaken, though it hardly mattered now as the whistling sound of an object cutting through air quickly approached.
A bone arrow shot through the air, narrowly missing You Yi's ear as he deftly dodged to the side.
With a "thud," it embedded deeply into the tree trunk ahead.