Chapter 277 : Contacting All Sides
Qingyu and Zhu Baiyi had gathered significant intelligence during their expedition, but rather than resolving the group's questions, they had only created more doubts. Regardless, one principle remained true: self-preservation was paramount, and they couldn't allow themselves to be captured by the natives.
Of course, those who had already been captured needed to be rescued as quickly as possible.
Perhaps guessing what Yun Qingyue was worried about, Jiang Mo moved closer to her and said: "Don't worry, there must be a reason the ghost ship brought so many people here. Many cultivators on the island haven't been captured yet, so whatever sacrifice they're planning probably isn't happening immediately. Once we recover our strength and manage to contact more people, we'll definitely rescue Zhong Heng and the others."
Yun Qingyue responded with a soft "Mm." Having stayed awake the previous night out of concern for her master and Zhu Baiyi, she hadn't rested. Now, as the two sat side by side, whether from fatigue or drowsiness, she slightly shifted her weight against Jiang Mo, even resting her head on her shoulder.
In an instant, Jiang Mo's heartbeat accelerated, the "thump-thump" sound echoing in her ears, making her afraid Yun Qingyue might hear it.
She quietly covered her heart, unable to express her excitement to anyone, and could only ask the system inwardly: "S-System, what do you think this means? Has she recognized me? Or is she simply being affectionate toward me?"
The system watched this scene with equal excitement, but unfortunately, it was a life-winning system, not a romance strategy system, and had no function to display affection levels. It truly didn't know Senior Sister's thoughts, but that didn't stop it from encouraging its host: "Host, whether Senior Sister has recognized you or not, someone with her personality showing affection toward you is a good thing! Don't hesitate—go for it!"
Jiang Mo was delighted inside, though her body remained rigid, her previously relaxed spine unconsciously straightening.
This small movement naturally didn't attract anyone's attention, and even the sight of Yun Qingyue leaning on her shoulder didn't draw many glances—few people knew Yun Qingyue's identity at this point, and since both had worn matching masks since their appearance, they had been perceived as a pair from the beginning. Their mutual support now seemed natural, and everyone's attention remained on the previous news.
Only Qingyu turned her head to look a few times. Though Jiang Mo didn't know the deeper relationship between her and Senior Sister, the mere identity of Master was enough to make her instinctively straighten her back even more. If not for concerns about her disguise, she might have offered a placating smile.
However, even without a placating smile, Qingyu seemed to understand something, her brow slightly furrowing.
Seeing this, Jiang Mo inexplicably felt a sense of foreboding, but before she could react, Qingyu looked away. She neither came forward to intervene nor disrupted the pair, as if Jiang Mo's impressions were mistaken.
In this brief moment, Jiang Mo's thoughts had already run wild, while Yun Qingyue, leaning on her shoulder, seemed completely unaware.
With eyes slightly closed, Yun Qingyue breathed in the familiar scent of Purple Cloud Flower, the worries in her heart seemingly eased without her realizing it.
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After a brief rest, the gathered group began to move—though they weren't confident about immediately confronting the merperson at full strength, they couldn't stand by and allow the natives to act freely. Therefore, the urgent task was to gather the scattered cultivators on the island. This would prevent the natives from capturing them one by one and accumulate enough power to determine their future actions.
However, compared to the ordinary disciples brought to the island by the large fish, the sect elders, though equally depleted of spiritual energy after landing, still possessed abilities far beyond ordinary disciples. Just like Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu, who had effortlessly visited the native tribe and even found the altar and encountered the merperson through the teleportation formation—feats clearly impossible for others.
Understanding this, as the group began to move, Jiang Mo carefully asked the two: "When the ghost ship was destroyed, I saw many streaks of light rising from it, which I assume were the various elders. Do you know the whereabouts of the others?"
Hearing this, Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu exchanged glances, not surprised that Jiang Mo had witnessed that scene. After all, her cultivation level wasn't much lower than Qingyu's, and was even higher than some elders who, believing in their own power, had tried to escape alone that day.
Facing a junior with such cultivation, they had no intention of concealing anything and briefly described what had happened: "Seven sects were gathered on the ghost ship that day, with each sect bringing two to three leading elders, totaling nineteen people. Besides them, there were also some powerful rogue cultivators, with thirteen people above Fusion realm on the ship. Those who chose to act that day were these people." Of course, excluding Jiang Mo, that left twelve people.
As Qingyu recounted the events, she still seemed traumatized: "Twelve Fusion cultivators would be enough to sweep across a region on the mainland, but in the deep sea..." She shook her head before continuing: "We were surrounded by deep sea spirit beasts several times our number. Before I lost consciousness from my injuries, I saw seven people severely wounded and three knocked into the sea. As for what happened afterward, I don't know."
When Jiang Mo asked her question, Yun Qingyue was also listening nearby. Hearing her master mention losing consciousness, she involuntarily glanced at the masked woman beside her—though they hadn't met for long, Yun Qingyue had already discerned from their interaction that the two were old acquaintances. Though her master had never mentioned having friends among the demonic path, this "Elder Qi" must have been the one who rescued her master after she was injured.
Beyond this, Yun Qingyue felt a vague sense of familiarity toward "Elder Qi." This familiarity filled her with curiosity, causing her gaze to linger on the other woman for a moment.
Zhu Baiyi noticed this and calmly returned her gaze, unafraid of being recognized.
However, as the two locked eyes, while neither felt anything unusual, a certain tiger nearby felt somewhat jealous.
Jiang Mo casually stepped forward, conveniently blocking the line of sight between the two, then righteously continued questioning: "So Peak Master doesn't know the whereabouts of the others? In Peak Master's opinion, are those people still alive?"
As her words fell, before Peak Master Qingyu could reply, Jiang Mo first heard a light snort. She turned her head irritably and saw Zhu Baiyi shaking her head and looking away... Though she hadn't said anything, that light snort carried enough mockery to make Jiang Mo, hiding her own intentions, feel somewhat guilty. She felt both annoyed and resentful, leaving her with no good impression of Zhu Baiyi.
Perhaps sensing the strange atmosphere, or maybe interrupted by Zhu Baiyi's snort, Peak Master Qingyu paused before speaking: "I don't know. Judging by the strength of the deep sea spirit beasts that surrounded us, the others would have struggled to escape. However, after seeing that altar last night, I feel those people might still be alive."
Despite their hasty glimpse the previous night, Qingyu's impression of that altar remained vivid, especially those bound spirit beasts being bled—though much blood was drawn from them, very little flowed into the altar. There was only one explanation for this: the altar was selective.
The altar disliked spirit beast blood, or rather, found it inadequate. What about human cultivators? The difference between low-level and high-level cultivators wasn't merely in realm and power; high-level cultivators had cultivated for many years, with bodies containing spiritual energy incomparable to low-level cultivators.
This spiritual energy resided in their blood and bodies, not easily plundered or altered by ordinary formations!
Qingyu believed that as sacrifices, high-level cultivators like themselves were obviously more suitable than low-level ones. The ghost ship had gone to great lengths to lure them aboard and bring them into the deep sea, certainly not just for deep sea spirit beasts to tear them apart. So those elders, whether they had escaped or been captured, were likely still alive—the only question was whether they could be found.
The other three listened and agreed this made sense. Though Jiang Mo and the other juniors matched their seniors in cultivation level, they still lacked in methods and approaches. Thus, she continued humbly seeking advice: "Does Peak Master have any way to contact the others?"
Peak Master Qingyu thought for a moment and replied: "I'll try, but I can only attempt to contact people from Tiandao Sect and Buddha Sect."
The three righteous sects formed one circle, forever at odds with the demonic path. The peace on the ghost ship had already been rare; asking her to contact people from the four demonic sects would clearly be difficult. Not only did she lack the means to contact them, but even if she somehow found their hiding places and went there, she would likely be treated as an enemy and targeted, creating more trouble.
Everyone understood this, so after Peak Master Qingyu finished speaking, they all turned their gazes toward Zhu Baiyi. As "Elder Qi" of the Crimson Blood Sect, surely she had some connections with the other three demonic sects?
Zhu Baiyi wasn't just an elder—she was a Sect Leader. Though she always appeared "approachable" when facing Qingyu and the others, the lofty demeanor of a demonic sect leader remained vividly manifested in her—in the demonic path, she regarded no one as equals, even people from her own sect were merely superiors or subordinates, and she wasn't familiar with a single elder from other sects.
Unfortunately, she hadn't come after exchanging identities with "Elder Qi"; "Elder Qi" was simply another of her identities.
Now, facing three pairs of expectant eyes, especially with Qingyu looking at her this way, Zhu Baiyi felt pressure for the first time. She composed her expression, nodded slightly, and solemnly said: "I can try."
As fellow demonic sect elders, even without close relationships, contacting one or two shouldn't be too difficult, right?
The other three thought this way, their expressions showing some relief, but Zhu Baiyi herself wasn't very confident. In a different place, she could find people through her strength alone, but on this unfamiliar Merperson Island, having lost her spiritual energy, it was hard to say how much of her power she could exert. Some methods requiring spiritual energy couldn't be used at all. So after considering, she added: "But I think contacting those people might not necessarily be a good thing."
None of them were foolish and quickly grasped Zhu Baiyi's meaning. Jiang Mo responded: "As fellow demonic sect members, is Elder Qi concerned that the other three sects might already be in league with each other?" As she spoke, she gave Zhu Baiyi a somewhat sympathetic look.
Zhu Baiyi understood her implication—that as fellow demonic sect members, the others had united without including her.
At that moment, Zhu Baiyi felt both amused and exasperated, but nodded in acknowledgment nonetheless.