Chapter 276 - 265: 3 Mountain Island
Forty li east of Zhenyang Temple was the seaport of Denghai County.
As the red sun began to rise, Senior Brother Xun led Zhao Lin and a group of young boys to the docks.
Their destination was a place in the sea called Three Mountains Island. Senior Brother Xun had revealed that the Space Array connecting the Xuanyuan Continent to this world was located on the island.
The sky had cleared, and most of the fishermen had already set out to sea, leaving only a few scattered ferries moored by the shore.
Senior Brother Xun told the boys to wait on the jetty while he walked over to a narrow shuttle boat. He spoke in a low voice to the lead boatman, "To Three Mountains Island."
"We’re not going, not going!"
The boat captain waved his hands in refusal, shaking his head like a rattle.
Senior Brother Xun didn’t waste any more words. He simply pulled a few Silver Notes from his robes. A conflicted look crossed the captain’s face, but he finally nodded.
"Come on, get in the boat!" Senior Brother Xun beckoned.
The boys walked over. The captain ordered his two boatmen to deftly drag the boat into the water, and then helped everyone aboard one by one.
The shuttle boat was a little over two zhang long and about seven chi wide, just enough to hold eight people. However, they had to sit balanced on both sides, front and back, or the boat would be unstable.
Including the captain, there were only three boatmen. One controlled the sail while two handled the oars. The three shouted in unison, "Fair winds!"
The shuttle boat set off, cleaving through the waves as it headed out into the open sea.
It was the boys’ first time at sea, and they were all a little nervous. This was especially true for Tong Mu, who was from the grasslands. He gripped the gunwale with both hands, his face flushed red, terrified he would accidentally fall into the ocean.
Before long, the shuttle boat was far from the docks, sailing steadily upon the open water.
The surface of the sea glittered as if scattered with flecks of gold. As far as the eye could see, the ocean was a vast expanse of emerald waves. In the distance, mist and clouds intertwined where the water met the sky, merging them into one.
The sea breeze washed over them, leaving everyone feeling refreshed and exhilarated.
Having seen the ocean many times in his past life, Zhao Lin wasn’t particularly impressed. The other boys, however, were experiencing the majesty of the sea for the first time and couldn’t help but gasp in awe. The bolder ones even stood up to get a better view of the horizon.
The youngest of the group, Zhu Cong, clapped his hands. "The view from the sea is amazing! You boatmen get to travel on the water every day and see this. You must live such a carefree life!"
The captain looked to be in his forties. His skin was dark and his body was sturdy. From years of toil on the sea, exposed to the wind and sun, his face and hands were covered in tiny cuts and cracks.
Hearing this, the corner of the captain’s mouth twitched into a smirk. He chuckled. "Young master, I can tell you come from a wealthy family, ignorant of the hardships of the common folk. Sailing is one of life’s three great hardships. What’s so carefree about it?"
Zhu Cong and the other boys were taken aback. "What are life’s three great hardships?" they asked in unison.
The captain merely smiled but offered no answer. He just went back to pulling on the rigging, adjusting the boat’s course.
The boys wanted to ask Senior Brother Xun, but he had been sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, utterly silent, ever since they boarded. So, they turned their pleading gazes to Zhao Lin, their most senior brother.
Zhao Lin glanced at the boatman, then said slowly, "The captain’s right. Life’s three great hardships are sailing, blacksmithing, and making tofu."
"Sailors endure the wind and rain day after day. Their boats are tossed about by the waves, and they constantly face the risk of capsizing and drowning. We’re just passengers, so of course we’re comfortable. But look at them, working the oars and sails—don’t you think they’re exhausted?"
"Life at sea is lonely and hard; they make their home on the water year-round. Imagine if you had this job, ferrying people back and forth every single day. One day might be fine, but what about a year? What about ten or twenty years?"
The boys fell silent, and the way they looked at the boatmen changed.
He Shaoqun asked, "Then what about blacksmithing and making tofu?"
"They’re similar," Zhao Lin said. "A blacksmith endures scorching heat by the forge day and night; it’s like living in hell. They strike the iron tens of thousands of times a day. Not only is it filthy and exhausting, but the body can’t withstand such labor for long."
"There was a blacksmith in the next village over. He never had a decent set of clothes—they were all riddled with small holes burned by sparks from the forge. His hands and face were covered in burn scars."
"And as for making tofu, you have to wake up before dawn and go to bed late, working like a donkey grinding beans into slurry, all for just enough money to scrape by."
"The process itself is incredibly tedious, and you can’t make a single mistake. Tofu is so fragile it breaks at the slightest touch, so you have to be painstakingly careful. There’s no room for error."
The three boatmen exchanged a look and sighed in silence.
Lin Chaoran scoffed, saying dismissively, "Everyone has their own fate. Someone has to do these jobs."
Zhao Lin’s brow furrowed. ’He’s not wrong,’ he thought, ’but to say it now sounds a bit heartless.’
He Shaoqun suddenly looked determined. "After hearing what Senior Brother Zhao said, I’d rather die than take up Artifact Refining."
Senior Brother Xun, who had been meditating, snapped his eyes open and shot a warning glance in their direction.
He Shaoqun realized he’d misspoken and quickly shut his mouth.
Fortunately, the boatmen hadn’t understood the term and didn’t grow suspicious.
Seeing that everyone had fallen silent, the captain smiled. "By the way, why are you heading to Three Mountains Island?"
Afraid his junior brothers would let something slip, Zhao Lin quickly answered, "Why? Is there some reason we shouldn’t go to Three Mountains Island?"
"Not that, exactly. It’s just... the place is a bit strange..."
The captain said, fanning himself with his hand as he tied the rigging to the mast.
Apparently, Three Mountains Island was in a remote area. Fishermen and other boats rarely passed by it. It got its name from the three small mountains on it.
The island was lush with forests and picturesque, but strangely, it was perpetually shrouded in a white mist that never dissipated.
Occasionally, a passing fisherman would try to land on the island for a rest, only to find the mist growing thicker. Once they walked about a hundred paces inland, they couldn’t see a thing.
Once, a bolder fisherman steeled himself and walked deeper in, but he somehow lost his way. After wandering in circles for a couple of hours, he found himself right back at the shore.
Because the island was so strange, and the seaside fishermen and boatmen were a superstitious lot, they generally refused to go near it. If they absolutely had to, they would only linger by the shore for a moment.
The boys glanced at each other. They knew, of course, that this was an Array intentionally set up by the Chenghua Sect to keep mortals away. But none of them said a word.
"There are also rumors," he continued, "that several hundred years ago, a fisherman saw an Immortal flying over the island. Some even say they saw a Flying Vessel."
At this, the captain chuckled. "Just rumors, of course. Don’t pay them any mind. I’d wager it was just a mirage on the sea."
Before they knew it, four hours had passed at sea. The captain suddenly raised a hand and pointed. "There it is—Three Mountains Island!"
Everyone stared ahead. Sure enough, they saw a small island shrouded in a thick white mist, from which three peaks faintly emerged, standing side by side.
Zhao Lin had assumed the island would be teeming with Spiritual Qi, but he didn’t sense anything out of the ordinary, even as the shuttle boat beached on the sand.
But on second thought, he understood why.
’If the Spiritual Qi here were especially dense, some martial artist would have surely discovered it over the years. The Chenghua Sect must have taken that into account.’
The shuttle boat pulled ashore, and everyone disembarked. Senior Brother Xun handed two Silver Notes to the captain.
"Normally, my job is just to bring people to the island, no questions asked. But I’ll give you a word of warning—this island is strange. Be careful, all of you!"
With that final warning, the captain turned the boat around, raised the sail, and departed.
Li Sancai asked, "Senior Brother Xun, now that you’ve brought us here, how will you get back?"
Senior Brother Xun smiled faintly. "I have my ways."
With that, he took the lead and started walking toward the island’s interior.