Chapter 446: Meeting a Fellow Townsman (Two in One)

The Headless Buddha.

According to Bobo, he was among the most notorious of the evildoers.

His favorite hobby was collecting the skulls of various criminals, but he exclusively targeted those guilty of the most heinous acts. If their crimes were too minor, he wouldn't even spare them a glance.

The moment the monk struck, the sky filled with Buddhist seals. They surged above a vast swamp of human heads, instantly engulfing the mountain of blood summoned by the killing cultivator opposite him.

As the two anomalies clashed, it became obvious the killing cultivator was a notch weaker, just as Bobo had said. His entire body trembled incessantly, a faint bloody mist permeating the air around him.

His face suddenly drained of color. A second later, his eyes bulged with bloodshot veins.

Swinging the blood-red long saber in his right hand, he carved a crimson dividing line through the boundless veil of night, slashing straight down toward the monk.

"It's the Three Weapons."

Bobo confirmed the evildoer's identity. "He comes from a pirate crew with a decent reputation—the Cultivator. I wasn't entirely sure at first, but that saber is unmistakably his. Legend says his saber can split the sky, his spear can pierce the sea, and the bow on his back can shoot down the sun and moon."

"It's definitely an exaggeration, but the Cultivator crew has always relied on him."

"The Cultivator?"

Yan Jing asked softly. "Are its members all from Minhu?"

"Yes," Bobo nodded. "This crew is somewhat legendary. Criminals from Minhu usually aren't strong enough on their own, but by huddling for warmth in the Great Prison, they've grown to a point where they're no longer considered weak."

Yan Jing nodded, looking up at the two figures in the sky.

Facing that slash from the Three Weapons, a skull from the necklace around the monk's neck suddenly flew out. Immediately after, a bizarre transformation occurred.

Weird energy gushed like a fountain from the dark swamp, converging beneath the pale, bone-white skull to form a body. Pitch-black flesh and blood grew at a frantic pace.

The figure with the white skull and pitch-black body then charged straight at the incoming slash.

With a resounding bang, the entire sea seemed to tremble. The figure was instantly blasted into powder, sacrificing itself to block the attack.

Taking advantage of this opening, the monk stripped off half of his robe—which was woven from countless ship sails—to reveal an incredibly muscular upper body.

His eyes went wide as he let out an explosive shout. Veins bulged like coiled dragons along his robust arms, stretching densely to his back, where they intertwined and merged with a pitch-black Vajra tattoo to manifest a terrifying, wrathful Vajra.

At the same time, the killing cultivator across from him seemed to sense something. His expression drastically changed. Letting go of the saber and spear in his hands and allowing them to orbit his body, he unslung the half-man-tall great bow from his back.

As he drew the gleaming golden bowstring, streaks of golden wind blades visibly materialized in the air. Amidst their wild, sweeping dance, seawater surged upward, forming a massive arrow that slowly pulled back in tandem with the killing cultivator's draw.

With the bow fully drawn, limitless killing intent converged on a single point.

Buddhist path and cultivator.

Two terrifying powers from entirely different eras clashed at this moment, generating a massive whirlpool on the sea surface that slowly dragged everything around it toward its center.

This apocalyptic scene left Bobo, who was standing beside Yan Jing, absolutely pale. She sprang up and ran toward the stern of the ship. "We have to drop the heavy anchor, or we're dead if we get pulled into the center!"

Her entire body couldn't stop shaking. This was the might of evildoers; a casual clash between them could doom bystanders like her beyond redemption.

If she remembered correctly, the Headless Buddha had been a generational heavenly prodigy in his original Domain. Unable to see a path forward, he had slaughtered half its Buddhist temples just to force the law enforcement of the Great Prison to come for him.

And after arriving at the Great Prison, he had continued to advance triumphantly, losing out to no other genius from any other Domain.

But the moment she dropped the anchor, she felt the ship rock violently. Soon after, the vessel began to move.

The whirlpool was growing larger; a hundred-ton heavy anchor wasn't enough to stop them.

Hearing the incessant, shrill screams echoing from within the whirlpool, Bobo's face grew even paler.

She already knew they weren't the only ship in these waters, and the fates of those people seemed to foreshadow their own.

"Captain! There's no other way! Abandon ship!"

Seeing the ship move faster and faster, soon to be swallowed by the whirlpool, she didn't care about keeping her voice down anymore and yelled at Yan Jing by the rail.

At the same time, she sprinted toward the bell by the mast, ready to warn the crew.

But just as she reached the mast in a blind panic, the dizzying, violent shaking unexpectedly ground to a sudden halt.

It stopped—stopped?

Had they left?

A sliver of hope rose in Bobo's heart. She poked a hole through the canvas with her finger.

A second later, a massive wave slapped right against the hole, splashing bitter, salty seawater into her eyes.

Outside, the storm was still raging. The killing cultivator and the monk looked like two young Deities. They each unleashed their techniques in a burst of divine light. Mountains of corpses and seas of blood churned and sank in the sky above, while the massive whirlpool slowly continued to spin.

Then how could...

Bobo subconsciously looked toward Yan Jing, only to witness an unimaginable scene.

She saw Yan Jing hovering in the air. He then placed his hand "lightly" on the hull.

It was as if—he had single-handedly pinned this ship down against the raging, turbulent sea.

Bobo drew in a sharp breath of cold air.

In the next instant, she practically scrambled and crawled over to Yan Jing's side.

"Lord Mao Si is mighty!"

Having narrowly escaped death, she wanted nothing more than to grab Yan Jing and pet him vigorously.

Only after relaxing did she feel a wave of profound exhaustion.

That sensation of hovering between life and death just moments ago had taken far too heavy a mental toll.

An unknown amount of time passed before the sea finally returned to a calm state. The two dueling combatants had left.

In the end, that killing cultivator still lost. The bloody mountain range had been ground flat by the swamp, the long saber in his hand was chipped, and the string of his dark golden great bow had snapped as he fled into the distance.

Bobo called the crew hiding in the cabin up to the deck, broke the news that they had survived the crisis, and specifically highlighted the tremendous role Yan Jing had played.

"Lord Mao Si is mighty!!!"

The crowd cheered excitedly.

Immediately after, a celebration kicked off on the ship.

This was an old tradition for the Bobo Pirates. Every time they survived a perilous ordeal, they held a similar event to boost morale.

The crew's singing drifted through the pitch-black night, and a joyous atmosphere spread across the deck. Yan Jing, however, sat on the ship's rail, gazing out at the distant sea.

"Is there a problem, Lord Mao Si?"

Bobo handed a specially mixed tropical fruit wine to Yan Jing.

"I prefer tea or milk," Yan Jing stressed, but he still accepted the fruit wine and took a sip. "This wine isn't bad."

"I own a bar in a certain Domain. I left it for someone else to manage, but it should still be open."

Speaking of which, it felt like it had been a long time since he last received a letter from Old Sin City.

The last time he got a letter, Mantou mentioned that one of the two Seven Stars Tokens had been given to Rose, while the other was given to An Ze, the subordinate of that icy police officer, Lu Miao.

Chen Nian, on the other hand, had mentioned that they were plotting something major back in Old Sin City, though he hadn't specified what it was.

"I didn't expect... Lord Mao Si to have such unique hobbies."

Bobo had thought for a long time before finally coming up with a sentence to compliment Yan Jing.

But wouldn't the wine get cat hair in it...?

A thought suddenly popped into her head.

Of course, she didn't dare voice it. She could only revert to their previous topic: "What are you looking at, Lord Mao Si?"

"Didn't you see it?"

Yan Jing smiled.

"See what?"

Bobo looked toward the distant sea.

Most of it was pitch-black, with only a small patch illuminated by the bright moon in the sky, reflecting a sparkling glow that rose and fell with the waves.

She saw nothing at all—

Wait.

Just as she was about to look away, she suddenly caught a fleeting glimpse of a pitch-black object flashing across her vision.

She jolted in surprise, but when she looked back at that same spot, she couldn't spot it again.

It was as if the thing had vanished into thin air.

"You have to look where the light is."

Yan Jing reminded her from beside her. However, even after Bobo channeled her weird energy, she still couldn't see any silhouette.

"Alright." Yan Jing gave a helpless smile. He then placed his hand on the ship's rail, tapping his furry fingers lightly.

Miraculously, crisp piano notes flowed out. The exceptionally beautiful melody left Bobo momentarily stunned, even reminding her of a certain legend from Haidu.

The song of a mermaid.

Rumor had it that there was a mermaid in Haidu who used a bizarrely beautiful singing voice to lure in anyone she took an interest in.

Before she could fully process it, her pupils violently contracted. Right there, on the moonlit sea, a figure had genuinely appeared. Using a butterfly stroke, the figure was rapidly closing the distance toward their ship.

Under the bright, pristine moonlight, the scene appeared incredibly eerie.

And when the figure lifted his head, this eerie scene turned outright horrifying.

It was actually that killing cultivator.

The pale moonlight shone on his face. Several wounds on his body were gushing blood, yet with a single swing of his arms, he propelled himself several meters forward.

The piano melody Yan Jing tapped out seemed to have slowed his speed, allowing Bobo to finally catch sight of him.

"All hands! Level one alert! Accelerate the ship!"

Bobo's shout shattered the crew's joyous atmosphere. The sailors immediately hoisted the sails to their maximum, and many blasted the water's surface with weird energy, causing the ship's speed to abruptly soar.

They pulled a good distance away from their pursuer.

This time, Bobo was nowhere near as panicked as before, primarily because Yan Jing was right beside her.

Now fully aware of Yan Jing's strength, she had come to a realization.

The reason Yan Jing never made a move until the critical moment was most likely to test the capabilities of their pirate crew.

She had to cling tightly to this powerful backer.

Seeing that he had been discovered, the killing cultivator panicked slightly. Weird energy suddenly erupted from his body, boosting his speed by a massive margin.

Yet, he still didn't dare make any loud noises.

He had only just managed to shake off that bald donkey, and he didn't dare draw him back over.

In truth, his heart was currently filled with both anger and a sense of unease.

He had felt a certain power acting upon his body, which had caused his speed to drop and exposed him.

Could there be...

An evildoer on that ship?

His heart sank, but he had no other choice.

The injuries on his body were far heavier than he had imagined. If he didn't kill a few people to recover, once that bald donkey caught on, he would still not escape death.

He could only admit that he had seriously miscalculated this time, nearly throwing his life away over a treasure.

Just like that, one man and one ship engaged in a chase. He expended a tremendous amount of effort, but just as he was about to close within boarding distance, countless torches suddenly flared up on the opposing deck, making him so furious he nearly vomited blood.

This was the precursor to the other side preparing to fire signal flares.

They were clearly threatening him: come any closer and they would draw that bald donkey over so they could all die together.

But...

As if he'd be scared of them!

The corners of Guo Xie's mouth curled up into a ruthless smirk as he prepared to board the ship.

As long as he could kill a few people and recover from his injuries, even if the bald donkey showed up, he still wouldn't be able to catch him.

However, right at that moment, he suddenly heard the sound of a horn blaring from the deck.

Certain pirate captains used the blowing of a horn as a prelude before marching into battle.

His brows furrowed involuntarily.

There couldn't possibly be an evildoer over there.

He couldn't see clearly when he was further away, but once he got closer, he naturally noticed that this ship's loadout wasn't anything high-end. Moreover, its design was something he had never seen before—it could only belong to some nobodies.

Trying to scare him?

He sneered coldly and abruptly leaped out of the water, charging toward the deck.

"Click."

The sudden sound of a camera shutter echoed.

Guo Xie's final conscious thought froze on the sight of a furry black paw landing flat on his face.

"Long live Captain Cat!!!"

Hovering between sleep and wakefulness, he seemed to hear a cheer like that.

By the time he opened his eyes, he saw Bobo standing in front of him, along with a black cat perched on her shoulder.

Instantly, he recognized that the black cat opposite him was the one who had knocked him out.

Anger flared from the bottom of his heart, but just as he tried to make a move, he tragically discovered that the vast majority of the bones in his body had been shattered.

His opponent had been too ruthless, snapping almost every bone he had.

"If you're going to kill me or torture me, just get on with it."

He snorted coldly and turned his head away.

"Where in Minhu are you from?"

The black cat spoke, catching him off guard.

"No comment."

His expression turned icy.

In the Great Prison, leaking information was no different from courting death.

Enemies would only use that information to blackmail you, or even track down your roots and exterminate your family.

"There are only two places in Minhu with the highest number of killing cultivators. One is Bianliu County and the neighboring Zhennan County. The other is the Second Lake Prefecture, at a place called Bing Village by the great river."

"So, which one are you from?"

Guo Xie froze again, simply because the other party was not only intimately familiar with Bianliu County but even spoke with a hint of a Minhu accent.

Even among cultivators following the Erudite Pathway, very few knew about a place like Bing Village.

But after thinking it over, he kept a sullen face and replied, "No comment."

"Look at you, turning your back on a fellow townsman the moment you leave home."

Yan Jing sighed. "If we trace our roots and find we're related, I'd at least have an excuse to let you go."

Guo Xie was eventually swayed by Yan Jing's words, though he still didn't volunteer his own information. Instead, he shot back a question: "Where are you from?"

"We don't have talking cats in Minhu."

"Heh, superficial!"

Yan Jing chuckled. "I'm not from Minhu, but does that mean my friend can't be?"

"Luo Sheng, Young Master Luo—have you heard of him?"

"..."

Guo Xie kept a cold face. "Who is that?"

"Your knowledge is pretty shallow. You're suffering the drawbacks of going to prison too early, aren't you?"

Yan Jing rubbed his chin. "How about Lord Bi Jie? The former Inspector Bi of the Inspectorate Department, do you know him?"

"..." The man across from him obviously hadn't heard of Bi Jie either.

"I guess Bi Jie didn't make much of a name for himself either... Then let me ask you about Li Qinghe, Holy Emperor Li! You must have heard of him, right?"

"..."

"Wait, so it's not just that they didn't make a name for themselves, but you didn't either? You've never heard of Li Qinghe?" Yan Jing widened his eyes, staring at the killing cultivator so intensely that it made the man's skin crawl.

Who was Li Qinghe, and was it strictly necessary to know him?

"Fine, I get it! You definitely know this next person!"

Yan Jing thought for a long time before his eyes finally lit up. He smacked his right fist into his left palm. "This person has been known by absolutely everyone in Minhu for the past thirty years! If you don't even know him, you've practically lived your life in vain!"

"Listen closely!"

"Minhu's third-largest opium trafficker! The number one lapdog! The protective umbrella for criminals! The bane of the common folk!"

"Boss Bai! Bai Qiu—have you heard of him?"

At this, the killing cultivator subconsciously nodded.

He actually had heard of this one.

Yan Jing nodded in satisfaction and pointed a finger at himself. "I kille—my friend killed him!!!"