The Ship Sank

Fang Yue's heart skipped a beat.

"Have you tried communicating with Old Helmsman inside the Soul-Hosting Jade Pendant?"

"I tried the way you told me to, but it didn't work. It was like a stone sinking into the sea—Old Helmsman didn't react at all. Also... I feel like the Soul-Hosting Jade Pendant in my hand has gotten heavier."

"..."

This shouldn't be happening.

A sense of unease stirred in Fang Yue's heart.

Could this thing not be a Soul-Hosting Jade Pendant, but something else entirely?

What had Tian Rui Chi's master, Heaven Sword, given him...?

As Fang Yue was thinking this over, the deck beneath his feet suddenly creaked.

He looked down and froze.

A massive crack was spreading across the deck of the Cold River Giant Ship, widening at a speed visible to the naked eye.

He looked up and saw thin cracks appearing all over the ship, spreading across its entire hull at an astonishing pace!

The Cold River Giant Ship had suddenly begun to come apart!

"Abandon ship! Everyone, get off immediately!"

Fang Yue grabbed the dazed Tian Rui Chi with his left hand and Lin Ling with his right. He stomped on the bow of the Cold River Giant Ship, leaped high over the edge, and landed firmly with a thud. The Qing Guard sentries waiting nearby were startled into drawing their swords.

"Stop!"

"Don't move!"

"Show us your identification!"

The Qing Guard sentries knew that anyone coming off the Cold River Giant Ship was either rich or important, but the sudden way these people had disembarked still alarmed them.

Their unfamiliar faces only made the guards more tense.

It was only when another group jumped down from the bow, some of them wearing the distinctive uniforms of the Special Envoy's guards, that the white-robed Qing