Upon hearing this, He Ping was immediately invigorated.
"I was just about to go find the pirates, but they've come to me of their own accord," he thought with a touch of excitement. He got out of bed, pushed open the door, and went up to the deck.
The sailors on deck sprang into action. This ship had no firearms, only a few sturdy bows. If they encountered pirates, the bows would be of little use. Fortunately, these sailors had traveled far and wide and had seen many different situations. Most of them had practiced martial arts and drew their swords to be on guard.
However, He Ping could see from the eyes of the sailors on deck that there was still a trace of fear. After all, pirates were the most threatening force on the sea, even more so than bandits and mountain bandits on land.
This is because the pirates in the outer seas are a diverse group, including ronin from the Divine Wind Kingdom, pirates disguised as officials of the Tiele people, and even the navy of the Great You Dynasty occasionally dabbles in piracy, plundering merchant ships of the Tiele Niduso Kingdom.
Among the merchants who dared to make a living at sea, there were also many well-armed merchant ships. These large merchant ships would also ruthlessly plunder smaller vessels or hostile forces they had grudges against.
In any case, murder at sea has almost no cost; you can kill someone, throw the body into the sea, and disappear without a trace...
Besides, both the three major merchant guilds and the four island masters who occupy the four strange islands are all under the command of their pirate gangs.
This also shows the chaos overseas. Various forces were mixed together, and none of them were good people. In this environment, the boatmen and sailors who made a living on the water would naturally be very afraid of pirates.
"Are the pirates over there?"
He Ping strained to see into the distance and immediately spotted several large and small fleets of ships approaching in that direction.
"No, this shouldn't be pirates... There are several large ships among them. Pirates wouldn't have ships that big, would they?"
"This Daoist priest, you're right."
A middle-aged man dressed as a scholar was also on the deck. He was one of the passengers who had boarded the ship. He reached out and pressed his hand against the gunwale, squinting. Even though he was quite a distance away, he could clearly see the flags on the large ships.
"Judging from the flags hanging there, if I'm not mistaken, they should be from the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce!"
"The Four Seas Chamber of Commerce commerce?"
He Ping's expression changed slightly.
--The Four Seas Chamber of Commerce is the premier chamber of commerce in the outer seas. In essence, this chamber of commerce is also a force in the cultivation world, with extremely strong strength and a renowned reputation, far surpassing ordinary Rogue Cultivator sects, and can be regarded as a regional overlord overseas.
It should be known that the founders of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce were a Aristocratic Clan of cultivators who fled overseas to escape war hundreds of years ago, before the Great You was even established. All members of this family in this Aristocratic Clan have the surname "Long," and the main Cultivation Method they practice is an ancient scripture called < Mirage Dragon Nine Illusions >. Judging from the fragmented information, this ancient scripture should belong to a fragment of the < Demon Dragon Transformation > of the Dragon Worship Sect.
However, some suspect that the Dragon Worship Sect's " Demon Dragon Transformation " is itself an incomplete work. This is because, besides the " Mirage Dragon Nine Illusions " not being fully recorded on the Dragon Worship Sect Ancestral Dragon Stele, the " Ghost Dragon Form-Swallowing Chapter " has been lost for a long time, and another work, the " Thousand Mountains Dragon Seal," was deliberately destroyed. Even the translation of the divine script is missing...
From the birth of the Ancestral Dragon to its transformation into the myriad dragons, there are a total of thirty-six types of dragons. This is an ancient legend known to all. Naturally, the entire novel " Demon Dragon Transformation " should involve thirty-six types of dragons... Unfortunately, the ancient stele in the Candle-Holding Holy Temple in the far north of the Dragon Worship Sect only records thirteen secret techniques for transforming into dragons.
"How strange? It seems the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce is planning to block this ship?"
He Ping glanced again at the few ships in the distance.
This fleet consisted of more than forty ships of various sizes, including seven giant ships, all black as if made of iron, which at first glance resembled ancient divine turtles, their massive size like moving sea fortresses.
"This is truly astonishing! This is probably the Li Dragon Greatship of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce. It is said that the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce gathered skilled craftsmen from home and abroad to build a total of twenty-four ships. Each one is a behemoth among ships at sea, and even the naval warships of the Great You Dynasty cannot compare to it!"
The middle-aged scholar held a folding fan in his hand. He watched as the Li Dragon Greatship, which had started as a few black dots in the distance, gradually drew closer and closer, and he clicked his tongue in amazement.
Just then, the other passengers who had boarded the ship also came out of the house. The couple living next door to He Ping also saw the Li Dragon Greatship cutting through the waves and rapidly closing the distance towards the ship. The two involuntarily looked at each other and their faces turned pale.
"No, no way! Could it be that we've offended the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce because of that incident?"
"That doesn't make sense. We've already given that person the treasure map's clues. Even if they wanted to come looking for us, they wouldn't target us, would they?"
"Could it be that someone found out we made a backup of the image index and secretly leaked it—"
The expressions of the male and female passengers who boarded the merchant ship grew increasingly grim.
Besides the two of them, the other guests also realized that the seven Li Dragon Greatship and more than thirty other ships of various sizes were indeed heading towards their ship. In particular, the sailors and ship owners on board also noticed that the ships of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce were using flag signals.
" The Four Seas Chamber of Commerce ordered us to stop immediately and undergo inspection by their agents..."
The shipowner was a fat old man with short legs, a protruding belly, and a bald head. His thin eyebrows and eyes were almost sunken into his flesh, and his old face was wrinkled, making his narrow eyes look even smaller.
"What... what's going on? Why would the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce want to inspect our ship? And what's more, it's actually the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce's 'acting officers' who came."
Upon hearing the words "substitute for service," many people present suddenly turned pale, their faces turning ashen as if they had seen a ghost.
"A substitute executioner... isn't that just the executioner of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce?"
The elderly man in the grandfather-granddaughter pair was dressed in a blue robe. His old eyes were covered with white film, and he was holding a sanxian (a three-stringed plucked instrument) in his arms. Behind him followed a little girl, no more than ten years old, with two braids, who was holding onto the old man's clothes.
"If it really is these people who have come forward, it's probably not a good thing. Shipowner, is there something extraordinary hidden on your ship that has attracted such powerful figures from the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce?"
The old man in blue was blind, but upon hearing the shipowner's words, he immediately raised his voice and demanded, "If this matter goes wrong, not only will it cause enormous trouble, but it will also implicate everyone on board. Shipowner, we implore you to give us an explanation!"
"What... what kind of talk is that!?"
The ship owner was also taken aback when he heard this.
"Guest, please don't speak nonsense. I've been sailing this route for so many years and have never caused any trouble. Moreover, our ' Baocanghong ' has always handled matters in a proper and orderly manner. Besides, this is the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce. Which of us sailors would dare to offend the 'Dragon King' of the sea?!"
"That's strange. If your ship didn't attract the attention of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce, could it be that it was carrying something it shouldn't have?"
The blind old man's cloudy eyes, covered by a layer of white film, scanned the passengers on the deck and muttered a sentence.
"Could this matter be related to one of the passengers who boarded the ship?"
He Ping frowned upon hearing this. However, he had to admit that the old man was right. There should be no problem on the ship. The " Baocanghong " brand was a sign of their innocence, with no history of wrongdoing. If the old man was right, the problem must lie with one of the passengers present.
' Chixinzi, thank you for your help!'
A thought struck him, and he began to communicate with Chixinzi was hiding in his shadow.
' The Four Seas Chamber of Commerce has even shown up; it seems the situation on this ship is rather uncertain. For better or worse, we need to make some preparations as soon as possible...'