Nameless Island

The old Daoist on the platform pointed at the Treasure Ship by the dock.

His tone was lofty and arrogant, truly carrying a hint of a deity looking down upon mortal folk.

Sun Chai seemed thoroughly intimidated as well and hurriedly waved his hands.

"Lord River God, absolutely not! Please show mercy."

Seeing that Sun Chai was nearly about to kneel, the "Lord River God" finally said with a proud expression,

"It's good that you know how formidable this River God is. Speak. What do you seek?"

"My Sun Family wishes to send ships out to fish. We hope Lord River God will bless us and keep us from danger."

"Why should I?"

The moment he stated his request, the "Lord River God" unexpectedly turned cold. Sun Chai was stunned as well. The old Daoist hadn't mentioned this part.

At once, a young Daoist leaned close to Sun Chai and whispered into his ear.

"Though Lord River God is a deity, even deities can't escape worldly customs. You need to show some practical sincerity."

Hearing this, Sun Chai suddenly understood and said,

"My Sun Family is willing to offer twenty taels of silver as incense money!"

The "River God" said nothing, merely letting out a cold snort.

Sun Chai immediately changed his offer.

"Thirty taels!"

The "River God" snorted again.

"Fifty taels!"

A flash of greed first passed through the "River God's" eyes, followed by another cold snort.

"One hundred taels!"

"That's more like it."

Only after Sun Chai named that sky-high price did the "Lord River God" agree.

The "Lord River God" drained the bowl of blood, and the old Daoist's body trembled before he "regained" his senses.

When the Sun Family brought out the gleaming silver, Wei Luo was left somewhat dumbfounded.

This was even faster than robbery. No wonder the ancients were so fond of feudal superstition.

"Amitabha. The matter is settled, so I'll be taking my leave."

The old Daoist said this, grabbed the silver, and immediately tried to slip away.

But at that moment, Sun Family guards drew their gleaming long blades and blocked his path.

Sun Chai narrowed his eyes with a smile. "Daoist, don't be in such a hurry to leave. Come with us for a trip."

This sudden demand instantly brought sweat to the old Daoist's brow. He stammered for a long while before coming up with an excuse.

"Benefactor Sun, these worldly goods must be sincerely chanted over by me before they can turn into incense offerings. Otherwise, they won't work."

Sun Chai squeezed the old Daoist's shoulder.

"Don't worry. You can chant scriptures aboard the ship too."

The old Daoist's face turned green. He immediately wanted to run, but after glancing at the sharp long blades in the Sun Family guards' hands, he could only obediently follow them aboard.

"Blegh—"

In a corner of the cabin, the old Daoist clutched a wooden bucket and vomited without end. The smell was like filthy socks soaked in dirty water for months.

The old Daoist had been vomiting ever since boarding. By now, he could only bring up sour fluid.

The cabin was already cramped, barely able to hold several people, and the stench lingered stubbornly.

"Damn it, he's making me want to puke too."

Liu Changle cursed and opened the small window. Once the river wind blew in, he felt somewhat better.

Wei Luo had long since stuffed scraps of cloth into his nostrils. He was currently lying on the wooden bunk with his eyes closed, resting.

By an unfortunate coincidence, the old Daoist had been assigned to their room. Falling Geese Gorge was quite far away, and they likely wouldn't arrive until the afternoon.

Until then, the two could only endure the old Daoist for the time being.

After the old Daoist finished vomiting and the nausea eased, he started chatting with them again.

Wei Luo couldn't be bothered with this old swindler, but Liu Changle was different.

The old Daoist first spoke of karma and destiny, then claimed Liu Changle's fate was full of hardship.

Unfortunately, Liu Changle didn't buy any of it and naturally wouldn't be fooled. He kept pestering the old Daoist to calculate whether he'd get beaten today.

The old Daoist got seasick, so he clearly wasn't from Ping River. He also spoke with an accent.

Wei Luo guessed that this old Daoist was the sort who fired one shot and changed locations.

It was just that his luck had been poor this time. He had scammed the Sun Family.

By evening, the Treasure Ship finally reached its destination.

Falling Geese Gorge lay at a bend in the river. Beyond the bend, the current unexpectedly became calm.

There were many narrow tributaries within the bend. After passing through several waterways, the Treasure Ship docked beside Nameless Island.

Before long, Wei Luo and the others learned something: Treasure Fish weren't caught on the river, but on this island.

There were countless natural passages beneath the island, most of them connected to the Hun River.

Before disembarking, the Sun Family gave everyone a rough map.

The map marked the various places on the island where Treasure Fish could be caught—springs and other such locations.

After collecting bait and supplies, Wei Luo and Liu Changle disembarked with the other crewmen.

The moment he got off the ship, Wei Luo quickly noticed something. The vegetation here was lush, yet there wasn't a single birdsong. The surroundings were deathly silent.

The new crewmen visiting the island for the first time were all curious, looking around everywhere.

The veteran crewmen were clearly more experienced. The moment they disembarked, they hurried toward the island's interior.

"Cold Pool. I'm going to Cold Pool this time. Several Treasure Fish showed up there last time, so there probably won't be few this time either!"

An old crewman said this excitedly.

On Nameless Island, catching Treasure Fish mostly depended on luck, but several places were different. Those places usually yielded quite a few Treasure Fish every time.

Cold Pool was one of them.

At the mention of Cold Pool, several others expressed their desire to go together.

But just then, someone suddenly snorted coldly.

"You'd better choose somewhere else. We've claimed Cold Pool!"

Hearing this, those old crewmen all wanted to see who was so arrogant.

But when they turned around, they saw it was Sun Qianchuan and his group.

Sun Qianchuan's status was special. They couldn't afford to provoke him, so they could only turn away grim-faced and head elsewhere.

At that moment, Zhao Xiu tried to persuade him.

"Qianchuan, there are more than ten passages beneath Cold Pool. The few of us can occupy at most half of them. Why bother?"

Everyone normally lived in the side courtyard, seeing one another whether they lowered or raised their heads.

Zhao Xiu didn't want to damage their harmony, but Sun Qianchuan had long regarded the island as his own property, terrified that anyone might take advantage of him.

"The passages beneath the island are connected. What if someone else catches our Treasure Fish? Wouldn't that be a loss for us?"

Seeing that he couldn't persuade him, Zhao Xiu could only sigh and say no more.

This scene fell into the eyes of Wei Luo and Liu Changle. Liu Changle could barely hold back his expression.

"By that reasoning, all waters are connected, so every Treasure Fish should belong to him?"

Though Liu Changle's words sounded somewhat like pointless arguing, Wei Luo felt they made some sense.

Wei Luo truly didn't care much for a young master like Sun Qianchuan.

Nameless Island wasn't small. Even with Wei Luo and Liu Changle's First Refinement strength, they had explored only a little over half the area after an hour.

"Wei Luo, how about we just pick somewhere at random? If we keep walking, it'll be dark soon."

Liu Changle used his blade to clear a path. More than half his strength had already been spent, while Wei Luo followed behind with the rough map, directing the way.

It wasn't that Wei Luo didn't want to switch places. The main issue was that Liu Changle barely recognized a few characters and understood maps even less.

If they let him lead, they would probably get lost before long.

Wei Luo frowned but didn't answer immediately.

They had first gone looking for the places marked on the map as likely to yield fish, but there were only a few such locations.

Either they had been occupied by Second Refinement disciples, or by small groups. Anyone who approached would be driven away.

Nameless Island wasn't like the courtyard. Resources here were fought over openly and barehanded. Though they were all Sun Family crewmen, they were actually competitors.

"Don't rush. We're almost there. Let's check the next place first. Give me the blade. Rest for a while and conserve your strength."

As he spoke, Wei Luo took the long blade from Liu Changle's hand and went ahead to clear the way.

With less than a kilometer remaining, the two soon heard the sound of water.

Pushing aside a cluster of shrubs blocking the way, they saw a spring roughly ten meters across, quietly bubbling.

Wei Luo immediately summoned the [Great Thousand Revelation] in his mind.

[Show me all places within five li where there is at least a seventy percent chance of obtaining Treasure Fish.]

[Time required: one hour]