Under cover of night, four spirit vessels cut across the tranquil waters of Clearwave Pool.
As luck would have it, Liu Da and Liu Er happened to flank Ji Yuan and Qiu Qianhai, keeping them in the middle.
"How much farther?"
They had been out for less than two incense sticks' worth of time, but Liu Er could no longer keep himself from pressing them. He was worried Ji Yuan and Qiu Qianhai might try something tricky.
"Almost there, almost there. Just past that rocky island up ahead," Qiu Qianhai replied.
Liu Da and Liu Er exchanged glances and nodded to each other.
They had lived at Clearwave Pool for decades and naturally knew the area extremely well. They knew exactly where dead caves had appeared and where cold caves still remained.
Very few dead caves had turned up in this particular area.
It was perfectly plausible that someone had only just found one now.
"We're here."
Ji Yuan circled the island, confirmed that the dead cave was nearby, then tipped his vessel's bow downward. He slapped a water-repelling talisman onto himself and returned to these waters.
The moment he entered the water, he looked straight down at the bottom.
Most of the silt had settled, but the water still looked somewhat murky.
He quietly stuck a night-vision talisman onto himself and looked toward the dead cave's entrance again. His view immediately cleared.
The entrance was still there, but the stone-armored crab was nowhere to be seen.
Presumably, it had retreated into the dead cave again.
Beside him, Qiu Qianhai also secretly sighed in relief.
Although the two of them had not discussed it, their thinking was perfectly aligned... weren't these Liu brothers looking for a dead cave?
Then they could have this one.
As for the stone-armored crab inside...