Traveling through water consumed almost none of the primal liquid in his meridians, but it exhausted his body more than flying did. Perhaps he had yet to grow accustomed to it. Besides, who would ignore an open road and insist on spending days traveling through water or earth?
Emerging from the sea, Mu Bai felt his whole body grow lighter. Traveling this way for long stretches is a good way to temper the body, too.
And so Mu Bai traveled underwater for several days, then sat floating on the surface to meditate and regulate his breathing, neglecting neither cultivation nor his journey. The Artifact Spirit Ancestor, however, felt thoroughly sick, dizzy and nauseated from all this tedious bobbing about.
But the feet were on Mu Bai's legs, and how he traveled was still his own decision. The Artifact Spirit Ancestor could only hide inside the Crow Cauldron, no longer comfortably perched on Mu Bai's shoulder, humming, fishing, and enjoying the sea breeze.
Mu Bai thus took a full month to return to the island, though the journey should have taken fewer than ten days. Even that was not enough: he hid in the sea and observed for several more days, judging that the people of the three tribes should all have left, before finally leaping out of the sea onto the island.
After sneaking around for a while, he confirmed that the island was indeed deserted and began moving about openly. Mu Bai flew swiftly past the river valley where the trapping formation had stood, only to see a pink silk handkerchief fluttering in the wind.
He picked it up. A line of small, elegant characters read, "You gave me a pearl; my faithful heart waits quietly for clouds to part and moonlight to shine."
"What a devoted girl. A