As the two of them played around, a commotion suddenly arose on the deck, where more than a dozen people had gathered.
The noise caught their attention.
"Hey, what's going on over there?"
"Come on, let's take a look."
Shen Luolun and Lan Yan entered the crowd and saw a young man lying on the deck, vomiting. He was soaked through and in a sorry state.
The captain came over to the young man, patted him on the back, and asked gently:
"Young man, how did you end up in the water?"
"Cough, cough, cough-"
The young man coughed up several mouthfuls of water and gasped for breath:
"It... it was the Treasure Hoarders!"
"The Treasure Hoarders took my boat! I seized a chance to escape!"
Treasure Hoarders?!
The captain's expression changed, as did everyone else's.
"Explain yourself. What happened?"
The young man told them the whole story:
His name was Su Qing, and he worked at a pharmacy.
That day, he had been transporting a shipment of medicinal herbs to Chenyu Vale.
The journey had been smooth until he unexpectedly spotted a woman in the water.
Out of kindness, Su Qing had sent someone to rescue her and bring her aboard.
The woman thanked him profusely, saying she had been pursued by people trying to kill her on her way home, so she had jumped into the river to save herself. She also hoped Su Qing could give her a ride to her hometown in Chenyu Vale.
Su Qing suspected nothing after hearing her story. The Treasure Hoarders had indeed been growing more rampant lately, and many innocent people had been killed. Besides, the woman was quite pretty and had some money on her, so it was only natural that the Treasure Hoarders would target her.
Softhearted, Su Qing agreed to the woman's request and let her travel on the boat.
To his surprise, this was only the beginning of his nightmare.
After the woman came aboard, people on the boat began dying in "accidents" one after another.
Even Su Qing wasn't so foolish that he couldn't tell something was wrong with her.
When he brought men and weapons to confront her, the woman tore away her disguise, revealing her cold and bloodthirsty side.
She struck first, using a spiked iron whip to send Su Qing and the others sprawling.
Su Qing hadn't expected her martial skills to be so formidable. The skilled fighters aboard were defeated by her one after another, leaving him no choice but to jump into the river to save himself. Only then did he manage to keep his life.
When he looked back, the boat was already swarming with Treasure Hoarders.
He finally understood that the woman had been one of the Treasure Hoarders all along. She had posed as a victim and fooled everyone, then lain low and secretly killed people, working with the Treasure Hoarders outside to seize the boat.
When Su Qing finished, he burst into tears, his face full of regret.
If he hadn't been softhearted for that one moment, nothing would have happened to his boat or crew.
He thought of the shopkeeper's trust in him and the crew's faith in him.
He grew even more ashamed and pounded the deck wildly with his fists. Even when they were bloodied and mangled, he didn't stop, as though hurting himself like this could give his guilt-ridden heart a little relief.
The captain hurriedly stopped Su Qing from hurting himself, then had him tied up and taken below.
"Hey, doesn't this sound like the worst-case outcome Yelan mentioned?"
Lan Yan nudged someone with her elbow.
"What?"
"If the person you saved had been like his, you might have had to jump into the river to save yourself too."
Shen Luolun said speechlessly:
"Hey, hey, how can you lump those together? The people involved weren't the same."
"Why not? Weren't they both 'heroes saving beauties'?"
"That depends on the circumstances. At least I was on my guard. I wouldn't just bring someone aboard."
"Oh? So taking someone home was the right thing to do?"
"Ha ha, the weather's really nice today."
Seeing someone dodge the subject, Lan Yan gave a soft huff.
"You'd better not end up as miserable as him and make me come rescue you."
"Cough, cough, I know, I know."
Shen Luolun coughed twice, intending to move past the subject.
"By the way, the Treasure Hoarders really have been rampant lately. Yuanfang-oh, no, Lan Yan, what do you think?"
Lan Yan thought for a moment and shared what she knew:
"My uncle said there seems to be a reason the Treasure Hoarders have become unusually fierce. It looks like they're gathering something."
"Something?"
"Yes."
"But I don't know what they're gathering. Uncle didn't tell me that much."
"Oh, is that so?"
Shen Luolun was a little curious.
Could some rare treasure have appeared, drawing the Treasure Hoarders into a scramble for it?
Interesting.
If this were a game, it felt like it would be a side quest worth at least ten Primogems.
Still, curious as he was...
He had no intention of investigating.
Seriously, what would he get out of investigating?
This wasn't a game. There would be no Mora or Primogem rewards, and he'd only bring trouble on himself.
Wasn't playing with his good buddy more fun?
"Although I don't know what the Treasure Hoarders are looking for, you really do need to be careful lately. They'll stop at nothing. Yelan was right to worry, and that man is a warning. Don't fall for someone just because you think she's pretty and pitiable."
"Got it, got it."
Shen Luolun nodded repeatedly.
A boy had to protect himself when he was out and about. He couldn't let himself be tricked by bad women in black stockings, with big butts and ample breasts.
What? You say you shouldn't miss out on good women, or let bad women go to waste!
Mm, great minds think alike.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)✧
After Su Qing was taken below, the crowd of onlookers dispersed.
But the shadow of the Treasure Hoarders hung over everyone's hearts.
The captain ordered everyone to stay alert and report any suspicious boats or people immediately.
The sailors took turns standing watch, keeping an eye on the river at all times.
The atmosphere aboard grew somewhat tense.
Shen Luolun and Lan Yan were unaffected, however. They weren't even the slightest bit nervous.
They were suddenly struck by inspiration and began copying the signature pose from Titanic at the bow, enjoying themselves without a care.
They didn't get it quite right, though, and nearly lost their balance and fell into the water.
The sight of the two acting so carefree made some of the old sailors shake their heads to themselves.
Youngsters, all right.
Though the merchant ship wasn't far from Chenyu Vale, the closer they got to a critical moment, the more vigilant they had to be.
If they let their guard down and those sneaky bastards from the Treasure Hoarders ambushed them, it would be all but impossible to defend against.
"Hey, wasn't Rose supposed to be held around the waist? Why are you grabbing my neck?" Lan Yan puffed out her cheeks, looking disgruntled.
"That's for safety. Holding your waist is much more dangerous than grabbing your neck. If I hold your waist, we both fall. If I grab your neck, only one of us falls. Even a fool would know which to choose." Shen Luolun curled his lip.
"Can't you be a little more romantic? Just think of it as granting my little request. Also, your life preserver is poking me."
Lan Yan poked someone's abs.
"You're still not satisfied? I was already very brave to come to the bow and play pretend with you."
"Normal people might not even have the courage to stand here."
"There's no way to make this romantic at all!"
"If you want any more romance, I'll really be swept off the boat."
Shen Luolun quietly took a step back, moving the life preserver away from the girl, while catching the finger she was still trying to poke him with.
"Still poking? It's time to go back."
"Tch~ Stingy."
Dozens of miles away.
A medium-sized boat drifted on the river.
Aboard the boat.
A pretty woman dressed in black, who looked to be around thirty, observed the distance through a telescope.
After a while, she lowered it.
"You ran pretty fast. Oh well, since you were fairly honest, I'll let you off this once."
"And this will serve as a warning to someone..."
If Su Qing saw the woman, he would surely be beside himself with rage, wishing he could eat her flesh raw-she was none other than the "poor woman" who had tricked him into bringing her aboard!
The woman put away her telescope and turned to the Treasure Hoarder members bowing and scraping before her.
"Get this shipment to Chenyu Vale urgently. Nothing can be allowed to go wrong with the master's plan!"
"Yes!"