Countless strangely shaped boats swarmed around. Li Qiang had just stepped out of the crew cabin when two crew members grabbed him. One of them said nervously, "Brother, the raiders are here! Quickly hide your money; they're about to board!"
Li Qiang had no liking for the looters. Seeing how tense the two crew members were, he comforted them, "It's alright, let them rob us. Besides money, would these looters ever kill anyone?"
Another crew member whispered, "They generally won't kill anyone as long as they don't resist." The two crew members kindly arranged for Li Qiang to sit in the middle of the merchants.
Li Qiang sat down with his knees drawn up to his chest and greeted the merchants around him in a friendly manner, but no one paid him any attention. Everyone was busy collecting their valuables. Only one merchant next to him seemed to have been prepared all along and nodded in response to Li Qiang. The entire Arrow Boat had been de-escalated, and the sea breeze swept through, clearing away the unpleasant smell in the cabin. Everyone took a deep breath.
Li Qiang whispered to the merchant next to him, "What kind of ship is that? It looks awful."
The merchant hadn't expected Li Qiang to have such leisure time. He smiled wryly and said softly, "These are called 'Jiaomengzhou' (艋舟). They can be linked together and used in normal times, but can be dispersed to surround and block during robberies. They're very powerful. Sigh, what bad luck." He was in a very low mood.
The other two Arrow Boat were also intercepted, and the raiders rushed onto the three Arrow Boat.
A dozen or so raiders boarded Zegu's Arrow Boat. They didn't immediately start robbing, but instead pointed their Spine-Piercing Spear at the merchants. Several of them forced Zegu to start the Arrow Boat and follow the swift boat.
A slight buzzing sound came from inside the cabin, making the merchants uneasy. Li Qiang, with his sharp ears, heard everything they were saying.
The situation seemed very strange. From the merchants' discussions, Li Qiang knew that this robbery was different from the past. It was rare for them to force the Arrow Boat to go together. Usually, after boarding the boat, each person would hand over a portion of money and goods and leave a token for the commander, and then they would be released immediately. But this time was different. No one came to rob them; they were just guarding them and not allowed to move.
The chatter in the cabin subsided under the looters' shouts, but the atmosphere of unease only intensified.
The Arrow Boat was moving very fast when suddenly a crew member shouted, "This is heading towards Piled Bones Shoal! Oh God... I'm not going... Ah..." Before he could finish speaking, he was punched to the ground, and then three or four raiders rushed forward and started punching and kicking him.
The crew member was beaten until his head was bleeding, and he kept muttering, "I won't go, I won't go..." One of the raiders held a brown stick and smashed it on the crew member's head with a "crack!", and he immediately passed out.
Li Qiang watched coldly, wanting to see what these raiders were capable of.
Li Qiang noticed the merchant next to him trembling and whispered reassuringly, "Don't be nervous, it'll be alright..."
The merchant was deathly pale, his whole body trembling as if he had malaria. He whispered, "It's over... it's all over... Piled Bones Shoal..." and then he couldn't help but sob.
Li Qiang patted him on the shoulder. " Piled Bones Shoal? It's alright!"
The merchant finally broke down, crying out, "I don't want to go there!" The other merchants stirred.
The burly man holding a brown stick slowly walked up to Li Qiang, tapping his palm lightly with the stick as he casually said, "I hear someone babbling. Are you tired of living? Well then, I'm itching for a good thrashing. You! Stand up!" With that, he tapped the merchant on the head with the stick. The merchant stood up trembling, too frightened to utter a single word.
Li Qiang slowly stood up, looking at the burly man with the stick with disdain in his eyes. The burly man was startled by Li Qiang, then flew into a rage, raising the stick and smashing it hard against Li Qiang's head.
"Crack!" Li Qiang stood tall without dodging or flinching, taking the blow head-on. A scream rang out as the burly man's wrist snapped from the force of the impact.
Five or six robbers immediately rushed up and shoved Li Qiang out of the crowd.
The burly man with the severed hand seemed to be the leader of the group in the cabin. He shouted, "Beat him! Beat him to death! Tear him to pieces!"
Li Qiang stood with his arms crossed, watching coldly. The group of robbers used all their strength to punch and kick, and there was a lot of noise.
Li Qiang remained standing, his body motionless, while his robbers, who had attacked him, were all red-faced, clutching their arms and legs, tears welling in their eyes from the pain.
Li Qiang looked at his tattered robe and said, "Have you had enough? Hmm, you've ruined your new clothes. We'll settle this score later... Can anyone answer my question?"
The merchants and crew suddenly remembered that Li Qiang had boarded the ship halfway through the journey. Knowing that he was a very capable man, they felt a glimmer of hope, but they were also afraid that Li Qiang would implicate them, so they were very conflicted.
The raiders were furious. They couldn't understand this man; he seemed unafraid of being hit. The burly man with the missing hand, enraged, grabbed a Spine-Piercing Spear with his remaining good hand and fired at Li Qiang without a word. A flash of blue light, and screams filled the boat. "Clang!" The energy ball struck Li Qiang's back, and his white robe instantly flew off.
Before he could fire again, Li Qiang turned and reached out, his arm suddenly growing longer as he grabbed the big man's hand. "Crack! Crack!" Everyone in the cabin heard the crisp sound of bones breaking.
"Waaah... Oh..."
The scream was truly earth-shattering. The burly man's hands were completely useless, hanging limply at his sides. He was in so much pain that he could no longer stand up, and he howled as he rolled on the ground.
Li Qiang suddenly moved, sweeping past the raiders like the wind. When he stopped, they realized their Spine-Piercing Spear were gone. Li Qiang stood still, his hands empty; he had put all the Spine-Piercing Spear into his bracelet. Now no one knew where the Spine-Piercing Spear had gone; everyone was empty-handed.
Li Qiang said coldly, "Who will answer the question... Sigh, everyone's so passive. You! Come here!" His tone was almost the same as the burly man with the stick earlier, both domineering and rude.
Several more raiders rushed out from the bow of the ship, shouting, "What's going on?" Before they could react, Li Qiang attacked again, and these raiders were knocked to the ground almost instantly.
Zegu followed him in, his mouth agape in shock. He inwardly groaned, knowing that fighting the raiders in the Sea of Wronged Souls would end in unimaginable horror. After a long pause, he stammered, "Alas... what are we going to do? There are still more outside... we can't leave. We're all doomed now."
Seeing how scared he was, Li Qiang laughed and said, "This has nothing to do with you. Just follow the small boat in front. I'd like to see just how powerful these bastards are."
Zegu returned helplessly, silently praying that his Arrow Boat would not be implicated.
The commotion inside the cabin did not alert the raiders on the small boat, because the screams were so commonplace that they did not expect them to be the cries of their own men being injured.
Li Qiang herded the group of looters into the crew cabin like ducks, then had the injured crew member rescued before entering the crew cabin himself.
Stepping into the cabin, Li Qiang's cold expression vanished, replaced by a grin as he looked at the trembling raiders. He himself found it amusing; it seemed his luck had been running out lately, with trouble happening wherever he went.
He scratched his head and said, "Well, first tell me what the Piled Bones Shoal is. Raise your hand if you want to answer... Hey, why are you all so shy? You were all so imposing just now, but now you've all become cowards!"
Among the raiders were some tough guys, one of whom roared fiercely, "Kill me if you want! Why all this nonsense!"
Li Qiang burst into laughter. "Hmm, good... this is more like the behavior of a raider. If I wanted to kill all of you, you wouldn't be alive today. Now, you answer the question: why did you go to Piled Bones Shoal?"
Seeing their silence, Li Qiang continued, "Since you're all useless, keeping you around is just a nuisance..." With a wave of his hand, Li Qiang used his True Essence Power to pull a burly man across the air, grabbed him by the neck, and chuckled, "What use are you?"
The guy immediately froze in terror, repeatedly stammering, "I'll talk... I'll talk... cough cough... let go!"
Li Qiang released his grip and said with a smile, "That's good, go ahead and talk!" He was secretly overjoyed; if these people refused to talk, he would have found it very difficult to bring himself to use force.
After catching his breath for a while, the guy finally calmed down and stammered, " Piled Bones Shoal is a small island, and we don't want to go there either. Our boss really had no choice... If we didn't go... we wouldn't survive. This time... it wasn't a robbery..."
He was speaking incoherently, and Li Qiang, growing impatient, waved his hand to interrupt him, "Explain yourself clearly! What nonsense are you spouting!"
The burly man took a deep breath and steadied himself. "We were forced into this by a strange man from Piled Bones Shoal. He ordered us to capture some people, saying he only needed a hundred. Several of our leaders were given some strange substance by him, and the pain was unbearable, so we had no choice but to obey his orders."
"A weirdo? What weirdo?" Li Qiang thought to himself, "Maybe another cultivator." He asked, "With so many of you, you can't beat him?"
One of the skinny raiders said, "He's not even human. The Spine-Piercing Spear hit him like it was just a tickle; he didn't care at all." He suddenly remembered that Li Qiang had acted the same way earlier, and he shuddered, falling silent.
Have you ever seen what Piled Bones Shoal looks like?
Piled Bones Shoal, also known as Beating Drums Shoal, is a dangerous spot along the sea route. Ordinary boats would never go there unless they were lost and accidentally entered. It is said that it is like a maze, and once you enter, it is difficult to get out. Merchants know less about it, but most sailors have heard of it, though none have actually seen it.
The group of raiders lowered their heads in fear, looking even worse than the merchants from before. Li Qiang remained silent for a moment, then looked up and saw the raiders' behavior. He couldn't help but feel both angry and amused. His eyes lit up and he came up with a wicked idea. He took out a bottle of bitter pills from his bracelet, poured a handful into his hand, and with lightning speed forced each raider to swallow a pill, crushing it to pieces before it even reached their mouths.
The raiders were terrified, spitting frantically, but the bitter taste of the medicine in their mouths wasn't so easy to clear. One of them, still somewhat conscious, cried out with a mournful face, "You... you... what did you give us to eat? What do you want from us?"
Li Qiang secretly channeled a wisp of his True Essence Power into the body of one of the raiders, and said with a grin, "What you've ingested is something truly precious. I spent countless hours obtaining it, hehe, it's called the ' Pain Until Death ' Pill. Anyone who doesn't behave will suffer like him, in excruciating Pain Until Death!"
The robber suddenly rolled to the ground, tears and snot streaming down his face from the pain. He couldn't speak for a long time, just writhing on the ground. Li Qiang withdrew his True Essence Power, and only then did the man scream in agony, "Help! It hurts so much..."
Li Qiang laughed and said, "Don't worry, I'm not planning to hurt you to death. Listen carefully, I'm giving you a chance. Go do what you were doing, and pretend what just happened never happened. Do you understand?" His expression became very serious when he said the last sentence.
The group of robbers were completely bewildered by Li Qiang's relentless attacks, nodding blankly as if they didn't quite understand. Li Qiang, enraged, stood up and slapped each of them on the head, yelling, "You only know how to act tough around merchants, but when it's your turn, you're such cowards! Utterly pathetic..." He grabbed the burly man whose hands had been broken earlier. "Hey, what happened to your hands? Tell me!"
The burly man trembled uncontrollably from the pain emanating from his broken wrist. He completely misunderstood Li Qiang's meaning, but the quick-witted short man beside him hurriedly said, "He accidentally fell and broke it..."
Only then did everyone realize that Li Qiang intended to follow them discreetly. They couldn't help but shudder, thinking how terrifying this man was.
Li Qiang nodded approvingly. "Hmm, I thought you were all idiots. Not bad, there's one good egg. Remember, anyone who tries to spout nonsense will be in Pain Until Death, understand?"
This time, the raiders shouted in unison, "Understood!" Their voices were both clear and loud, leaving the merchants outside the cabin completely bewildered. What did they understand?
The shorter man said, "This... the Spine-Piercing Spear..."
Li Qiang suddenly realized, and casually tossed a pile of Spine-Piercing Spear to the ground. He said, "Remember, no mistreatment of the crew and merchants, or... Pain Until Death!"
The raiders were inwardly groaning. How could they have encountered such a terrifying creature? It seemed they hadn't prayed fervently to the gods before setting sail, leading to such bad luck. One by one, the raiders picked up their Spine-Piercing Spear and walked out of the crew cabin, dejected.
Li Qiang swaggered into the command cabin of the Arrow Boat. Zegu, his face covered in sweat, saw Li Qiang enter as if he had found a lifeline and hurriedly said, "Brother, the Jiao Meng boat ahead sent word that they need their men to answer. What should we do?"
Li Qiang laughed, "Hehe, it's alright, watch me." He clapped his hands, beckoned several raiders, and said, "Quickly contact your people and tell them everything is safe and sound." The message was quickly relayed, and the approaching dinghy suddenly sped up, leading the way again.
Zegu breathed a huge sigh of relief, his hands gripping the control panel, feeling completely weak. After a long while, he said with a wry smile, "That was really scary, brother. How could they listen to you? What did you do to them?"
Li Qiang couldn't help but burst into laughter. "They travel thousands of miles just for money, right? Give them some money and everything will be fine. Look how obedient they are!"
Zegu didn't believe his nonsense at all. Just look at the way those looters looked at Li Qiang; they were absolutely terrified. Money couldn't buy that kind of effect.
A crew member shouted, "The wind is picking up... Everyone be careful!"
Zegu ordered, "Increase defenses, watch out for the swift boats ahead, fly close to the sea." The Arrow Boat immediately floated up and moved forward, Li Qiang felt that the Arrow Boat was much more stable.
The wind gradually picked up, and waves began to rise on the sea, but compared to the storms when we first left Desperation Cape, it was quite calm. The red light flashing on the dinghy ahead looked eerie in the darkness.
The sky grew even darker, and even the bioluminescent creatures that had been visible beneath the surface of the sea had vanished without a trace. Only the sound of the surging waves, "Whoosh!", reminded everyone that this was the Sea of Wronged Souls under the cover of night.
Zegu gazed at the pitch-black sea, where only the red glow of the distant dinghy remained. His own Arrow Boat, the Arrow Boat, sailed alone on the surface. He sighed deeply, "Alas... if I escape this time, I really will quit. Making a living on this Sea of Wronged Souls is just too difficult." He then looked at Li Qiang and said, "Meeting you this time has truly been a matter of unpredictable fortune."
Li Qiang knew he was losing confidence, so he smiled and said, " Zegu, let's take it one step at a time. Are you always sure you'll reach the other side every time you go out to sea?"
Zegu shook his head slightly. "Confident? Impossible."
Li Qiang patted his shoulder lightly. "That's right, you have to get through one hurdle before you can face the next. You can't possibly cross the Sea of Wronged Souls in one step."
Zegu said sadly, " Piled Bones Shoal... easy to enter but hard to leave, this hurdle... is going to be difficult!"
"Thump!" "Thump!" "Thump!" In an instant, everyone's face turned ashen.
Li Qiang exclaimed in surprise, "Hey... there really is drumming! Have we arrived at Piled Bones Shoal?" Before he finished speaking, a series of drumbeats sounded, becoming more and more urgent and dense. As the Arrow Boat approached, the drumming gradually became a continuous sound.
The entire Sea of Wronged Souls seemed shrouded in an atmosphere of terror, even the looters were terrified. Li Qiang keenly sensed something was amiss, because the drumming sound didn't seem to be naturally occurring.
Suddenly, all the drumming stopped, and the surroundings became eerily silent. Even the sound of the waves could not be heard. The only thing that could be clearly heard was the heavy breathing of the people around them. The situation was truly frightening.
One of the operators suddenly yelled, "Oh my god..." His voice was extremely hoarse and unpleasant. The yell terrified everyone in the cabin, and then more people started screaming. Instantly, the cabin descended into chaos.
Li Qiang was truly impressed; with such simple sound effects, he could drive people to a mental breakdown. He didn't have Princess Lanqiu's ability to calm people down, so he had to resort to force. He concentrated his True Essence Power, about to use a sonic boom to wake everyone up, when a series of soft drumbeats sounded again.
Gradually, everyone began to listen intently, and everything calmed down again. The drumbeats grew fainter and fainter, eventually seeming to dissipate on the sea surface, and the sound of the waves rose clearly once more. Only then did everyone realize that they were soaked in sweat and exhausted.
Li Qiang remained silent inside the cabin.
Zegu wiped the sweat from his face and said softly, "That was terrifying..."
Li Qiang looked ahead and said calmly, "The Jiaomengzhou is gone."
Zegu practically lunged forward, raised his binoculars and looked ahead, crying out in disbelief, "Heavens! Where have they gone? What are we going to do?" He completely forgot that his Arrow Boat had been coerced by the enemy, and the crew members looked at each other, at a loss for what to do.
As dawn broke and the wind subsided, a thin mist descended, obscuring the surroundings. Zegu nervously gripped the Dingxi Cape, fiddling with it repeatedly on the control panel. After a long while, he cried out with a mournful face, "We're lost... we're lost!" He angrily pounded the console repeatedly.
Because of the fog, Li Qiang couldn't figure out what was happening outside. After a moment of thought, he beckoned to one of the robbers and asked, "How do you contact your own people?"
The man replied respectfully, "It's this flashing ball... but it seems to have stopped responding after the drumbeat."
Li Qiang nodded and said to Zegu, "Stop the Arrow Boat, let's wait."
Zegu stared intently at the sea, muttering to himself, "Stop the boat? What if something happens? How will we escape in time..."
Li Qiang smiled and said, "Don't worry, something will guide you." His tone was extremely confident.
Zegu finally made up his mind and said, "Alright! I'll go all out and stop the boat immediately."
The Arrow Boat glided slowly for a distance before coming to a stop on this strange sea surface.
Daylight had broken, but the fog was growing thicker, making it almost impossible to see anything. Time passed slowly; no one spoke or moved on the Arrow Boat, only uneasy breathing and occasional coughs could be heard.
Suddenly, a very strange sound faintly came from afar.
Li Qiang listened intently and said, "On the right, start the Arrow Boat!"
Without waiting for Zegu's order, the operator immediately started the Arrow Boat.
After walking for a while, Li Qiang pointed to the left again. "The direction has changed, it's that way!"