The Arrow Boat moved slowly, and the fog grew even thicker. Apart from the rolling white mist, almost nothing could be seen outside the Arrow Boat.
Li Qiang kept his eyes closed, and as he concentrated, the sounds around him became clearer and clearer. Because he had just entered the Leaving the Body Realm, he did not dare to use his Divine Sense to see. He could hear the slight wind, the surging of the waves and the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks, and even the strange sounds made by the unknown sea beasts in the distance. However, the strange sounds from before gradually became inaudible.
Li Qiang sighed and raised his hand to stop them, saying, "Stop the Arrow Boat and move to the left. There seem to be reefs to the right."
Zegu asked in surprise, "Big brother can see ahead... how is that possible?"
Li Qiang shook his head. "I can't see anything either, just like you. But listen carefully, can you hear the sound of seawater crashing against the rocks?"
Zegu walked to the side and listened intently. After a while, he exclaimed, "It's not a reef... the voice doesn't sound like it..." Suddenly, he looked very nervous.
Although Li Qiang had good hearing, he was not someone who lived at sea and lacked experience. Upon hearing this, he listened again and was horrified to discover that the "reef" was actually moving. He suddenly realized that the thing must be a sea monster.
Zegu was at a loss. There was no way to escape the thick fog. He kept praying to the gods, begging the sea monster to leave as soon as possible. But the worst part was that he had no idea what kind of monster it was.
The Arrow Boat had come to a complete stop, and a deathly silence filled the Arrow Boat. Everyone, whether sitting or standing, remained motionless. Li Qiang disliked this situation; it was utterly baffling. He knew everyone was extremely tense, and the slightest noise would send them into a frenzy. He couldn't help but think of Princess Lanqiu; if she were here, she could surely calm everyone down.
The Arrow Boat suddenly swayed and moved forward. Li Qiang shouted in a low voice, "Who started the Arrow Boat? Are you out of your mind?!" Zegu nervously turned around to look at the operators, who were all bewildered because no one had started the Arrow Boat.
Li Qiang moved swiftly to the edge of Zegu: "It seems to be flowing water... Strange?"
After sliding forward for several hundred meters, the Arrow Boat stopped again.
Li Qiang scanned the cabin, and everyone there looked terrified, including the looters.
A slight scraping sound suddenly came from the bottom of the Arrow Boat. Zegu asked in a low voice, "Are we getting close to land? What's going on?"
Li Qiang's expression grew increasingly surprised and confused. Suddenly, he roared, "Everyone grab the ropes and secure yourselves... You! Immediately..." Before he could finish speaking, something unexpected happened.
The Arrow Boat suddenly rose rapidly into the air, causing chaos inside the cabin. Fortunately, Li Qiang had shouted in advance, so everyone was still somewhat prepared. Li Qiang grabbed Zegu, pinning his feet to the ground, and glanced outside the boat, only to be even more astonished.
It turned out that the fog on the sea was only a very thin layer. As the Arrow Boat rose, the view immediately opened up, and he saw a white mountain peak in the distance, with several faint white lights flashing around it.
Before he could see clearly, the Arrow Boat suddenly sank, Arrow Boat into the sea with a loud bang.
Zegu shaken, Ze Gu asked in a trembling voice, "What happened?"
Li Qiang said in a deep voice, "It seems we've landed on the back of a giant monster. Don't move, let's wait and see!"
The Arrow Boat had completely plunged into the sea, but fortunately, there were defensive walls that prevented the seawater from flooding Arrow Boat for the time being. However, the people inside the cabin could no longer hold on and began to scream and shout wildly.
Li Qiang shouted, "Start the Arrow Boat! Start the Arrow Boat!" Suddenly he realized that the huge sea monster must have dived into the deep water, and the Arrow Boat was being sucked in by the huge current and carried into the depths of the sea. He didn't have time to explain, so he hurriedly ordered the Arrow Boat to start.
The Arrow Boat spun and tumbled violently in the sea. Some people, unable to hold on, were thrown about in the cabin with the Arrow Boat. Li Qiang couldn't care less about them. He gripped Zegu tightly with one hand and pressed down on one of the controls with the other. Both of them were responsible for controlling the Arrow Boat.
The entire Arrow Boat emitted a terrifying creaking and groaning sound, interspersed with cracking noises, sending chills down one's spine. The Arrow Boat struggled to rush towards the surface of the water, Zegu shouted wildly, "Direction! Damn it, watch the direction!" The steerman, who was in a daze, was aimlessly swaying the boat while humming an unknown tune.
Li Qiang was both amused and exasperated. He sent a wisp of his True Essence Power and whispered two words in the man's ear, "Direction!"
The man was jolted awake, his confusion vanishing instantly. He yelled, "Who's yelling in my ear? Direction? I know... Watch this!" The Arrow Boat suddenly tilted upwards.
Zegu screamed in terror and rage, "You fucking... lower the bow! Are you insane! The Arrow Boat will break..."
Seeing the situation was dire, Li Qiang channeled his True Essence Power, sending the pilot flying and pushing the other pilot, who was being held down by his left hand, towards him. "You take control of the direction... quick!" The Arrow Boat was almost upright, and the cracking sound grew louder. In an instant, the cabin fell silent; it seemed everyone knew that the Arrow Boat was about to collapse.
Zegu glanced outside in despair and muttered to himself, "How could I let this idiot control the direction... What a pity... the bow is too light... It's over..."
Li Qiang's eyes lit up, and he focused his mind on his Nascent Soul. To save these people, he had no choice but to take the risk.
An unparalleled force emanated from him, firmly pressing down on the bow of the ship. With a series of creaking sounds, the bow began to sink. Zegu could hardly believe his eyes. He shouted and quickly issued a series of orders. The crew members knew that success or failure depended on this, and each of them bravely stepped forward, with no one daring to slack off.
More and more seawater seeped into the Arrow Boat, and the protective red light gradually dimmed. At the last moment, the Arrow Boat burst out of the water with a "boom!" Almost simultaneously, the Arrow Boat's defenses made crisp " Bobo " sounds, and the red light vanished without a trace. The cabin was deathly silent; everyone was speechless. After a long while, a sob was heard, which immediately triggered a chorus of cries—the cries of extreme fear followed by relief at being alive.
The cabin was now filled with fog. After the defensive red light disappeared, the thick fog outside the Arrow Boat also drifted in, making visibility extremely low.
Li Qiang and Zegu inspected the scene from beginning to end. Apart from seventeen or eighteen people who had not been secured and had been thrown out and injured, the rest were all unharmed, though their faces were pale and sallow from excessive shock.
The Arrow Boat was mostly damaged; the defensive walls had completely disappeared and were destroyed; there were multiple cracks in the hull; the seawater had reached ankle-deep; and most of the cargo in the lower cabin was submerged. It seemed that only the propulsion system was still functioning.
Most of the wounded were raiders, because raiders did not have a fixed location.
Zegu said, "It seems we have to go to the island. This Arrow Boat... alas, it won't be able to cross the Sea of Wronged Souls. We don't even know when this damned fog will dissipate, or where the Piled Bones Shoal is. It's too dangerous here."
Remembering the white mountain peaks he had just seen, Li Qiang had an idea. " Zegu, you take command. I'll go up and check the location. Make sure the Arrow Boat doesn't move while I'm going up, otherwise I'll be in trouble if I can't find you when I come down."
Zegu asked curiously, "Get up? How do you get up? You don't have wings." He had forgotten how Li Qiang got on the ship.
Li Qiang smiled slightly, "Wait for me!" He then leaped into the air. Zegu and the people in the cabin watched in astonishment, never expecting him to fly away so suddenly, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
The fog was very thin. Li Qiang was suspended above it, with a small white mountain peak to his side. White fog kept flowing down from the middle of the mountain. Li Qiang looked around and found that the place seemed to have been arranged. There were faint clouds in all four directions. If his power hadn't increased so much, he wouldn't have noticed it at all.
Having determined the direction, Li Qiang dared not linger and quietly descended. He was already on alert, knowing that there must be something strange about Piled Bones Shoal.
Zegu was worried when he suddenly noticed Li Qiang standing beside him. He hurriedly asked, "Brother, how is it? Have you seen Piled Bones Shoal?"
Li Qiang said, "I don't know if it's Piled Bones Shoal. There's a white mountain peak to our right. Whatever it is, let's drive over there and see what happens." Zegu and the crew were greatly encouraged. They no longer cared how terrifying Piled Bones Shoal was. As long as they could find land to dock and get through their current predicament, they could only take it one step at a time.
The Arrow Boat slowly began to move. Four crew members with excellent hearing were specially assigned to the bow to listen for sounds ahead. Li Qiang would occasionally fly up to check and correct the course. With him guiding the way from the air, the Arrow Boat moved slowly but gradually approached the strange mountain peak. As they drew closer, they heard the faint sound of drums once again.
The four crew members standing at the bow shouted almost in unison, "There are reefs ahead!"
Zegu shouted, "Stop the boat!" Sure enough, a rumbling sound of surging tides came from all directions, and it seemed that the sound came from all sides, as if they had suddenly rushed into a group of reefs.
The crew members were dumbfounded. These reefs seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. The undefended Arrow Boat was no match for the impact of the reefs and was smashed apart in just a few hits.
Li Qiang understood that this was a teleportation formation. It seemed there was a master in the Piled Bones Shoal. What was he planning to do?
Zegu ordered the boat to stop. He turned to look at Li Qiang, his eyes pleading for help. Almost everyone looked at Li Qiang, including the group of raiders.
Li Qiang lowered his head in thought. He couldn't figure out what kind of formation this was either. These reefs seemed to be cleverly utilizing the power of nature and were not particularly dangerous. It was as if they were deliberately set up to make things difficult for people.
Suddenly a crew member shouted, "The fog is clearing! The fog is clearing!"
The dense fog began to thin, and a cool breeze blew in, revealing the surrounding scenery. In the distance, a white mountain peak stood. Now everyone could see that the mountain was not very high, and it seemed to be covered with something white, but they couldn't make out what it was. There was a huge depression in the middle of the mountain, from which a thick fog flowed continuously. The sky above the mountaintop seemed exceptionally bright, giving people a very strange feeling.
A gasp of surprise filled the cabin. Soon everyone realized that the thick fog hadn't completely dissipated; it had only dispersed within a hundred meters of the Arrow Boat, with the surrounding area still shrouded in dense fog. On this exposed patch of water, there were many sharp reefs scattered about, and the seawater was crystal clear, with all sorts of strange creatures swimming around.
Zegu breathed a sigh of relief, a smile finally appearing on his pale face, "Thank God, it's good that I can see."
Li Qiang remained silent, carefully observing the suddenly appearing reefs. He was quite puzzled, as these were not illusions but real reefs. He hadn't yet figured out their strangeness, and thought that even if he could see them, traversing them might not be easy. He couldn't help but say, " Zegu, be careful, this place is very strange."
The Arrow Boat slowly started moving, its speed extremely slow, carefully navigating towards a gap. Strangely enough, the fog also seemed to recede as the Arrow Boat advanced. "Bang!" The Arrow Boat inexplicably and gently bumped into a reef; because of its slow speed, Arrow Boat only swayed for a moment.
Zegu found it strange; there was clearly an open expanse of water in front of him, so how could a reef suddenly appear?
Li Qiang also found it strange. He had only seen this method of using natural objects as arrays in the Jade Pupil Slip, but there was no detailed record or explanation.
Zegu ordered the helmsman to retreat the Arrow Boat, but the helmsman shouted, "We're stuck! We can't get back!"
Li Qiang hurriedly said, "Stop... stop starting the Arrow Boat."
Zegu was trusting Li Qiang more and more, and upon hearing this, he asked, "Brother, why did we stop the boat?"
Li Qiang said in a deep voice, "The owner of this place hasn't shown any malice so far. Even if he doesn't show himself now, something will lead us in." In an instant, he understood that the owner of this place, whether good or bad, would definitely show himself. Otherwise, he wouldn't have forced the raiders to search for people. He must have some purpose.
Before anyone could figure it out, a current propelled the Arrow Boat forward. They discovered that the rocks seemed to actually move; what appeared to be rocks were actually propelled straight through by the Arrow Boat. The entire process was a blur of reality and illusion, leaving everyone bewildered and disoriented.
Li Qiang knew that the formation had not been activated, so its power had not yet been revealed. He was secretly glad that he had not acted rashly. If he had triggered the formation, although he was not afraid, none of the people in the Arrow Boat would have survived.
The current carried the Arrow Boat through winding paths, past reefs and several rapids. Suddenly, their vision cleared; they had finally passed through the dense fog. They then realized how towering the white mountains were, and what they had seen growing on them from afar turned out to be tall, white plants up close. Zegu suddenly shivered and exclaimed, "It's so cold!"
A cold wind blew in, and almost everyone shivered.
Li Qiang said in surprise, "Huh, this cold wind is really strange... Zegu, tell everyone to put on some clothes."
Zegu was shivering from the cold and could barely speak. He led his crew to the rear cabin. The merchants also busied themselves taking out fur robes and other items to put on.
The Arrow Boat continued its journey, getting closer and closer to the mountain peak, and the temperature dropped rapidly. Zegu, wrapped in a large fur robe, said in a trembling voice, "Big... Big... Big brother, how come you... aren't you cold..." His teeth kept chattering.
Li Qiang laughed and said, "I've never been afraid of the cold since I was a child... this little bit of cold wind is nothing."
A crew member brought over a new fur robe and said, "Brother, take off your tattered robe; there's a huge hole in the back."
Li Qiang, too lazy to take off his old robe, shook his arm, and the old robe immediately shattered into small pieces. He slowly put on his new leather robe and casually handed the crew member a bill.
The crew member was quite clever. He said, "This is a gift for you, elder brother." Then he whispered, "Elder brother, if anything happens later, please take care of me." He was smart; he knew that survival was more important right now.
Zegu held up his binoculars, carefully observing this legendary place.
The mountain was shrouded in mist and clouds, with the scenery appearing and disappearing intermittently, giving it a mysterious feel. Looking along the shore, he saw steep cliffs leading to the sea, which roared as the waves crashed against them.
He pointed ahead and said, "Look! Those are the raiders' dinghys, and two Arrow Boat too. They're over there."
Cheers erupted in the cabin. Everyone had completely forgotten the fear of being chased by the raiders, and even felt a sense of familiarity upon seeing the swift boat. This place was just too mysterious; having many people around always gave them courage.
Before Zegu give the order, the operator was about to start the Arrow Boat when Li Qiang spotted him. Before he could speak to stop him, Li Qiang tossed the operator into the air and said, "Are you crazy?! Let the current carry you. If the Arrow Boat starts moving... hey, we won't be able to see anything here anymore!"
The operator lay sprawled on the ground for a long while before finally saying with a mournful face, "I want to hurry... Besides... we're almost there!"
Li Qiang shook his head with a wry smile, "Don't think it's too easy. The owner here is already guiding our Arrow Boat. If you set sail, hmph! It will immediately trigger the defenses here, and then it will be troublesome to get out." He walked to the crew member's side, reached out and pulled him up. "We just need to wait patiently, and don't do anything."
The current propelled the Arrow Boat rapidly toward the cliff face. Even Zegu couldn't hold back this time, exclaiming anxiously, "It's going to crash..." He grabbed Li Qiang, "Brother, quickly give the order to stop the Arrow Boat Arrow Boat! It can't withstand a collision!" He didn't dare to give the order to stop directly, seemingly relinquishing command.
Li Qiang reiterated, "Do not stop the boat!" He knew that the people of Zegu had never experienced true danger; ordinary mortals simply could not resist the formations set up by cultivators.
Zegu and his crew were extremely nervous. They were all seasoned veterans who had roamed the Sea of Wronged Souls for many years. Looking at the ever-growing and towering cliffs in front of them, they felt utterly helpless. The thunderous roar of the waves crashing against the rock face was awe-inspiring.
Li Qiang was also very nervous. The lives of everyone on the Arrow Boat depended on his deductions, and he was prepared to personally pull the Arrow Boat if things went wrong.
Because the defensive walls on the Arrow Boat were damaged, Li Qiang jumped onto the bow, ready to act at any moment. Zegu and the others shouted warnings, but Li Qiang waved his hand to indicate that it was alright.
The Arrow Boat sped faster and faster, like a wild horse breaking free, charging towards the cliff. Everyone on board heard Li Qiang shout, "Hold on tight... Aha..." Seeing the current in front of the Arrow Boat, he knew he was safe.
A rapid current circled the cliff. The Arrow Boat was about to crash into the rock face, but the force of the current swerved it sideways and circled around it. Li Qiang jumped back into the cabin and laughed, "It's alright now. Hehe, I reckon this is the only way. It's the only safe route; other places are probably traps, we can't go there."
In no time at all, the Arrow Boat docked beside the swift boat.
Everyone looked out. It was a huge white stone platform, as if carved from a single piece of rock, with no visible joints. White pillars were scattered along the edge of the platform, each carved with strange patterns, and each topped with a bowl-sized crystal that shimmered with five colors. In the distance, amidst the swirling smoke, huge pointed pillars were arranged in a V-shape, their destination unknown.
Here they were at the foot of the white mountain peak, surrounded by complete silence. A faint, cool fragrance drifted on the breeze, refreshing their senses. The group breathed deeply, and all their fatigue and fear seemed to vanish.
Zegu exclaimed in surprise, "What exactly is this place? It doesn't seem like the legendary Piled Bones Shoal... it's more like..." He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was like.
One of the raiders exclaimed in alarm, "Where have all our men gone? The dinghy is empty!"
Li Qiang remained silent, carefully analyzing the arrangement of the pillars. He found them rather strange and, after observing them for a while, couldn't figure out what type of formation this arrangement represented.
Zegu said, "Brother, shall we go ashore?"
Li Qiang hesitated for a moment, then said, "Alright, let's go up and take a look."
Zegu ordered, "Everyone, go to the platform. Leave the guests' belongings on the Arrow Boat for now, and keep valuables with you. Alright, send a few crew members ahead to help, and the rest of the guests, line up and go up one by one."
While the merchants were relieved to have finally reached land, they were still uneasy, wondering what else awaited them there.
Soon, everyone went up to the platform one after another. Li Qiang was the last to leave, and he directed the raiders on the Arrow Boat to go up to the platform.
Zegu looked at the wrecked Arrow Boat and followed Li Qiang, forcing a bitter smile. "I'm finished. The Arrow Boat is damaged... Sigh, never mind. I'll just take it one step at a time."
Li Qiang smiled slightly and said, "As long as you're alive, there's still a chance."
Zegu nodded silently, thinking, "Is there really a chance? Who knows what will happen here?"