Volume One: The Dragon Rises from the Wilderness Chapter 114: Setting Aside Grudges

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Tao Feng and the others were still laughing and talking loudly when their expressions suddenly changed. As though confronted by a formidable enemy, they hurriedly drew their longswords and shortswords and assumed fighting stances.

Ah Hu noticed the change and called out from the raised cabin, “Everyone…”

A middle-aged man stepped out of the cabin and waved his hand, calmly coming to a stop. He looked over Tao Feng and the others and continued, “Who killed South Mountain? Why has no one answered?”

Following close behind him was a sturdy middle-aged man. Though he remained silent, his features were fierce, and a murderous aura clung to him.

A group of Chen family disciples retreated to the side, content to watch with folded arms.

In the distance, the sea remained vast and magnificent. The breeze was still as cool and refreshing as ever. Yet upon the deck, the laughter and high spirits had vanished, replaced by a suffocating tension, with swords drawn and violence ready to erupt.

Tao Feng glanced to either side, then at the middle-aged man. He hurriedly lifted his head and said, “Young Master, you know the origins of the six of us, and you accepted our fare. Yet your ship is carrying cultivators from Qi Prefecture. Are you not placing us in a perilous situation?”

He was not the only one shocked beyond words. The several disciples of the Daoist sect were likewise stunned. The two men who had appeared without warning were indeed cultivators from Qi Prefecture, masters at the eighth or ninth level of Qi Refining. The two opposing sides had somehow boarded the same ship—what a narrow escape from fate. And now they were upon the open sea. Should a battle begin, it would surely end with one side dead and the other alive. The consequences would be unimaginable.

The middle-aged man cut him off. “This has nothing to do with Ah Hu. Tao Feng, answer me. Who killed South Mountain?”

Ah Hu shook his head with a wry smile.

Tao Feng and the others had once spent a night at the Black Tortoise Pavilion on North Qi Mountain, where they had dealt with the two cultivators from Qi Prefecture. They knew one another, and even knew each other’s names. Seeing that the young master of the Chen family did not dare speak, Tao Feng hesitated briefly before stepping forward, chin raised and chest thrust out.

“Fellow Daoist Gan Xing, if you have come to avenge him, then say that I killed South Mountain. Come at me!”

Yu Xin refused to yield and also stepped forward. “Qi Prefecture destroyed our Daoist sect and ruined our lineage. As disciples of the sect, we have an unquestionable duty to resist foreign aggression!”

An Yunsheng, He Qingnian, and Luo Chen likewise stood fearlessly and spoke in unison. “Slaying South Mountain and resisting foreign aggression are duties we cannot shirk!”

“Heh heh!”

The middle-aged man was Gan Xing. He shook his head and laughed coldly. “You are all so hypocritical and affected, possessing no skill beyond boasting. If the Daoist sects of the Great Marsh are not destroyed, Heaven itself will have failed in justice!”

Tao Feng shouted angrily, “How dare you…”

Gan Xing shook his head indifferently. “Let me be frank. You could never have killed South Mountain!”

Tao Feng was somewhat embarrassed, but challenged him nevertheless. “South Mountain is dead. How could there be any mistake?”

“South Mountain is dead, but he died at another person’s hand.”

“If that is so, why have you pursued us all the way onto the sea?”

“As for me, first, I came to expose your lies. And secondly…”

Gan Xing’s gaze swept over the group, and his smile took on a profound significance.

Ah Hu seized the opportunity to speak. “Please hear me out. The Chen family’s business is the buying and selling of medicinal materials, and we travel regularly between Qi Prefecture and the Great Marsh. That is how we came to know Daoist Priest Gan Xing and Daoist Priest Qiu Yuan. Now that the two priests are returning to Qi Prefecture, they have once again boarded a Chen family vessel. As for the rights and wrongs between Qi Prefecture and the Great Marsh, Ah Hu dares not interfere. I only ask that we lay down our weapons for now. We are all on the same ship, and must help one another through this voyage!”

“Ah Hu speaks wisely!”

Gan Xing nodded in strong approval, then continued, “I give you my word: no grievances will be discussed aboard this ship. We shall speak only of old friendships. Yu Ye—”

Before Tao Feng and the others could breathe a sigh of relief, they hurriedly followed his gaze.

Beside a pile of cargo at the bow stood a man with his arms folded, leaning lazily against it. Though he wore a bamboo hat and kept his head lowered, he had clearly witnessed everything that had just occurred. All this time, he had stood by indifferently, entirely removed from the affair.

Now that he had been called by name, however, he could no longer continue hiding.

Yu Ye straightened and asked calmly, “What can I do for you?”

“Heh heh!”

Gan Xing actually raised both hands and said, “Yu Ye, who would have thought that we would meet here? Let us wipe the slate clean and settle all the grievances of the past. What do you say?”

“Oh…”

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Yu Ye glanced at Ah Hu in the raised cabin and nodded. “Very well. Our grievances are settled.”

Tao Feng, Yu Xin, and the others exchanged glances before suddenly shouting in anger. “Yu Ye, you have joined forces with the enemy, colluded with cultivators from Qi Prefecture, and betrayed the Daoist sects of the Great Marsh. You…”

Yu Ye frowned slightly.

“Heh heh!”

There was a hint of mockery in Gan Xing’s cold laugh. “Yu Ye set fire to the mountain, brought down the Black Tortoise Pavilion, ruined the Immortal Sect celebration, secretly killed South Mountain, and risked his life repeatedly to save disciples of the Daoist sects. Not only do you fail to appreciate it, you heap suspicion upon him instead. How absurd!”

Tao Feng stared in surprise. “He… He was the one who killed South Mountain? Then the enmity between you and him…”

“Hmph!”

Gan Xing snorted, clearly unwilling to explain. He turned to Yu Ye and continued, “Daoist Qiu Yuan and I are merely two wandering cultivators from Qi Prefecture. We have no further connection with the Immortal Sect.”

The man called Qiu Yuan raised a hand in greeting.

“Fellow priests, esteemed cultivators…”

Ah Hu came down from the raised cabin and cupped his hands with a smile. “Our course has been set, and we shall reach Qi Prefecture in three months. Please settle yourselves for now. There will be plenty of time to speak later. Chen Biao—”

A man in his thirties nodded in acknowledgment and began arranging lodgings for everyone.

Tao Feng and the others had no choice but to let the matter rest, though each of them wore a troubled expression.

The raised cabin contained four small rooms, occupied by Ah Hu, Gan Xing, and Ji Sheng. With one room left unassigned, Meng Qingqing eventually took it. The rest of the passengers stayed in the cabins below the deck.

There were two hatchways on the deck. One served as a passage for people, while the other was used to move cargo.

Yu Ye descended the wooden ladder through the hatchway into the ship’s hold.

The great ship’s interior was divided into three levels. The upper level was the deck. The middle level was split in two: one half served as living quarters and a kitchen, while the other was used for storing cargo. The lower level also held cargo, but contained several watertight compartments as well.

The living area in the middle level measured only a few dozen feet across. There were neither beds nor partitions. Twenty or thirty people were crowded together upon a single broad section of planking. It was cramped and damp, and filled with all manner of unpleasant smells.

Yu Ye found a place in the corner of the hold.

For him, being able to travel far across the sea and have somewhere to sit quietly and cultivate his breathing was more than enough to satisfy him.

Tao Feng and the others, setting aside their former grievances, settled down nearby.

Yu Ye removed his bamboo hat and slowly lay down upon the planks.

Above his head was a porthole, admitting light and cool sea air. To his left was a bulkhead separating him from the kitchen. A row of thick wooden pillars stood in the middle, alongside water barrels, wooden chests, earthen jars, and other objects. Several yards to the right, another bulkhead formed a partition. Along both sides of the hold, some people slept, some gambled, some whispered among themselves, and others laughed and talked loudly.

Yu Ye closed his eyes.

The instant he did so, he felt the world begin to sway. His heart gave a start. He opened his eyes sharply, staring in a daze.

Crossing the sea was not like crossing a river. A sea vessel was no ordinary small boat. Though it appeared steady, it was in fact constantly rocking, causing one to gradually lose all sense of direction—and even the grounded stability beneath one’s feet. Perhaps after some time he would grow accustomed to it. The voyage ahead, however, would last three full months.

Yu Ye closed his eyes again.

Three months was not an especially short span of time, and a three-month voyage was a long one indeed. What they would encounter along the way was impossible to know. Even now, everything that had happened was already filled with countless uncertainties.

The first uncertainty was that he had previously lacked the money for passage, yet had still gone to the Chen family’s bay before the ship departed. Boarding the ship had been secondary; his true purpose had been to find the Chen family’s Qi-Refining expert. In the end, he had boarded smoothly, and the Qi-Refining expert he sought had appeared soon afterward.

The Qi-Refining expert who had secretly watched him was undoubtedly Gan Xing.

The second uncertainty was that he had initially thought Gan Xing had helped him avoid paying the fare. Yet when Gan Xing said, “Who would have thought that we would meet here,” it was enough to show that the matter had nothing to do with him.

Ah Hu, however, was a merchant who pursued profit above all else. He would never have allowed Yu Ye aboard for no reason. The mysterious smile on the young master’s face when he hesitated clearly concealed another meaning.

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The third uncertainty was naturally Gan Xing and his companion, Qiu Yuan.

Yu Ye had been far more astonished than Tao Feng and the others to encounter Gan Xing aboard the ship. He had chosen to watch and wait because he suspected that Gan Xing meant him no harm. As it turned out, Gan Xing had indeed taken the initiative to propose settling their grievances.

In principle, the two of them shared only enmity, not gratitude. Yet Yu Ye knew that although he and Gan Xing had once been opponents locked in a struggle to the death, he owed Gan Xing an enormous debt of gratitude from North Qi Mountain. After recognizing Yu Ye at the foot of the mountain, Gan Xing had pretended not to see him, allowing him to set fire to North Qi Mountain and destroy the Immortal Sect celebration. Otherwise, all his efforts would have come to nothing.

Now, without either side saying it aloud, their former grievances had somehow been erased.

But why had Gan Xing betrayed South Mountain? And there was also Bu Yi. When Bu Yi had pursued him, it seemed that he too had shown mercy. Otherwise, Yu Ye could never have escaped North Qi Mountain so easily.

The fourth uncertainty was that nine cultivators were traveling together aboard a single ship, each wary of the others and suspicious of their motives. On top of that, there was the exceptionally shrewd and mysterious Chen Ah Hu.

Before the winds and waves of the sea had even risen, the ship was already shrouded in hidden currents and treacherous intrigue.

“Brother Yu…”

Yu Ye was still lost in thought when a voice reached his ears through spiritual transmission.

It was Tao Feng.

He was sitting not far away with Yu Xin, An Yunsheng, He Qingnian, and Luo Chen, whispering among themselves.

“Brother Yu, Gan Xing is now isolated and weak. His deliberate show of goodwill is nothing more than a temporary expedient. Once we reach Qi Prefecture, he will certainly move against us. Several fellow cultivators and I have agreed to join forces and eliminate the two of them. To ensure success, we urgently need your full assistance…”

Yu Ye paid no attention, keeping his eyes closed as though he were dozing.

“Brother Yu, there have been many misunderstandings between us, but you know what sort of person Tao Feng is. I only ask that you cast aside past grievances and stand with us against our common enemy…”

Tao Feng pleaded earnestly, then continued, “Whatever relationship you may have with Gan Xing, I hope you can distinguish right from wrong and not allow him to deceive you. He has committed countless atrocities in the Great Marsh and is a mortal enemy to both you and us. Show him a woman’s misplaced compassion today, and tomorrow you will regret it too late…”

Yu Ye still ignored him.

“Very well. Since you refuse to help, then the matter is no longer yours to decide. Tao Feng asks only one thing: when the six of us make our move, will you be our enemy or our ally?”

With a sigh, Yu Ye had no choice but to open his eyes.

The five men of Tao Feng’s group stared intently at him. Concern and wariness were written across their faces.

After a moment’s thought, Yu Ye transmitted his reply. “I advise all of you not to act rashly.”

Tao Feng, however, was stubborn and pressed him. “Since you refuse to help, you have no say in this matter! Tao Feng asks you only one question: are you our enemy or our ally?”

Yu Ye could not help frowning.

“Bang, bang—”

Just then, the sound of someone striking a wooden barrel rang out, followed by a shout.

“Food’s ready!”

Yu Ye stared in surprise and rose to his feet.

An old man with grizzled hair and beard appeared before him. Wearing an apron and carrying a ladle, he ordered imperiously, “You useless louts, hurry up and bring out the food!”

Yu Ye’s expression changed dramatically.

The old man merely bristled his beard and glared, then turned and walked back into the kitchen.