Chapter 546 - 242: Inviting Me to Tingtiao Pavilion?
Chapter 546: Chapter 242: Inviting Me to Tingtiao Pavilion?
Suhe Chen suddenly understood.
With Fang Shuwen’s level of Martial Arts, forget one Jin Yuheng—even a hundred of them attacking together would be no match for him.
The man had clearly died at Fang Shuwen’s hands.
Suhe Chen looked at Fang Shuwen with hope in his eyes, as if searching for an answer.
Fang Shuwen, however, just shook his head.
"There were no captives on Jin Yuheng’s ship."
Fang Shuwen was certain of this. After he dealt with Jin Yuheng, he had searched every single ship.
He wasn’t searching for captives, but rather making sure to leave no one alive.
Therefore, he was certain there were no captives on the ships.
Just then, Fang Shuwen suddenly recalled something else.
"As for your people, I’m afraid their fate was likely grim."
"You’re talk—"
A disciple from Tingtiao Pavilion flew into a rage and was about to curse at him.
But before he could finish his sentence, Suhe Chen’s sharp rebuke cut him off.
"Silence!!
"This Senior is a man of great importance. How dare you speak to him with such insolence?"
The disciple was startled. Suhe Chen’s temperament was always mild, and he rarely spoke with such stern words and a harsh expression. The man immediately dropped to one knee.
"Please forgive me, Young Pavilion Master!"
Suhe Chen waved a hand.
"Go receive your punishment after we return."
After speaking, he stole a glance at Fang Shuwen. Seeing that his expression hadn’t changed at all, he then asked in a low voice,
"May I ask, Senior, why you would say that?"
Fang Shuwen glanced at him, then explained,
"Jin Yuheng practiced a Demon Technique called the [Blood Shadow Seven Extremes Sword].
"This technique requires its practitioner to absorb fresh blood at a set time each day. Otherwise, they risk going berserk.
"Judging by the time, when I encountered him, it was right after he had drawn blood.
"If the people from Tingtiao Pavilion were taken by him and later disappeared without a reason... I’m afraid that’s why."
Luo Shuqing stole a glance at Fang Shuwen. She knew he had read the secret manual for the [Blood Shadow Seven Extremes Sword], so he definitely wasn’t making this up.
She then peeked at Suhe Chen before finally lowering her head.
From the moment she first saw Suhe Chen, she had kept her head down.
It was as if she had forgotten she was still wearing a mask.
Suhe Chen sighed softly.
"I see. It seems they were ill-fated. If we had only been a little earlier...
"Never mind. There’s no point in dwelling on it.
"But, Senior... how are we to leave this island now?"
"No rush."
Fang Shuwen waved his hand dismissively.
"Actually, I’ll have to trouble you all to search the island first and see if there are any survivors.
"If there are, remember to finish them off."
Everyone: "..."
’Where did this living King Yama come from? Killing people isn’t enough; he even has to check the bodies for survivors?’
They subconsciously looked toward Suhe Chen, and seeing their Young Pavilion Master nod, they could only agree.
Fang Shuwen, meanwhile, led Luo Shuqing and the others to search among the ruined walls and rubble of the island’s buildings.
He mainly wanted to see if there were any secret chambers on the island.
If there were, they might contain things like gold, silver, and jewels.
’As they say, a thief never leaves empty-handed... No, that’s not it. Robbing the rich to give to the poor. Since we’re already here, we can’t just leave empty-handed, can we?’
Fang Shuwen searched the area with an even more serious attitude than he’d had when he was killing people earlier.
And he actually managed to find a secret chamber.
With a sweep of his arm, he cleared away the rubble, revealing a collapsed entrance.
After carefully checking and seeing no traps, the group entered.
There were two rooms in total.
One room was filled entirely with gold, silver, and jewels.
The quantity wasn’t huge, valued at probably around eight to nine thousand taels of silver.
The other room was a study.
A thorough search turned up nothing noteworthy, save for a piece of paper, burned until only a corner remained, that caught Fang Shuwen’s eye.
On this corner of paper was a very strange mark.
It looked something like flowing water, and also like a snowflake.
Suhe Chen raised his eyes for a look and was suddenly taken aback.
"Is this... the Guixu Seal?"
"The Guixu Seal?"
Fang Shuwen raised an eyebrow.
"Emperor Guixu, Taishi Cheng? You’re not mistaken, are you?"
"Everything associated with the line of Emperor Guixu, from their traveling carriages to their everyday trinkets, bears this seal. It’s the symbol of the Taishi clan."
Suhe Chen said with great certainty,
"Of that, this junior is certain. I would not mistake it."
Fang Shuwen nodded slightly.
It seemed Black Island was indeed connected to this Emperor Guixu after all.
From Nameless Island to Black Island, the disciples of Emperor Guixu had focused on stationing their people where the East Sea and the Eastern Domain nearly met.
’What exactly are they trying to do?’
But this wasn’t something he could figure out just by standing here thinking about it, even for a lifetime.
The group walked out of the secret chamber, and Fang Shuwen offered the gold, silver, and jewels to Suhe Chen.
If Suhe Chen could produce the equivalent value in silver notes, he could have it all.
Suhe Chen naturally had no reason to refuse.
After they made another circuit of the island, confirming that no survivor had been missed and no potential location for a secret chamber had been overlooked,
the group returned to the shore with the gold, silver, and jewels.
Suhe Chen looked out. By this time, the fog on the sea had dispersed.
But the night was dark, and the distance was a sheet of blackness. He couldn’t see anything, and his ship was nowhere in sight.
However, he wasn’t too worried. Fang Shuwen had seemed to have everything under control the whole time and clearly had a plan.
Sure enough, they saw Fang Shuwen let out a whistle.
Then he sat down to the side and waited.