Chapter 142 - 141: [You Can Do That?]

Chapter 142: Chapter 141: [You Can Do That?]

Snake Mountain was bustling with activity at night.

People from the villas, resorts, mountain lodges, and hotels would all come out for some fun.

Of course, the crowds were never as large as they were now.

After all, some bizarre horror stories had been popping up in the news feeds recently.

And while they were quickly 404’d by some unknown force, plenty of people still screenshotted, forwarded, and spread them.

He Xiaotian leaned on the railing, a faint smile on his face as he watched the lively crowd by the lake.

’Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss.’

"Whoa!!"

A huge cry of surprise suddenly erupted from the tourists on the shore.

He Xiaotian followed their gaze to see a veritable behemoth of a ship that had appeared out of nowhere on Moon Lake.

It was more than three times the size of the medium-sized boat he had rented!

The hull was made entirely of wood and adorned with red lanterns, giving it a festive air.

Moreover, there were many pretty young women aboard dressed in historical costumes, looking like handmaidens.

Modern people were no strangers to cosplay.

Most people assumed the ship was part of a show or an attraction for the Snake Mountain tourist area.

The massive, ancient ship docked at the shore.

Two graceful handmaidens stepped ashore and said something that completely broke the immersion.

"Tickets are 500. Experience ancient life and customs. Limited to one hundred and fifty people, first come, first served."

The moment she finished speaking, a huge crowd of men rushed forward, waving cash.

Those who had girlfriends could only look on with envy.

In no time at all, all one hundred and fifty tickets were sold.

The massive ship departed from the shore, slowly making its way toward the center of Moon Lake.

He Xiaotian drained the fruit juice from his cup and was about to head into the cabin to sleep.

Suddenly, he noticed a thick fog had descended upon the calm waters of Moon Lake.

The fog seemed to come from nowhere, descending in an instant.

Visibility on the lake was reduced to no more than three meters. Even with his enhanced senses, he could barely see more than six meters ahead.

PLOP! PLOP!

The sound was minuscule, but He Xiaotian’s ears still caught it.

He frowned, squinting as he peered toward the source of the sound.

A trickle of fresh blood was spreading across the calm surface of the lake, creeping toward his boat.

’Did something happen?’

He Xiaotian retrieved the Water-Repelling Talisman, which was folded into an octagonal bagua shape, from his storage space and placed it against his skin.

Then, with a graceful leap, he dove headfirst into the lake.

Immediately, a strange power surged from the Water-Repelling Talisman, instantly enveloping him in a thin, transparent, circular barrier.

All the lake water was pushed away.

It was a shame that scanning those Daoist scriptures in his cousin’s study last time had yielded no results.

Even the corpse-refining arts seized from Zhou Family Village and the simple techniques recorded within them had been useless.

He Xiaotian didn’t have time to dwell on it. Shouyangzi had warned him that the Water-Repelling Talisman would only last for half an hour at most.

Once that time was up, it would fail.

He had already used up a few minutes of it during his battle with Mr. Men.

He would inevitably end up swallowing a few mouthfuls of lake water when it ran out.

He followed the trail of blood forward.

A moment later, two desiccated corpses came into view.

Their necks were punctured with several bloody holes.

It looked as if they had been killed by some creature that had drained their blood. The job wasn’t thorough, though; some blood had been left behind, which was what had floated to the surface.

An ordinary person would likely have overlooked such a faint trail of blood.

At night, on a boat, in a fog, with no light source.

Seeing a trail of blood on the water’s surface under these conditions would be damn near impossible.

’Something’s wrong with that ship!’

The giant, ancient ship had just taken one hundred and fifty tourists, and then Moon Lake had immediately filled with fog.

And now, two desiccated corpses had fallen into the water. He Xiaotian would be the first to disbelieve anyone who claimed there wasn’t something shady going on.

He immediately surfaced, intending to find the ancient ship.

Half an hour later, after the Water-Repelling Talisman had turned to ash, He Xiaotian broke through the surface and began running across the water.

Back on his own medium-sized boat, he grew even more certain that something was wrong with the ancient ship.

Moon Lake wasn’t massive, but it wasn’t small either.

He had covered nearly the entire lake in that half hour, yet he hadn’t found any sign of the ship.

’One hundred and fifty people, gone just like that. This world is truly fraught with peril,’ He Xiaotian sighed. He was almost certain those people were all GAME OVER.

’I’ll see if that ship shows up again tomorrow night. If I can wipe them out, I’m sure it’ll be a huge haul of Experience Points.’

From just a quick glance, he’d seen no fewer than a hundred handmaidens on that ancient ship.

Add to that the boss hiding behind the scenes, and the reward would be quite substantial.

Before that, though, he needed to make a trip to the Divine Void Temple tomorrow morning.

Shouyangzi might not be a good person, but he definitely had some useful things.

The Water-Repelling Talisman was surprisingly effective!

After a night’s rest in the cabin, it was already late morning.

He Xiaotian then steered the boat to shore and returned it to the rental shop.

Then, he headed straight for Snake Mountain, intending to buy a few more Daoist talismans to have on hand.

The familiar mountain gate, the familiar young Daoist.

Daoxuan was still sweeping the temple grounds.

He was starting to suspect that Shouyangzi had only taken the boy in to get a free janitor.

"Scholar X."

This time, the young Daoist didn’t shout but instead greeted him in a rather friendly manner.

Without a doubt, it was because He Xiaotian hadn’t made things too difficult for his master, Shouyangzi.

’To be honest, I really wanted to smash that profiteering old Daoist into a pulp. Trying to rip me off... he really has some nerve.’

’But murder is illegal!!’

Besides, He Xiaotian hadn’t actually lost anything. On the contrary, he had managed to squeeze three Daoist talismans out of Shouyangzi.

And he couldn’t forget that when he’d discovered he was cursed...

...the old Daoist had helped him without hesitation.

He might not have been much help in the end, but at least he had done his best.

"Where’s your master?" He Xiaotian asked.

"He’s at his morning prayers." Daoxuan, very proactively, began to lead the way.

’Has he gotten used to this?’

"Master, Scholar X is here."

Daoxuan called out as they arrived at a side hall.

"Come in."

Shouyangzi was sitting cross-legged on a cattail cushion, striking the pose of a venerable Daoist master.

Anyone who didn’t know his true nature would be completely taken in; nine and a half out of ten people would fall for it.

"I need some Water-Repelling Talismans. Price is not an issue."

"?! "

Shouyangzi’s heart leaped, and he wished he could slap himself a few times.

’I never should have offered those Daoist talismans as compensation.’

’Now he’s taken a liking to them, what am I going to do?’

The truth was, apart from the box of Daoist talismans he had stolen from his senior brother, the Diviner, he really had nothing else of value to offer as compensation.

"Scholar X, these Daoist talismans aren’t for sale. If my senior brother finds out, he’ll skin me alive!" the old Daoist said, his face a mask of misery.

"Is that so?" He Xiaotian stroked his chin. "Then let’s try another approach. I’ll ’sponsor’ you some Spiritual Energy Crystals, and you can ’sponsor’ me some Daoist talismans. A mutual sponsorship. That wouldn’t be considered a ’sale,’ would it?"

Shouyangzi: "???"

’A loophole like that actually exists?!’