Chapter Ninety-Four: Messenger in the River, Murder of a Woman

On the third floor, a small chamber had been fashioned from intricately carved, hollowed wood panels. Windbreaks shielded the outside, while faint candlelight leaked through from within. Carved wooden chairs stood on either side, and a long rosewood table lay in the center.

Inside this old-fashioned room sat four people.

One wore a black robe. Through the gaps in his hood, one could faintly make out a pale face and deep, dark eye sockets, though his age was impossible to tell. In his hand he held a purple-gold incense burner. Wisps of blue smoke rose without spreading, curling about him into flowers, birds, and human figures so vivid they seemed alive, strangely fascinating to behold.

Lu Qian could clearly sense the thick stench of blood on the black-robed man, and had no idea how many lives those hands had taken.

Another was an elderly man with snow-white hair, dressed in magnificent robes and a yellow daoist gown trimmed with gold.

There was also a woman in a short skirt, still full of mature charm; and a young man clutching a sword case.

Among them, some looked strange, some shrewd, some dazzlingly seductive, some sharp-edged and formidable.

Not one of them was an ordinary mortal.

Then again, how could a mortal possibly come here?

Compared with them, Lu Qian’s plain, unremarkable appearance made him seem especially ordinary.

The others merely glanced at him before lowering their heads to their own business. Only the elderly man in extravagant dress took a greater interest in Lu Qian.

"I am Mister Tao Zhu," the old man said with a smile. "May I ask your honored surname?"

"Fish Dragon," Lu Qian replied flatly.

Tao Zhu took Lu Qian's indifference in stride and continued, "You seem unfamiliar. Which hall are you from? Or which noble house did you come from?"

At those unfamiliar terms, Lu Qian's gaze sharpened slightly, then he put on the look of someone unwilling to answer.

"Ah, so this is your first time here," the old man said, instantly reading his expression.

"Then let this old daoist explain. I happen to run an agency office. If you have any needs, I hope you'll remember me."

Tao Zhu handed over a black token. Upon it were written two large characters meaning extraordinary merchandise.

"Very well." Lu Qian took the token.

No wonder the old fellow was so glib; he turned out to be in the brokerage business. Such offices could arrange introductions, trades, storage, and more. Since Lu Qian was unfamiliar with this place, he truly did need such services.

"Cloud Isle is a melting pot of all sorts of people, with loose cultivators gathered everywhere; but it is not complete chaos. The island is divided into eight cities, and each city is not a pile of scattered sand either. Different halls and clans each control their own territory and manage it," Tao Zhu said, clearing his throat to add, "Wherever you go, you must know the rules, or you'll end up offending the local tyrants. So my little agency office, hehe, I hope fellow daoist will keep it in mind."

As he spoke, he winked at Lu Qian, looking more like a streetwise merchant than a daoist priest.

"So that's how it is. Many thanks for your guidance," Lu Qian said.

A gathering place for wandering cultivators did not resemble a proper sect, which concealed itself from the world and supported subordinate forces to gather resources. It was more chaotic, more worldly.

This old man probably meant no harm, perhaps truly only wanted to do business.

Still, caution was never a mistake.

While the two were talking, the other three paid them no mind at all.

The boat sailed steadily onward, and the ferryman occasionally came in to report the situation.

Five hours passed.

The sun climbed high overhead. Golden light slipped through the cracks in the windows, forming a dusty pillar of radiance that brought a faint warmth to the cabin.

After a day of conversation, they were at least somewhat acquainted.

The man who played with smoke was called Smoke Ghost, the woman was named Hundred Flowers, and the sword-bearing wanderer went by the name Talisman Sword. Their names were obviously false, but they were only titles after all, since they were merely fellow passengers on the same boat, with no real ties to one another.

Then came a sudden boom.

The boat lurched violently, sending teacups, basins, and vases crashing to the floor in a clatter of shattering porcelain.

"What happened?"

The group exchanged glances and stepped out of the cabin.

The black mist and water vapor surrounding the ship had, for some reason, vanished without a trace.

A broad expanse of pale water emerged. The vessel had stopped, adrift like a leaf upon the waves as the river heaved and surged beneath it.

The people aboard swayed hard to one side and then the other. Had they not all had some cultivation, they would likely have already been thrown overboard.

Tao Zhu hurried over to Zhu Lie and asked, "Old cultivator, what's going on?"

Zhu Lie stood dumbly at the bow, staring at the water with a flicker of fear in his eyes, cold sweat pouring down his back.

The others were all puzzled; they had seen nothing earlier.

Seeing the old man's expression, everyone became extremely wary.

"The River Lord's envoy has come. We're finished. Today shouldn't have been his day to travel..." Zhu Lie muttered to himself.

"The River Lord's envoy?"

Aside from Lu Qian, the others all stared wide-eyed.

"When you encounter the River Lord's envoy, you must offer a blood sacrifice, otherwise the ship is destroyed and everyone dies," the daoist hurriedly explained to Lu Qian, seeing that he did not understand.

Another boom.

The water exploded upward in a hundred-zhang wave.

The ship nearly capsized. Zhu Lie muttered some sort of incantation before finally steadying it.

At that moment, everyone's attention was drawn to the thing before them.

Out on the western waters rode a man on a white horse, in white robes and a black crown, followed by twelve white-robed children.

His eyes were like stars, his face like white jade.

He rode across the water as if flying, as if driven by the wind.

Wherever the horse's hooves passed, water rose to meet them. Wherever he went, rain poured down in torrents.

One annotation in the Classic of Marvels says: in the divine river dwells a divine child who rides a white horse; when he appears by day, the whole world floods, and at dusk he returns to the river.

The man's features were handsome, his lips touched with a faint smile, his bearing cultured and refined. He was less than ten li away from them.

He did not look at all like a man-eating devil.

The white horse moved at incredible speed. In less than a cup of tea's time, it would likely be upon them.

Either they offered someone up for him to eat, or they waited to be devoured.

"How about this: we take a vote and choose one person to sacrifice. Otherwise we'll all die," Smoke Ghost suddenly said, his voice hoarse and his cold eyes sweeping over the group.

First of all, Zhu Lie definitely could not be the sacrifice. Without Zhu Lie to sail the ship, none of them could even tell direction from directionless chaos.

That left only the four of them to choose from.

After Smoke Ghost made the proposal, Lu Qian and the old daoist both stayed silent, apparently unwilling to take such a risk.

Talisman Sword stood off to one side, holding his sword case, murder in his eyes, as if to say that whoever was chosen would have to fight him to the death.

The mature and charming Hundred Flowers let her eyes drift flirtatiously, her smile seductive. "I think fellow daoist's suggestion is not bad. The River Lord's envoy is at least a dao foundation-level old monster. We little shrimp here can't possibly beat him."

Her gaze swept across the group and paused slightly on Lu Qian before meeting Smoke Ghost's eyes.

The two of them seemed to reach some silent agreement, and together they looked toward Lu Qian.

Tao Zhu took half a step back, putting a little more distance between himself and Lu Qian.

Talisman Sword said nothing; as long as he wasn't the one chosen, that was enough.

The blue smoke around Smoke Ghost churned violently as his voice rasped out, "I choose..."

Whoosh!

Suddenly, Lu Qian moved. He was so fast that even the two who had been on guard could not react in time.

Stab.

A pale hand thrust out from behind Hundred Flowers, drenched in blood, its palm clenched around a beating heart.

"Eh... eh..." Hundred Flowers did not die on the spot. She made a strangled sound, her eyes filled with terror.

From behind the woman, a head with dark yellow fish-scale patterns on its face and purple hair with golden eyes slowly emerged.

Lu Qian rested his chin on Hundred Flowers' soft shoulder and said softly to her, yet also as if speaking to everyone, "Who told you... I was easy to bully?"

Tao Zhu's pupils shrank, shock surging through him.

Talisman Sword withdrew his arrogant gaze, a trace of wariness entering his eyes.

"You!" Smoke Ghost felt humiliated. Blue smoke billowed around him, coalescing into a flood dragon.

"Wait, wait, don't spoil the peace. Haven't we got a sacrifice now? It was all a misunderstanding!" Tao Zhu hurriedly stepped forward to mediate, then turned to Lu Qian and said, "It was all this slut's doing. Well done, fellow daoist!"

Lu Qian smiled, his eyes locked tightly on Smoke Ghost.

With danger looming, Smoke Ghost still bowed to the greater good and reined in his supernatural power. "It was all a misunderstanding. My apologies."

The other party was a body-refining cultivator; if a conflict broke out in such a confined space, he might not be able to beat him.

Only then did Lu Qian return to his original form and place the woman's heart back where it belonged.

In truth, he had wanted to kill both of them, but he was not confident of landing a killing blow.

Splash.

Water sounded as the others threw Hundred Flowers' still-warm body over the side of the boat.

The handsome man in white robes and black crown rode in on his horse and caught the corpse in midair.

Then he suddenly opened his mouth, tore open the woman's throat, and drank the blood in gulps.

The immortal aura about him vanished instantly, and he became like a beast devouring human flesh.

Lu Qian pondered this thoughtfully. This should be some kind of demon, for he could not sense the slightest trace of human presence from him.