Chapter 474: 474. A dish of loose sand

Chapter 474: 474. A dish of loose sand

Translator: 549690339

Approaching noon, the sky was cloudless, and the sea sparkled.

Qiao Cong and Old Mu had just finished eating their dried food and were resting. Feng Ming was steering the boat, his eyes vigilant as he observed the surroundings.

Since they left Xingluo Island, they hadn’t seen a single person or boat for several days. Along the way, they came across a deserted island. Old Mu had explored it last year when he first traveled to Xingluo Island with Cen Man and found it covered in rubble, with no signs of human habitation.

The sunlight was glaring, and Feng Ming, with his focused attention, was beginning to tire. He rubbed his eyes, took out his water bag, and drank a few sips. Then he raised his arm, used his sleeve to wipe his mouth, and recapped the water bag.

Just as he was putting the water bag back around his waist, Feng Ming looked into the distance and suddenly his expression changed. “Seniors! Someone’s approaching!” he exclaimed.

Old Mu, who was about to doze off, immediately became alert and stood up with Qiao Cong. The small boat rocked violently twice but didn’t lose its balance.

All three of them looked ahead and saw a boat approaching them. It was still far away, and they couldn’t see it clearly.

Feng Ming frowned. “Could it be the people from Xingluo Island who went to meet with the prince returning?” The timing would be about right.

Old Mu shook his head immediately. “If Sheng Yue didn’t lie to us and the person he went to meet was a fake Mo Yan, Xiaogu wouldn’t let them return alive.” This was because they had sent the real Gu Ling, who should have been able to handle Mo Yan, who possessed a magic treasure, let alone an imposter.Ne/w novel chapters are published at novelhall.com

“Then who could it be...?” Qiao Cong had a thought, but he wasn’t sure.

Old Mu confidently stated, “If it’s not unrelated people, it must be Xiaogu!”

“Do you really think he wouldn’t go home immediately after discovering the Mo Yan is fake?” Qiao Cong thought there was still a possibility that Gu Ling went home.

Old Mu shook his head. “No. There wouldn’t be any point in going home at that time.”

Old Mu was the decision-maker among the three. Hearing his certainty, Feng Ming’s expression relaxed slightly, while Qiao Cong furrowed his brows. “You mean, by now, Mo Yan has captured our apprentice?”

“I didn’t say that. Xiaoliang is not a helpless weak woman. Without seeing it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe that she was captured by Mo Yan.” Old Mu still had confidence in Su Liang. It was a realistic problem that she couldn’t block Mo Yan’s sneak attack, but that didn’t mean she would definitely be captured.

As they spoke, the boat came closer and closer. They could now see that there were only two people on the boat, and the one standing at the bow was tall and sturdy. Qiao Cong squinted and called out, “Jingjing! Is that you, Jingjing?”

Soon they heard a familiar voice. “Grandpa! It’s me!”

Qiao Cong let out a sigh of relief. No matter what, at least for now, everyone was safe. Qiao Jing’s arrival meant that the incident on the sea on the first day of the third month was probably consistent with Old Mu’s conjecture. As for the other person on the boat, it must be Gu Ling.

Soon, Qiao Cong and Old Mu saw Gu Ling and Qiao Jing.

The two boats stopped side by side, and Qiao Jing first asked about Old Mu and their experience on Xingluo Island.

Hearing Old Mu say that Sheng Yue even used a group of children on the island to guard the forbidden area, Qiao Jing frowned. “His methods are, as expected, quite ruthless.”

Old Mu shook his head. “Sheng Yue claimed it was Mo Yan’s idea. Regardless of whose idea it was, his attitude was clear. If you were going to destroy the forbidden area, you would have faced the same situation.”

Qiao Cong snorted. “That may not be the case. Don’t forget, Xiaogu infiltrated the island alone, rescued us as if it was unguarded, and caught Sheng Yue off guard. As long as Sheng Yue isn’t holed up in the cave all the time, Xiaogu will find a way to capture him once he leaves.”

Old Mu nodded. “I know what you’re saying, but what if there are always innocent children in the cave? What if Sheng Yue uses the lives of the island’s women and children as bargaining chips? These possibilities need to be considered. Acting recklessly could easily be controlled by him in return.”

Qiao Cong was somewhat speechless, “Being a good person is really difficult! Those things were clearly caused by Mo Yan, yet we still have to worry about this and that! By the way, was that Mo Yan a fake? Have you already killed him?”

Qiao Jing briefly explained what happened on the sea on the first day of the third month.

Old Mu sighed, “That old villain is indeed cunning. Knowing that it would be difficult to get at you openly, he acted in secret. Xiaoliang is his granddaughter after all!” Mo Yan and Su Liang were both transmigrators, but their blood relationship was real.

“Will the prince go to Xingluo Island next?” Feng Ming asked.

Gu Ling nodded slightly, “Yes. You will go with me.”

Qiao Jing frowned when he heard this, “You want me to go back? No, I promised this time that we brothers would join forces.”

“I’m not asking you to go back; you’re not my brother.” Gu Ling said indifferently.

The two men continued talking as they walked in another direction.

The wind was chilly in the latter half of the night, and Xie Jun had barely slept in the past few days. He was exhausted and thought he was hallucinating when he heard Feng Ming’s voice.

The next moment, a hand grabbed Xie Jun’s shoulder. He was startled and turned around to see a familiar face, “How...how did you come back?”

Feng Ming pulled Xie Jun into a small wooden house by the sea where the night watchmen rested temporarily. It had been blown away by the wind previously but was quickly repaired. At this point, Xie Jun’s companion had already dozed off in another wooden house.

“Will anyone come?” Feng Ming closed the door and listened for any sounds outside.

Xie Jun subconsciously shook his head, “No...no one will come in the second half of the night.”

“There aren’t enough people on night watch, and Sheng Yue doesn’t care?” Feng Ming asked.

Xie Jun sighed, “Young Master Sheng has been in the forbidden area lately and hasn’t come out. Since the Island Master isn’t here, a few elders are plotting behind the scenes to escape. I overheard it accidentally and didn’t dare to make a fuss.”

Hearing this, Feng Ming grabbed Xie Jun’s shoulder once more, “I know you’ve always wanted to leave, and now your chance has come!”

Xie Jun trembled slightly, pressed his lips together nervously, “What do you mean?”

“You know who my master is now. I can tell you, the Island Master won’t be back anytime soon. You can leave, everyone on the island can.”

“You didn’t come back alone, did you?” Xie Jun asked.

Feng Ming nodded, “No, but you don’t need to worry about the others. Go pack your things now, prepare dried food, find a boat and leave. If you have any trustworthy companions, you can invite them to join you. I promise no one will stop you before dawn.”

“What about you?” Xie Jun asked.

“I still have things to do.” Feng Ming said, “To avoid running into the Island Master, you should head west first, then north. That way, you can reach the shore of the former Yin Country.”

Xie Jun hesitated for a moment, but after seeing Feng Ming’s sincere gaze, he finally made up his mind, “Alright! I’ll listen to you this time! Take care of yourself!”

Dawn broke.

It was another ordinary day on Xingluo Island.

The first to notice Xie Jun’s disappearance was the grandson of an elder since he was supposed to replace Xie Jun’s shift and lead the patrol. Instead of making a fuss, he went straight to his grandfather.

“Is he really gone?” The elder’s eyes sparkled with intrigue.

“Definitely! The guy who was with him last night is also gone! And I checked, there’s one less boat at the dock! I never thought that the usually timid and scared bottle gourd could be so bold!”

Upon hearing this, the elder paced back and forth in the room before slamming his fist on the table, “Tell your parents and siblings to pack their bags quickly! Let’s take advantage of the chaos and leave too!”

“Should we leave in broad daylight? Will it cause any problems?”

“We can’t afford to worry about that! If anyone dares to leave, more people will want to flee, and there won’t be enough boats! If we delay any longer, we won’t be able to leave at all! That despicable Sheng Yue is only concerned with the forbidden area, and he won’t be able to stop anyone when everyone wants to run. No one will listen to him then! Hurry up!”

About an hour later, Xingluo Island was still peaceful, but an elder had secretly taken his family on a boat. In the meantime, another elder’s family discovered them but didn’t raise the alarm, choosing to quickly follow suit instead.

The forbidden area was the quietest place on the island, containing nothing but Sheng Yue, a few trusted men left by Mo Yan, and a group of children. However, even if their children and grandchildren were inside the forbidden area, some people would rather abandon them if they had a chance to escape.

Today’s weather was great, and people with rebellious hearts on Xingluo Island started their escape one after another.

However, a problem soon arose: there were too many people and not enough boats.

Consequently, fights erupted on the dockside as people fought for boats, leading to casualties.

Gu Ling sat on a tree in the dense forest by the coast, not far from the largest dock, and watched all this unfold with cold eyes.

This was his plan with Feng Ming, which was going more smoothly than expected because people’s hearts had long been divided on Xingluo Island. They didn’t need the wind to blow them apart, they were already scattered.

Gu Ling glanced at the dock again and quietly left the dense forest, heading towards the forbidden area. He thought that Sheng Yue must be waiting for him...