Chapter 91 - Beneath Still Waters (Part I) (Patreon)

During the night, in a salt marsh half a day away from Three Feathers City, three robed men rowed a small wooden boat through the shallow waters. Beside them lay two wrapped corpses, bloodstains soaking through the leather coverings and spreading across the bottom of the boat, proof that the dead had not been cold for long.

Holding a small fire lamp, a bearded man with black spots across his face raised his fist, signaling the others to stop rowing.

“This is far enough, boys,” he said before spitting phlegm into the waters.

The youngest among them, a boy barely sixteen years old, frowned immediately.

“Shouldn’t we throw the bodies farther in?” he asked nervously. “The little man said we should go deeper into the marsh before unloading them.”

Then, he was slapped in the back of his head hard enough to make him stumble forward.

“Shut your mouth, brat.” The bald man sneered. “Throwing them here or there makes no difference. Who’s going to care?”

The young man stood abruptly. “Hell no,” he protested. “What if someone comes checking? This job pays too well. I can’t risk getting caught because you idiots got lazy and—”

He never finished the sentence, as the bald man punched him directly in the stomach.

The youth doubled over and vomited his dinner across the boat. Then he stumbled and went on all fours, the pain radiating through his body.

“This isn’t our first time doing this,” the bald man snarled while kicking the boy’s head down into the vomit. “Keep your head lowered and follow orders, damn kid.”

The bearded man and the bald one exchanged a glance as the youngest struggled to raise himself again, fury burning in his eyes. Noticing those two eyes filled with fighting spirit, both standing men sighed helplessly. With a wry smile, the bearded man swiftly unsheathed a rusty sickle from his waist.

While the youth remained pinned down, the blade slashed downward across his back, tearing skin and muscle apart.

The boy screamed and thrashed wildly, trying to stand and fight back.

But the two older men were experienced. A rain of kicks smashed into his skull while the sickle stabbed repeatedly into his body, opening deep wounds that drenched the boat in blood.

Desperate, the youth rolled sideways and tried to drag one of the wrapped corpses over himself as a shield.

It changed nothing.

The older men kept the advantage from beginning to end, and after several more strikes, silence returned to the marsh as a third corpse now bled across the bottom of the boat.

The bearded man wiped the sickle against his robes before sheathing it again and kicking the dead youth once more.

“Stupid brat,” he grumbled. “The moment morning came, he would’ve run to that cripple and exposed us.”

“We’ll just say he disappeared,” the bald man said while trying to clean blood from his boots against the leather wrappings of the other corpses. “I heard other crews already used that excuse.”

“They weren’t lying,” the bearded one muttered. “Two guys I worked with disappeared, too. One about a month ago, another just last week.”

The bald man frowned and gave him a strange look. “Then why in heaven's sake are you still taking this work?”

“The brat wasn’t wrong. The pay’s too good," he said with a shrug. Then he smirked faintly. “And honestly, I think some of those fellows ran away from the city after receiving the gold coins and felt like they didn’t have to pay their old debts. Wife and kids? What's that?"

As they talked and laughed, the two men began throwing the corpses into the marsh one by one. Because it was night, the tide and sea currents flowed inward, toward the wetlands, causing the sinking bodies to drift deeper into the marsh before eventually becoming trapped in the thick mud beneath the water.

The two thugs stripped the dead youth of his valuables before tossing his corpse into the marsh alongside the others. Afterward, they rowed the boat back toward Three Feathers City, hoping to return before noon and spend their coins in the red district.

Meanwhile, the three corpses were submerged at the bottom of the salt marsh.

Strangely, as time passed, the blood leaking from those bodies drifted along the currents deeper into the wetlands, far beyond the point where the hired men had originally been paid to dump them.

No fish, snakes, crabs, or even insects appeared within or above those waters. Only marsh plants swayed beneath the moonlight, contrasting with the crimson trails that moved through the currents undisturbed.

Slowly, the blood seeped into the muddy soil, but wasn’t absorbed or mixed with the sand. Instead, it traveled through the mud before slipping through tiny cracks into a metallic coffin buried beneath the marsh.

Inside the coffin, completely submerged in water, slept a naked man. He had long black hair, handsome features, and a physique resembling a native of the Great Sea. Every trace of blood entering the coffin was absorbed into his body through the seven apertures of his face and the countless pores of his skin.

Not only that, but Qi itself seemed drawn inward alongside the blood. Especially the Water Qi from the marsh, which gathered into his upper abdomen.

Time seemed to hold no meaning. The man neither breathed nor moved nor showed any signs of waking.

Until his heart skipped once.

Water flooded into his lungs as he inhaled, and the sensation of drowning violently accelerated his awakening. His eyes, shining in crimson, snapped open, and after flexing both arms, he slammed against the coffin lid.

The buried container shook violently beneath the marsh. Again and again, in the suffocating darkness, he forced the lid upward until it burst through the mud above him.

At last, Lucian had awakened.

The marsh waters were shallow, though the tide had risen during the night. Reaching a nearby patch of land, he steadied himself while mud and wet sand clung to his skin and hair. He walked toward a tree marked with black charcoal, punched into its hollow trunk, and retrieved a hidden chest.

When he opened it, he shot a glance at his side, his gaze cold as always. Inside the chest, he found clothes alongside pouches filled with Spirit Stones, gold, silver, and small trinkets, like the hornet artifact he had taken. After cleaning himself and dressing in silence, Lucian turned his head slightly toward the trees. It was the same place he had checked when opening the chest.

“For not interrupting my dressing, I’ll allow you to speak,” he said calmly, with his usual authoritative tone.

The moment he finished speaking, a silent breeze rustled the branches in the direction he faced. Then, a faint sigh echoed through the marsh.

“I congratulate you, Fellow Daoist,” the unseen voice said. “Even after sensing the Qi flow beneath the waters, I never once imagined it originated from you. Your concealment technique is truly extraordinary.”

Lucian stared indifferently toward the canopy overhead. He wasn't interested in pleasantries. “If that is all you wished to say, then I’m leaving.”

“Wait,” the voice called, the echo spreading farther across the marsh. “I wish to make a deal with you.”

Lucian remained silent, allowing the stranger to continue.

“Kill Bo Qing for me,” the hidden figure said. "I'll make you rich."

“No,” Lucian shook his head.

Then he turned away, pulled the black robe over himself, and walked deeper into the marshlands. His figure gradually faded into the darkness like a mirage dissolving beneath the midnight haze.

Moments later, silver vapor rose from the spot where he had stood, condensing into the shape of a tall humanoid figure. A man in purple robes emerged from the mist. He wore an ornate headdress resembling a crown, and his silver eyes stared coldly toward the direction Lucian had departed.

Slowly, more vapor gathered around him shortly afterward. Then, one after another, over a dozen figures materialized, kneeling on one knee around the crowned man.

“Your Highness!” they shouted in unison.

“Is the artifact still with him?” the crowned man asked.

Among the gathered figures, a masked woman trembled slightly before closing her eyes to focus. After several seconds, she nodded uncertainly.

“I believe so, My Prince,” she said quickly. “He has moved too far away for me to confirm if it's with him or if he threw it away.”

The silver-eyed man remained expressionless. After a second, he muttered, “Shui Song, continue tracking him alongside the others. You are all dismissed.”

The kneeling figures slammed their right fists against the left side of their chests before dissolving back into drifting vapor.

Soon, only the crowned man remained within the marsh.

Prince Xuan, commander of the Azure Royal Fleet, silently stared toward the waters from which Lucian had emerged.

What he had not revealed earlier was that, despite already standing at the Foundation Establishment realm, he had sensed a strange danger lurking beneath those marsh waters when he approached them months ago. That sensation had gradually weakened over the past several weeks. Earlier tonight, it had vanished entirely, prompting him to wait close by.It was a coincidence that he had come to check, as he did so once a week.

Thus, he had been genuinely shocked when a naked man climbed out of the marsh and calmly retrieved the clothes containing the insect artifact Shui Song had sent to track her sister.

Months ago, given that Shui Song’s sister was safe in her house, they supposed the artifact had fallen into the hands of the mysterious cultivator behind the slaughter at the burned warehouse. Prince Xuan had been waiting for him to appear, so he could get his revenge.

However, once he met Lucian, he changed his mind. Even though they had never met before, Prince Xuan was certain that if they clashed within the marsh, he would be forced to reveal several of his hidden cards to secure victory. 

He could sense the unstable Qi deviation within Lucian’s body, but he also perceived a terrifying amount of Yin and Yang energy. Unable to determine the true extent of his opponent's strength, Prince Xuan ultimately chose restraint.

For now, waiting and observing would be the wiser option, and, should the situation demand it, he could always throw out some bait to test the waters later.

Prince Xuan had no clue that letting Lucian leave unscathed would plague his mind for a long time.