279 Untitled (2/2)
Zhangsun Wuji gently kissed Meng Fuyao's forehead, not intending to go any further. Letting go of her contentedly, he said, ”Tai Yan was deliberately trying to anger me. I've already asked around when I went back previously, although she was there, she didn't save Lotus.”
”Then, she's dead?”
”That's when the problem arises,” Zhangsun Wuji said. ”At that time, Tai Yan didn't know the truth and only saw Lotus getting ”robbed,” hence, she tried to save her. After sealing the memory of the fake robber, she turned around, and Lotus was gone.”
”Gone?” Meng Fuyao was shocked. ”How can a fully grown human being disappear right under Tai Yan's eyes?”
”Tai Yan was enraged at the time as well, so after finding out the truth, she came to look for me.” Zhangsun Wuji's eyebrows tightened together slightly as he gave an exasperated laugh.
”Sigh…” Meng Fuyao sighed deeply, not saying anything else.
Suddenly, she felt her body shake, and she sat up immediately, turning around only to see the boat shaking and beginning to sink.
Someone had created a hole in the hull of the boat underwater.
The boat lady rushed over frantically, slapping her oars against her thighs and wailing, ”How cruel are the water ghouls! Didn't I already pay you?”
Meng Fuyao initially thought that the perpetrator was after the two of them and was pondering over the ability of these people to find them so quickly. However, after hearing the boat lady, she dragged Zhangsun Wuji towards the canopy of the boat and asked, ”What's going on?”
”Do you two know how to swim? Hurry up and leave, now's not the time to be talking!” The boat lady threw aside the oars tearfully and tied all the money on the boat to her waist.
Meng Fuyao sighed and said, ”This is the inescapable fate of falling into the water…”
She turned around to see numerous boats coming towards them, all of them black boats with red flags, and the people on the boats were all brandishing sabers and sounding their drums.
The sound of the drums traveled far over the surface of the water, and Meng Fuyao shouted, ”Let's head to that boat together, the early spring weather is cold, and it's not a joking matter to catch a chill.”
”We can't go there, we can't go there!” The boat lady turned to look at the boat, and her expression looked as if she had seen a ghost as she stuttered, ”Those are the Lishui Gang, they raise their flags to kill the water god, no wonder my boat was destroyed. If I'd known earlier, I wouldn't have come out… Don't go there, this is their most important ceremony of welcoming spring, they'll use you as an offering!”
After finishing her speech, the boat was left with just the tip, and the boat lady launched herself into the water. Meng Fuyao, Zhangsun Wuji, and Tie Cheng stood atop the floating canopy as she reached out and picked up a piece of rope, then threw it towards the large boat.
The long rope flew in a straight line and secured itself firmly on the side of the boat. Meng Fuyao was about to pull herself against it when the flash of a saber could be seen on the boat, and the rope was cut.
Meng Fuyao's eyebrow twitched as she retracted the rope and kicked the side of the canopy and tread onto the water, flying as she swung the rope towards them with tremendous force!
Bam!
The wet rope ripped across the still water like a steel whip, creating a wall of water in its trail as it landed heavily on the boat!
Kacha—
A loud cracking noise could be heard as the wood was struck with this ferocious whip. The boat buckled, and a huge hole appeared on the deck as it began to sink.
The men on the boat shouted alarmedly, desperately calling for help, and there was a flurry of activity on the boat. ”Get to the other boat!” Someone's shout could be heard faintly.
”We've already begun the ceremony, we can't stop it midway!”
”Push him off!”
Whoosh!
Meng Fuyao heard the sound of running water as if something heavy had been pushed off.
From her angle, she wasn't able to see what they had pushed off, neither did she try to save it. She stood on the canopy of the boat, smiling coldly as she watched the boat slowly collect water and begin to sink, then at the people on board frantically sliding into another boat. She waited for another moment, her eyebrows knitting together.
She heard a splash beside her as Tie Cheng jumped into the water and started swimming towards the thing that was pushed off earlier.
Meng Fuyao turned to look at Zhangsun Wuji and said, ”This child, always so rash.”
The two of them looked at each other and smiled. The first three people could see that the offering was a human, and after the boat was split apart, Meng Fuyao was wary of traps; hence, she waited for a moment. However, the person did not resurface, so it seemed like this was real.
She watched as Tie Cheng saved the person and began swimming towards the second boat, then together with Zhangsun Wuji, she flew to the second boat. This time, nobody tried to stop her; a single whip could destroy the entire boat, this person was not to be trifled with.