NOVEL NEXT Chapter 192: Ferryman
"What is rebirth without death?"
Tian Lin couldn't grasp the meaning of this sentence; he simply had Cui'er and Yu'er on the wooden boat prepare to escape.
As for himself, he looked up towards Mei Immortal in the high sky.
He saw Mei Immortal stash a large flag into her Storage Bag, then immediately pulled out a broad sword.
Standing on a flying sword, holding the broad sword, she plunged towards the direction where the voice emanated from within the fog, disappearing from everyone's sight in a blink.
"Miss, need a ride on the boat?"
In the midst of the fog, the elderly voice of the Ferryman sounded, exceptionally calm.
Outside the fog, Foundation Establishment Cultivators who were defending this sea area all stood up, looking with some fear towards the fog.
Some of them saw the wind lantern amidst the fog, others, even if they did not see it, had already heard the voice of the elderly man in the fog.
Who the elderly man was, no one knew, yet his ability to breach the Tong Family elders' blockade and to 'survive' under the Thunder Power unleashed by Mei Immortal indicated formidable strength.
Clearly, the Ferryman was not someone Mei Immortal could handle. At this moment, Mei Immortal was most likely dead.
"Damn it, need to find a way to remove the Array Flag, escaping is what's most important."
On the other side, a tribute cursed and was already attempting to tear down the Array Flag on the boat.
On the great ship, Mei Immortal's sword holder angrily voiced, "Follow me to rescue the Immortal; those who dare to flee the field will face my ruthless sword!"
But this sword holder was just a maid. Although she possessed Early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, she was not as intimidating as Mei Immortal.
Tian Lin's gaze at that moment turned towards the Divine Lady Tree at the bow of the boat; the tree was lush and flourishing with hundreds of petals at least.
Looking at this tree full of Enlightenment Tea, how could Tian Lin not be tempted?
Since Mei Immortal was dead, that Divine Lady Tree—
Suddenly, Tian Lin leapt up from the boat and directly onto the great ship.
On the great ship, Mei Immortal's sword holder drew her sword and pointed it at Tian Lin standing in front of the Divine Lady Tree, exclaiming, "How audacious, attempting to steal the tree?"
"I'm not stealing the tree, I'm trying to save Mei Immortal."
Tian Lin stood on the great ship, and from the lofty vantage, saw Mei Immortal rushing back from the fog as swift as a meteor gliding over waves.
To avoid 'misunderstandings', Tian Lin stepped back two steps away from the Divine Lady Tree, then turned towards the side of the boat to address the tribute:
"Tribute, the Array Flag cannot be damaged. If the Array Flag is destroyed, the barrier that was formed with great difficulty will have a gap here. At that time, the other boats will be caught between two fires."
The tribute was about to persuade Tian Lin to flee with him when he saw Mei Immortal emerge from the fog and quickly fly onto the bow of the ship.
The words coming out of his mouth changed as a result:
"What Tian says makes sense; that's why I was just checking whether the Array Flag was secure. You know, I am an Artifact Refiner, and even though I'm not versed in Arrays, I do have some knowledge."
Their conversation was overheard by Mei Immortal, who had returned. She was somewhat pale and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, giving a semblance of a smile as she looked at the tribute and Tian Lin above and below on the ship.
Finally, she threw a bag towards Tian Lin, saying:
"Since the two of you are willing to share my worries, I'm relieved. Go on, take these items, and lure that Ferryman to seek the Great Elder of the Tong Family."
The tribute's face paled, while Tian Lin appeared relatively composed.
He untied the pouch's string and saw cloth wrapped around seven copper coins.
These seven copper coins all bore the inscription 'Souls of the Underworld Currency.'
"Mei Immortal wants me to lure the Ferryman with this money, wonder what kind of Magical Treasure these coins are?"
Mei Immortal said, "Whether you're human or ghost, as long as you're willing to pay, the Ferryman will turn around and accompany you to anywhere you want to go."
Tian Lin paused and asked her tentatively, "If I ask him to take me to the moon, could he do that?"
Mei Immortal, thinking Tian Lin was joking, scoffed, "The moon is too far; I'm afraid you won't be able to pay. Maybe the underworld would be closer."
Tian Lin knew this was extremely risky, but without much hesitation, he stored the bag of copper coins into his Storage Bag.
The tribute on the small boat looked somewhat pallid, barely able to restrain his trembling voice as he asked Mei Immortal,
"Since it works both for humans and ghosts, as long as someone pays, the Ferryman can be persuaded to turn around. Why not let the sword holder and the Sword Slave go?"
The tribute shook his head vigorously like a rattle-drum, retreating two steps back and clutching his sword holder, "You go and face death for my sake."
On the great ship, a chill flashed in Mei Immortal's eyes as she reached for the plum blossoms on the Divine Lady Tree.
Tian Lin, knowing she could use the plum blossoms to kill, quickly spoke up, "The Ferryman is coming this way; let me go meet him."
After saying that, Tian Lin turned his head to look at the tribute on the small boat:
"Tribute, if I come back alive this time, you owe me a favor."
In a life-or-death situation, the tribute nodded vigorously like a pecking chicken.
Seeing this, Tian Lin then looked towards the Ferryman in the distance on the great ship.
The so-called Ferryman appeared to be just an ordinary old man poling a boat.
Looking at the bamboo pole in the old man's hand, Tian Lin's mind, however, thought of the Sect Master Yun.
Sect Master Yun had bid farewell to Elder Xiao in the Yao Yue Sect, crossing south to find a way out for Yulong Continent.
Yet in the end, it turned out to be the ferryman of the painter's boat who appeared at the Immortal Sinking Pond, an occurrence as strange as they come.
Tian Lin estimated that this ferryman, in life, must have possessed the cultivation of at least the late-stage Foundation Establishment.
Add to that the boat beneath his feet and the bamboo pole in his hand, and he might not be much weaker than a Golden Core expert.
"What are you staring at? Why haven't you boarded the boat yet?"
As the ferryman rowed the boat closer, Mei Immortal spoke up.
Tian Lin did not want to take risks, but knew that Mei Immortal was decisive in killing, and the Tribute cultivator would not sacrifice himself for others.
He couldn't escape if he wanted to; stepping on the edge of the boat, he leapt aboard as the distant ferryman stopped rowing and called out, "Young hero, wish to board the boat?"
Tian Lin remained silent for a moment, just staring straight at the ferryman.
The ferryman was dressed in a black robe, his face a dark shade of blue-green. His eyes were nothing but two dark holes, occasionally oozing pus.
The stench of decay emanated from him, clearly indicating the ferryman's body had long since rotted away.
"How much for the passage, boatman?"
"Young hero, wish to board the boat?"
The ferryman's response was irrelevant. From the large boat where Mei Immortal was, her voice rang out, "You could talk to this dead man for a year, and he'd have only those few sentences to say.
If you don't want to die, give him the money and get on the boat before he pulls the bamboo pole out of the sea."
Mei Immortal's words sent a chill down Tian Lin's spine as he indeed saw the ferryman drawing the bamboo pole out of the water.
Just as the bamboo pole was about to leave the water's surface, Tian Lin pulled out a copper coin and tossed it into the ferryman's pouch.
The clear sound of the 'copper coin' clinking resounded in the ferryman's pouch. The ferryman put the bamboo pole back into the sea and waited for Tian Lin to board before, without looking back, asking, "Young hero, where to?"
Tian Lin nonchalantly pointed south; he remembered that the Great Elder and others had gone to the south.
If seven copper coins could get him to the Great Elder, then perhaps, as Mei Immortal had said, he might be saved.
But Tian Lin guessed that seven copper coins might not be enough to get him to the Great Elder.
He had decided that if three copper coins were not enough to find the Great Elder, then he would use the other four copper coins to return the same way, coming back to find Mei Immortal for another solution.
At that time, either Mei Immortal would drive the ferryman away herself, or she would pay again for him to seek out the Great Elder.
In any case, if he was to die, he intended to drag Mei Immortal down with him.
Following Tian Lin's direction, the ferryman plunged his bamboo pole deep into the sea, and the small boat immediately shot forward.
At the moment, Tian Lin was watching Mei Immortal and the others, and the Foundation Establishment Cultivators in line with Mei Immortal were also watching Tian Lin.
The ferryman rowed quickly, and these people soon lost sight of Tian Lin, who, along with the ferryman, entered the thick fog.
"Sir, did you come from the south with those roaming souls?"
"What's there on the southern sea?"
"Is there an underworld in this world?"
The small boat was not large, and there was nothing placed on it.
Tian Lin's attention, apart from contemplating how to escape, was also half-heartedly trying to engage the ferryman in conversation.
It was a pity that the ferryman was exactly as Mei Immortal had described – with just those couple of sentences on repeat, completely a mindless undead.
Tian Lin stopped trying to converse with the ferryman, but his attention was drawn to a wooden token at the ferryman's waist.
The back of the token's pattern was unclear, but the front clearly had the characters 'Ferryman'.
This waist token seemed to be an identity token, but it was unclear who had made it.
Tian Lin looked up at the silhouette of the ferryman's back, and suddenly, he heard the ferryman, with his back turned, say, "Young hero, wish to board the boat?"
It was only when a figure of a roaming soul emerged from the fog that Tian Lin realized the ferryman wasn't talking to him.
The roaming soul ignored the ferryman, who, after asking twice, received no response.
As the roaming soul was about to pass by the ferryman's boat, the ferryman's bamboo pole had already been pulled up from beneath the sea and directly pierced through the soul's body.
In an instant, the roaming soul became a residual soul.
Tian Lin's heart stirred. As the ferryman moved to act against the second roaming soul, he had already taken out a soul-collecting bead.
Fueled by True Qi, the soul-collecting bead efficiently absorbed all the nearby residual souls without waste.
But it was apparent that this place was far from Mei Immortal and the others, so that the Thunder Power Mei Immortal had borrowed earlier did not extend to this area.
Thus, there were numerous roaming souls here, forcing the ferryman to take action frequently.
Among the many roaming souls, Tian Lin also spotted two Night Patrol Deities.
But even though these two Night Patrol Deities were powerful, they could not escape the ferryman's bamboo pole.
After using a soul-collecting bead to absorb two Night Patrol Deities' residual souls, Tian Lin's soul-collecting bead felt like it was about to burst, coating his palm in a layer of frost.
Tian Lin then placed the now larger soul-collecting bead into his Storage Bag and took out a new soul-collecting bead to begin absorbing residual souls.
Just as Tian Lin was gleefully taking advantage of the situation, the ferryman who was killing roaming souls and rowing said suddenly, "Young hero, do you still wish to board the boat?"
Tian Lin understood he was being addressed, so he took out another copper coin from his Storage Bag, "Continue heading south for a while."