Chapter 98 Nine Turns and Eighteen Bends

  Just as Ye Chen was lost in thought, the old man's inquiring gaze swept over and said: "If there's nothing else, can we go to Jiuxi now to look for the lost boat? My granddaughter is still on it, it's been half a month already. Although there's enough food on board, accidents can't be ruled out."

  Qu Ming stood up and said, "Don't worry, Grandpa. I'll take care of this matter. I will definitely bring Xingying back."

  "Since there are people on the boat, let's not delay, set off immediately!" Ye Chen also stood up.

  The old man nodded, "I'll go with you, the ironwood ship is ready."

  The northwest coast of Panshan Island.

  A fifteen-meter-long, three-meter-wide black wooden boat was moored there, emitting a faint metallic luster on its surface.

  Ye Chen knew that this was the Ironwood ship, made from ironwood that could compare to metal in strength. Its hardness didn't need to be said, it could withstand a full-force blow from a cultivator at the Qi Refining stage without suffering any damage. Its flexibility was also extremely strong, able to quickly dart through huge waves, no need to worry about the ship's body breaking apart.

  "Landlord!"

  Twelve Qi Practitioners of the 9th layer of the Qu family stood in a row and said in unison.

  The old man waved his hand, "You all know Qu Ming, this is Ye Chen, a disciple of the Liu Yun Sect's inner door, who will go with us to the Nine Turns and Eighteen Bends to rescue Xingying."

  After finishing speaking, he turned his head to Ye Chen and Qu Ming: "Their martial arts are not as good as yours, but they are very good at swimming, able to hold their breath underwater for a minute."

  Ye Chen was somewhat surprised. With his current cultivation level, it wasn't difficult for him to hold his breath underwater for a minute. However, these twelve people were only at the ninth layer of Qi Refining Realm.

  ……

  The closer to the nine bends and eighteen turns, the more rapid the water flow is. Wave after wave of tide crashes against the ironwood boat's side, producing a loud slapping sound that startles the heart.

  In the cabin.

  The old man said, "The water flow of the nine bends and eighteen turns is complex, with countless whirlpools. Without exquisite rowing skills, it's impossible to pass through. If nothing unexpected happens, my granddaughter should be trapped in the first half of the nine bends and eighteen turns. There's a small hill there, where the mountain body forms a flat sandy beach with the lake water, allowing boats to dock. What you need to do is simple: kill any monster that approaches, so as not to let the boat deviate from its course."

  Ye Chendao said: "It's so simple, I can use my lightness skill to fly over directly and find the lost boat and your granddaughter quickly."

  The old man shook his head, "The real horror of the Nine Bends and Eighteen Turns is not the water currents or the monsters, but the thick fog. Entering it alone, one can easily get lost and spend a lifetime unable to escape. The only way out is by following the changes in the water flow."

  "Ah-ha!" Ye Chen nodded thoughtfully, realizing that the Disk Mountain Island and the Ancient Water Lake couldn't be treated with ordinary logic, as they were too mysterious.

  Creak!

  Suddenly, the iron boat shook violently, as if it had been rubbed against something.

  Thud thud thud, a martial artist rushed in, "Master of the house, three demonic birds are approaching."

  The old man nodded, "Leave it to these two."

  Ye Chen and Qu Ming exchanged a glance and walked out of the cabin together.

  On the deck, Ye Chen raised his eyes and saw three huge strange birds flying in mid-air. The strange birds had a wingspan of five meters, with sharp claws on the upper half of their wings. At this moment, they were still far away, but the strong winds generated by their flapping wings had already caused the ironwood ship to shake violently.

  "Point at the sky and refer to the seven stars of the Big Dipper!"

  The right hand's middle and index fingers rose together, the tips of the fingers emitting a faint, glassy light. In the empty air, seven rapid points were made, outlining the pattern of the Big Dipper.

  Hehe, hehe, hehe...

  Without suspense, the three demon birds were combined into the Big Dipper's pointing halberd, with several blood holes appearing on their bodies, and one of them plunged headfirst into the lake.

  Ye Chen smiled and said: "Good finger technique!"

  "It's just a small trick." Qu Ming put down his hands.

  Just then, a musician shouted loudly: "The ninth bend and eighteenth turn have arrived. Everyone hold onto the fixed objects tightly to avoid being thrown off the deck."

  The voice fell three times, and the ship's body shook violently, with a tendency to capsize. The other musicians and warriors were already prepared, holding on tightly to whatever they could grasp. Only Ye Chen and Qu Ming remained unmoved, their feet firmly planted on the deck, and no matter how hard the ship shook, it was difficult to shake their bodies.

  The body of the song is very agile, with good balance, seemingly still, but actually making subtle changes in coordination with the direction of the boat's rocking, always following the trend and writing with ease.

  But when he looked at Ye Chen, his eyes narrowed involuntarily.

  Ye Chen stood with his hands behind his back, his feet seemingly rooted to the spot, swaying gently with the rocking of the boat, as if he were a part of it, making it impossible for him to be thrown off.

  "Such a high level of lightness skill." Qu Ming's eyesight was so sharp that he immediately saw that Ye Chen's attainment in lightness skill was very high, and his use of true energy far surpassed that of ordinary warriors.

  Ye Chen smiled faintly and was about to speak when he suddenly furrowed his brow and said, "There's a monster lurking underwater, approaching us."

  His body fell onto the railing at the side of the boat, and a fist imbued with dazzling blue light smashed down.

  Roar!

  The tiger roars and shakes the sky, a blue dragon dives down and drills into the bottom of the water.

  Next moment!

  A huge monster corpse floated up, with a bathtub-sized blood hole in the chest and abdomen, fresh blood gushing out.

  Qu Míng glanced at the corpse of the Water Shadow Beast and asked in surprise, "Water Shadow Beasts are skilled at hiding their demonic energy and are experts at stealth. How did you detect it?" If Ye Chen hadn't discovered it, Qu Míng thought that he wouldn't have been able to kill the Water Shadow Beast ahead of time. He would have had to wait until the moment it launched an attack, when its demonic energy was exposed, before he could sense it. By then, even if the Ironwood Ship wasn't damaged at all, it would still be forced off course and would need a huge amount of effort to get back on track, undoubtedly wasting a lot of time.

  Ye Chen naturally wouldn't say that his spiritual power was strong, so he casually made up a reason: "Although the Water Shadow Beast is skilled in stealth and can suppress its demonic energy, its massive body would still find it difficult to sneak over silently, and must have subtly altered the water flow."

  Qu Ming nodded slightly, acknowledging that the other person was right. The larger the body, the greater the resistance in the water. However, the other person's perception was too keen, able to detect even the slightest changes in the water flow, which was truly admirable.

  As we ventured deeper into the Nine Bends and Eighteen Turns, the frequency of the boat's rocking motion grew faster. Sometimes it would clearly tilt to the left, only to suddenly jump up; sometimes it was perfectly stable, but the whirlpools beneath the water made it difficult for the boat to move forward even an inch, going from rapid movement to instantaneous stillness, almost enough to make a normal person's heart leap out of their chest.

  At last, Tie Mu's ship arrived safely in front of the half-submerged mountain peak.

  On the beach, a large ship was docked there, appearing and disappearing in the thick fog, dead silence all around.

  The boat had not yet approached, Qu Ming and Ye Chen's feet touched the deck for a moment, like two big birds flying past at an incredible speed.

  Clap! Clap!

  Two people stood on the deck of the lost ship, feeling a change in atmosphere.

  "Xīn yǐng! Are you there?" Qu Míng called out.

  Hoo hoo hoo hoo!

  Apart from the sound of the lake wind, there was no other sound coming out.

  Two men feared they might miss something and pushed open the cabin door and walked in.

  After a moment, the two walked out again.

  Ye Chen looked up at the mountain peak and said to Qu Ming: "Perhaps they have taken refuge on the mountain peak."

  Qu Míng nodded, "There's only this possibility left, let's wait for Grandpa and them first."