"Wow, it's so beautiful!"
An Ge exclaimed excitedly as she stood by the railing, marveling at the fairy - like scenery in the sea.
Nian Duanyan's eyes glinted with greed as he saw the twinkling lights, and his face was full of determination.
"These glowing dots are the eggs of the red - silk pearl fish. They have a very short hatching period. It only takes two hours from laying the eggs to hatching. So we need to hurry up and scoop them up."
Saying so, Nian Duanyan began to order Scarface and the middle - aged couple to start working.
Shen Qing and Li Xian had no intention of getting a share of the spoils, so they stepped aside and watched the bustling scene on the deck.
Liu You walked up to Shen Qing and said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Shen, this must be your first time seeing such a scene. Why don't you give it a try? You can keep whatever you catch."
Shen Qing noticed that Scarface and A Zuo took out special fishing nets. After infusing spiritual power into them, they seemed to generate tiny lightning bolts, so she took a few extra glances.
As for doing it herself, she'd rather not.
So she politely declined Liu You, saying, "No, I'm just a bit curious. My Daoist partner is not feeling well, so I'd better stay by his side."
Seeing this, Liu You didn't force her and left after chatting for a few more words.
After Liu You left, Li Xian wrinkled his nose slightly, pulled Shen Qing, and whispered, "Shen Qing, there's something wrong with this Liu You."
Shen Qing was puzzled. "What did you sense?"
Li Xian frowned, his eyes darkening. "There's a faint smell of blood on her. You may not be able to smell it. She used a lot of spiritual herbs to cover it up. It was very skillfully done."
"Look, isn't there one person missing on the deck?"
Shen Qing was startled and quickly checked.
After looking around the entire deck, Shen Qing realized that An Wu was missing.
"It's An Wu!"
"But she was here just now..."
Shen Qing looked around. Since her eyes couldn't find An Wu, she dispersed her spiritual sense to search the whole ship.
She probed every corner of the cabin, but there was no sign of An Wu.
However, there was a room at the very bottom of the cabin that seemed to have a boundary stone set up, and Shen Qing's spiritual sense couldn't penetrate it.
"There's something strange about that room down there."
Seeing Shen Qing getting anxious again, Li Xian took her hand and patted it gently.
When he noticed someone was missing, he had already dispersed his spiritual sense to check.
Knowing that Shen Qing was most afraid of such strange things, he hadn't said anything before. A living person just disappearing like this would surely scare Shen Qing.
"Li Xian, should we..." Shen Qing hesitated. She didn't know if she should meddle in other people's business.
Li Xian knew what Shen Qing wanted to say and shook his head. "Let's calm down first and see what happens next."
Everyone on the deck was staring intently at the large net that Scarface had lowered, especially Nian Duanyan, who had half of his body leaning out.
When the time was about right, Nian Duanyan shouted, "Pull it up!!"
Scarface and A Zuo then channeled their spiritual power to pull the net back.
A large storage compartment for the fish eggs was opened in the center of the deck. Shen Qing and Li Xian were on one side of this compartment, watching the people on the other side of the deck fishing for the fish eggs.
The net was slowly being pulled up, and Scarface's muscles bulged as he exerted force.
"A bountiful harvest! A bountiful harvest! So many fish eggs. I'm going to be rich! Hahaha!!"
Nian Duanyan laughed heartily as he looked at the net that had been dragged up. The net was densely covered with glowing pearl - like objects.
Although Shen Qing was standing far away, she could clearly see that there were tiny blood - red fish inside those pearl - like things.
These small fish began to melt the moment they were scooped up. By the time all the fish eggs were placed in the large storage compartment, the small fish inside had turned into blood - red water.
The full compartment of blood - red beads emitted a strange light, making Shen Qing shiver.
"Why are these fish eggs like this?" Shen Qing said in horror.
Ling Zhou began to explain in Shen Qing's spiritual sea. "The red - silk pearl fish can only survive in the sea. Once they leave the sea, they will turn into blood water. Even if you put them in sea water and take them ashore, it won't work. So it's the same for the small fish in their eggs."
"After these small fish turn into blood water, the fish eggs will gradually harden and become something like red pearls, which are called red eggs."
Shen Qing suddenly understood. No wonder a live red - silk pearl fish could be sold for such a high price.
"Master, you really know a lot. This disciple has learned."
Hearing Shen Qing's admiring tone, Ling Zhou lifted his chin proudly. "That's right. Your master is just that excellent."
It wasn't a waste of his days of flipping through books desperately to show off in front of Shen Qing.
"Hurry up, lower the net two more times!"
"We have to catch more before others arrive!"
Nian Duanyan urged, asking Scarface and the others to quickly lower the net a few more times.
The large storage compartment was gradually filled. Under the red light, Nian Duanyan's face seemed to change. His original scholarly air had completely disappeared.
Several large ships arrived one after another. Under the covetous gazes of everyone, Nian Duanyan put all these red eggs into his storage bag.
Slowly, a large compartment of red eggs wasn't even enough to fill one storage bag, but it still satisfied Nian Duanyan.
"Let's go!"
After leaving this place, the ship continued to sail deeper into the South Sea.
By this time, An Ge had also noticed that An Wu was missing and was anxiously searching the ship.
"Excuse me, have you seen my sister?"
"Did my sister go into the cabin?"
She asked everyone one by one, but the answers she got were all negative.
When she came to Shen Qing and Li Xian, they both said they didn't know.
Only then did An Ge really start to panic.
The two sisters were always together and had never been separated. Just now, she was so focused on the scenery in the sea that she didn't notice her sister disappearing out of thin air.
But the ship was only so big. If she wasn't on the deck, she could only be in the cabin. So, the anxious An Ge found Nian Duanyan.
"Let me into the cabin to look for someone. If anything happens to my sister, I'll make all of you pay with your lives!!"
But Nian Duanyan blocked the entrance to the cabin, his face gloomy. "This is my ship. You're just a passenger sharing the ship. What right do you have to go in!"
Seeing that Nian Duanyan wouldn't make an exception, An Ge summoned her natal magic weapon.
Her natal magic weapon was a red silk ribbon with golden light and dark patterns on it, very beautiful.
But when Li Xian saw this red silk ribbon, his face changed. He clenched his fists tightly and exclaimed in surprise, "This is... the Water - Crossing Red Silk!"
Shen Qing was so focused on the red silk ribbon that she didn't hear clearly, so she asked, "What?"
"Since you're being so ungrateful, don't blame me for using force!"
An Ge waved the red silk ribbon and whipped it menacingly in Nian Duanyan's direction.
Immediately afterwards, two powerful magic weapons collided, and a huge wave of spiritual power almost knocked several people on the deck off.
Scarface held an axe and stood in front of Nian Duanyan. Golden - glowing Buddhist scriptures appeared on his muscular body.