Upon waking, Su Sheng found himself gazing into eyes brimming with concern.
At the stone bed, Luo Ren watched him with a worried expression. Seeing him awake, Luo Ren immediately asked, “How do you feel?”
Behind Luo Ren was a dry stone wall; through gaps in their clothes, glimpses of the raging wind and snow outside could be seen. Su Sheng scanned the surroundings and asked hoarsely, “Who was speaking earlier?”
A flicker of peculiar expression crossed Luo Ren’s face. Interlocking his fingers, Luo Ren smiled and said, “Why do you ask?”
Su Sheng instantly grew suspicious, but looking at Luo Ren’s azure-blue eyes and deeply concerned expression, he felt he might be overthinking.
“This cave…”
“Oh, you’re asking about that,” Luo Ren replied. “A very powerful mage passed by earlier, saw you injured, and tidied up the cave.”
Su Sheng nodded, closed his eyes, and didn’t speak further. A concerned voice echoed beside him.
“Still feeling uncomfortable?”
While speaking, Su Sheng actually sensed that his body no longer hurt, which puzzled him. He had clearly suffered such severe injuries, reaching a critical, life-threatening state, yet he hadn’t died?
“It doesn’t hurt anymore,” Su Sheng replied. After a moment, he asked, “Did you heal my injuries?”
Luo Ren said, “Oh, you know I’m a knight. I don’t have such abilities. It was that mage who happened to pass by and incidentally saved you.”
Su Sheng lay on the bed, eyes closed, his voice calm: “At least make your lie a bit more believable.”
Luo Ren chuckled: “My dear Norton, I swear to the God of Light, if I lied, let me be forsaken by all gods.”
“Actually, it was like this: when the mage passed by, I intercepted him and exchanged equivalent life potions with him. Then I asked him to clean up the stone cave for us, which saved you.”
Su Sheng tilted his head, catching sight of scattered empty potion bottles on the ground in his peripheral vision: “So that’s how it was.”
After a while, Su Sheng asked, “How are you? Do you need rest?”
Luo Ren shook his head and said, “I’m fine.”
Su Sheng: “Then let’s leave here.”
…
The next destination was Dragon Island. Dragon Island wasn’t on the mainland but located on a massive island in the sea, the nesting grounds of dragons. Previously, it was manageable, but in recent years, Dragon Island suddenly severed ties with the Temple, and Temple personnel sent there never returned. Consequently, it was declared forbidden territory, extremely dangerous.
As the Saint, Su Sheng knew the method to enter Dragon Island, but that was in the past; now it likely no longer worked.
After passing through dozens of teleportation arrays consecutively, they arrived at the seaside.
The weather today was relatively good; fishermen had come out, and fishing boats sailed one by one toward the outer sea.
Su Sheng found a small tavern and sat quietly inside. Luo Ren went over, ordered two drinks, brought them back, and, like performing magic, produced a small cake for him.
Su Sheng naturally reached out to take it, placing the drink aside, and ate the cake in small bites.
At that moment, two tattooed muscular men carrying swords entered the bar, one with brown curly hair, the other with golden curly hair.
The brown-haired one spoke to his companion, but his voice was extremely loud, as if afraid others wouldn’t hear: “Did you hear? The Dead Sea has started stirring again recently.”
“I’ve heard about it, oh dear, quite a few fishermen have gone missing, tsk, tsk, tsk! how pitiful.”
Su Sheng put down his fork, pulled up his hood to cover his black hair, then stood and walked over to the brown-haired burly man.
“Excuse me, could you tell me more about this ‘Dead Sea’ you mentioned?”
The two burly men were taken aback for a moment, then exchanged glances. Su Sheng said calmly, “I’ll cover the drinks.”
“Come, come, sit here,” one of them said warmly, patting the table. “I see you’re wearing a mage’s robe and a guild emblem, you must be a powerful mage, right?”
“Recently, there have been a lot of mages coming here, all asking about the Dead Sea. Let me tell you, the Dead Sea is no simple matter. No matter how powerful a mage you are, if you go there, it’s a one-way trip.”
“I bet the Saint wouldn’t have a problem,” the blond-haired man interjected.
The brown-haired man replied, “That’s not necessarily true.”
Just then, the drinks they ordered arrived. Su Sheng pushed a glass over and asked, “Could you tell me what’s been happening at the Dead Sea?”
“Ah…” The brown-haired man sighed heavily after taking a sip of his drink. “Every now and then, people mysteriously disappear at sea. The strange thing is, the boats come back, but the people don’t. Everyone says those people encountered the ‘Dead Sea.'”
Su Sheng asked, “Does the ‘Dead Sea’ move?”
“Yes,” the blond-haired man chimed in eagerly.
Su Sheng frowned and asked, “When did this start?”
The brown-haired man was about to speak but was interrupted.
“Hey, don’t cut in, it’s my turn now. It started twenty years ago,” the blond-haired man said, nudging Su Sheng with his elbow. “Buy me a drink too, won’t you?”
“If you touch him again, not only will you not get a drink, but you’ll also get a beating,” a familiar voice came from nearby.
“Who are you?” the two burly men stood up simultaneously, glaring at the newcomer.
Su Sheng said calmly, “Don’t cause trouble.”
A hand rested on his shoulder, and Luo Ren’s light laughter sounded in his ear. “You’re so biased, buying drinks for them but not for me.”
The two burly men seemed to understand something, exchanging knowing glances and chuckling before sitting back down.
Su Sheng brushed off the hand on his shoulder without hesitation and asked, “What did those mages ask about?”
“They asked a lot of things, but the most common question was how to find the Dead Sea,” the blond-haired man said.
“The locals are too scared to go, and they don’t have boats. Many left in disappointment.”
“What about the others?” Su Sheng caught the loophole in his words and asked.
“I quite like your attitude, but it’s not that I don’t want to tell you, I just don’t want you to go to your death,” the blond-haired man said earnestly.
Su Sheng was taken aback, his hand trembling uncontrollably beneath his robe. After a moment, he said, “Don’t worry, we won’t die.”
“You’re really stubborn, aren’t you? Fine, there’s a trading market here. If you want to find me, I can give you the address. But I warn you, the people there aren’t easy to deal with either.”
“Thank you.” After buying two rounds of drinks, Su Sheng and Luo Ren left the tavern.
…
Following the address, they found the trading market and, with the hints given by the two men, located a captain who specialized in shady jobs.
The captain sat in a narrow, dark room, smoking a cigarette. The air was thick with the smell of burning tobacco, foul and unpleasant.
A sharp female voice came from inside the house: “Damn it! No work again today! Ao Lai, you useless thing, all you do is smoke all day.”
“Go to hell, you crazy woman! What else do you know besides drinking and gambling?”
Su Sheng frowned, cast a spell to block out the odors, and gently knocked on the door.
“Who the hell is it?”
A scrawny, unshaven man wearing a tricorn hat appeared before Su Sheng. His previously impatient expression vanished instantly upon seeing Su Sheng. His eyes flickered, and he adopted a respectful demeanor, bowing slightly. “Ah! Honorable Mage, are you looking to set sail?”
Su Sheng asked, “Will you go to the Dead Sea?”
“Ah, well…” The man seemed hesitant.
“Money is not an issue. I will pay you ten times the usual rate,” Su Sheng said calmly.
Not missing the man’s tempted expression, Su Sheng added, “Twenty times.”
“Of course, absolutely!” Ao Lai’s eyes lit up, and he rubbed his hands together excitedly. “You’ve come to the right person. I’ve never failed a voyage.”
“When shall we depart, esteemed sirs?”
Su Sheng glanced at the sky and replied, “Now.”
“Now?”
“Is that not possible?”
“Yes, yes, of course! Just give me a moment to gather the crew. Please, have a seat.” Ao Lai scurried off into the house to fetch a chair.
…
Once everything was ready, they boarded the ship.
Su Sheng estimated that the ship wasn’t particularly large, yet it carried over twenty crew members.
Su Sheng and Luo Ren were resting in the cabin when a knock sounded at the door.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I’ve come to serve tea,” a female voice replied.
“Come in.”
The female crew member placed the tea on the table and asked cautiously, “You must be thirsty, esteemed sirs?”
“You may leave,” Luo Ren said, toying with the teacup but making no move to drink.
“Mage…” the woman hesitated.
Luo Ren leaned back leisurely in his armchair and chuckled. “What? We haven’t even sailed far from shore, and you’re already getting impatient?”