txolops Chapter 454 Overbearing Sword Formation Blocks the Black Water
Chapter 454 Overbearing Sword Formation Blocks the Black Water
After the seventh explosion, the red lights in the direction of the dock went out, and the sound of water that had been torn apart by the sound of the pot rejoined. The unlit ship outside the abandoned shipyard stopped retreating, and the dark shadow on the bottom of the ship slowly raised its head, skimming the black water.
Manager Hu held the Soul-Sealing Box, with a white paper lantern attached to its edge. The lantern's flame was forced blue by the moisture. She looked at Mo Chengyue's right palm, her voice hoarse with tension.
What does it mean when a "red lantern boat" changes hands?
Mo Chengyue did not answer her immediately. He pressed down on the Yuhua sword with his left hand, the blade of which was placed between the small box and the threshold. The ink characters on the blood-stained note on his right palm were reflected red by the black water, and the red patterns that had been following his eyes turned completely towards the dock.
"It means that we just peeled off the seventh eye and followed the eye path to find the ship owner."
The small box rested on the sleeve of Manager Hu's hand, the corner of which was stained yellow by the smoke.
"and then?"
"Then, fearing that the boat owner would be caught, he turned off the lights first."
"Does turning off the light disconnect the circuit?"
"It can be broken in half."
The seventh, disfigured face was pressed against the edge of the broken boat, with wet red bubbles bubbling from its empty eye sockets. Hearing this, she chuckled softly, her laughter devoid of any girlish tone, only the cold, wet sound that rose from the bottom of the water.
"Mo Chengyue, you're quick to realize this, but it's too late."
Mo Chengyue smeared the blood from the tiger's mouth of his left hand onto the back of the sword. The talisman ash on the sword was drawn by the blood energy, and a dark gold pattern barely lit up.
"The fact that you haven't been dragged away means you haven't won either."
The seventh eye's disfigured face shrank towards the bottom of the broken ship. The wet red threads beneath the red wedding dress no longer tried to snatch the small box or half an eye, but instead followed the black water and burrowed into the bottom of the unlit ship.
Seeing the threads being removed, Manager Hu immediately chased after them with the silver hairpin in his hand.
"She's going to run away."
Mo Chengyue tried to stop her.
"Don't chase after them."
"The red thread hasn't been completely removed yet."
"Her tail broke off; chasing it won't help."
The seventh empty eye tilted towards Manager Hu, and the tone of voice returned to Ah Sui's old soft voice.
"Sister, it hurts."
Manager Hu hugged the small box tightly, without raising his head.
"Ah Sui is in the box."
The laughter of the Seventh Eye was crushed by the sound of the pot. She stopped pretending and retreated from the edge of the broken boat with her scarred face. Dense red bubbles rose from the wet, dark holes.
"What good will it do you to keep one eye?"
Mo Chengyue watched as the red threads beneath her body broke one by one, his tone anything but relaxed.
"She's cutting ties with herself."
Manager Hu immediately asked, "What happens after we cut it off?"
"We'll find a place to take over the remaining debts."
Manager Hu looked out the door at the unlit boat.
"A ship without lights?"
"Um."
The sound of pots and pans was still coming from the shore, but it was much more chaotic than before. Old Zhou's shouts came from outside the red mist; his voice was hoarse and cracked.
"Don't stop cooking, don't move the fire, if all seven lights go out, it's like extinguishing the lamps after a blind eye!"
Old Zheng cursed from the shore.
"What do you mean by 'severing an eye and turning off the light'? Explain yourself clearly!"
Old Zhou didn't reply immediately. Amidst the clatter of the pot, there was the sound of a wooden stick falling to the ground and being picked up again. Then, as if he was holding back the steam rising in his throat, he forced his words toward the abandoned shipyard.
"The red lantern boat has seven lanterns, which are like seven eyes following the path. If a lantern goes out, it means the eye is cut off, and the eye is cut off, preventing people from finding the boat owner by following the lantern!"
Upon hearing the word "ship owner," Manager Hu immediately looked at Mo Chengyue.
"He said the same thing as you."
Mo Chengyue glanced outside the door.
"Old Zhou knows the old customs, so he saves me the trouble of arguing."
Old Zhou's voice continued to come from the shore, mixed with the clanging of iron pots and copper basins.
"With all seven lamps extinguished, the soul nails on the ship will have no light to suppress them, and they will find another ship to collect them!"
Old Zheng raised his voice.
Which ship?
Old Zhou didn't speak immediately this time. The sound of the pot on the shore stopped for a moment, and then was hurriedly resumed by several people.
Mo Chengyue answered for him.
"The one by the door."
The small box in Shopkeeper Hu's arms made a soft tapping sound, and Ah Sui's voice came from the Soul-Sealing Talisman, weak from having just had half of her eye restored.
"Sister, don't let it reach the shore."
Shopkeeper Hu pressed the white paper lampshade against the edge of the box.
"I won't let it get close."
Mo Chengyue looked at the unlit boat in the dark water outside the door, and pushed the Rain Flower Sword towards the threshold with his left hand.
"You can't give in."
Manager Hu turned around and glared at him.
"Could you pick something that people would like to hear?"
"cannot."
"Then shut up."
"Keeping your mouth shut will make you die a more docile death."
Shopkeeper Hu was about to scold her, but the small box in her arms touched her gently, so she swallowed her words and started to coax her softly again.
"Ah Sui, the light is on the shore, don't listen to what's outside."
Mo Chengyue didn't interrupt. He stared at the unlit boat. The old boat, which was originally narrow and dark, began to bulge to both sides in the black water. The wood grain under the gunwales was stretched open, and the white faces of people soaked in water emerged from the wet and dark gaps.
Those faces had no complete features, only outlines and fragmented reputations, undulating along the lower part of the ship's side, as if nailed to the ship's planks by countless invisible nails.
When Manager Hu saw the first face, the sleeve holding the small box sagged a little, but she gritted her teeth and pulled it back up.
"Is that a person?"
Mo Chengyue used the back of his sword to block a stream of black water that was creeping into the threshold.
"Afterimage".
"A living person?"
"The missing persons."
Manager Hu's face gradually paled.
"The people who have gone missing in Hongfengdu over the years?"
"There are also people whose remains were not found twenty years ago."
The unlit boat continued to expand, and more and more afterimages emerged from below the hull. The sound of water began to be mixed with faint human voices: some were saying they were cold, some were calling for home, some were calling out their childhood nicknames, and some were only making broken sounds as if they had choked on water.
The clatter of pots and pans on the shore broke the silence.
Old Zheng's voice came from outside the red mist, filled with barely suppressed urgency.
"Uncle Zhou, is there someone under the boat?"
Old Zhou immediately shouted, "Don't look at the water!"
Old Zheng, however, seemed not to have listened.
"I heard my uncle's voice."
Mo Chengyue frowned and spoke to the shore.
"Old Zhou, stop him."
The sound of footsteps crunching on the dry earth could be heard from Old Zheng's direction.
"Uncle Zhou, I really heard it! It was Zhou Ping, my uncle, he called me!"
Old Zhou roared, "If your uncle cared about you, he wouldn't have let you walk near the water!"
Old Zheng's voice trembled with anxiety.
He said he was cold and asked me to help him!
Manager Hu held the small box, his face showing struggle.
"Mo Chengyue, can those people be saved?"
Mo Chengyue didn't look at her, but stared at the fame of the afterimages below the ship's side.
"How many can be saved depends on how many they themselves have left."
Manager Hu immediately asked, "What do you mean by 'how many spots are left'?"
"The Soul Nail eats souls, the boat water eats roads, and the lamp eye eats cognition. If the name hasn't been completely eaten up, and someone leaves their name on the shore, they still have a chance to be separated from the tent."
"What if we eat it all?"
"It's a ship plank."
Shopkeeper Hu's lips turned white from the smoke and moisture.
"Can you please not be so harsh with your words?"
Mo Chengyue flicked the Rain Flower Sword outwards, and the talisman ash sprinkled along the threshold, blocking the watermark shaped like a hand reaching in from an afterimage.
"If you soften your stance now, you won't lose a single ship."
Ah Sui gently opened the box.
"Sister, don't cry."
Just as Manager Hu was about to wipe his eyes with his sleeve, he heard this and stopped his hand on the edge of the box, instead holding the white paper lamp even tighter.
"I didn't cry."
Ah Sui's voice faded.
"The smoke from the fire will protect your eyes; don't let water touch the box."
"it is good."
Mo Chengyue glanced at the small box.
"Ah Sui, stop talking."