On the deck.
Wu Chuan looked at the enormous jellyfish before him, his face filled with shock.
“This… this is an Aurora Jellyfish!?”
Having spent many years at sea, he was naturally quite knowledgeable about sea beasts. Although he had never seen an Aurora Jellyfish before, its distinctive appearance and form allowed him to recognize it at a glance.
He looked at Lin Sheng beside him with a hint of disbelief.
If he hadn't personally witnessed Lin Sheng bringing this giant creature onto the ship from the sea, he would never have believed it was Lin Sheng's doing.
He knew what Lin Sheng was looking for on this voyage, and now it seemed clear it was for this Aurora Jellyfish.
A high-level Spirit Beast, and although the Aurora Jellyfish is not aggressive among high-level Spirit Beasts, it is extremely adept at concealment, making it incredibly difficult to capture.
Not to mention a Bones Transformation Martial Artist, even a Divine Form Realm expert might not be able to capture it, yet he had managed to do so.
Wu Chuan swallowed, and the look in his eyes towards Lin Sheng became subconsciously more respectful.
Previously, his attitude towards Lin Sheng, while respectful, was largely due to his background and status.
But this time, it was due to the strength he displayed.
He now understood that Lin Sheng, who appeared to be below the Bones Transformation Realm in cultivation, probably possessed actual combat power far exceeding his expectations.
At this moment, Little Black also landed on the ship with Nong Yu.
Nong Yu looked at the Aurora Jellyfish before her, and seeing its severely damaged body, it was not hard to imagine what kind of attack it had suffered.
“What is the value of this Aurora Jellyfish?”
Lin Sheng's gaze fell on Nong Yu as he asked indifferently.
Compared to the Nightglow Jellyfish King, the Aurora Jellyfish was undoubtedly more valuable.
Moreover, its size was not as massive as the Nightglow Jellyfish King, so he simply brought the entire thing back.
“This… the Aurora Jellyfish is very valuable, especially for medicinal purposes and in the creation of some special treasures. Although the damage is quite severe, the price might be discounted a bit, but in this servant's opinion, this Aurora Jellyfish should fetch around 500,000 taels of silver.”
“500,000 taels?”
Although Lin Sheng had anticipated this, he was still somewhat shaken upon hearing it.
At this moment, Wu Chuan, who was beside them, also spoke.
“Young Master, if you intend to sell it, I, Wu, can handle it for you, guaranteeing no less than 500,000 taels of silver.”
“Good, then you handle this item.”
Lin Sheng nodded. This was precisely what he had in mind.
“We've been out for several days now. Prepare to return. Don't delay too long.”
“Yes, I'll arrange it right away.”
Wu Chuan quickly nodded in agreement; he had wanted to return for a long time.
Upon hearing Lin Sheng's words, he immediately ordered the sailors to change direction and prepare for the return journey.
Although the torrential rain in the sky had not completely stopped, it had eased considerably.
The waves on the sea surface had also diminished significantly, and soon the merchant ship slowly sailed back the way it came.
However, not long after they set sail, a large ship appeared on the distant sea under the night sky.
This large ship was much bigger than their small merchant ship, and while not a large merchant ship, it was considered a sizable vessel among medium-sized ones.
At this moment, this large ship was rapidly sailing from the deep-sea region towards the coastal waters, and its direction was quite close to their position.
The speed of a medium-sized merchant ship was undoubtedly much faster than a small one, and the distance between them was constantly closing until it was noticed by the crew on deck.
“There's a ship, a ship is approaching…”
The crewman's shout rang out, and Wu Chuan immediately went to investigate.
Inside the cabin, Lin Sheng and Nong Yu were dining.
They naturally heard the commotion outside clearly.
“Is there a ship?”
Lin Sheng picked up a glass of fruit wine, drank it in one gulp, and spoke indifferently.
“It's probably another merchant ship. This situation is quite common.”
Nong Yu responded softly from the side.
“Are there pirates at night?”
Lin Sheng seemed to remember something and asked again.
After all, there were many merchant ships in the East Sea, so pirate groups should naturally emerge.
“That is true, but most of them are small, insignificant pirates who can only plunder small merchant convoys and are generally unable to survive in the deep-sea regions, quickly being wiped out. However, there are still a few very powerful pirate groups in the deep ocean, the most famous of which is a pirate group called Blue Skeleton.”
Upon hearing Lin Sheng's question, Nong Yu immediately began to explain.
“This Blue Skeleton pirate group has a scale of several hundred people, and three of their leaders are Divine Form Realm experts, especially the Great Leader Blue Skeleton, who is a Divine Form Realm Late Stage expert. It is said that he already entered the Divine Form Realm's Eighth Transformation twenty years ago.”
“Divine Form Realm's Eighth Transformation…”
Lin Sheng was somewhat surprised to hear this.
He hadn't expected that a mere group of pirates would have such an expert.
A Divine Form Realm's Eighth Transformation expert is considered a top-tier expert in any prefecture.
One must know that in Lin'an and Tiannan Prefecture back then, although there were Divine Transformation Realms, they were only in the Early or Middle Stage of Divine Form, with very few Late Stage Divine Transformation Realms present.
Each transformation of a Divine Transformation Realm brings a quite noticeable increase in strength, and a Late Stage Divine Transformation Realm is considered a rare expert in the entire Great Yan.
“That's right, this Blue Skeleton pirate group has been wreaking havoc in the East Sea for decades. It is said that their main base is on a small, extremely hidden island in the deep-sea region, and their targets are generally large and medium merchant convoys, never attacking imperial ships. So the imperial court has just turned a blind eye. Speaking of which, our Tianhai Sect once had a fleet plundered by them, suffering considerable losses.”
As if remembering something, Nong Yu sighed.
Lin Sheng nodded, just as he was about to say something more.
Suddenly, there were urgent footsteps outside, followed by Wu Chuan's anxious voice.
“Young Master, something’s not right…”
...
On the deck, Wu Chuan and several sailors looked at the approaching merchant ship, their faces showing some unease.
In front of them were Lin Sheng and Nong Yu.
Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes, looking at the medium-sized merchant ship traversing the waves, his brows slightly furrowed.
At this moment, the medium-sized merchant ship in his line of sight was less than three li away from the ship he was on.
With his eyesight, even in the dim light, he could clearly see the scene on that ship.
The medium-sized merchant ship had all its sails unfurled, moving at a very high speed.
But strangely, there was not a single person on the deck.
In such adverse weather conditions, this situation seemed extremely abnormal.
After all, even if the sea wind was fierce, it would be impossible to achieve such speed without sailors.
Clearly, Wu Chuan had also noticed this, which was why he felt uneasy.
The East Sea is vast and boundless, with many places being Jedi, inaccessible, and at the same time, many strange legends have been passed down.
After all, in the eyes of many, the boundless East Sea is extremely mysterious.
As the ship drew closer to them, a sailor behind them couldn't help but exclaim.
“Ghost ship… it’s a ghost ship…”
“Shut up!”
As soon as the exclamation rang out, Wu Chuan immediately cursed, swinging his hand and sending the sailor sprawling to the ground.
“Dare to speak nonsense again, and don't blame me for being impolite.”
He said in a deep voice, and although his tone was quite stern, a deep sense of unease could still be seen in his eyes, clearly he was not as calm as he appeared on the surface.
“Ghost ship?”
Lin Sheng casually glanced at Wu Chuan.
Nong Yu, who was beside him, moved a few steps closer and explained.
“The ghost ship is a legend of the East Sea, an unmanned ancient ship that appears during stormy weather. Anyone who sees the ghost ship will have their ship wrecked and their crew perish… It’s just a legend, not to be taken seriously.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Sheng merely smiled, his gaze falling on the large ship, and he shook his head slightly.
“Indeed, it's not to be taken seriously. This ship shouldn't be some so-called ancient ship, should it?”
Hearing this, Nong Yu and Wu Chuan were startled, but quickly reacted.
That's right, although the ship appearing in their sight at this moment was somewhat old, it was definitely not an ancient ship and could not be linked to the legendary ghost ship at all.
“But with no sailors, why is this ship moving so fast?”
Having figured this out, Wu Chuan visibly relaxed a lot, but soon his brow furrowed again as he asked in confusion.
Nong Yu also couldn't understand, she just looked at the large ship, her brows tightly knitted.
“Want to know why? It’s simple.”
A cold smile appeared on Lin Sheng's face.
He narrowed his eyes, and the next moment, his figure leaped from the deck.
His body shot towards the large ship like a cannonball.
He didn't believe in any so-called ghost ships; these tricks of pretending to be supernatural were just excuses for people's own weakness.
“Young Master!!”
Seeing Lin Sheng's actions, Nong Yu and Wu Chuan couldn't help but exclaim.
Nong Yu paused for a moment, then also leaped from the deck, following Lin Sheng.
Caw—
Little Black, perched on the top of the mast, let out a strange cry, flapped its wings, and swooped down, catching Nong Yu and heading towards the large ship.
Wu Chuan, however, showed hesitation on his face, but finally gritted his teeth and ordered.
“Turn around, and follow to see!!”
Although the several sailors were somewhat intimidated, they still followed the orders and began to turn the ship around.
Just as they were slowly maneuvering the ship, Lin Sheng had already crossed a thousand meters and stood steadily on the medium-sized merchant ship.
He glanced around; the deck was indeed empty, but there were many traces of human activity on it.
Lin Sheng's thoughts stirred, and he switched to a high-perception Spirit Beast entering his body. He sniffed gently, twitching his nostrils.
“Someone!?”
He clearly smelled human scent, seemingly from inside the cabin.
Caw…
At this moment, Little Black had already landed from the sky with Nong Yu.
“Young Master.”
“Mm.” Lin Sheng nodded slightly, not surprised by Nong Yu's presence. After sensing Nong Yu's actions, it was he who ordered Little Black to bring her over.
“Oh! This is a Red Sea Trading Company ship.”
As soon as she landed, Nong Yu let out a soft exclamation. Her gaze fell on the red wavy pattern on the side of the mast, and she said with some surprise.
“You know it?”
Lin Sheng also noticed the pattern and asked, looking sideways.
“Yes, this is the Red Sea Trading Company's emblem. The Red Sea Trading Company is a medium-to-large force in Donghai Prefecture, even stronger than my Tianhai Sect. We've had some collaborations before.”
Nong Yu nodded, but then quickly frowned in confusion and said.
“I heard that a month ago, the Red Sea Trading Company took a large order to transport Black Crystal Coral, sending out most of their merchant ships as a convoy. How is it that only one ship has returned now?”
As she spoke, she had already approached several stacks of boxes on the deck, smashed one open, revealing the entirely black, coral-like substance inside.
Seeing this, Nong Yu had already confirmed her suspicions.
“Sure enough, only one of twenty-odd ships returned. It seems the Red Sea Trading Company encountered great trouble at sea.”
“There are still living people in the cabin. If you want to know what happened, just ask.”
Lin Sheng said indifferently, and as he spoke, he walked towards the cabin.
Upon hearing this, Nong Yu immediately hurried to follow him.
Although it was only a medium-sized merchant ship, the interior of the cabin was indeed very large, with most of the space filled with wooden boxes. Lin Sheng casually smashed two, and they also contained the substance called Black Crystal Coral.
Upon reaching the deepest part of the cabin, there were several men, appearing to be sailors, huddled together, their bodies trembling constantly, as if they had encountered something extremely terrifying.
However, there was also one person among them, tightly bound to a pillar on one side with ropes. Although restrained, a blissful smile hung on his face, and he occasionally let out joyous laughter, but both of his eyes were completely filled with whites, with no pupils visible at all.
Such a bizarre scene was somewhat difficult to comprehend.
“You are from the Red Sea Trading Company, what happened!?”
Nong Yu frowned and shouted at the few people huddled in the corner.
However, the few sailors continued to tremble, showing no reaction, as if they hadn't heard anything.
Nong Yu frowned and asked twice more, but the result remained the same.
Just as she was about to step forward, she was stopped by Lin Sheng.
“Their minds are damaged; you won't get anything out of them.”
Lin Sheng shook his head slightly, glancing at the man bound to the pillar.
Then he stepped forward and pulled out a sailor from the corner.
“Ah…”
The few sailors seemed to be stimulated, screaming and flailing wildly, but they couldn't move once Lin Sheng's large hand gripped them.
He pinched one person's chin, lifted him up, and then a faint light flashed in his eyes.
The terrified sailor in his hand met Lin Sheng's gaze, and the fear on his face slowly dissipated.
Before long, he calmed down, his body stopped trembling, and his eyes gradually regained clarity.
Seeing this, Lin Sheng then released him.
“You… who are you!?”
The sailor looked at Lin Sheng and Nong Yu before him with some confusion.
“You're from the Red Sea Trading Company. Weren't you transporting Black Crystal Coral? What happened? Are you the only ones who returned?”
Seeing him regain his senses, Nong Yu quickly asked.
“Red Sea Trading Company… Black Crystal Coral?”
Upon hearing this, the sailor's body stiffened, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. Soon, as if remembering something, his eyes widened, and a look of terror appeared on his face.
“Singing… there was singing, everyone who heard the singing jumped into the sea… they all died… they all died…”
The sailor mumbled disjointedly, already incoherent.
“Singing? What singing? What are you talking about!?”
Nong Yu's brows furrowed as she pressed for answers.
However, the sailor's eyes suddenly rolled back, and his body began to convulse, and he actually fainted directly.