Chapter 360: Farewell, Si Tu

Chapter 360: Seeing Si Tu Again

A great ship, wealth, secret techniques, women.

Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun exchanged a glance—this sounded familiar.

Though the last two were new additions, it was hard not to think of the Great Manager.

Moreover, the fact that the ship had sailed from Eastern Desolation to the Southern Sea matched up as well.

Yet Su Mo couldn’t quite understand—if the owner of this ship truly was the Great Manager, why draw so much attention?

What’s in it for him?

Su Mo turned it over in his mind, though his expression remained unchanged. He simply smiled and said:

“Rumors like that are everywhere at sea, right?

Big ships, treasure maps, ghost ships—you name it.

Then there’s those islands packed with the same stuff…

But who’s actually seen one?”

“You see right through it.”

The man replied meekly now, speaking with clear respect:

“These stories aren’t exactly believable, but the martial world has no shortage of adventure chasers.

If they really came across such a ship, they’d jump at the chance.

And unlike those islands hidden who-knows-where, this ship actually showed up in plain sight.

It’s said that the ship’s first stop after leaving Eastern Desolation for the Southern Sea was Three Heroes Island.

It docked there for two days before setting sail again.

After that, word spread fast.

Many martial artists even chased after its trail.

But the ship must be deadly—

Nobody who went after it came back.”

“And…”

The woman added, “This ship slips in and out like a shadow, moving through the seas like it owns them. Here one moment, gone the next. People hear it’s in the east in the morning, but by nightfall, it’s already a thousand miles away.

With that come wild, half-baked stories.

Nobody knows what’s real anymore…

More fools keep joining the chase, yet they all end up wandering the Southern Sea like headless flies.”

"It just stirs up the sea even more."

Su Mo gave a slight nod and asked offhandedly, "Anything else?"

"Hmm..."

Using the big ship as a conversation starter, the two launched into a detailed account, telling Su Mo a pile of random rumors.

Some were even based on their own experiences, while others were purely hearsay.

From these, Su Mo picked up bits of other information about the South Sea.

The sea is endless and vast, and it also has its share of outlaws.

Those who dwell in the mountains are called mountain bandits, while those who roam the seas are called pirates.

However, pirates differ from mountain bandits—mountain bandits have hideouts, but pirates just have their ships.

Wherever their ships sail, that’s their base.

Moreover, these pirates have their own networks and codes.

When pirates encounter one another, they often clash and fight.

After all, the sea hides all traces—if they do cross paths, they might turn on each other, wipe out the competition, and line their own pockets.

In the end, they sink the ships, leaving no trace of what went down.

So, some just vanish mid-plunder, lost to the sea forever.

Some people suddenly get rich and vanish after coasting through life.

This is all quite normal.

In the South Sea, pirates are inherently tied to profit.

Hence, there was once a notorious pirate who sought to unite all the outlaws across the South Sea

and become the Pirate King.

But in the end, his ambitions sank.

On this point, the young man even emphasized that it caused a huge uproar at the time.

Yet it ultimately ended in a disastrous ending.

Beyond that, the maritime power struggles are as intricate and tangled as those on land.

Apart from entangled interests, many islands are bound by blood relations.

In short, it’s a complete mess.

Messy things are naturally hard to explain and tough to make sense of.

Su Mo didn’t seem worried and just put them up at the Ziyang Escort Agency, letting them slowly document everything at their own pace.

Hearing this, the two of them turned pale.

"D-do you mean to imprison us?"

The woman asked quietly.

Su Mo waved a hand, “What are you talking about? Su Mo’s got a solid rep in the martial world—why would I just lock someone up for no reason?

“But since you two came here and made a mess, we’ve gotta settle this, right?

“And hey—you’re gonna have to pay for those chairs, right?”

“Chairs?”

They looked at the shattered wood on the floor, momentarily speechless.

What, like those things are worth anything?

The young man reached for his money, but Su Mo shook his head.

“Royal tributes. Great Xuan Dynasty. Can’t buy these anymore.”

“…”

He was just making this up on the spot!

The guy was fuming but bit his tongue—no matter how much he doubted it, he couldn’t afford to show anger.

“But don’t worry, I’m not asking for your money.”

Su Mo grinned. “I go easy on my martial world buddies. These chairs might be priceless, but if you two write down everything you know about the South Sea, we’ll call it even.

“Until then, though, you’re sticking around the Ziyang Escort Agency.”

They nodded—what else could they do?

Even if they knew Su Mo was full of crap, when you're at someone else’s mercy, you lower your head.

So they played along with Su Mo’s game.

No backtalk—just keep your head down.

Su Mo was clearly pleased. He tapped their pressure points—cutting off their qi flow—and sent them with Uncle Fu to get settled.

Writing materials were provided too.

And naturally, he took their cash.

Not like he was after chump change.

They were crashing and eating at his place for the foreseeable future.

This was a business, not a soup kitchen.

They were damn well paying their own way.

But letting them roam free with cash wasn’t happening.

So the agency would manage their tabs.

When they left, they’d get every leftover copper back.

If they overspent, they’d sign a marker—with a hard deadline to pay up.

The matter was left at that for now. That night, Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun went to find Yang Yizhi.

Upon learning that two informants had been captured from the South Sea, Yang Yizhi was quite pleased.

Understanding that Su Mo wanted to extract information from them to aid their journey south, he waited patiently for two days.

But soon enough, he grew impatient.

Now that Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun were married, Yang Yizhi felt a great weight lift from his heart.

He didn’t want to waste another moment and was eager to set sail as soon as possible.

Seeing this, Su Mo had the two men quickly sketch out what they knew of the sea routes and handed the maps over to Yang Yizhi.

Yang Yizhi was stubborn—once he made up his mind, nothing could change it.

Since talking him out of it was impossible, the best they could do was try to ensure his safety and take every precaution possible.

Yet, they could only do so much.

After all, they were in the Eastern Wastes; this farewell would take them across vast distances. When they might meet again was truly uncertain.

But all good things must come to an end. That night, when Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun went to see Yang Yizhi as usual, they found the place deserted.

Yang Yizhi, Ling Hongxia, Yu Lingxin, Yu Qilin, Ji Feiyang, Bei Changzhi—

All six were gone without a trace.

Only a letter remained, addressed to Yang Xiaoyun.

She opened and read it.

Yang Yizhi wrote that he knew Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun were reluctant to part.

Yet at this point in his life, only two things still troubled him.

The first was the marriage between Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun.

Now that this was settled, he could finally put his mind at ease.

The other was finding out the truth about what Su Tianyang had gone through back then.

Therefore, he had to see this through.

In the letter, he said:

"Goodbyes hurt the most. As a father, I cannot bear to see your tears."

"So under the cloak of night, I shall follow the great river into the sea, sailing ten thousand li across the waves, to spare us more heartache."

The rest of the letter encouraged her to build a good life with Su Mo.

He didn’t warn them against going to the South Sea or stepping into the Western Regions.

Instead, he simply told them to come only after being fully prepared.

By then, they would have made headway, and once Su Mo and she arrived, they could combine their efforts, leading to even greater success.

And with that, the letter came to an end.

Yang Xiaoyun read it over and over again, finally gave a light sniff:

*"Can't bear to see me cry..."*

*"I wouldn't cry anyway."*

*"He’s the one who’d cry, isn’t he?"*

*"Afraid I’d see him and laugh."*

Yang Xiaoyun mumbled to herself, then gently leaned into Su Mo's embrace, burying her face in his chest as her shoulders trembled slightly.

Su Mo could only pat her shoulder lightly, whispering comforting words.

……

……

Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, a year had passed.

After Yang Yizhi's unannounced departure, the Ziyang Escort Agency, and even the Eastern Wilderness Escort Alliance, fully hit their stride.

Over the course of that year, Su Mo was mostly traveling across the Eastern Wilderness, overseeing various matters.

When the Eastern Wilderness Escort Alliance was first established, many agencies had taken a wait-and-see approach. But now, they had officially joined the alliance.

The name "Eastern Wilderness Escort Alliance" grew ever more famous across the land.

Not only that, but more agencies deepened ties with Ziyang.

Seizing the chance, Su Mo acted again and again.

He established relay stations across the Eastern Wilderness.

With these stations in place, escort runs became far safer.

With cargo secure, ordinary folks and merchants alike grew to trust the Eastern Wilderness Escort Alliance.

Some caravans disbanded their own guard teams entirely, relying instead on the alliance for protection.

The ex-guards quickly joined various escort agencies.

As a result, Alliance agencies thrived, their profits soaring.

So much so that many treated Su Mo like a money god—some nearly wanted to enshrine him with a longevity tablet, burning incense before him day and night.

To Su Mo, the relay stations were a goldmine too.

They weren’t just for alliance members—outsiders could use them too.

They weren’t just for escort agencies either.

Ordinary travelers, merchants—anyone who paid could stay at the relay stations.

However, members of the Eastern Wilderness Escort Alliance have priority access.

Even within the alliance, those who stay there still need to pay for supplies.

Of course, they pay much less than regular folks.

The better you cooperate, the bigger the discount—this pushes other escort agencies to partner more deeply with Ziyang Escort.

It locks down the money flow even tighter.

Thanks to this, Su Mo has spread his influence like a net across the entire Eastern Wilderness.

There's no corner untouched by the alliance.

Almost every notable place now has an alliance waystation.

Sounds easy now, but it wasn't simple at all back then.

Su Mo put in backbreaking hours, so much that he didn’t even take on a single escort mission during this time.

Only now have all the pieces finally fallen into place.

Now, even if Su Mo leaves the Eastern Wilderness, the alliance will keep running and Ziyang Escort’s rep won’t skip a beat.

This was the first—and most important—step Su Mo took toward preparing for his voyage overseas.

With things stable, he starts getting ready to sail.

Truth is, it's gotten to where he can't wait any longer.

Wei Ziyi’s condition is getting worse by the day.

At first, the Third Palace Master was just talking big, making things sound worse than they were.

But as time passed, her condition actually took a bad turn.

Once, a dose of Pure Yang Energy lasted a month—but now she needs it every seven days.

Once that energy runs out, the yin-yang clash wrecks her all over again.

Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun talked about teaching her the Yixuan Divine Art.

After all, getting killed by out-of-control qi isn't much different from dying at the hands of the Jinglong Society.

But then Hua Qianyu brought some news.

She was born into the Qi family of the Southern Sea.

The Qi family is one of the Hundred Clans of the Southern Sea, part of the Southern Sea Alliance—a real powerhouse down there.

Wei Ziyi had kept her condition hidden from Hua Qianyu at first, but when her qi went haywire during episodes, she couldn’t hide it anymore.

After some serious grilling from Hua Qianyu, she finally had to admit the truth.

Hua Qianyu thought it over, then told Wei Ziyi about the Qi family and told her to go get their help.

Because the so-called yang-essence item mentioned by the Third Palace Master and the Second Palace Master was in the possession of the Qi Family.

Wei Ziyi also knew that Su Mo planned to head to the South Sea, so she decided to travel with him.

Hua Qianyu had no issue with this.

Although the Fallen Phoenix Alliance had merchant ships at sea, they had never truly explored its depths.

Venturing deep into those waters with their current forces was clearly unfeasible.

But traveling with Su Mo would be much safer.

However, no one expected Su Mo’s delay to last so long.

Fortunately, there was still a seven-day grace period, so they were still on schedule.

That was the first reason.

The second concerned Zhen Xiaoxiao.

Zhen Xiaoxiao’s condition was deteriorating.

This had actually been the main reason Su Mo originally intended to go to the South Sea.

But no one foresaw how things would play out. With the formation of the Eastern Wilderness Escort Alliance, matters grew endlessly tangled.

As a result, it was delayed until now.

The girl had grown even more massive, and Su Mo was genuinely terrified every day, fearing she might suddenly drop dead…

Now, even channeling his qi to unblock her meridians was gradually becoming ineffective.

Upon learning that Hua Qianyu came from the Qi Family of the South Sea, Su Mo made a special trip to investigate.

However, he came up empty.

Still, the Qi Family might have leads.

The third reason involved the Eternal Night Valley in East City.

Over the past year, the East City Seven Sects had wiped out the last remnants of the Eternal Night Valley.

The Yindu Ren—mentioned by the Eternal Night Valley members during the Liuyin City incident—was also exposed under the Seven Sects’ relentless search.

They eventually stormed the Eternal Night Valley itself and destroyed its stronghold.

Yet, even then, the Night Monarch never showed himself.

From the pigeon missive Li Zhengyuan sent to Su Mo, he learned that there had been upheavals within the Eternal Night Valley.

Later, Su Mo received another report from his intelligence network across the Eastern Wilderness.

Putting it all together, Su Mo reached a conclusion...

The Night Monarch, seeing no path to victory, had likely cut his losses and fled the Eastern Wilderness.

He must have gone elsewhere to plot his comeback.

But it remained unclear whether he had gone to the South Sea or headed north to Beichuan.

While this man still lives, Su Mo won’t rest easy.

Now that the Eastern Wasteland has largely stabilized, it’s high time to set out and search for him. If he can be found, Su Mo will only feel secure after putting him down himself.

In fact, Su Mo had been preparing for the voyage a year ago, commissioning the building of a large ship.

This ship went through countless revisions and modifications, and was only recently completed.

They’d stocked up plenty of grain, food, and fresh water onboard.

So, from every angle, it was clear—setting sail was now unavoidable.

But just before departure, the Ziyang Escort suddenly received unannounced visitors.

There weren’t many guests, and they had all arrived at the main hall.

Uncle Fu sent someone to fetch Su Mo, and after explaining who the visitors were, Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun hurried to the front hall.

At first glance, four girls stood in each corner, their faces cold and unwelcoming, giving off serious “keep away” vibes.

Looking further in, there was a girl dressed entirely in white sitting on a palanquin.

She held a basin full of meat buns in her arms, and in her hand was one she was currently biting into.

Juice ran down from the torn edge of the bun, coating her hand, but she didn’t care—her cheeks bulged as she chewed.

She looked around curiously at the Ziyang Escort’s main hall.

When she saw Su Mo arrive, her eyes lit up. She glanced at Su Mo, then at Yang Xiaoyun, and her grin widened:

“Su Da—”

She stopped short after two words, realizing it sounded off, and quickly shoved the whole bun into her mouth.

Munching loudly, she swallowed it down before speaking again:

“Long time no see, Chief Escort Su!”