Chapter 443: Demon’s Lair

Chapter 443: The Devil's Lair

Though they wanted to speed up the voyage, the journey still had to be taken step by step.

They merely cut down on unnecessary stops and wasted time as much as possible.

Thus, Shangguan Jingjing became a special 'passenger' aboard the ship.

At the very least, compared to the other guests on board, she was indeed quite unique.

After all, she hadn’t been captured and had her own private quarters.

Once she shed her disguise as a crew member and changed into women’s attire, she looked quite delicate and charming.

She wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous, but coupled with the title of the young miss of the Shangguan family, it was enough to make her many people’s crush.

And Shangguan Jingjing wasn’t actually stupid.

She had simply grown up in a coddled upbringing, and Shangguan Hongtu had doted on his only beloved daughter way too much.

As a result, her personality was a little too trusting.

After all, if she were truly an idiot, she wouldn’t have thought to use Su Mo’s help to meet up with her sweetheart.

Instead, she might have been cocky enough to think she could handle it alone, only to be hauled back in no time by the Shangguan family.

So, in truth, her trust in Su Mo wasn’t as solid as she let on.

Though it was a huge risk, she still had her doubts.

Thus, she decided to lay low on the ship for a bit, then find a way to investigate Su Mo and his companions.

But she never expected to be almost scared out of her wits on the very first day.

She couldn’t have dreamed that, on her first day aboard, she would see a tiger!

And it was sprinting over the waves!?

Roughhousing like crazy, its huge tongue lolling, zipping around the ocean—hunting sharks?

What in the world was this?

Which mountain had this tiger trained into a monster?

Had it come to return a favor or settle a score?

When she realized this tiger was actually Su Mo’s pet, Shangguan Jingjing grew deeply suspicious of his claim that he was "pissed his martial arts weren’t strong enough."

You can tame a tiger spirit…

And you’re still frustrated by your martial arts?

Did you subdue the tiger spirit not with martial arts, but with magic charms and talismans?

From a distance, the white tiger already seemed terrifying, but when it returned to the deck, standing tall and exuding its majestic aura, Shangguan Jingjing’s knees almost buckled.

If it weren't for the pride and restraint of being the Shangguan family's young miss, she might have collapsed on the spot.

Fortunately, the white tiger wasn't hostile. After glancing at this 'newcomer' on the ship, it gave a shake of its head and returned to its own 'room.'

A middle-aged Taoist and a young woman followed closely behind the tiger, strutting about arrogantly with an air of triumph that left everyone watching completely puzzled.

Only after the white tiger's cabin door closed did Shangguan Jingjing finally let out a huge sigh of relief.

It felt as if she had cheated death.

After this ordeal, Shangguan Jingjing wouldn't dare underestimate anyone on this ship.

Regardless of whether their martial arts were as refined as the Heavenly Eagle Manual, anyone capable of taming such a white tiger was no ordinary person.

Over the next few days, she observed carefully and indeed made some discoveries.

But these discoveries shocked her to the core.

This ship was teeming with danger!!

First was the girl called Little Situ, who appeared delicate and frail, walking with obvious difficulty in her legs.

She often needed someone to support her.

Shangguan Jingjing, being kind-hearted, once saw her struggling to move forward while holding onto the ship's railing and went over to help.

After just a few words, Shangguan Jingjing found the girl gentle, thoughtful, and kind.

She thought she had made her first friend on the ship, but when she went to see her the next day,

she discovered a shocking secret!

This seemingly fragile girl was actually experimenting on a live human subject!

The test subject was a middle-aged man, his face drawn and sickly, bound in a separate room.

When Shangguan Jingjing discovered him, she saw Little Situ using a small knife to part the flesh of his chest.

Blood dripped from the wound, collected by Little Situ in a white porcelain bowl.

After collecting nearly a full bowl, she finally bandaged his wound.

Then she took out various suspicious powders, murmuring to herself that they were all lethal toxins!

She mixed these toxins together, combining them into one, and as the man watched in despair, fed it to him.

Finally, she left him with these words:

"Hmm, I'll come back in two hours to see how it works.

"Senior, you must hold on—don't you die on me."

With that, she left the room aided by several attendants.

Shangguan Jingjing, who had been watching through the window, hardly dared breathe.

She was petrified that the slightest noise might alert Little Situ to her presence.

She turned her head and spoke in that soft, sticky-sweet voice:

"Sister Shangguan, so you've discovered me, huh? Well, that's truly unfortunate." [giggles]

"I happen to be in need of a poison test subject. How about Sister Shangguan obliges me this once?"

"But my poison is exceptionally vicious, so sister must hold on—don't die too quickly now..."

At the mere thought of this possibility, Shangguan Jingjing's face went white as a sheet.

After that, whenever she saw Little Situ, she didn’t dare greet her.

This left Little Situ genuinely baffled.

She had been perfectly fine before—why such a sudden, drastic change in attitude?

But she didn’t dwell on it; after all, they were merely strangers sharing passage on the same ship.

Right now, she only had three concerns occupying her.

First, to work hard so she could regain full use of her legs as soon as possible.

Second, to solve the riddles of the Other Shore Flower and the Celestial Stele. Even if she couldn’t fully decipher them, she needed to understand their true properties—only then could she truly help Su Mo.

Lastly, there was the matter of how to cure the deadly poison afflicting the Sick Prince.

When Su Mo left Dragonwood Island, he had specifically brought back this "challenge," and Little Situ certainly wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.

The Sick Prince was suffering five intersecting venoms, all intertwined. If she could untangle them, it would be a valuable trial for her own skills in both poisoning and detoxification.

Thus, she threw herself into the task with single-minded dedication every day.

Shangguan Jingjing, unaware of the truth, was scared out of her wits.

But since she didn’t dare face Little Situ, and the latter took daily walks on the deck, Shangguan Jingjing simply retreated to the ship's interior during those hours.

Then, by chance, she overheard a conversation between two deckhands.

"Has the little girl sneaked into the kitchen again?"

"Yeah."

"The Chief Escort forbids her from gorging herself all the time. Didn’t Old Li in the kitchen stop her?"

"Who'd have the nerve?"

At this point, the speaker suddenly looked around shiftily before whispering:

"You ever hear tell..."

"Heard what?"

"When the little girl is eating, don’t disturb her—and don't so much as look her way!"

"Why?"

"Because the little girl... dines on human flesh!"

"Don’t talk nonsense! She seems perfectly harmless to me."

“She's only kind when she hasn't eaten yet. Let me tell you, I heard this from someone in the escort bureau.”

The man spoke with conviction, "They say when the little girl was allegedly escorting goods with the Chief Escort, they were once stopped by a gang of bandits who wanted to rob them."

"At that moment, the little girl was ravenous, and their appearance directly interrupted her lunch."

"This made her furious, so she charged into the crowd wielding her single-legged bronze statue weapon."

"With her right hand, she swung the bronze figure wildly, and with her left, she grabbed anyone she could and shoved them into her mouth."

"In that battle, there were ninety-nine bandits—the little girl supposedly killed half and ate the other half. The carnage was so brutal, it was unbearable to watch."

"Whoa!!"

The other guy listening was almost convinced by the vivid description, "Is that true? Did the Chief Escort just let her eat them?"

"What kind of person is our Chief Escort?"

"Strictly by the book!"

"But that's only towards good people..."

"The people he hates most in life are those who rob his escorts."

"Once he takes action, it's often a fight that ends in death."

"If those bandits hadn't robbed them and instead offered lunch, they could've parted ways peacefully."

"But they apparently had a death wish, so they all ended up in the little girl's belly."

The man wagged his head knowingly, his face full of 'you don't get it,' and finally said seriously, "And do you know who I heard this from?"

"Who?"

"Swift Shadow, Unmoved by Snow!"

"Xu Lu! The Chief Escort's chief disciple!?"

"Exactly."

The man nodded, "They say Hero Xu is even more terrified of the little girl. Every time they share a meal, he dares not sit too close, afraid she might lose control and take a chunk out of him too."

"Then it must be true."

The two reached a consensus and even got into the nitty-gritty of the 'eating people' matter.

For example, does she wash them before eating? Does she roast them?

In the end, they agreed that the little girl eats them raw - no washing, no cooking.

Shangguan Jingjing, overhearing all this, nearly puked right then and there.

She thought these two were talking complete bullshit.

She had seen the little girl before—a simple, heavyset girl. Though not exactly feminine, she seemed like she wouldn't hurt a fly.

The one-legged bronze statue in her hand radiated a weirdly cheerful, servile energy.

There's no way she actually eats people!

But that very night, as Shangguan Jingjing passed by Zhen Xiaoxiao's room during dinner time, she couldn't resist peeking inside.

There she saw Zhen Xiaoxiao's hulking figure seated at the table, hands moving frantically as she stuffed various foods into her mouth while mumbling to herself:

"Starving... so starving..."

Hearing those words, Shangguan Jingjing felt an icy dread shoot up her spine.

Every hair on her body stood on end.

"I want... to eat something more..."

Just as Zhen Xiaoxiao said this, she suddenly turned to look at the window.

That one glance nearly made Shangguan Jingjing piss herself on the spot.

A chubby face plastered with globs of rice and shreds of meat, dark and gloomy, with eyes filled with a predatory crimson glare!

That was absolutely the look of someone who wanted to eat people!!

She couldn't bear to look another second and immediately turned to flee.

She ran all the way back to her room, leaped onto her bed, and buried herself under the blankets before she could finally catch her breath slightly.

Yet even then, her heart hammered against her ribs.

She couldn't bring herself to close her eyes all night, terrified that Zhen Xiaoxiao might sneak into her room and make a midnight snack of her.

Fortunately, the night passed without any midnight visitors.

The next day, she heard that Zhen Xiaoxiao had been scolded by the chief escort again.

The reason? Her midnight kitchen heist had been discovered...

Shangguan Jingjing mused that perhaps the kitchen's provisions had saved her life?

Though she had survived for now, she remained still shaking with fear.

What kind of people were on this ship?

A seemingly fragile woman who tested medicine on living humans.

A starving behemoth who ate people when starving!

Compared to these two, the white tiger that seemed almost like a spirit beast appeared almost cuddly by comparison.

"This place... is not safe!!"

After these successive frights, Shangguan Jingjing began considering how she might escape this ship.

It was way too fucking dangerous here.

Either the tiger would eat her, or one of these maniacs would.

And if she survived all that, she might still end up as some madwoman's lab rat.

This is no place for decent folk.

Chief Escort Su and his wife seem friendly enough.

But who knows what horrors lurk behind that friendly mask?

She even overheard that Miss Wei secretly calling Chief Escort Su "Old Su"!

That nickname alone tells you he's bad news.

He must be a deeply hidden, seasoned villain!

This South Sea voyage is likely just for their dirty business.

She absolutely cannot sit idly by on this ship, waiting to die.

But escaping across open water won't be easy.

Moreover, for some reason, ever since she boarded, the ship has never docked at any islands they passed.

Hoping to slip away amid the chaos of a port is out of the question.

The worry was turning her hair gray.

Just when Shangguan Jingjing thought there was no chance, her chance came—they encountered pirates!

Pirate attacks always bring chaos.

Maybe then she could slip away.

But as soon as this thought crossed her mind, she realized how wishful that thinking was.

Ordinary people would be terrified out of their wits, trembling with fear at the sight of pirates.

But the people on this ship couldn’t care less.

Well, not exactly uncaring…

They actually looked… excited?

Everyone was cracking their knuckles, standing on the deck, eagerly watching the pirate ship approach.

The pirates also seemed bloodthirsty, yelling what sounded like war cries as they prepared to storm aboard and kill everyone.

But before they could cross the gangplank, several people from the ship were already storming across.

The deputy chief escort led the charge, his spear dancing like a striking dragon—mowing them down.

Little Situ Taoist also went over to the enemy ship looking for sport. Without so much as raising a hand, men were dropping before they could blink—her skills were downright scary.

Zhen Xiaoxiao was even crazier. With a single leap onto the pirate ship, she punched clean through the deck. The deck splintered beneath her weight.

She was already cutting through their back lines!

They burst out from the cabin, catching the enemy off guard.

There were also a young man and woman wielding single blades, cutting down enemies with brutal precision.

Bai Hu gave a lazy yawn, choosing not to join the fray. Instead, he leaned beside Su Mo, watching coldly.

Su Mo stood with his hands behind his back, making no move to intervene.

Since he didn’t act, Shangguan Jingjing could only stand there, helpless.

After hesitating for a long while, she finally spoke up, "Chief Escort Su, perhaps I should go and lend a hand?"

Su Mo glanced at her and smiled, "Young Miss Shangguan, you flatter me. You are an honored guest aboard this ship—how could we trouble you? Simply watch with me."

*So he’s worried I’ll bolt!*

Shangguan Jingjing sighed deeply and gave up and stood there.

Su Mo, however, found it odd. Lately, this young lady seemed constantly spaced out.

Yang Xiaoyun had mentioned to him a couple of days ago that the young miss seemed to be thinning.

Su Mo hadn’t paid her much attention, but now, upon closer inspection, she did seem a bit off her game.

Then again, as the saying goes, "Pining for love wears one thin, yet the heart never regrets it."

Perhaps she was missing her sweetheart, unable to restrain her longing?

Longing truly is a sickness.

As Su Mo mused to himself, he noticed Yin Xiaoyu had slipped up beside him.

He smiled. "Boss Yin, are you also getting restless from sitting around?"

"Ah…" Yin Xiaoyu hesitated. "If you’ll allow it, Chief Escort, I’d gladly contribute."

"Very well."

Su Mo nodded and gave a finger-snap. "Then show us what you’ve got, Boss Yin."

"You won’t be disappointed, Chief Escort."

Her internal energy unleashed, Yin Xiaoyu wasted no time and slammed into the enemy ship.

The pirates were already barely holding their own against Yang Xiaoyun’s crew.

Now, with Yin Xiaoyu joining the fray, they didn’t stand a chance.

Shangguan Jingjing stared, dumbstruck.

She had seen Yin Xiaoyu often on this trip, but she’d never guessed that she, too, was a top-tier fighter!

How could there be so many formidable figures on this ship?

Just as she was stunned, she suddenly heard someone shriek in terror:

"You... you're the Sea Witch, Yin Xiaoyu!!!"

"What?"

Young Miss Shangguan gaped in shock and immediately looked at Su Mo.

Su Mo, however, stood casually with hands clasped behind him and gave a slight nod:

"The Slayerheart Demon Sutra is indeed extraordinary."

"She's actually the Sea Witch?"

Young Miss Shangguan blurted out.

"Ah..."

Su Mo thought for a moment and said, "What Sea Witch? She's just a maid on my ship. Young Miss Shangguan, please don't read too much into it.

"We're just a bunch of people with mediocre martial arts, banding together for survival. Please don't laugh at us."

Still lying through his teeth!!!

Young Miss Shangguan's mind reeled.

She turned to look at the ship again.

Old Su held absolute power, ruling over everything!

Under him, all manner of fiends gathered.

The cannibalistic witch was cowed and submissive before him, jumping at his every command.

The witch who experimented on living humans was fawning and doting in his presence, clinging to him like a lovestruck girl.

As for the tiger spirit, it was even worse, groveling at the feet of this old demon, willingly serving as his mount.

Even the renowned Sea Witch, Yin Xiaoyu, could only work as a maid on the ship, serving tea and water.

What kind of den of monsters had she stumbled into?

Ziyang Escort!?

She looked up at the four large characters on the sail.

She could no longer look directly at the words "Escort"—it felt like they had become a code name for some dark cult.

Now that she had fallen into this man's hands, would she ever have a chance to see Brother Ximen again in this lifetime?

But the moment she thought about how even the Sea Witch was under his thumb, she no longer dared to hold out any hope of escaping this ship.

A wave of despair washed over her as she gazed at the churning waves, as uncertain as her own fate.

After all the pirates on the ship had been killed,

the people on board displayed a chilling efficiency.

First, they checked the bodies, dispatching any survivors with a stab.

Then, they plundered every last item from the ship—gold, silver, jewels, food, fresh water—they left nothing untouched.

Finally, they scrubbed the ship clean, left no trace behind, and without hesitation, torched the vessel to destroy all evidence.

The entire process was smooth and seamless, showcasing nothing but ruthless precision!