togophonebook Chapter 1 Gathering on the Ship
Chapter 1 Gathering on the Ship
That night, the moon was not full, but slightly waning.
As midnight approached, the sea was calm, and a huge Fujian-style ship was sailing eastward on the boundless ocean.
In the noisiest main cabin of the large ship, Xiao Xuan opened his eyes and looked at the scene before him in surprise.
The dimly lit cabin was arranged like a banquet hall, with eight seats in total, clearly distinguishing between the main and secondary seats, and Xiao Xuan himself was seated in the farthest last seat.
"Ah! That feels so good!"
Sitting opposite Xiao Xuan was a burly man with a full beard. He pondered for a moment, flicked the liquid off his beard, and raised the large bowl in his hand, saying:
"I've been cooped up in the cabin for days, it's driving me crazy!"
Hearing the big man's complaints, a beautifully dressed and charming woman walked over from a distance, carrying a wine jar, and came to the big man.
"Brother Sha has really been wronged."
As the woman spoke, she poured wine for the burly man surnamed Sha, but the man's free hand seemed to be wandering around, and he quietly put his arm around the woman's slender waist.
But before he could succeed, the woman turned lightly and used the wine pot in her hand to gently lift the big man's groin under the wine bowl.
Despite such a large movement, not a single drop of wine spilled from the bowls and jars.
"Once this matter is settled, our chieftain will definitely make amends to you properly."
The burly man surnamed Sha was unaware of what had happened, but upon noticing the gaze of the person in the main seat, he immediately dared not act rashly again.
The woman, however, simply smiled faintly, turned to the people in the room, and said:
"We apologize for any shortcomings in our hospitality towards you all today, Qianlang Village. Please forgive us, and we will wait until..."
Before the woman could finish speaking, a middle-aged man with a scar on his face, sitting next to the burly man, stood up and reluctantly said:
"Wang has been a vagrant in the Fuzhou-Guangzhou area for many years, but he has never heard of a woman running the household in Qianlang Village!"
After speaking, the man surnamed Wang first glared fiercely at Xiao Xuan, and then looked at the middle-aged man with a fierce face in the main seat, Lei Long, the "South Sea Dragon".
"Chief Lei, I, Wang Hong, have offended you today, but the hatred for the murder of my disciple cannot go unpunished!"
After saying that, a short knife suddenly popped out from Wang Hong's sleeve, and then he took a step forward, the blade pointing directly at Xiao Xuan at the end of the table.
In an instant, everyone in the room became alert and wary of each other, but no one stepped forward to stop them.
Xiao Xuan had just transmigrated here, and countless memories were flooding into his mind. His body wouldn't obey him, and he remained sitting in place without getting up.
Just as the blade was about to reach Xiao Xuan, a scent of rouge wafted over, and the beautiful woman appeared in front of Xiao Xuan, forcing Wang Hong to withdraw his attack and deflect the force.
"Madam Lei, what does this mean?"
Everyone was startled, but the beautiful woman remained unfazed by the sharp blade, gently smoothing out the wrinkles on Wang Hong's clothes with her hand.
"Sect Leader Wang, we are discussing important matters today, and none of us are armed. Taking advantage of someone's misfortune is not the act of a hero."
Upon seeing this, the people in the room all turned their gazes to Chief Lei of Qianlang Village, who was sitting in the main seat.
Seeing this, Chief Lei also stood up, his gaze lingering between Wang Hong and Xiao Xuan for a few seconds before he lowered his voice and spoke in an authoritative tone:
"Brother Xiao, is what Sect Leader Wang said true?"
When all eyes turned to Xiao Xuan, he finally stood up slowly and replied coldly:
"His apprentice, failing to abduct a young woman, killed her entire family of four, not even sparing an eight-year-old child. Didn't he deserve to die?"
Xiao Xuan finally finished integrating all of the original owner's memories and, after learning the truth, spoke with more confidence.
The original owner of this body shares the same name as him. He was originally a swordsman from a fallen sect who only entered the martial arts world a year ago. Now he is quite well-known in the Fuguang area.
And he wasn't lying. Half a year ago in Fuzhou, the original owner was asked to do something, but unexpectedly encountered Wang Hong's disciple bullying people by abusing his power.
"I only severed your disciple's hands and feet. As for how he died, you should think about what else he did."
Xiao Xuan's tone was icy, not only because it was the original owner's character setting, but also because he felt contempt for these scoundrels after learning the truth.
"Nonsense!"
"Really? I remember that the local constables took over the case in the end. Didn't Sect Leader Wang seek revenge against them? Are you only capable of bullying a junior like me?"
Wang Hong's eyes widened in anger, and he was unable to refute the argument for a moment. He then looked back to observe the attitudes of the people in the room.
Surprisingly, everyone present was staring at him with disdain, including Chief Lei.
Most of the people present were from all walks of life, and some of them had some dirty lives on their hands.
But doing such a thing is one thing; being exposed and given ammunition while doing it is another.
"Sect Leader Wang, don't get so angry."
After hearing Xiao Xuan's words, Chief Lei's target naturally shifted to Wang Hong, who was in the wrong.
For him, with such a major event at hand, calming people's hearts was the most important thing. Although he had a trump card at hand, it was too early to use it now. If he could resolve the situation with words, that would be the best outcome.
"Harmony brings wealth. We've all come here to make money. I, Lei Long, will give you two choices: First, after this matter is settled, you two can have a fair duel in my presence. Second..."
"No need!"
Lei Long had just finished stating the first option when Xiao Xuan interrupted him.
"I choose the first one."
The boy's words were surprising, which made everyone present look at him with new eyes.
"good!"
"A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger!"
Lei Long's lips twitched slightly, then he didn't say anything more, but nodded while staring at Xiao Xuan.
Xiao Xuan understood that no matter how the deal went, in Lei Long's eyes, he, a newcomer to the martial arts world, was no match for Wang Hong, the head of a sect.
Moreover, everyone in this room is a crooked and evil person, so how many of them would speak up for him?
At the moment he obtained all of the original owner's memories, Xiao Xuan was actually somewhat desperate, because in his view, the original owner's behavior of trying to negotiate with a tiger would only end up with him feeding the tiger.
"snort."
Wang Hong chuckled lightly after seeing Xiao Xuan's arrogance.
"Very well, I'd like to see what's left of the Tianshan Sect, which was once a powerful force in the martial arts world a hundred years ago."
After saying this, Wang Hong put the short knife in his sleeve and sat back down in his seat.
Tianshan Sect
When Wang Hong mentioned those three words, Xiao Xuan sighed inwardly.
In this world, the Tianshan Sect, a renowned martial arts sect, was completely wiped out overnight more than seventy years ago.
The murderer has not been found to this day; the matter is so bizarre that no one dares to investigate.
Now that things have come to this, the Tianshan Sect's mountain gate, far beyond the Great Wall, has long since fallen into enemy territory, and the Tianshan Sect has been completely wiped out.
Only the original Xiao Xuan, who was adopted by his master at a young age, mastered some of the Tianshan School's martial arts, which were not particularly profound, under his tutelage.
It was because of all of the above that Xiao Xuan was forced to become a wandering knight-errant, making a living by doing things for others like a mercenary.
Then he met the beautiful Mrs. Lei, and under the lure of a large sum of money, he boarded the ship.
After boarding the ship, Xiao Xuan was put into the cabin. Food was delivered to him every day, but he was not allowed to go out until today when everyone was gathered together.
"That's good! Haha!" Lei Long burst into laughter after Wang Hong sat down.
"Come, come, let's have another bowl, and then I'll tell you all about this incredible opportunity!"
Upon hearing the word "opportunity," everyone smiled and raised their wine bowls.
"Come on! Let's do it!"
Lei Long drank it down in one gulp, and everyone else followed suit. But Xiao Xuan's wine bowl was only halfway raised when he was frozen in mid-air as if he had been frozen by a spell.
He saw two lines of small characters in the wine bowl.
[Cloudy sake]
[Contains poisonous Gu worms]