Chapter 2266

Sun Hongye continued: "There was once when an old boatman injured his arm, and I found someone to take over his boat. The newcomer wasn't familiar with the route, took a detour, and delayed the landing time. As a result—"

"The result was that both the person and the boat disappeared." Sun Hongye pressed her lips, "I went to report to the county office, and the magistrate told me not to make a fuss, to give some money as compensation to the boatman's family, and only say that the boat capsized in a storm at sea."

Such incidents happening to island fishermen are nothing unusual, and everyone has resigned themselves to fate.

Otherwise, what else could one do—report to the authorities?

"How do you know this island is related to the heavenly demons?" He Lingchuan felt a jolt in his heart—why again at sea?

"There have long been rumors that the island is inhabited by a bad-tempered deity, and mortals who get too close will be torn to pieces. I held this post for half a year before I inadvertently learned that the previous transport commissioner was killed by two monsters that rushed out of Pulu Island, leaving only half a brain, which is how this position became vacant and I took it over."

Therefore, serving as transport commissioner in Fuxian County means heavy duties, low pay, far from home—not to mention the great risk.

"It's also my good luck that not long afterward I personally saw the so-called 'divine trace'!" Sun Hongye took a breath, "Just half a month before I left Fu State, one day the sky was clear and cloudless, and I happened to be on Haiyin Island, the closest to Pulu Island, when I suddenly heard the boatmen on the shore exclaim, 'The sea has stopped moving!'"

"That day the sea wind was strong, the waves were surging, making it hard to set sail. But when I heard the cry and peered out, I saw the sea surface smooth as a mirror, truly without a single ripple! I asked two veteran boatmen who had worked near Pulu Island for seven or eight years, and they had never seen such a sight."

"Immediately afterward, the sea surface froze over." Sun Hongye's recollection was very detailed, "The ice extended from Pulu Island all the way over, and in just a few dozen breaths, even the waters around Haiyin Island were frozen, frozen solid as iron."

He Lingchuan interrupted: "How far apart are the two islands?"

"About six li."

"So with Pulu Island as the center, a radius of six or seven li was frozen over?"

"That should be the case." Sun Hongye continued, "Moreover, the ice was very thick, spreading continuously without pause, condensing all the way onto the island. Earlier, two fishermen had been drifting at sea, and surprisingly, both person and boat were frozen solid! Everyone panicked and fled toward the island's mountains, fearing they would meet the same fate."

"Later, the sea ice advanced step by step, and we kept retreating to the shady side of Haiyin Island before the land stopped freezing. We stood at the cliff's edge, where two people pushed a huge boulder into the sea, smashing a large hole in the ice surface, so I estimate the ice thickness was about a foot or more."

"To freeze the sea—such divine power is not weak." He Lingchuan grunted in acknowledgment, "The sea surface froze—how long did it last?"

Is such divine power emitted from a magical artifact or a person?

"It took two hours to melt. That was midsummer, yet we stood near the sea ice and still shivered from the cold." Sun Hongye said, "Such an anomaly had never occurred before. That evening I returned to the county town, just in time to encounter the county office welcoming the deity."

"Welcoming the deity?"

"They said a heavenly deity had suddenly descended, and from the magistrate down to the minor officials, everyone was in a flurry, immediately needing to clear out the largest and finest residence on the island for the deity to stay. I was also dragged into it, busy enough to feel suffocated."

He Lingchuan asked: "Did you see the heavenly deity?"

"Wherever they went, they were surrounded by a crowd like stars circling the moon. I could only catch two glances from afar—one was a merperson with pale green skin, webbing between the fingers, and gills behind the ears." Sun Hongye spread her palms to indicate, "The other seemed somewhat strange—though also humanoid, the face appeared to be covered with a layer of soft skin, making the five features indistinguishable as beautiful or ugly."

He Lingchuan suddenly said: "Is the appearance very vague?"

"Exactly, exactly—very vague." This description is apt, but how does the Emperor know? "I also received a distant glance from that strange person, that gaze… how should I put it? It was just like how we look at cattle and horses in a pen."

"Have you seen them take action?"

"No, but the magistrate told us that the morning sea ice was their display of divine trace." Sun Hongye did not wait for He Lingchuan to ask, but continued, "Later, a fisherman told me that before the sea froze, he saw two rainbows slide down from the western sky, falling toward the direction of Pulu Island."

Chronologically, it matches. But can a divine descent last that long?

Sun Hongye also said: "This is strange—from the secrets I've gathered over time, divine traces or divine descents usually last only a short time, seemingly never exceeding half an hour. Yet from the morning sea ice to the afternoon arrival of the deity, there was an interval of three hours—can these two 'deities' really remain in the mortal world for so long?"

"Ten years ago, when heavenly demons descended into ordinary mortal bodies, they could last at most a quarter of an hour." He Lingchuan, having been pursued by the Battle-Heaven Tyrant, could calculate the time clearly, "Because the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is abundant, these past few years have gradually lengthened—probably because these mortal bodies have increased their cultivation, allowing them to bear more divine descent power."

Of course, this applies only to ordinary mortal bodies. The Spirit Void heavenly demons still possess the bodies of immortals and true immortals, and their activity time in the mortal world is mainly limited by the surrounding spiritual energy environment.

Sun Hongye also said: "When I first took office as transport commissioner, I once saw fishermen haul up a floating corpse from the sea—a merperson. The fisherman said, judging by the current direction, it should have drifted from Pulu Island, the death state horrifying, flesh torn and rolled, the whole body swollen. That fisherman said he had also hauled up a merperson floating corpse two years prior."

"This sounds like Pulu Island is a demon puppet experimental site, fond of using merpeople for experiments. These two heavenly demons seem to have merely descended into ordinary mortal bodies." Hmm, merpeople are also humanoid demons, amphibious, and their reproductive ability is not weak, with considerable numbers existing—indeed excellent material for making demon puppets.

He Lingchuan asked again: "How do you know that when the county office welcomed them, the heavenly demons were still in their mortal bodies and had not departed? This is hard to tell from outward appearance."

"I am certain, because these two heavenly deities descended by treading through the void and landed directly in the county. Although I did not witness it myself, there were hundreds of eyewitnesses on the scene, and I questioned seven or eight of them—their descriptions were nearly identical." Sun Hongye scratched her head, "I think their mortal bodies themselves should not have the power to tread through the void."

"That's right." These two heavenly demons actually remained in ordinary mortal bodies for several hours.

Is it because they themselves are too weak, or because the mortal bodies' tolerance has increased? But they can stride through the void with ease, indicating that the divine power they bear is not so urgent.

"Do you know their names and taboo appellations?"

Sun Hongye nodded: "One is called 'Wuyao,' the other seems to be called 'Xiyu'."

Not a true deity, nor a proper god. He Lingchuan silently noted these two names, intending to look them up later.