Chapter 99: One Out of Fifty

The night was as silent as stagnant water.

The wind was as sharp as a blade.

In this silent night, Xu Qing’s figure was like a knife; his sharp edge pierced through the night ahead as he pursued through the air.

Having already struck, Xu Qing could not afford to care about anything else; since this Mermaid cultivator had sought him out, he had no choice but to kill!

Even if the other party belonged to the Third Prince, since they had attacked him, Xu Qing was prepared to offend the Third Prince.

At worst... he would kill the person today and leave the sea overnight, departing from Seven Blood Eyes.

Although it was a pity, things had reached this point, and Xu Qing did not hesitate much.

At this moment, his speed was extremely fast, drawing closer and closer to the Mermaid woman fleeing ahead.

However, this Mermaid sister possessed a not-insignificant cultivation base and a great many talisman treasures; now, she was burning her cultivation without restraint, and after realizing Xu Qing was about to catch up, she was so terrified by the crisis of life and death that she pulled out three talisman treasures similar to flight talismans to boost herself.

This caused her speed to reach an astonishing level.

In an instant, she widened the distance between her and Xu Qing significantly, reaching the harbor.

Although she had opened up some distance, this range was not enough to put her mind at ease; her heart had already reached its limit following the death of her attendant and her sister’s dying state.

It was truly the ruthlessness of Xu Qing’s strike that gave her an unprecedented sense of life and death, and the coldness in his eyes, in particular, made the Mermaid woman tremble intensely.

Not until she saw the familiar magic boat ahead at the harbor did her sense of crisis ease slightly, and hope appeared in her eyes.

She no longer pondered why her guardian had not come; at this moment, all she thought of was boarding the magic boat ahead as quickly as possible to seek the protection of her lover.

"Killing my clansman, killing my kin, and causing me such misery, Xu Qing... I will definitely make the Third Prince expel you from Seven Blood Eyes, and when that time comes, it will be the time for my revenge!"

The Mermaid woman gritted her teeth, her eyes blood-red; she even began to burn her bloodline, and her speed surged once more.

Xu Qing’s eyes grew colder; he recognized the direction she was heading—it was where the Third Prince’s magic boat was located. Even from afar, Xu Qing could see the Third Prince’s massive and luxurious magic boat.

It was brightly lit, and sounds of singing and dancing seemed to drift from it.

This sight made the killing intent in Xu Qing’s eyes even thicker; he burned his flight talismans without regard for the cost to accelerate, but in the end, he was still a bit too slow.

Ten breaths later, the Mermaid woman in the distance, under the speed of burning both her bloodline and cultivation, finally approached the Third Prince’s magic boat, lunged onto it, stumbled upon landing, and let out a miserable cry for help.

"Li-lang, save me!"

[Empty line]

As the sound drifted out, a group of the Third Prince’s attendants immediately rushed out from the magic boat and stood guard all around.

The Third Prince’s figure also flew out from the cabin, looking somewhat surprised, and quickly arrived at the Mermaid woman’s side.

"My beauty, why are you weeping? Who has bullied you?"

The Third Prince looked at his lover, who was in such a disheveled state, her face full of sorrow like a begonia in the rain, looking so pitiful. He gently helped her up with a face full of heartache, then saw the head of her dying sister to the side.

"How could it be like this?" Anger appeared on the Third Prince’s face.

At the same time, Xu Qing’s figure also suddenly arrived, reaching the surface of the sea outside the Third Prince’s magic boat. He stood upon the water, his expression cold, looking at the Mermaid woman being helped up by the Third Prince.

"It is this person! Li-lang, it is this Xu Qing who killed my clansman. My sister and I went to reason with him, but this brutal villain destroyed my sister’s body and killed many of my kin, and even I had to burn my bloodline to escape this disaster."

"Li-lang, you must seek justice for me. Whether as an individual or as a clan alliance, my Mermaid race will not let this matter rest, especially regarding my sister—she is truly pitiful." The Mermaid woman was filled with grief and indignation, gritting her teeth as she pointed at Xu Qing on the sea.

At this moment, the sister’s head in her hands also slowly regained consciousness, and while dying, she looked at the Third Prince and began to cry out in complaint.

"Such audacity, to be so excessive—he is truly courting death!" Hearing this, the Third Prince’s expression turned cold, and he spoke slowly.

The attendants around him also one by one exuded a murderous aura.

Xu Qing was silent. At this moment, the sea breeze blew, causing his Daoist robe to flap and rustle as he stood on the water, his long hair also dancing in the wind. He looked at the Third Prince, then looked at the sea outside the harbor, a decision already made in his heart.

Seeing this, the Mermaid woman finally felt relieved, and when she looked at Xu Qing, her eyes revealed intense malice.

She had already thought about how to deal with him next; she even felt that her sister’s original plan had been too soft-hearted. She would make this person regret coming into this world ten times more than her sister had suggested.

"Thank you, Li-lang. Please, Li-lang, take this..." The Mermaid woman, with malice in her eyes, was about to speak, but before she could finish her sentence, the Third Prince spoke gently from the side.

"My treasure, you are mistaken. I was saying, my treasure, you have such great audacity."

"Li-lang, you..." The Mermaid woman was stunned. She looked up at the Third Prince, seeing the same familiar face, no different from before; his expression even still carried the heartache from just a moment ago, and his gaze was incredibly gentle, seemingly filled with deep love.

This made her think she had misheard. Just as she was about to continue speaking, the Third Prince had already gently raised his left hand and, as he usually did when stroking her hair, brought his palm down onto the top of her head.

With a bang, the Mermaid woman’s entire body shuddered, and her head shattered, exploding directly.

Flesh and blood blurred her collapsing eyes, drowning out her gaze, leaving her headless body to fall to the ground, her life force extinguished.

This scene made Xu Qing’s pupils shrink; he was shocked to the extreme.

Meanwhile, the dying Mermaid sister who had been crying out in complaint was left completely stunned.

The weak look remaining on her face was instantly replaced by an expression of intense bewilderment; she seemed unable to believe what she was seeing, unable to believe that all this had happened.

Especially since the tenderness and love on the Third Prince’s face remained as usual, and he wiped the blood from his hand without any change in expression.

This scene caused the Mermaid sister’s mind to fall into a state of intense confusion.

She could not imagine that the man who had once held her and her sister in his arms so intimately was now gently slapping her sister to death.

If he had changed his face when he struck, turning from gentle to cold, she could have accepted it.

But this man before her had kept a look full of love from beginning to end, which caused the Mermaid sister’s heart to rise with unprecedented trembling.

"Li-lang..." The Mermaid sister’s eyes were filled with extreme terror.

The Third Prince, while wiping his hands, smiled gently at the Mermaid sister, then looked up, his smile still mild, and looked at Xu Qing.

"Excuse me, this Junior Brother, is there anything else you need?"

Every hair on Xu Qing’s body stood on end. He looked at the Third Prince, who was gentle and smiling, then shifted his gaze to the corpse on the deck, and finally swept his eyes over the head of the sister who was completely terrified.

This Mermaid sister’s head was clearly heavily poisoned and would not live much longer.

Xu Qing was silent. As his hair stood on end, a deep chill rose in his heart; the Third Prince’s actions and words made Xu Qing feel a sense of dread—he had never seen such a person.

The direction this matter had taken was also something he had not expected. Even just now, Xu Qing had been prepared to flee Seven Blood Eyes. In the silence, he looked at the Third Prince’s warm face, and after a long while, he cupped his fists and bowed to the Third Prince.

Then, with deep vigilance in his heart, Xu Qing left.

After moving far away, he looked back at the Third Prince standing on the deck, the image of him gently slapping the Mermaid woman to death flashing through his mind.

Xu Qing was silent; he felt that this Third Prince was extremely dangerous!

At this moment, the Third Prince on the magic boat was still gentle and smiling. Only after watching Xu Qing’s figure disappear did he turn his head to look at the Mermaid sister’s head on the ground, his gaze filled with tenderness and deep love as he spoke softly.

"My treasures, you two sisters are truly obedient. You not only helped me complete Master’s mission but also allowed me to do an extra favor for that little star of calamity on Sea Lizard Island. Not bad, not bad; I find I like you even more now."

The Third Prince’s voice was gentle, but as the words reached the Mermaid sister’s ears, her expression changed abruptly, and deeper terror appeared in her eyes. She was just about to speak, but the next instant, the Third Prince raised his foot and stepped down.

With a crack, the head collapsed.

"Sigh, from now on, I can only savor your softness in my memories." The Third Prince showed an expression of regret. As he spoke, the attendants around him all lowered their heads, not daring to look at the Third Prince, and quickly cleaned up the flesh and blood on the deck.

Soon, after the entire deck was clean again, an attendant disciple brought a crystal bottle to the Third Prince’s side and spoke respectfully in a low voice.

"Third Prince, those guardians of the Mermaid race have been controlled, and we have caught them red-handed."

"Very good." The Third Prince smiled.

"Go and send a message to the Mermaid race: I have suppressed the matter of them stealing our sect’s magic boat blueprints, but I need a drop of the Mermaid Imperial Clan’s Ancient Tear; have it sent to me as soon as possible."

After speaking, he took the crystal bottle, drank a mouthful of the nourishing water inside, handed it back, and stepped forward to walk through the air, his whole person turning into a long rainbow as he headed straight for the Seventh Peak.

Not long after, his figure appeared on the summit of the Seventh Peak.

At this moment, in the great hall on the summit, the Seventh Master was sitting before a chessboard, deep in thought, with a servant standing opposite him, accompanying the Seventh Master in a game of chess.

"You made the wrong move!" After a long while, the Seventh Master looked up sternly at the servant. Hearing this, the servant lowered his head, picked up a chess piece, and placed it on the other side.

"How can you still take back your move? Taking back a move counts as a loss, do you know that? You lost!" After saying this, the Seventh Master waved his hand, scattering the pieces, and his gaze fell upon the Third Prince who had arrived.

"Greetings, Master." The Third Prince’s expression was completely different from before; he was now extremely respectful, kneeling and bowing deeply.

"What is it!" the Seventh Master said calmly.

"Master, I have investigated the matter of the Mermaid race. Although there were some accidents in the middle, in the end, it went smoothly."

"They were indeed planning to steal our Seventh Peak’s magic boat construction blueprints for the Sea Corpse race. While catching them red-handed, I also confirmed that the Mermaid race, in order to curry favor with our human race’s mortal enemy, the Sea Corpse race, had secretly built a Bone Tower as a token of their allegiance."

"This is the evidence. Additionally, there are four deacons within the sect who were bribed by Mermaid Island; the list is also here." As the Third Prince spoke, he took out a jade slip and presented it respectfully with both hands.

The Seventh Master raised his hand and grabbed the jade slip from the air, scanned it, and then his gaze fell upon the disciple below. His expression turned a bit colder, and he did not speak.

The Third Prince’s body trembled slightly, and after a long while, he said in a low voice.

"But there is also one matter for which I ask for punishment: the Mermaid clan’s son abused and killed a young child of our Seven Blood Eyes commoners, and his two sisters assisted him. I was negligent in this matter before; I ask for Master’s punishment."

"The rules cannot be broken. Go to the Candle Bone Cave and seclude yourself for seven days." The Seventh Master’s expression finally softened as he spoke slowly.

Hearing the words "Candle Bone Cave," the Third Prince’s heart trembled. He lowered his head, acknowledged the order, and took his leave.

Until he watched his disciple leave, the Seventh Master stood up, his gaze looking toward the harbor at the foot of the mountain, seemingly looking at the Seventy-Ninth Harbor, lost in thought.

After a long while, he looked up toward the distance, in the direction of the sea.

The servant at his side spoke softly.

"The Mermaid race is not stupid; it is unlikely they would blatantly send people to steal the magic boat construction blueprints..."

"The Third is greedy for profit; I naturally know his mind for setting up schemes, but for a major matter like the evidence of a Bone Tower, he would not dare to fake it." The Seventh Master spoke slowly.

"The Mermaid race... having walked so closely with our Seven Blood Eyes’ mortal enemy, the Sea Corpse race, all these years, their wolfish ambition is already very clear. The support materials our sect provided in previous years, and the disciples who were buried to resolve their clan’s crisis, were all in vain."

"Since that is the case, then we must take it all back with interest." The Seventh Master looked toward the direction of the sea, cold light flashing in his eyes.

Explaining the chapter title:

From the fifty white tokens originally issued by the Seventh Master, in this cruel environment at the foot of the mountain, amidst the ulterior motives of many disciples, and among the fifty wolf cubs equally favored by the Seventh Master, he stood out.

This is the forever-gentle Third Prince.