Chapter 369: The Little Master

Has the situation changed?

When Wang Qiangzhuang and Luo Zijun's group were brought into the magnificent palace within the cave, filled with unease and doubt, the handsome old man with a full head of red hair was standing before the wall, earnestly studying a map carved into it.

That map was enormous, occupying almost the entire wall.

The cities, islands, and even some unknown small towns and villages upon it were all marked with golden ink, looking brilliant and shimmering, blending quite harmoniously with the luxurious style of the entire great hall.

Luo Zijun could be certain that when he came here with the Captain yesterday, this map was definitely not on this wall.

In the corner nearby, several treasure chests were still piled up.

All sorts of treasures emitted colorful lights, dazzling Song Erlang and the others so much that they could not look away.

At this moment, they seemed to have forgotten the true protagonist of this great hall.

"Did you castrate him?"

The handsome old man with a full head of red hair kept his gaze on the map on the wall, his aged voice sounding as if it came from tens of thousands of years ago.

The blue-haired man holding a steel fork said respectfully, "That brat said that keeping him intact is more valuable than castrating him, and he hopes to plead his case to you in person."

Hongniao sneered while looking at the map and said, "I don't have a daughter who needs that thing of his; what difference does it make whether he is castrated or not?"

Shui Nan's face grew hot, and he lowered his head in shame, saying, "Captain, I..."

Hongniao turned around, ignoring him, and looked at the youth behind him. His handsome face was as calm as water as he asked, "Brat, then tell me, why is it more valuable not to castrate you?"

Luo Zijun cupped his hands and said, "If you do not castrate this junior, this junior can continue to save lives and heal the world; if you were to castrate this junior..."

"Then what?"

Hongniao asked, seemingly quite interested.

"This junior might go mad and poison everyone on the island and in the town, regardless of gender or age, including you, Captain."

Luo Zijun said this very earnestly.

The great hall was silent for a moment.

The expression on Hongniao's face remained calm and ripple-free, though his eyes seemed to reveal a hint of mockery: "You think too highly of yourself, and you underestimate the people on this island too much."

His gaze shifted to the young girl behind Shui Nan, and he asked, "Aw u, if you found out about his crazy idea, what would you do?"

"I would kill him with one strike."

Aw u said without hesitation.

Then she added, "And then kill myself with another strike."

A smile appeared at the corners of Hongniao's mouth, but his words held no warmth at all: "You should first gouge out your own eyes, and of course, your father's eyes as well."

Aw u lowered her head.

The great hall was quiet for another moment before Luo Zijun suddenly said, "The senior must have changed his mind, right?"

Hongniao looked at him, his gaze like a sharp blade: "What mind?"

Luo Zijun said, "If it were only about the matter between this junior and Aw u, Senior would not need to make such a big fuss, especially since Senior has known about our affairs for a long time. Therefore, since Senior let us return, there must be some other matter, right?"

Hongniao narrowed his eyes and said, "Then tell me, what is the matter?"

Luo Zijun said, "It should be about going out to sea."

He paused, then added, "Senior certainly cannot be going to sea because of us; perhaps you received some news suddenly and are forced to set sail, and it just so happens that you can take us along."

A hint of mockery appeared at the corners of Hongniao's mouth: "Even if we were to go to sea, why would we take you? Just because of that pathetic reward of yours?"

Luo Zijun said, "Senior naturally would not care for our reward, but perhaps there is a need for places where we can be of service. For instance, our various skills, or perhaps, this junior's medical expertise..."

Hongniao looked at him with a calm gaze and said nothing more.

Luo Zijun could clearly feel that this handsome old man was re-examining and scrutinizing him with a strange and unfamiliar gaze.

He felt very puzzled in his heart.

What exactly was the reason that made the other party suddenly change his mind?

Moreover, the way the other party was looking at him now seemed filled with some kind of indescribable interest.

"Two days from now, we depart."

After a long silence, Hongniao spoke these words, then ignored them further and turned back to continue looking at the map on the wall.

When Wang Qiangzhuang and the others walked out of the Diyuan stone cave following the guards, they could not hide the excitement and joy in their hearts.

"Captain, why did this Senior Hongniao suddenly change his mind?"

"That's great, we can finally cross the sea! After waiting for so long, I almost thought we would have to give up halfway."

Wang Qiangzhuang was relatively calm.

She was pondering the conversation between Senior Hongniao and Hualiu just now.

Clearly, this matter had a great deal to do with Hualiu.

"After we left that place yesterday, what else did you do? Or, did you go to see someone? Say something?"

She looked at the youth beside her, who also wore a thoughtful expression, and asked.

Luo Zijun shrugged, looking somewhat bewildered: "I didn't do anything, nor did I go to see anyone."