Chapter 807

Fang Yue stopped his actions, seeing the cute girl in the image panting, her face flushed, clothes disheveled, sitting cross-legged on the ground, glaring angrily at Fang Yue.

No, it's not my fault.

Fang Yue awkwardly raised his hands.

【I'm not talking to you!!】

She said she wouldn't talk, but immediately turned around and pulled out the leftover Blood Stone she'd been gnawing on, crunching it loudly without hesitation.

As if suddenly realizing the image was still active, the parchment paused, then the screen went dark as if powered off.

This guy…

Fang Yue rubbed his chin; brute force clearly wouldn't work.

But the morning plan had serious flaws; Fang Yue thought for a moment, then noticed something.

That was, when the Helmsman deliberately broke the facade, he specifically kept Tian Ruichi behind and left with him.

And in the morning plan's foresight result, after the Helmsman halted navigation, he was negotiating with Tian Ruichi, demanding something.

Fang Yue narrowed his eyes.

I'm not afraid the Helmsman wants too much—I'm afraid he won't budge at all.

Pacing back and forth, thinking for a while, Fang Yue called both Chen Qing and Tian Ruichi into the room.

"Tian Ruichi, you have something the Helmsman wants. Do you know what it is?"

As soon as Tian Ruichi arrived, Fang Yue asked directly.

Tian Ruichi looked utterly confused.

"No, I've almost used up all my Ghost Stones—what else could the Helmsman be after? Ye Ge, are you mistaken?"

"Think carefully—you definitely have something. Think of anything valuable, or anything connected to your master that you're carrying."

Tian Ruichi first shook his head in bewilderment, but soon paused as if remembering something, then suddenly nodded.

"There really is one—I'll go get it for you right now!"

While Tian Ruichi was away, Fang Yue revealed his true thoughts to Chen Qing, using speculation to reject her earlier window plan.

"You're worried, Ye Ge? I'll assess the risks…" Seeing Fang Yue's gaze, Chen Qing's voice trailed off, embarrassedly looking away—how could she assess risks when she didn't even know Han Jiang's condition? When danger came, they'd just wait to die together.

"Then what's your plan, Ye Ge?"

"First see what leverage Tian Ruichi has. If all else fails, use Gold Stone as a bargaining chip and talk to the Helmsman."

By the time they finished speaking, Tian Ruichi had returned.

Tian Ruichi returned holding something.

It was a Red Wood Box, with no openings, as if it had been sealed since birth.

"What is this?"

Fang Yue and Chen Qing asked in unison, puzzled.

"Wait—I'll open it for you. If the Helmsman truly desires something from me, and it's connected to my master, then it must be this."

As Tian Ruichi placed his hand on the Red Wood Box, a brief, incomplete illusory symbol suddenly appeared, lighting up around the box like firecrackers crackling in a circle.

When the symbol vanished, a seam appeared on the Red Wood Box, ready to open.

Tian Ruichi opened the box and revealed its contents to the two of them…

At just one glance, Fang Yue's body jolted, and he blurted out:

"Soul-Hosting Jade Pendant?!"

Yes—the object Tian Ruichi held was unmistakably the Soul-Hosting Jade Pendant.

Unlike others, Fang Yue had interacted with the Soul-Hosting Jade Pendant several times, so he recognized it instantly.

But upon closer inspection, Fang Yue felt something off—he couldn't quite say why, since he wasn't an expert in artifact appraisal.

Yet intuitively, he sensed this Soul-Hosting Jade Pendant differed from the one he'd seen in Mo Cun, and from Bai Xiaoya's.

"Oh? Ye Ge knows the origin of this item?"

Tian Ruichi's words left Fang Yue stunned.

Seeing his sincere expression, Fang Yue grew even more confused.

It made no sense—Tian Ruichi was from Jingcheng; even remote villages like Mo Cun knew about the Soul-Hosting Jade Pendant, so how could someone from Jingcheng be unaware?

After hesitating, Fang Yue asked: "You really don't know what this is?"

"After Master learned I was handling matters for the Seventh Prince, he specially had someone bring it to me at the last moment. He told me to keep it safe and said nothing else."

"After my master learned I was serving the Seventh Prince, he specially sent someone to deliver this to me. He told me to guard it carefully, but said nothing else."

Unlike others who wore the Soul-Hosting Jade Pendant directly on their bodies, this one had no string—it lay quietly on a red velvet pad like a work of art, exuding luxury and elegance.

Soul-Hosting Jade Pendant… Helmsman… could it be…

Fang Yue and Chen Qing exchanged a glance, then suddenly both smiled.

"If our guess is right, we may already have the leverage to negotiate with the Helmsman."

Tian Ruichi remained utterly confused—he'd spent most of his life in his sect, and his time adventuring in Jingcheng was short; his knowledge of artifacts was even less than Fang Yue's, a mere refugee.

Fang Yue gave a brief explanation, then led both of them straight to the bow of the ship.

Tian Ruichi's Master seemed to mean that however Tian Ruichi produced this thing, as long as the item ultimately returned to his Master's hands, that was fine—and until then, Tian Ruichi could handle it however he wished.

His master's instructions seemed to allow Tian Ruichi to handle the item however he wished, as long as it eventually returned to his master's hands; until then, Tian Ruichi could do whatever he liked with it.

"It seems this is the contingency your Master left behind, and also a path of survival he left for you. Most likely Lord Tianjian had anticipated before you set out that something might happen to you; it was only later, when the black-robed figure appeared, that he finally confirmed it and sent someone to give you the message to take the water route."

"It seems this is your master's backup plan—and your lifeline. Master Tian Jian likely anticipated you might be in danger before you even left. When the Black Robes appeared, he confirmed it and sent you word to take the water route."

Master… again, he's worrying about me…

Tian Ruichi silently clenched his fists.

The more his master cared for him, the more he longed to return to Jingcheng—how could he let his master face danger alone!

【61】 At that moment, Fang Yue and the other two reached the bow.

The wind at the bow was fierce, snapping at the hems of their clothes.

Looking at the closed-eyed Skin Helm, Fang Yue smiled and said, "Old Helm."

"..."

This reaction was just as Fang Yue had expected.

In the few days since boarding, Old Helm had barely acknowledged anyone except occasionally reacting to Tian Ruichi.

"Does Old Helm know what this thing is?"

Fang Yue took out the Soul-Returning Jade Pendant in his palm, and Old Helm suddenly seemed to sense something, his eyes snapping open.

Greedy eyes stared fixedly at the Soul-Returning Jade Pendant.

"Does Old Helm now have the interest to have a chat with me?"

Hearing Fang Yue's words, Old Helm finally slowly raised his gaze and looked at Fang Yue.

The great ship that had been sailing on the Han Jiang suddenly stopped at this moment, coming to a standstill in the middle of the river.

"This thing should be Tian Ruichi's."

"I know, it is indeed his. I just brought it over to play with for a bit."

"Play with?"

Old Helm's withered, wooden face vividly contorted into a cold smile.

"I'm afraid you can't afford to play with it. If anything happens to this thing, not a single person on this ship will get off easy."

"It's not just 'won't get off easy,' is it? Given Old Helm's temper, if anything happens to the Soul-Returning Jade Pendant, you'd probably sink all of us to the bottom of the river."

(End of this chapter)