"If you were a man, you'd definitely be a philanderer," Si Qing declared, "the type who falls for someone new every time you see them."
Qi Yu thought for a moment. "How could that be? If I were a man, I'd be a dashing hero, loyal and devoted to my one true love."
"You weren't even loyal to your own brother, and you indirectly implied you liked Sui You as a brother," Si Qing grumbled.
"Oh, that's different," Qi Yu nudged him with her elbow. "You're the empress, you'll always be the most important."
"Get lost, get lost," Si Qing retorted. "I take back what I said earlier, you're quite indecent now."
"Hahaha," Qi Yu covered her face and burst into laughter.
They bickered and ate, and after finishing, they bid farewell to Sui You and the others. Qi Yu and Si Qing then headed to the docks to research the sea routes.
Before parting, Qi Yu took out a lot of items from her storage bag for Sui You and his group to use.
Although Sui You couldn't open his own storage bag, Qi Yu could.
So, before leaving, Qi Yu specifically helped Sui You retrieve things he wanted but couldn't access from his storage bag.
She then placed the items for Wang Lanqing, Chi Shangming, and the others into a bundle.
Once everything was arranged, Qi Yu and Si Qing left together to find the groups of Yue Zhiyin and Feng Mingqi.
Compared to Sui You's group, who were diligently working as shop assistants, Yue Zhiyin and Feng Mingqi's groups were simpler.
They also discovered after leaving that their storage bags couldn't be opened and their spiritual energy was restricted, rendering them unusable.
To purchase supplies needed for treasure hunting on their journey, both groups chose to hunt.
They would hunt large beasts and then carry them to sell.
With this method of trading, both groups earned a considerable amount of money.
Feng Mingqi and Yue Zhiyin initially felt it was unnecessary to take things from their storage bags, but Qi Yu, to be safe, opened their bags and took out a little of everything for them to use as defense.
After everything was arranged, they returned to the docks.
"According to our notice, taking this one-way ferry to Wangbei Island, it seems fine for any treasure hunting location," Qi Yu said, standing before the notice board at the dock, arms crossed as she pondered. "But there's one downside: this ferry is only one-way, not round-trip. Once we reach Wangbei Island, we won't be able to find a boat back, and will have to keep transferring."
Qi Yu opened her storage bag last night and took out spirit stones. "One spirit stone can be exchanged for thirty gold coins, but a one-way ferry trip costs fifteen gold coins."
"A round-trip ferry is twenty-five gold coins, but it's for both ways," Si Qing took out a few usable spirit stones. "If we calculate carefully, it saves five gold coins. So, let's not take the one-way ferry to Wangbei Island. Let's just find a round-trip ferry that's closer to Wangbei Island."
Chen Xi was indifferent to all of this, letting them make the arrangements. However, seeing Si Qing so earnestly searching for a suitable boat, Chen Xi couldn't help but ask, "Actually, Si Qing, your and Qi Yu's spiritual energy can be used normally, meaning your Qi can also be used normally. If that's the case, why do we still need to take a boat? Can't we just fly there using a magic artifact?"
"How can flying directly with a magic artifact be without difficulty? And if we fly using a magic artifact, we'd be breaking the rules of this secret realm. What if we get thrown out of this secret realm then?" Si Qing asked earnestly.
Qi Yu raised her hands in agreement. "Right, right! And we also need to prepare food, drinks, and other supplies, because when our abilities are restricted, we'll get hungry."
After speaking, Qi Yu began searching her storage bag for her favorite snacks, as well as more spirit stones to exchange for gold coins, food, and water.
She also helped Yan Hua and Chen Xi open their storage bags and find things for them.
Chen Xi rested his chin on his hand, looking somewhat speechless at the busy figures of the siblings, and mercilessly exposed them. "You two siblings just want to experience the feeling of traveling by boat, don't you? Otherwise, it's us whose spiritual energy is restricted, not you two. Why are you so enthusiastically thinking about what food to buy?"
Because they usually traveled by sword or magic artifact, they rarely took boats.
After all, even in the South Sea, there was no need to travel by boat, as they could swim directly in the sea with their true bodies.
Now, traveling by boat at sea was indeed a first, so it was no wonder the siblings found it novel.
Qi Yu and Si Qing coughed violently.
Qi Yu, with a solemn expression, retorted to Chen Xi, "Although it's you two whose spiritual energy is restricted, we are a team. Of course, we have to worry about your food situation."
"Exactly, exactly! Sister is right," Si Qing nodded, hands on hips. "We're not the kind of people who just want to play around."
Qi Yu urged Chen Xi, "Don't just stand there talking. Hurry up and prepare the things we need to bring. We're about to board the ship."
"Alright, alright, I'll go right away," Chen Xi nodded helplessly and cooperated by packing a bundle.
Yan Hua, like a mascot, squatted nearby the entire time, offering no opinion.
This continued until everyone boarded the ship.
Qi Yu collected round-trip tickets for everyone.
Yan Hua then took a chopstick from his bundle, plucked a hair from his head, tied the hair to the chopstick, creating a very rudimentary fishing rod. He then tied a piece of pastry to the other end of the hair and threw it into the sea with a splash.
Qi Yu and Si Qing stood behind him, one on each side, falling silent.
Si Qing couldn't help but speak, "Master, don't tell me you're fishing. Who fishes like this?"
A chopstick, a strand of hair, and a pastry?
Si Qing held his forehead, feeling that if his master could catch fish with just this, then those who couldn't catch fish at all were too... unfortunate.
However, before this thought could fully form, he saw Yan Hua raise his arm.
Immediately after, a small koi carp actually bit the pastry firmly and was reeled in.
Si Qing fell silent. Watching Yan Hua scale the small koi, remove its innards, skewer it, and roast it over the fire spirit stone Qi Yu had given him, Si Qing finally couldn't help but turn back and ask Qi Yu, "Sister, why can Master catch fish with just a chopstick, a strand of hair, and a piece of pastry, without using any bait? Does this make sense?"
Qi Yu heard this and didn't speak. Instead, she took a chopstick herself, pulled out a strand of hair, tied a piece of pastry to it, and threw it in.
After half an hour, when she found that both the strand of hair and the pastry had disappeared, Qi Yu, with a solemn expression, held up the chopstick and replied to Si Qing:
"I tried it. It doesn't make sense."
Yan Hua beside them: "..."