"Perhaps you wouldn't find the way on your own. I'll take you. Consider this money as fare, thank you for your patronage."
Not profiting from unexpected gains was also one of his life tenets. The distance was considerable, and the price was about right, so he decided to treat it as fare.
"Then, let's do as you say."
Master Zhang immediately jumped onto the boat. Lu Ze followed closely. Seeing Xi'er about to disembark behind him, he quickly extended his right hand and took her hand.
He ensured she wouldn't fall and stood steadily on the small boat.
The scenery along the way, apart from the vast sea, consisted of the outlines of islands and the occasional leap of a fish from the water.
"Lu Ze, we're going to find that monster you mentioned. Why are we looking for her?"
He playfully flicked her nose with his right hand and gently tapped her forehead, saying:
"You must keep your promises, just like I always kept mine to you, always doing my best to fulfill them. It's the same principle. I promised someone, so I'm doing this, my little傻瓜 (shǎ guā - silly goose)."
Xi'er, at some point, had transformed back into Bai Xi. She covered her forehead with a pitiable air, a hint of tears in her eyes, and whispered:
"You're bullying me! You even tapped my forehead. Lu Ze, you big bad guy! If I don't get a kiss, I won't talk to you anymore."
Uh... Lu Ze looked at his palm, then at her forehead. He didn't seem to have used much force. It shouldn't hurt, right?
To demand a kiss over this seemed excessive. He was truly surprised, especially with the boatman nearby. Lu Ze wouldn't do such a thing in broad daylight.
To show her resolve, Xi'er feigned turning away, presenting her back to Lu Ze, occasionally glancing back to confirm he wasn't moving, each time returning disappointed.
Soon, their boat arrived at Seirai Island. Distant purple lightning flickered, and a large thundercloud brewed in the center. Massive floating stones circled in the air, seemingly having stood for a thousand years.
"Wow, it's this spectacular? I'm a little surprised. I feel like Mei would like it here, with all the lightning everywhere."
Upon arrival, the fisherman stopped the boat and said solemnly:
"I can only take you this far. If we go any further, there will be lightning storms. Every bolt will precisely strike the surroundings. I fear it would split the boat, so I won't go any closer. You can disembark here.
As for the location, just keep walking straight along this path for about two kilometers, and you'll see a shipwreck. Good luck. I'll wait for you here."
Seeing the fisherman's apprehension, Lu Ze understood perfectly. If his boat were destroyed, he wouldn't be able to return, and he might be stranded on this island.
With a light leap, Lu Ze jumped directly from the boat onto the shore. Xi'er followed closely. However, seeing his outstretched hand, she chose to ignore it.
"No way, are you still angry?"
Seeing she wasn't responding, Lu Ze knew this would be difficult to resolve without a kiss.
With a sigh of helplessness, he placed his hands on her shoulders, lowered his head, and kissed her. Xi'er, who had been somewhat dazed, froze for a moment, but quickly adapted and reciprocated his advances.
After an indeterminate amount of time, even the boatman grew impatient. How long would these two be canoodling? Were they going or not? If not, he was leaving! It was too dangerous to stay here.
Finally, Lu Ze broke the kiss. He felt a little disoriented. What was going on? When did Bai Xi become so skilled? Hmm! Her eyes were red. You're Hei Xi, aren't you?
It turned out that while Bai Xi was being overwhelmed, Hei Xi, unable to watch any longer, had forcefully taken over control of the body.
She had completely reversed the situation and even gained a slight advantage. It was truly worthy of her. Lu Ze conceded defeat.
"Why aren't you continuing? I have many more moves I haven't used yet. Let's go on~"
"Alright, alright. We need to get down to business. I'll deal with you later tonight. Don't think you can win just because you had the upper hand for a moment. I'm still a king, you know."
With that, he started walking forward. Along the way, they encountered quite a few monsters. It was no wonder Seirai Island was so desolate. It even produced mechanical monsters. One could imagine that the people here in the past must have built quite a lot.
Especially mechanical monsters. After the people left, these machines lost their purpose and wandered in the wild, becoming true monsters.
Before long, they saw the so-called shipwreck. The largest vessel was grounded on the shore, its tall flag fluttering in the wind. The dust on its hull indicated its considerable age.
It seemed this place had also experienced some unfortunate events. As for where the people on the ship went? Perhaps they were saved, perhaps they all died. But he didn't care about that.
"Let's search separately. If you see a cave, be sure to call me."
Xi'er nodded and chose a direction at random, quickly departing.
Lu Ze leaped onto the ship. He casually looked around. There was surprisingly little dust here. The floor bore traces of habitation, and even the ship's wheel was free of any dust.
"Could it be... inside this ship?"
He searched around and successfully found stairs leading downwards, though they were somewhat dark.
He casually found a piece of wood, wrapped it with cloth, sprinkled some oil, and made a makeshift torch. After lighting it, Lu Ze began to descend step by step.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Xi'er had found a cave. Just as she was about to return to call Lu Ze, she faintly saw something within the cave...
"What is this..."
She walked in step by step. In the dim cave, the ground was covered with many bones. Upon closer inspection, they were mostly animal skulls.
There were a great number of them. If his guess was correct, there were about a thousand skulls in this place alone.
"This place looks more like a dump... it stinks so bad..."
Unable to bear it any longer, Xi'er quickly retreated.
On the other side, Lu Ze, having reached the ship's cabin, was searching everywhere. There were indeed signs of habitation, but it was less like human habitation and more like that of a primitive being who knew nothing.
This was because the originally comfortable bed was covered with weeds. Water bags were discarded to the side, and even emergency canned goods and biscuits had not been touched.