Start with acting, and you'll achieve immortality!

The awning boat had already disappeared into the fog downstream.

Shenmu Bay is located in the area directly in front of us.

The river narrows here, with both banks lined with boulders and rotten old logs.

Large ships can't get through, but small boats often smuggle goods at night.

Using his familiarity with the roads, Da Niu squeezed into the narrow alleyway piled high with fishing nets.

"That's the abandoned ferry crossing up ahead!"

"The seabed is full of rotten wood; their boats can't go fast!"

Erhu dragged the thick rope until both his hands were covered in blood.

"Sir, the iron hook! Catch it!"

Li Ping took the iron hook and looked towards the surface of the river.

The dim, yellowish light shrouded in the thick fog was slowly approaching.

There were five people on the boat.

An old man in charge of the boat, and two guards wielding long swords.

There was also a monk in a grey robe, and another man in black standing at the stern of the ship.

The man in black stood with his hands behind his back, his aura as heavy as a stone.

It has at least reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

Li Ping felt a dull, aching sensation in his chest.

Su Wan was right.

There were indeed Foundation Establishment stage experts on that ship.

Forcibly seizing it is suicide.

However, not all the people on the ship shared the same thoughts.

He noticed the two wooden boxes protruding from under the boat's awning.

The box was tightly closed, but a half-page of water-soaked account paper was tucked into the corner.

From behind another box, a very faint coughing sound came from.

The people and the tent were indeed separated.

Li Ping handed the iron hook to Da Niu.

"If you see that boat getting close to the shore, hook it firmly to the stern with an iron hook."

The big bull stared wide-eyed

"That's the ship that a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator would be traveling on. Can I really manage it with my strength alone?"

"If we can't hook it, we'll all die in this river today."

"Erhu, go to that dilapidated shed next to the ferry crossing."

"Let's set the fire on fire."

Erhu froze on the spot.

"Burning the ships?"

"Burn that shed down."

Li Pingdao

"If the firelight gets brighter, they will naturally move towards the south bank to take cover."

"This way, the stern will be exposed."

"What if they see me?"

"Then run. If we run too slowly, we'll be easy prey for them."

Erhu swallowed hard and hugged the tinderbox tightly to his chest.

And it burrowed into a dark corner.

Li Ping squatted down and grabbed a handful of wet mud from the riverbank.

He applied it to his face and the back of his hands, then held the Mist Concealment Talisman between his fingers.

Da Niu stared at him.

"Sir, are you preparing to board this ship?"

"Um"

"I want to get on this ship too! One more person means one more helper!"

"A Foundation Establishment cultivator could smash you into mincemeat with a single slap. Can you withstand that?"

Da Niu pondered for a moment.

"My body is tough; I can take two blows for you!"

Li Ping glanced at him.

"Then you'd better stay where you are."

"Your skin and flesh will be useful in the future."

The awning boat is getting closer and closer.

The old man at the bow of the boat was carefully avoiding the sunken logs beneath the water, using a long bamboo pole.

The black-clad Foundation Establishment cultivator stood at the stern of the ship, never turning his head back.

Just as the ship passed the abandoned ferry crossing

Suddenly, a burst of fire erupted from that dilapidated shed.

The firelight illuminated half of the river surface

Erhu opened his throat and shouted loudly.

"The Second Young Master has given the order!"

"Take this ship, and leave no ledgers behind!"

Several people on the ship changed their expressions at the same time.

The gray-robed monk shouted.

"Move quickly! Bring the boat closer to the northern shore and rendezvous with the people from the North Compound!"

However, the person in black raised his hand.

"Not possible"

"The firelight on the northern shore has already illuminated half the sky; that place is a trap."

"Turn the rudder! Charge towards the south bank!"

The boatman immediately turned the bamboo pole to change direction.

The stern of the boat turned halfway sideways, appearing precisely in front of the abandoned ferry crossing.

Da Niu gritted his teeth and swung the iron hook.

The iron hook flew out and firmly snagged the mooring line at the stern of the boat.

"pull!"

Da Niu braced his feet firmly against the stone block and pulled desperately on the thick rope.

The boatman shouted angrily and swung the pole with all his might.

The thick rope taut instantly

Da Niu was pulled forward and slid, his palms were chafed and bleeding.

Li Ping did not go to help.

What he was waiting for was precisely that moment when the ship's speed would decrease.

The mist-concealing talisman burst into flames.

He skimmed along the riverbank and stepped onto the raised wooden plank at the stern of the boat.

He flipped over and entered the awning.

A foul, fishy odor wafted out from inside the boat awning.

Seven people huddled together, their hands and feet bound.

Cloth stuffed in mouth

The barefoot boy at the very back looked up, his eyes shining eerily in the dim light.

Li Ping made absolutely no sound.

He drew his short dagger and first cut the rope of the person closest to him.

Angry shouts could be heard from outside the ship.

"There are people on this ship!"

A palm strike slammed towards the top of the canopy.

The wooden canopy shattered with a loud crash.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator dressed in black stood at the stern of the ship, his gaze sharp as a knife.

It landed right on Li Ping's body.

"A mere lackey of a prefectural governor's mansion"

"You really have the guts to come here and die."

Li Ping's dagger didn't stop.

He cut the second rope as well, then looked up and glanced at the man.

"Shangguan Jue told you to take the accounts and personnel with you, but he didn't tell you about this."

"Only one of these two things can survive, right?"

"Do you think he'll let someone like you, who knows too much, survive?"

The man in black lowered his gaze slightly.

The gray-robed monk shouted first.

"Shut your mouth! Sir, don't listen to this brat's nonsense!"

"Kill him right now!"

Li Ping's gaze fell upon the person wearing the gray robe.

"Du Cheng has confessed, and the defenses at Yancang have been breached."

"Do you think we can keep tonight's events a secret from anyone?"

He paused slightly, then turned his gaze to the man in black.

"If the account books are lost, Shangguan Jue will take your life; if the account books are saved..."

"Shangguan Zhao will take your life too."

"Your Excellency, you have cultivated to the Foundation Establishment stage."

"So, they were just meant to be buried with the Shangguan family?"

The ship was rocking.

The monk in the gray robe looked extremely pale.

The man in black didn't move.

But the hand he placed behind his back was slowly clenching into a fist.

Li Ping knew he had made the right bet.

The follow-up measures prepared by Shangguan Jue are definitely not just one layer in number.

Du Cheng took on the responsibility of staying inside the formation to hold the people back.

The gray-robed man in charge of the accounts and the pharmacy

This Foundation Establishment cultivator was the very knife that Shangguan Jue had truly placed on the ship.

Tents can be burned

People can be murdered to silence them.

But this knife, which knows too many secrets, might not be willing to be buried with it.

On the riverbank, the big ox was still desperately pulling on the thick rope.

Erhu stood beside the fire pit, his legs trembling violently.

However, he still shouted at the top of his lungs.

"The people from the North Campus are arriving soon!"

The man in black finally turned his head and fixed his gaze on the monk in gray robes.

"Give me the box containing the account books."

The gray-robed cultivator was taken aback.

"In...in the iron box inside that hidden compartment."

"But Master Jue said this debt is more important than his life..."

The person dressed in black took a step forward.

The pressure emanating from a Foundation Establishment cultivator caused the wooden planks on the ship to creak and groan.

The gray-robed cultivator's knees buckled, and he knelt down.

"I order you to bring this over."

He said

Li Ping used a knife to cut the last rope.

The seven ordinary people trapped inside dared not make any move at this moment.

He handed a short knife to the barefoot boy.

"Lead them toward the north shore, and under no circumstances should you look back."

The boy's hands trembled, yet he gripped the knife tightly.

How will you manage to escape on your own?

"I must find a way to get that deadly ledger back into my hands."

Li Pingdao

The person dressed in black had already picked up the box containing the account books.

He glanced at Li Ping.

"This ledger is now in your hands."

"Take this person away from here."

"If you utter a single extra word tonight, I will kill you even if you are at the ends of the earth."

Li Ping did not immediately reach out to take it.

"Your skills are exceptional. May I ask how you are addressed in Jiangning?"

"If you want to know about this, you have to survive tonight before we can talk about anything else."

The man dressed in black threw the box containing the account books to this side.

Li Ping caught the box, his arm suddenly felt heavy.

At that very moment, the man in black turned around and struck the cultivator in gray robes with a palm strike.

The gray-robed cultivator didn't even have time to scream before he was slammed into the river by the palm strike.

The man in black shattered the mooring rope at the stern of the boat with a powerful kick and leaped towards the center of the river.

At this moment, the awning boat lost control and, carried by the current, crashed into the submerged logs.

"Jump!"

Li Ping shouted loudly.

Seven people rushed towards the north bank

Li Ping clutched the box containing the account books tightly in his hands and jumped off the boat at the last moment.

A loud bang came from behind the body.

The awning boat struck a sunken log, and its hull cracked.

River water rushed in

Da Niu and Er Hu rushed down the riverbank slope and pulled the people who had fallen into the water back up one by one.

Li Ping climbed onto the slippery stone bank, his whole body dripping wet.

The man lowered his head and opened the box containing the account books.

Sure enough, there were two account books inside.

The first book's cover reads "Northern Warehouse Transshipment".

This second ledger did not have any names written on it.

There was a piece of dried black mud stuck to the cover.

Li Ping reached out and turned to the first page.

The paper contained neither names of people nor descriptions of goods.

Only lines of destinations

"Jiangning West Ward, Room 7"

"Ten thousand mountains, abandoned mines and outer formations"

"The old schoolhouse in the nine counties north of the Yangtze River."

Li Ping's hand paused at that moment.

Old schoolhouse

That place was where the teacher accepted apprentices and conducted lectures back then.

And in the corner of the last page

A very faint-colored stamp was stamped on it.

This seal is not the three-petaled fire pattern seal possessed by the Shangguan family.

It was a fragmented dragon pattern he had seen in the dry well in Liuxiang.

A river breeze blew by at that moment.

The firelight from the distant salt warehouses reflected on the water, resembling a turbid river of blood.

Li Ping closed the ledger again.

At that moment, he suddenly understood.

Shangguan Jueyun's fortune has never been just about people.

He was actually acting on behalf of a scheme that had been set up much earlier, directing the relevant personnel to where they were supposed to be.

Li Ping clutched the tent box tightly, then turned and hurried towards the prefectural governor's residence.

This ledger must not pass through anyone else's hands before dawn.