Chapter 230

Chapter 224

"Luckily the sky cleared after the storm, otherwise I wouldn't dare go out on a boat at this time either. You guys are really lucky."

"That's for sure."

Lin Shuyou, imitating Bin ge's past demeanor, walked up to the old boatman who was steering the boat. He took out a cigarette case, offered it to the old boatman, and put a cigarette in his mouth.

When he took out the lighter, Lin Shuyou wanted to make a cool move. He tossed the lighter in his hand, preparing to catch it with the other, when a wave hit the boat, the body shook, and the lighter hit the boat rail and fell into the sea.

The old boatman was amused and couldn't help but grin and laugh. He took out matches to light his own cigarette and conveniently lit one for Lin Shuyou as well.

"I say, what are you all going to that island for this time? It's not the right season yet."

"Going sightseeing, sketching."

"Oh, just messing around."

Lin Shuyou: "It's both life and work."

With Bin ge not here, this kind of social interaction naturally fell on him.

Actually, Yin Meng could also do it, but Yin Meng is a woman after all, and now she's become fair and beautiful. Interacting with people from all walks of life, she would inevitably encounter those with evil eyes and glib tongues.

Old boatman: "When are you all returning?"

Lin Shuyou: "Well, I don't know yet."

Old boatman: "Normally not many boats go to that island. If you all want to come back, just call my village from the island, and I'll steer the boat over to pick you all up."

Lin Shuyou: "That's great, thank you."

Old boatman: "Then the price for this trip is double, you have to pay in advance."

Lin Shuyou: "I can only give you half extra, as a deposit."

Old boatman nodded: "Okay."

Lin Shuyou felt he had negotiated very smoothly. The old boatman just smiled to himself; he planned to go fishing secretly next, where would he have time to wait at home to pick them up? The more he could catch, the better.

At this time, the old boatman saw that Lin Shuyou was puffing out thick smoke rings when smoking. He immediately smacked his lips and said:

"Tsk, you sucked all the smoke into your mouth and then spit it out? I'm telling you, if you don't know how to smoke, don't force it, you're just wasting good stuff."

Saying this, the old boatman proactively reached out to ask Lin Shuyou for the pack of cigarettes he had just opened, saying he would smoke it on the way back.

Lin Shuyou awkwardly complied and secretly glanced at his companions out of the corner of his eye. Seeing that no one noticed, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Every time they went out in the past, Bin ge could arrange everything properly. Every helper and passerby was very cooperative. How come this time, when it was his turn to arrange things, it felt a bit strange?

Old boatman: "See, just ahead, we're almost there."

Ahead, the shadow of an island appeared.

Li Zhuoyuan, standing at the bow of the boat, lowered his head and looked at the wordless book in his hand. The direction the monkeys were sitting in the second picture also faced this island.

But this island is only where Tan Wenbin is located, not Qiu Zhuang's Wuxin Island.

Does this mean the position they are currently in, this island, and Wuxin Island are in a straight line?

Or, the "target" the monkey was facing is not on Wuxin Island at this moment, but on the island in front of them?

The boat docked at the wharf. A larger fishing boat was also parked at the wharf. The owner of the boat was squatting at the bow, holding a bowl and chopsticks, eating.

The old boatman proactively waved and greeted him. The other side glanced at him but didn't respond, lowering his head to continue eating.

Lin Shuyou: "You know him?"

Old boatman: "Seen him around, not familiar. He always takes this route, and he also delivers supplies to this island."

After the group went ashore, the old boatman turned the boat around and left.

Li Zhuoyuan looked at the wordless book in his hand again. The monkey was lowering its head, hugging its knees, curled into a ball, with no obvious sitting posture indicating a direction.

Lin Shuyou remembered his current responsibility and proactively went forward to chat with the owner of the other boat.

The other side first asked about their boat fare. Lin Shuyou told him.

Boat owner: "You've been caught, shrimp!"

Lin Shuyou had never heard this saying, but he understood. He had been ripped off.

After hearing that they had even prepaid half the return boat fare, the boat owner laughed, wiped his mouth with his palm, and rinsed the eaten bowl and chopsticks in the water:

"If you all come back on my boat, you don't need your boat fare at all."

Saying that, he got up and walked towards the boat cabin. Lin Shuyou quickly asked about Tan Wenbin.

The boat owner stopped and answered: "You're asking about that young fellow? Is he your friend? This young fellow is not bad, we talked quite a bit. He should still be on the island. You all can go find him in the village."

While Lin Shuyou was chatting with the boat owner, Li Zhuoyuan was observing him.

The other side had no special aura, every move revealed the habits of a boat person.

But Tan Wenbin's safety call being interrupted means something definitely happened on this island.

Lin Shuyou ran back: "Xiao Yuan ge, should we go into the village to find Bin ge and meet up?"

"Okay," Li Zhuoyuan nodded.

The group walked along the road towards the village.

The boat owner walked out of the boat cabin, first glanced at the four people who were leaving, immediately turned around, faced the sea, and his eyes revealed profound melancholy.

Li Zhuoyuan, who was walking forward, stopped and turned back to look at the boat and the person on it.

At this moment, just based on this scene, Li Zhuoyuan was certain that this person had a problem.

On an island where an accident has clearly occurred, any scene that doesn't match the original painting style cannot be taken lightly.

On the road to the village, they passed a lighthouse.

Under the lighthouse, there was an old man sitting there fishing.

From a literary sketching perspective, this was indeed a very good composition, interpreting quiet and distant.

Next to the old man was a bottle of wine. He picked up the bottle, drank a mouthful, then took off his straw hat and looked at the four people opposite.

He didn't wave or speak, just quietly looked for a while, then turned back and continued to attend to his fishing rod.

Li Zhuoyuan slightly raised his head, looked at the sky, and then looked at the sea surface. Using the principles of feng shui and meteorology, he began to analyze the location of the fish schools in this area.

The position the old man was sitting in was in the oblique back corner of the lighthouse. Here, the reef beach protrudes, and the water level is relatively shallow. Normally, he should sit directly in front of the lighthouse, where the water is deep and it is easier to catch fish.

It's normal for ordinary fishing enthusiasts not to know, but it's a bit strange for this kind of old man who guards the tower all year round not to know where it is more suitable to fish.

The biggest convenience of the position he chose is that he faces the direction of the wharf and can observe people landing on the island.

At first glance, the village is not small, but if you exclude the houses that are obviously abandoned and haven't even put up new spring couplets, the people still living on this island are indeed sparse.

After entering the village, there wasn't even a person on the road. It was very difficult to find someone to inquire about Tan Wenbin.

Fortunately, the general store was still open, and an old granny was sitting inside knitting a sweater.

Lin Shuyou walked up the steps, came to the counter, and wanted to chat with the granny.

However, Lin Shuyou softly called out several times, but the old granny seemed deaf and didn't hear at all, still focusing on the sweater in her hand.

Lin Shuyou had to raise his voice, but the old granny remained unmoved.

At this time, Lin Shuyou saw the rusted ashtray in front of the old lady, which still had several cigarette butts in it.

He touched the outer pocket of his mountaineering bag and took out another pack of cigarettes from inside.

He had a period of time when he liked to hold a cigarette in his mouth for no reason. Later, Bin ge patted him once after seeing it, and he only then didn't become addicted to smoking. This time when he went out, knowing he had to temporarily take on Bin ge's role, he had prepared not a few cigarettes.

He opened the cigarette box and took out two cigarettes: "Granny, can I borrow a light?"

His voice wasn't loud, but the old granny immediately stopped knitting, turned her head, got up, walked over, took out a matchbox from her pocket, took a cigarette, and lit it, all in one go.

"Granny, let me ask you something. Do you know where Tan Wenbin lives? We are his friends."

"On the mountain over there, he likes to set up his tent there and says he can be closer to nature."

"Oh, okay, thank you, Granny."

Lin Shuyou waved his hand and walked down the steps: "Xiao Yuan ge, Bin ge might be there. Should we go find him?"

Li Zhuoyuan: "You go make a call, call Zhang Aunty's small store, and report back to great-grandfather that we are safe."

"Oh, okay."

Lin Shuyou turned back again: "Granny, I need to make a call."

The old granny bent down, opened the wooden box under the cabinet, took out the telephone, and placed it on the counter.

"Go ahead."

Lin Shuyou picked up the receiver and dialed the number. Soon, Zhang Aunty answered the phone.

"Hello, who is it, and which family are you looking for?"

Lin Shuyou intentionally changed his voice using the Nantong dialect he had learned and replied: "Looking for Li Sanjiang's house."

Zhang Aunty: "Oh, a kid from Fujian."

Lin Shuyou was a bit startled. Was his accent so strong that even speaking Nantong dialect could let people hear that he was from Fujian?

Zhang Aunty: "Shall I go call your Sanjiang grandfather to answer the phone?"

"No need, Zhang Aunty. Just help me tell Sanjiang great-grandfather that we are all well outside."

"Okay, I'll go tell him later."

"Thank you, Zhang Aunty."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Shuyou paid the phone fee and walked down the steps: "Xiao Yuan ge, I've made the call."

Li Zhuoyuan nodded and glanced at the general store again and the old granny who had sat down again to knit her sweater.

The phone could be made, but Tan Wenbin still hadn't contacted them.

Either Tan Wenbin had already had an accident, or Tan Wenbin didn't dare to come to this general store to make a phone call again.

The group left the village and went up the mountain.

Looking from the sea earlier, this island didn't seem very big, but after actually being on the island, they realized how much area the gullies and ravines of this island actually hid.

They searched for a long time but still couldn't find Tan Wenbin.

According to the situation Tan Wenbin had reported on the phone before, there should be many people who came to deliver goods on this island, but they couldn't see any trace of them either.

During this time, they instead discovered several marks left by Tan Wenbin, but following the marks still yielded nothing.

The marks should be real. Not finding anyone means Tan Wenbin is constantly changing his hiding position, that is to say, he is hiding and dodging everywhere.

Li Zhuoyuan sat on the ground, took out several small array flags from his bag, set up a receiving array, and then lit an incense inside.

Immediately after, Li Zhuoyuan placed the compass in his palm and began to perceive.

Sometimes, finding ghosts is much simpler than finding people.

Tan Wenbin's two resentful infants on his shoulder were sealed by him personally. The teenager was naturally especially sensitive to the aura of those two resentful infants.

The incense smoke began to drift against the wind.

Li Zhuoyuan placed the compass above it, pointed his fingertip at the smoke, guided it onto the compass, and subsequently, the pointer on the compass began to show a specific direction.

This method has strong limitations on distance and direction, but their luck was good, and it succeeded on the first try. There was no need to change positions to set up the array again.

"Let's go."

Since those two resentful infants are still there, Tan Wenbin is definitely still alive.

Li Zhuoyuan believed in their father-son affection; those two resentful infants would not watch Tan Wenbin die while they survived.

Going down the slope, they came to the shady side of the island. Here, the gullies are deeper, and normally, few people would come here.

Following the guidance of the compass, the four people came to the shore and saw a cave mouth hidden among the reefs.

The cave mouth was flooded by seawater, leaving only the upper part.

They waded into it and had just entered not far when a duster swept over.

Runsheng, who was walking at the front, was very familiar with this duster. He had once heavily pinned down the owner of this duster.

This time, the duster's force was even weaker than the last time. Runsheng didn't even need to take out his Yellow River shovel; he just grabbed it with his bare hands, and then, without giving the other side time to react, pulled it towards him.

A figure was pulled out. It was Xin Jiyue.

Runsheng leaned his shoulder, pressed Xin Jiyue against the wet and slippery rock wall, and grabbed the woman's neck with his other hand.

He only needed to apply a little force now to end the woman's life.

Subdued, Xin Jiyue widened her eyes, looking at Runsheng.

She was originally unwilling, thinking that if she wasn't injured and weak, she would never be subdued so easily by the other side. But upon seeing clearly that the person was Runsheng, her unwillingness dissipated because she knew that even in her full state, she was absolutely not his opponent.

Li Zhuoyuan: "Where is Tan Wenbin?"

Runsheng slightly relaxed the hand grabbing the woman's neck.

Xin Jiyue: "You all actually know Bin ge?"

There was a strange emotion in this "Bin ge."

Lin Shuyou hadn't seen Xin Jiyue. He was still in Fujian when the funeral in Xigou village took place and hadn't returned. But this didn't prevent him from also feeling that the woman's call of "Bin ge" was very strange.

It seems that there is something going on between Bin ge and her!

Li Zhuoyuan lowered his head and glanced at the compass in his hand. The pointer pointed to the deeper part of the cave and said:

"Tan Wenbin is one of us. We came to save him."

Xin Jiyue: "Why should I believe what you say?"

Li Zhuoyuan: "Do we need you to believe us?"

Xin Jiyue was slightly startled and suddenly felt that this explanation was very reasonable.

"Bin ge is inside, but he..."

Just at this moment, a special ripple appeared on the water surface inside the cave.

This was the aura of an array, and it formed a perfect fit with the internal space of the cave.

A standing wave lifted out from inside the cave and rushed towards the group here.

Runsheng let go of the hand grabbing Xin Jiyue and let her fall into the water. Then he drew his Yellow River shovel, opened his qi gate, and heavily slapped the wave in front of him!

Lin Shuyou then propped up the Luo Sheng umbrella and blocked it in front of Xiao Yuan ge.

As long as the force is strong enough, it can suppress all fancy things.

Only a "bang" was heard. The wave was shattered into fine fragments and turned into splashing spray.

Just at this moment, something dived into the water, fished out Xin Jiyue, and retreated back.

This was both an attack and a rescue; the planning was quite meticulous.

Runsheng pressed both hands into the water surface, operated his qi gate, and the water level in front of him quickly lowered.

Yin Meng took the opportunity to fling out the demon whip. Only a crisp sound was heard, and immediately, a middle-aged bearded man's arm was encircled by the demon whip.

He subconsciously wanted to pull the whip.

Yin Meng rolled with one hand, and the barbs on the demon whip stood up, warning: "If you don't want to die, don't touch it."

Wu Qinhai immediately stopped his actions.

Xin Jiyue opened her mouth: "They are Bin ge's people."

Wu Qinhai was puzzled: "What?"

Although he didn't understand, Wu Qinhai still gave up resistance.

Yin Meng retracted the demon whip and lightly poked Lin Shuyou with her elbow, softly saying: "Listen, we are Bin ge's people."

Wu Qinhai: "Bin ge is inside, his condition is very bad now. I hope you all have a way to save him."

Saying that, he and Xin Jiyue led the way in front.

Li Zhuoyuan: "Have you all been pursued and attacked?"

Xin Jiyue: "Yes, Bin ge paid a great price to bring us to this island to hide and survive."

In the deepest part of the cave, there was a dry area that the seawater couldn't reach. On the stone platform above, there was a pile of grass, and Tan Wenbin was lying on it.

His face was pale, his breath was faint, and he was extremely weak.

This was clearly a state of extreme exhaustion after using the ghost control technique, but if so, those two resentful infants should also follow into deep sleep, and he wouldn't be able to locate their position.

Therefore, Tan Wenbin didn't use the ghost control technique. Unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn't allow himself to fall into a coma and paralysis here, and... still bring two people together to hide.

"Tan Wenbin?"

Li Zhuoyuan lightly pushed Runsheng aside and walked forward.

Runsheng very naturally stepped sideways and blocked in front of Wu Qinhai. Seeing this, Yin Meng also immediately followed suit and blocked Xin Jiyue, ensuring that there were no outsiders near Xiao Yuan ge and Tan Wenbin.

Lin Shuyou then stood on tiptoe, anxiously wanting to check how serious Bin ge's injury was.

Subsequently, as if he thought of something, he took out a can of tiger whip wine specifically brought back from his hometown for Bin ge from his bag.

Tan Wenbin weakly opened his eyes, looking at Li Zhuoyuan:

"Xiao Yuan ge..."

Li Zhuoyuan placed a hand on Tan Wenbin's wrist; his pulse was weak.

The teenager's other hand seemed to be arranging the grass under Tan Wenbin's head, but he conveniently patted both sides of his shoulders.

Those two resentful infants were most afraid of him. With this contact, the resentful infants immediately trembled violently.

The two resentful infants were in very good condition, so Tan Wenbin should not be this weak. Therefore, this was deliberately disguised.

"Xiao Yuan ge, I finally waited for you all. I thought I would never see you all again in this lifetime..."

Tan Wenbin's voice carried the joy of surviving a disaster. He laboriously used both hands to grab Li Zhuoyuan's hand.

Li Zhuoyuan perceived that Tan Wenbin's index finger and ring finger were separately clasped together and gripped with force.

"Xiao Yuan ge, there are three people on this island who are very dangerous..."

Li Zhuoyuan nodded and said: "Don't worry, I understand."

He knew what Tan Wenbin wanted to convey:

Among Xin Jiyue and Wu Qinhai, these two people, one is an internal traitor.

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