**Chapter 21: Journey to the Sea Seven**
Just past nine in the morning.
At the Huacheng River Crossing Bridge, within the third arch on the south bank, footsteps echoed.
The visitor was a man with short, deep brown hair and a stern expression.
He stood over 1.9 meters tall, dressed in a blue Napoli Windsor collar shirt, complemented by a matching deep gray Welsh check suit, and draped in a deer leather coat. His right hand wore a black leather glove, and the slightly rolled-up shirt sleeve revealed a wrist that glinted with a metallic sheen.
Originally a retro British style, the outfit combined with a pair of tea-colored sunglasses and a thick gold chain gave him an exaggerated aura typical of a gang member.
He paused in front of a shabby little house built with iron sheets and wooden planks against a solid bridge pillar, his brow slightly furrowed as he seemed deep in thought.
In front of the shabby little house, various vegetables in a foam box were wilting.
The interior was empty and covered in dust; the old furniture that had been displayed inside and salvaged from a scrap yard had also vanished without a trace.
In front of a small window, a little iron box meant to attract pigeons was empty, and a hay pigeon nest had fallen to the ground, with broken pigeon eggs rotting inside, exuding a faint stench.
What lay before him was a perfect depiction of “an empty house with the people gone.”
Seeing this desolate and dilapidated scene stirred a slight sense of loss in Luxianbei’s heart.
First, because he had not found Gu Qiqi.
Second, because after not finding Gu Qiqi, he wouldn’t be able to hang her up and beat her.
“Shasa, Shasa.”
The pen scratched across the paper, producing a soft sound as Nanling Yaohua finished writing a line of small characters and handed the notebook in front of Luxianbei.
【What are you thinking?】
“I told you before, right? The girl you saw at God Realm Yumen, the one with seemingly endless strength, her friend might know how to bring you back.” Luxianbei explained to Nanling Yaohua, glancing around, “This is where that guy used to live…”
“However, it looks like she hasn’t been back for quite a while… I wonder where she has run off to.”
He didn’t think something unexpected would happen to Gu Qiqi; that girl always had a stroke of luck.
【Are you close with her?】
He certainly couldn’t say how close they were, and it was somewhat strained… Luxianbei thought, almost saying, “Just a fateful bond arranged by my old man, one of three thousand fiancées—care to know more?” But then he remembered how angry Xiao Hua looked yesterday after being insulted by Stinky Sister, so he restrained himself.
“It’s all good; asking for a little help from her shouldn’t be a problem…”
Anyway, Gu Qiqi would definitely agree, she had no choice but to agree… Luxianbei added in his mind.
【It’s okay, you’ll find her eventually.】
“Yeah, we will…” Luxianbei nodded, “Let’s go, to the airport; the flight is about to take off.”
Gu Qiqi and that strange fish by her side still wanted to take revenge on “Calamity”!
As long as they waited for the storm to pass, when “Calamity” reappeared, they would undoubtedly show up themselves.
This sort of thing was just like fishing; for them, “Calamity” was the biggest and most enticing bait…
————
“Locked on? Gu Qiqi, have you locked onto Calamity’s location?”
The urgent voice of the system echoed in her mind, Gu Qiqi pouted and frowned, “I have locked it in; he’s at my house right now! But…”
“But? Has he sensed something is wrong?” A jolt of concern hit the system when she saw Gu Qiqi nod, her heart sinking.
With Calamity’s cunning, if he sensed the mechanism hidden within the alchemical prosthetic, he would likely grow suspicious and abandon Gu Qiqi’s alchemical prosthetic, which wasn’t surprising, but this would ruin their plan.
In fact, when they learned that Du Sixian secretly commissioned someone to make an alchemical prosthetic, Gu Qiqi and the system had guessed that the prosthetic was 99% likely intended for Calamity.
Otherwise, what were the odds?
Under the careful concealment by Du Sixian, others might not connect it to Calamity, but as natives of Huacheng, and having long decided that Calamity definitely hadn’t been killed by Black Emperor, Gu Qiqi and the system immediately started preparing upon receiving the news.
Although Gu Qiqi had only recently begun to dabble in alchemy and had leisurely access to learning it, limited to the bamboo slips left by the Great Serpent God and common formulas available through underground transactions.
Yet, using only materials salvaged from a scrap yard, she managed to create the 【Solar Copper Ball】 after spending considerable effort and resources.
Aside from the functional aspects, which were somewhat targeted at Calamity, in terms of quality, it was on par with a master’s work.
Once completed, they devoted significant effort to cover all signs, eventually passing it off through another’s hands to Du Sixian.
This task was straightforward for the system, which had long been assisting Gu Qiqi in smuggling various alchemical materials and potions. They only needed to find a lone spiritual ability user with a complex background, hard to trace, to take the alchemical prosthetic to a somewhat renowned “alchemy master” and sell it in the name of that “alchemy master.”
It was merely a shell sale; whether in human society or in the underground trading circles of spiritual ability users and urban legends, it was very common. Sometimes, without such a shell, even possessing quality goods wouldn’t sell, like those earlier alchemical potions Gu Qiqi had crafted…
Over time, this situation had even become a tacit convention; many people knew it was a rotten practice, yet it remained unchanged.
Thus, after some operations and paying the fee to the lone spiritual ability user and the kickbacks to the “master,” they expended double the resources compared to that alchemical prosthetic. Even after severely inflating the price when selling to Du Sixian, they still took a small loss.
They thought, a loss wasn’t a big deal, as long as they could use the secretly set mechanism to track Calamity’s whereabouts, the dawn of victory was right before them. If Calamity wasn’t using that alchemical prosthetic, then what would they do?
“Don’t be anxious, system!” Gu Qiqi reassured, “Although he sensed something wrong, but…”
“Another but? Can you get to the point without interruptions?” The system interrupted.
“You’re the one interrupting me!” Gu Qiqi pouted.
“Alright, go ahead!” The system rolled its eyes, “Say it all at once, I won’t interrupt this time.”
“Okay!” Gu Qiqi nodded and continued, “What I wanted to say is, Calamity sensed something wrong and even discovered the hidden mechanism, but he’s such a dope that he hasn’t realized what it’s for.”
“Didn’t realize? Then why were you making such a serious face earlier?” The system asked, astonished.
“Because he kept pressing that switch! One moment I received a signal, the next I received another; it was noisier than hundreds of ducks quacking together, driving me crazy!” Gu Qiqi crossed her arms, saying in frustration.
The system, “…”
After a few seconds of silence, she extended a fin, patting Gu Qiqi’s shoulder to comfort her, “Just hang in there; it will pass.”
Who told you your skills weren’t advanced enough to hide the triggering mechanism better? The system thought in her heart.
This kind of behavior was like placing a meaningless red button in front of a bored person; once they pressed it out of curiosity without any adverse outcome, to pass the time, they would keep pressing.
Even if they temporarily lost interest, at some point, suddenly remembering, they would still come back to hit it again.
This behavior was commonly referred to as “being restless with one’s hands.”
————
In the Old District of the Free City.
Accompanied by the subtle sounds of car tires rolling over gravel and dried grass, a red-haired woman in a black long dress and with a black sun hat drove an old Ford sedan along a long-unmaintained road, passing large abandoned manors inhabited by urban legends, and parked by the roadside.
Looking up, a well-maintained, warm manor stood out, starkly contrasting with the others along the way. Peering over the iron fence, one could vaguely see an elderly man in sunglasses and a bathrobe reclining in a deck chair beneath a tall oak tree.
He should be the owner of this manor, the legendary Arthur Constantin.
Turning off the engine and getting out of the car.
The red-haired woman tidied her dress slightly before entering the mansion through the front door, walking through the flower garden until she reached the old man.
Hearing footsteps nearby, the aged, dignified man removed his sunglasses, sat up straight, and scrutinized the red-haired woman approaching him, a look of disgust flickering in his eyes.
“Your strength seems decent, but why are you an urban legend…” he muttered softly before addressing the woman, “You’re the one Louis introduced?”
“Yes,” the red-haired woman nodded.
“Hmm…” After contemplating for a moment, Constantin picked up a pipe from a glass round table beside him, struck a match to light it, and, with a gaze like that of a hawk, peered through the rising smoke, studying the red-haired woman before speaking, “If you want us to help you, it has to be done our way.”
“What way?” the red-haired woman asked.
Constantin pointed the pipe at her before gesturing to himself, “You help us first, then we’ll help you solve your problem.”
“Alright, what do you need me to do?” the red-haired woman inquired.
Trust? Fairness? These things were meaningless to negotiate with this spiritual ability user before her.
She was acutely aware of her current predicament; she no longer had the luxury of questioning or choosing.
Around the Free City, organizations capable of contending with the group calling themselves the Solar Eclipse Society’s New Elders—and besides the gang under Constantin’s command—were not nonexistent, but finding another one willing to “help” an outsider like her was nearly impossible.
Moreover, this old man and his mafia always kept their promises when trading with others.
This was beyond doubt!
“Go to Queen’s City and help me pick someone up,” Constantin said casually.
“Who?” the red-haired woman pressed.
“A friend from Z Country; he should arrive at the harbor around three o’clock tomorrow morning.” Constantin paused for a moment before continuing, “I’m not clear on what he looks like; he should be around twenty and likely male.”
The red-haired woman, “……” Old man, don’t be too ridiculous!
Though there hadn’t been many Z Country people still residing in M Country in recent years, there were still at least tens of thousands of males in Queen’s City who met Constantin’s described criteria.
No, if you consider “likely” as a prefix, you’d also have to count females, in which case the number would double.
To pick someone up based on such scant information would be near impossible!
“I know what you’re thinking…” Seeing through the red-haired woman’s mind, Constantin said slowly, “However, I can assure you that there will only be one ship and one passenger arriving at Queen’s City port at three o’clock tomorrow morning.”
Upon hearing this, the red-haired woman nodded in understanding.
Under the Night Alliance’s deliberate interference, there were only two to three spiritual energy organizations willing and capable of launching a ferry from Queen’s City harbor in the early morning; Constantin’s gang was one of them.
If he said there would only be one passenger, there should be no unexpected complications, and considering Z Country people are mostly male, those two conditions held.
“Got it. I’ll bring the person to you before sunset tomorrow.”
“Actually, there’s no need to hurry.” Constantin set down his pipe and waved his hand, “After all, he’s a guest from a foreign country. If he wants to explore a bit, you should accompany him to ensure his safety, and after he’s done having fun, you can bring him over when he’s ready to find me.”
“Don’t worry; I’ll send a few people with you at that time… Once this trip is over, I’ll immediately arrange for manpower to help you find your husband.”
If you can come back alive… Constantin added in his heart.
He had already heard the rumors about Luxianbei and watched that clip circulating from the Siye Society, knowing what sort of existence his old friend’s child had become.
In his view, after faking his d*ath, Luxianbei had run to the Free City, mostly to avoid trouble, and he might very well be followed by a whole bunch of assassins trying to k*ll him.
Such a terrifying and dangerous entity, he had no desire to have too much contact with to avoid entanglements, but it would be dishonest to go back on his word to an old friend…
After weighing both sides, he accepted the bounty from the Siye Society’s informant to find a ferry and dispatched some decent “cannon fodder” to meet Luxianbei. This way, it wouldn’t cause any substantive losses to him and his gang, while fulfilling his promise to his old friend.
Otherwise, as a legendary monster hunter, he would never collaborate with an urban legend.
As for the fate of the “cannon fodder” sent to receive Luxianbei… if they died, so be it!
In the Free City, people d*e every day due to various conflicts; even spiritual ability users and urban legends are no exception, nothing to make a fuss about.
Was it merely a job as a bodyguard and guide? It didn’t seem too difficult? The red-haired woman let out a sigh of relief and nodded, “Thank you in advance.”
“Hmm, let’s wrap this up; you can head out first; my people will contact you shortly.” Constantin nodded, naturally extending his wrinkled hand toward the red-haired woman.
Seeing this, the red-haired woman paused momentarily, then regained her composure, bent down, and forced back the urge to consume flesh and bl**d as she kissed the back of Constantin’s hand.
