Chapter 91: Qiu Qianhai's Letter
Ji Yuan took the shell from the thin man, his expression somewhat dazed.
How long had it been since he last received news from Qiu Qianhai?
Over a year now.
Since their parting outside Jingde Workshop, Ji Yuan had inquired multiple times but hadn't heard any news about Qiu Qianhai.
Initially, Cripple Li would also come to ask.
But after a few fruitless inquiries, he stopped coming.
Moreover, the Qin family had become increasingly cautious recently.
Rumors were spreading in Zengtou Market that Old Blind Qin had passed away.
Ji Yuan figured that under such circumstances, the Qin family would have even less inclination to deal with Qiu Qianhai.
So Ji Yuan hadn't bothered to inquire further.
He assumed that Qiu Qianhai had found a place to undergo secluded cultivation to break through to the late stage of Qi Refinement.
Once he succeeded, he would return to find him.
Sure enough, he had finally returned!
But then again, if he had truly broken through to the late stage of Qi Refinement, he could have returned openly.
At the very least, he could have done as before and left a shell at his doorstep.
Why have someone else deliver it?
"Who asked you to bring this?"
Ji Yuan looked up at the thin man, frowning and speaking in a deep voice.
The thin man shivered in fear and quickly replied, "To answer Senior, this shell was left with me by someone two years ago."
"Two years ago?!"
Ji Yuan sensed something was amiss. He had met Qiu Qianhai just a year ago.
Two years ago, Qiu had just left Zengtou Market and seemed to have gone to Heishui Workshop.
"Are you from Heishui Workshop?"
"Yes."
The thin man didn't know how this late-stage Qi Refinement senior had figured it out, but he could only nod and say again, "Two years ago, that person left this shell with me and gave me twenty spirit stones. He told me that if he didn't come back to retrieve the shell after two years, I should deliver it to House No. 36 in Zengtou Market. Then, Senior would give me twenty—oh no, ten spirit stones."
"Ten spirit stones will suffice."
"So, you're saying that in the past two years, you haven't seen that person again?"
"No, after he gave me the shell, he disappeared."
Ji Yuan took a deep breath, beginning to suspect what had happened—this man was likely Qiu Qianhai's contingency plan.
At the time, Qiu probably thought he wouldn't live much longer and feared that even news of his death wouldn't get out.
In other words, he was afraid no one would know if he died.
So he came up with this method.
Two years had passed, and since their parting a year ago, Qiu Qianhai hadn't returned to Heishui Workshop to retrieve the shell.
Could he have forgotten?
Unlikely.
Though he seemed reckless, he was actually meticulous.
Ji Yuan had noticed this back when they were mining together.
If he had gone into seclusion to break through to the late stage of Qi Refinement, he would have returned to Heishui Workshop beforehand to retrieve the shell.
He wouldn't have forgotten something like this.
But since he hadn't—this likely meant something had happened to him!
"Did he say anything else?"
Ji Yuan pressed further.
"No—nothing else. After giving me the shell and the spirit stones, he left." The thin man couldn't stop mentioning spirit stones.
It seemed he had come all the way from Heishui Workshop to Zengtou Market solely for those spirit stones.
Moreover, Qiu Qianhai had probably promised him twenty spirit stones, but upon seeing Ji Yuan, he only dared to ask for ten.
"Understood."
Ji Yuan casually handed him ten spirit stones. "This matter is settled. You may go."
"Thank you, Senior! Thank you, Senior!"
The short man had thought his trip would be in vain, yielding nothing.
He hadn't expected Ji Yuan to actually pay him the spirit stones!
It was truly a pleasant surprise.
After watching the thin man leave, Ji Yuan took the shell and returned home.
Qiu Qianhai had likely met with misfortune.
Whether he was alive or dead, who was responsible?
The Qin family was the most probable culprit, but it wasn't certain.
He could have died at the hands of a demon beast or some other accident.
All were possibilities.
But why send a shell through someone else?
What did sending a shell mean?
According to their previous agreement, sending a shell signified a meeting at Autumn Rain Island.
Of course, it was also possible he feared that sending a letter might expose him—regardless, Ji Yuan needed to go to Autumn Rain Island to investigate.
There were no other leads anyway.
With this thought, Ji Yuan instructed Tu Yue to watch the house.
He then summoned his flying boat and headed straight for Autumn Rain Island.
Half an hour later, Ji Yuan returned to the long-missed island.
Earlier, while in the sky, he had repeatedly confirmed that there were no outsiders on the island. Now, walking on Autumn Rain Island, Ji Yuan didn't notice anything unusual.
The sandy shore was still soft, and the reeds on the island remained dense.
Had Qiu Qianhai left any clues here? If only he had divine sense—with it, he wouldn't need to search manually.
A sweep of his divine sense would reveal everything.
Ji Yuan circled the island several times, nearly setting the reeds ablaze.
Just as he was about to leave, his gaze suddenly fell upon a rock by the shore.
The rock was about the size of a millstone, fairly regular in shape. If someone were to rest here, they'd likely choose to sit on this rock.
But Ji Yuan remembered that this rock hadn't been here when he visited last year.
Moreover, he looked back toward Zengtou Market—this spot was precisely where he and Qiu Qianhai had parted ways a thousand years ago!
Had Qiu placed this rock here?
Ji Yuan raised his hand and cast a Water Arrow Technique.
The water-blue arrow embedded itself into the rock and then exploded.
"Boom!"
A water shield briefly flashed in front of Ji Yuan, blocking the flying debris.
There was nothing inside the rock.
Understandable—no matter how skilled Qiu Qianhai was, he couldn't hide something inside a rock.
Could it be buried beneath the rock?
Ji Yuan summoned the Hundred Fish Shield and used it to dig. After a few digs, he unearthed a tightly locked iron box!
Damn, there really was something!
Ji Yuan raised his hand and grabbed the iron box, then used the Object Manipulation Technique to fill the hole back in.
The iron box wasn't large, about the size of two palms.
There was a line of small characters engraved on it.
"Whoever opens this box is my grandson."
Damn Qiu Qianhai—Ji Yuan didn't open it there.
Instead, he once again boarded his flying boat, which turned into a streak of purple light heading straight for Zengtou Market.
After a while.
Ji Yuan finally opened the iron box at home.
The box was empty, containing only a letter.
It could only have been Qiu Qianhai who did such a thing.
Ji Yuan opened it.
As expected.
"Old Ji, you should be the only one who can find this letter, right?
If you can find this letter, it probably means you've received the shell I left behind. Seems the person I chose back then was reliable. Damn, he took twenty spirit stones from me but at least did something useful.
But honestly, I really hope you didn't see this letter, because if you did, it likely means something happened to me, and I haven't shown up for two years.
Maybe I'm dead, or perhaps I'm trapped somewhere?
It's also possible that while I was on the road, a peerless expert suddenly descended from the sky, took a liking to me at first sight, and insisted on taking me as a disciple. I refused, but he wouldn't let me go, so I had no choice but to reluctantly agree.
But are you really Old Ji?"
If it’s not you but rather some fated person who has dug up this letter, then congratulations, fated one, because this letter contains an opportunity—a Foundation Establishment level opportunity.
Haha, Old Ji, don’t blame me. It’s your fault we didn’t even have that bit of tacit understanding between us."
Ji Yuan looked at the contents of the letter, feeling that Qiu Qianhai must have been in a good state when writing it—his tone was so cheerful.
An opportunity... and at Foundation Establishment level.
Damn, could something that good really exist?
Reading further, Ji Yuan understood why Qiu Qianhai's tone had been so light-hearted.
"Old Ji—I’ll assume it’s you who found this letter. If someone else did, well, I can’t do anything about it.
Old Ji, you’re definitely curious about when I wrote this letter, right?
Heh, it was right after we parted—yes, right after we separated at Jingde Workshop, I came straight to Autumn Rain Island. It’s night now.
The moonlight is damn bright."
This time Ji Yuan didn’t stop, reading on in one go.
"You’re probably really curious what kind of opportunity I left you. A Foundation Establishment level opportunity—you must dream about that kind of thing, right? I won’t keep you in suspense, I’ll tell you directly.
This opportunity was left by my grandfather to my father. My father didn’t have the strength to retrieve it, so he passed it on to me. I also lacked the strength, so now I leave it to you.
It’s a technique.
And not just any technique—an extremely rare movement technique, second tier. If you manage to learn it, you’ll be unrivaled in speed among Foundation Establishment cultivators. What do you think? Pretty great opportunity, right?
The location is also within Yunyu Marshlands, just deep inside, where second-tier demon beasts roam. I’ve drawn the location for you.
[Map]
Make sure you remember the spot. It’s among a cluster of small islands, and the area is shrouded in thick mist all year round, making it very easy to lose your bearings. Back in the day, my grandfather was the most famous adventurer in Zengtou Market, and only he could find this place.
But!
I advise you not to go rushing off.
Do you know why my grandfather couldn’t retrieve the opportunity, and my father couldn’t either?
Because there’s a second-tier demon beast on the island—a poisonous spitting toad.
My grandfather guessed it was left behind by the Foundation Establishment cultivator from back then. He only managed to get onto the island when that demon beast got into a fight with another.
He thought he’d find some rare treasure, but to his surprise, it turned out to be a technique. He didn’t even have time to copy it down. What a shame.
So if you don’t have the ability to escape from a second-tier demon beast, don’t take the risk.
That’s it for the opportunity.
I’m gone. Sigh, to be honest, I don’t even know what I feel as I write these three words.
Like writing my own will?
No, not like—that's exactly what it is.
Since I’m gone, I don’t even know if it was the Qin family that killed me, but if you want to avenge me, don’t be hasty. A bastard like Old Blind Qin isn’t even worth avenging.
Killing him now would just be a release for him.
You’re still young. Just outlive him. As long as you don’t die before he does, I’ll count that as you avenging me, haha.
So whatever you do, don’t act recklessly. Don’t throw your life away over a dead man like me.
For scum like the Qin family, you can wait until you're at the peak of Qi Refinement, or better yet, after you reach Foundation Establishment to deal with them. How’s that for a good idea?
Old Ji, one more thing—even though I’m gone, as long as you haven’t seen my body, it doesn’t mean I’m dead.
Because—"
What followed was a long section that had been completely crossed out and blotted with ink.
Ji Yuan couldn’t make out what was written.
Just when he thought Qiu Qianhai was going to be cryptic, to his surprise, he continued clearly afterward.
"Forget it, no more hiding. I’ll just tell you everything.
Remember that finger bone I used for mining? That bone was passed down from my grandfather.
According to him, the finger bone came from the remains of a great cultivator and held a great secret. I didn’t believe it at first, since old people always like to tell tall tales to kids.
But one night, I had a dream. In the dream, someone taught me a demonic cultivation method.
When I woke up the next day, the finger bone that had been in my storage pouch had mysteriously appeared on my chest. That’s when I thought maybe what my grandfather said was true.
So let me hold onto a sliver of hope—maybe I’m not dead. Maybe I really did receive some opportunity?
Right?"
After that, the letter had a long stretch of blank space.
Finally, at the end of the letter, Qiu Qianhai wrote three more lines.
"When I was little, my mother always told me Yunyu Marshlands was so vast, she never managed to walk out of it in her entire life."
"But I always felt Yunyu Marshlands was small. Old Ji, our path to the Dao shouldn’t be this narrow."
"Old Ji, I truly, truly don’t want to die—"