Li Fan closed the door, dragged the chubby youth’s corpse into the Taiyan Boat, and then quickly cleaned the bloodstains from the ground. When he was done, it looked as if nothing had happened.
What a fool. Li Fan remarked.
The chubby youth clearly hadn’t grasped the situation. With a bit of cleverness, he’d discovered that Li Fan was likely an impostor who had sneaked in with the group. Thus, he couldn’t wait to come and threaten Li Fan, probably hoping to extort some benefits.
But he failed to consider something—yes, Li Fan had infiltrated Liuli Island, but weren’t these people from the Li World also pretending to be refugees to obtain residency?
What essential difference was there between them and Li Fan? Did they really think of themselves as natives just because they’d obtained Liuli Island residency?
Li Fan saw it clearly: both the masked Immortal Master who’d come to receive them and the Tianbao Pavilion, which Sun Zhang was a part of, operated with extreme caution, terrified of being discovered. Obviously, their status as mortals from the Immortal Forsaken Lands was something to be hidden.
Precisely because of this, Li Fan had killed the foolish chubby youth without a second thought. He didn’t believe the Tianbao Pavilion or the group from the Li World would launch a large-scale investigation over this.
Besides, say that they did discover that the chubby youth had visited Li Fan before disappearing. Without a body, there was nothing they could do to Li Fan as long as he insisted he’d never seen him. After all, if this matter blew up, it would be bad for both sides.
If Li Fan had hesitated and let the chubby youth live, that would’ve likely caused him endless trouble. So Li Fan decisively chose to nip this potential threat in the bud.
***
Just as Li Fan predicted, several days passed without anyone paying attention to the chubby youth’s mysterious disappearance, aside from a single inquiry from Su Changyu.
This incident was merely a small interlude in Li Fan’s life on the island, and he soon put it out of his mind.
Li Fan spent his time gathering information about various matters on the island. At the same time, he considered how he could use the treasures stored in the Taiyan Boat in a manner that wouldn’t raise eyebrows.
Gradually, Li Fan developed a general understanding of Liuli Island.
The sea surrounding the island was known as the Congyun Sea. This Congyun Sea was vast and boundless, dotted with tens of thousands of islands, both large and small.
Liuli Island was located in the southern part of the central Congyun Sea region and was considered a medium-sized island.
It was named after the Liuli Fish, a species abundant in the surrounding waters and known for its exceptionally tender flesh.
Liuli Fish were not only popular among mortals on nearby islands, but Immortal Masters as well. This was because the Liuli Pearls occasionally found within them were used to refine a certain type of pill.
Therefore, an Immortal Master was stationed on Liuli Island, and every year, a certain quantity of Liuli Pearls had to be presented to them as tribute.
The Immortal Master generally remained aloof from worldly affairs and was rarely seen by ordinary people. The day-to-day governance of Liuli Island was managed by the Liuli Administration established by the Liuli Island Master.[1]
Island residents could take on work assigned by the Liuli Administration. The higher the risk, the greater the reward.
Among these jobs, heading out to sea to catch Liuli Fish was the most popular. Not only was it relatively low-risk, but the pay was excellent.
More importantly, fishermen only had to surrender seventy percent of their catch; they could keep the remaining thirty percent to sell privately. This made fishing a highly coveted job.
Unfortunately, going to sea required a large ship, and Liuli Fish schools were elusive. Finding them required a special spirit lure made on the island. These spirit lures were only issued by the Liuli Administration when setting out to sea and were reclaimed upon return.
Fishing privately was impossible. Anyone caught doing so was executed on the spot. So, catching Liuli Fish could only be done with the Liuli Administration’s permission.
Those granted the privilege to sail out were the envy of the entire island.
Recently, a ship that set out not only returned with a bountiful haul of Liuli Fish but also chanced upon a shipwreck.
The sunken vessel was reportedly carrying a family fleeing a stormflood, and it held over a dozen chests of gold, silver, and jewels!
All of it fell into the crew’s hands.
The island’s rule for items salvaged from wrecks was the same as for Liuli Fish: the crew could keep thirty percent for themselves!
Consequently, when the ship docked, half the island was thrown into an uproar. Even the island’s Chief Steward of Assets, Manager Qian, came down personally to inspect the find.
Watching the crew members grinning so wide it threatened to split their faces, many on the island grew green with jealousy.
They began scrambling in private, pulling strings and calling in favors, all desperate to secure a spot on the next voyage.
In Li Fan’s view, he could use this same method to launder the countless treasures aboard the Taiyan Boat. It was a process with relatively low risk. The only real difficulty lay in obtaining permission for a solo voyage. After all, the existence of the Taiyan Boat absolutely could not be revealed.
Far too many people on the island wanted to join the outgoing fleet of ships. After making a few casual inquiries, Li Fan quickly identified the key.
The Liuli Island Master had three trusted aides: Manager Zhao handled island personnel, Manager Qian managed assets and finances, and Manager Zhou was responsible for security.
The vast majority of sailing slots for the outgoing fleet were controlled by Manager Qian. Managers Zhao and Zhou constantly tried to muscle in on this authority, but Manager Qian always maintained an iron grip, doling out only one or two ship slots to them.
Where there are people, there is struggle.
Recalling Manager Zhao’s reaction to him on the day he registered for residency, Li Fan thought it might be worthwhile to pay this Manager Zhao a visit.
But Manager Zhao wasn’t someone the current Li Fan could simply meet on a whim. Li Fan decided his best approach was still through Sun Zhang of the Tianbao Pavilion.
After finding out its location, Li Fan went to the Tianbao Pavilion’s entrance, seeking an audience with Sun Zhang. But he was met with a shut door.
“Scram, scram! Don’t you know our Elder Sun’s status? What makes you think someone like you can just walk in and see him? Get lost!” Several men in black at the entrance glared at Li Fan with ill intent, looking ready to fight at the slightest provocation.
Seeing this, Li Fan had no choice but to leave, frustrated.
He found it strange. The Tianbao Pavilion was, after all, a business open for trade. What kind of establishment turned people away without even seeing them?
Furthermore, these men in black had made the decision themselves without consulting anyone from above, almost as if they already knew exactly who Li Fan was...
They must have received orders to refuse me. Li Fan came to this conclusion, guessing that some change must have occurred with the people from Li World that caused Sun Zhang to cut ties and disavow them.
After some investigation, Li Fan learned what had happened.
It turned out that Su Changyu, in his determination to purge the miasma from his body as quickly as possible, had resolutely chosen to become a test subject for an Immortal Master.
Before leaving, Su Changyu had signed his name on that remaining part of the contract.
With that, the third stage was complete, and the contract dissipated entirely. There was no longer any connection between Li World and the Tianbao Pavilion.
“So that’s why he suddenly avoided all contact with us. I just never imagined Su Changyu would be so decisive.” Li Fan remarked with a sigh.
“Ah, we all tried to persuade him not to be so reckless. But when has he ever listened to reason?” The speaker was someone Li Fan recognized—Xiao Heng, who had previously identified himself in the Tianbao Pavilion’s cavern as the Prince of Zhennan’s son.
Xiao Heng seemed to share an exceptionally close bond with Su Changyu, and now radiated utter dejection. “If it weren’t for saving his terminally ill younger sister, Brother Su would never have pushed himself to such extremes.”
Hearing this, Li Fan fell silent, lost in thought.
1. Just to clarify, Immortal Masters are cultivators, while the Liuli Island Master is a mortal ☜