Chapter 36: The Internal Strife, The Escape Plan
Editor: Atlas Studios
Was Wang Ping really not at all curious about the treasures inside the senior cultivator's cave abode?
Of course not!
He was no less curious than the rest. However, it was just that he was able to keep his curiosity under control —He would not put himself in danger just because of this.
To him, no matter how good the treasures on the mountain were, it wasn't like he could possess them anyways.
Even if he wanted to know what kind of treasures were on the mountain, he could ask Gu Feng about it later.
Since that was the case, why should he follow them up the mountain and risk being plotted against?
On the other hand, if he stayed at the foot of the mountain, not only would he be able to avoid danger, but he would also be able to obtain the treasures that he could truly possess.
Wang Ping had been eyeing the massive corpses of the five Black-Scaled Crocodiles for a long time.
With the attention of Meng Changyou and the others focused on the cave abode of the senior cultivator atop the mountain, he could go back to store those corpses in the "Heaven and Earth Shell."
That way, even if Meng Changyou and the others came back and found that the corpses had disappeared, he could just explain that he had burned them after finding them an eyesore.
As long as they did not see it with their own eyes, he believed that even if Meng Changyou and the others racked their brains, they would not have thought that he had such a wondrous item like the "Heaven and Earth Shell" with him.
As long as they consumed the corpses of the five Black-Scaled Crocodiles, The Golden-Striped Prawns in the "Heaven and Earth Shell" could probably reach adulthood in a few months, even the underage Illusory Cloud Clams might be able to grow into adult clams.
At the same time, Xiao Feng and Bai Yu, the two pets inside, would benefit from it greatly as well. Bai Yu might even reach adulthood early and grow into a giant bird that could carry a human in flight.
As such, Wang Ping's trip to Heaven Heart Island was truly worth it.
His movements were swift, soon arriving at the spot where the five Black Scaled Crocodiles' corpses were abandoned. Then, he quickly put each of them into the "Heaven and Earth Shell."
After that, he found a large number of branches and leaves to start a fire. First, it was to signal to Meng Changyou and the others that he was in the forest. Next, it was to prepare for the explanation that might be needed later.
Time gradually passed. Soon, an hour had gone by.
In this one hour, Wang Ping had already roasted more than ten skewers of crocodile meat, eating until his mouth was full of oil.
The fire that was originally lit was gradually being extinguished, as he did not add more firewood.
After Wang Ping had eaten his fill and was wondering when Meng Changyou and the others would return, a series of curses suddenly sounded from the nearby mountain peak.
Hearing the swears, Wang Ping was shocked and immediately stood up.
Then, he quickly climbed up a nearby tree and soon saw the situation on the mountain.
On the mountain peak, Meng Changyou was being besieged by Zhao Jing, Gu Feng, and Wang Jun, whereas Zhou Xu and Du Ming were nowhere to be seen, it was not known whether they were alive or dead.
The swears he had just heard were from Meng Changyou.
Seeing this situation, fear flashed in Wang Ping's eyes. He understood that what he was worried about had happened.
In truth, when he heard Gu Feng say that this trip was to explore a cave abode left behind by a senior cultivator, Wang Ping had always been worried that the group would have an internal strife, due to the benefits that they would ultimately discover.
Benefits moved hearts. If the rewards found in the cave abode were too great—to the point where if one person or two could share the rewards and their earnings would be equivalent to ten years or even dozens of years worth of demon hunting—an internal strife could arise very easily.
On the other hand, if the rewards were mediocre, no one would fall out with one another and risk their lives to kill cultivators with similar cultivation levels.
From the looks of it, this unremarkable cave abode that once belonged to a senior cultivator clearly contained extremely precious treasures, which led to the internal strife between Meng Changyou and the others.
However, this internal strife was not a good thing for Wang Ping.
Generally speaking, after an internal strife, those who knew about it would be silenced in order to prevent news about the strife from spreading.
It did not matter that Wang Ping was brought here by Gu Feng. As he didn't participate in this internal strife, Gu Feng would not show any mercy to him, in order to prevent him from leaking the secret.
Wang Ping knew about this very well.
Therefore, although he saw that Gu Feng and the other two had the upper hand, he was not happy at all, nor did he have any intention of jumping out to help Meng Changyou.
Fortunately, since he had already thought of the possibility of an internal strife happening, he had naturally thought of an escape plan.
When he saw Meng Changyou and the others fighting amongst themselves, he immediately carried out his plan accordingly. He quickly jumped down from the treetop and rushed toward the harbor where the ship was docked.
There was only one ship. As long as he rushed over ahead of time to gain control of the ship and force the boatmen to raise the anchor and sail the ship out of the harbor, Meng Changyou and the others would be left on Heaven Heart Island forever, regardless of who ultimately had the last laugh.
This could be considered their punishment from the heavens!
Wang Ping had thoroughly considered everything. However, when he arrived at the harbor where the ship was supposed to be, he was immediately dumbfounded.
The ship that had initially been anchored in the harbor was no longer there.
What was going on?
Could it be that those mortal boatmen had left on their own accord?
Looking at the empty natural harbor, Wang Ping's first reaction was that the boatmen had sailed away without permission.
It made sense for him to be thinking this way. After all, there was such a huge ship docked here. Even if there were demon beasts that had attacked and had sunk the ship, there would be numerous pieces of driftwood floating on the sea.
But how could the boatmen have the guts to sail a ship without permission?
It should be known that there were countless demon beasts in the sea. Without a cultivator escorting the boat, it would be impossible for those mortal boatmen to return to Golden Pearl Island safely.
"That's right, this must be Meng Changyou's backup plan!"
"The ship belongs to Meng Changyou, and the boatmen are servants that have served him for many years. He must have instructed the boatmen to leave the harbor after we got on the island."
"This way, no matter what happens on the island, no one will be able to leave Heaven Heart Island without Meng Changyou's orders!"
Wang Ping's expression turned aghast as he turned around to look at the place he had come from. He quickly figured out what was going on.
His conclusion was like a bolt from the blue to him.
The situation was very clear now. As the weakest party on the island, no matter who won in the end, it was unlikely that they would leave Heaven Heart Island together with him.
If this continued, his best outcome would be to be left on the island to fend for himself.
"No, I can't let the situation continue like this. I must find a way to break out of this. I must find a way to board the ship and return to Golden Pearl Island!"
Wang Ping clenched his fists tightly as determination gradually appeared in his eyes as if he had made up his mind.
With a few leaps, he disappeared from the beach.
-- Gift
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