IV The Loneliness of the Master

I had them prepare a boat.

Cai Wenruisi said, "We are willing to follow you, sir!"

I said, "There is no need. I am accustomed to solitude, much like a solitary peak in the snow, standing so tall into the clouds, so proud amidst the frost."

Lamia wanted to laugh, but she held it in. Yet, her changing expression had undoubtedly betrayed me, collapsing the atmosphere I had painstakingly cultivated and rendering my grandiose line completely futile.

She wanted to come with me, but I said, "You stay in the mayor's office and handle some matters for me. I am enough by myself."

Lamia said, "That is just signing papers and stamping seals. I do not understand any of it."

Unfortunately, neither did I. I did not even know whether that financial team was lining their pockets from the treasury, but the municipal government's economic condition was quite good, so I was not too overly concerned.

General Lamia retreated to her office to work, while Cai Wenruisi and I walked toward the dock.

The dinner robot had constructed a one-meter-high stone river embankment to prevent the lake water from rising, and established water channels allowing water to flow into several underground reservoirs in the city. I heard this was the method used in ancient Constantinople. Faga said she would upgrade it in the future to include motorized filtering devices, but for now, we still did not dare let the reactor run at full power, so electricity was somewhat tight.

The lake water was relatively clean, drinkable without instantly poisoning someone to death, though four or five years down the road it might cause severe stomach ailments. In this era of quenching one's thirst with poisoned wine, what else could we hope for?

The rangers said, "Sir, choose a boat."

I realized a serious problem: I did not know how to row a boat, and could only rely on them to help. But what if a tricky enemy appeared, such as a red or black demon, or an unfamiliar water monster from the depths, plunging me into an awkward and bitter battle? Would they become suspicious?

However, I was well prepared. More than once in public, I had acted endearingly clueless, letting people think I possessed great wisdom wrapped in apparent foolishness. Even if I performed poorly after encountering an enemy, it could simply be explained as me searching for the thrill of a fierce battle.

After all, being invincible is synonymous with loneliness, and loneliness makes me hold back, much like a cat toying with a mouse—it was only human nature.

After careful consideration, I revealed a confident smile, targeted a boat, executed an exquisite and deft cloud-stepping leap, and jumped onto the vessel.

The bottom of this boat was terribly slippery, and I took quite a hard fall.

They sat beside me in silence, and I intended to respond with silence as well, but that would not do. I had to say something to cover up the awkwardness.

I said, "The water is very blue."

They said, "Yes, it is."

They picked up their oars, and the boat drifted away into the distance across the gray lake.

This lake was currently named "Weeping Cessation," as it marked the boundary on one side of Weeping Village. It was extremely vast and broad. Beyond a kilometer from the shore, it was shrouded in perennial fog, and no one knew where its borders lay. Usually, because the fishing industry had been operating for less than a year, the fish populations near the shore were abundant, yet some fishermen still ventured into the fog to fish. We had built a small lighthouse on the shore to ensure these adventurers would not get lost and fail to return.

Cai Wenruisi said, "Sir, I asked the families of the missing fishermen. They said those four fishermen mentioned seeing an island in the fog, and during dinner, they talked about wanting to go take a look at it."

I asked, "An island? They are not pirates, nor scavengers, merely fishermen. When encountering a strange island, they should have reported it to us."

Cai Wenruisi said, "No disrespect intended, but the villagers of Weeping Village have yet to grasp the principle of strict obedience to orders."

Indeed, most people in Weeping Village had not received Black Coffin education. They might have faith in me, but by nature, they were accustomed to being undisciplined.

I asked, "Was that island inside the fog? Did you ask the families if there were any clues about landing on the island?"

Cai Wenruisi took out a small notebook, illuminated it with a flashlight, and read aloud, "In the fog, there will be goldfish, gleaming and shimmering, exuding the fragrance of burning incense. After sailing along the scent for a short while, they saw the outline of an island. Big guy said they should go ashore and explore."

I said, "I see. No wonder I thought it unlikely the boat would be attacked; they must have gotten into trouble after going ashore."

Cai Wenruisi said we had almost reached that area. Sure enough, after a short while, some goldfish appeared beneath the boat. They were about the size of a palm, sparkling with specks of golden light.

I caught the scent of burning incense, reminiscent of roasted apples and baked pears. The rangers perked up and said, "Just as they described!"

The outline of the island appeared ahead. It was neither too large nor too small, with a radius of at most one kilometer. The rangers unholstered their rifles, putting on their helmets and goggles.

We skirted along the riverbank for about two hundred meters until we reached a shallow beach, where we saw the missing boats. The footprints of the fishermen indeed extended inland onto the island.

I said, "Wait here. I am enough by myself. If anything goes wrong, hide in the lake; the demons probably dare not approach the Ember Boat."

Unable to disobey orders, they said, "Please be extremely careful."

This island was also a paradise for vegetation. The trees were eroded by the fog year-round and had grown moldy, emitting a sour odor that could not kill a person, yet taking a breath made one feel as though they had eaten expired canned goods.

I sighed and swallowed my exploration set—Odin's Eye combined with hardening potion. Actually, by now, I could fully handle a red demon, and even a black demon was well within my capability. Even a lava demon was something I could slip away from using at least ten different methods.

Miersai was already far inferior to me, and perhaps one day, I might reach Helskyn's realm. But my esteemed mentor's realm was too lofty, making it difficult for me to fathom.

Yaochi once warned me, "You must understand your own choices in order to wield the mind-blade to absolute perfection."

I did not know whether I had made my choice, but I knew I was not steadfast.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps—the footsteps of a massive beast, resembling an elephant's, or perhaps even larger. It was a black demon.

Right, I was now hunting demons, preserving their organs and selling them to Typhon, who in turn resold them to Maison. It was a good business. If Maison's demand was large enough, I felt humanity could even drive demons to extinction. Just like what our human race had been doing for hundreds of thousands of years, exterminating other species was our inherent talent.

However, demons also seemed rather adept at exterminating humans, so let us see whose skill level was better practiced.

That black demon snapped a tree branch with both arms and chewed on it like sugarcane. Demons consumed both meat and plants. Come to think of it, they were merely parasites infesting humanity, yet they rendered their host unrecognizable. Their diet was similar to that of humans, except that when it came to meat, they rarely ate other animals; they only ate humans.

I walked toward it. It saw me, its eyes glowing, and emitted a low, chilling growl that sounded all the more terrifying in the silent forest.

I was angling for enforcement under the guise of bait. After all, attacking it while it was eating seemed rather unseemly. Moreover, I was the mayor of the city, nominally the foremost warrior of the Black Coffin—and by a very wide margin over the runner-up—so I was a person of status. Stabbing it from behind with a poisoned sword did not quite befit my standing.

I had already shaken off my identity as a scavenger, having transitioned from the pursuit of material wealth to the pursuit of spiritual fulfillment. This was the so-called Maslow...

Pavlov's dog.

With conditioned reflex, it lunged fiercely toward me, jaws agape to bite. I drew my lightning sword and slashed with Stone Cedar. Stumbling after taking the blow, it struggled to recover for several seconds.

This Stone Cedar of mine was truly no exaggeration; even Leigang would give it a wide berth.

I said, "You started it; I am merely acting in self-defense."

The black demon's muscles trembled in violent fury. It picked up a massive boulder and hurled it at me, but I deflected it with Iron Lotus.

Even with Godslayer, killing it would not take just one or two strikes; it was very likely to flee and lure me into a pack of demons. It seemed I would have to break a sweat.

I unleashed Torrent and began to run, closing in on the demon. Roaring, it charged at me as well, the tusks on its face elongating to make it look even uglier—like a giant, sentient shredder.

Dark clouds emanated from within me, enveloping it in seconds. The mind-blade rendered it feeble and sluggish, and then I used Mjolnir to strike with Godslayer. This hunt concluded with my fourth landed blow. The extinction mind-blade taught by Helskyn vastly amplified Mjolnir's power, scorching the flesh even as it severed it.

No one had ever considered eating demon meat because it would 100% poison a person to death, and the very essence of a demon was a human from the previous century, which instinctively caused humans to avoid this food source.

Besides, I had already moved past my scavenger days.

Alas, looking back now, those days were too painful to recall. Dogs were man's best friend—how could I have ever eaten a dog back then? Not to mention those bandits...

I severed the demon's tusks, gouged out its eyeballs, and drew some of its blood, preserving them within a membrane fashioned from shadow blood. Once I finished my errand on the island, I would send them to the cold storage.

The footprints forked here. One set of tracks ended right here, while the others ventured deeper into the mountain on the side. It seemed the black demon had consumed one of the fishermen, and the rest had abandoned him and fled.

I continued tracking along the footprints leading up the mountain. I heard the Black Coffin's caravan would arrive here in the next couple of days; I was not sure exactly when, so the matters here had to be settled quickly.

To be honest, the scenery here was somewhat pleasantly charming. If not for the occasional demons and beasts encountered along the way, perhaps in the future, a tourism project or something similar could be established here.

This island had been landed on for the first time by the people of Weeping Village. According to the rules of the Black Coffin, this meant it belonged to Weeping Village since ancient times. I needed to plant a small flag here to assert sovereignty, and preferably build a statue...

The fishermen's footprints clearly encountered major trouble. They had been attacked by beasts once more. They opened fire, but it was useless; their bullets struck tree trunks, which was tantamount to issuing a dinner invitation to the beasts. The beasts were cunning, using the cover of the forest to approach them. Panic-stricken, their marksmanship became utterly chaotic.

However, shortly afterward, someone rescued them and drove the beasts away.

Another person had been added to their footprints. Who was that person?

Passing through a massive, dense wall of trees, I beheld a startling ancient ruin. It appeared to have once been a mountain manor or castle, but now it resembled a tomb.

Cold sweat streamed down my back. After all, I had only come here to do some routine daily quests, and this plot progression was headed in the wrong direction.

Suddenly, I heard the three fishermen shouting toward me, "It's the Mayor! It's Mayor Longinus!"

I let out a sigh of relief. No matter what resided within that manor, right now I merely needed to escort these burdens back home.