(Note: The name "Gui Bu Gui" carries a playful and intriguing double meaning in Chinese. The character "Gui" means "to return" or "to come back," "Bu" means "no", so together "Gui Bu Gui" sounds like the question "Will you return or not?" Ren San is a Chinese phonetic equivalent of the term referring to a type of plant known as ginseng. This plant is a kind of herb and has very remarkable effects.)
Calling Wu Rendi "Wu Mian" indicates they have known each other for well over thirty or fifty years. But that wasn't even the most surprising thing. Ever since we got within a certain range of this yacht, I could sense the aura of every living being aboard. The old man before me looked ancient and frail, but he emitted the same kind of aura as I did.
Lately, having spent a lot of time with the two Yangs, I had grown accustomed to such an environment. What was strange was the little boy beside him. Since he appeared, I couldn't sense any aura from him at all. I could clearly hear his voice and watch him move about the deck, yet I simply couldn't feel that there was a "person" there.
The old man glanced at me and chuckled, then turned to the boy sitting lazily on the ship's railing, gasping slightly as he said, "See… this idiot's not… that dumb, at least he can see through you…"
Before he finished, the boy jumped off the railing, glaring and retorting, "Nonsense. If even I can't see through him, then what good is his white hair and seed?" They exchanged remarks, completely ignoring me.
Seeing that they didn't seem to be friends of Lin Feng, I dared to steer the speedboat closer to the yacht and called out, "Who are you? What's your relationship with Wu… Mian?"
The boy rolled his eyes at me, ignoring the question as he hopped and bounced along the railing. Then two chairs were brought over. The boy jumped onto one like a lively monkey, curling up in the center and giving me a sideways glance. The old man, helped by others, settled into the other chair and began to pant heavily. After catching his breath, he said, "Go back and tell Wu Mian that this time, he owes a favor to Gui Bugu and Ren San. As for that favor… sooner or later, he'll have to repay us."
After his long breath, the old man's words were a bit slurred. I didn't catch exactly who owed whom, so I asked, "So, is it Gui or Bu Gui?"
The old man's expression immediately turned strange. The boy jumped down from his chair to the railing, apparently hearing some hilarious joke, and laughed uncontrollably.
Before I could figure out what was going on, the boy pointed at the old man and laughed, saying, "Wu Mian asked him the same question back then. Do you know how this old bastard replied?" He struggled to hold back laughter as he looked at the old man, then his clear childlike voice suddenly morphed into the exact same aged voice as the old man's and said, "As long as you don't hit me anymore, whether to return or not is up to you…" Then burst into laughter again.
Unexpectedly, instead of getting angry at being called out, the old man smiled and corrected the boy, "My original words were… as long as you don't slap my face again, whether to return or not is up to you…" The smile on his face gave me a strange sense of familiarity. If this old man were a hundred years younger and weighed three hundred jin, he'd be the spitting image of Sun Fatty.
Although I knew these two — the old man and the boy — were far stronger than me, with Yang Xiao having just fallen into the sea and his fate uncertain, I had no mood to listen to their nonsense. During a pause in their banter, I asked, "So you two are Gui Bugu and Ren San. I'll definitely relay your message. But when you say Wu Mian owes a favor, are you referring to Yang Xiao? If that's true, I advise you: Yang Xiao has been in the sea for some time now. If you don't hurry, Wu Mian won't be able to owe that favor anymore."
I had just finished speaking when, less than twenty meters in front of me on the sea, another whirlpool suddenly appeared.
The whirlpool expanded rapidly. Before I could turn the boat to escape, the whirlpool sucked in my speedboat. As the world spun wildly, I suddenly felt someone grab my hair and yank sharply. In that instant, my body was lifted off the ground. When I touched down again, the scene had changed. I was now aboard the very luxurious yacht from before, facing the boy laughing loudly: "Hahaha… got it! Now Wu Mian owes me two favors!"
After the initial shock settled, I asked the old man and the child in front of me, "How exactly did you get me up here?"
The child gave me a mischievous, wicked smile, then looked at the old man beside him and said, "Old geezer, how about I throw him back in and rescue him again? That way Wu Mian will owe me three favors. How about it? I'll give you one share."
That caught me off guard, but fortunately the old man ignored him. He shook his head and said, "No, that's not a good deal for me. It's always been like this — whenever you cause trouble, Wu Mian never cleans it up for you. He always says I didn't keep an eye on you, but in the end, who's the one that suffers?"
After complaining, the old man looked up at me again and said, "Just watch with your own eyes how Wu Mian owes favors." Then he turned and looked at the speedily spinning speedboat that had been caught in the whirlpool's center.
Following his gaze, I suddenly remembered I had no time to react when I was pulled up earlier and had left the Blades of Sin and Retribution on the speedboat. Seeing the boat rapidly spinning and about to be sucked under, I desperately tried to sense the blades' energy. Both hands reached out into the air, grabbing at nothing. Two streaks of cold light flashed and simultaneously, the two short swords appeared in my hands. At that moment, the whirlpool's center suddenly pulled downwards, dragging the speedboat underwater.
Just as I was relieved to have reclaimed the blades at the last moment, the old man and the child exchanged a glance. The old man remained silent, but the child's smile faded as he stared at the swords in my hand and murmured, "Those are Guang Ren's weapons…"
Right after he spoke, a tremendous roar echoed across the water. At the spot where the speedboat had been swallowed, a towering water spout burst forth dozens of meters high, scattering debris across the sea surface. Another water spout erupted at the same location, and at the peak of the spout, a figure shot out from its center. Like Yang Xiao before, this figure began running atop the water. In his confusion, he mistakenly ran toward the yacht beneath me.
It was Lin Feng! Although his body was swollen and pale from soaking in seawater, I immediately recognized him. After running a few steps, he realized his mistake and hesitated. Seeing the yacht, his movements slowed.
While Lin Feng was stunned, another water spout erupted behind him, and a white-haired man appeared atop the water column, landing gently on the sea surface. His cold eyes fixed on Lin Feng, who was now at the yacht's edge. Soon, the man noticed something unusual about the yacht in front of Lin Feng.
The man who appeared after Lin Feng was none other than Yang Xiao, who had just been missing and presumed dead. He glanced at me on the yacht and at the old man and child standing beside me. Yang Xiao's face showed immense surprise. Seeing the old man and child, his first reaction was to turn and run toward the opposite side of the yacht. In his haste, he tripped his left foot on his right, and with a splash, Yang Xiao fell into the sea again.
Seeing Yang Xiao appear, the old man, Gui Bu Gui, chuckled and watched him carefully. After Yang Xiao disappeared underwater once more, Gui Bu Gui smiled slightly and said toward the spot where he vanished, "Little Yang, it's been so many years. I didn't expect your hair would have turned white. What's wrong? Are you too ashamed to show your face?"
When Gui Bu Gui uttered the last word, his voice sharpened slightly, faint but piercing. At that instant, the sea surface began to ripple without wind, waves spreading from all directions toward the place where Yang Xiao fell. Within seconds, Yang Xiao was forcefully pushed out of the water.
This time, Yang Xiao emerged in a much more disheveled state, dripping wet all over. Not caring to wipe the seawater off his face, he gave a strained smile toward the yacht and said bitterly, "Second Uncle Gui, didn't you say you wouldn't come back?"
At first, when Lin Feng saw Yang Xiao fleeing, he thought the situation was turning in his favor. But when he heard Yang Xiao call the old man "Second Uncle Gui," he immediately realized it was unfavorable to himself. He quickly circumvented the yacht and headed toward the deep sea.
Just then, the child, Ren San, cursed loudly at Lin Feng's retreating back, "Neither human nor ghost, just die here!" As soon as he finished speaking, the child leaped forward and dived into the sea.
Ren San was also standing on the water, hopping and jumping as he chased after Lin Feng. Though he didn't seem very fast, within moments he had caught up behind Lin Feng. Ren San reached out, grabbed Lin Feng's hair, and yanked sharply. Lin Feng's feet left the water suddenly, and his body plunged violently beneath the waves.