"What in the world was that? Don't tell me it was a demon?"
"A creature of that size would at least have to be Monarch-level or higher."
"Monarch-level!"
Everyone trembled in fear. Commander-level was already terrifying enough, let alone Monarch-level!
If that shadowy being had even the slightest hostility toward them, it could easily annihilate both them and the ship in one strike.
"That shadow wasn't a demon. It was a Totem." Zhou Haoyu spoke directly.
He didn't think Totems were some grand secret that needed to be hidden, so he simply admitted it.
"Totem?"
Most of them looked confused. Only Nan Jue, who had studied Totems before, revealed a spark of curiosity in her gaze.
"Totems have a very long history. It's not something I can explain in a short time. Just know this—it means us no harm."
Hearing Zhou Haoyu say this, the group finally let out a sigh of relief.
They didn't know what a Totem was, but as long as it wasn't their enemy, that was enough.
Nan Jue walked up beside Zhou Haoyu, leaning against the railing and turning slightly toward him.
"Captain, you seem to know a lot about Totems."
"Actually, I'm a Totem Guardian." Zhou Haoyu leaned closer and whispered in her ear.
Nan Jue's pupils shrank. She immediately turned her head, only to find his handsome face right in front of hers.
Nan Jue had never been interested in men—what she valued was only the bond of comradeship.
But at that moment the two were almost pressed face to face, close enough to feel each other's breath.
A sudden wave of embarrassment struck her.
"You…"
Nan Jue wanted to ask which Totem Zhou Haoyu guarded, but she didn't know how to begin.
Zhou Haoyu leaned in again and whispered two words into her ear: "Candle Dragon."
The others were still lost in the shock of Baxia's appearance, and none noticed their conversation.
Once they arrived at the port, the group disembarked one after another. The feeling of solid ground beneath their feet was reassuring.
"Hey, does anyone here know Japanese?" Zhao Manyan suddenly asked.
Everyone looked at each other. They had only studied the international language, and had no real knowledge of Japanese—
besides a few cliché phrases like Yamete and Baka yarou.
Zhou Haoyu turned to Jiang Shaoxu, who had remained silent until now.
"Jiang Shaoxu, you know Japanese, don't you?"
"Hmph, now you remember me?"
Jiang Shaoxu lifted her chin slightly, striking a pose of 'beg me'.
Ever since their departure, he had paid her little mind. That had left her quietly stewing in resentment.
"Don't sulk. You wouldn't really want to sleep on a park bench tonight, would you?"
The moment she heard that, her pretentious air collapsed completely. She definitely didn't want to sleep on a park bench.
"In the end, you still have to rely on me."
Striding to the front of the group, Jiang Shaoxu confidently spoke fluent Japanese, successfully fooling a few local police officers.
Since none of them had proper identification, staying at a standard hotel was impossible. Ai Jiangtu suggested they find a temple to stay in for a night.
Compared to a park bench, staying in a temple was obviously more comfortable.
"We can't stay in big hotels, but we could look for a smaller, more secluded inn," Zhou Haoyu proposed.
"Without identification, the inn will definitely charge extra. Where would we get that money?"
Normally, small inns were cheaper.
But since they were undocumented foreigners, the innkeepers would definitely gouge them.
Prices being doubled or tripled wasn't out of the question!
"Don't worry about that. Before coming, I exchanged some cash."
Zhou Haoyu had no intention of getting involved with Yanming Temple's affairs. He wasn't some righteous savior and those monks were hardly good people to begin with.
Tomorrow morning, he would take Zhao Manyan to retrieve the wooden fish vessel, and that would be that.
That evil spirit had been relying on the vessel to exist. Once they removed the vessel, the spirit would naturally dissipate.
As for exactly when it would fade away—that was uncertain.
Following the map on their phone, they found a small inn, and after paying three times the usual price, finally secured rooms.
After resting there for the night, Zhou Haoyu led Zhao Manyan to the back mountain of Yanming Temple early the next morning.
The back mountain path was even longer than they had expected. The stone lanterns on either side of the trail were smothered in weeds.
Some overgrown branches even stretched across the road, intertwining to block their way forward.
Clearly, this place had been abandoned for quite some time.
"Brother Yu, you really think there's treasure in a place like this?"
Zhao Manyan looked unconvinced. How could there be treasure in such a desolate mountain?
"Cut the nonsense. Don't you want a Supreme Monarch-level backer?"
"Supreme Monarch-level?"
"That Totem we encountered at sea—it set its eyes on you."
"Huh??"
Zhao Manyan instantly clenched his butt. Could Brother Yu be planning to sacrifice him?
Zhou Haoyu walked straight toward the abandoned house, sweeping away the weeds with his psychic energy before heading directly into the temple hall.
Under the perception of his psychic sense, Zhou Haoyu located a dust-covered object.
After clearing the dust, a rather peculiar wooden fish was revealed.
The arched surface of the wooden fish was engraved with intersecting patterns. The crisscrossing lines formed small compartments, each inscribed with strange characters resembling ancient magical runes.
Totem Seal!
At that moment, Zhao Manyan came up beside Zhou Haoyu.
"Brother Yu, this is the treasure you mentioned?"
"This is a high-grade Vessel. For you, a turtle-shell Mage, it's of great use."
With a flick of his psychic energy, Zhou Haoyu tossed the wooden fish Vessel to Zhao Manyan.
"…Turtle-shell Mage…"
Zhao Manyan twitched at the remark, but still obediently caught the Vessel.
"Brother Yu, what exactly does this thing do?" Zhao Manyan asked curiously.
"You'll find out in time."
Zhou Haoyu couldn't be bothered to explain. It was better for Zhao Manyan to slowly figure it out himself.
"…Uhh."
Zhao Manyan looked helpless, forced to speculate based on his own thoughts.
"Brother Yu, you said that shadow was a Totem. This Vessel must be connected to it, right?"
"Correct. This is called a Totem Vessel. The fact that it didn't reject you means the Totem it represents has already acknowledged you." Zhou Haoyu explained.
"Totem, huh… I've heard that Hangzhou has a Serpent as its guardian. Then what Totem is mine?" Zhao Manyan pressed further.
"Heh, quite the coincidence. The Black Totem Snake in West Lake belongs to the same lineage as your Totem. Both are part of the Xuanwu lineage."
"One of the Four Sacred Totems—Xuanwu?"
"Oh? You actually knew that?"
Zhou Haoyu looked at Zhao Manyan in surprise. He thought this guy didn't know a thing.
"Well… I looked it up online."
Zhou Haoyu raised an eyebrow. That made sense. The Four Sacred Totems were famous enough that finding some information online wasn't difficult.
But beyond that, more detailed intelligence couldn't be made public. Information in this world was valuable.
"Brother Yu, from now on, if you tell me to go east, I'll never go west."
"When you're able to command Baxia, then you can say that to me."
.....
For Advance Chapters
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