A few hours later, the guard chief returned and began to report the details of the interrogation.
Shen Shou slammed the armrest of his chair, his face dark with rage. "Good! Someone actually dared to plot against me, and even sent a fiend cultivator to kill my niece!"
Li Shenrong, sitting quietly beside him, remained silent, but Shen Lin felt a chill creep into her heart. Someone from her own family wanted her dead.
"Who is it?" Shen Shou asked coldly.
"That man didn't know. He was hired through a secret communication device." The guard replied.
Shen Shou leaned back, falling into deep thought. "It's one thing to aim at me, but to point the blade toward my elder brother's daughter… how vicious."
"It seems your family's internal power struggle is quite intense." Li Shenrong remarked calmly.
Shen Shou sighed. "You guessed right, young master. My elder brother's authority in the family used to be absolute, but ever since his injury caused his cultivation to decline, some people couldn't stay still." His eyes turned to Shen Lin. "Little Lin, when you sneaked into my caravan, did anyone see you?"
Shen Lin thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I didn't alert anyone."
Shen Shou rubbed his fat jiggling cheeks then his eyes suddenly turned bright. "That Zhao Ling is always with you, where is she now?"
Thinking of the green clothed maid, Shen Lin's heart sank. "She was with me in the caravan… but she died at the hands of the bandits."
"It is true," the guard chief added quickly. "We preserved her body for a proper burial."
"Bring her corpse for me to see." Shen Shou ordered.
"Uncle, you think Zhao Ling leaked our whereabouts?" Shen Lin asked frowning.
Soon the maid's corpse was brought. Shen Shou checked her body and found a few secret talisman. It could be used for one time communication. From the looks of it, she was sending information to someone but whom it couldn't be determined.
Shen Shou's face grew cold. "Feed her corpse to the family's hunting dogs."
The guard acknowledged without batting an eyelid.
Shen Lin stood frozen in disbelief. "Uncle… could there be some misunderstanding?"
"Little Lin, you are too young." Shen Shou sighed. "This scheme was aimed at me… and your father as well."
Li Shenrong, who had been silently observing, finally spoke. "If I'm not wrong, someone wanted to sow discord between you and her father. With the family head's condition deteriorating, it would be easy to mislead him. The fiend cultivator's intention wasn't to kill you that's why he kept delaying for time."
Shen Shou nodded slowly. "Exactly. If I were killed, a Heaven Congregation Realm cultivator, the family's strength would suffer, and they wouldn't want that. Their real aim was Little Lin. If she died while under my care, I would immediately become a suspect of killing my brother's daughter on purpose. The mastermind could then reap all the benefits while staying hidden."
The more Shen Lin listened, the colder her heart became. She couldn't think of anyone who would want her dead.
"Uncle…uncle do you know who…the person is?" She asked, her voice was soft, a little fearful as well.
"I can only guess a few," Shen Shou said calmly. "Your Second Uncle, that old Protector Bai, Third Elder Kang, and the former family strategist. But suspicion is only suspicion, it isn't truth."
"How could it be…" Shen Lin's face paled. She still remembered the smiling faces of those people. They had always been gentle and kind to her.
Days passed, Shen Shou's caravan encountered few more robberies along the way but was dealt with swiftly by the guard chief. They didn't encounter any fiend cultivator as well.
"Young master." Shen Shou said one morning, "we'll reach Eastern Coast City soon. From there, the sea route will take us to the Middle Territory. Would you do us the honor of being a guest of the Shen family?"
Li Shenrong smiled. "I was planning to head to the Middle Territory as well. Since you've invited me, I'll join you."
"Perfect." Shen Shou clapped with joy. His fat cheeks jumped ups and down.
From far away this guy could be mistaken as a big meat ball. Li Shenrong thought secretly.
After reaching the Eastern coast city, Shen Shou didn't stop, he booked a flying boat heading to the middle territory.
The flying boat was colossal like a floating mountain range cast in iron and jade, vast enough to carry nearly ten thousand people at once. This transportation business route was controlled by the illustrious Grand Gu Family of the Middle Territory. To ensure safety, the Gu family stationed a God level expert within the city all year round. The God level expert usually never show his face and wouldn't take action unless something happens that could threaten the transportation business or dignity of the Gu family.
Because the Shen family was one of the subordinate power under the Gu family's influence, Shen Shou easily secured a VIP section for his group, and at only half the usual price.
Like a rolling mountain the boat started moving. Its speed was fast, a Saint would find it hard to catchup.
Li Shenrong stood near the edge of the deck, observing his surroundings. The spacious platform was filled with cultivators from various regions, some chatted casually, others admired the view as though this were a tranquil journey rather than a passage across dangerous skies. Everyone was cultivator, mortals couldn't pay to ride the boat even if they sold their entire lineage.
He turned his gaze outward. The sky was vast and clear, white clouds drifting like scattered silk across half his vision. Beneath them, the endless expanse of ocean stretched to the horizon, deep blue and unfathomable.
"Young master, it's said the ocean is extremely dangerous. No one has ever been able to fully explore it. Is it true?" Shen Lin suddenly came by his side, asking.
"That's true. From certain perspective, the ocean is more dangerous than the land." Li Shenrong replied without looking.
"Once I read in an ancient book that the ocean has no end. It said anyone who tried to search for its edge vanished without a trace. I wonder why that is…" she murmured softly.
Li Shenrong looked at her, a faint smile touching his lips. "Everything under the heaven has a beginning and an end," he replied. "Even we, who started our journey from the eastern lands to the Middle Territory. If there were no end, how could we reach any destination at all?"
"What people often call 'endless' is not because an end does not exist, but because none have yet survived to see it."
He paused, then continued gently, his tone steady like flowing water. "Those who dared to set sail into the unknown were not fools, they were seekers. Some of them succeeded, and what they found became the lands we now speak of, the East, the West, the South, the North, the Middle Territory… Each of these regions was once an unknown world, separated like drifting clouds."
"As for those who never returned, it wasn't because the ocean is truly boundless. It is because the dangers within the vast waters are like a great curtain concealing what lies beyond. When people cannot pass through the curtain, they call it endless. But in truth, it is not the world that has no boundary but it is human courage, strength and wisdom that have yet to reach far enough."
He glanced at the horizon. "To say something has no end is merely another way of saying we have not yet found it."
Shen Lin was mesmerised by his explanation, feeling enlightened.
"Wise words young man." An old voice sounded from behind.
Looking behind, Li Shenrong saw an old man accompanied by several teenagers. His cultivation was at late stage Heavenly King.
With a gentle smile and a hint of admiration in his eyes, the old man spoke, "To be so young yet possess such insight… it is truly rare in this age."
"Elder flatters me." Li Shenrong replied with a small, composed smile.
The elder cupped his hands slightly. "This old man is Yan Shi. These are disciples of my sect, currently undergoing their worldly experience."
"Li Shenrong, Illusory Dao sect."
"Oh? An Illusory Dao sect disciple…" Yan Shi raised an eyebrow. He had also heard about the recently established Illusory Dao sect. It was said the sect master of Illusory dao sect, a mysterious being transcending mortality and no one knew of his actual cultivation level.
The young disciples behind Yan Shi had initially carried a trace of disdain in their eyes. But upon hearing the name 'Illusory Dao Sect,' that arrogance quickly faded, replaced by curiosity and a subtle restraint. After all, their sect did not even have a God level expert, whereas the Illusory Dao Sect was said to have one sitting in seclusion. Who would dare to act presumptuously before such a lineage?
These subtle emotional shifts did not escape Li Shenrong's perception. He merely smiled indifferently. Since the old man was amicable he would return the same gesture.