A few days later, guided by Little Tiger, the three of them returned to Yinmu Village for the third time. Upon arrival, everything proceeded as usual. After the ritual ceremony, Haoyun and his companions waited in the same place for the village chief to come and greet them. However, this time, after the village chief and his entourage introduced the tasks and rewards to Haoyun and his companions, they did not readily accept the chief's request. Instead, they pretended to be worried and threw their doubts to the chief—would the chief break his promise and refuse to provide them with a ticket after they brought back the tiger pill?
"What do you mean by this?! Are you questioning the integrity of the village chief?" A servant behind the village chief asked with an unpleasant expression upon hearing their words.
"Oh, you misunderstood! We are indeed interested in this task and genuinely want to help the village chief. It's just that—we don't know each other well. And, when we're out and about, no matter what we do, we should have the minimum level of caution to avoid being taken advantage of!" Haoyun explained calmly.
"Hmph! So, you don't trust us? In that case, we won't bother you three anymore!" The servant said angrily, waving his hand.
Seeing this, Dream Jia quickly pushed Haoyun aside and then cleared her throat to explain, "Hey! Don't be angry! Actually, he just thinks that since we're all cooperating sincerely, we shouldn't rely solely on words. So, Mr. Village Chief, could you please show us the ticket and the boat to Paradise Island? That way, we can set out on our journey tomorrow with peace of mind to complete the tasks you assigned us, right?"
Although Dream Jia's words made sense, the servant still felt very annoyed by their lack of trust in the village chief. Therefore, he looked at the chief with questioning eyes, as if he would immediately drive the three of them out of Yinmu Village as long as the chief gave the order.
The village chief, however, generously waved his hand at the servant and said, "I understand what the three of you mean. It's indeed necessary to build enough trust since we're cooperating for the first time. So, to dispel your doubts, I'll go get the ticket for you to see. Also, I'll take you to visit the Imperial Boat Pier in Yinmu Village. Dear friends from afar, please follow me."
After Haoyun and his companions followed the village chief back to his mansion, the chief pointed to the waterfront platform connected to the house and said, "Here, at the end of this waterfront platform, is the Imperial Boat Pier. Please follow me."
Sure enough, as Haoyun and his companions followed the village chief along the spacious and towering walkway over the lake, they saw a sunken makeshift pier at the end of the waterfront platform. And when the three of them stood on the narrow Imperial Boat Pier, another magical scene appeared. Everything around the pier disappeared into thick white fog. Within the range of their sight, besides the clear lake water still visible through the mist, there was also a wooden boat shaped like a curved sword moored next to the pier.
At the stern of this boat, which could barely accommodate five people, stood a boatman ready at all times. But upon closer inspection, Haoyun and his companions discovered that the reason why the boatman was standing on the boat ready to sail was that it was actually a straw man in the shape of a tiger. Seeing this straw man, Haoyun and his companions immediately turned to the village chief, their eyes showing both astonishment and puzzlement, as if they were questioning the chief: "Are you kidding me? So, this is just a prop boat, right?"
Seeing their reactions, the village chief first asked them to be patient and then tremblingly pulled out a boat ticket from behind. Haoyun took a closer look and was even more angered. Because this boat ticket was clearly written on a long piece of linen cloth with the two words "Boat Ticket" in a language widely used in the realm of spirits.
Just as Haoyun was about to erupt and question the village chief for daring to use such a crude prop to deceive him, before he could speak, the village chief walked to the front of the boat and waved the ticket in his hand toward the straw boatman, saying, "Old boatman, wake up, I'm here to board the boat!"
Then, something strange happened.
The straw man, upon hearing the village chief's call, began to shake as if suddenly awakened, and its entire body began to tremble. Finally, after the straw man's head rotated strangely several times, two red lights suddenly appeared in its eye sockets. After being awakened, the straw man's entire body of straw began to move slowly and rhythmically in the same direction. This made the straw man look lively and terrifying at the same time. However, the straw man did not show any aggression. At this moment, it was just like an activated intelligent robot, looking at the village chief with the boat ticket in his hand, waiting for further instructions.
At this point, the village chief naturally wouldn't continue to give orders to the straw man. He just turned back with a mysterious smile, looking satisfied at Haoyun and his companions, who were shocked by the strange scene before them, as if saying—see, my friends, did I not deceive you?
Seeing that the village chief did take out a boat ticket, and this ticket could control the straw boatman standing on the boat, naturally, they were overjoyed. From the current situation, they had reason to believe that everything the village chief had said might be true, and he indeed had the ability to send them to Paradise Island. However, for some reason, the village chief had never allowed any chosen one to board this boat to Paradise Island. So, despite the village chief's pleasant expression and his promise to give them the ticket if they brought back the tiger pill, the three of them knew very well that the village chief would never do that.
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"How about it, my friends from afar? Hearing is believing, seeing is believing. I haven't lied to you. With this boat ticket, you can awaken the boatman on this boat just like me and let him take you to Paradise Island in the center of the lake to receive the blessings of the gods and enjoy a happy life in another world." Seeing that Haoyun and his companions remained silent, the village chief, thinking that they were stunned by the magical scene before them, explained again with satisfaction.
What the village chief didn't know was that Haoyun and his companions had already recovered from their surprise. Moreover, they had a bold idea at this moment—kidnapping a hostage.
"What are you doing? Let go of me!" The village chief was momentarily shocked to find himself being restrained by Haoyun and his companions, who were silent and looked surprised.
The few servants who followed the village chief were equally caught off guard. They never expected these three guys to dare to hold the village chief hostage. So, they immediately stepped forward with a firm gaze, intending to rescue the village chief. However, due to the obvious lack of combat power and experience, as soon as they rushed to Haoyun and his companions, they were all easily repelled by the well-prepared trio.
While the servants were still struggling to get up from the ground, Haoyun and his companions immediately lifted the village chief onto the boat. Then Dream Jia snatched the boat ticket from the village chief's hand, shaking it in front of the straw man's face while giving orders, "Straw man, I command you to take us to Paradise Island immediately! Set sail now!"
Upon hearing this, the straw man, who had been waiting for orders with its head tilted, responded with a rustling sound that seemed to come from within the straw, similar to the sound of straw swaying in the wind, "Understood! Preparing to set sail, destination—Paradise Island."
With that, the straw man, in a somewhat disjointed but powerful manner, pushed the boat away from the pier with the bamboo pole in its hand. Then, the boat swiftly headed towards the center of Paradise Lake, amidst the curses of the servants who had just climbed up from the ground.
"What are you doing?! Let me go! Help!" The village chief immediately understood what these three guys wanted to do as soon as he was forcibly brought onto the boat. So, he began to struggle desperately, trying to break free from Haoyun and Dream Jia's control, while hoarsely shouting for help, feeling helpless and powerless.
However, what could such a weak old man do against Haoyun and his companions? Therefore, after several unsuccessful struggles, the village chief, trembling with anger and gasping for breath, continued to curse, "You shameless scoundrels! You have no right to set foot on Paradise Island! If you don't save me, you have no right to set foot on Paradise Island! The gods will not allow you to defile their sacred land! Unforgivable, unforgivable!"
After experiencing two consecutive failures, the patience of Haoyun and his companions had almost been worn out. Plus, the village chief was originally a hypocritical and ruthless bastard, so Haoyun and his companions didn't feel any guilt or remorse about kidnapping him. Therefore, they completely ignored the village chief's verbal abuse and focused more on the suddenly misty waters, which appeared bright on land but turned into a thick fog upon stepping onto them.
It must be said that the village chief was really infuriated at this moment, so much so that his shouting had not stopped since the beginning. However, because Haoyun and his companions were on high alert for any unexpected occurrences in the surrounding waters, they did not notice that the raging village chief had begun to shake violently and occasionally roll his eyes. Finally, the village chief's shouts abruptly stopped.
"Not good! The village chief has passed out!" Dream Jia was the first to notice that something was wrong when she heard the sudden silence from the village chief. Then she saw the village chief fall stiffly into the boat. Haoyun and Dao Lao also came to their senses and hurried forward to treat the village chief. Unfortunately, it was too late. The weak village chief, whose anger had caused his blood pressure to rise suddenly, suffered a stroke and passed away.
What's even worse was that just as the village chief was pronounced dead, the unexpected event that Haoyun and his companions had guarded against finally occurred.
"The ticket holder is deceased. Voyage canceled." As the straw man, who had been rowing hard just a moment ago, spoke again, the vitality injected into its body disappeared at a visible rate. The straw man quickly reverted to an ordinary straw figure shaped like a tiger. The boat also stopped sailing and floated silently in the dense white fog.
This sudden series of changes caught Haoyun and his companions off guard. However, Dao Lao, who was quick-witted, managed to snatch the bamboo pole from the straw man before it returned to its original state, intending to continue rowing the boat forward. But to his shock, as soon as he inserted the pole into the water to row, he found that the lake had turned into an extremely viscous transparent gel, making it impossible for him to stir the boat no matter how hard he tried.
Terrible! Trapped on the lake!
Haoyun and his companions felt a sense of unease as they watched the lake surface rapidly solidify into a gel-like substance. However, things were far worse than they anticipated. As the lake water became increasingly viscous, an irresistible suction suddenly emanated from below the bamboo pole. Despite Dao Lao's utmost efforts, he couldn't prevent the pole from being drawn into the water. What's worse, once the bamboo pole was sucked away by the water, the entire boat began to sink under the immense force of the suction.
At this moment, the white fog on the lake had become so dense that they couldn't see their own hands in front of their faces. In this lifeless and completely obscured environment, Haoyun and his companions felt the water under their feet rising incessantly. The water was not only indescribably icy but also exceptionally viscous. As a result, once they were immersed in the water, their bodies were stuck, rendering them unable to struggle or swim.
Soon, the water rose above their necks. Ignoring their attempts to hold their breath, the viscous water mercilessly flooded into their ears, noses, mouths, and eyes, sealing them shut with its powerful adhesive properties. Completely suffocating, Haoyun and his companions could vividly feel the thick water penetrating every inch of their bodies, sealing them off internally. Their faces turned purple from the lack of air. Ultimately, engulfed in a desperate terror, they were completely consumed by the viscous water, much like fish trapped beneath the surface of a frozen lake in winter, becoming mere ornaments in this rapidly solidifying gel-like layer of water.