VIP Volume Chapter 048: Investigation

Jiaran led Wen Xiaoyu up as well. The two girls were actually carrying a red lantern, which they hung on a tree branch. They sat on the grass to the left and right of Ye Xiaoxuan.

Hao Six-Fingers looked on enviously. "Let one of them sit by me, will you? Two beauties, and he gets to have them both!"

Ye Xiaoxuan was about to boastfully mock him, but to his surprise, Jiaran smiled gently, stood up, and actually sat down next to Six-Fingers. "Alright, I’ll keep you company," she said.

Ye Xiaoxuan’s smile froze. He stared in astonishment at Jiaran, but she merely looked at Wen Xiaoyu with a calm smile. He couldn’t say anything, and lowered his head in disappointment.

Wen Xiaoyu took Ye Xiaoxuan’s arm and asked, "What were you all talking about just now?"

Ye Dajun slapped Old Cucumber’s shoulder and asked, "You just said that the archaeological team picked up some treasure?"

Old Cucumber nodded. "I heard them chatting casually as they left. When they noticed me listening, they stopped talking. I caught bits about a lake demon, a bracelet, and so on. But I firmly believe the boss is fine. With the boss’s genius, how could a little Great Immortal Lake claim his life?"

Ye Xiaoxuan shuddered. "Old Cucumber, from now on, we’re just friends. Stop calling me boss. You’re nearly twenty years older than me! Don’t worry, the past is the past, I won’t mention it, and you don’t need to be cautious around me."

Ye Dajun asked curiously, "What past do you two have? How come I don’t know about it?"

Old Cucumber quickly replied, "Nothing, really! Calling him boss comes from the bottom of my heart, nothing else! I admire the boss’s heroic spirit, unafraid of the powerful—he even stands up to the Chen family. He’s my idol!"

Ye Xiaoxuan snorted. "The Chen family is nothing! Damn it, they set me up this time, almost cost me my life. I’ll settle the score with them sooner or later!"

Hao Six-Fingers nodded vigorously, looking like a pecking beetle. "That’s right, that bastard needs a lesson! Xiaoxuan, I support you—let’s go demand an explanation from him tomorrow!"

Jiaran frowned. "Don’t go looking for trouble. When Yu’er and I came over, we saw Chen Tianlei arrive with bags and packages. Looks like he’ll be staying at the Chen house for a while."

Ye Xiaoxuan paused and asked in surprise, "He came alone?" Jiaran nodded. "Didn’t see anyone with him."

Hao Six-Fingers shrank back a little and scratched his head. "Even if… even if he’s here, we… we’re not afraid!"

Ye Xiaoxuan shook his head. "It’s not a matter of being afraid or not. Why would he come to the village at this time? Is it because of the old shepherd, or us? Either way, we’re already enemies. His presence here can’t be good—we need to be careful!"

Jiaran looked at him, worried. "That’s why you shouldn’t mess with Chen’s family anymore. Even if we can provoke Chen’s son, we can’t handle Chen Tianlei. Let’s just live our lives quietly."

Ye Xiaoxuan nodded and said to everyone, "There’s no rush with the Chen family—they won’t get away. The reason I called you all here tonight is to discuss something. I want to go back to Great Immortal Lake!"

Wen Xiaoyu immediately grabbed his arm and protested, "No! It’s too dangerous!" Hao Six-Fingers stared wide-eyed. "Are you out of your mind? You barely escaped with your life, and you want to go back and risk it again?"

Ye Dajun threw an arm around Ye Xiaoxuan’s shoulders. "If you’re going, brother, I’ll go with you!" Jiaran was displeased. "Brother, don’t encourage him! Xiaoxuan, why do you want to go back?"

Ye Xiaoxuan patted Wen Xiaoyu’s hand, signaling her to relax, then stood up and addressed them. "There are still over twenty bodies in the lake. Neither Captain Zhao nor the police have tried to retrieve them. Why is that?
The place where Yu’er and I stayed—was it really Fragrant Sand Island? What secrets does it hold?
I keep feeling there’s a huge conspiracy behind all this. If I don’t get to the bottom of it, I won’t have any peace!"

Wen Xiaoyu stood up as well, gripping his arm as if afraid he would leave at any moment. She said angrily, "Just for some peace of mind, you’re willing to risk your life? Is it worth it?"

Ye Xiaoxuan looked at her seriously and nodded. "It’s worth it! I like to have things clear—I don’t want to muddle through life in confusion."

Jiaran sighed. She knew Ye Xiaoxuan’s temperament best. Despite his usual carefree attitude, when it came to serious matters, he was unwavering, drawing clear lines between right and wrong. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have risked his life to force ten thousand yuan out of the Chen family. This seriousness had a strange allure for women—Jiaran found her heart stirred, and Wen Xiaoyu was even more entranced.

But remembering the terrifying experiences they’d just had on the lake, Wen Xiaoyu shivered and hugged Ye Xiaoxuan’s arm. "Xiaoxuan, wait until I go back and bring my father and his Poseidon Team. Then I’ll go with you, alright?"

Ye Xiaoxuan shook his head. "I can’t wait that long, and I don’t like relying on others. I’ve never been able to figure out what happened on the boat after we fell into the water, but after hearing Old Cucumber just now, things are starting to make sense.
They must have found some treasure and then turned on each other, killing so many people at once. But they didn’t care if those onshore knew about it, which means one thing!"

Everyone listened intently to his reasoning and asked in unison, "What does it mean?" Ye Xiaoxuan looked at Wen Xiaoyu. "You should be able to guess."

Wen Xiaoyu shook her head. "Me? How would I know?"

Ye Xiaoxuan’s eyes shone as he looked at her. "I remember Hua Lingluo once said that these sailors were all hired temporarily! The captain and first mate couldn’t have been assembled at the last minute, but sailors can be recruited anytime. So, the ones who died were all sailors!"

Wen Xiaoyu stared at him in shock. Hua Lingluo had indeed said that, in passing, after their battle with the man-eater blade, mocking Zhao Yanping. She hadn’t expected Ye Xiaoxuan to remember.

"But what does that have to do with this?" Wen Xiaoyu still couldn't grasp his meaning.

Ye Xiaoxuan took a deep breath, turned to stand at the edge of the earthen cliff, and gazed at the misty Great Immortal Lake before him. "If I’m right, all those who died were temporary sailors."

"What?!" Wen Xiaoyu covered her mouth in shock.

Ye Xiaoxuan went on, "Captain Zhao and the others must have found something special—treasure that couldn’t be revealed—so they killed everyone to keep it secret. Maybe that was the real reason the Fortune sailed into Great Immortal Lake. Now that their goal is achieved, they left in a hurry."

Jiaran stood up and asked, "So you want to go back to Great Immortal Lake to investigate? You really were swallowed by the lake demon, weren’t you?"

Ye Xiaoxuan nodded, looking at her. "Yes! Both Yu’er and I were swallowed by the so-called lake demon. But it wasn’t a monster—it was a giant turtle! Of course, you could call it a lake demon too, because you’d never imagine there could be such a huge turtle in the world. There must be many secrets on its back, and I have to go back and find out!"