Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

Li Hongji's body trembled, his heart pounding. Looking at the black bean in his palm, he suppressed his fear, looked up with tears in his eyes, and said, "I understand. Fate is predetermined. Since I've drawn the death lot, I'll accept the loss and go!"

After saying this, Li Hongji, with a look of resignation, turned and walked towards the entrance to the lower cabin.

The boy is too naive. At sixteen, he has lofty ambitions, extraordinary courage, and strong execution skills. He wants to make a name for himself, which is not wrong.

The mistake was underestimating the wickedness of people's hearts, having too little experience, and lacking a true mentor to guide one's life path.

The boy could only stumble and suffer in silence time and time again. If he was lucky, he could get back up and keep going, but if he was unlucky, he would be ruined.

Just like today, when people draw lots to determine life or death, the young man genuinely believed that everyone was following the rules of the game, but in reality, the game was already over before it even began.

Moreover, at the critical moment of life and death, the boy neither sided with Zhou Qingfeng nor insisted on the position of the crew, which was tantamount to betraying his own camp. Jiang Manzi and others would not regard the boy as a partner who would share life and death with him. The boy's fate of drawing a death lot was already a foregone conclusion.

The boy didn't understand the intricacies of the situation, and no one had taught him, so it's normal that he couldn't grasp the situation and was abandoned in a life-or-death moment.

Zhou Qingfeng glanced at the boy sideways: "Come back!"

Young Li Hongji paused, turned around and said, "Brother Tian, ​​don't worry about it. I know you're a good person, but we all agreed to draw lots for life and death. Whoever draws the death lot has to go down. As a man, I can die, but I can't break my promise."

Zhou Qingfeng calmly looked at Li Hongji, a hint of appreciation in his eyes. However, he had no intention of causing any trouble or acting out of kindness to protect this naive young man. Although he had the power to overturn the table, he clearly distinguished between being a person and doing things.

He could be a great saint, compassionate and benevolent.

He would never act on emotion, nor would he disrupt the delicate situation just because he admired the young man in front of him. Besides, the young man was neither related to him nor anyone else; at most, he just felt a connection with him and thought he could make a small investment.

Right now, Zhou Qingfeng just hopes that someone can go down and test the Guanjiang Dragon King for him, and preferably find out what the Guanjiang Dragon King wants to do. It's not about delivering food to the Guanjiang Dragon King. If it's just about delivering food, then all these people in front of him can be killed and offered to the Guanjiang Dragon King. Why bother with drawing life-and-death lots? It's too much trouble.

So Zhou Qingfeng stopped him simply to encourage the boy and give him a glimmer of hope for survival. He promised to reward the boy as long as he returned from the mission, thus stimulating his will to live. People will fight desperately to survive as long as there is even a sliver of hope.

Zhou Qingfeng beckoned: "Come here."

Despite his doubts, Li Hongji still walked up to Zhou Qingfeng.

Zhou Qingfeng patted Li Hongji on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Hongji, you're not going to your death. Don't be impulsive. Don't let fear overwhelm your reason. Stay calm in the face of adversity. Although the Guanjiang Dragon King is powerful, the fact that it hasn't gone on a killing spree proves that it has other purposes."

"Your mission is to go down and try to establish communication with the Guanjiang Dragon King, to figure out what it wants to do. Once you figure it out, you can come back. Listen carefully, as long as you come back, I will reward you with some pills. These pills will help you save cultivation time and reach the Food Calamity Realm as soon as possible."

"Hey, did you hear me?" Zhou Qingfeng patted the boy's face, trying to wake him up.

Li Hongji nodded hurriedly: "Listen, I heard you clearly, Brother Tian."

Zhou Qingfeng nodded slightly: "Go ahead, come back safely, I'll be waiting for you here."

"I understand, Brother Tian, ​​you're a really good person." Li Hongji turned around and strode to the entrance leading to the lower cabin. After a slight hesitation, he took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and tentatively took a few steps inside. Then he took out his Demon Slayer Blade, put on his arm shield, and quietly walked in, as if this would give him a sense of security.

"Squeak..." The cabin door slowly closed. Zhou Qingfeng quietly watched the boy walk off the ship. He had made an initial investment in the boy before, and now he wanted to see if the boy had the ability to get through this hurdle. If he couldn't even get through the life-or-death situation, then so be it, there was nothing to regret.

However, a young man who could catch Zhou Qingfeng's eye could not be an ordinary person.

His strong execution ability—he sets off immediately when he wants to go to the Myriad Realms Void Sea to search for treasures without delay or making excuses—already surpasses most people in the world.

Such a person, as long as they don't die halfway through their journey, is bound to achieve something great.

Lee Hong-ki familiarly walked down the stairs to the cabin, picked up the oil lamp hanging on the wall, and slowly explored inside. There was a large hole in the ceiling of the cabin, and a lot of sunlight shone in, illuminating most of the area. When Lee Hong-ki was about three steps away from the area where the light was shining, he suddenly stopped.

The Dragon King of Guanjiang slowly walked to the area where the light was projected, his amber leopard eyes coldly gazing at the ants before him.

Li Hongji swallowed hard. Remembering Zhou Qingfeng's instructions, he forced himself to calm down, trying not to let fear overwhelm his reason. He then placed the demon-slaying blade on the floor, slowly knelt down with the oil lamp in hand, and gently kowtowed to show his submission: "Li Hongji, a fisherman from Quark Village, greets the Guanjiang Dragon King who rules over all living beings in the rivers. May my king be immortal and eternal. Fisherman Li Hongji kowtows again to offer you the highest respect."

The Dragon King of Guanjiang looked down at the ants before him and slowly swayed his tail. Zhang Laoba, who was hanging on his tail, instantly moved to Li Hongji's side. His mouth opened and closed stiffly, making extremely clumsy and obscure sounds: "Qiantang City, go there, one day, one person, offer, you live."

Upon hearing this, Li Hongji painstakingly sorted out the words and rearranged their order before finally understanding the meaning. He tentatively asked, "Do you mean that if I go to Qiantang City and offer one person to you every day during this period, I can survive?"

The Dragon King of Guanjiang's tail controlled Zhang Laoba's corpse, causing it to open and close its mouth slightly: "Yes."

Li Hongji secretly wiped away his cold sweat, looked up at the Guanjiang Dragon King, and saw the Guanjiang Dragon King slowly retreating into the shadows, only his pair of amber leopard eyes gleaming sinisterly. Li Hongji slowly got up, said goodbye, and walked back the way he came, step by step, afraid of making a big fuss. When he reached the stairwell, he used all his strength to run up, smashed open the cabin door and fell onto the deck, still in shock, towards the cabin entrance.

Zhou Qingfeng looked reassured when he saw that the boy had returned alive.

Jiang Manzi and his men gathered around, feigning concern as they helped the young Li Hongji up and inquired about the situation at the lower levels.

Li Hongji was covered in a cold sweat. His brush with death had left him extremely weak, but he forced himself to stay upright because he still had something very important to do to save his own life: "I saw the Dragon King of Guanjiang. He definitely had another purpose. He made me...made me..."

Jiang Manzi frowned and said, "What do you mean by 'what'? Just tell me."

A flash of ruthlessness crossed Li Hongji's eyes. Despite his seemingly harmless appearance, he revealed his ferocious fangs at this moment. Caught off guard, he swiftly pulled out a fishing knife and plunged it into Jiang Manzi's heart, then kicked Jiang Manzi back several steps.

The crowd recoiled in shock, staring at Li Hongji with disbelief: "What are you doing, Li Hongji? Are you crazy?"

Jin Wei drew his sword to subdue Li Hongji, but Zhou Qingfeng stopped him with a smile. He not only ignored Li Hongji's killing but also pulled Jin Wei back further away. Zhou Qingfeng was very curious about what the young man in front of him could do.

"Fuck your mother...you dare to stab me." Jiang Manzi clutched his chest, staring at Li Hongji in disbelief. He couldn't believe that this young boy dared to pull out a knife and stab him. Didn't Li Hongji know that he was the captain and that several people around him were his helpers? How dare this brat Li Hongji do such a thing?

With his turbid heart severely damaged, even Jiang Manzi, a cultivator at the Turbid Realm, could not escape unscathed. A large amount of magical power leaked from his heart, like a deflated balloon, and he quickly withered away. If he did not receive proper treatment, once his turbid heart died, he would perish.

"So what if I stab you!" Li Hongji's fierce side was exposed. In a moment of passion, the young man didn't care about anything else and just killed him.

"I'm sorry... I know I was wrong, I shouldn't have cheated... I... save me, save me..." Jiang Manzi gradually lost strength, thinking that Li Hongji had discovered the truth about his cheating and sent him to his death. In order to live, he begged for mercy.

Li Hongji was stunned. He didn't know that Jiang Manzi had cheated. The reason he stabbed Jiang Manzi was because he needed to sacrifice someone to the Guanjiang Dragon King. If he said this, he would have to draw a life-or-death lottery again. Rather than entrusting his fate to luck, he would rather stab someone to death and offer them to the Guanjiang Dragon King to ensure his own safety.

Now that he knows the truth, Li Hongji is even more determined. He takes out a crossbow from his waist, aims at Jiang Manzi's forehead, pulls the trigger, and the crossbow bolt flies out and accurately pierces Jiang Manzi's head. Jiang Manzi's face instantly freezes, and he falls backward onto the deck.

Li Hongji reloaded the crossbow, aimed at Pang Xie and the other two crew members, and said, "The Dragon King of Guanjiang said that we should sail to Qiantang City. During this period, we need to sacrifice one person every day. Tomorrow we don't need to draw lots for life and death, so we'll sacrifice Jiang Manzi. As for who we'll sacrifice the day after tomorrow, we'll talk about that later. Don't try to jump into the river to escape. We don't need living people for the sacrifice; corpses are fine too. Brother Tian, ​​you'll help me, right?"

Zhou Qingfeng watched their infighting from a distance. When he heard the boy's question, he smiled and said, "Of course I'll help you."

Pang Xie and the other two crew members exchanged a glance, their faces grim, but they had no choice but to give in. At least by compromising for the time being, they could live until the day after tomorrow.

Li Hongji walked to Jiang Manzi's corpse, rummaged around for a while, and put the Guanjiang navigation map and compass into his pocket. They were poor and didn't have the money to buy storage bags, which cost tens of thousands of magic coins. "Brother Tian, ​​with the navigation map and compass, I can also take you to Qiantang City. I started running boats on the river when I was six years old, and I've been running boats for ten years. Don't look down on me because I'm young, but I'm also an old sailor."

Zhou Qingfeng's lips curled up slightly, and he gave a thumbs up with admiration: "Well done. I'm starting to believe that you can make a name for yourself in the Myriad Domains Void Sea."

Li Hongji faced Pang Xie and the others and said, "Brother Xie, Brother Shuisheng, Brother Jing, I would like to trouble you brothers to repair the sails and set off as soon as possible. If you don't want to die, you should get to Qiantang City before the day after tomorrow. Otherwise, if you arrive the day after tomorrow, another person will die."

Pang Xie, Shui Sheng, and Jing Ge exchanged a glance, remained silent, and began to repair the sails.

Seeing this, Li Hongji put away the crossbow, walked towards Zhou Qingfeng, and clasped his hands in a salute: "Thank you for your guidance and encouragement, Brother Tian, ​​which is why I was able to come back alive."

Zhou Qingfeng supported Li Hongji's arm, took out two bottles of turbid-grade pills he had prepared, and stuffed them into Li Hongji's hand: "Take this, it's the reward I promised you."

Li Hongji paused slightly, pursed his lips, and put the pill into his pocket: "Brother Tian, ​​what do we do next? The Guanjiang Dragon King is going to Qiantang City on our boat. If it really gets into Qiantang City, I'm afraid Qiantang City will be turned into a swamp in an instant, and everyone in the city will die in the blink of an eye."

Zhou Qingfeng said calmly, "Did you ask why it went to Qiantang City?"

Li Hongji shook his head: "It didn't say."

After a moment's thought, Zhou Qingfeng said, "Do you dare to go down there again?"

Li Hongji said, "No problem, it needs me. It won't kill me for now. I can talk to it. What does Brother Tian want me to do down there?"

Zhou Qingfeng said, "Find out exactly what it wants to do in Qiantang City."

Li Hongji nodded: "Okay, I'll go down again."

After saying that, Li Hongji walked towards the cabin entrance.

Jin Wei gazed at the boy's retreating figure and said calmly, "Young Master has a keen eye. This boy is fearless in the face of death, decisive and ruthless; he is indeed destined for greatness."

Zhou Qingfeng smiled and said, "He's a promising talent. It's a pity he insists on going to the Myriad Realms Void Sea to search for endless treasures. Otherwise, it wouldn't be bad to take him under my wing."

Jin Wei nodded slightly. He also thought that Li Hongji was a promising talent. The key was that he had good luck, which was very important. In this turbid world, no matter how strong you are, you will die a violent death. Luck, such an ethereal thing, is actually a very important part of overall strength. Without luck, you will suffer disaster every three steps and calamity every five steps. No one can withstand it.

Thanks to the repairs made by the three crew members, Pang Xie, Shui Sheng, and Jing Ge, the fishing boat has been quickly restored to its sailing capability.

Lee Hong-ki returned again, bringing back a message.

The Dragon King of Guanjiang is going to Qiantang City because it has reached its breeding season. Qiantang City has a large population, and once the Dragon King of Guanjiang arrives in Qiantang City, it will have enough blood and food to nourish itself and successfully produce hundreds of thousands of demon eggs. After the demon eggs hatch, they will also have a large amount of blood and food to nourish themselves.

The Leopard-eyed Blue Frog is hermaphroditic. When there is no suitable Leopard-eyed Blue Frog to mate with, it will turn into a female, become pregnant, and lay eggs and give birth to hundreds of thousands of offspring at a time. The eggs can hatch in two days. If there is enough blood and food to sustain them, they can become a Lesser Demon of the Turbid Rank in a few days to a few weeks.

In the bow, in the command room, everyone was gathered together.

Li Hongji spread out the navigation map and pointed to their current location: "Brother Tian, ​​we are very close to Qiantang City. If we go at full speed, it will take less than 24 hours. If the Dragon King of Guanjiang uses our boat to enter the city, the city will be destroyed and people will die. We will have killed hundreds of thousands of people with our own hands."

The question facing everyone is whether to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of lives to save their own, or to sacrifice themselves to save hundreds of thousands of lives.

Pang Xie, Shui Sheng, and Jing Ge, the three sailors, had subtle expressions and looked like they were struggling.

Upon hearing this, Jin Wei hesitated.

Zhou Qingfeng glanced around and said calmly, "There's no rush to make a decision on this matter. We have plenty of time, so let's put it aside for now and talk about it later. However, there is something I feel needs to be resolved immediately, otherwise trouble will continue to come, and we might not even be able to reach Qiantang City."

P.S.: I'd appreciate some tips and free gifts, as well as follows and positive reviews. I've reached 900,000 words today.