Chapter 212
Perhaps it had been too long since he last spoke to anyone, but the first words that came out of Liang Pozhou's mouth were a nonsensical question that left one feeling dazed: “Do you know why I’m called Liang Pozhou?”
Yu Xun patiently played along, “Is it because of ‘breaking the cauldrons and sinking the boats’?”
“Yes, breaking the cauldrons and sinking the boats.”
Back then, when his family was poor, Liang Pozhou had no formal name until he was five. One day, his father took him to the market to sell vegetables, and while there, he overheard a tale about breaking the cauldrons and sinking the boats. The story stirred something within him, and he kept repeating the phrase on the way home.
The father and son debated the meaning all the way back. Breaking cauldrons was bad, and sinking boats was also ominous, but in the end, they settled on the name “Pozhou,” which sounded powerful.
—“Unfortunately, it was a long time before I learned that ‘broken boat’ has another meaning.”
—“A broken boat entering the sea, where fortune ends and calamity begins.”
—“Sometimes, one has no choice but to believe in fate; a name is like a prologue to one’s life.”
At the age of nineteen, Liang Pozhou went out to sea with his newlywed wife, Xu Yunsheng, to fish.
They didn’t catch any fish, but instead, they pulled up a creature that was half human, half fish.
Everyone has an appreciation for beauty, and Liang Pozhou and his wife had never seen a face so stunning, like that of a celestial being. They didn’t throw the unconscious creature back into the water; instead, they kept it on their fishing boat.
—“At first, Yunsheng and I had impure intentions. Even though we were inexperienced, we knew this was no ordinary being. Its looks, its voice, its fish tail—each was a rare treasure. We had never encountered such a beautiful creature.”
—“The sea monster was injured and had no ability to care for itself. We took care of it, hoping it would recover so we could profit from it. But it was very considerate; it would sing to us when we were tired and do its best to protect us when we were in danger. For a time, Yunsheng and I treated it like family.”
—“It said its name was Mi Yasi.”
—“Mi Yasi claimed he could pray to the sea, asking it to bless us, bring us luck, and help us find treasures in the ocean. Yunsheng and I had no reason to refuse; our initial intention in saving him was for profit.”
—“But those were turbulent times. Even when we found treasures, we had nowhere to spend them, and we had to worry about him being discovered. We spent almost half of each year adrift at sea.”
—“For a long time, Yunsheng and I didn’t have children, fearing that a child might accidentally let something slip when we went ashore, which could endanger him.”
—“With both emotions and profit intertwining, our bond grew stronger. We became a family, and he even bestowed upon us divine gifts—divine! From that day on, in our hearts, he was a deity.”
—“But later, we learned that every blessing from Mi Yasi came at a cost.”
【Chapter 275: Mi Yasi’s Gift】
—“For half a lifetime, we were deceived by him! He turned us into monsters like himself! Yes, we awakened our divine gifts early, but… but you can’t even imagine the price we paid!”
—“Eventually, disregarding Yunsheng’s objections, I sold Mi Yasi to a pharmaceutical company, using his remains as my investment… I never regretted my choice; I only hated that I betrayed him too late, bringing misfortune upon myself and my family.”
After listening for so long, Yu Xun’s heart remained unperturbed. After modifying Liang Pozhou’s luck, she began healing herself while continuing to steal from him, but found nothing; every attempt failed.
At first glance, Liang Pozhou’s words seemed flawless. In fact, his lack of concealment regarding his motives and his candid admission of being a traitor only highlighted his “truth,” making the story sound so genuine that listeners would instinctively believe everything else he said.
Yu Xun would instinctively question a flawless saint, trying to find a flaw, but rarely would she criticize the openness of a true villain.
Regardless of her inner doubts, Yu Xun showed no emotion on her face.
Liang Pozhou continued, “I thought that leaving Mi Yasi would allow us to start anew, but we soon discovered that leaving the sea monster was the beginning of our misfortune. Yunsheng and I could no longer stay away from the ocean for long. If we spent too much time on land, it felt like walking on knives, just like the mermaids in fairy tales. Conversely, if we approached the sea, we would receive varying degrees of good fortune.”
—“If it were just Yunsheng and me suffering, I could accept it! It was our greed. But even our children, born later, were cursed! The only good news is that this curse weakens with each generation.”
—“But the more terrifying part came later. Neither Yunsheng nor I showed any signs of aging, and our bodies began to show signs of petrification… At the end of our lives, we each took a boat into the sea for our own burial, leaving ourselves a semblance of dignity. But unexpectedly, we couldn’t even die; after turning to stone, I became an immortal monster.”
As Liang Pozhou sank into his memories, Yu Xun suddenly asked, “Where did you get your dragon scales?”
Liang Pozhou, interrupted from his reverie, didn’t mind. Instead, he patiently replied, “Naturally, I got them from Mi Yasi.”
Yu Xun pressed on, “After you sold Mi Yasi, did you receive any share of the research results?”
Liang Pozhou sighed, “We got some, but I donated much of it. However, later on, that research institute had an accident, and everyone who knew about it died mysteriously. After that, Mi Yasi’s remains also vanished.”
The gravity and confusion in Yu Xun’s expression deepened rather than dissipated.
In the tale of the Snow Pile, it was the Feng Lian clan that stole the reverse scales, but in Liang’s story, they only encountered mermaids and sea monsters. Even after selling the sea monster, the Liang family continued to monitor the research results, yet Liang Pozhou still referred to them as sea monsters.
Could the Feng Lian, who managed to steal dragon scales from Dragon Island without being caught by the Snow Pile, have been intercepted along the way?
The odds of that happening were nearly zero!
Thus, the one who stole the reverse scales from the Dragon Ancestor was not the Feng Lian, but the sea monster Liang Pozhou spoke of, and the Snow Pile along with the dragon clan had failed to see this!
So many dragons, so many powerful gifts, yet they couldn’t uncover the true identity of the thief. Over a hundred years passed, and the clues handed to her were merely the current possessor of the Dragon Ancestor’s reverse scales.
What did this imply? The thief had used a disguise skill while stealing the reverse scales, fooling even the dragon clan.
She instinctively thought of a certain possibility!
That sea monster, that royal sea monster’s divine gift, was very likely also the 【Thief God】!!!
And unlike what she had assumed, the dragon clan could see through the Thief God’s disguise; the Thief God’s skill could even deceive those level 850 dragons…
Yu Xun’s heart felt like it was about to explode. She couldn’t help but press down on her racing heart, trying to calm it.
Thinking of the other party’s divine gift skill, 【Life History】, she softly asked, “Actually, you have no idea what my divine gift is, do you? You only know what I need through some means, that I would bring disaster to the Liang family, and that’s how you made the deal?”
Would a life history of fewer than 1,000 words detail the abilities of an enemy? She wasn’t even Liang Pozhou’s enemy, but rather his descendants’ foe; in Liang Pozhou’s life, she wasn’t even a supporting character.
Liang Pozhou fell silent for a moment, sounding both wistful and regretful: “You are indeed very clever, but without my hints, you would never find a way.”
Yu Xun probed, “Mi Yasi’s remains?”
This time, Liang Pozhou was silent for even longer. He stuttered slightly, lamenting, “Yes… it is indeed Mi Yasi’s remains. If I could, I wouldn’t want to part with such a treasure, but I’ve done countless 【Life Histories】 for myself, and none have shown your name or the specific time you came to me. This makes it impossible for me to set up a plan to eliminate you in advance.
“But that’s also the charm of the Life History; because it’s not detailed enough, I can attempt to intervene in fate. If it were too detailed, losing the gaps would mean fate has no room for modification.”
Another flaw was sealed off by him. Yu Xun had just been thinking about this; why not keep such a good thing for himself and leave a message for the Liang family to find an opportunity to eliminate a potential enemy? Even if she had disguised herself when she arrived, if the 【Life History】 couldn’t find her, couldn’t the Liang family send someone to watch over his corpse?
The doubts seemed to be dwindling.
Liang Pozhou had awakened his divine gift with Mi Yasi’s help long ago and had used his divine gift to predict the changes in the Liang family. Yet, because the 【Life History】 was too vague, he couldn’t learn specific information about his enemies, leaving him unable to inform his descendants to eliminate threats in advance. He could only rely on his own foresight to resolve matters.
Everything made sense.
The 【Emerald Feast】 had already been half consumed. She had been relying on the dishes hidden in the magician’s false teeth to restore her health, but still hadn’t managed to steal any dragon scales, not even a scrap. She stopped using her skills and took a few steps back.
There was no need to continue stealing; she needed to save at least half of the Emerald Feast as a safety net.
She softly asked, “What do you want? Just to stop seeking revenge on the Liang family?”
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