Have You Met My Brother?[Comprehensive Martial Arts + Sword Three] Chapter 2

Chapter 2: An Indirect Answer

The exquisite three-masted ship rested steadily on the sea. Although some rocking was inevitable, those long accustomed to life at sea paid no mind to such “slight” movements. Yan Bugui, lying on the deck, blinked and instinctively gripped his saber. Only after confirming his weapon was still in hand did he let out a soft sigh of relief.

He looked at the three women and one man crouching before them. These four were clearly acquainted, and their martial arts varied in strength. However, he couldn’t immediately discern their schools of origin. A strange, yet not entirely unfamiliar, scent mixed with a faint floral fragrance drifted toward him, causing his heart to sink slightly.

Yet, these people didn’t seem to harbor much ill will toward him… The saber master estimated that his strength had mostly recovered. He sat up straight, cupped his fists, and said, “I am Yan Bugui, a disciple of the Saber Sect. I thank you all for your assistance—but besides myself, have you seen anyone else?”

Chu Liuxiang glanced at Li Hongxiu, who had lowered her head in thought after the young saber master introduced himself. He rubbed his nose and replied, “So it is Young Hero Yan. To be frank, Young Hero Yan is indeed not the only person we have pulled from the sea. However… may I ask, Young Hero Yan, did you engage in a dispute that led to a confrontation with blades?”

“Yes… it was due to some private matters.” Yan Bugui paused. He wasn’t sure why the other party asked this, but recalling the chaotic fight before he lost consciousness, he nodded helplessly. At the same time, his eyes scanned the surroundings. His gaze paused when he spotted a spot behind the four where a white cloth covered something. He asked, “Did you see them? Are they also on the ship now? Or…”

Chu Liuxiang naturally noticed Yan Bugui’s gaze. He and the three women stood up, clearing the space. He said in a deep voice, “They are indeed on the ship, but unfortunately, they did not share Young Hero Yan’s luck. They are beyond saving.”

“That’s impossible!” Yan Bugui blurted out involuntarily.

“Why impossible?” Chu Liuxiang sighed. “They were all first-rate experts in the martial world, using their ultimate moves against each other without mercy. How could they possibly survive? Furthermore… there was an unknown danger lurking behind the scenes!”

Yan Bugui frowned. Although it wasn’t good to think this way about his own kin, if there truly was a problem, he didn’t believe both of his brothers had met with misfortune—in his mind, the possibility of Liu Yuan encountering an accident was far higher than that of Xie Donghai, who was fundamentally not human, especially in the ocean. However… he couldn’t help but recall the vortex that had inexplicably appeared on the sea at the end, looking like a connection to the abyss.

He remembered Xie Donghai calling it the “Eye of Guixu.” At the time, he thought the Sea of Guixu was near Penglai, but now, upon reflection, Xie Donghai might have meant something more complex than just the Sea of Guixu… Calm down, calm down. The saber master secretly calmed his turbulent thoughts. At the very least, he could sense that Xie Donghai was definitely still alive, so the situation hadn’t reached its worst point. Moreover, since he hadn’t witnessed it himself, Liu Yuan might not truly be in trouble.

Seeing the young saber master seemingly lost in thought, Chu Liuxiang noticed Li Hongxiu gently shaking her head at him, indicating she didn’t know the so-called “Saber Sect” or the name “Yan Bugui.” The Bandit Chief slowly continued, “Young Hero Yan, since things have come to this, I hope you can tell us: why did you all gather here from the four corners of the world? And why did you end up fighting so fiercely?”

“We received a letter from a friend and came to Hero Island to discuss some matters. We just didn’t expect…”

Yan Bugui felt somewhat bewildered. He didn’t quite understand why Liu Yuan reacted so strongly when he unexpectedly saw him and Xie Donghai kissing behind a tree. He admitted it was wrong not to have told Liu Yuan about his relationship with Xie Donghai from the start, but he had never found a suitable moment to bring up the topic—although he and Liu Yuan were blood brothers, they had been separated for nearly twenty years.

Before they recognized each other, they treated each other as good rivals and friends. After the reunion, for some reason, Xie Donghai and Liu Yuan seemed to dislike each other—whenever he mentioned one in front of the other, he would invariably be interrupted or the topic would be changed.

Furthermore… he stood up from the deck and scanned his surroundings again. He vaguely felt that the expressions and emotions of the three women and one man before him seemed slightly off, but if asked exactly what was wrong, he couldn’t pinpoint it.

“Hero Island?” Chu Liuxiang was slightly taken aback. He didn’t ask why Hero Island hadn’t sunk, but instead pondered that he might have guessed correctly: perhaps someone had used the pretext of finding Hero Island’s secret manual and treasure to lure these people to a certain island to fight and kill each other, resulting in all their deaths… Thinking this, he couldn’t help but press, “Young Hero Yan, which friend invited you all to gather at Hero Island?”

“Naturally, it was the ‘Little Overlord of the East Sea’…” Yan Bugui looked at the slightly stunned expressions of the group, then cupped his fists again. “May I ask your names? And how far is this place from Hero Island?”

“My surname is Chu.” Chu Liuxiang did not give his full name, nor did he introduce Su Rongrong and the others. He only asked, “Forgive our ignorance, but could Young Hero Yan tell us the approximate location of the ‘Hero Island’ you speak of? And who is this ‘Little Overlord of the East Sea’?”

At this, the person whose expression turned strange was Yan Bugui. The saber master, whose gaze had not fully left the four people since waking up, now spoke with a tone of confusion and doubt: “Since Senior Fang Qian hosted the Martial Arts Assembly on Hero Island five years ago, few people in the martial world should be unaware of Hero Island’s general location or the identity of the ‘Little Overlord of the East Sea.'”

Chu Liuxiang and the others exchanged glances. The young saber master, who called himself Yan Bugui, didn’t sound like he was lying, yet they had never heard of any “Fang Qian” or a “Martial Arts Assembly five years ago.”

Chu Liuxiang, whose intuition told him something was amiss, tentatively spoke, “To our knowledge, the Hero Island where the Dragon and Wood Island Masters once forced Central Plains martial arts experts to travel to study martial arts using the Good and Evil Edicts, sank a hundred years ago.”

“What?” Yan Bugui’s eyes widened slightly. His first reaction was, “When did Hero Island sink?” His second reaction was, “Who are the Dragon and Wood Island Masters?” The saber master, whose thoughts were somewhat muddled, looked toward the location where the corpses were placed. He decided immediately to deal with matters one by one according to importance. He changed the subject and asked, “Brother Chu, what is placed there?”

“I was planning to ask you to identify them even if you hadn’t brought it up.” Chu Liuxiang also had many doubts in his heart, but for now, he could only set aside those mysteries. Following the topic, he lifted the white cloth covering the corpses.

Glancing at the group of corpses, each with a gruesome appearance, Yan Bugui quickly withdrew his gaze without changing his expression—none of them were people he knew. This allowed him to let out a shallow sigh of relief, while belatedly realizing that “Brother Chu” might indeed have misunderstood something.

Sure enough, “Brother Chu” continued, “Young Hero Yan, you were floating on the sea with them. You are the only survivor among the six. In the future, you may become the target of revenge for their disciples, relatives, and friends.”

Yan Bugui looked at Chu Liuxiang and asked, “Brother Chu, are these the only people?”

Chu Liuxiang pointed to them one by one, stating the time and order in which they were pulled from the sea, then pressed, “Young Hero Yan, were there more people in your group?”

Yan Bugui exhaled and shook his head. “Brother Chu, I finally understand. You are likely mistaken. I was not traveling with these five people.”

“Oh… In that case, it is quite a coincidence.” Chu Liuxiang’s expression shifted slightly, though he didn’t seem overly surprised, making it impossible to tell if he believed him or not. “I just wonder if Young Hero Yan’s group and theirs got into a dispute over similar matters in nearby locations?”

“I don’t think so.” Yan Bugui shook his head again. “My two brothers and I only had a disagreement over family matters; it wouldn’t lead to murder. We must have been swept into the sea by the sudden appearance of that vortex. I still don’t know if they are safe or where they are now…”

By the end, the saber master sounded increasingly worried. He remembered that Bai Renyu and Xueling seemed to have been sucked in as well, and he didn’t know if they had encountered danger.

.

“Little Yan ah—my Little Yan ah—where are you—”

At this moment, the parrot Yan Bugui was worried about was wailing at the top of its lungs. The giant white-feathered sea eagle let out a long cry, shaking off the talkative parrot that insisted on standing on its back with a few turns. Bai Renyu, who also had wings and could fly, had just managed two “Heh heh” sounds. Before he could finish the sentence, “Fooled you, Grandpa can fly too,” the sea eagle swatted him into the sea with a wing.

“If you keep making such a racket, I will leave you in this sea forever.”

The moon hung high in the sky, soft silver light spilling onto the sea, illuminating everything brightly. The seawater flowed silently, shattering the reflected starlight. The sea breeze brushed past Xie Donghai’s ears, stirring strands of his long hair.

This area of the sea seemed boundless, the horizon seamlessly connecting the sky and the ocean. In the distance, there appeared to be a black speck that looked like land, seeming close enough to reach with a little effort. But Xie Donghai knew that he was extremely far from that small island—just as looking at a mountain can exhaust a horse, people who see land or an island on the sea, thinking it’s close enough to reach, can easily become anxious and frustrated.

The man, submerged in the water from the waist down, let out a soft “Tsk.” He wasn’t afraid of drifting on the sea for any length of time, nor would it take him long to reach land. What annoyed him was his current state—

This place was fundamentally not the world he was born in. The sudden appearance of the “Eye of Guixu” had brought them to an unfamiliar world and scattered them. Moreover, let alone comparing it to Penglai, even the Central Plains, where spiritual energy was relatively sparse, far surpassed this wretched place!

To protect Yan Bugui and his cheap elder brother, Xie Donghai, who was essentially a non-human entity that had taken human form, had expended a significant amount of spiritual energy. This resulted in the lower half of his body reverting to its original form, temporarily unable to transform back. Given the level of spiritual energy in this world, heaven knew how long it would take him to absorb enough spiritual energy to regain human form!

Threatened by his master’s beloved, the parrot, nicknamed “Little Yu,” couldn’t help but squawk twice. Xie Donghai, already in a bad mood, looked at the little bird with vertical pupils. “Did you forget that I can understand you cursing me? If Little Yan asks about you later, I’ll just say I haven’t seen you, and he’ll believe me—or, do you want me to send you to the Medical Sect?”

Once the garrulous little parrot finally didn’t dare to make another sound, Xie Donghai narrowed his eyes and turned to look into the distance, muttering, “A ship?” This aura… the ship seemed to be carrying the royal bloodline of the unified dynasty of this world.

Without waiting for the ship to approach, he ordered Xueling to take the parrot and fly high into the sky. He himself submerged completely into the sea, his thoughtful gaze fixed on the large ship sailing toward the island. He began to scheme.