That night’s battle ended with the complete annihilation of the pirates, but Meihong’s side also suffered heavy losses. Fang Fourteen and Fang Seventeen were seriously wounded, Uncle Yanfu was lightly injured, and the other six had unfortunately died in battle. The only uninjured ones were Meihong and her uncle, the real Fang Guohao. When Fang Guohao came aboard, he recognized the impostor as Iron Wire Snake Tian Sanxun, who had tormented him throughout their journey. Seeing him, how could he not beat this fallen enemy? After the beating, still unsatisfied, he threw Tian Sanxun into the sea. Meihong’s lips moved slightly as if to intervene, but ultimately she refrained. Tian Sanxun was too cunning—keeping him on board would invite unpredictable trouble. Turning to see Meng Jianqing sitting with eyes closed as if he’d seen nothing, she realized he must be thinking the same thing, which was why he hadn’t intervened. Meihong secretly sighed and stared at the lamplight in a daze.

Meanwhile, Uncle Yanfu transferred all the provisions and fresh water from the pirate ship, then adjusted the course to let the pirate vessel pass to their right. Uncle Yanfu jumped back to their ship and watched the empty pirate ship drift away ghostlike in the wind, clapping his hands and saying, “The sea has gained another ghost ship.”

In the vast night with fierce north winds, islands on the sea surface gradually became sparse as they approached the open ocean.

Meng Jianqing leaned against the cabin wall, observing Meihong and the others opposite him. “Where do you plan to go?”

Meihong gently stroked the dressing table, glanced at Meng Jianqing, and smiled, “You know very well I won’t obediently follow you to Xiaoxi Tian. What will you do now?”

Meng Jianqing asked in return, “With only these few people left, how will you manage the ship wherever you go?”

Meihong smiled without answering.

After pondering for a while, Meng Jianqing stood up, “Each person has their aspirations—I won’t force you. Have enough provisions and fresh water loaded onto a small boat for me. I’m leaving first.”

Meihong looked up at him in shock.

Though this was something she’d expected—how could Meng Jianqing possibly go with them?—hearing these words directly still struck her heart like a heavy blow, leaving her breathless for a moment before she managed to say, “Going back like this, will Monk Shen spare you? Taking one step outward means boundless freedom—why go back?”

Meng Jianqing smiled slightly, “Commander Shen is someone who keeps public and private matters separate. Besides, I’m not returning empty-handed.”

He turned to Fang Guohao, “These sixty-four iron chests are all numbered in red paint. I want chest number twenty-three. Elder Fang won’t object, will he? More precisely, what I want is something that should be in that chest. Since Elder Fang personally packed them, do you remember what was in chest twenty-three?”

Fang Guohao thought for a long time before saying hesitantly, “What Lieutenant Meng wants—could it be that Golden Lock Guanyin standing statue?”

The Dayun Sutra states that Guanyin once disguised herself as a courtesan, using her physical form to deliver all beings. Common people flocked to her frantically, but after a while, realizing the illusory nature of desire, their lust faded, shocking contemporary observers. After her death and burial by the riverside, a strange monk came from the Western Regions. Seeing this, he sighed and revealed the truth to the world. When people opened the coffin, they found her bones had transformed inch by inch into golden chain mail. From this enlightenment, they erected a Golden Lock Guanyin statue for eternal worship.

Later generations often dismissed this as a false sutra because the story was too absurd, but worshippers continued through the ages, believing this represented Guanyin’s true meaning of comprehending that “form is emptiness, emptiness is form.”

Meng Jianqing smiled, “Exactly. This Guanyin statue has Wu Zetian’s imperial mark of Fengxian Temple on its base. It was originally worshipped by generations at Xiaoxi Tian, but somehow ended up elsewhere. Xiaoxi Tian has always wanted to trace its whereabouts but lacked clues. If not for Elder Fang’s careful record-keeping, cataloguing everything during packing for Fang Guozhen’s future personal inspection, we never would have thought to look here.”

When Fang Guozhen surrendered to Ming, the situation was chaotic, and this ledger probably got mixed in with other submitted documents.

Meihong’s face turned suddenly pale. “You were actually after this Guanyin statue?”

Meng Jianqing watched her for a moment before answering, “Until you revealed it, I only knew your surname was Ke, but didn’t know your connection to the Fang family. I originally suspected your plan involved Chen Youliang.”

Meihong pressed urgently, “Then how did you know this Guanyin was in chest twenty-three? Surely you weren’t guessing?”

Meng Jianqing said, “I make it a habit to prepare thoroughly, to the fullest extent.”

Meihong silently watched him leave the cabin.

He and she were ultimately not people walking the same path.