Before Feng Jiu’er could ask anything further, two more brothers came up from below.

“Captain.” the newcomer said, cupping his hands toward the captain, who was still on his way down the steps.

“What’s going on?” Qiao Mu asked, seeing the man arrive in a hurry.

“General Qiao.” one of the brothers cupped his hands toward Qiao Mu, then lowered his head to look at Feng Jiu’er below.

“Miss Jiu’er, the captain had us ask around earlier to check on everyone’s situation, and we found out.”

“So far this morning, not a single ship has managed to catch any fish or shrimp.”

“It seems this stretch of water really does have a problem.” Xiao Yingtao said, frowning.

Suddenly — splash! — by the time everyone reacted, Feng Jiu’er’s figure had already vanished.

And Jian Yi, who had been standing nearby just moments ago, leaped forward and dove into the water as well.

“Jiu’er.” Xiao Yingtao frowned and started to move forward.

“With Jian Yi there, nothing will happen.” Qiao Mu stopped her.

No one said anything, all eyes fixed on the spot where Feng Jiu’er and Jian Yi had gone under.

Everyone’s expressions were tense, especially the captain and the other brothers.

With the prince away, it was their duty to protect Miss Jiu’er — they hadn’t expected that even something as simple as fishing would trouble her enough to dive in herself.

The captain took two deep breaths and started moving toward the water’s edge.

Seeing this, the other brothers reacted too — some turned, others hurried down the steps.

Before they could get into the water, Qiao Mu’s voice rang out again: “No need to go in. They’ll surface soon.”

The brothers looked back at Qiao Mu, their eyes still full of worry.

Fortunately, just as everyone hesitated, two figures suddenly burst up from the water.

Jian Yi, holding Feng Jiu’er’s hand, shot out of the water and carried her back onto the deck.

Though both were soaked through, it did nothing to diminish their good looks.

What’s more, in that moment of emerging from the water, both of them had remained calm and composed, moving with remarkable speed.

Jian Yi brought Feng Jiu’er up out of the water and landed steadily on the deck — without deep inner strength, this feat wouldn’t have been possible.

“Jiu’er, what’s the situation down there?” Xiao Yingtao asked, hurriedly taking off her own outer garment.

Feng Jiu’er glanced at her and waved a hand. “It’s fine, I’m not cold. Don’t ruin your clothes.”

“It’s just as everyone expected — down there, we didn’t see a single fish or shrimp either.”

“It seems this stretch of sea really has been tampered with.”

“Everyone, don’t worry for now. We don’t need to change course yet — let’s keep going a bit further and check the situation again.”

“Yes, Miss Jiu’er.” The captain came up from the platform, climbing the steps in large strides back to Feng Jiu’er.

“Miss Jiu’er, you should go change into dry clothes. It’s quite cold out today, don’t catch a chill.”

“Alright, go on and tend to your duties.” Feng Jiu’er waved a hand. “Oh, and have Feng Yinan come by.”

“Yes, Miss Jiu’er.” The captain cupped his hands and went to relay the order.

Jian Yi took Feng Jiu’er’s hand again and led her toward the cabin.

By the time Feng Jiu’er came out in fresh clothes, Feng Yinan was already waiting outside, along with Qiao Mu, Xiao Yingtao, and Xing Zizhou.

“Jiu’er.” Feng Yinan said softly, looking at Feng Jiu’er. “I went down to check, and this stretch of water really does have a problem.”

“Did you find anything?” Feng Jiu’er nodded.

“From what I can tell, this stretch of water has been tampered with — the fish and shrimp are too afraid to come near.” Feng Yinan said quietly.

Feng Yinan could communicate with small animals, which was exactly why Feng Jiu’er had wanted to see him.

“Jiu’er, I’ve already sent some brothers off in a small boat to check the nearby waters.” Xing Zizhou’s voice rang out.

Feng Jiu’er looked up at him and asked, “Where exactly are we now, relative to the coastline?”

“Li City.” Xing Zizhou answered softly. “Li City’s coastline has no high mountains, and its port is fairly developed.”

“We looked into it before — the entire coastline of Li City is walled, not suitable for landing.”

“Past Li City is Yue City, the last city we passed through. Its center is quite bustling.”

“The place we left, Black Land, used to be where poisonous creatures were bred. Later, an accident happened at the breeding ground and many of the poisonous creatures went missing.”

“Jiu’er, do you remember what happened when we passed through Black Land?”

“Of course.” Feng Jiu’er nodded.

Xing Zizhou nodded and continued, “We still don’t know the current situation in Black Land, but I believe the prince will send word soon.”

“According to the original plan, we still have three more days before we can land at the mountain range outside Black Land. I didn’t expect them to even tamper with the waters.”

“All the grain on the ship ran out yesterday. If we keep going and still can’t catch any fish, we’ll be going hungry for the next three or four days.”

“No.” Feng Jiu’er frowned slightly, shaking her head.

“They must have anticipated we’d pass through here — otherwise why would they tamper with the waters?”

“If the brothers go hungry for days and then run into an ambush on top of that, the consequences could be dire.”

“Jiu’er, so what should we do now?” Xiao Yingtao asked, pressing her lips together.

Feng Jiu’er glanced around at everyone, frowning slightly. “Where’s Zhao Yusheng? Why haven’t I seen him?”

“I saw him head back to his cabin.” Qiao Mu replied flatly.

“Feng Yinan, Xing Zizhou, keep an eye on the situation underwater. I’m going to find Zhao Yusheng and see if we can untangle this mystery.”

Feng Jiu’er left those words behind and turned, heading toward the cabin where Zhao Yusheng was resting.

Out in the corridor, everyone else dispersed as well.

Zhao Yusheng’s cabin door was not closed, and Feng Jiu’er stepped right in.

Xiao Yingtao and Qiao Mu followed, and Jian Yi, who arrived a step later, also entered the cabin.

Zhao Yusheng had a lot of belongings, and few people shared his cabin.

When everyone walked in, he was studying a compass on the table.

“What’s the situation?” Feng Jiu’er asked, striding up beside him.

She had been thinking — could this entire stretch of water have been set with a formation?

The Phoenix Clan’s formations were famous, and as for keeping fish and shrimp from approaching, Feng Jiu’er truly couldn’t think of any other good method the ancients might have used.

Seeing Zhao Yusheng pull out so many things, she felt even more certain of her guess.

“Jiu’er.” Zhao Yusheng glanced up, then let his gaze fall back to the compass on the table.

Feng Jiu’er came to stand beside him and stopped. “Finish what you’re doing first.”

Zhao Yusheng nodded, looked at the compass, flipped through a few pages of a book, then adjusted the compass again.

After a moment, he looked up to meet Feng Jiu’er’s gaze. “Jiu’er, if my calculations are correct, we’re currently inside a formation.”

“What formation is this?” Feng Jiu’er asked.

“This formation is called Wusheng.” Zhao Yusheng said, picking up the book and standing up. “Wusheng — meaning, without life.”