"Lintong, come aboard with me. Let’s take a look."
A moment later, Lu Yun pointed to a cargo ship moored at the dock up ahead.
The vessel was massive, its hull painted a deep gray and its smokestack towering high. It sat quietly at a dedicated deep-water berth, a stark contrast to the surrounding wooden boats and junks that relied on sails or manpower.
It was one of the third-batch, coal-burning steam freighters produced by the Daxia Xin Guo Shipyard.
Lu Yun had paid a king’s ransom for this ship back in the day, spending a full one million silver dollars!
That enormous sum had depleted nearly a quarter of the Lu Family’s liquid assets at the time.
To this day, with its high operating costs, the political instability, and fluctuating shipping profits, they still hadn’t fully recovered the cost.
The Lu Family owned five ships in total. Four were traditional, large sailing vessels that mainly plied the coastal and inland river routes, keeping costs relatively low.
This steam-powered giant, however, was the flagship and centerpiece of the Lu Family fleet. It was primarily responsible for the more profitable long-haul voyages or bulk cargo shipments that demanded speed and high capacity.
It was the very foundation of the Lu Family’s ability to compete in the higher echelons of commerce.
The last time, when Lu Jingteng met with his incident, it was on this very ship.
It had been during an incredibly important and lucrative deal for the Lu Family, involving a high-value shipment of rare timber and spices from the Southern Ocean.
Therefore, Lu Jingteng, as the current chairman, had decided to personally oversee the transport to show how much he valued the deal.
He also brought most of the elite members of the Lu Family’s fleet and security detail to ensure everything went off without a hitch.
Who could have known that on the return journey, such a bizarre incident would occur as they passed through the waters of Ghost Wail Ridge.
Lu Yun casually flicked the butt of his cigarette into the river, watching the red ember swiftly die in the murky water.
Leaning on his Rosewood Walking Stick, he began walking toward the steam freighter at a slow, deliberate pace.
Seeing this, Yan Lintong hurried to catch up, signaling to the men on the ship.
On the freighter’s deck, five or six guards in Lu Family uniforms stood watch, pistols holstered at their waists.
From a distance, they saw Lu Yun and Yan Lintong approaching. The moment someone recognized Lu Yun, they all snapped to attention, straightening their postures.
One of them quickly ran down the gangway to receive them.
"Greetings, honored Chairman! Mr. Yan!" the guard said, saluting respectfully.
Lu Yun gave a slight nod and stepped directly onto the wide gangway connecting the dock to the freighter.
Once Lu Yun was on deck, Yan Lintong immediately scurried forward.
Yan Lintong then went to a relatively open space in the middle of the deck and began to gesticulate wildly.
"Master, I’m telling you, it happened right here! Right around this very spot!"
He pointed at the wooden deck beneath his feet, which was worn smooth and shiny from seawater and foot traffic. "The wind and waves were high that night, but our ship was steady. The Young Master was standing right here, using his binoculars to watch the river. He was giving orders, trying to get us through that patch of fog as fast as possible."
Yan Lintong straightened his back, mimicking Lu Jingteng’s posture. He made a fist with one hand, as if holding a pair of binoculars.
He waved his other hand forward, pantomiming the act of giving a command.
The next moment, reenacting the scene, Yan Lintong’s body suddenly lurched, and his expression instantly became one of "terror" and "rigidity."
After reenacting the scene, he quickly explained.
"’It was like something spooked the Young Master. The binoculars fell from his hands—CLATTER!—and he just fell straight back, stiff as a board!’"
"’We were all stunned. We rushed over to catch the Young Master.’"
"’But when we touched him, he was cold as ice! He wouldn’t respond, no matter how much we shouted!’"
"’And that’s when we all faintly heard... this sound. It was like women and children crying, mixed in with the wind and the waves. It came from over there, and it was enough to make your skin crawl!’"
Yan Lintong finally stood still and looked at Lu Yun, his voice laced with lingering fear. "Master, that place... Ghost Wail Ridge... it’s truly cursed! The Young Master was so strong and healthy, but he was struck down just like that."
"Hmm?"
Lu Yun listened to Yan Lintong’s account, his eyes sweeping across the deck. He found no obvious, lingering signs of anything unusual.
"Is the coal on the ship ready?"
Yan Lintong was stunned by the sudden and seemingly unrelated question, but he recovered in an instant.
"Master, rest assured! It’s all ready!"
Yan Lintong puffed out his chest and answered, "According to the regulations of the Lu Family fleet, after every unloading, and before we prepare for a return trip or a new voyage, we always stock up on steam coal ahead of time."
"We make sure we’re ready to set sail at a moment’s notice. The ship’s coal bunkers are full right now!"
"Excellent. Go find the captain, the essential crewmen, and the veteran sailors. We... are going to Ghost Wail Ridge. Now."
A chill went down Yan Lintong’s spine. Though he didn’t know what his master intended to do there, he didn’t dare hesitate. "Yes, Master! I’ll make the arrangements at once! Brother Huang and the others should be at the dock office or in the dorms!"
For a behemoth like this steam-powered giant, every startup and voyage consumed an astonishing amount of coal.
This meant that a massive amount of money was being spent, flowing away like water from a breached dam.
’But in Lu Yun’s mind, as long as he could find the true form of that "ghostly thing," any investment, no matter how great, would be worth it.’
’Modified value was the real "hard currency" on his path to longevity and higher Realms.’
As for the waters of Ghost Wail Ridge, Lu Yun was as familiar with them as the back of his hand.
When he founded the Lu Family Trading Company back in the day, he had been the one to personally escort the ships and pioneer the trade routes.
His freighters had passed through that section of the river many times. As he recalled, the currents there were a bit rough, the river’s center was full of hidden whirlpools, and the fog was thicker than elsewhere, but he had never encountered anything like what had happened to Lu Jingteng.
Moreover, Lu Yun knew secrets that the common boatmen, and even most citizens of Yun Port City, were unaware of.
It was a horrific tragedy that had occurred thirty-one years ago, just after the fall of the Yin Dynasty, when the Daxia New Country had yet to fully consolidate its power.
Back then, after the forces of the Western Countries defeated the Yin Dynasty, they expanded wantonly along the coast and into the interior, plundering, burning, and killing. They committed every evil imaginable.
And the Wa Country, right on their doorstep and nursing wolfish ambitions, was naturally not to be left behind.
Their armies took advantage of the power vacuum and defenseless state of Yun Port City to make a brazen landing, committing innumerable, monstrous atrocities within the city and its surrounding towns.
To cover up their atrocities and dispose of the mountains of bodies, the Wa Country devils devised an exceptionally cruel method.
They transported the massive number of corpses by boat to a spot in the middle of the river outside Yun Port City—a place with swift currents, hidden whirlpools, and little boat traffic.
This was the very place now known as Ghost Wail Ridge. There, they simply dumped the bodies into the river to feed the fish!
For a time, that stretch of the river was stained red. Corpses bobbed on the surface and sank into the depths, attracting swarms of carnivorous fish. The scene was a veritable hell on earth.
The Wa Country devils vainly hoped that the river’s current and the gnawing fish would completely destroy the evidence, erasing all traces of their savagery.
The whole affair was kept extremely secret at the time. The Wa Country devils moved quickly, and in the chaos of war, everyone feared for their own lives. People felt lucky just to have survived; who would dare investigate what was floating in the middle of the river?
Over time, this bloody Chapter of history was gradually forgotten, leaving behind only the name: Ghost Wail Ridge.

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