Chapter 162: Pirates Attack

Usually surrounded by powerful experts, he dared not summon the phantom casually. Today, taking advantage of everyone being exhausted and fast asleep, and encountering such a rare and tranquil night, it was the perfect opportunity to test the might of these two new skills.

Near the ship's railing, several wooden crates were stacked. Yu Mu knew this was a lookout and alert post, and that unlucky fellow became the target for tonight's test.

Yu Mu manipulated the phantom to slowly approach, only to find that there was no movement whatsoever over there.

He could not help muttering to himself: 'Could this sentry have secretly drunk some wine, gotten drunk, and fallen asleep?'

Yu Mu approached further, and suddenly started in shock. A suffocating aura of death emanated from behind the wooden crates. The phantom swiftly flew over to take a look, and sure enough, a corpse was slumped behind the crates.

The spiritual energy of the corpse had not yet completely dissipated, obviously having met its demise only a short while ago.

The surrounding sea was boundless, protected by a grand formation, and ordinary cultivators simply could not get in. Clearly, this was the work of someone on board.

'However, who would want to harm a sentry?' Yu Mu was utterly baffled and unable to figure it out.

If it were for murder and robbery, the passengers' valuables were all in the guest cabins; there was no need to come and kill a sentry here.

Could it be a personal vendetta?

To uncover the truth, Yu Mu flew towards another lookout point. Before even getting close, Yu Mu already knew that the sentry here had also fallen victim to a sneak attack.

He immediately realized that the situation was not as simple as he had imagined!

After circling the perimeter of the ship's rail, sure enough, every single sentry had been silently and seamlessly killed! The Taidake had become an undefended vessel.

Under such circumstances, there was only one possible explanation!

The phantom rushed swiftly toward the bow. Straining his eyes to look ahead, sure enough, amidst the thick fog, more than a dozen ships of varying sizes were slowly approaching.

Yu Mu was terribly panicked. Without even having time to recall the phantom, he urgently shouted, "An Shu, external enemies are invading! Protect Xiao Qing well."

Immediately afterward, he had already flown out of the room, charging straight into the captain's quarters.

Captain Wu Weijian had drunk quite a bit of wine tonight and caroused with everyone until deep into the night; he was already exhausted and sleeping soundly at this moment.

Hearing someone burst in, he was instantly jolted awake, leaped up swiftly, and bellowed, "Who goes there?"

At the same time, he had already assumed a defensive posture.

Seeing that the intruder was Yu Mu, he was immediately astonished and cried out, "Eh? Why is it you? What happened?"

Yu Mu said urgently, "There are invading enemies ahead, and all the sentries on the ship have been murdered."

"Ah—!"

Amidst the gasp of shock, Wu Weijian immediately dashed to the observation deck, took out a cylindrical magical artifact, held it to his eyes, and looked ahead. His expression changed drastically in an instant.

He hurriedly returned to the captain's quarters and waved his hand. All the plugs of the voice tubes were pulled open at once, and then he shouted into a tube, "Enemy attack alarm! All hands to your stations. Engage the reverse propulsion array and retreat at full speed."

Having said that, he pulled out a horn and blew into it.

Woo—woo! Woo!

One long and two short—three blasts of the horn.

Instantly, countless figures flew out from various cabin levels, gathering toward the bow. The ordinary crew members and sailors also quickly returned to their respective posts. Although these people were hurried, they were not chaotic, showing that they were usually well-trained.

At the same time, the control room, having received the command, had already activated the formation, and the ship rapidly retreated backwards at high speed.

Bang—

The door was pushed open once more. Jiang Feng, still adjusting his garments, broke into the room in a hurried rush.

"What happened?"

When he followed the gazes of Yu Mu and Wu Weijian, he no longer needed an answer. At this moment, seeing that their target had been alerted, the enemy ships immediately abandoned all concealment and sailed toward the Taidake at full speed.

A brilliant divine light flashed in Jiang Feng's eyes as he said, "I will personally go and operate the defensive grand formation."

Wu Weijian was overjoyed. "That's wonderful! Preventing the enemy from breaching the defensive barrier is of utmost importance right now. With you presiding over the formation, I can go all out to meet the enemy."

Jiang Feng turned and departed. Wu Weijian then said to Yu Mu, "Brother Wang Shi, your kindness in giving this warning today is as heavy as a mountain to the Taidake. Such great kindness is something I, Wu, will surely repay in the future. However, there is still one matter I must trouble you to assist with, Brother."

"Brother Wu is too polite. Just name whatever you need me to do."

"To silently and stealthily assassinate all the sentries, there must be an enemy spy on board. Judging by the enemy's aggressive momentum, they are certainly not here for the ordinary passengers' belongings. I suspect the enemy's target must be among the VIPs. Therefore, I ask you, Brother, to gather all the other VIPs together to prevent them from being ambushed."

"Alright—" Yu Mu readily agreed.

"Wait—"

"Is there anything else?"

Wu Weijian said coldly, "Until the internal traitor is eliminated, troubles will be endless. If possible, I hope Brother can help me pull out this thorn. Here—take my command token; you can mobilize anyone on the ship at will."

"Alright—"

Taking the command token and stepping out of the captain's quarters, the first person Yu Mu sought was the burly man, Bai Dong.

Dong, dong, dong—

The knocking sounded, but there was no response from within the room. Yu Mu pushed the door, only to find it unlocked.

A jolt of alarm went through Yu Mu's heart, and he swiftly slipped inside. Bai Dong's room was completely empty, and even the wooden crate that held the corpse had vanished!

Yu Mu ran out of the room and came to the door of elderly Granny She Jinhua opposite.

"Granny She—Little Xin'er—"

Little Xin'er was the young boy Granny She was looking after, who was also her grandson.

The room was dead silent. When Yu Mu pushed the door, it was similarly unlocked. Stepping inside, the room was likewise completely devoid of people.

Yu Mu was greatly alarmed and immediately sprinted toward several other rooms.

To Yu Mu's utter astonishment, these rooms were all exactly the same. Everyone had vanished into thin air, completely silently and without a trace.

Yu Mu felt his scalp tingle with terror. Could they have run into ghosts?

What on earth could have happened to make everyone vanish without a trace simultaneously? And without even a hint of a warning.

Lost in deep thought, a look of horror suddenly appeared on his face, and he dashed toward his own room like lightning.

"Ouch—An Shu, it's me!" The moment Yu Mu entered the room, he crashed straight into the Nine Dragons Barrier set up by An Shu.

Though the collision left him dizzy and his head spinning, his heart was overwhelmed with joy.

"Yu Mu? Why are you back again? What on earth happened outside?"

An Shu was holding a crystal ball, manipulating more than a dozen tornadoes to stand guard before the room. The dragon maiden was also on full alert, standing nearby.

When Yu Mu saw that the two of them were safe and sound, the heavy stone in his heart finally dropped, and he recounted the whole affair from beginning to end.

Upon hearing it, An Shu also turned pale with fright and said, "Could the traitor have abducted everyone without a sound?"

"That's impossible! Not to mention the others, just Wang Fugui's two bodyguards alone are Essence Infant experts. Who would have such capability?"

An Shu pondered slightly, then suddenly exclaimed, "Could the traitor be him?"

"Ah—!?" Yu Mu nodded. "That is indeed possible. But regardless of who the traitor is, encountering such an event, we cannot stand by idly either."

An Shu nodded and said, "Of course. What do you think we should do?"

"The defensive array hasn't shown any signs of damage yet; these people must still be on the ship. Let's go—let's look for them together." Having said that, he recalled the phantom from outside the window and stepped out of the room.

Leaving the two women alone in the room was no longer safe at this point; it was better for the three of them to stick together and look out for one another.

Once outside, Yu Mu did not first look for the missing people, but instead entered the captain's quarters once again. Wu Weijian was no longer in the room; at this moment, he was locked in a standoff with the incoming enemies.

Although the Taidake possessed matchless speed, it was moving backward after all, and having just weighed anchor, its speed had not yet picked up. Therefore, within a short while, it was overtaken by the enemy ships and surrounded.

"Who are you people, and what is your intention? Are you trying to plunder my Taidake?" Wu Weijian stood with his hands behind his back, coldly sweeping his gaze over the bandits before him.

"Hmph—" The enemy bandit leader opposite him gave a cold snort and said, "We are not here to rob your ship. I am looking for a person from you. As long as you hand that person over, we will turn around and leave immediately. Otherwise—hmph, hmph!"

The moment Yu Mu sensed the aura emanating from this person, he was profoundly shocked. This person's cultivation realm was actually on par with Wu Weijian's; no wonder they dared to come and raid the Taidake.

"Oh—?" Wu Weijian could not help asking in astonishment, "What kind of person are you looking for?"

"It's a merchant on your ship. He stole something of mine. Although the item is not precious, it is a cherished possession of mine. Therefore, as long as you hand this person over, I guarantee I won't touch a hair of your ship."

Not even a ghost would believe such words from this person. Causing such a massive commotion, how could it be for just an ordinary item?

'A merchant!'

Upon hearing this, Yu Mu immediately thought of the wealthy merchant Wang Fugui. Yet his mind became even more chaotic—could it be that Wang Fugui wasn't a traitor, but rather the target of these bandits?

If not him, then who could it be? The other merchant, Dong Qian? Yet no matter how he looked at it, Dong Qian did not seem like someone who could become a target for these people.

Could a mortal hold something that a Void Amalgamation stage expert needed? That was simply too incredible.