As Zhou Qing returned to the cabin, Luo Lingling slowly opened her eyes: "I suddenly discovered a problem?"

"What?" Zhou Qing turned to look at her.

"Logically, a large merchant guild like Duobao Trading House should have a complete sound insulation restriction when transporting live goods."

Luo Lingling sat up straight, her eyes under the mask flashing with gleams, "But ever since we boarded, this Demon Beast has been making noise, and..."

She raised a finger: "The call is too regular. The tone and rhythm are almost identical, like it's repeating loops of sounds."

"It's a pity I don't understand beast language, otherwise I might have been able to discern more clues."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qing was startled. After careful recollection, his expression changed slightly: "Indeed..."

"Shall I go take a look?" he hesitated.

Luo Lingling immediately shook her head: "First rule of the Gou Dao Law is: curiosity killed the cat. Never—"

"Don't worry," Zhou Qing interrupted her, "I won't alert anyone."

With that, he stood in the center of the room, facing the direction of the ship's bottom, slowly closing his eyes.

Under Luo Lingling's puzzled gaze, when Zhou Qing opened his eyes again, his originally clear eyes suddenly transformed, each gaining a blood-red pupil.

And within the depths of those blood-red pupils, the faint shadow of an all-black spider appeared and disappeared.

That spider's eight legs stretched to the sky, its head raised in a scream, ancient runes densely covering its body and flowing endlessly.

As its eight long legs trembled slightly, more strands of eerie aura seeped from its body, merging into Zhou Qing's line of sight.

"What is this..." Luo Lingling instinctively stepped back, even with her experience, she had never seen such a bizarre pupil technique.

At this moment, with the aid of the Double Pupils, Zhou Qing's sight began to penetrate layers of decks.

The first layer was a regular cargo hold, filled with boxes; the second layer began to have restrictions, but to the Double Pupils, they seemed non-existent; the third layer...

"Ugh—" Zhou Qing suddenly groaned, blood vessels appearing in the corners of his eyes.

The deeper he looked, the stronger the barrier for Divine Sense restrictions became, with each layer like an invisible wall needing to be forcibly pierced through with Spiritual Power.

The fourth layer... The fifth layer...

Intense pain spread from his eyes to his temples, as if thousands of steel needles were churning in his brain.

But Zhou Qing gritted his teeth, continuing to look downward.

Finally, after penetrating the seventh layer of decking, he saw five black-robed figures sitting cross-legged at the center of an array, each having a black Array Flag floating before them.

And in their midst was a resonating conch the size of a human head, the deafening beast roar emanating from it!

"A conch? How is this possible!" Zhou Qing incredulously examined it again, confirming there was nothing else, filled with puzzlement.

Why expend so much manpower and resources, travel thousands of miles to the Imperial City, just to transport a resonating conch?

This item could easily fit into a Storage Bag.

"Are you okay?" Seeing Zhou Qing's pupils returning to normal, staggering backward, Luo Lingling hurriedly stepped forward to support him.

Zhou Qing rubbed his aching eyes, whispering: "It's nothing, just excessive Spiritual Power depletion."

He then truthfully recounted what he saw to his senior sister.

After hearing, Luo Lingling's expression immediately turned solemn, pacing back and forth in the cabin, one hand under her chin.

Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks, eyes glimmering: "I understand!"

At that moment, Zhou Qing also had an epiphany, the two speaking in unison: "Mingxiu plank road, secret passage through the warehouse!"

"This Cloud Whale is nothing but a decoy," Luo Lingling said in a low voice, "The real treasure has probably been transported through another route. To confuse others, the resonating conch was deliberately used to create a facade."

Zhou Qing nodded slightly, speaking in a deep voice, "It's understandable for the merchant vessel to make beast noises while docking, but continuing for so long is too deliberate. These sounds are likely signals specifically for the spies aboard."

"It seems this journey is far from peaceful." Luo Lingling sighed lightly, worry appearing between her brows.

Zhou Qing smiled wryly and shook his head: "I thought I had caught a ride, didn't expect it to be a turbulent trip."

Luo Lingling looked at Zhou Qing, stepping forward: "Logically, since we know there's danger, we should decisively withdraw early. But you urgently need Wood Attribute Spirit Stones..."

Zhou Qing also hesitated, as now every Wood Attribute Spirit Stone was of utmost value to him.

Seeing his expression, Luo Lingling understood, speaking softly: "Then let's just wait and see. No one is foolish, sometimes over-calculating leads to missteps, and perhaps the bait is already recognized."

She paused, then comforted: "Even if we encountered robbers, they would likely be after cargo, not us."

"With your current cultivation, it should be easy for us to escape."

Zhou Qing's expression lightened slightly, nodding: "Agreed, let's wait and see. If the situation changes, we'll make decisions as necessary."

......

Meanwhile, at the other side of the cabin, Zou Lun abruptly opened his eyes.

He took out a Jade Scroll map to examine closely, a cold smile playing on his lips as he rose and whispered: "The time has come."

He then pushed open the cabin door, heading straight to the core of the array deep within the ship.

After descending several floors, he immediately bumped into Jin Mantang, who was about to leave.

"Master Zou, where are you headed?" Jin Mantang greeted respectfully.

The Duobao Trading House, across the Eight Prefectures and Seventy-Two Mansions of the Holy Martial Dynasty, has thirty-five branches, but has only recruited Zou Lun, a second-level Array Master, stationed at the Imperial City's headquarters.

This time, when the Cloud Whale was damaged and docked at Yaoguang Mansion, Master Zou came to visit the area, volunteering to assist in repairs and conveniently hitching a ride back.

Though Jin Mantang was grateful, he dared not overly trouble this key figure of the headquarters, hence he additionally recruited Array Masters.