Chapter 105

Chapter 105: Lonely Island in the Sea
Dark. It was an extreme, endless black.

From the waist down, it felt like she was wrapped in some thick, half-liquid substance, along with a rotten smell.

Yu Zhao frowned, [Did the Teleportation Pearl send me into a pit of rotting corpses or a garbage heap? This smell is way too strong.]

She sealed off her sense of smell, glanced at Ji Han Zhou, who was half unconscious, and casually pushed a pill into his mouth.

Her divine sense spread out through the dark space.

Yu Zhao’s expression slowly turned strange.

People said the Teleportation Pearl sent you to a random place, but this was way too random. It had actually sent her and Ji Han Zhou into the belly of a sea beast.

Right now she should be in some area of the Nanming Sea.

Other than seawater, all around her were all kinds of strange underwater demonic beasts.

Some auras were strong, some weak, but they existed in a strangely peaceful balance.

Yu Zhao had first wanted to cut her way out of the sea beast’s belly, but when she sensed a faint, terrifying aura from the seabed, she dropped the idea at once.

Countless cultivators came to the Nanming Sea every year to hunt sea beasts, and many lives were also buried in this ocean.

Even Nascent Soul Old Fiends had to be very careful when they stepped into these waters.

No one knew whether what was buried in the deep sea were treasures left by predecessors or unknown giant beasts in the dark.

Thinking of her own life, Yu Zhao decided to stay quietly inside the sea beast’s stomach for now, observe for a while, and decide later.

The sea beast she was hiding in had a big head and a small tail, with a huge belly. Its body shape was even more exaggerated than that of a pregnant woman.

Maybe because of its large size, it had to eat again every short while.

Its way of eating was also special. It would find an area where small beasts gathered, open its mouth wide, and suck in fiercely.

The strong pull formed a whirlpool under the water, and all the small sea beasts inside the whirlpool were sucked into its belly.

This made things hard for Yu Zhao, who was stuck inside its stomach.

While she studied the surroundings, she also had to make time to deal with the other small sea beasts that entered the stomach and were not yet dead.

The only good news was that in order to get enough food, this sea beast had to keep swimming around the sea, letting Yu Zhao see farther places.

After a few days, she finally waited for a chance to escape.

A stretch of reef appeared not far ahead, less than about thirty feet from the sea beast.

If it kept going forward, there was a desolate little island ahead.

Yu Zhao had never missed the feeling of standing on solid ground so much.

She held down her excitement, rubbed her fists, and waited. As soon as the sea beast came close to that area, she would take Ji Han Zhou and break out.

However, joy turned to sorrow.

After swimming forward for only a few feet, the sea beast seemed to realize that the way ahead was not good for hunting. It suddenly turned around and swam the other way.

Yu Zhao stared in shock.

She had finally found a small island. If she did not hurry up and land, who knew where the sea beast would carry her next.

She absolutely could not miss this chance to get ashore.

She raised her hand and set up a defensive shield around herself. Then she poured spirit power into her feet and stomped hard, her whole body shooting forward like a sharp arrow as she slammed into the sea beast’s stomach wall.

Bang! The slowly swaying sea beast’s body suddenly stiffened.

Bang, bang, bang! Its stomach churned wildly, and it could not stand it anymore. It opened its mouth wide and spewed out a mass of half-digested food.

There were small fish with only half their bodies left, shellfish with rotten shells, and also… a light blue ring of light?

The sea beast stared blankly as the ring of light flew away. Then it looked back, opened its mouth again, and sucked all the things it had spat out back into its stomach.

Feeling a heavy sense of fullness, it swam away in satisfaction.

Yu Zhao broke through the surface of the sea and saw how the sea beast ate. She sucked in a sharp breath and almost threw up from disgust.

She shook her head, forced herself to forget the scene just now, and pulled Ji Han Zhou down onto a stretch of beach.

The yellow sand shone with a golden light under the sun, and Yu Zhao’s mood lifted with it.

She laid Ji Han Zhou flat on a patch of grass and sat down beside him. Letting out a long breath, she rubbed her brow in exhaustion.

Ever since she had snuck into the Clear Breeze Sect that night, her mind had never relaxed for a moment. Now she could finally let herself rest for a little while.

But Yu Zhao was not someone who could sit still.

Once she felt her strength had mostly recovered, she stood up and checked the little island inside and out.

The island was about the same size as Nanming City. Its resources were not rich. There were only some simple flowers, grass, and trees, and she could not find a single thing that held spiritual energy. No wonder almost no one came here.

Since she was here, she might as well stay.

Thinking of the Nascent Soul Old Fiend who was still chasing her all over the world, Yu Zhao felt that hiding on this small island to wait out the storm was not a bad choice.

She checked Ji Han Zhou’s injuries. After making sure there was no big problem, she found a reef, sat cross-legged, and quietly watched the waves rise and fall. It felt almost like a peaceful scene of time flowing by.

After about half a stick of incense, Yu Zhao stood back up. This way of resting did not seem to suit her.

Right then, something glowing flashed at the edge of her vision on the surface of the sea.

Looking carefully, she saw it was a silver fish as long as her arm, drifting with the waves.

She instantly remembered the delicious food she had tasted on the third floor of the Merfolk Pavilion.

Even though her storage space still held many delicacies she had bought from the Merfolk Pavilion, food cooked by others could not compare to the freshness of something she caught herself.

Yu Zhao’s eyes lit up, and she smiled so wide that her eyes curved.

…

When Ji Han Zhou woke up, his mind was still a little hazy.

He stared up at the sky in a daze for a long time before his awareness slowly returned.

Thinking of the dangerous scene before he had passed out, he sat up suddenly and called out, “Elder Sister!”

Not far away, a young woman’s clear voice drifted over: “Awake?”

She added, “There is food in the lunchbox in front of you. If you are hungry, eat by yourself.”

Ji Han Zhou stared blankly at Yu Zhao’s back as she sat on a reef and fished with a rod. He pouted in grievance.

[Is a living person like me really not as important as fishing?]

He opened the food box with a wronged look, picked up a fried meatball with the same wronged look, and ate it, still feeling wronged. Then tears streamed down his face. [So good.]

Ji Han Zhou brightened up and asked, “Elder Sister, did you make this yourself? It is so tasty!”

Yu Zhao answered in a bland voice without even turning her head: “Bought it in Nanming City.”

Ji Han Zhou chewed on the meatball in his mouth and suddenly felt it was not that tasty anymore.

Seeing that Yu Zhao was lost in fishing and could not pull herself away, he gave up on trying to chat with her and sat down obediently to meditate and adjust his breathing.

Most of his injuries had healed, but he still needed some time to fully recover.

Ji Han Zhou closed his eyes and silently recited his sect’s mental technique, but as he chanted, his thoughts drifted away.

The scene of Yu Zhao appearing in the cave like a heavenly soldier to save him from danger stayed in his mind.

Later, Yu Zhao had taken him out of the cave alive and again helped him escape from the Nascent Soul Old Fiend’s pursuit. Counting it all, he already owed Yu Zhao three lives.

He thought, [A life-saving favor should be repaid with your whole life. Yu Zhao has saved me three times. How am I supposed to pay her back?]