Chapter 69

The sudden cessation of the attack stunned everyone. Tang Ruo reacted the fastest, having already put away her slingshot and jogging towards the shore. “Are you two all right?”

As the merman disappeared, the towering wall of water disintegrated in an instant, like dust. The resulting spray shot up several feet high, even reaching Jiang Liu’s side and drenching her unexpectedly.

As for the two figures who had been directly under the wall of water, it was even worse. Even without anyone controlling it, the immense force of the impact still sent them stumbling, and they fell face-first onto the sand.

Tang Rui, standing behind Jiang Liu, was soaked. He had been a bit annoyed, but after seeing the state of the two, he let out an ungracious chuckle.

Jiang Liu turned to look at him, and he immediately stifled his laughter, clearing his throat with a straight face and looking everywhere but at her.

Tang Ruo was quick-witted and helped the girl up first, patting the sand off her clothes. The boy on the other side also got up, spitting continuously, clearly having swallowed a lot of sand.

Jiang Liu had been pondering whether the merman’s departure had anything to do with the scale. But as the boy’s face was revealed, her fingers, which were stroking the scale, paused, and she couldn’t help but narrow her eyes slightly.

Her luck was truly interesting. It was another acquaintance.

Jiang He, dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, was dripping wet. He wiped his face with a look of disgust; clearly, the taste of sand was not pleasant.

Unlike the girl beside him, whose eyes were full of gratitude, he first looked at Tang Ruo defensively, his face wrinkling as he sized her up before cautiously asking, “Are you a player?”

In fact, their identities were almost discernible at a glance.

The girl beside him had healthy, wheat-colored skin and clear, dark eyes. Her long hair was braided into a complex style that hung by her ear, adorned with many red strings.

Her attire was the strangest, appearing half-retro, half-simple. Large swathes of gray fabric were mixed with sparse bits of color, hanging in layers from her pant legs and the hem of her top, completely different from their modern clothes.

Tang Ruo was also observing Jiang He. Hearing his question, she gave a cool nod. “Yes.”

She wasn’t a talkative person, especially with someone like Jiang He who wore his vigilance and defensiveness on his sleeve. She couldn’t be bothered to say another word.

Seeing her so cold, Jiang He cursed under his breath, seemingly a little annoyed as he shook the water off his body. Only then did he look up at the other two.

A smile played on Jiang Liu’s lips as she waved her hand. “We meet again, little friend Jiang He.”

The moment he heard this, Jiang He’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. He glared at Jiang Liu. “I’m not a little kid!”

Jiang Liu shrugged nonchalantly, not bothering to argue with him. Her gaze shifted to the strangely dressed girl, and she strode forward to greet her. “You must be Xiao Ya, right? My name is Jiang Liu. He called me here as a helper.”

Although she didn’t know how Jiang He had gotten so lucky as to run into the mission target right after entering, from their actions, Jiang Liu had already deduced their purpose for coming to the sea. She pointed at Jiang He with a familiar air.

Xiao Ya was indeed surprised. Her gaze lingered on the two of them for a moment, a hint of confusion in her eyes. “Are you his older sister?”

Jiang He frowned, but before he could explain, Jiang Liu had already cut in. “You could say that. Aren’t you trying to cross the sea? Let’s go together.”

She was beautiful, and even though she was soaked, it didn’t diminish her charm one bit. As she spoke, water droplets trickled down her hair, revealing her bright and sincere face behind them.

Xiao Ya felt a little embarrassed under her gaze and subconsciously looked away with a shy smile. “Won’t it be too much trouble for you?”

“No trouble at all. I also want to be blessed by the god of fortune so I can find my sister-in-law sooner!” Tang Rui chimed in, excitedly telling Xiao Ya.

Hearing that their destination was the same as hers, Xiao Ya was finally relieved. She smiled and said thank you.

Jiang Liu automatically ignored Jiang He’s complicated gaze and looked at Xiao Ya with composure. “How were you planning to get across?”

There were some scattered logs on the ground, which must have been freshly cut. Unfortunately, they were all soaked with seawater and lay heavily on the beach.

Xiao Ya looked extremely demure, her voice always soft and gentle. She pointed to Jiang He, who was standing by without a word. “We were planning to cut down trees and build a raft to cross the sea, but before we could finish, we ran into the Sea Demon.”

As she spoke, she patted her chest in fear. It was clearly her first time encountering such a creature, and she had been terrified.

Jiang Liu immediately chuckled, looking at Jiang He with a speechless and mocking expression. “This is the method you came up with? With a raft, forget about encountering a Sea Demon, any strong wind or wave would blow you away!”

Jiang He’s face turned shades of green and white at her words. Unwilling to show weakness, he retorted, “Then do you have a better idea?”

He had been thrown into a strange village as soon as he arrived, with only Xiao Ya by his side. He had thought it was a solo instance, so he had racked his brains to get them out of there quickly.

Seeing Jiang He’s exasperated look, Jiang Liu thought to herself that this kid had quite a temper. In that respect, he really was cut from the same cloth as Zhang Xiaochen.

She raised an eyebrow, her tone laced with a hint of provocation. “Come on, I’ll show you the power of modern technology.”

With that, she gave Tang Ruo a look, and the five of them temporarily left the area and returned to the camp.

Along the way, Tang Rui would occasionally approach Xiao Ya to ask for information. He learned that she had met Jiang He at the entrance of the village where she was preparing to set off.

She glanced cautiously at Jiang He, and seeing that he wasn’t paying attention to her, she lowered her voice. “He’s quite strange. As soon as we met, he asked my name and then offered to take me across the sea, without giving a reason.”

At the time, she had been startled, thinking that Jiang He was one of those child traffickers her parents had warned her about. She had been on guard all the way to the sea, only to run into the legendary monster.

After speaking, Xiao Ya hesitated for a moment, then couldn’t help but look at Jiang Liu. “Are you from outside the village? Your clothes all look so strange.”

Jiang Liu chuckled. “You could say that. By the way, do you have any clean clothes here?”

Xiao Ya nodded. Although she had met Jiang He first, his awkward personality made her feel a little strange, so now she felt closer to Jiang Liu and Tang Ruo, who were also girls.

She pointed in a direction. “I still have some at home. We can go back and get them.”

As they spoke, the group had already returned to the tent. The bonfire had not yet been extinguished, and the grilled fish hanging over it was slightly charred but far from burnt. An alluring aroma wafted from it, and a rumbling sound from a stomach reached Jiang Liu’s ears.

She tilted her head and saw Jiang He looking away, avoiding her gaze.

It seemed he had been hungry for a long time too.

Jiang Liu found it amusing but didn’t expose the little boy’s awkwardness, just gestured for everyone to sit down.

“I have a way to cross the sea. After we eat, we’ll go back to your house to prepare some things and then set off. Is that okay?”

Despite her disheveled state, Jiang Liu’s tone was always calm and composed, as if crossing the vast ocean was as easy as pie for her, without any panic or apprehension.

Listening to her unhurried arrangements, Xiao Ya, who had been dejected after being tormented by the Sea Demon before she could even set out, immediately perked up. Her large eyes widened as she nodded repeatedly. “Okay!”

Jiang He sneered at her words, speaking in a sarcastic tone, “As if you have a way.”

This wasn’t the real world. They were in an isolated village where people had barely seen a mobile phone. They were probably ancient people from some forgotten era. Conquering the vast ocean was not an easy task.

Hearing this, Jiang Liu and Tang Ruo both showed a subtle expression. Tang Rui held back a laugh and patted Jiang He’s shoulder. “Bro, look over there.”

“Who’s your bro…” Jiang He dodged his hand with disgust, but his body still honestly turned to look around. He immediately saw the speedboat docked not far from the shore, and he froze on the spot, his mouth agape, almost wide enough to fit a lightbulb.

Jiang Liu handed him a grilled fish and looked at her with a smile. “Convinced?”

Jiang He’s lips moved, and he looked at Jiang Liu as if he had seen a ghost, several question marks appearing above his head.

How on earth did she get this thing in this godforsaken place???

In front of him was a fragrant grilled fish, and not far away was a speedboat that could cross the sea in less than a day. Jiang He looked troubled, made a difficult choice, and finally decided to surrender to capital.

He forced a dry smile and gave Jiang Liu a thumbs-up. “Convinced. You’re the best, sis!”

He said it with sincerity, almost to the point of worshiping Jiang Liu.

Jiang He’s attitude changed in an instant. Just a moment ago, he was awkwardly unwilling to communicate with anyone, but now he was quickly chatting with Tang Rui. The two were of similar age and were always on the same wavelength.

Jiang Liu couldn’t help but shake her head.

The two of them didn’t have much of a grudge, other than the fact that he had been instructed by Chen Ping to kidnap Xu Meng to snatch the pass—and he hadn’t even succeeded.

She herself was magnanimous. Conflicts among players were normal. Plus, with their cooperation in the photo studio instance and her relationship with Zhang Xiaochen, she didn’t take this small conflict to heart.

Jiang He, on the other hand, looked tall and strong, but his mind was smaller than a sesame seed. He had been awkward in the photo studio and still hadn’t gotten over it.

He was still young, after all!

***

Xiao Ya’s home was in a nearby village. It was said to be nearby, but in reality, it took two hours just to walk there. When they arrived, everyone understood why she had to make this journey.

The village was made up of very old-style brick and mud houses. They looked gray and dusty from the outside, but the inside of her home was very tidy. Two ropes were stretched across the yard, with various dried and salted fish hanging from them.

A woman was sleeping soundly on the bed. Although it was the height of summer by the sea, she was still covered with a thick cotton quilt. Her face was as pale as a sheet of paper, and her lips were almost bluish-purple. At first glance, she looked no different from a dead person.

Xiao Ya sighed softly and forced a smile. “This is my mother. I don’t have money to get her treatment, so I wanted to try my luck on the Lucky Island.”

She walked over to help tuck in the quilt, then turned to find clothes for Jiang Liu, her steps heavy but firm.

Jiang Liu only needed one look to know that the woman was on her last legs, clearly not having many days left. If it weren’t for this, Xiao Ya probably wouldn’t have decided to take the risk.

She subconsciously pursed her lips and reached out to pull on Xiao Ya’s sleeve with a faint smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll find a way to cure her.”

Her voice was gentle and carried an unknown power, inexplicably reassuring.