Chapter 67 Sea Storm "The sky seems to have shattered... This..."

It's something I should have understood.

A salty sea breeze blew in, a stark contrast to its previous gentleness, blowing the boy's hair into disarray. His disheveled hair couldn't conceal his beautiful golden eyes, their luster as fine as grains of salt, filled with bewilderment and doubt.

All that remained was the sound of the waves lapping against the shore, and an extremely faint heartbeat. Thump, thump, growing louder and louder until it was deafening to her, uttering a monologue with indistinct words. The words weren't actually indistinct, but Shen Lixia herself refused to listen.

She lowered her eyes and stopped speaking. Seeing her like this, Simmons sighed and said, "Don't you already have the answer in your heart?"

She felt the atmosphere between the two from the beginning was strange, but Shen Lixia was a straightforward person, so she assumed that the two might have received the same teacher, and therefore their relationship was closer than with Tang Huairou.

The boy was fierce and righteous towards others, but towards Qiao Yanshen, he was more like the sun taking the initiative to approach, carefully and at the same time trying his best to radiate heat and bring comforting warmth.

"A curse is possession, causing you to be restless day and night, even to the point of demonic possession," Simmons stared at Shen Lixia, "but do you harbor any infatuation with your senior sister? Fellow Daoist, there is a kind of delusion in this world called—"

Before she could finish speaking, Shen Lixia stopped her with a gesture. The confusion had faded; the young man shook his head and said softly, "You're right, I know. But I'm not sure yet..."

Simmons thought to herself, "Why are you all so awkward? You can't even say 'I like you'?" She had traveled all over the world her whole life. Although she had left the Buddhist order, she had also cut off all worldly desires and delusions. She had never felt any attraction to anyone. She had only learned about love and romance from storybooks or gossip to pass the time, and she felt that these were all trivial matters to her.

Seeing Shen Lixia's fingers twisted together as if she were afraid of a cold rejection from the person at the bow of the boat, the woman leaned against the edge of the boat, thought for a moment, and comforted her, "Fellow Daoist, there's no need to worry about being rejected. Matters of the heart can only be let go after facing them directly..."

“No, no.” Shen Lixia shook her head. “...If I only like her because she’s nice to me, without ever trying to understand what she’s thinking, wouldn’t that be too cheap?”

I didn't want to give her such cheap and shallow affection.

If it's Qiao Yanshen, then it deserves the best, the most carefully considered, and the gentlest affection. It shouldn't be an ambiguous infatuation, nor a decision made on a whim.

Simmons sighed again. She knew that Shen Lixia was like this: usually she seemed carefree and straightforward, but once she set her mind on something, she would become stubbornly crazy and no one could persuade her to change her mind. She went to extremes in her love and hate.

Since she has made up her mind to think things through, even if the next moment a bolt of lightning strikes the sky and she has to choose between being struck to death or confessing her feelings to Qiao Yanshen, she will firmly choose the former.

"Do you want to be someone important to her?" Simmons asked.

Shen Lixia paused for a moment, then smiled with her eyes crinkling.

"I already am." The sunlight shone down, making her radiant smile even more dazzling. "She is also a very important person to me."

After a long pause, she seemed to remember something and added, "Don't tell anyone. I don't want people to look at her differently and associate us with each other."

“Of course.” Simmons shrugged. “If you don’t tell me tomorrow, I’m afraid I’ll forget about it in a couple of days.”

That's a bit of an exaggeration, but it really is a matter between the two of them, and Simmons won't make a fuss or stir things up because of it.

Shen Lixia breathed a sigh of relief, seemingly feeling much more at ease after speaking out. She regained her composure as usual and chatted with Xi Mengsi while looking at the sea.

After admiring the seascape, the two looked up at the sky, only to discover that the previously calm sky, which seemed to merge seamlessly with the sea, had suddenly become covered with thick clouds. These clouds then broke into countless pieces, as if sliced ​​apart by a cold, winding wave, with each piece pressing down with a heavy, dim light.

At this moment, the sea and sky no longer merge, but the sky is like a mirror image of the sea, with broken clouds becoming tiny waves.

On the other side, Qiao Yanshen sat at the bow of the boat, controlling it with his eyes closed, while simultaneously diverting his divine sense into his sea of ​​consciousness.

The demonic energy that had vanished from her hands during the previous battle in the Southern Kingdom was absorbed into her sea of ​​consciousness and enveloped. She was extremely weak, her cultivation completely dissipated, with only a sliver of her consciousness remaining dormant. Qiao Yanshen had learned to control that wisp of dark blue "demonic energy" without being taught, and found that it seemed to have a suppressive effect on this demon, so he was relieved and waited for the other party to wake up to continue the interrogation.

At this moment, the demon's lingering will awakened. After a conversation, she learned that the other party was trapped in her sea of ​​consciousness, and only established a one-sided mental connection. Therefore, she could sense the changes in the other party's thoughts and emotional fluctuations, but the other party seemed to be trapped in a narrow space, tightly bound, and could only receive what she allowed the other party to see.

This overwhelming suppression made Qiao Yanshen even more vigilant about the demonic energy within his body. He used it while being extremely careful to control it, lest it be eroded.

"What's your name?" Qiao Yanshen asked in his mind.

The woman remained silent for a moment. She had been extremely reluctant before, but when she spoke again, she had regained her previous casual tone, "Chi."

Tell me what you know about Luochuan.

The other person chuckled. "Then can you let me out?"

Qiao Yanshen's voice also carried a hint of amusement as he said gently, "It depends on whether you want to go out or not."

She feigned indifference to further conversation and unleashed her demonic energy. A sense of oppression washed over her, and her previously composed voice seemed to be provoked, revealing a hint of terror. This terror wasn't even subjective; it was instinctive, emanating from the depths of her soul.

“I was seriously injured and slept for a long time. I don’t remember when I started to exist. When I woke up, Luochuan had collapsed and become the legendary River Styx. But I remember that Luochuan is not only the river of death, but also the river of life. Even the star bodies formed by the Heavenly Dao must be baptized by Luochuan before they are allowed to come into the world.”

As he listened to her narration, Qiao Yanshen slightly opened his eyes, his gaze falling on his palm.

It was as if these hands had been immersed in icy water, scooping up a small, weak flame from the ceaseless flow of water.

She didn't remember if anyone else had drifted across the water before her, but she knew that she had personally retrieved this small ball of fire, which flickered like a newborn bird.

The fire nestled in her palm, its life-giving energy pulsating like a rapid, steady heartbeat. Joy flowed from her fingertips along with the warmth, sending a tingling sensation through her heart. She murmured softly:

"I understand, I understand. You wanted to come into this world, you wanted to live..."

"Is this also your memory?" Qiao Yanshen asked in his heart, his fingertips trembling slightly.

No one answered her; there was only silence and the ghost's tentative question—"Can you let me out first, and then we can talk?"

"If that's the condition, then I'd better just kill you completely." The softness in his eyes faded, and Qiao Yanshen said coldly in his mind.

Chi completely gave up on the idea of ​​playing tricks on this person. She lamented inwardly, wondering how she could have provoked such a seemingly kind but cold-hearted person when she had only wanted to regain some strength. His logic was terrifyingly clear, and his heart was ruthless without leaving any room for compromise.

Qiao Yanshen wanted to ask more questions, but suddenly the boat rocked. She immediately opened her eyes, her spiritual energy flowing, trying to stabilize the immortal boat.

"The sky seems to have shattered... This is an unusual phenomenon!"

At this moment, Shen Lixia shouted, telling her to look up as well. Sure enough, she saw the sky shatter. She immediately withdrew her thoughts and focused on driving the boat.

The wind and waves grew fiercer, the seawater surging and swirling like a dragon, pushing the small boat amidst the high spray. Suddenly, a faint cracking sound came from below. Qiao Yanshen's heart sank, and he turned and shouted, "Fly away on your sword! The talismans on the ship have shattered!"

Having said that, she summoned Yu Feng, stepped onto the sword, and tried to pull Shen Lixia and the others closer. A shadow fell from above, and the sky suddenly darkened. Qiao Yanshen looked up and realized that it wasn't just darkness, but rather a vast, roaring wave gathering like the jaws of a gluttonous beast, hurtling towards them!

As if realizing something, she looked down. She hadn't noticed it on the boat, but now she saw the waves below swirling from top to bottom, forming a whirlpool that roared with a low rumble. The wind suddenly lost its direction, moving with the water, making it difficult to keep her sword steady. A salty, fishy smell assaulted her, carrying immense force that slashed through her protective spiritual energy.

The last thing I saw was Shen Lixia's panicked face and her outstretched hand, which was blocked by the water curtain.

Qiao Yanshen's consciousness plunged into darkness.

She wasn't dreaming; in her dazed state, she could still feel the cold seawater flowing through her weak fingers. The slippery texture of the fish, the sticky, fishy smell of the floating sea plants. But she couldn't hear the fish's cries; the storm had subsided sometime earlier, and the world was now silent.

Like someone in a coma, yet still partially conscious, Qiao Yanshen only felt her sinking. Her body, uncontrollably pulled by gravity, plummeted deeper, and fear began to rise. This body, from the modern world, finally remembered that she was afraid of water, and that humans were afraid of the deep sea. What lay beneath the sea was unknown; the unknown was terrifying.

But the sea is also the source of life. Creatures spend millions of years coming from the sea to the land, and in the end, they become afraid of the mother that nurtured them.

It was too deep, too silent. Suddenly, she began to miss a certain voice. The voice always surrounded her, filling her space when she felt it was too empty, saying amusing things before she fell asleep at night, dispelling all loneliness and anxiety. Over time, the voice and its owner became a habit. Even though there should be no taking things for granted between two people, Qiao Yanshen, too comfortable with it, tacitly accepted it all.

Looking back now, it's clear that she was only this kind to me, so exceptionally kind that no one else ever did.

After sinking for an unknown period of time, his consciousness gradually returned. Qiao Yanshen first sent a wisp of his divine sense to connect with his sea of ​​consciousness, and sure enough, he was pierced by the demon's urgent voice, which made his nerves ache.

"Hey, hey! Wake up! Have you drowned?!"

Before taking control of the boat, she loosened some of the restraints, allowing the demon to sense the general situation around her. This way, if anything happened, the demon could remember the general outline first.

"What's wrong?"

Chi took a deep breath—though she was now out of breath—"Listen carefully."

A faint sound pierced through the hazy water and reached Qiao Yanshen's ears. She listened intently, and a melodious voice unfolded, softly singing a song she had never heard before, as if coming from the deepest seabed, gently enticing creatures in the distance.

Immediately afterwards, a terrifying aura suddenly rushed out from the dark seawater.

Qiao Yanshen's expression hardened, and in the blink of an eye, Yu Feng was in her hand. Its spiritual power shone brightly, illuminating the huge black shadow rushing towards them.