Ao Cang understood that Qiao Mei hadn't done it on purpose, and he didn't blame her.
After patting her head, he turned and went into the water to look for Xu Hui.
Unbeknownst to them, shortly after he left, another wave of water crashed against Qiao Mei from the opposite direction.
They knocked her unconscious and then submerged her in the fault zone's waters.
The wind on the sea suddenly subsided at that moment, becoming calm and still, as if nothing had happened.
Only Qiao Yingying, who was still watching the situation from a distance with binoculars, knew what had happened.
She took a sip of wine in a good mood, hummed a little tune, and waited for the final good news to arrive.
The guests, who were still collecting glowing seashells and small star stones in the water, did not notice anything unusual and continued to enjoy themselves as usual.
Only Li Chonghua waited anxiously for Qiao Mei and the others to return.
But Qiao Mei didn't get a call; instead, she received a call from Xu Wenfeng's personal terminal.
"Are you still standing there? I've brought people over. Remember to stay away from Qiao Yingying. There are a lot of strange things about her."
Xu Wenfeng did not rush to call the police, after all, the spread of the blood of the Holy Fallen Beast was no small matter.
It might involve the royal family and the Federation, so to be on the safe side, he only brought a group of bodyguards.
Li Chonghua was confused. After telling Xu Wenfeng that he was still waiting for Qiao Mei and the others to return, he asked him what exactly happened.
The matter of Qiao Yingying consuming the blood of the Holy Fallen Beast involves many issues. Xu Wenfeng does not plan to tell Li Chonghua the truth for the time being. He simply tells him to stay where he is and not move, and that he will send someone to find him.
At the same time, in the fault-lined waters.
With his advantage of being able to get into the water and his excellent eyesight, Ao Cang quickly found Xu Hui, who was unconscious and sinking.
He carried her out of the water at an extremely fast speed, towards a shallow area, and leaned her against a reef, using his water-type familiar's superpowers to help her expel the seawater accumulated in her mouth and abdomen.
"Cough cough..."
Xu Hui quickly woke up and found Ao Cang soaking wet in front of her. She asked in a daze, "Xiao Cang, what are you doing here? Where is Xiao Mei?"
Her reminder made Ao Cang realize what the strangest thing was about him after he got ashore.
That is, why didn't he hear Qiao Mei's voice?
After finishing his work, he looked around the dimly lit sea and called out to her, "An'an?"
But all that could be seen was darkness, and there was no one in sight at all.
Fearing that Xu Hui might cause further trouble, he had her contact Li Chonghua to come and pick her up, and then immediately returned to the fault zone to search for Qiao Mei.
If it wasn't in shallow water, then it must have entered the fault zone. Otherwise, given Qiao Mei's personality, she would never have done something like abandoning him and Xu Hui to go ashore by herself.
His Achilles' heel was still with her, which allowed him to sense her location.
The deep sea was serene, save for the bubbles and the low hum of water being pushed aside.
Ao Cang swam toward the location where Qiao Mei's aura appeared at top speed, but as he got closer, he discovered a very familiar scent of death following him.
This deathly aura was more intense than anything he had ever smelled before, almost comparable to the aura he had when he was first seriously injured.
This means that there must be a Holy Falcon ahead of him, either as powerful as him or even more powerful.
But how could that be...?
Aside from Holy Fallen Beasts with his unique characteristics who can leave the Awakening Domain, the only other Holy Fallen Beasts have the opportunity to leave is after death.
As Ao Cang was rushing over, Qiao Mei's consciousness was gradually returning.
She wondered if it was just her imagination, but it seemed as if she saw a monster with a human head and a beast's body from the depths of the sea.
She had just woken up and her brain hadn't processed what was happening yet.
Once she was fully conscious, and remembered being knocked unconscious by a giant wave before she lost consciousness, her first instinct was to move away from whatever was getting closer and closer to her.
But when she tried to move her arms and legs, she discovered that several sticky, dark purple tentacles were wrapped around her arms and ankles, trapping her underwater.
She was a human, not a fish. Once she entered the sea, she would need oxygen, so she struggled for only a short while before feeling a sharp pain in her chest, as if her lungs were about to burst.
In her hazy state of consciousness, a pale golden light emanated from her chest, enveloping her and granting her the ability to breathe freely underwater.
"Huff huff..."
The girl gasped for breath, the unbearable swelling and pain in her bloodshot eyes subsiding.
He asked in a hoarse voice, "Who exactly are you...?"
The man seemed surprised that she could still hold on. After looking at the pale golden light enveloping her body for a while, he uttered a very feminine yet sinister voice: "The Reverse Scale...? Interesting, he actually gave this to you."
After saying that, he seemed to realize something, withdrew the tentacles that were wrapped around Qiao Mei, and chuckled softly, "We will meet again, until I take your life completely, outsider."
The last three words he uttered shocked Qiao Mei so much that her pupils contracted, and disbelief filled her pale face.
She wanted to press him to tell her what he meant.
But as a large wave swept by, all traces of his existence were erased, as if he had never existed at all.
At that moment, a hot, hard chest pressed against her back, followed by Ao Cang's rich aura enveloping her.
"An'an, are you alright?"
His voice trembled slightly, as if he was afraid of losing her.
Qiao Mei turned to look at Ao Cang, just about to tell him what had happened to her, when she met his reddened eyes and moist corners of his eyes.
"Cangcang, why are you crying?"
In all the time she'd known him, she could count the number of times she'd seen him cry on one hand.
Seeing him suddenly cry again now, I feel completely confused.
Ao Cang was terrified. His strength had not fully recovered, but when he sensed an aura as powerful as his own, his first thought was...
When he finds Qiao Mei, will she still be alive?
Despite his protection of her reverse scale, it would be ineffective if the opponent's strength far surpassed his.
So he started crying almost halfway through the journey.
Now that he finally saw that Qiao Mei was unharmed, tears began to flow uncontrollably from his eyes. He gripped Qiao Mei's waist tightly with his large hands, his strength so great that it seemed as if he wanted to embed her into his very bones.
He only replied with two words, his voice trembling as he spoke: "I'm scared..."
Even gods have things they fear and worry about.
Qiao Mei was the key to triggering it. Listening to the steady heartbeat coming from her body, his anxious heart finally calmed down.
This incident was extremely dangerous for Qiao Mei.
So when she saw Ao Cang in this state, she wasn't too surprised, but felt a little guilty and heartbroken.
If she had been more vigilant at the time, perhaps this wouldn't have happened.
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