Chapter 87
Xu Gui had no idea how terrified she had been to the people on the boat in those short ten minutes. She even felt a little regretful, as she had originally wanted to stay underwater for a while longer, but the staff wouldn't allow it and pulled her up.
However, she was lucky. As she came up, she bumped into a fish and quickly grabbed it.
She could tell at a glance that the fish must be of good quality—it was a fish she had never eaten before.
When the staff came to help her aboard, Xu Gui first gave them the fish: "Take my fish up first!" Then, with the help of others, she climbed onto the cruise ship herself.
As soon as she came up, she saw Kuang Ming standing in front of her.
"Are you alright?" Kuang Ming asked her as soon as he spoke.
Xu Gui was somewhat puzzled. Yuan Lu wrapped a large bathrobe around her, and she wrapped it tighter, saying, "Of course I'm fine." If she were really in trouble, why would she be standing here perfectly fine?
Kuang Ming's expression was still rather unpleasant. He said, "Do you know how long you've been holding your breath underwater? I thought something had happened to you since you hadn't come up for so long."
"...How long?" Xu Gui felt a little guilty. She wondered if she had been underwater for more than twenty-two minutes.
Kuang Ming took a breath, pointed to the time on his wristwatch, and said, "Fifteen minutes! A full fifteen minutes."
Upon hearing this, Xu Gui felt relieved and said, "It's only fifteen minutes. Aren't there people in this world who can hold it in for twenty-two minutes?"
Kuang Ming: "..."
The staff members who came up from behind Xu Gui twitched at the corner of their mouths when they heard her words, thinking to themselves: When others hold their breath underwater, they really hold their breath, unlike you who just swims around underwater.
It's important to know that when a person moves, their need for breathing increases significantly. Xu Gui swam underwater for fifteen minutes on just one breath.
Staff member: "...Ms. Xu, you should apply for a Gillis record."
Xu Gui: ?
"Miss Xu, you are truly amazing!" With a burst of laughter, Bell, the foreigner, opened his arms again, excitedly wanting to hug Xu Gui. Xu Gui politely stepped back a few paces, indicating her refusal.
She was really not used to the other person's enthusiasm.
Bell withdrew his hand with some regret and said, "I was worried that if you couldn't hold your breath, what would happen to the filming? I didn't expect you to be so amazing. You're really a mermaid!"
Even if Xu Gui was slow to realize, she could sense from everyone's attitude that it seemed a little unreasonable that she had been holding her breath underwater for so long. She thought to herself with a guilty conscience: It's normal for me to not understand things since this is my first time living a normal life.
"What kind of fish is this?" The fish that Xu Gui had previously sent up was now lying on the deck, and several staff members were looking at it curiously.
A man who frequently goes out to sea squinted and recognized it, exclaiming in surprise, "That looks like a grouper!!"
He stared at Xu Gui in utter shock.
No, they risk their lives to catch a grouper, let alone such a big one. This Miss Xu just went for a stroll in the sea and caught such a big grouper.
And grouper, what happened to the fierce fish you were supposed to be? You were just picked up like that, how are you fierce?
"Stone grouper?"
People nearby couldn't help but come closer when they heard the name – grouper is a well-known fish at sea, and few people who like to eat sea fish haven't heard of it. The fish has tender and delicious meat, is highly nutritious, and is very popular.
Of course, aquaculture is now very developed, and there are many people who farm grouper. However, farmed grouper is different from wild grouper. The one that Xu Gui caught was a completely wild grouper, which is extremely rare.
Even Bell came over to take a look, and after seeing it, he exclaimed in amazement, "This really is a grouper? And it's the Eastern Star grouper!"
This is a red grouper, quite beautiful, and still full of life as it was just pulled from the sea, its tail slapping against the deck with a loud thud.
Upon seeing this, Bell quickly ordered someone to take the fish to the kitchen, lest it die and the taste be greatly diminished.
"Miss Xu, how did you catch this fish?" Bell asked curiously.
“…I didn’t catch it, it just ran into me on its own,” Xu Gui said, then added with great interest, “I knew its meat would taste delicious as soon as I saw it, so I caught it.”
Bell: In some ways, Miss Xu is also very strong.
*
It was already 2 PM. Xu Gui and the others sat down to rest for a while, ate some fruit, and then officially started work.
Before filming began, the person in charge of "fashion" made a promise to everyone: "...After filming is finished, Mr. Bale will treat everyone to seafood, seafood that has just been caught from the sea. Eat it while it's fresh, it will be very delicious."
After thinking about it, everyone couldn't help but feel that it was truly beautiful... Instantly, everyone's fighting spirit soared.
Xu Gui took a big gulp of water and, following the staff's instructions, went into the water again.
The crew members responsible for filming also went into the water. However, compared to Xu Gui's human body and fish tail, which was all about looking good and had no practicality, the crew members were fully equipped with diving suits and oxygen tanks.
In addition, there are professional underwater safety personnel to prevent accidents from happening.
This was also the first time Bell and the others had seen Xu Gui swimming underwater. Unlike others who held their breath and entered the water, she appeared extremely relaxed and natural underwater.
Her snow-white skin and long, dark green hair, like seaweed, swayed behind her. Even through the not-too-dim light of the seawater, when she turned to look at him, her bewitching, inhuman allure was overwhelming.
Under the distorted light, the inhuman creatures seemed to step out from another dimension.
"That's right, that's right!!" Bell's eyes lit up, and she said excitedly, "This is exactly the feeling I want!!"
Bell's camera clicked repeatedly, capturing almost every scene. In the underwater world, colorful schools of fish stirred and swam around Xu Gui. Xu Gui reached out his hand, and they, like devotees to a king or believers in a god, flocked to Xu Gui's fingertips.
The brightly colored sea fish gathered together, like a beautiful and fragrant flower blooming under Xu Gui's index finger. Xu Gui lowered her eyes and expression, her dark green hair flowing behind her head like seaweed, making her look as cold as ice and snow.
"Oh, that's fantastic!" Bell was completely caught up in the excitement, constantly choosing different angles to take pictures, feeling that inspiration was flowing endlessly into his mind.
During filming, the staff would occasionally give Xu Gui an oxygen tank to breathe in, so as not to cause her to suffocate from lack of oxygen. Although Xu Gui felt that she did not need it, after all, she was different from real humans and did not need to breathe underwater, she still obediently took a few breaths of oxygen so as not to scare everyone.
As for the shock and confusion the staff felt after getting ashore and discovering that they hadn't used much oxygen in their cylinders, that's none of Xu Gui's business.
After filming the underwater scenes, everyone prepared to move to another location. However, at that moment, with the cries of seagulls in the air, the seawater seemed to suddenly become turbulent. Xu Gui and the others were still in the water and had not yet come up. They were the ones who could feel the unease of the seawater the most.
"My God..." Suddenly, the staff standing on the cruise ship exclaimed in horror.
Below the cruise ship, a huge black shadow was swimming beneath it. It was an extremely large creature. Their cruise ship was a small one, and the hull was not large, but the body of this black shadow seemed to be larger than their cruise ship.
Those still in the water were terrified, for they watched as the enormous creature swam past them and then burst out of the water.
"Eek—"
Accompanied by a soft murmur, a huge creature emerged from the water, stirring up a massive mist. The seawater that was stirred up began to fall from the sky like a huge rainstorm, crashing down on Xu Gui and his companions.
Someone exclaimed in astonishment, "Is that a whale? No, aren't we in shallow waters? Why is there a whale here?" There aren't even many large schools of fish in this area, so how could there be such a big whale?
Meanwhile, the crew on deck, regaining their senses, quickly called out to those still on the water: "Quick, everyone, get on!"
Although whales do not have a habit of eating people, their bodies are so large that even a flick of their tails can cause irreparable damage.
"Ooh~"
The whale called out again, its call extremely ethereal. However, unlike its ethereal and light voice, its body was enormous. After calling out once, it turned around and swam towards Xu Gui and the others again.
Seeing this scene, everyone felt their scalp tingle.
"Hurry, hurry, get up here!" Those on deck were terrified, while those still in the water were even more so.
As Xu Gui watched the large whale frolicking towards him, wagging its tail, he became certain that the whale had come because of his presence.
She is a Xuan Turtle, a sacred beast of the water. She has an extraordinary attraction not only to creatures in the ocean but also to those living on land. This whale was originally in the same sea area as them, but in a different place. However, after sensing Xu Gui's presence, it swam directly to her.
Seeing the big guy's excited look, Xu Gui glanced at the panicked people around him, then suddenly dove underwater.
Because he was afraid of water, Kuang Ming hadn't gone in before and had stayed on the deck. After Xu Gui and the others came out of the water, he had been watching Xu Gui closely. When he saw Xu Gui suddenly disappear on the surface of the water, his heart tightened, and he shouted loudly, "Xu Gui! Xu Gui?!"
"Ooh~"
The whale's excited calls drowned out his shouts, and the seawater it stirred up splashed onto the deck, soaking everyone to the bone.
One by one, the people underwater were pulled to the surface. Just then, someone suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "My God, what is that? Is that Miss Xu?"
Kuang Ming, whose eyes were still scanning the water for Xu Gui's figure, suddenly looked up and saw a figure emerge from the sea in front of the whale in the distance.
As Kuang Ming watched, he felt a sudden darkness engulf his vision and nearly fainted.
"That girl!" he gritted his teeth, gripping the deck railing so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "She's incredibly audacious! How dare she run up to the whale?"
He knew beforehand that Xu Gui was not a peaceful person, but he never expected that he would be so bold as to provoke a whale.
"What is Teacher Xu trying to do?"
"My goodness, this whale looks huge! I hope Miss Xu won't get swallowed by it."
"What should we do? Should we go and rescue Miss Xu?"
The people on deck were talking amongst themselves, while Bell wiped the water off his face. When he looked into the distance and saw Xu Gui reaching out her hand towards the enormous thing in front of her, he was shocked and suddenly gave an order to the staff around him.
"Quickly, set up the machine!"
He held his camera, pointed the lens at Xu Gui, and stared intently at him.
The seawater stirred up by the whale had receded with a splash, leaving behind a rainbow-colored mist in the air. At that moment, a seagull flapped its wings and flew across the azure sky, which was so clean it looked as if it had been washed with water.
Below the rainbow in the sky, Xu Gui reached out his hand towards the enormous object before him.
"Woo~" The whale happily swung its tail, brought its round head close to Xu Gui's face, and made woo-woo-woo sounds while trying to nudge Xu Gui's palm with its head.
Xu Gui, who was suddenly thrown out, was speechless. Clearly, this little guy had no idea about his own size.
The whale, who never expected that its thrust would send Xu Gui flying, hummed in surprise.
For the first time, humans discovered that they could actually read the emotion of "bewilderment" on the faces of whales; the whales' foreheads were practically embodying three huge question marks.
"Xu Gui!" Kuang Ming's heart tightened, and his body unconsciously leaned forward.
Fortunately, not long after, Xu Gui's figure, which had disappeared on the surface of the sea, reappeared. As a Xuan Turtle that used to be very strong and capable, but was now just a human, Xu Gui chose to swim over silently.
"Waaah~" The whale swam towards her again.
Seeing that the big guy was about to get close to him, Xu Gui quickly reached out to stop it: "Wait! Just stay there and don't move."
Whale: "Hmm?"
It stared blankly at Xu Gui, its tail nearly wagging wildly behind it.
Xu Gui was surprised to sense a very clear emotion from it, but in the past, she had never been able to perceive any specific emotions from other creatures she had encountered.
"This little guy might be quite smart?" Xu Gui couldn't help but think.
She swam up to the baby whale and reached out to touch its head—or rather, its head, because compared to the whale's enormous body, Xu Gui's figure looked incredibly small.
Strangely enough, Xu Gui, who was as insignificant as a speck of dust in front of the whale, had a strong presence, as if she and the whale were on the same level.
Beside them, the rainbow was about to fade, and the seven-colored light looked sacred and magnificent.
"Snap!"
Bell's camera captured the scene directly; his eyes were wide open, and he watched the footage with extreme excitement.
“This is truly amazing…” he murmured.
Indeed, the feeling this scene evoked was more of awe than beauty, leaving those present speechless for a long time.
*
Xu Gui played with the little whale for a while before calming it down and returning to the cruise ship from the sea.
As soon as she came up and looked up, she was met with countless pairs of burning eyes, and Xu Gui couldn't help but look puzzled.
Yuan Lu took out a bathrobe that she had prepared beforehand and wrapped it around Xu Gui. Xu Gui was soaking wet and was wearing pants shaped like a fishtail. It was hard to tell how she could move so freely and smoothly in the sea like that.
"Miss Xu, are you alright?" everyone asked Xu Gui again.
Xu Gui said, "I'm fine."
“Miss Xu…” someone else asked curiously, “That whale, why does it seem to listen to you so much? When you reach out your hand, it rubs its head against you, just like a dog.”
A bystander rolled their eyes and said, "How did you connect whales and dogs? Do they even look alike?"
The person who spoke said, "It's not about appearance, it's about personality. What's the difference between that whale rubbing against Miss Xu's palm and my dog rubbing against my hand?" You can't say they're completely unrelated, you can only say they're exactly the same.
After hearing this, everyone recalled the scene just now and was unable to refute it for a moment.
Yes, it does look like a dog... except this "dog" is stronger; with a single swipe, it sent Ms. Xu flying.
Xu Gui, who was being talked about by everyone for being thrown out, thought: "...This time I really lost face. If the people in the clan find out, they will definitely laugh me to death."
"So, Miss Xu, do you know this whale?" everyone asked again. "It seems to listen to you."
They're still circling around their cruise ship; they haven't left yet.
Xu Gui glanced at the large creature in the water and said without changing his expression, "I don't know it. It's just that this guy is smart; it understands what I mean as soon as I speak."
Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but start discussing it again:
"I think I did hear someone say before that whales are very intelligent, and that their intelligence is comparable to that of a seven or eight-year-old human?"
"So, they can understand human speech?"
"...Aren't you overthinking it? Just because they're smart doesn't mean they understand human language. They haven't studied any foreign languages!"
"..."
What a humorous remark! Studying foreign languages? Is it a whale?
While everyone was talking, Xu Gui wiped the water off herself and slowly moved to the edge of the deck. She looked down and saw the whale happily chasing their cruise ship. When it saw Xu Gui, it happily sprayed water from its back, drenching her completely.
Xu Gui: "..."
“We need to go ashore. The closer we get to land, the less suitable the environment becomes for them to survive, so we can’t let this whale follow us anymore,” a cruise ship staff member said. “Ms. Xu, do you have a way to stop it from following us?”
Xu Gui wiped the water off her face and said, "I'll give it a try." She didn't give a guarantee.
She placed her hands on the railing, bent down, and stretched her right hand down, shouting to the whale below, "Hey, stop following us. We're going back to land. It's not a good place for you."
She had already discovered that this whale was truly intelligent; it possessed a certain level of intelligence, which was why Xu Gui could communicate with it without any obstacles. Therefore, upon hearing Xu Gui's words, the whale let out a soft "woof woof woof."
—It must be said that the sound of whales is truly melodious, almost like listening to celestial music that instantly brightens the ears. The only downside is that the whales are so large that they exert a great deal of pressure on the listener.
Everyone stood not far away, watching Xu Gui's interaction with the whale. Seeing Xu Gui's posture, which seemed to be communicating with a human, they couldn't help but wonder: Can the whale understand what she's saying?
Just like that person said before, although whales are intelligent, they haven't been trained in foreign languages, so how can they understand human speech?
However, everyone soon realized that the whale seemed to really understand Xu Gui's words, because after swimming for about 100 meters, it stopped swimming forward and stayed in place, watching Xu Gui and his cruise ship leave.
"Eek~"
Even after their cruise ship had sailed far away, the ethereal and melodious calls of whales could still be heard. For a moment, everyone felt a sense of loss.
For everyone, what just happened was like a dream, a dreamlike and dazzling dream, and the whale was a dreamlike creature that existed only in the dream.
After the initial disappointment, everyone quickly became excited again.
"When I get back, I'm going to tell my friends, and they'll never guess what we encountered at sea!"
"Me too! By the way, did you take any pictures? I was so surprised that I forgot to take any! Ahhh! How could I forget to take any pictures? What a waste!"
"Haha, I took pictures, even a picture of me with the whale! I'll post it on WeChat Moments as soon as we get ashore and there's net."
Send me the photo! Quickly!
Everyone was already discussing it enthusiastically, while Xu Gui went into the dressing room that had been prepared for her to take a shower and change her clothes—she wasn't really used to wearing such clothes and felt quite awkward.
Before she took a shower, the makeup artist from "fashion" magazine removed her makeup.
"The hair color is a short-term dye; it should fade in about a month," the makeup artist said while removing her makeup. Then, she couldn't help but exclaim, "Ms. Xu, your skin is amazing! It's flawless, without a single blemish, not even a single acne scar… How do you maintain such good skin?"
Xu Gui: Here it comes, the process that every female lead gets praised for when she's getting her makeup done—that's right, she's recently developed a new hobby: reading novels. She can practically recite many of the novel plots by heart.
So, I really am the protagonist, right?
Xu Gui sighed inwardly.
“I don’t really take care of myself,” she answered the makeup artist’s question, touching her face as she said, “maybe it’s because I’m young.”
After answering that question, she said: "Actually, no, it's just because I'm not human. If you weren't human, your skin would be just as good." But she definitely couldn't say that aloud.
Upon hearing her answer, the makeup artist couldn't help but exclaim, "Youth is indeed an asset! Your skin is so radiant!"
Xu Gui smiled but didn't say anything.
...
After removing her makeup, Xu Gui went to the bathroom to take a shower.
She had just come out of the sea, and the seawater on her body turned into salt crystals as soon as it dried, which felt very uncomfortable. She took a refreshing bath and finally felt better. By the time she finished bathing, the sun had already set.
Today's filming has now wrapped up.
The equipment on the deck had all been put away. Everyone who went into the water, like Xu Gui, had taken a shower and were all very clean. A large table had been set up on the deck, with a freshly served seafood on it.
Xu Gui suddenly remembered the promises that the staff of "fashion" had made to them before they went into the water.
This isn't a pancake?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
