Chapter 7368
Riding the Waves
"You don't know anything!" The burly man with a scar on his cheek glared at him, lowering his voice.
"I heard that kid is hiding some kind of secret, which even the patriarch covets. Moreover, he killed several of our core disciples. This debt should be settled properly!"
"Hehe, you're right! Let's kill these scum from the martial arts army live later and see if Xiao Chen goes crazy!"
"I bet he won't dare come! Even if he does, he'll be walking right into our trap, which would be perfect for us to do a great service!"
"Silence...!"
A deep, thunderous rebuke suddenly rang out, carrying an undeniable pressure that instantly quelled the noise on the deck.
All the members of the Extreme Yin Island froze, their drunkenness mostly dissipating, and they all turned to look in the direction of the cabin door.
A man dressed in a dark blue robe with dark patterns slowly walked out. His face was covered with a hideous and terrifying "Prajna" demon mask, with wide-open eyes and exposed fangs that gleamed coldly in the gloomy light, exuding a sinister aura that could devour people.
He held a longsword still in its sheath, the scabbard ancient and weathered, its engraved patterns subtly flowing in the dim light, exuding a chilling aura.
"Lord Liu Ming!" Everyone hurriedly bowed and paid their respects, their attitude extremely respectful. Their previous arrogance and laughter vanished without a trace, and they didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
The mask of Prajna slowly turned, its icy gaze sweeping over the crowd. Its voice, transmitted through the mask, was like the friction of ice from the deepest hell, cold and hard: "The ancestor's decree, is it any of your business to discuss it in private?"
"No! This subordinate wouldn't dare!" The lean man was startled and quickly bowed to explain, "We were just... just chatting casually, we had absolutely no intention of questioning the Ancestor!"
"Chatting?" Liu Ming sneered, his tone full of disdain. "The Ancestor's plan is beyond the comprehension of fools like you. That Xiao Chen has something the Ancestor desperately needs hidden inside him; he must be captured alive."
He paused, then slowly walked to the ship's railing, gazing at the gray horizon where the sea met the sky. His voice carried a hint of mockery, like a cat hunting a mouse. "In the video just now, he was quite tough, saying he would find this place and personally send us to hell."
There was a moment of silence on the deck, followed by an even louder, more unrestrained burst of laughter.
"Hahaha! Found us? Does he even know which sea this is? Does he know we're hiding on this nameless deserted island?"
"Dragon Kingdom warriors love to boast! In the vast East China Sea, even if you gave him an aircraft carrier, he wouldn't find this place even after searching for ten or fifteen days!"
"Didn't Lord Liu Ming give him an hour? I don't think he could fly over even if he had wings! He can only watch helplessly as his companion bleeds to death; that's the most heartbreaking thing!"
Liu Ming raised his hand, and the laughter stopped abruptly.
He spoke calmly, his tone chillingly so: "The time limit is less than forty minutes."
He glanced back at the dark entrance to the ship's cabin, which led to the hold where the Western Martial Arts Army soldiers were imprisoned. "Watching your prey die slowly in despair is the most interesting part of the hunt."
"For this pleasure!" The scarred, burly man raised his wine bottle and shouted, "To Lord Liu Ming! To our ancestor!"
"cheers!"
The atmosphere became wild and noisy again, with crackling charcoal and the smells of alcohol and grilling smoke filling the deck.
Some even brought out makeshift speakers, and shrill heavy metal music suddenly blared out, creating a distorted carnival on the desolate island, a stark contrast to the despair in the lower decks.
Only Liu Ming remained away from the crowd, sitting alone at the highest point of the bow of the ship, his long sword resting across his knees. He closed his eyes to regulate his breathing, and a faint black aura swirled around him, blending seamlessly with the rusted steel beneath his feet and the gray sea and sky around him, exuding a deathly eeriness, like a lurking evil spirit.
Time passed by, second by second.
The leaden clouds in the sky grew thicker and thicker, pressing low down on the sea, making the light increasingly dim, as if the end of the world had arrived.
The sea breeze grew increasingly restless, howling across the deck, and the surging waves crashed against the rocks and the hull, producing hollow and muffled echoes, like the low growl of a giant beast.
"A storm is brewing." Liu Ming opened his eyes, a cold glint flashing in his pupils behind the ghost mask.
He estimated the time; the Western martial arts army captain hanging upside down in the lower deck should have lost nearly 30% of his blood and was teetering on the edge of shock and consciousness.
The thought of consciously sensing life slipping away bit by bit fills him with pleasure.
A cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth beneath the mask.
Just then, an unusual commotion arose at the edge of the deck.
A short, stout man, drunk and vomiting, suddenly stiffened, rubbed his alcohol-reddened eyes, stared intently at the distant sea, and made a strange "hoarse" sound in his throat.
"You idiot, drunk again? Last night you were bragging that you could drink three people under the table, and you can't even handle it today?" A member of the Extreme Yin Island next to him laughed and teased, his tone full of mockery.
But the drunkard didn't retaliate as usual.
His drunkenness seemed to vanish instantly, his face turning deathly pale in an instant. His lips trembled, his finger pointed shakily to the horizon, and his voice was hoarse and incoherent: "Someone...someone...is...running...coming over at sea!"
"Hahaha! Are you out of your mind? Running on the sea? Do you think it's some divine intervention, riding the waves to get here?" Laughter rose and fell, growing louder and louder.
But the drunkard suddenly turned around, his eyes filled with undisguised extreme fear, as if he had seen a ghost, and he roared hoarsely, "It's real! Look for yourselves! Look fucking right now!"
His roar was shrill and piercing, finally alerting those around him that something was wrong. The two members of the Extreme Yin Island closest to him were startled by his roar and instinctively looked in the direction he was pointing.
The next second, the smiles on their faces froze instantly, like frozen plaster statues, their eyes wide open, their mouths agape enough to fit fists, and their bodies began to tremble uncontrollably.
On the distant sea, a strange wall of water, several meters higher than the surrounding waves, is advancing towards the deserted island at a devastating speed! At the top of the water wall, a tiny yet exceptionally clear humanoid black shadow stands steadily!
"Holy crap..." one of them exclaimed in shock, his voice cracking from extreme horror.
The exclamation finally drew everyone's attention. The music on the deck was abruptly turned off, and all the members of the Extreme Yin Island, including Liu Ming at the bow, stood up abruptly, their eyes fixed on the increasingly clear and eerie scene.
close!
Closer!
It was a person!
A young man dressed in a black Zhongshan suit casually alternated his feet on the crest of the waves, yet his figure remained as steady as Mount Tai, as if the waves beneath his feet were not raging torrents, but flat earth.
With each step he took, the sea beneath his feet seemed to be struck by an invisible giant hammer, creating violent ripples and sending sprays of water flying several meters high! (End of Chapter)