"Already a week since we set sail, huh…?" Shu He murmured to himself as he sat comfortably on the edge of the crow's nest overlooking the ship, he had spent most of his time continuing his practice with his techniques, other than the time he was 'interrogated' by the other two over why he was being referred to as a doctor.
But just yesterday he decided to take a break and take in the sights, he had never actually been on a ship before this after all, just being in a cabin that swayed constantly wasn't that interesting compared the to view outside.
The crew was constantly moving about while adjusting the sails, switching between their shifts as a portion ate, another portion rested while the rest performed tasks like maintaining the weapons, scrubbing the deck and helping sail, he found it interesting at first but there was only so much that was new, so he turned to the horizon.
A vast blue sea that rippled for miles upon miles, even past the range of his territory there was nothing but water, the faint salt in the air tickled his nose as he tilted to the side as the ship went over a large wave.
'I wonder if Cultivators can get sea sickness' he thought as he balanced himself with ease on the wooden ledge. 'Although our bodies are stronger, we still have the same biology, so it should be possible, right?' he pondered, he had little to do otherwise after all.
'Maybe I should test it out some time… maybe illusion techniques would work?' The illusions during the entrance exam came to mind, the wall was a visual, physical and auditorial projection, meaning it was possible to reproduce the triggers of seasickness.
"But I don't have any illusion techniques…" he sighed to himself.
He had offered the captain to help around on the ship if manpower was needed, but he was rejected thus his current state, he even said that if they were attacked, he could deal with it, but was rejected again.
Apparently the captain's 'sailors pride' won't let him allow the passengers to deal with dangerous problems.
Even if his passengers were cultivators.
Shu He sighed again; The truth was that he actually wanted to encounter some combat, he had been refining his techniques over the past six months and with his newly reformed body he wanted to see its limits, simple training wasn't enough for that.
Even though he had sparred with other disciples, none of it was true combat, nor did he want to reveal his hands to anyone unless he needed to, he had a stacked deck that he was beginning to unravel, it was dangerous to show stuff unnecessarily.
He leaned over the side as he gracefully fell through the air and hopped from wooden support to another until he landed at the corner of the sail, the sun was setting in the distance creating a picturesque scene which was reflected in his calm golden eyes.
The quiet sound of slithering sounded as a bow appeared in his hands, it was much slenderer than before, it lacked the vicious bulkiness that gave way to the power, the scenes of his arrows rupturing the bandit's head played in his head.
He lifted his bow before him and gently pulled back on the string, there was no arrow nocked. He then let go, not a single sound was made, he did it again, and again, and again.
Each time he adjusted, each time he frowned.
'Not right…'
The words Chao Shi had said to him led him to a moment of enlightenment, what had he learned the bow for?
To hunt.
He had used his bow as a weapon before, but it was to kill.
To hunt was to kill.
But to kill was not hunting.
That was not his archery.
He pictured his father's arrow, it was beautiful as it flew, it killed without any waste.
Nothing like his arrows had been, brutal, overpowering.
They were nothing but hollow shows of power.
He asked himself, why does one hunt?
'To provide, to protect, to survive'.
He pulled the string with those thoughts, adjusting himself each time, he wanted to get closer and closer to those thoughts. But it wasn't that easy, the world doesn't provide a path with such little effort.
He lowered his bow as the grip on the shaft tightened. He sighed as the bow turned back in to the spiral bracelet and he turned around. Slamming his head on a wall wasn't doing anything, he needs something, but he didn't know what.
So, he needed to travel, that 's another reason he took up this pilgrimage.
"Brace yourselves lads, we're about to enter dangerous waters!" The captain's voice bellowed from the front of the ship as the crewmates yelled in response.
'Dangerous waters… so we're the Red Sea already?' he looked to the horizon, the sea of course, wasn't red. It was just the name, which came from how dangerous the waters were to traverse, many vessels had met their ends at the bottom of the sea floor here.
They were just passing through the very tip of it, but the danger was all the same, it was this area that they had encountered the large creature that they had received the parasites from last time, so the crew was solemn.
It would take them half a day to get through, so for that period they were on high alert, the cannons were manned at all times, same for the large harpoons, they even had the 'rare' ammunition at the ready as well in case anything too large appeared.
Shu He made his way over to the helm where Zou Qiang, the captain was stood at the end, his expression severe as he watched the waves that were becoming increasingly strong.
"Everything fine?" He asked as he stepped next to him.
"Oh, Doctor Shu, yeah, so far; But this sea will throw danger at you without a second of warning so we can't let our guards down" he spoke as he sighed lightly.
"How often do you encounter something like 'that'?" Shu He asked out of curiosity.
By 'that' he meant the large creature that gave them parasites.
"That big one?" Zou Qiang frowned as he touched his chin in though "Maybe once every 5 trips or so? Similar size at least, that one was the biggest so far".
"Then, are the larger creatures deeper in the Red Sea?".
"Or so I've head, yeah, legends say of a beast with many limbs that could easily destroy a ship of this size with a swipe of its slimy arms, it resides deep in the Red Sea as its ruler" A grim expression grew on the captain's face as he recounted.
"Has anyone actually seen it?" Shu He didn't doubt such a creature could exist in this world; thus, he wondered if there were witnesses.
"Not as far as a I know, they'd be dead after all, no way you'd escape a living calamity like that… even ignoring that, there are too many other monstrosities lurking in the deep that if you somehow escape the big boss, the others will tear you apart…" Suddenly, Zou Qiang's expression dropped.
"What is it?" Shu He noticed this change as he expanded his territory across the sea's surface, he couldn't see anything.
"The sea seems rough today, much more so that usual." A hint of annoyance could be heard in the captain's voice as he turned around.
"What does that mean?".
"It means the likelihood we encounter such monsters increases, the strong tide washes them to the outer circle of the Red Sea which its rough like this" he leaned over the wooden railings and shouted "Men, get ready! I have a bad feeling about this sea!"
"Seriously?!"
"Shit, I was hoping we'd get past easily".
"I knew it was too fucking quiet!".
They grumbled as they drew their weapons as the atmosphere on the ship turned tense, despite being on a roaring sea the deck was surprisingly quite other than the sound of heavy breathing.
And then the sound of a heavy splash sounded out, a large claw rose from the side of the boat and grabbed the edge! The sound of cracking wood reached the ears of everyone.
"Fuck! It's a shelled one! Get it, it's gonna tear the ship apart!"
Multiple crew member's charged towards the claw, long spears in the hands, the tips aimed straight for the gaps in the shell, they penetrated deeply as the sound of pained bubbling came from the side of the ship, the claw let go yet it was wedged in the wood; A second claw came up and landed on deck.
"It's pulling itself up! Clear the area!" the crewmates ran as a large body toppled over the edge, it was a crab like creature with an elongated body, it was about 3 meters in size each way with bubbles spewing from its mouth.
'It's not a spirit animal, just a normal creature… but it's so big!' Shu He stared at the creature as he placed his hand on the sword at his hip.
"It's fine, we can deal with it!" The captain yelled with confidence making Shu He relax, his hand dropped to his side.
"FIRE!" someone yelled as a small bang sounded, in the next moment the front of the creature's shell shattered as a large spear penetrated it front to back, sending it barrelling off the edge.
"Cut the rope, it'll attract more!" The rope connecting spear to the large turret was cut as a large splash could be heard, the creature died just like that.
"Impressive…" Shu He couldn't help but praise them, they acted efficiently and speedily, working together perfectly.
"It's great to hear you say that, we couldn't have survived this long without working together like this!" The captain grinned "But unfortunately, I don't think this is over".
Just as he said that, another splash sounded as a large fish like creature vaulted from the water and landed on the deck, splashing as a fish out of water, its large fin smashed a crew member in to wall knocking him out.
"Don't get near! Drive it to the edge!" The captain yelled out.
Shu He saw the women that had came with them pulling the unconscious crewmate off the battlefield, clearly to treat him, their role was to be field medics.
'Seems they really do have everything sorted' He crossed his arms, he decided to watch unlike the other two that were ignoring the commotion.
'I wonder if anything bigger will come'…