"Good heavens, that thing's massive!" One of the crewmates gawked as Shu He arrived on the ship, he had created ropes from seeds before he pulled it along, since it was in the water it wasn't too hard to pull with his strength.
"Enough staring, pull it on to the ship for Doctor Shu!" The captain ordered his men as they grabbed the rope vines and began tugging, the octopus was still split in two, so they hauled it up one piece at a time.
"I gotta say, you scared me when you leapt off the ship like that! But looking at this thing… if we were to fight it on the ship… well I don't want to even think about it!" Zou Qiang patted Shu He's shoulder as he laughed hoarsely "We said to leave it to us, but we still ended up making you work".
"It's nothing" Shu He shook his head "To repay me, butcher it cleanly for me would you? I don't need to the flesh, but its organs are useful, what remains of them at least".
"You got it, hear that boys?! Do it nice and cleanly got it? Or I'll have your asses scrubbing the hull mid sail!"
The crew mates shouted with a hint of fear as they moved the corpse to the large part of the deck to dismantle it.
"We've passed through the Red Sea now so it should be smooth sailing from here on out, let us handle the rest; For real this time" The captain said as he began to wander off towards the helm, they needed to get back on route since they had taken a detour to avoid the battle.
Shu Xue slowly plodded over to Shu He as she lent on his arm, she eyelids were beginning to shut as she yawned.
"Tired?" Shu He sighed as he knelt down, letting her get on his back "You can go back to sleep in the cabin, but stay awake until then".
"Un.." She weakly nodded, barely managing to stay awake. He walked over to the cabins amidst the work being done on the ship, wooden planks, rope and nails were strewn everywhere as rushed repairs were being done to keep the ship together until they reached port.
As he went up the stairs he glanced to the side, Na Xue was sat on the railings overlooking the sea, she merely smiled and waved as he walked past; He went in the cabin and placed Shu Xue in the bed as a white light engulfed her, she had fell asleep the moment she touched the cushioned mattress.
Shu He couldn't help but smile lightly as he left the room closing the door behind him. "So, you were watching?" he asked his senior sister whose long braided pink hair was shifting in the breeze.
She nodded "Not bad! It's the first time I've seen you fight properly, I'm impressed. Shu Xue too, she really packs a punch".
"Could you not have helped at all?" He couldn't help but ask, he did tell the crewmates to wake them for that reason after all.
Na Xue shrugged "Fighting on the water isn't my forte, I even struggle to use the Aqua Stride technique stably". She hopped off the ship and into the water, but her legs sunk into it before bouncing back, she looked like she was walking around on jelly. "See?".
"That's a surprise… I thought with your bloodline you could cover your weakness by-"
"It's not that easy" She interrupted him as she hopped back up on the ship, shaking the water droplets off of her "Most things in this world aren't as convenient as they seem…" she sat on a barrel next to him and sighed "The chimera bloodline still suffers from compatibility issues, like everything else; Because water is my weakest element, it's hard for me to take on bloodlines of that element".
"So that's how it is" Shu He nodded in understanding, then he glanced over to another cabin "Did Bai Lian not come out?".
"Nope, one of the crewmates tried desperately to wake her by banging on the door but nothing" Na Xue explained "Oh, but don't worry, I checked on her, she's just fast asleep."
Shu He's brow raised "Even during all this commotion?"
"She's probably been so worried over the stuff with her sister that she hadn't slept much, so it's not a surprise now that she's heading over there she could catch a few winks" Na Xue leaned back as she kicked her legs lightly "She also had a silencing formation set up, as expected of the Bai clan's little princess".
"It's good she's fine… but…" Shu He frowned lightly "You keep calling her that, is there a reason for it?" he couldn't help but feel it was a bit spiteful, the way Na Xue addressed her.
"Oh, that?" Na Xue smiled, but it was a hollow smile "Just a bit of petty stress relief, I'm sure she understands it too".
"What do you mean?" Shu He didn't understand. Stress relief? What for? Why take it out on Bai Lian?
Na Xue sighed "I'm sure she's told you about her life as a member of the Bai clan, how hard it is and such."
"I've heard some… but it isn't like she shares much about herself."
"That so?" she looked off in to the distance, the horizon reflected in her eyes as a hint of pain was hidden deep inside of them "In the end, she's just the second daughter, and third child; Her responsibilities are nothing compared to the first son, or even her sister, she's lived with the only expectation that she'll perform well and carry on the bloodline, that's it".
Na Xue's brow furrowed as the wood between her hands cracked slightly "Those of us that are first born in to a clan… we have to endure so much, with so many expectations placed on us, we aren't allowed our own lives, our future is set for us from the start" she glanced at Shu He who was surprised, her eyes reflected a hidden darkness that was absent normally "So, why wouldn't we feel a bit of resentment for someone who has it easier than us?".
"Senior Sister…" Shu He couldn't help but start slightly, it wasn't often but he felt this feeling every now and then, a feeling of fear when he glimpses the background he's never usually exposed to.
"But" She hopped off the barrel, the usual smile returned to her face "In the end, it's not her fault, it's not our fault. So, all I can do is this… this petty harassment… just let me have this? Okay?"
Her voiced entered Shu He's ears, it echoed in his mind as he felt the emotion behind it, sadness, fear, anger, jealously… yet it all dissipated into helplessness.
Acceptance.
"Okay…" was the only thing he could murmur as she walked off and entered her cabin, the door closing silently behind her.
After a minute Shu He breathed in deeply before exhaling, he walked over to the railings and lent over slightly, the aqua blue reflecting off his golden pupils.
'In the end, my journey is just beginning'.
Soon, they would arrive at the Flood Dragon Archipelago.
…
Deep inside the Red Sea was a large island, it was uninhabited due to its location and was simply known as the Abandoned Island, its topography was composed of a large flat plain with forest regions, it had little to attract cultivators due to the lack of resources here and it was sparse of wildlife as well.
So that made it all the odder that currently, many tens of figures could be seen on the island, they were lined up on the edge near the water as lights flickered in the foggy seas, screeches echoed through the water as blood drifted to the surface and stained the blue water red.
The figures kept throwing out objects that caused the lights to grow brighter, continuing the slaughter, every so often one of them would point to the water as a glowing orb would leap out of the water, flying into the hands of a man before disappearing like it never existed in the first place.
Said man, like all the others, was wearing a black cloak as a white mask adorned his face. A black light approached the man from the distance as he put his hand out, it turned into a piece of paper that he read before incinerating it.
"It's time, pull out!" He shouted as he ran towards a circle that was inscribed on the ground, in the four corners were crystals that seemed like they contained an endless black hole.
The others heard the man's voice and immediately turned to run, some were faster than others, the distance between them and the circle was just over one hundred meters, a distance they could travel in just over a couple of seconds.
Yet, before they got a chance, the ocean roared as a massive object flow out at breakneck speed, screams sounded for a mere split second before the cries were silenced, a large portion the island had been flattened along with those in the way.
"Tch, too fucking slow!" The man in the centre of the circle cursed as he broke a crystal in his hand causing the circle and other four crystals to light up, another object flew out of the ocean followed by screams, it was barely a millisecond away from reaching the circle before a bright light flashed.
And the man, and everyone else on the circle, were gone!
A roar of anger rocked the sea as the island became the target of this mysterious being's anger, the seas shook creating shockwaves that would travel for hundreds of miles.
By the end of it, the island was nothing more than a flat plateau, nothing remained on its surface. Just remnants of green and red.