Translator: Cinder Translations
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The young master's gaze lingered briefly on Jiang Cheng and the fatty before he laughed and said, "I fear I don't have the same tacit understanding you and Fat Brother share. When we act, there may be some flaws."
Upon hearing this, the fatty was stunned for a moment and then suddenly realized. He hadn't expected that the young master had already figured out that he knew the doctor.
"Alright," said the woman leaning against a stone pillar, panting heavily. She seemed still lost in her memories, struggling to lift her eyelids. "You both go ahead. I want to be alone for a while."
After a moment, the woman snorted coldly and said, "I've said everything I can. It's been so long, and I can't remember the rest." She paused and continued, "You staying with me is pointless."
It was only then that the fatty realized the doctor and the young master had the same goal.
They wanted to take advantage of being alone with the woman to extract the remaining, most important information she knew.
Actually, the fatty wasn't foolish. He knew the woman had hidden many things.
From what she said and the fear she displayed, it was clear that what happened on those ships also happened on this one.
They were attacked by some unknown creature or some twisted force. The survivors were stranded on a deserted island, and judging by their constant desire to leave, the experience wasn't a pleasant one.
In other words, the danger wasn't just in the sea; it also existed on the island!
Thinking of this, the fatty instinctively looked around. If there was anything strange on this deserted island, it had to be this building.
From the outside, this enormous structure resembled the churches often seen in films, but its scale was much larger. The semi-circular frame had a towering spire, like a sharp blade piercing the sky.
The mottled walls seemed to have endured countless years of wear and tear. The saltwater winds had corroded it, leaving a grim scene.
An ancient aura lingered here, never fading.
In such a scene, the massive building should give people a sense of the end of the world, or the apocalypse.
Even stepping back a bit, it would still evoke words like grand and magnificent.
But it didn't. To the fatty, the feeling here was only suffocating.
Even in this spacious structure, standing under a dome that seemed endless, he still felt suffocated.
It was as if a huge stone was pressing on his chest.
Breathing became difficult.
All around him were collapsed stone pillars, and uneven ground smashed by them. Irregular stones were scattered across the floor, and every step had to be taken carefully.
The broken stone pillars collided and pressed against each other, creating a strange light and shadow effect. In the intersecting shadows, it seemed like something indescribable was lurking, restless.
He couldn't figure out where this damned suffocating feeling came from, or whether it was just his imagination.
The woman slowly closed her eyes, seemingly resting her eyes, but everyone knew this was a sign that she no longer wished to reveal any more information.
"Fat Brother," the young master suddenly spoke, "How about you stay here with the lady? I'll go out for a walk with this brother."
His expression and tone were very pleasant, and the smile on his face gave off an impression of good manners.
"After all, we're the only two who haven't seen what the outside is like," he said with a smile.
The fatty instinctively looked at Jiang Cheng.
But before his gaze could fully focus, he heard that familiar voice casually say, "Sure," Jiang Cheng said.
The two of them left one after the other, heading towards the open door.
The fatty watched them leave until their footsteps faded. The woman's closed eyes opened again, but the fatty didn't notice this. His attention was on the doctor and the young master, speculating about what would happen between them.
The woman lowered her head, her eyes hidden in the dark, staring fixedly at the spot about half a meter in front of her feet.
There was a raised stone fragment there.
The stone was oddly shaped, as if it had been peeled off from a larger piece. On it, there were subtle engravings of two scales, each about the size of a human palm.
A beam of light, whose origin was unclear, shone on the scales, and immediately, mottled patterns appeared on them, swirling like water ripples, as if coming to life.
The woman suddenly closed her eyes.
Contrary to what the fatty had imagined, there was no confrontation between the two after they left. Instead, after walking out of the building and stepping onto the white sandy beach, bathed in the sunlight and sea breeze, they seemed to be enjoying a friendly conversation.
"What's your surname, brother?" Jiang Cheng asked.
"Just call me Chen," the young master replied, tilting his head to look at Jiang Cheng, smiling, "The Chen that cuts through the mortal dust, with the character 'Ran' for dust, Chen Ran."
"And you?" The sea breeze lifted the young master's bangs, revealing a pair of beautiful phoenix eyes and a finely sculpted face that exuded a scholarly aura.
"Surname Hao," Jiang Cheng responded, with his hair tousled by the wind. He squinted and shouted, "Hao, as in Hao the handsome, extremely handsome Hao, Hao Shuai!"
The young master was stunned, then seemed to confirm it by looking at Jiang Cheng a few more times. A few seconds later, he hesitantly said, "Nice name."
"My friends say the same," Jiang Cheng replied as if he liked the compliment, "They say I live up to my name!"
"Well, Brother Hao, what do you think of the current situation?" The young master, unable to handle Jiang Cheng's chatter, decided to get straight to the point.
The sky was vast, and the beach stretched endlessly, with no one around to eavesdrop. Their conversation could be as casual as they liked.
Jiang Cheng lowered his voice, putting on a mysterious expression and said, "That woman definitely only revealed a small part. The most critical things—what exactly happened on their ship, and what the survivors stranded on the island went through—she didn't mention any of that."
"Right," the young master nodded, looking at Jiang Cheng, "And she didn't say how she ended up leaving here either."
"Maybe it's not just a matter of silence," the young master smiled.
Jiang Cheng looked at him, his eyes revealing a subtle emotion.
The young master noticed the slight change in Jiang Cheng's expression. He helplessly waved his hand and chuckled, "Brother Hao, don't overthink it. I just have a feeling, but my feelings are usually unreliable."
"Just like this building," the young master sighed, looking at the massive structure in the distance, "It feels alive to me. Inside, it's like being in a monster's belly, suffocating."
(End of the Chapter)
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Translated 4 Series, 1.65K+ Chapters and 2.01M+ Words.