Temple on the Island

The giant mermaid looked at the floating mermaid corpses around her. The beautiful woman at the very top had bloodshot eyes fixed firmly on Zhang Chen. With a flick of her tail, she closed in on him at incredible speed.

"So fast?"

Zhang Chen had no time to marvel. He could only hold Xiao Lan tightly and accelerate toward the shore, but there were still probably four or five hundred meters between them.

Watching the giant mermaid draw closer and closer behind him, Zhang Chen knew that if this continued, he would sooner or later end up in her stomach.

"Right, I can speed up too."

In his desperation, Zhang Chen actually came up with a way to increase his movement speed. He began concentrating Telekinesis behind himself, using it as a propeller to boost his speed.

As Telekinesis continuously pushed him forward from behind, Zhang Chen's speed nearly matched that of the giant mermaid. Moreover, the island was right before them now. If he kept this up, they could reach it in less than a minute.

Suddenly, the beautiful woman atop the giant mermaid moved her mouth and spat out a white bone needle, which shot straight at Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen had assumed that, in his water form, this kind of physical attack would have no effect on him. When the white bone needle entered his watery body, he immediately regretted it.

The bone needle seemed to be alive. It remained motionless inside his body. Meanwhile, the giant mermaid behind him stopped chasing, turned around, and abandoned the pursuit.

"What is this thing? It doesn't seem to be doing anything to me."

When the bone needle first entered Zhang Chen's body, he had naturally been extremely nervous and tried to separate it from himself. But no matter what method he used, even if he peeled off and discarded the portion of water containing the needle, an identical bone needle would reappear inside his body.

However, after observing it for a while, he discovered that the bone needle was merely sitting inside him. It posed no danger, and he could not sense any unusual aura from it.

"I'll study this thing after we get ashore."

Before long, the two of them finally reached a large island on the other side of the lake. A towering rocky mountain stood in the center of the island. Even from the villa, they had been able to see the mountain through the white mist.

After coming ashore, Zhang Chen returned to human form and carried Xiao Lan in his arms. Although Xiao Lan's body was paralyzed, her eyes remained fixed on him, filled with helplessness and sorrow.

"Xiao Lan, I only cut off your connection to your body earlier so I could take you away more easily. Once I make sure you're all right, I'll reconnect it for you."

Until Zhang Chen confirmed whether Xiao Lan was still under the giant mermaid's control, he would not restore her freedom. Otherwise, if she accidentally escaped back into the water, all their efforts would have been wasted.

"Will you save me?" Xiao Lan finally managed to say while lying in Zhang Chen's arms.

"Don't worry. I'll find a way. Before that, I'll take you off this deserted island and back to the villa."

"No... I don't want everyone to see me like this. Can you help me return to normal first?" As she spoke, pain appeared in Xiao Lan's eyes.

"Mm. Let's first see what this island is like."

Having just escaped danger, Zhang Chen had not paid much attention to Xiao Lan in his arms.

At that moment, although quite a few scales covered the important parts of Xiao Lan's body, she was not wearing a single piece of clothing. With her wet short hair and already somewhat cute face, if her feet had turned into a fish tail, she really would have looked like a little mermaid.

After calming down and staring at Xiao Lan in his arms for quite a while, Zhang Chen's face gradually turned red. Xiao Lan also became somewhat embarrassed.

"Um... you should be free of that giant mermaid's control now, right?" Zhang Chen asked.

"I don't know either. That thing can command my consciousness. It was like that in the bedroom at the beginning."

"I'll try releasing your nerves first. If anything seems wrong, I'll cut them off again."

"Mm."

After Xiao Lan spoke, Zhang Chen moved his right hand, and the liquid attached to Xiao Lan's cervical spine returned to his hand.

"How is it? Can you walk?" Zhang Chen asked.

"My whole body feels weak. Maybe it's because I was in the water for so long. I'm a little unaccustomed to being on land now."

"Then I'll put you down and let you try."

With that, Zhang Chen supported Xiao Lan by the waist and slowly lowered her to the ground.

"Ah!" Xiao Lan tried to take two steps, but her legs immediately cramped up and she fell to the ground. Zhang Chen hurried over and helped her up.

"How about I carry you on my back first while we look for something to eat? Then we can find somewhere to rest, and slowly practice walking. What do you think?" Zhang Chen said thoughtfully.

"Okay."

Zhang Chen slowly carried Xiao Lan onto his back. Neither of them had any upper clothing on, and their skin was separated only by a layer of scales. It was more than this underage boy could handle.

At a time like this, I'm still thinking nonsense. If Wang Yizhi finds out, she'll beat me half to death. I should look for food and a place to stay on this island first. We can only consider returning to the villa after Xiao Lan can run normally and I've fully recovered.

With that thought, he headed deeper into the island. His Telekinesis was nearly exhausted, so finding some edible fruit to replenish his strength would not be a bad idea.

He had not walked far when Zhang Chen unexpectedly saw a wild boar.

"What's going on? There are actually living creatures on this island? I'll kill it first and see if there's anything strange about it."

Zhang Chen did not even need to move. He used Telekinesis to pick up several sharp stones nearby and fire them at the wild boar together. They pierced straight through its body, killing it beyond doubt.

Xiao Lan, on Zhang Chen's back, could not help opening her mouth in surprise at the sight.

"I'll inspect this wild boar later. If there's nothing wrong with it, we can have roast pork," Zhang Chen said to Xiao Lan on his back.

Zhang Chen's strength was far beyond that of an ordinary person. Carrying Xiao Lan on his back while dragging a wild boar with his right hand did not strain him in the slightest.

As he walked across the island, Zhang Chen naturally spread his remaining Telekinesis throughout a two-meter radius around himself. Along the way, small insects and even snakes occasionally passed through the grass at his feet, which Zhang Chen found rather unbelievable.

"This island should be surrounded by the lake, and the lake water clearly isn't drinkable. So how have these creatures survived?"

With that question in mind, Zhang Chen walked for nearly half an hour before finally seeing what he wanted to see.

"Xiao Lan, look. That thing ahead should be a house, right?"

Xiao Lan followed the direction Zhang Chen pointed and vaguely saw a dark little building ahead.

"Mm, I see it too."

"Then let's go over there first. There are lots of bugs and snakes in the grass here. If it's an abandoned house, we can roast this fellow there too."

As the two drew closer, they gradually realized that what had looked like a small house from afar was actually a dilapidated temple. It was also rather spacious.

"A temple? There doesn't seem to be anyone inside, nor does it have any dangerous aura."

Zhang Chen stood at the temple entrance with Xiao Lan on his back. The large wooden doors had become badly damaged from years of rain. After he gently pushed open the door, a massive Buddha statue came into view inside the main hall. The statue was covered in dust, and it looked as though no one had visited the hall for a long time.

"Ah!" Xiao Lan cried out from behind him.

A skeleton was sitting before the Buddha statue, its legs crossed beneath it as it sat peacefully there.

"Is this... passing away while meditating?" Zhang Chen had also seen on television how enlightened monks would pass away while meditating and ascend to the Immortal Realm, while their physical bodies would turn into relics.

However, it seemed that only the person who had become this skeleton had lived in the temple. There were no relics on the meditation cushion beneath it, as television had described.

"Don't be afraid. We're only borrowing this place to rest. As long as we're respectful, I'm sure the master won't mind." After speaking, Zhang Chen bowed to the skeleton. He then placed Xiao Lan on a meditation cushion before looking around the temple for anything useful.

"Wait here for me. I'll look around and be right back."

Xiao Lan really wanted to go with Zhang Chen, but considering he had carried her all the way here, she was too embarrassed to ask him to carry her again. So she nodded.

"Come back quickly, okay?" Xiao Lan still felt frightened as she looked at the skeleton seated beside her.

Zhang Chen gave her an OK gesture and left.

There was an exit behind the temple's main hall. Outside lay a fairly spacious backyard, where a small wooden hut of only about ten square meters stood.

As soon as Zhang Chen stepped outside, he saw a well in the backyard and hurried over to it. With a wave of his right hand, the clear water in the well slowly rose in response to his gesture, coiling around his right arm and gradually merging with his body.

"Just as I thought, this water is normal. No wonder life can exist on this island. We can eat that wild boar without worry."

Zhang Chen's mood immediately improved. At least the issues of food and drinking water had been resolved at once. Then he turned his attention to the small wooden hut in the yard.

"I'll see if there's anything useful inside. It would be nice if I could find even one piece of clothing."

"Creak..." Zhang Chen gently pushed open the dilapidated wooden door, causing quite a bit of dust to fall.

"How many years has it been since anyone came here?" After opening the door, Zhang Chen saw that there were only three things in the room: a simple wooden bed, a wooden desk, and a monk's robe hanging on the wall.

"This monk's robe seems pretty clean. Xiao Lan can wear it later." Zhang Chen took down the robe in one motion, then continued searching the room for anything useful.

The dust on the wooden desk was at least a centimeter thick. Covering his nose, Zhang Chen opened the only drawer on the right side of the desk and found a yellowed notebook inside. Four large characters were written on it: "Daoist Hand Scroll."

Just as he was about to open it, a scream suddenly came from the main hall.

"Damn it, something happened to Xiao Lan." Zhang Chen tucked the notebook into his waistband and immediately ran toward the main hall.

A horrifying scene unfolded before him. Xiao Lan was sitting facing the skeleton, whose arms were gripping her hands as though it were conducting some sort of ritual.

Zhang Chen was about to destroy the skeleton when he suddenly noticed that the scales on Xiao Lan's body were continuously falling off. The instant each scale fell, a little black blood seeped out, after which the wound healed on its own.

"Endure it, Xiao Lan. The master is helping you remove the scales," Zhang Chen softly reminded her. Xiao Lan nodded painfully.

The entire process lasted half an hour. Throughout it, Xiao Lan's expression was full of pain, and sweat dripped from her face onto the ground. At last, the final scale fell, and her wound healed completely.

At that moment, the small bone needle inside Zhang Chen's body automatically flew out. It landed in the skeleton's hand, then gradually turned to dust along with the skeleton and vanished between heaven and earth.

Zhang Chen solemnly bowed to the skeleton. What it had done reminded him of the Faceless Man in Xie Wen's basement, who had been willing to let his soul scatter away just to buy Zhang Chen time.

"Young benefactor, you have also found this old monk's hand scroll. It contains much information that will be useful to you. The young lady's mermaid poison has been removed, and the bone mark within your body has been taken. If you have the ability, destroy that great demon. If not, leave as soon as possible. This old monk does not wish to see all living things ravaged after death."

Zhang Chen could not sense any soul around him. He could only silently nod...