Unquenchable Hatred

Qi Shanshan finished bandaging Li Weiyi's wrist, straightened up, and set down the scissors as she said, "I ate her!"

Qin Ke, standing behind her, was startled.

Lately, she'd often heard research team members say the food would run out soon, and that in the future, something as horrifying as people eating people might happen.

Qi Shanshan turned around, looked at Li Weiyi sitting there calmly watching her, and said with a hint of irritation, "You only care about your Senior Sister Cai—I'm getting jealous! Don't worry, she's safe."

She knew full well Li Weiyi hadn't asked casually.

He was testing her.

So she answered very seriously, adding, "You people have no insight at all. A few days ago, I noticed Xie Tianshu and Kong Fan meeting frequently. This morning, after the Ethereal Clouds scattered, while you were all studying the Ancient Script, the two of them sneaked into the Kitchen Tent."

"I didn't dare follow, and I couldn't be sure what they were up to, but I knew something was off. To be safe, I had to drag Yutong into hiding first."

"Best if nothing happened, but if it did, we'd at least have a place to hide."

Li Weiyi found no flaw in Qi Shanshan's gaze or expression, and her answer was watertight. He quickly stood up and smiled, "Don't answer so seriously—it feels like an interrogation."

"Isn't that what you're doing?"

Qi Shanshan looked a little annoyed and walked out of the Medical Tent.

Li Weiyi followed, intending to apologize—after all, when they first crashed onto the Bronze Ship, she'd saved half his life. Earlier, in the fight with Laboratory 705, if she hadn't thrown the Cross Pendant to help, it would've been hard to say who'd come out on top between him and Han Qin.

Qi Shanshan suddenly turned around and collided with Li Weiyi, who was catching up. She let out a soft "Ouch," frowned, and patted his chest. "Why are you walking so fast? You bumped me!"

"I still have something to tell you. Your Senior Brother's injuries are very serious. His arm and kneecap are shattered, and his blood vessels and nerves are severely damaged. With the medical conditions on this ship... you need to be prepared. Even if he pulls through, he'll probably be bedridden for life."

Warm fragrance and soft jade filled his arms, and she didn't seem eager to leave, but Li Weiyi had no mood for it. He quickly turned back into the Medical Tent, channeling the scorching airflow from the sole of his right foot into his palm, intending to inject it into his Senior Brother's wound.

But his hand stopped just before touching.

The scorching airflow could only flow through the Silver Meridian Lines. His Senior Brother had no meridian lines in his body—injecting it would likely cause secondary damage.

Like striking his Senior Brother with a palm force.

"Senior Brother also studied the Jade Void Breathing Technique. If he wakes up and keeps cultivating according to it, maybe he can cultivate that mysterious scorching airflow on his own. But..."

"With his legs broken like this, can the scorching airflow still be born from the soles of his feet?"

Li Weiyi's chest felt tight and heavy, as if a thousand-pound boulder were pressing down on it. In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through his mind. One of them was giving his Senior Brother Flood Dragon Blood to drink—maybe his injuries would heal.

But thinking of Xie Tianshu's monstrous appearance, he really couldn't make that decision for his Senior Brother.

Just then.

From outside the Medical Tent, toward the bow of the ship, a woman's faint, ethereal singing drifted over.

"A great river, wide with waves, Wind blows rice flowers fragrant on both banks, My home is on the shore, Used to the boatman's chant, Used to the white sails on the boats..."

Who was singing?

While Li Weiyi and Qi Shanshan were both bewildered, Qin Ke thought of something: "It's Liu Ying! Earlier we looked for her but couldn't find her. We all thought she'd hidden in the Nether Mist Graveyard Forest..."

"Not good."

Li Weiyi and Qi Shanshan rushed out of the Medical Tent, one after the other.

Liu Ying was wrapped in a filthy blanket, sitting on the bulwark at the bow, her legs dangling in the air.

Her face, legs, shoulders, and arms exposed outside the blanket were covered in bruises and wounds.

Her eyes held hollow despair—memories of home, her parents, and that once stable, lawful environment. Her cheeks were streaked with tears. The wind at sea lifted her long hair, making her mournful song even hoarser and lower, until she was nearly whispering the lyrics: "Everywhere... there is... the sunlight of peace..."

Behind her, hurried footsteps approached.

Without a trace of reluctance, she jumped.

Li Weiyi watched her jump with his own eyes, only a dozen steps away, but the bulwark was already empty.

Qi Shanshan and Qin Ke caught up, panting.

Qin Ke rushed to the bulwark's edge but dared not look down. She could guess that Liu Ying was being devoured by the wandering souls soaking in the seawater. Her tears fell uncontrollably, like rain.

Qi Shanshan walked over to comfort her: "After what happened to her, how could she go on living? It's okay, don't be afraid. With Weiyi here, nothing like that will happen on the ship again. He'll protect us."

Li Weiyi's heart was heavy with grief and fury. Sword in hand, without a word, he walked toward the Graveyard Forest shrouded in Nether Mist.

Passing the dying Chen Hong, he abandoned the thought of leaving him for his Senior Brother to take revenge. With one punch, he caved in his chest. Then, he picked him up and tossed him into the sea like trash.

Were they even human?

Worse than trash.

Besides Xie Jin, the other four who fled were all caught in the Graveyard Forest.

Some had buried themselves in the grave soil, leaving only their mouths and noses exposed.

But their breathing and heartbeats continued. As long as the distance was close enough, they could not escape Li Weiyi's hearing.

When they learned that Liu Ying had jumped into the sea, Gao Huan and Professor Xu's students beat the two Security Team members who had bullied Liu Ying half to death. In the end, amid the rising fury, they pushed them into the Sea of Souls.

Vaguely, Li Weiyi heard the camel bells in the Graveyard Forest again. He immediately performed the Jade Void Breathing Technique, restoring his consciousness to clarity and calm, a deep doubt taking root in his mind.

As for the other two, they naturally did not escape a severe beating.

But they were not thrown into the Sea of Souls.

Someone suggested using them for experiments.

After Xie Tianshu's Flood Dragon-like mutation, although his appearance was grotesque and frightening, he had gained genuine supernatural power. Perhaps he could now live for a hundred years, or even several hundred, like the legendary demons.

Compared to supernatural power and longevity, what was sacrificing a normal human appearance?

The strong never suffer from appearance anxiety.

Li Weiyi did not object. His view was the same as Zhao Meng's.

Once a person bares their fangs, they are no longer human.

This was not about the dragon-slayer becoming the dragon, but about showing no mercy or soft-heartedness toward enemies. The other side would not appreciate it; they would only harbor resentment in their hearts, waiting for you to weaken before making you die without a burial place.

Besides, Li Weiyi also wanted to use experiments with the Black Flood Dragon's corpse blood to determine the possibility of saving Senior Brother.

Too many things had happened in a single day.

After disposing of all the bodies—some thrown into the sea, others buried—everyone was utterly exhausted.

At first.

No one could sleep. They lit a bonfire and gathered together, afraid another upheaval would occur.

Moreover, Xie Jin was still nowhere to be found, like a thorn that had not been removed, making it hard for them to feel at ease.

But by the latter half of the night, fatigue finally won out. Except for the two on watch duty, the rest slept on the ground around the bonfire.

Li Weiyi went alone to the other end of the Bronze Ship, stopping beneath the Black Flood Dragon's corpse.

On his left thumb, he wore the Dragon Pattern Ring. He touched the Flood Dragon blood that had frozen into purple-red crystals at the severed section of the corpse. In an instant, a layer of white frost formed on his fingers from the cold.

The Dragon Pattern Ring indeed reacted. The dragon-scale patterns on it faintly lit up.

The first words Xie Tianshu had spoken after his Flood Dragon mutation were: "This severed arm of mine is your doing. Neither the Black Flood Dragon's corpse blood nor the Dragon Pattern Ring can make it grow back."

At the time, Li Weiyi had guessed that Xie Tianshu's ability to mutate into a demonic form must have come from the Dragon Pattern Ring's help.

That afternoon, when they used the two Research Team members for experiments, it confirmed his speculation.

The first one did not wear the Dragon Pattern Ring. After drinking the Flood Dragon blood, his skin soon burst open.

In the end, he died from excessive blood loss.

The second one wore the Dragon Pattern Ring. After drinking the Flood Dragon blood, he survived. Then, using his own blood to soak the ring, he soon began to undergo a Flood Dragon-like mutation.

Of course, no one dared to let him complete the transformation into a demon. Just as he was about to succeed, they immediately removed the Dragon Pattern Ring.

The mutation was interrupted. He died even more horribly than the first test subject.

His flesh and blood almost entirely exploded.

"No matter what, this is still a way to save Senior Brother."

Li Weiyi murmured to himself.

The Nether Mist was faint.

Before him, the Sea of Tombs and Forest of Steles, illuminated by the distant Golden Crow corpse's light, exuded a quiet eeriness.

A familiar scent of perfume drifted on the wind.

Li Weiyi's sense of smell, though not as exaggerated as the Ghost Bear Emperor's, was still far beyond an ordinary person's.

He knew who it was.

He had been waiting here for her.

Li Weiyi silently hid behind the massive Black Flood Dragon corpse. Gradually, light footsteps sounded. A tall, graceful figure passed by the Black Flood Dragon corpse and hurried toward the direction of the Nine-Story Ship Tower.

Li Weiyi stepped out from the shadows and looked over.

That familiar, gentle silhouette had already entered the passage between the ship tower and the bulwark, heading toward the stern.

On the ten-foot-wide passage of the ship tower, numerous Humanoid Stone Statues with varied expressions were arranged. The Nether Mist thickened, adding to the horror. But Qi Shanshan was not afraid at all, moving through them with ease.

On the first floor of the ship tower, all the cabin doors were cast from bronze, over ten feet tall. Their weight was unimaginable, impossible for human strength to push open.

Halfway down the passage.

The Nether Mist gradually dissipated.

In its place was a hazy, gauzy Immortal Radiance, like smoke and silk.

This Bronze Ship, which had seemed like an Undead Ghost Ship, appeared to have changed, as if it had transformed into a celestial Jade Palace or a fairy vessel.

The stern and the bow were two entirely different worlds.

(One more chapter, as promised to the book friends in the review section.)