Water Jellies as Guides

Rekindling his hope, You Su, along with Bai Ze, began searching the seabed for the next stone tablet and the traces of the mysterious vortex, based on the inscription on the stone tablet.

In the deep sea, the light is dim, jagged rocks are scattered everywhere, and coral reefs sway in the water like ghostly withered branches.

Occasionally, schools of glowing fish would dart by, like ghostly phosphorescent lights, flashing by in an instant, adding to the eeriness of the place.

After gazing at such scenery for a while, even Bai Ze began to take it for granted, no longer as cautious as when he first landed.

Bai Ze held You Su's hand and swayed it back and forth, occasionally pretending to point out directions, but in reality, it was mostly You Su who judged the route as they traversed the rugged seabed. Bai Ze's hand was soft and cool, and holding it in her hand gave You Su a sense of security. Occasionally, when she had to let go, You Su would even feel a sense of emptiness. Holding hands seemed to have become a habit between the two siblings.

They would occasionally clash, and Bai Ze would volunteer to fight, You Su no longer tried to stop him. After the battle, Bai Ze would take out a shrunken Tridacna pearl from her bosom, put it in her mouth, and lick it a few times to replenish her Mystic Qi. The pearl would spin around in her mouth like she was eating a candied hawthorn, which made You Su shake her head helplessly.

After all, this treasure originally recognized Bai Ze as its master, so he couldn't very well criticize Bai Ze on how to use it. He just wondered how he would be able to use this pearl, which was covered in saliva, if he needed to replenish his Mystic Qi later.

But then I couldn't help but think of the sweet, cloying taste I experienced when I breathed into Bai Ze's mouth, and it didn't seem like such an unacceptable thing after all...

He pretended to look around, but actually shook off the romantic thoughts in his mind.

Bai Ze, innocent and carefree, seemed completely unaware of the chaotic thoughts swirling within the large hand in his grasp.

"Hehe, it's delicious."

Bai Ze stuck out her tongue, carefully wrapped the pearl again with the white handkerchief You Su had given her, looking no different from a little girl who couldn't bear to eat all the candy at once. Just as the handkerchief was about to be wrapped, she seemed to remember something, opened it again, and handed it over:

"Brother, are you really not going to eat?"

You Su raised an eyebrow slightly. "No need."

"Why aren't you eating?" Bai Ze pressed for an answer.

"I don't need it." You Su was too lazy to explain the big principles of gender differences to Bai Ze, lest she waste her breath and make a fool of herself.

"You're kidding me," Bai Ze scoffed. "It's definitely because men and women are different, right?"

You Su turned around in surprise, astonished that this silly cat could guess his thoughts. Bai Ze, seeing his expression, became even more smug, as if he had finally gotten his revenge.

"You people are really strange. What's wrong with a family sharing prey? You're actually complaining about me, even though we've already..."

You Su drew his Ink Pine Sword with a clang, interrupting the girl's words.

Bai Ze shut up obediently and even stuck out her tongue in annoyance, but she didn't expect that this perfectly normal action would still bring her trouble. You Su's quiver landed squarely on her forehead.

"The air here is murky, don't stick your tongue out, it's not clean," You Su said, offering a seemingly legitimate reason.

For You Su, the cat's habit of sticking out its tongue was indeed a bad one, especially when giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. What was supposed to be a life-saving act of artificial respiration was distorted by the girl's unconscious action, a habit that has haunted her to this day.

Unable to refute the argument, Bai Ze had no choice but to swallow his anger like a doormat.

"Brother, look there!" Bai Ze suddenly stopped and pointed to a shadowy spot ahead.

Following Bai Ze's gaze, You Su saw a reef covered in green algae suddenly rise up, with eight segmented legs extending from under the boulder, revealing a malevolent creature resembling a crab.

"Step back!" You Su shouted, taking a step forward to shield Bai Ze behind him.

The evil spirit seemed to sense their presence and suddenly leaped out from behind the reef, brandishing its pincers as it attacked You Su.

You Su was prepared and dodged the attack by sidestepping. He drew his sword, the Ink Pine Sword, and with a flash of light, severed one of the evil creature's pincers.

The evil spirit, in pain, let out a shriek and turned to flee.

Seeing this, Bai Ze immediately made his move, conjuring an ice spike at his fingertips and shooting it at the evil spirit. The ice spike struck the evil spirit squarely in the back, freezing it in place. You Su then seized the opportunity to step forward and pierced the evil spirit's head with his sword.

After defeating the evil spirit, You Su sheathed his sword. It was unclear when it had started, but the two had developed a near-perfect teamwork; it was as if Bai Ze knew exactly when to strike without his command. And her ice-controlling abilities were truly a natural asset.

"Well done," You Su praised sincerely.

Bai Ze raised his chin and said smugly, "Of course, don't you know who I am!"

The two continued on their way, slaying several more wandering evil spirits along the way.

The most peculiar of them all was not the vicious and terrifying evil spirit, but rather a seemingly harmless seven-colored jellyfish.

They came in groups, but seemed uninterested in You Su and Bai Ze. If it weren't for the common knowledge that evil spirits crave the Mystic Qi within cultivators, You Su would have even suspected that they didn't feed on Mystic Qi, but were merely a kind of beautifully colored sea creature.

Therefore, adhering to the principle of not getting close, You Su tried to keep her distance as much as possible.

But Bai Ze couldn't contain herself. Watching the colorful jellyfish swimming around her like fireflies, she stood on tiptoe, her fingertips almost touching the floating, iridescent halo.

"Don't touch it!" You Su's warning was still stuck in her throat when the girl chuckled and placed her palm on the jellyfish's bell.

The soft tentacles suddenly straightened like steel needles, and the moment the poisonous stinger pierced Bai Ze's shoulder, the colorful reflection in her pupils turned blood red.

You Su's sword light was faster than his thoughts. The crisp sound of the Ink Pine Sword slicing through the jellyfish mingled with Bai Ze's muffled groan, exploding in the silent seabed.

"Ouch!" Bai Ze collapsed to the ground, her blue dress stained with dark, poisonous spots. As You Su half-torn open her clothes, the black markings had already climbed up her collarbone, like a venomous snake coiling around a snow-white mountain.

The girl's hand, which she had tried to freeze, fell limply to her sides—the toxins were eroding every inch of her meridians.

You Su was extremely anxious. He tried to use his Mystic Qi to dispel the toxins, but his mastery of Mystic Qi was not yet proficient enough, and his clumsy technique was simply unable to remove the toxins.

Watching the poison slowly erode Bai Ze's body, he gritted his teeth, bent down and kissed Bai Ze's shoulder, using his mouth to suck out the nerve-numbing poison.

Bai Ze stiffened, her eyes widening, but she was powerless and could only let You Su do as she pleased.

You Su sucked out mouthful after mouthful of toxic, foul blood, each mouthful numbing his tongue further. When the last drop of black blood was spat onto the reef, not only was his tongue too numb to taste the blood, but his entire body collapsed limply to the ground.

Bai Ze panicked, stammering, "I'm... I'm sorry."

She felt incredibly guilty, but her body was half-stiff and she couldn't do anything. She could only desperately move her body and curl up in You Su's arms.

You Su's words of instruction were thwarted by his numb tongue, ultimately turning into a helpless sigh. He focused all his strength on gripping the sword hilt, wary of the colorful jellyfish floating in mid-air.

The girl seized the opportunity to bury her face in the crook of his neck, her cool nose brushing against his throbbing pulse, a silent apology through intimacy. Silence fell between them, broken only by the rhythmic thumping of their hearts and their panting breaths.

After cuddling together for a long time, You Su finally regained some strength thanks to Tai Sui's amazing recovery ability. He struggled to sit up and leaned against the rocks behind him, while Bai Ze remained stubbornly close to his chest.

You Su knew that Bai Ze should feel very guilty, so there was no need for further reproach, but she still threatened him:

"If you keep acting recklessly like this, I'll just leave you here!"

He regretted it as soon as he finished speaking. The paralyzing poison had lasted so long that his speech was still slurred, and his so-called frightening threats sounded completely ineffective.

The girl in his arms stopped crying and started laughing, but still hugged his waist tightly, apologizing, "Don't leave me, I'll never do anything reckless again..."

You Su sighed, taking it as a way to make the girl happy, "That's perfect."

After saying that, he gently patted the top of the girl's head.

Just as the two were unable to move, more and more iridescent jellyfish slowly drifted past them, their tentacles drooping like cascading stars. But the only one that attacked from beginning to end was the one that Bai Ze encountered.

Logically, these colorful jellyfish, capable of applying poison and sucking blood, must feed on Mystic Qi. So why didn't a single one take advantage of the humans' vulnerability? When they were paralyzed by the poison, that should have been their time to feast...

You Su connected this to the single jellyfish that had launched the attack and boldly deduced their habits. The reason these jellyfish weren't interested in them wasn't because they didn't feed on Mystic Qi, but because their perception of Mystic Qi was extremely low; only direct contact would elicit a reaction from them.

So even though they were right above him, they moved around as if they were nothing. Only when Bai Ze made contact would they attack because they sensed the Mystic Qi.

To verify this conjecture, You Su removed a piece of moss, let Bai Ze drip two drops of the pure black liquid onto it, and then placed the moss on the tentacles of a colorful jellyfish.

Just as he expected, the jellyfish instantly transformed into its attack form, its soft tentacles turning into sharp, needle-like thorns.

Bai Ze was startled, clutching You Su's clothes tightly with her small hands, and said with lingering fear, "Pretty things are never good!"

You Su did not reply, but instead swung his sword and killed the experimental subject, a deeper doubt arising in his mind.

Bai Ze kicked the moss a little further away, and seeing You Su looking thoughtful, he came closer. "What are you thinking about, brother?"

"These jellyfish are so stupid that I almost thought they didn't eat Mystic Qi. But how can evil spirits that only eat meat that's offered to them survive here?" You Su voiced his doubts.

He had been in this deep seabed for a long time and had gained some understanding of its ecology.

Although evil spirits are classified as outside of living beings, they do indeed share many similarities with them. Humans who happen to fall into this world are not their usual food; they eat each other the most. Just like the giant Tridacna that was ruthlessly preyed upon by a much larger being, this is simply a daily occurrence in the ocean.

None of the evil spirits You Su encountered here were easy to deal with. Who would be foolish enough to willingly offer themselves up as a feast as Bai Ze?

Bai Ze stroked her delicate chin, deep in thought. Suddenly, she exclaimed with delight, "Could there be a monster that needs these to paralyze it?"

These words did indeed give You Su a hint. He remembered that he had learned this knowledge when he went to the Beast Taming Peak to study. Many living beings have symbiotic relationships.

For example, there is a mythical beast called the Si, which is as strong as an ox and has a single rhinoceros horn, hence it is also called the rhinoceros. A small black bird often perches on its body, which is responsible for pecking out insects and leeches from the folds of the rhinoceros's skin.

You Su approvingly affirmed Bai Ze's answer, attributing it to Bai Ze's instincts as a beast.

You Su was deeply immersed in his feelings about this underwater world. Everything here seemed to be an evil reflection of the inland world, bizarre and grotesque, sending chills down his spine.

However, before his feelings of reflection could dissipate, his gaze suddenly sharpened as he realized a terrifying fact—if there were many oxpeckers, it meant that rhinoceroses were not far away.

Looking around, the colorful jellyfish floated leisurely, their presence undoubtedly indicating that there was an extremely powerful and fearsome evil spirit nearby!

You Su's heart leaped into his throat. He instinctively wanted to grab Bai Ze beside him and flee this dangerous place as quickly as possible. However, as he was about to escape, he suddenly noticed a detail he hadn't paid attention to before: these jellyfish seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, all swimming in an orderly fashion from one direction to another!

You Su tried hard to discern that the jellyfish had left in the direction that he and Bai Ze had come from! There were very few evil spirits along that route, let alone a powerful being capable of raising so many colorful jellyfish.

This sudden discovery gave him a jolt, and he could only come to one conclusion: these jellyfish were also fleeing in panic!

Adhering to the principle of knowing when to retreat, You Su knew that it was time to take Bai Ze with him and leave this place full of unknown dangers.

Bai Ze was worried, You Su told her all her speculations.

However, after he finished speaking, he was surprised to find that Bai Ze, who was usually timid, showed no sign of backing down in his eyes.

"My brother doesn't want to run away, and neither do I."

The girl saw through You Su's thoughts, and in order to go home, You Su didn't want to miss any possibility.

You Su's gaze sharpened, then hardened with unwavering resolve as he held tightly the hand of the girl who trusted him unconditionally.

Those once frightening, colorful jellyfish now seemed to have transformed into a mysterious path of light, guiding them to explore the unknown depths.

And they finally saw the underwater vortex that their predecessors had described as a rare sight!

Huge eddies surged on the seabed, like a bottomless abyss leading to hell, or the maw of a giant beast capable of swallowing everything.

In the darkness, strange light flickered at the edge of the vortex, its glow eerie like will-o'-the-wisps, illuminating the surrounding twisted coral reefs and jagged rocks. Everything under the influence of this vortex became bizarre and terrifying.

"Brother, this is..." Bai Ze's voice trembled involuntarily as she gripped You Su's arm tightly, her nails almost digging into his flesh.

You Su took a deep breath, suppressing his shock, and gripped the Ink Pine Sword tightly. "It could be a path to life, or it could be... a path to death."

We're going back to shore tomorrow, and I'll be going to sea next time.