Setting Sail

Chen Shouyi, feeling a bit restless, walked to a hidden cave. He gently parted the dry grass covering the entrance, revealing two well-wrapped oil-paper packages.

The larger oil-paper package contained the parts of his bow and arrows.

The long, narrow oil-paper package held his Alloy Sword.

He reassembled the powerful bow and tested the tension of the bowstring, finding no slack whatsoever.

He wasn't surprised. A Martial Artist's War Bow was a combat weapon designed to adapt to various environments. Durability and ease of maintenance were basic requirements. Unlike traditional bows, they weren't delicate and could withstand prolonged exposure to sun and rain with minimal impact.

Of course, this durability came at a steep price.

A War Bow cost as much as a car.

Carrying his weapons, he arrived at the entrance of the passage and finally released the Shell Girl.

Upon returning to the small island, the Shell Girl let out a joyful cheer and danced wildly in the air as if she had gone mad.

Chen Shouyi ignored her and walked to the side, beginning his arrow practice.

After shooting a few arrows, he realized he wasn't in the right state of mind, his heart unable to settle.

He stopped and stood still, lost in thought for a moment.

Ever since discovering this passage, Chen Shouyi had been under immense pressure. On one hand, he knew the passage's existence posed a significant threat to Dongning City. On the other hand, he was unwilling to give up the exclusive control of the passage and the benefits it brought him.

Because of this, when he first discovered Barbarians appearing on the island, his immediate thought wasn't to avoid them temporarily but to risk going back to kill them. Even when a large number of Barbarians appeared the second time, he tried to handle the situation alone.

He had nearly lost his life because of it.

Besides rectifying his mistake and preventing more Barbarians from entering Dongning City, a part of him still harbored the desire to continue hiding the passage.

Naturally, he had succeeded by sheer luck, managing to salvage a situation that was on the verge of collapse, and thus continued as before.

However, the corpse of the intruder today and the photograph finally made him feel somewhat agitated.

While he could find a hundred reasons to convince himself that the person died due to their own greed and had nothing to do with him, he knew in his heart that, in a way, this person was the first to be implicated since he began concealing the passage.

Ultimately, he was still just a seventeen-year-old boy with a heart that hadn't yet turned cold.

Although his hands were already stained with blood, the death of a Barbarian and the death of a human felt different.

One was a backward, primitive race from another world, while the other was of the same kind.

It was like how, after the first Industrial Revolution, people who considered themselves civilized could slaughter Native Americans at will, yet could be polite and courteous to a stranger after putting down their firearms.

It was because they didn't consider the former to be the same species.

Of course, it wasn't to the point of feeling immense guilt, but this incident served as a wake-up call.

If others stumbled into the passage and died, it was none of his business.

But what if some Barbarians came out while he was away?

At this moment, a strong thought suddenly surfaced in his mind:

"Why don't I go to the Barbarians' island and check out the situation there?"

"If it's not too dangerous..."

It had to be said, his personality had a strong streak of gambling.

His gaze turned cold as he pondered the risks involved:

"Compared to the slaughter on that rainy night, my strength has increased. My physical condition is now comparable to that of an ordinary Barbarian. Even without my bow and arrows, even if it wasn't a surprise attack, I'm confident I could easily kill one in a one-on-one fight."

If it was about hunting, Chen Shouyi was naturally no match for Barbarians who lived by hunting. However, when it came to killing, compared to the martial arts killing techniques developed by countless scientists worldwide over the past twenty years, the Barbarians' methods, still in the stage of using their physical instincts, were far inferior.

It was like comparing an old farmer who tilled the land every day for a living to a university student who had studied agriculture.

Or an old woman who had cooked for decades to a chef who had just graduated from a vocational school.

The efficiency of knowledge acquisition in a technological society was countless times greater than that of the Barbarians.

He glanced at the sky; it wasn't yet noon.

He decided not to continue practicing. He called the Shell Girl over and headed down the mountain.

Reaching the rocks by the sea, he untied the rope of one of the canoes and then took off his pants, wading into the seawater.

Fortunately, the tide was a bit high today, so the Dugout Canoe wasn't beached.

Otherwise, he was genuinely worried he wouldn't be able to push the massive Dugout Canoe.

He placed his weapons and briefcase inside, then climbed into the Dugout Canoe.

The stench inside the Dugout Canoe had faded considerably after several days of being exposed to the sun.

He picked up a wooden paddle-like object and paddled hard in the seawater.

"It's moving! It's moving!" The Shell Girl seemed quite excited and shouted loudly.

The Dugout Canoe slowly turned in a circle.

Looking at the excited and cheering Shell Girl, Chen Shouyi said with a hint of annoyance, "Stop shouting, be quiet."

It was a bit embarrassing.

How do you row this boat?

He scratched his scalp, trying hard to recall the scenes of rowing he had seen before.

It seemed to be rowing one way, then the other.

However, this method was only suitable for small boats.

A dugout canoe was four to five meters wide, and clearly couldn't be rowed like that; they would get exhausted just going back and forth.

Fortunately, he could slowly figure it out.

He experimented again and again. After a full half hour, he finally managed to control the direction.

Chen Shouyi took out the common language dictionary, flipped through it for a while, found the pronunciation of the rarely used word "island," and then said to Shell Girl, "Go see where the nearest island is in the distance. There's a reward."

"Gems?"

Shell Girl's eyes lit up, and she quickly asked. Seeing Chen Shouyi nod, she flew up excitedly. She flew higher and higher, until she was a hundred meters up, then she descended.

Fortunately, the rope tied to her was long enough.

"Yes, very, very far!"

"In that direction!"

Shell Girl immediately pointed.

Chen Shouyi continued rowing.

The dugout canoe was incredibly heavy, and its speed was quite slow. He estimated it could only travel about ten kilometers per hour, which was only slightly faster than walking.

It was difficult to judge direction on the sea, and before long, he had completely lost his sense of direction.

It was fortunate that Shell Girl kept confirming the direction; otherwise, without a compass, he would probably have gotten lost.

After rowing for more than two hours, he finally saw a hint of green appearing on the horizon.

The green gradually grew larger.

He soon discovered another dugout canoe.

"A giant!" Shell Girl's eyesight was sharper than his, and she shouted loudly.

There were two of them. He immediately changed direction and headed towards the other dugout canoe.

Dugout canoes were the Barbarians' only means of transportation at sea. He decided to take out this dugout canoe first.

The two boats slowly approached each other.

Perhaps seeing a dugout canoe of the same style, they thought they were companions. The Barbarians on board even stood up as if to wave hello.

At this point, the two boats were still six to seven hundred meters apart, and their vision was still quite blurry. The figures they saw were just small dots, and their specific appearances couldn't be seen at all.

Seeing this, Chen Shouyi had an idea. He immediately took off his shirt, baring his chest like the Barbarians, preparing to confuse their vision.

He felt his skin was too fair and clean; it would be obvious if they looked closely.

He gritted his teeth, looked left and right, and quickly found a piece of solidified mud of unknown origin inside the cabin. Ignoring the foul smell, he quickly smeared it on his face and body.

He took out his dead phone and used the screen as a mirror to check himself. Then, he carefully smeared the remaining areas.

Shell Girl pinched her nose and sat far away with a look of disgust.

Chen Shouyi secretly thought, hoping it would be somewhat effective.

At this moment, the other boat also changed direction, seeming to want to come over for a chat, and began to sail towards them.

The two boats drew closer and closer.

Five hundred meters, three hundred meters.

He could already faintly hear the rough shouts of the Barbarians.

Chen Shouyi lowered his head slightly, continuing to row without a sound.

After another hundred and fifty meters, the Barbarians on the dugout canoe became hesitant, and their rowing speed slowed down.

After one hundred meters, one Barbarian finally let out a cry of terror.

"It's that Demon!"

(Demon is an idiomatic translation)

The two immediately turned their boat around, perhaps in too much panic, fumbling clumsily. The dugout canoe spun in place.

At this time, Chen Shouyi had already raised his head, placed the oar aside, picked up the War Bow next to him, nocked an arrow, and drew the bowstring instantly.

His gaze was sharp, his mind unwavering.

After the dugout canoe had slid another dozen meters, he instantly released the bowstring.

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