He looked at Shell Girl standing on his shoulder, her little face flushed red with exhaustion as she panted.
Chen Shouyi was so furious he nearly spat blood.
I'd worried about you for so long, thinking you'd run away to be free, and it turned out you'd quietly gone off to get your glass marbles.
I really want to give her a good thrashing!
Yet even though Chen Shouyi had a thousand curses ready to spill, when he saw Shell Girl without her restraints, the words that came out were:
"I'll get them for you right away!"
You're the boss now!
Chen Shouyi helplessly jumped off the boat and walked back onto the small island. With Shell Girl pointing the way, he finally found the treasure chest she'd secretly buried in the ground: a shell about the size of his palm.
"This good enough?" Chen Shouyi picked up the shell and held it out.
"Yep!" Shell Girl nodded vigorously.
Then she swiftly flew onto Chen Shouyi's shoulder. Every so often, she glanced at the hand holding the shell, her little face wary. "Giant, these are all mine. Don't sneak any away."
At last, she added, still not quite reassured, "I counted them already!"
Chen Shouyi was speechless. I'd have to be crazy to steal your glass marbles.
Climbing back onto the boat, he picked up the oar.
After all that delay, they could finally set off.
More than four hours later, he set foot on the barbarians' island once again.
The moment his foot touched the island, a fierce wind sprang up out of nowhere. Countless leaves shivered and swayed in the forest as an oppressive atmosphere spread through the air. Even the sunlight seemed to dim.
Clearly, he'd been discovered the moment he landed.
But things were different now.