Strange Land

"Why did you come save me?"

Sitting in the little lifeboat commonly used on pirate ships, breathing in fresh air tinged with the smell of the sea—a sensation he had not felt for days—and glancing at the pirate ship gradually receding behind them, Liu Feng finally asked a question that seemed extremely idiotic.

"Kid, didn't I tell you? Since you think highly of us brothers, we'll have your back from now on. We can't afford to provoke the first mate, but getting you out was simple enough!" Cross-eyed shifted those pupils of his that were squeezed together, looking as proud as a rooster that had just won a fight, and spoke with lofty arrogance.

Beside him, Dwarf heard this and nodded hard again, agreeing with Cross-eyed for the second time in his life.

Alonso, who had been rowing the little boat with all his might the entire time, said nothing, only smiled faintly.

A faint warmth of emotion rose in Liu Feng's heart. Although from the flicker in Dwarf's eyes, he knew this matter was definitely not as simple as Cross-eyed made it sound, and although he had only known these fellows for a few short days, not nearly long enough for their friendship to reach this level, so there had to be things in this that he did not know, no matter what, facts were facts. Right now, at least he had already escaped the pirate ship—and he had not had to swim away.

With a chuckle, Liu Feng did not bother being polite. His thoughts turned, and he asked, "Where are we going now?"

Cross-eyed sighed softly. "According to the information we got, tomorrow morning, twenty nautical miles to the north, there'll be a merchant ship heading to the Western Continent. As long as we make it through tonight smoothly, you can safely go to the Western Continent!"

Liu Feng was startled. He did not know how Cross-eyed knew that he wanted to go to the Western Continent, and his heart grew even more puzzled. He had just been about to ask when Alonso's expression suddenly changed drastically. In the next instant, Alonso stood up from the little boat, his eyes revealing utter terror.

Liu Feng and the other two were shocked. Following Alonso's gaze and looking ahead, they were completely dumbstruck.

Liu Feng rubbed his swollen head hard, opened his somewhat dry, stinging eyelids, and struggled to sit up from the ground. Enduring the soreness throughout his body, he looked around at his surroundings in confusion.

This was a clean, soft beach. The fine sand refracted waves of beautiful golden light under the sunlight. Opposite it was a quiet sea surface rippling with light. The faint sea breeze brought a slightly fishy smell, as well as a refreshing coolness that seeped into the heart. Several seabirds kept skimming low over the sea, from time to time letting out a few delighted cries after catching food.

Good heavens, what was this place? Had he not been on the little boat? How had he ended up on land now? Liu Feng stared dumbly at the scene before him. If not for the shattered cabin plank from the little boat not far away, Liu Feng would have suspected he was dreaming.

He slapped his aching head hard again and tried to recall what had happened then.

Back on the little boat, just as Liu Feng had been about to ask how Cross-eyed knew he wanted to go to the Western Continent, the most dangerous hurricane on the Caribbean Sea had actually appeared on the originally calm surface, surging toward the little boat with no warning at all.

That hurricane was extremely fast, and the little boat was simply too small. Before they even had time to flee, it was instantly lifted by the hurricane and then slammed hard onto the sea surface. The little boat could not withstand such immense power of nature at all and immediately shattered into pieces. The enormous impact and force of the blow caused Liu Feng to sink into unconsciousness at once. In a daze, Liu Feng only remembered that Alonso seemed to roar, then desperately stuffed a remaining cabin plank into his arms, making him hold it tight. After that, a great wave swallowed Alonso, Cross-eyed, and the others, while Liu Feng fell completely unconscious.

Right—what about Alonso and Cross-eyed? Liu Feng's heart jolted in alarm, and he looked all around the beach. Unfortunately, aside from some seabirds with rather strange appearances, there was not another human figure anywhere besides himself.

Could they be dead? Thinking of this extremely likely possibility, Liu Feng could not help feeling a faint sadness in his heart. Although he did not know the true intentions behind those three fellows saving him, at that final, most dangerous moment, Alonso had still shoved the only cabin plank from the little boat to him. There had not been the slightest falsehood in that action.

Liu Feng shook his head helplessly and struggled to stand. For the moment, he pushed aside his wild thoughts. No matter what, first he had to figure out exactly where this was. Perhaps the three of them might not be dead.

Beyond the soft beach was a stretch of gravelly ground. The sharp stone fragments opened bloody cuts one after another on Liu Feng's feet, making Liu Feng once again lament the sorrowfulness of his life. He could only grit his teeth, forcibly endure the pain, and continue walking forward.

Behind the gravel was scenery completely opposite to the quiet, beautiful beach. Stone pillars that looked like all kinds of ferocious beasts stood one after another with savage shapes, jagged and grotesque. In the distance, wisps of mist rose within a forest of various towering trees. Though it was daytime, the place still looked somewhat eerie.

Looking back again at the tranquil, beautiful beach that seemed like a fairyland, then at the Stone Array forest not far away that seemed like hell, Liu Feng could not help marveling at the wonders of the Creator.

No matter what, since this was land, there would be people. It was much safer than the sea. Liu Feng gritted his teeth, picked up a wooden stick from the ground, and staggered crookedly inside.

Only after walking into this enormous Stone Array did Liu Feng discover how tiny he was. From a distance, these stone pillars had seemed only a few meters tall, but when he reached the bottom, he realized that even the shortest were over twenty or thirty meters, while the tallest even surpassed a hundred meters, thrusting straight into the clouds. The only thing they had in common was that every single one was bizarre in shape, as if transformed from ancient fierce spirits.

The sunlight in the Stone Array was very weak, with only faint patches of light covering the ground, adding a few more traces of mystery and danger. Liu Feng did not dare linger. He barely supported his frail body and hurried forward.

Perhaps because it was near the seaside, this Stone Array was not especially long. Before too long, Liu Feng finally let out a breath and walked out, arriving before the forest he had first seen.

Waves of dryness and thirst spread through him. Liu Feng twitched the corners of his parched mouth and began looking all around for a water source. Although this stretch of road had not been far, it had still taken no small toll on his body, which had survived calamity by the skin of its teeth.

What entered his sight were towering trees, so thick that it seemed several people would be needed to wrap their arms around them. Unfortunately, there were no thirst-quenching fruits or water sources that Liu Feng wanted to find.

With a helpless sigh, Liu Feng could only struggle to his feet again, preparing to walk into the forest. Fatigue was something difficult to resist. Sometimes, the more one rested, the harder it became to move again.

Who would have known that just as Liu Feng rose, from within this originally deathly silent forest there suddenly came a soul-shaking, deafening roar that shot straight into the clouds.

A sharp pain immediately pierced Liu Feng's ears, and he was horrified to discover that even the giant trees not far away began trembling under that roar, which seemed to belong to an unparalleled fierce beast. Leaves fluttered down one after another, the momentum terrifying to the extreme.

And as that roar rang out, a tragic and incomparably savage baleful aura soared from the forest and swept out in all directions. Liu Feng only felt his breath catch, and an incomparable terror suddenly rose out of nowhere in his heart. Cold sweat was already dripping down, and his legs went weak. He was actually frightened so badly that he sat down on the ground...

As that roar sounded, Liu Feng suddenly felt heat in his chest. Lowering his head, he was shocked to discover that on his bare chest, the pendant the ancestor had called the Divine Punishment Order was now faintly emitting a dark light, looking extremely strange.

Liu Feng had no time to think about what madness this necklace was up to now, because sounds once again came from the forest.

Rumbling booms like mountains collapsing and the earth splitting apart rapidly came from within the forest, accompanied by a wild wind and sand and stones that stung as they struck his face. At the same time, that savage aura grew even denser, seeming to approach Liu Feng's location at great speed.

Liu Feng was instantly alarmed. Gritting his teeth, he scrambled up from the ground and was about to burrow back into the Stone Array.

Unfortunately, Liu Feng's movements were truly too slow. He had only just rushed a few steps in when the sound behind him grew even louder. Liu Feng abruptly looked back and was nearly scared out of his wits.

Not far within the forest, one towering tree after another was crashing thunderously to the ground. Worse still, some snapped outright and flew out, as if some colossal creature inside were charging and smashing about with all its might.

At the same time, the ground kept shaking, and even from the stone pillars in front of Liu Feng, chunks of rock kept falling with swishing sounds, like an earthquake.

In just an instant, the trees before the forest had completely splintered and scattered in every direction. After a storm of flying sand and rolling stones, a colossal thing Liu Feng had never seen before appeared on the open ground between the Stone Array and the forest.

It was a gigantic scorpion. Its enormous pincers flashing with cold light, and the hook at the end of its tail raised high like a giant curved blade, proved the identity of this monster.

But its size made it impossible for anyone to believe it was a scorpion. Its huge body was nearly twenty meters long, covered from head to tail in fan-sized scales that glimmered with black light. Those two enormous pincers were actually nearly ten meters long, raised high, radiating a heavy bloody Sha Qi, as if they meant to pierce the heavens. The immense power contained in them left no one doubting they could easily tear a small mountain to pieces.

Its two eyes, each like a millstone, emitted waves of violent and bloodthirsty light, staring fixedly at Liu Feng inside the Stone Array as though he were an ant. The savage aura all over its body was so terrifying that even the air around it seemed to have stopped.

Good heavens! Liu Feng cried out at once, but sat down on the ground yet again. His whole body had gone weak and limp, his mind had turned completely blank, and even the courage to flee seemed to have vanished entirely.

This was a Primordial Fierce Beast. Liu Feng could be certain of that. He simply could never have imagined that one day, he would encounter such a terrifying existence, the sort that usually only appeared in legends.