The seawater on the Signal Stone had not yet dried when a second message arrived: the Demon Whale was pursuing the Patrol Ship, only twenty li from the waters where they had last fought.
Tang San set down his bowl of porridge, grabbed the Trident, and headed outside. Xiao Wu followed him to the door and tossed him the Wrist Guard he had left on the table. He caught it, put it on, and glanced back at her.
"Don't just watch me," Xiao Wu said. "If anyone gets trapped in the water, I'll rescue them first."
"I'll leave that side to you."
Outside the temple, Yuan Yu had already opened the Great Void Boundary-Stabilizing Gate. Tang San stepped through and landed on a stone platform a hundred zhang away, then Yuan Yu marked another point ahead. The Boundary-Setting Gate could only connect to a visible or previously marked location at a time. They made dozens of jumps along the coast before finally reaching the Patrol Ship ahead of the Demon Whale.
Xiao Bai's clansfolk were spread out around the ship. The Young Shark they had rescued the night before had come too, only for Xiao Bai to smack it back to the rear with her tail fin. The Demon Whale swam up from deeper waters, the golden mark Tang San had cut still lingering beside its single eye. Its wounds had not healed, yet one sweep of its tail raised a wall of water higher than the day before.
"It's driving the ship into the Reef Zone!" Bai Chenxiang called from the air.
Tang San stood at the bow, gripping his trident. "Xiao Bai, take the Patrol Ship north. Rongrong, boost me. Fatty, don't let it circle around to the right. Yuan Yu, leave the old wounds to me."
Yuan