Chapter 142 Tragic

Weather: Overcast, temperature 20 degrees Celsius, force 3 wind.

A small fishing boat sailed across the sea surface. The three of us—myself, Hu Xiaoyu, and the Sea Maiden—were aboard this vessel.

I held a map and marked points on it.

"Is it here?" I asked the Sea Maiden.

"A bit further ahead. There's a reef island there, which is currently submerged by the high tide," the Sea Maiden pointed forward.

The boat reached the destination and came to a stop.

I looked at the Sea Maiden and asked, "Are you ready?"

The Sea Maiden nodded firmly, gritting her teeth. "My father and brother didn't die in vain, and neither did so many others who suffered such unjust deaths."

I took out a magical artifact and tied it around the Sea Maiden's neck. This artifact could be activated in critical moments to repel water and provide defense.

I gently stroked her hair and said, "Don't worry, Sister Yu'er and I will protect you well, and we will definitely avenge those who died unjustly."

Immediately, we all three plunged into the seawater and dove downward.

True to her name, the Sea Maiden was like a genuine fish the moment she entered the water. Her speed was extremely fast; even with magical power driving us, Hu Xiaoyu and I were still slower than her.

Below was indeed a submerged reef island, with countless colorful fish swimming around the reefs.

Following her memory, the Sea Maiden swam diagonally downward.

To be honest, I was somewhat surprised, because up until now, the protective artifact on the Sea Maiden hadn't been triggered yet, proving that she was still completely at ease, even though we had been diving in the seawater for over ten minutes.

Even a professionally trained top-tier diver couldn't hold their breath for ten minutes while swimming at such a high speed. She truly lived up to the name of Sea Maiden.

Before long, two surging undercurrents appeared in the deep sea.

These two undercurrents collided from different directions. It was hard to imagine the consequences if one were to get caught in them.

The Sea Maiden stopped and pointed at the center where the two undercurrents collided.

I exchanged hand gestures with Hu Xiaoyu, and we each grabbed one of the Sea Maiden's hands, plunging headfirst into the vortex of undercurrents together.

As soon as the three of us entered the undercurrent vortex, we were sucked down. The high-speed spinning vortex acted like a meat grinder; if Hu Xiaoyu and I hadn't already reached the level of sixth-grade Yin-Yang Masters, we truly couldn't have guaranteed our safety.

It could be said that the Sea Maiden was extremely fortunate to have survived after being caught in it previously.

Suddenly, I felt my body lighten as I was flung out from the undercurrent.

I looked up and saw that the upper layers of seawater were still surging violently, while the very bottom was extremely peaceful, yet littered with countless skeletal remains.

The protective light barrier on the Sea Maiden had been activated, and she pointed forward.

Behind two massive seabed rocks ahead lay an underwater passage.

The passage had a strange barrier that kept the seawater isolated outside.

I reached out my hand and easily passed through it.

As we stepped inside, a heavy wave of ghostly Qi rushed directly toward us.

"Such dense ghostly Qi. Even an ancient battlefield would be no different," I said in a deep voice. How many people had to die to condense ghostly Qi of this concentration?

At this moment, the Sea Maiden shrank back behind me, and Hu Xiaoyu gasped, covering her mouth.

Looking around, dead bodies were scattered everywhere along both sides of the passage.

"Let's go, stay alert," I said. Flanking the Sea Maiden with Hu Xiaoyu on one side and me on the other, we advanced deeper into the passage.

After walking a long stretch, countless ghostly souls suddenly appeared, wailing miserably in dense swarms that made one's hair stand on end.

"They're just ordinary resentful spirits, or perhaps not even resentful spirits anymore; their resentment has been drained away," Hu Xiaoyu said, preparing to banish them into complete nothingness.

I grabbed her hand instead, shook my head, and said, "Leave them be for now. Don't alert the enemy."

We continued moving forward, and wherever we passed, the ghostly souls scattered out of the way.

Soon, we reached the end of the underwater passage, which opened up into a massive stone chamber.

Upon entering, the Sea Maiden immediately closed her eyes, not daring to look.

Meanwhile, the expressions of Hu Xiaoyu and me turned extremely grim. Even though we had witnessed many tragic scenes before, witnessing devastation of such a horrific scale was a first for us.

Corpses here were piled as high as mountains, segregated into piles of adults and children.

Each of these two towering piles consisted of densely packed thousands of corpses. Every single person had suffered inhuman torture before death, and their eyes remained wide open, filled with endless agony and grievance.

What drove me even madder was the size of the children's corpses: some were five or six years old, three or four years old, and there were even newborns as well as fetuses cut directly from their mothers' wombs.

Judging by the remaining clothing and characteristics of these corpses, they were unquestionably Chinese.

Enveloping these corpses was an invisible, malevolent ghostly aura of death, drifting upward toward a massive cyan rune array on the ceiling.

Magical power condensed in Hu Xiaoyu's hands, but right then, I grabbed her wrist and shouted in a deep voice, "What are you doing?"

"Destroying this thing, of course," Hu Xiaoyu replied.

"If we destroy it, we'll likely all be buried here instead. Things like this aren't so easily destroyed; let's get out of here first," I said.

We turned around, preparing to leave.

Just at that moment, a massive cyan eye suddenly blinked open on the cyan rune array above, casting a chilling gaze upon us.

My heart skipped a beat, and an intense wave of crisis chilled me to the bone. I grabbed the other two and lunged violently forward.

A beam of cyan light swept past from that giant cyan eye, leaving behind a puff of cyan smoke.

Right then, the Sea Maiden couldn't help but glance back.

"Don't look!" I shouted loudly.

However, it was already too late. In an instant, the Sea Maiden petrified, turning into a stone statue.

The moment the Sea Maiden petrified, half of the palm I was using to hold her hand petrified as well, and the effect began spreading upward.

Roaring aloud, fueled by a surge of magical power and ignoring everything else, I dragged the petrified Sea Maiden and rushed forward.

Hu Xiaoyu, who had been holding the Sea Maiden's other hand, instinctively let go, and her eyes met mine for a fleeting fraction of a second.

Hu Xiaoyu remembered the scene back at Soul-Broken Ravine when Zhang Ruyue had desperately given her life to save me.

I didn't overthink it. It was I who had made the Sea Maiden take her life in her hands to enter this underwater passage once more, so I had to drag her back even if it cost me my life.

"Hurry and go!" Hu Xiaoyu suddenly snapped, her white lotus magical sword flashing as magical power projected outward, piercing straight toward the giant eye on the cyan rune array.

In an instant, that sword beam petrified as well, shattering into pieces.

By this time, I had already dragged the petrified Sea Maiden out of the massive secret chamber.

Setting the Sea Maiden aside temporarily, I flashed forward, intending to turn back and rescue Hu Xiaoyu.

*Bang!*

My body slammed into what felt like an unbreakable wall. The entrance connecting the underwater passage to the chamber had instantly been sealed by an additional layer of gray barrier.

I roared, slashing my Blood Fiend Saber against it.

Yet my attack sank into the barrier like mud into the sea, failing to stir even a single ripple.

"Xiaoyu'er!" My eyes instantly turned bloodshot, and wave after wave of attacks pounded against the barrier.

At that moment, Hu Xiaoyu's voice echoed from within: "Qin Feng, take the Sea Maiden and get out. I'm fine."

"No!" I gritted my teeth, continuing my relentless attacks on the barrier.

"Listen to me, I'm truly fine. I found a place where that giant eye cannot reach me; I'm just temporarily trapped here. Hurry and take the Sea Maiden out, then figure out a way to rescue me," Hu Xiaoyu urged anxiously.

Internal struggle tore at my heart. Reason told me Hu Xiaoyu was right, but...

"Qin Feng, you have to believe in my ability to protect myself, and I believe you will find a way to save me. Do you want the Sea Maiden to perish? Do you want us both trapped here forever?" Hu Xiaoyu's anxious voice rang out.

"Alright, I'll take the Sea Maiden out first. Wait for me—I will definitely come back to save you!" I shouted, hoisting the Sea Maiden onto my shoulder and sprinting toward the exit.

I surfaced with the Sea Maiden from the sea and climbed back into the boat.

I channeled waves of magical power into the Sea Maiden's body. The petrification effect on her head vanished, and she began gasping for breath, though her consciousness remained clouded.

Next, I applied several anti-evil talismans to her and set up a cleansing formation, letting her lie within it.

The petrification on her body gradually began to fade, while I steered the boat toward Bailing City.

I dialed Old Fox Zhou's phone repeatedly, but it was unreachable.

I couldn't trust anyone else, so I could only leave a message for Old Fox Zhou.

Returning to Bailing City, I settled the Sea Maiden, whose petrification effect had now completely worn off.

Just then, I received a phone call from Koji Misono.

"Heisha-kun, I originally wanted to give you a couple of days to rest, but some unexpected developments have occurred. Head to the harbor dock immediately and rendezvous with me," Koji Misono's voice sounded grave on the other end of the line.