Shen Feng watched with wide eyes as colossal sea beasts emerged from the ocean. Fear gripped him. "I shouldn't have pushed myself so hard with my abilities," he thought. "My stamina is severely depleted. The sea beasts are here, but the gravity field is still active. How can I escape?"
When the gravity field appeared, the small boat instantly began to sink. The immense gravitational force rendered even ability users immobile. Shen Feng quickly looked towards the distant cargo ship, hoping to see how those people were coping. However, before his eyes, the massive cargo ship suddenly vanished.
Seeing this, Shen Feng was shocked. "How could this happen? How did this ship disappear?"
Just then, a colossal dark shadow surfaced from the water. Its body, rising above the surface, resembled a giant island, its black back like a mountain range.
"Puff," "Splash," a colossal water column erupted from atop the mountain-like form, the sound deafening.
"Is this a blue whale? The leader of the sea beasts, a kilometer-long blue whale?" Shen Feng stared at the monstrous creature before him in disbelief, never imagining such a thing would appear in the Luzon Strait.
Shen Feng was completely bewildered. Logically, giant beasts wouldn't typically appear in shallow waters, as they risked getting beached. Sea beasts were almost invincible in the water; their only weakness was their immense size. Once beached, it meant certain death, so sea beasts usually roamed the deep oceans.
Yet, here, a colossal blue whale appeared before Shen Feng, completely overturning his understanding.
"Xiao Yue, quickly deactivate your gravity field! If we don't run now, we'll surely die!" Shen Feng shouted urgently at Yue Hengyi.
Yue Hengyi remained motionless, still standing at the bow of the boat, as if he had lost consciousness.
Escape was now impossible. The blue whale surfaced and, opening its mouth, swallowed the small boat whole. Shen Feng's surroundings turned pitch black. At this moment, Shen Feng could only activate his "Wind King's Barrier" to protect himself. Whale baleen was constantly filtering around him. Shen Feng couldn't escape the whale's maw, and at this point, Yue Hengyi had also vanished.
"Damn it, Yue Hengyi, you brat, you've set me up! Now I can't even run. My life is over!" Shen Feng was in despair. Previously, when swallowed by a sea snake, he could still resist to some extent. But now, he had been swallowed by a blue whale, and worse, his stamina was insufficient. The barrier wouldn't last long, and he was now inside the blue whale's stomach. If he lost the strength to maintain the barrier, wouldn't he be instantly dissolved by stomach acid?
As if on cue, Shen Feng suddenly felt an intense pain in his arm. Looking closely, he realized his arm was immersed in stomach acid. The flesh on his arm dissolved instantly, leaving only bare bone.
Meanwhile, Yue Hengyi, upon noticing the enemy's attack, had also acted. If he didn't act, he wouldn't. But when he did act, it was his strongest attack: a five-times gravity field within a one-kilometer radius.
At this moment, Yue Hengyi saw the cargo ship ahead suddenly fall apart. Over a dozen people wearing masks plunged into the water.
"Help! Help!" the people who fell into the water cried out for help. Yue Hengyi, however, ignored them. He felt no pity for assassins who wanted to kill him.
Ultimately, these obstructing assassins drowned at sea, and the crisis was resolved.
"Hmph, how dare you oppose us brothers? This is your fate. Serves you right for drowning here!" Yue Hengyi said triumphantly to the many corpses in the sea. Despite their arrogance, they had all died at his hands.
Afterward, Yue Hengyi turned to Shen Feng in the cabin and asked, "Feng Ge, should we continue forward?"
Turning back, Yue Hengyi was instantly stunned by the scene before him. Shen Feng was lying sprawled in the cabin, blood flowing from his nose and mouth, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. He was completely still, already dead!
"Feng Ge, don't scare me! Aren't you a sixth-tier ability user? How could you be crushed to death by gravity? Answer me quickly!" Yue Hengyi panicked, shaking Shen Feng, hoping for a response. But Shen Feng had already stopped breathing. Shen Feng was dead!
"Why? Why did this happen?" Yue Hengyi collapsed onto the boat, completely unable to comprehend this turn of events. Previously, Shen Feng could withstand his gravity field, but now, Shen Feng had died tragically on the boat. Witnessing this, it was a devastating blow to Yue Hengyi.
Yue Hengyi had always followed Shen Feng, and Shen Feng had meticulously cared for him during two illnesses, allowing him to survive. But now, Shen Feng had died tragically. Yue Hengyi felt as if his pillar of support had fallen, and he would have to walk the rest of the path alone.
"Feng Ge, I can't believe you've left me so soon. We were so close to returning home. The remaining path wasn't that far. Yet, at the final hurdle, you couldn't make it. Don't worry, I'll bring your body back to Yuzhou. I'll visit you every year. Your deeds will be sung by all survivors," Yue Hengyi said sadly.
After his grief, Yue Hengyi quickly pulled himself together. He knew he had to return to China as quickly as possible, find Qin Kewei, and explain the truth, so that Qin Kewei wouldn't be deceived.
As if by coincidence, a strong gust of wind blew from the southeast, propelling the sailboat forward rapidly towards the northwest. In just over a day, they reached Guangzhou. Yue Hengyi vaguely felt something was wrong. Even with a tailwind, it shouldn't be possible to reach the mainland so quickly.
As Yue Hengyi sensed something was amiss, he heard even more shocking news: Qin Kewei in Yanjing had met with an accident!
"Mr. Yue, you've finally returned. Today, the headquarters received news that Miss Qin Kewei in Yanjing was assassinated. Someone ambushed Miss Qin and decapitated her. The murderer is still at large!" someone informed Yue Hengyi of the news.
Yue Hengyi immediately collapsed to the ground, murmuring, "Why? Why am I still too late?"
Recalling the events of the past few days, Yue Hengyi felt as if he were trapped in a nightmare. First, Shen Feng died unexpectedly at sea. Then, after he finally returned to China, he heard that Qin Kewei had also been assassinated. Each incident seemed shrouded in mystery.
Yue Hengyi looked back at Shen Feng's body in the cabin. At this moment, Shen Feng's eyes were still wide open, staring at the ceiling, but they were hollow, filled with the stillness of death, as if he had died with regrets.
At the dock, thousands of people were watching Yue Hengyi, pointing and murmuring, "It's him. He couldn't do anything. And because he was in a hurry to return to China, he caused the death of his good brother!"
Hearing the discussions around him, Yue Hengyi didn't know what to say. It was the truth. It was because he had thrown a tantrum that Shen Feng had to accommodate him, ultimately leading to the danger at sea. In essence, it was all his fault.
Suddenly, someone parted the crowds on both sides and walked over. Upon closer inspection, it was Chang Jianyi and Chu Chaoyan. Their faces were streaked with tears, and their eyes shone with hatred as they looked at Yue Hengyi. They then questioned, "Why? Why did you kill our husbands?"
"No, no, I didn't mean to. I just wanted to come back sooner!" Yue Hengyi panicked. Seeing the hateful gazes of others, he dared not meet their eyes, as if he had done something terrible.
Chang Jianyi, with tears streaming down her face, held a child and stood on the pier, weeping sorrowfully. Chu Chaoyan, however, accused him, "You selfish wretch, you caused these tragedies. We will never forgive you. People like you are utter scourges."
Hearing these accusations, Yue Hengyi fell into silence. He lowered his head and muttered to himself, "You're right, it's my fault, my fault! I should die. I killed Shen Feng and failed to save Qin Kewei. I'm useless, I'm a jinx!"
Thinking of the fact that he had caused Shen Feng's death, and overcome with grief, Yue Hengyi began to search for a sharp object, intending to end his own life.
...
"Slap," "Slap." Yue Hengyi suddenly felt two slaps to his face. The stinging pain forced him to cover his face. If Chang Jianyi and Chu Chaoyan had hit him, he might have felt some comfort.
But when Yue Hengyi opened his eyes, he found Shen Feng was the one slapping him. Shen Feng was looking at him anxiously and asked, "Are you awake? If you're not awake, I'll slap you to death!" Shen Feng said directly.
Yue Hengyi stared blankly at Shen Feng appearing before him, almost petrified. He stammered, "You, you aren't dead? Feng Ge, are you perhaps not at peace and seeking revenge before going to hell?"
"Bah, don't talk nonsense! How could I die so easily? Don't you understand yet? We were under an illusion!" Shen Feng grabbed Yue Hengyi by the collar and said.
"Illusion? Isn't that something from TV shows? Could it be that everything I just saw was fake?" Yue Hengyi began to look around, only to find himself still on the small boat. The sun was setting in the west, the sea a golden hue. Looking further ahead, the cargo ship was still anchored in place, and he could faintly see figures on board.
Shen Feng explained, "Human perception is formed in the brain. Therefore, if the brain is affected, what we see and hear can be false. Even the smells we think we perceive can be hallucinations. I've heard of mushrooms that can cause hallucinations, but it seems our enemies can do it too. I suspect it's likely an ability that affects brainwaves!"
After hearing Shen Feng's explanation, Yue Hengyi finally felt relieved. It seemed Shen Feng was truly alive, and he hadn't returned to China yet; they were still at sea.
"What do we do now?" Yue Hengyi asked quickly.
Shen Feng said with difficulty, "Quickly deactivate your gravity field. I can barely breathe. I'll use my abilities to escape first!"
Yue Hengyi nodded quickly, but then he suddenly remembered something and asked, "Could you also be my hallucination? Are you trying to trick me into stopping my abilities?"
"Slap." Shen Feng, too annoyed to answer, delivered a slap. The burning pain on Yue Hengyi's face made him clear-headed. "That's right, this isn't a hallucination. It can't be a hallucination. I'll deactivate it immediately!"
Yue Hengyi finally believed that Shen Feng before him was real. Thinking about the scenes he had witnessed in his dream, he still felt lingering fear. He had almost fallen for it. If he had died in an illusion, it would have been too much of a loss.
"Who are these people? Why do they have such powerful abilities?" After deactivating the gravity field, Yue Hengyi's doubts deepened. He had never heard of opponents with such strength; they seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. If they didn't have powerful backing, Yue Hengyi wouldn't believe it.
"I don't know who they are, but judging by the fact that they're wearing masks, they definitely don't want to be recognized. In any case, when we return to China, we'll need to investigate thoroughly!" Shen Feng said solemnly.
Yue Hengyi steered the boat southwards to return, while Shen Feng used his abilities to change the wind direction, escaping towards Luzon Island.
Shen Feng was doing his best to use his abilities, but previously, they had sailed north with the wind. Now, returning from north to south was against the wind, so the sailboat's speed was naturally slower.