At this moment, beside the cruise ship, two young men in suits stood on a speedboat with two girls beside them.
"There's a small island ahead; since the banquet hasn't officially started, let's go have some fun," said a young man wearing a top-tier, tailor-made, teal suit, with a few strands of his bangs dyed blonde, as he spoke up.
"Yes, I want to go have some fun too!" A girl around thirteen or fourteen clapped her hands in agreement on the speedboat.
"Xueqi, you better not follow. Who knows if there are savages on that island—it could be very dangerous," a woman standing on the luxury cruise ship, yet to disembark, frowned and said.
"Sister Ruoxi, come with us; it's no fun staying here anyway," Du Xueqi called out to Du Ruoxi, who stood on the cruise ship.
Du Ruoxi furrowed her willow leaf eyebrows, hesitated for a bit, worried about her little sister's safety, and nodded: "Alright, but we need to make it back in time for the start of the banquet, or we'll all be in for a scolding."
"Got it," Du Xueqi said, her pretty face lighting up with a pair of dimples and revealing a row of teeth as neat as seashells.
"Let's go," Du Jie, holding a glass of wine and bracing against the sea wind, shouted loudly.
The speedboat quickly sped towards the small island. The group of young men and women on the speedboat were Du Feiyu, Du Jie, Be, Du Xueqi, and Du Ruoxi; each dressed in dazzling finery, they were standout figures in any crowd.
"Feiyu, I heard that your elder brother Du Chengwen was beaten up, and he's still in a wheelchair. Who would dare to attack him?" Be, wearing an ash-gray dress with lace-up back detailing and hair curled like seaweed, leaned lazily against Du Feiyu.
Du Feiyu sneered, "Who would dare hit him here in Xiazhou? He's the apple of our aunt's eye, except for that guy."
"You're talking about Lin Mo, Du Shanshan's cousin?" Be recalled the name, her eyes revealing a hint of hatred and bitterness.
She still remembered Lin Mo giving her a harsh slap in front of everyone and crippling Wei Ya's hands.
"Who else could it be? I heard Du Chengwen got into trouble playing with an actress, and it just so happened Lin Mo knew her, so he beat Du Chengwen up," Du Feiyu said, curling his lip.
Actually, after Du Chengwen was beaten, Du Li and his wife Ma Yan were furious, but for some reason, it all died down, and even within the Du Family, little was mentioned about it.
"Tsk tsk,"
Be shook her head and sneered, "That Lin Mo is really something, isn't he? Using the fact that he's Du Shanshan's cousin, he doesn't bother to keep a low profile in our Xiazhou. He beat up Wei Ya and then Du Chengwen, and now who knows where he's run off to?"
"Where else can that guy go? He's probably long gone from Xiazhou by now, or he's found a place to hide. Even if our Family Head spares him for Du Shanshan's sake, would the Wei Family let him off?" Du Jie said, holding a champagne glass and turning with a cold laugh.
"That's true, having offended both the Wei Family and the Du Family, there's no place for him in Xiazhou anymore. He's probably run off or gone into hiding."
Be said, curling her lip, then a chill flashed in her eyes, "I actually hope he doesn't run away. This tough kid dared to hit the scions of the Wei and Du families; I really want to see how the Wei Family handles him."
"Forget it, let's not talk about him. We're here to have fun; let's not bring up such depressing matters," Du Feiyu said, sipping his drink with a laid-back air.
"But I heard that person is coming today; I wonder what they look like," Du Jie asked curiously.
Du Feiyu said, "I don't know her, but if that girl gets married off and she's not there to back him up, I guess Du Chengwen won't let Lin Mo off the hook."
As everyone chatted, Du Ruoxi sat to the side and sighed softly. Within the Du Family, she and Lin Shanshan had the closest relationship, and she knew some of the matters. The reason Du Li and Ma Yan did not seek revenge on Lin Mo was largely due to Lin Shanshan's compromise.
"Sister Ruoxi, Brother Mo is quite powerful, why did he have to run away?" Du Xueqi asked with her big sparkling eyes, full of curiosity as she looked at Du Ruoxi.
Du Ruoxi looked at Xiao Mei and shook her head, "You're too young now, you still don't understand many things. Although Brother Mo is formidable and knows some martial arts, he is after all on his own. How could he possibly contend with the Wei Family or with our Du Family?"
"Oh, I see," Du Xueqi pouted, a hint of sadness in her eyes.
While everyone was chatting, the speedboat had already stopped on the island. The island wasn't large, covered with various vines and plants, presenting a quite unique charm.
"Everyone, don't go in. There might be wild animals or poisonous snakes inside. It's better to just play around outside," Du Ruoxi instructed as she stepped off the speedboat.
Du Jie frowned and looked towards the center of the island, puzzled, "Hey, it's already evening, why is there such thick fog over there?"
With his remark, everyone noticed that there was a patch of persistent thick fog at the heart of the island, which was very strange.
They thought to themselves that such a phenomenon should only occur in winter.
Just then, everyone froze in shock. Du Xueqi clutched at Du Ruoxi's clothes, her eyes wide as she stared at a figure slowly emerging from the fog, "Sister Ruoxi, there's a wild man, could it eat us?"
Du Ruoxi furrowed her brows, and everyone else was taken aback.
"There won't be any wild men here, it might just be a local fisherman on the island," Du Ruoxi said with a frown, equally perplexed.
This island was neither famous nor large, completely undeveloped; generally, no one would venture into its heart.
When the figure emerged, Du Feiyu was stunned, "Damn, isn't that Lin Mo?"
Lin Mo wore casual clothes but they were wet from sea water and then dried, becoming wrinkled and coated with a layer of salt, making him look quite ragged. At the moment, Lin Mo was stuffing a plant into his mouth.
Lin Mo was eating Spirit Grass from the Great Elder's space ring, which could nourish the body, but to everyone else, it looked like he was desperately chewing on wild grass.
"I thought he had already fled. Is he actually surviving on this deserted island?" Du Jie clicked his tongue and shook his head.
"Brother Xiao Mo looks so pitiable," Du Xueqi said, her eyes misting as she looked at Lin Mo, her small hand wiping her eyes.
Standing with arms crossed, Huang Mao sneered, "Surely the Wei Family's people are searching for him everywhere. He doesn't dare to go to the airport or the train station, so he could only travel by water and then ended up stranded on this deserted island, too scared to come out."
Hearing Huang Mao's words, disdain and contempt appeared on the faces of Du Feiyu and Du Jie.
Even Du Ruoxi sighed. Just a few days before, Lin Mo had been full of vigor, giving Wei Ya a good thrashing, but to think he had turned out like this after a few days of not seeing him.
Is it really true that an individual's strength can never stand against that of a family? Lin Mo swallowed the Divine Grass and then lifted his head to look at the people standing on the beach.