Chapter 589: Chapter 573: Island Heart Lake
Xia Chichi had never been involved in the previous pirate battle and was seeing these fish-like people for the first time. They looked like monsters and could turn back into their original form and jump into the sea. She wondered if they were edible…
Anyway, regardless of what the island was originally like, in recent years it had clearly become a stronghold for these fishtypes. She just didn’t know whether the Sea Emperor was on the island or beneath the sea.
At first, she thought that they were going to a uniquely environment-scarce desert island for cultivation practice, but it turned out not to be the case. Now, it seemed like she was entering enemy territory on her own.
Xia Chichi have a wry smile. Her importance seemed to be luring the Sea Emperor into action… Whether it was Hai Pinglan or Xia Longyuan, they both seemed to have their own machinations. If the Sea Emperor showed up, he might be caught between two formidable powers.
But here was the problem: with her abilities, how could she possibly lure the Sea Emperor into action?
Weren’t there any stronger fishpeople? Maybe there were powerful kings among them. The Sea Emperor might not even need to show up; she could just be roasted and eaten by the fishpeople.
Thinking about this, Xia Chichi was slightly moved. This might not be Xia Longyuan’s intention…
Because if the goal was to kill fishpeople to draw out the Sea Emperor, he would have sent a more reliable and trustworthy general like Cui Wenjing when he was still fine, or Tang Wanzhuang, Marquis Dingjiang, or Marquis Huangfu Yongxian – those loyal, powerful, and experienced fighters from the Imperial Earth List. They would follow his orders perfectly and execute the plan flawlessly.
Was he worried about them being harmed? Worried about jeopardizing the strategy of Great Xia? Since when did Xia Longyuan care about such things!
What use was there for him tricking her into coming here with the idea of “breaking through in practice”? He couldn’t control her thoughts, much less those of the upper echelons of Four Symbols Sect. If she found out this place was under the Sea Emperor’s control and felt it was dangerous, she could very well not come at all. Wouldn’t all the plans be in vain? This time she was dragged here by Hai Pinglan, initially planning to meet her dear husband in Penglai, but she didn’t wait, and this unexpected visit could not have been foreseen by anyone.
There was only one explanation: there was something here that only they of Four Symbols Sect could uncover and tackle.
If that were the case, even if she threw herself into the forks of the fishpeople, both Xia Longyuan and Hai Pinglan would surely come to rescue her.
Xia Chichi suddenly laughed aloud and marched directly toward the distant mountains.
“Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!” Several arrows came flying from left and right, with absolutely no enemy in sight, yet the arrows were already near her face.
Xia Chichi stood still, even tilting her neck as if to commit suicide.
The arrows seemed to hit some qi force and brushed past her, not even catching a piece of her clothing.
Urged by something unknown, the Bing Po in her hand made a swift strike, and sword qi swept through the distance, bringing back several screams.
Xia Longyuan’s angry curse rang in her ear, “What are you doing?”
Xia Chichi chuckled, “As expected.”
Xia Longyuan snapped, “What if you were wrong? Wouldn’t you have died?”
Xia Chichi sneered, “One stinking life, how important is it? If I die and it makes the greatest schemer’s plans fall through, it might not be entirely unpleasant.”
“You!” Xia Longyuan, possibly for the first time in decades, was so choked up with anger that he didn’t know what else to curse and ended in Zhao Mansion dialect: “Not only do you leak secrets, but you also have a dark heart.”
Of course, Xia Chichi didn’t understand, “I don’t know who has the darker heart! Using one’s daughter as bait like this.”
“Forget it, I don’t want to talk to you.” Xia Longyuan muttered to himself that the Demon Sect was indeed the Demon Sect. This child’s disregard for her own life was truly wicked. Not only that, she probably already had some kind of dealings with the Zhaos years ago, showing no self-respect; she’s really too much.
But who could he blame? He never raised her; this was a genuine case of having a mother but no fatherly guidance, and it couldn’t even be counted as an insult. It’s not like he could blame the Manor Master, whose grave grass was already three feet high.
Swallowing the dumb loss, he could only sigh, “Forget the so-called schemes; dad wouldn’t just watch you get into trouble, but you must take responsibility for your own life. Dad may be watching from afar, but things might not be as timely as you imagine. If something goes wrong, regretting it later would do no good; be careful, very careful.”
His voice faded and disappeared.
Xia Chichi was momentarily dazed by his use of “dad”, feeling quite conflicted.
Maybe Xia Longyuan’s intervention wasn’t really impactful to the grand situation, but it was still a risk of exposure, his anxiety evident fearing she might be in danger.
It might seem he shouldn’t be thought about too much; he was only worried lest his plans go awry… But everyone had their plans, and it was he who moved, not Hai Pinglan.
This kind of first-response instinct might indeed reveal some truths… He was not as heartless as people imagined, nor as much as he thought himself.
Xia Chichi pursed her lips and turned her head to glance at the scene just now.
The archer fishpeople were dead, but no bodies were visible; blood traces mysteriously appeared from a completely unrelated direction.
Everything visual here was chaotic. If she genuinely relied on her own power to fight here, it would indeed be a great training. It trained spiritual sense, understanding of light and space, and the ability to decipher origins.
Xia Chichi tapped the ground with her toes, striding toward the moon.
“Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!” Countless arrows plummeted down, stronger and more densely packed than before. It seemed like the fishpeople’s large force had discovered someone forcefully entering and organized themselves to encircle and suppress the intruder.
Xia Chichi’s steps were slightly amiss, dancing lightly amongst the arrows.
The trajectory of the arrows was extremely bizarre. What Xia Longyuan brushed aside seemed effortless, but it was enormously challenging when it was her turn. While they seemed far away, they were already at her throat; those that seemed to be in front of her hadn’t hit at all.
An ordinary person would be utterly confused amidst such an arrow array, but Xia Chichi danced through it, arrows falling around her in succession.
The moonlight was hazy, her white garment like snow, really dance-like as if performed by a spirit.
The distant fishpeople stared somewhat blankly; this was simply transcending species to kill with beauty.
A leader shouted, “Who is there, daring to trespass on Tianya Island!”
“Oh, so this place has a name?” Xia Chichi’s smile was overflowing, “The ends of the earth… how fitting, I am looking for the edge of the heavens.” She paused, then added, “I heard you can see the sun here… Let me see how it goes? The king can state any conditions he wants.”
“To see the sunrise altar is easy,” the voice of the fishpeople leader wafted unpredictably through the sea fog, “You can either watch it with me on my bed or inside my stomach. Choose one.”
Xia Chichi was still smiling, her voice cold as frost, “I think you’re seeking death!”
“Whoosh!” Bing Po suddenly stabbed into the empty space beside her, and a crabman was gutted in the distance.
Xia Chichi moved like a ghost, suddenly shifting to the right, a loud “clang” echoed as a Sky Halberd struck the ground where she had just been standing, leaving deep cracks.
But a gash had still been scraped across Xia Chichi’s arm, from which blood flowed.
Such battles… were too difficult.
Even the fishmen of this place might not be fully accustomed to them, let alone normal people, even if they were geniuses.
“Stay!” The Sky Halberd swept through, Xia Chichi’s eyes icy cold, suddenly she thrust her sword upright, borrowing force to whirl away towards a large tree to her side, crashing into it.
“Not good! Stop her!” Shouts rang out from all around—a chaotic frenzy.
Xia Chichi crashed into the trunk, but unexpectedly vanished without a trace.
Though the scenery up ahead showed continuous mountain ranges, once she had crashed in, there was no mountain at all.
Actually, this island wasn’t as big as imagined; it was quite small.
There were indeed trees, but they were sparse, encircling a large lake at the island’s heart, upon which stood a stone platform of unknown material featuring a sculpture of the Azure Dragon ascending majestically from the water.
Was this their “Sunrise Altar”?
At the lake’s shore, the distorted field of vision seemed much clearer, enabling one to see the misty surroundings as if through a fogged lens.
Around the lake, countless fishmen lit bonfires; apparently, they had been conducting some special ritual. Quite a few fishermen, who appeared to be humans being flayed alive, hung in the lake’s center, gutted with blood streaming down.
How many of the praying fishermen outside had been captured and flayed alive for sacrifice here?
Xia Chichi’s eyes grew colder, even without any other purpose, such races destined to clash with humans could not be allowed to live.
Upon seeing their ritual disrupted, numerous fishmen rushed towards Xia Chichi chaotically shouting, while the fishman leader frantically swung the Sky Halberd right at her neck.
Meanwhile, a water figure “grew” from the lake, a column of water surged straight toward Xia Chichi.
Surrounded on all sides, Xia Chichi spun again trying to dodge, but her mind “buzzed,” a mysterious whisper echoing in her heart, blurring everything around her.
Quickly aided by some Alien Power, the confusion cleared.
“Damn…” Even though the older Xia might have intervened to save her, in that momentary pause, the water figure’s column was upon her, too fast to dodge.
Xia Chichi deflected with her sword horizontally, but the Sky Halberd still managed to reach her neck.
Xia Chichi rolled away desperately, the Sky Halberd grazing past her hair, cutting off several strands.
All around, countless blades plunged fiercely down as Xia Chichi rolled, drawing her sword to fly up, a moment filled with imminent danger.
Would Xia Longyuan intervene at this moment?
Or Hai Pinglan?
“Clang!” Xia Chichi strained to block the incoming trident, almost smelling the fishy breath of the fishmen, “Beauty, no one can save you, just be a good meal!”
Xia Chichi received no rescue, yet suddenly Bing Po in her hand surged with ice ridges, plunging into the fishman’s mouth.
Taking advantage of the injured fishman leader’s wailing, Xia Chichi rolled away again, then leapt up, perching atop a treetop.
Expecting no help from anyone, she had to rely on herself.
Xia Chichi’s gaze fell on the sculpture in the lake, her mind racing—this object was undoubtedly connected to the Four Symbols Sect, she could feel an extremely close call, like branding deep in her veins.
But how to get close?
Surrounded, countless fishmen gathered at the base of the tree, others lunged at her from all sides, with the relentless Sky Halberd casting images in front of her, and the water figure seemed to be casting a special trap, encapsulating the surrounding trees tightly in water bubbles.
Xia Chichi blocked the Sky Halberd again, her supple waist involuntarily bending backward.
Unable to pass, what now?
The fishman leader opened its mouth wide again.
“Twang!” A strength came from nowhere, a gigantic “arrow” shot abruptly through the head of the fishman leader, blowing it into bits.
A bed crossbow!
Where did this bed crossbow come from!
Encouraged, Xia Chichi saw that the “arrow” did not stop there, but continued piercing through several fishmen’s heads before finally stopping in a huge rock.
A trail of bloody blade light burst forth from where the “arrow” fell, charging straight towards the water figure in the lake center, “Go to hell, die!”
Even Xia Longyuan, who was about to intervene from the Imperial Heavenly Vault, was stunned… When did this kid show up?
Xia Chichi stared blankly at that silhouette, unable to suppress her blossoming smile, beautiful and breathtaking.