Weary, she would sink into the sea for a brief rest, and wake up to continue her journey; thirsty, she would tilt her head back to drink a few mouthfuls of rainwater, and hungry, she would catch a couple of fish to eat.

Qiong had lost track of how long she had been living like this.

At first, she tried to record time based on the changes of day and night, but after missing it once or twice, the error went from days to weeks, and then from weeks to months... Now she didn't even know how long she had been swimming, but... at least it had been more than half a year, right?

Thinking of this, Qiong felt aggrieved and wanted to cry. In fact, she had cried countless times, but her tears would soon dissolve into the sea, becoming a part of the ocean.

So tired.

Really so tired.

When sleeping, she couldn't relax and float on the surface of the sea, because that would attract cormorants or other predators. Even if they couldn't swallow her, a peck would hurt for days. What's more, there was the possibility of encountering sea ghosts and those monstrous sea ships.

In fact, during these six months, Qiong had encountered enemies several times.

Each time, she felt like her soul was about to be scared out of her body.

Fortunately, she could always get rid of them with her speed, although sometimes she would accidentally add two or three more wounds to her body.

The scales that had been praised by His Majesty were now mostly damaged, and the exposed skin looked like strange white patches. Because she had been soaking in the water all the time, some of the wounds had become festering. What was even more hateful was that parasites had taken her as a new host, building their homes with shells on her wounds, and it would cause excruciating pain every time she pulled them off.

This body wasn't beautiful to begin with, but now it looked even uglier.

She missed the soft bed and Wendy's embrace in Neverwinter City so much.

She missed the free and carefree life without worrying about safety.

Also, although there were many edible fish in the sea, they could only be eaten raw. It was okay to do this before, but now she always felt like the fishy smell in her mouth wouldn't go away.

She wanted to eat Lightning's grilled chicken wings.

Thinking about it, Qiong would burst into tears, but even as tears streamed down, she never stopped wagging her tail.

However... how much longer would she have to swim to get back to the starting point?

Her speed was faster than most fish.

Even His Majesty's Snow Breeze was far from being able to match it.

According to the approximate time, the distance she had swam should have been enough to go back and forth from Neverwinter to the Shifting Isles five times, but why was there still no end in sight?

What, the world is round? His Majesty... wouldn't be lying to her, would he?

If Roland truly lied to her, if she ever had a chance to see him again, she would definitely... definitely scratch his face with her scales!

But, she would have to see him first...

Qiong took a deep breath and cheered herself up, "Never give up!" She wanted to return to everyone's side!

A series of "A-ya—A-ya—A-ya—" sounds drifted across the sea.

A moment later, a similar echo came from a distance, "A-ya—A-ya—"

Qiong suddenly trembled, looking in disbelief in the direction of the sound. The weather wasn't very good today, and there was always a thin mist on the sea, with visibility of less than a few kilometers, as if she were in the receding Shifting Isles. Seeing that she couldn't find anything, she swam in that direction for tens of minutes, finally catching a glimpse of a black outline in the mist.

It looked... like a reef standing on the water.

Qiong couldn't help but feel a burst of joy.

She knew that because of visual effects, many seemingly inconspicuous objects on the sea were actually behemoths. Being able to stand on the sea like a reef must not be small, and coupled with the ability to reflect her own calls, it was likely a mountain. And since a mountain had appeared, would land be far behind?

Could it be that what she was seeing was the Impassable Mountain Range?

Qiong suddenly felt an endless surge of strength in her body. She increased her speed to the limit, splashing a series of water on the sea, and rushed towards the black shadow.

As the distance narrowed, the black outline under the fog gradually revealed itself.

It was indeed a mountain, but instead of the Western Region's port, there was a flat island at the foot of the mountain. The island seemed to be connected to a wider continent behind it, but the two were too far apart to see clearly.

In any case, land was better than nothing.

Qiong perked up and swam towards the nearest beach on the island.

Only after landing did she notice that this island was probably several times larger than the largest Scorched Fire Islands in the fjord. Apart from the lush, flat-topped mountain, there was almost no other undulation, as flat as a grassland.

In fact, it was indeed a grassland.

Compared to the barren islands in Qiong's memory, this place seemed completely unaffected by the salty sea breeze and various harsh climatic conditions. The ground was covered with grass that just touched her ankles, occasionally interspersed with one or two blooming small flowers. She couldn't imagine why such a scene would appear in a place where a tsunami could destroy all vegetation. Coupled with the mist surrounding the island, this place had a sense of isolation from the world, like a fairyland.

Transforming her tail into legs, Qiong slowly walked towards the center of the island.

Gradually, there were more stone tablets on the grass. At first, she didn't pay attention, but soon she discovered that although these stone tablets were different in size, they were all arranged neatly.

Moreover, the closer she got to the center of the island, the more stone tablets there were. Later, they even formed circles, gradually shrinking inward, as if they were erected around something.

She seemed to have seen such a scene somewhere...

Qiong squatted down in front of a stone tablet and carefully examined the surface of the tablet. There were indeed traces of chiseling on it, but Qiong couldn't tell whether they were just random patterns or some kind of meaningful text. What surprised her, however, was that although these stones were full of an ancient aura, they were not covered with too much dust, as if they were often taken care of.

Could it be that... someone lived on this island?

After walking not far, Qiong suddenly froze.

A huge pit suddenly appeared in front of her, probably several kilometers in diameter. Not only was the inside bottomless, but the curve of the edge was also extremely smooth, which could not have been formed by natural collapse. The stone tablets were arranged in layers around the sinkhole, forming spreading "ripples".

She vaguely remembered something and looked up at the sky. In the hazy mist, the silhouette of the Red Moon was still clearly visible. Although one was in the dome and the other was under her feet, the two were very similar in size, as if they were carved from the same mold. She even had a strange thought that if the Red Moon fell, it should be able to fill the hole perfectly, right?

"Hello." Just then, a melodious voice suddenly came from behind her.

"A-ya—!" Qiong was so frightened that she screamed, turned around and took two steps back, bumping into a stone tablet with a bang.

The latter also seemed startled and couldn't say anything for a long time. After a long time, she squeezed out a sentence, "Um... are you okay?"

Only then did Qiong realize that the speaker was not a monster, but a beautiful young woman. She was wearing a white dress, and her long, dark hair was divided into two strands hanging in front of her chest, looking refreshing and refined, making people feel good at first glance. It's just that her expression was a little flustered, not knowing whether to come up and comfort Qiong or continue to watch from the side.

"A-ya, A-ya—"

Qiong wanted to ask who she was, but what she uttered was just a series of cries. After not talking to anyone for more than half a year, her language skills had regressed to the level when she lived alone.

However, the other party seemed to understand her meaning, and a hint of loneliness appeared in her eyes, but even so, she still replied with a smile.

"Me?... Just a Watcher trapped here."