CHAPTER 674: CHAPTER 131: RESCUE (PART 2)

The people on the ship were anxious, but Yue Jinghua was utterly indifferent. She merely gazed toward the tide that was gradually rising ahead, lost in her thoughts.

After about half an hour, the Sea and Air Ship, which had been stuck to the sea surface, suddenly let out a muffled sound and was freed.

When everyone looked down at the underside of the ship, they saw that the lantern jellyfish, which had previously emitted an orange glow, had all died.

Judging by their state of death, their entire bodies were blackened and shriveled into balls, resembling burnt dead leaves, clearly poisoned by an extremely potent toxin.

Ji Yun and the others couldn’t help but recall that before setting sail, Yue Jinghua had ordered Shalman and Chi Xi to pour an unidentified liquid over both sides of the ship.

Using poison to clear out the first wave of attacking Sea Beasts was Yue Jinghua’s strategy.

The effect of Death Lake Water is fierce, but it has a drawback: its potency only lasts for a few hours. By dawn, the Death Lake Water would be dispersed, but within those limited hours, it’s enough to kill the Sea Beasts in the area.

Some might find Yue Jinghua’s methods overly cruel, but under the current circumstances, Yue Jinghua could only resort to such methods to conserve her Dark Power to the greatest extent.

From the odd sea breeze coming from afar, she had already caught the scent of a looming great battle.

Regrettably, she only had a limited supply of Death Lake Water, enough only to kill the Sea Beasts in the Vantili Sea region. Once they sailed further into the middle part of the Fan Di Sea, she would no longer have Death Lake Water to use.

"Uncle, is the Treasure Mother Reef you spoke of right ahead?" Fortunately, they were nearly at the Treasure Mother Reef.

Yue Jinghua stood at the bow, her eyes as sharp as blades, piercing through the mist and sea breeze.

If they were to encounter another onslaught of Sea Beasts, they’d have no choice but to engage in close combat.

Recalling that night, the frenzied constricting power of the Flying Fish Electric Eel, Yue Jinghua hesitated.

Right now, she just hoped that the ship would get close to the Treasure Mother Reef as quickly as possible, rescue the person, and then promptly return.

"I see it; Yu Dan is lying on the Treasure Mother Reef," Yue Jinghua’s vision was remarkable, spotting the little boy Yu Dan who had collapsed on the rocks, motionless.

But the child seemed petrified, unresponsive to the shouts from the people on the ship no matter how they called out.

"Reporting to the master, the tide has submerged the Treasure Mother Reef, and parts of the reef have sunk underwater. It is not advisable for the ship to move forward as it may collide with the rocks," the Helmsman reminded Yue Jinghua. This part of the sea was full of hidden reefs and whirlpools, and it was unsafe for the large ship to land or for the lifeboats to be deployed.

"Let me go, I’ll ride the Bat Dragon over," Ji Yun stepped forward at the crucial moment.

As the only Dragon Knight among them, using a Flying Dragon to approach the Treasure Mother Reef and rescuing the boy before the reef submerged was the most prudent method.

Yue Jinghua said nothing, staring at the sea water that had turned ink-black, the rolling waves like ferocious Sea Beasts with gaping maws, shaking the Sea and Air Ship unsteadily.

Ji Yun did as he said, immediately mounting the Flying Dragon.

With a stretch of the Bat Dragon’s long wings, it broke through the piercingly fierce sea breeze, flying towards the Treasure Mother Reef.

Something seemed off. Acting on instinct, Yue Jinghua felt her entire body tensing like a drawn bow, a reaction only triggered by the presence of unforeseeable danger.

"Ji Yun, be careful. Look around carefully and only proceed with the rescue once you’ve assessed the environment," Yue Jinghua called out as Ji Yun had already approached the Treasure Mother Reef.

Ji Yun grumbled inwardly, annoyed by Yue Jinghua’s fussiness, but still, he cautiously surveyed the dark sea surface.

After circling for a while, the Flying Dragon discovered nothing unusual.

"You worry too much," Looking at the little boy on Treasure Mother Reef, who was so frightened that he didn’t even react when the waves soaked him halfway, Ji Yun communicated with the Divine Sense of the Bat Dragon underneath, and the Bat Dragon lowered its wings to fly down.

Ji Yun scooped up Yu Dan in his arms, placed him in front of himself, and softly soothed, "Kid, it’s okay now, we’re here to rescue you."

Looking at Yu Dan in his arms, his eyeballs seemed to stick in his sockets, with a few droplets of drool at the corner of his mouth, as if he were dazed or foolish, which aroused curiosity in Ji Yun about the child’s strange condition.

On the ship, everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Ji Yun successfully rescue Yu Dan, and several fishermen even cheered.

However, Yue Jinghua felt a chill running up her spine.

From beneath the ship came a faint knocking sound, which was hard to hear amid the roaring sea unless listened to closely, and was completely ignored by the others who were celebrating.

Yue Jinghua had sharp ears, and after noticing the sound, she squinted her eyes and looked into the depths of the water.

This one look caused even the brave Yue Jinghua to have her hairs stand on end.

What was hitting the bottom of the Sea and Air Ship was not some sneaky Sea Beast, but the corpse of a shark.

It was an Iron Spine Humpback Shark, a very dangerous Sea Beast active in the middle and outer parts of Fandi Port, which Captain Ya Lei had specifically warned Yue Jinghua and the others to watch out for.

The Humpback Shark had a body length of about two meters, with tough skin and thick flesh, especially its Iron Spine, which even a Sword couldn’t hack through.

The fish’s corpse had been cut in half at the waist, and its spinal cord was severed. Even if Yue Jinghua were to exert all her strength with the Great Sword Lianyun without using the Sky-Splitting Style, she wouldn’t be confident she could kill such a Dark Beast.

If even an Iron Spine Humpback Whale could be killed, does that mean...

Yue Jinghua was suddenly alarmed when she heard an explosive noise coming from the water ahead.

A Pearl Mother Shell, the size of a small hill, tore through the water, rushing upwards like an erupting volcano.

Its surface was covered with strange patterns, and the two shells it opened up looked like cleaver blades, revealing the inside flesh that was as red as blood.

"Aww, it’s the fearsome Mother Devil Shell," Gold Eater Worm’s warning came too late.

The Mother Shell, using the force of the rising tide, shot up into the sky, and with its opened shells, it fiercely clamped down on the Bat Dragon attempting to fly up.

Ji Yun was just about to check on Yu Dan when he felt a sharp wind beneath his feet. Knowing something was terribly wrong, he immediately tried to urge the Bat Dragon.

A putrid stench wafted over, and he felt the Bat Dragon beneath him let out a painful screech, as fresh blood splattered down.

The incredibly tough Dragon Skin was grippingly bitten by the razor-like shells of the Devil Shell, tearing it apart viciously.

Together with Yu Dan, Ji Yun fell into the sea.

"No good, think of something quick," Long Rui, Qing Zizhu, and others had never seen such a bloody scene before; their minds went blank, and by the time they came to their senses, they were all panicked.

Shalman and Chi Xi were slightly better off, as both had experienced being mercenaries, they exchanged a glance and were about to seek Yue Jinghua’s opinion.

But upon turning their heads, they only found that Yue Jinghua, who had been standing on the deck, had already disappeared without anyone knowing when or where she went.