Chapter 174: The Moment Arrives!
Without any hesitation, Xu Qing put away his dharmaskiff and entered the profound radiance state. His life lamp erupted volcanically as he moved with astonishing speed in the direction of the shadow eye.
The shadow eye was attached to a fish called a moonglow seabass. Such fishes reached a length of thirty meters and had huge heads that made up about ninety percent of their body. They had tiny fins and tiny tails, and their mouths weren’t capable of ever closing fully, making them look anything but intelligent. They didn’t swim very fast either. Because they were attracted to light, whether sunlight or moonlight, they generally stayed on the surface of the water, despite being able to dive down to the seafloor. Normally speaking, they would just float on the surface, unmoving as if dead.
Moonglow seabasses were definitely one of the more unusual creatures in the Forbidden Sea, as they were usually surrounded by all sorts of injured sea beasts. They weren’t creatures injured by the moonglow seabass. Instead, they treated the fish like a giant rag to clean their wounds. The entry for moonglow seabasses in the Seven Blood Eyes sea annals explained that the mucus they secreted had healing properties, and because of that, they played an important role in the balance of nature in the Forbidden Sea.
Xu Qing flew along at high speed, guided by his shadow. After traveling for about two hours, he saw numerous ghosts floating up into the sky in the distance.
It was indeed an instance of countless ghosts haunting the night.
The area in question was large, stretching several thousand meters from one end to the other. That was different compared to the last time Xu Qing had encountered ghosts haunting the night. Obviously, each instance wasn’t the same.
All of a sudden, he started worrying about whether his idea was going to work or not. He had no idea if his theory had merit, but after the work he had put in so far, he wasn’t going to give up now. He waved his hand, and his dharmaskiff appeared, rumbling as it splashed down into the water. As waves rolled out, his shadow retracted its shadow eye.
Xu Qing stepped down onto the dharmaskiff, then piloted it toward the ghosts. As he looked at them, strange sounds reached his ears. It didn’t sound like music at all, but rather, the piercing howls of evil ghosts, like weeping or the cry of wolves.
Xu Qing slowed his dharmaskiff down to a halt right in the middle of all the ghosts. Then he produced the recording bottle, opened it, and sent some dharma force into it.
Thread-like streams of light floated out of it, spreading out as the bottle’s sound-capturing ability was activated.
With that, Xu Qing looked up into the dark sky and the ghosts floating up into it. He heard their strange sounds, and thought back to the first time he had encountered this phenomenon. Taking control of his thoughts and emotions, he forced himself to calm down.
Instead of rejecting the sounds as vicious, he accepted them. He tried to sync himself with the sounds, and gradually, as he grew more and more calm, time passed. Before he realized what was happening, it was the next day.
When the first rays of dawn spread out, and the sea breeze brushed against his face, he slowly opened his eyes. Deep therein was a profound sadness that he slowly forced into the depths of his heart.
It was daytime. The ghost-haunting event was over.
The night went by quickly.
Thinking back to the previous night, he remembered how, as he slowly sank into a state of deep calm, the sounds had changed. He clearly remembered hearing a beautiful symphony.
He had dreamed. This time, he didn’t dream about Grandmaster Bai’s lessons. Instead, he dreamed that he was eating snake with Sergeant Thunder in the scavenger basecamp.
Eventually, Xu Qing looked down at the recording bottle. As he picked it up, he heard the same sounds from the night before. They were such a perfect copy that if he closed his eyes, he felt like he was once again watching countless ghosts haunt the night.
Mixed emotions filled him as he again felt like he was dreaming. This time, the images that he saw were of himself, walking out of the scavenger basecamp with Sergeant Thunder on his back. He could even hear the old man’s reminders.
“You need to keep your eye on the other scavengers.
“Don’t forget to feed the dogs every night. You can trust them more than anyone else in the basecamp.
“Remember to eat well. And don’t eat cold food. Warm it up first! You’re still growing, so don’t get lazy about that kind of thing.
“If you do, you’ll regret it when you get older. Oh, right. Remember to sleep in bed. And use the bedding! Don’t be afraid of getting it dirty. Just wash it if you need to, and hang it in the sun to dry.”
Xu Qing shivered. The sea breeze blew, stirring his robe and hair, but it couldn’t dispel the sadness he felt from those memories.
Time passed, and eventually he sighed, looked down at the bottle, and whispered, “I still haven’t found a lifespan flower.”
It took a while for him to get his emotions under control. When he finally did, his eyes glittered sharply with determination.
I’m too weak. I need to get stronger!
Looking around, he realized he was in a very remote location. Flying up into the air, he checked the area to make sure he was alone. Then he dropped back down to his dharmaskiff and looked out at the sea.
“Shadow, call the giant and the dragon chariot.”
The early morning sun was soft on the surface of the sea. The dark water looked like a huge slab of mysterious black jade. As the sun touched it, it seemed partly rotten or decayed. Perhaps in the past, the sea had seemed profound because of its boundless majesty. But now it seemed putrid, thanks to the aura exuded by the terrifying entities that slept on the seafloor. Such as the giant pulling the dragon chariot.
The shadow didn’t hesitate for the slightest moment. It didn’t understand what exactly Xu Qing was doing, and wanted to transform into the shape of a question mark. But instead, it acted docile and obedient, like any other living being that was terrified of dying
As soon as Xu Qing issued his order, the shadow immediately opened its mouth and emitted a loud sound.
“C-c-crunch. C-c-crunch.”
A sound like the grinding of teeth echoed out over the water. It wasn’t extremely loud, but there was something unique about it, as if it was a signal meant to attract the attention of specific entities.
As Xu Qing waited, maintaining full vigilance, the wind started to blow. Ripples spread out over the calm surface of the water, gradually growing larger and larger until they were waves. Black spray from the waves drifted along with the wind.
Meanwhile, Xu Qing’s attention was focused on his snakeneck dragon, as he looked through its eyes to what was happening beneath the surface.
It took time. Perhaps it was because Xu Qing had traveled so far away from the last spot where he saw the giant and the dragon chariot. Or perhaps it was because the giant had moved to a distant location. Either way, it took an incense stick’s worth of time. The waves grew higher. Then, through the snakeneck dragon, Xu Qing saw something massive moving through the water in the distance.
“It’s here.”
He felt nervous, but was filled with determination. Lighting his life flame, which caused his life lamp to shine brightly, he entered the profound radiance state.
As soon as he did, the murky darkness of the sea changed. He could see more clearly, and thus was able to easily spot the massive giant covered with countless tentacles.
Everything around Xu Qing moved in slow motion, with the exception of the giant. It was almost as if his profound radiance state was useless in the presence of the giant. It strode toward him, becoming clearer and clearer, the clanking sound of the chain echoing through the water. Behind the giant was the dilapidated bronze dragon chariot. Rust covered it, but it was still immensely large and ghastly in appearance. They were already as close as about 3,000 meters. The surrounding water didn’t seem to provide any resistance at all to the giant’s movement. And it emanated a profound and terrifying aura.
Xu Qing hadn’t gotten this close before!
The first time, he had been about 30,000 meters away, and had barely been able to make out the engravings on the chariot. The last time, he was a few thousand meters away, and had a much higher cultivation base, so he had seen the images even more clearly.
Now, as the giant reached the 3,000-meter mark and got even closer, those engraved images became even clearer. At the same time, Xu Qing sensed a mountain-toppling, sea-draining pressure weighing down on his soul.
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior shivered and flew into the depths of the iron skewer to fight back against the pressure.
Meanwhile, Xu Qing, his mind reeling, felt blood oozing out of his nose and eyes.
Only the shadow didn’t seem affected at all. Apparently, the shadow had been truly cowed by Xu Qing’s torment. Despite seeing that Xu Qing wasn’t in a very good state, the shadow didn’t dare risk doing anything against him.
Wiping the blood off his face, Xu Qing looked coldly at the shadow, but didn’t say anything. Then he looked back out at the sea. After a moment of analyzing the situation, his eyes shone with determination.
“It’s still a short distance away. There’s no time to lose!”