Chapter 287
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As soon as this unremarkable little sword was taken out, a faint ripple of Yuan Qi immediately stirred a reaction from the giant jellyfish. The raised tentacle noticeably paused for a moment. However, the jellyfish seemed to have a particular fondness for the yuan stones and showed no intention of leaving.
Zhang Xiaohua did not release his divine sense to probe but rather spread it out to cover the surrounding area. Perhaps it was due to the jellyfish being in water or for some other reason, but his divine sense couldn’t clearly perceive everything about it. Seeing the jellyfish come to a halt, he fell into quiet contemplation.
“Why did this jellyfish suddenly stop? Could it have sensed the might of the little sword? This aquatic creature truly possesses some innate supernatural abilities. If it’s this wary, then that’s interesting. The wooden plank beneath my feet is still drifting forward—once I get closer, I’ll use the Qinggong technique to float over. If I can avoid a fight, I’d much rather do so.”
Zhang Xiaohua’s abacus was clacking away with satisfaction in his heart, but the giant jellyfish couldn’t hold back any longer. It was far more aware than Zhang Xiaohua—the undercurrent ahead led directly to a deserted island. The current would veer off just before reaching the island and sweep past it toward other places. If it didn’t make a move now to seize that tempting item drawing its attention, then that very item would be carried to the deserted island.
And the deserted island was definitely not a place it could go! With its mind made up, the giant jellyfish grew impatient. With a sudden “whoosh”, the tentacle that had just been beneath the water shot up like lightning, straight toward the back of Zhang Xiaohua’s knee.
Zhang Xiaohua had been monitoring the jellyfish closely with his divine sense. Though the tentacle moved swiftly, it was still within his awareness. Being unfamiliar with the creature, Zhang Xiaohua didn’t dare to be careless. Aiming his left-handed sword at the tentacle, he thrust it out. Inwardly, he was quite pleased: “Divine sense really is useful. If it were any other day, how could I possibly see this clearly?”
But just as the little sword was about to touch the tentacle, the jellyfish’s translucent limb suddenly retracted and rose again, then came striking down from above. Zhang Xiaohua was shocked and instantly pulled his hand back to thrust upward instead. Before the sword could even rise fully, Zhang Xiaohua abruptly shot into the air like a startled rabbit, darting diagonally toward another wooden plank nearby. Below him, another translucent tentacle slammed down directly on the piece of timber he had just been standing on.
A cold sweat broke out in Zhang Xiaohua’s heart. That second tentacle had come from an unexpected angle, almost invisible in the water. If not for his divine sense, relying solely on his eyes, he would’ve already fallen victim to the creature’s feint-and-strike trickery and been dragged into the sea.
“What now? The little sword is only effective at close range—it’s no good at a distance. And with this monster hiding in water, even divine sense struggles to make things out clearly. There’s still a stretch to go before reaching the deserted island, it looks like I’ll have to try using that newly-learned flying sword.”
After landing on another piece of driftwood, Zhang Xiaohua no longer dared to be the slightest bit careless. He didn’t even question the intelligence of the aquatic creature anymore. He released a thread of divine sense and infused it into the little sword. Forming a hand seal, he silently recited an incantation in his heart. Sure enough, the small sword in his hand suddenly came to life, lifting its tip abruptly and soaring into the air. It spun a few times to acclimate itself, and then, aiming at the jellyfish’s tentacle rising out of the water, it shot forward like a streak of lightning. The angle, the direction—everything was as if Zhang Xiaohua himself had grasped the sword and thrust it forward, except the speed was far more ferocious.
Sure enough, the jellyfish’s translucent tentacle draped across the wood hadn’t even had time to react before the flying sword, swift as an arrow, “puchi”—pierced into it without the slightest resistance. A jet of liquid, almost like seawater, spurted out from the wound. The tentacle then retracted with a “whoosh,” and as if stung by pain, the jellyfish became enraged. Its round body emerged slightly from the surface of the sea, and four or five long tentacles unfurled, slapping down toward Zhang Xiaohua like a massive hand. But now, Zhang Xiaohua no longer felt any fear. Forming another hand seal, he directly directed the flying sword toward the jellyfish’s exposed body.
The jellyfish, seeing this, kept two tentacles on course to attack Zhang Xiaohua, while the rest lashed toward the flying sword.
Unfortunately for it, the flying sword’s momentum was unstoppable—not merely like an unstoppable force, but like slicing through tofu. The thick, seemingly sturdy tentacles couldn’t put up even the slightest defense. With several light thunks, the sword tore through them and flew straight toward the jellyfish’s body. Just then, the jellyfish’s other tentacles also reached Zhang Xiaohua. Not daring to be slow, he darted to another piece of wood. That brief distraction caused the flying sword to deviate slightly from its intended path. Still, with a “puchi,” it scraped along the side of the jellyfish’s body and pierced through it diagonally. From the torn wound, a stream of translucent liquid sprayed outward. The jellyfish’s body jerked upward, all of its tentacles rising at once before slapping downward again, sending seawater splashing everywhere like a massive palm crashing down. Then, the spherical body retreated into the water, and the tentacles vanished completely, leaving behind only a few ripples on the sea’s surface. A sea breeze swept by, and the water gradually returned to calm.
The flying sword circled a few times above the sea, then returned to Zhang Xiaohua’s hand.
Staring at the now calm and ordinary sea, Zhang Xiaohua found it hard to believe that a creature he had never seen before had just emerged from its depths. Thinking further—that the creature was probably still lurking underwater, glaring at him with venomous intent—he no longer dared to lean down close to the water’s surface like before. Nor did he dare return the small sword to his robes. Instead, he took out another yuan stone from his robe, held it cautiously in his hand, and began absorbing the Yuan Qi within it. Then, casting the Qinggong technique, he stood atop the wooden plank.
Perhaps it was heavily injured, or perhaps it realized Zhang Xiaohua was not someone easy to provoke, but that jellyfish never appeared again during the rest of the journey. Only when he saw the desolate island drawing near did Zhang Xiaohua finally let down his guard a little.
The undercurrent surged straight toward the island, swirled once beside a cluster of rocks on one side, circled around half the island, and only then flowed off in another direction.
Once Zhang Xiaohua was standing firmly on solid ground, only then did his heart, like the rock beneath his feet, finally feel a bit more at ease.
Turning to look back at the now calm and gentle sea, Zhang Xiaohua quickly walked inland. He had absolutely no desire to stay in the water any longer. Upon reaching the shore, he immediately released his divine sense, sweeping across the deserted island with all his might. After all, anyone who had gone a whole day and night without drinking a drop would be this thirsty—finding drinkable water came first.
It was a large deserted island. After crossing the beach, what met his eyes was a vast stretch of pebbles without a trace of soil or sand. His divine sense didn’t detect anything special there. Pressing onward, he came to a steep slope, and beyond that grew a patch of sparse, tall plants he had never seen before. At the sight of vegetation, Zhang Xiaohua let out a breath of relief. If there were plants, there had to be water. He immediately swept his divine sense through the area, and a smile began to form on his face.
Past the forest was a rather tall mountain, where lush grasses and small trees swayed in the sea breeze. Without pause, Zhang Xiaohua walked up to the foot of the mountain and began climbing along the relatively gentle slope. After some climbing, he came to a spot where thick grasses covered the ground. There, greedily, he drank from a trickling stream of water flowing out from a crack in the rocks on the slope.
Once he had drunk his fill, Zhang Xiaohua exhaled deeply. Looking up at the slope above, he activated his Qinggong and, with a few floating steps, landed at the top. When he reached the summit and looked around in all directions, he was momentarily stunned—behind the mountain lay an actual lake!
This mountain was not a solitary peak, but rather part of a ring-shaped range, surrounding the crystal-clear lake in its midst. Looking far into the distance, the lake shimmered like a bright pearl inlaid between the encircling mountains.
Faced with this scene, Zhang Xiaohua couldn’t help but feel puzzled. In this vast and boundless ocean, there actually existed such a massive island, and within this island, there was such a beautiful, dazzling little lake. One truly had to marvel at the craftsmanship of the heavens.
After giving his silent praise, Zhang Xiaohua ran a circuit along the mountain ridge using Qinggong, and carefully examined every area within the reach of his divine sense. What disappointed him somewhat was that from top to bottom, the island’s mountains were completely devoid of any animals. Not even a squirrel, which he had hoped to find, let alone wild goats or boars.
Fortunately, during his inspection of the island, Zhang Xiaohua discovered a rather large plot of land near the edge of the lake, covered in lush green foliage.
“What is that? It looks sort of like the sweet potatoes back in Guo Village. Could someone have actually planted sweet potatoes here?”
Zhang Xiaohua’s anticipation rose. Thinking of the sweetness of roasted sweet potatoes, his mouth—empty for a whole day and night—began to water. He walked over to the lakeside, pushed aside the thick green leaves, and dug out from the soil a thick, arm-sized tuber with a faint golden hue.
“This is… this is Huangjing?”
Zhang Xiaohua was astonished. He had only ever read about Huangjing in the herbal books back at Huanxi Villa. Those books described many of Huangjing’s miraculous properties and even included illustrations. The thing in his hand certainly resembled the one drawn in the books, but this one was far too big. What he held now was as thick as his arm, whereas the one in the illustration was no bigger than a little finger.
Holding this oversized Huangjing, Zhang Xiaohua washed it clean with water from the lake, then proceeded with the final and most crucial test to determine whether it truly was Huangjing.
Huangjing’s greatest wonder was—it could fill your belly!
As he tasted the slightly sweet flavor, Zhang Xiaohua furrowed his brows. According to the records, Huangjing shouldn’t have any particularly good taste. This one was so sweet—could it really be Huangjing?
“Who cares if it is or isn’t Huangjing? As long as it tastes good and fills my stomach, that’s all that matters.”
Once Zhang Xiaohua happily finished devouring the entire Huangjing, this thought surfaced in his mind. Indeed—whatever it was called, being full was what truly mattered.
After eating the Huangjing, Zhang Xiaohua tried drinking the lake’s water. Fortunately, it turned out to be fresh water. However, there was a strange smell to it—something he had never encountered before. Still, with food and drink taken care of, Zhang Xiaohua realized he was feeling a little drowsy. That was a feeling he hadn’t experienced in quite a long time. It made sense though—a youth adrift alone in the boundless sea, even if there was no immediate threat to his life, the mental strain alone had been a grueling trial. Now that the immediate worries had been eased… what about after this?
An even longer period of solitude awaited Zhang Xiaohua. He would need an even stronger mindset to face it all.
Yet as he drifted off into a deep sleep beneath a large, jutting rock, Zhang Xiaohua licked his lips, now tinged faintly with sweetness, and thought to himself: “If only there were some meat to eat—that would be perfect!”
