lcionline Chapter 288 Chase
Chapter 288 Chase
Xu Sheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself: It's good that you're not dead. I don't want to become the enemy of the world.
Xu Sheng is neither afraid of trouble nor wants to cause trouble. He doesn't care where Luo An dies, but if he dies in Bohai, he will bear the responsibility. Not to mention Nian Yao, Dongyang and Nanyue probably won't let him go either.
This realization made Xu Sheng a little jealous: You were really lucky to have been born into this world!
Yang Hua steered the conversation back to the main point: "Young man, what are you going to do now? Why don't you come to my house?"
Xu Sheng answered for Hailuo, "He's not going; he'll come with me."
Yang Hua had noticed Xu Sheng long ago, and thinking about how outstanding the people from Xunxian Mountain had been lately, she asked, "Are you also from Bianjing?"
Just as Xu Sheng was about to answer, four masked men in black came rushing towards him from a distance. Xu Sheng moved swiftly, grabbing the conch shell and then flinging the willow catkins three zhang away.
Four men in black were upon him in the blink of an eye, while behind Xu Sheng lay the sea. He would either be hacked to death with their swords or drown in the sea.
Xu Sheng drew his short sword and held it horizontally in front of his chest: "First government soldiers, then assassins. Luo Anhao is supposed to be the head of a manor, yet he is so narrow-minded. It's truly laughable."
The men in black didn't utter a sound and attacked directly. Two fists can't fight four hands, a short sword is not effective, and Xu Sheng also had to protect the conch shell, making it quite difficult for him to cope.
Just as Xu Sheng was thinking of a way to escape, he saw a large group of government soldiers approaching, standing on the perimeter with bows drawn and arrows nocked, ready for battle: were they determined to kill him?!
Xu Sheng decided not to linger in the fight. He feinted an attack, lightly touched the ground with his feet, and flew backward into the sea while holding the conch shell.
The assassin in black kept his eyes fixed on the water's surface. Soldiers rushed forward and unleashed a hail of arrows, and blood quickly rose to the surface. Although no one ever surfaced, they were unlikely to be alive.
Xu Sheng, holding the conch shell, dived down and casually cut a large fish in two. Fish blood gushed upwards, and the short sword accidentally slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.
The conch shell immediately followed and slid down to retrieve the short sword.
Xu Sheng had no time to stop him; his movements slowed, and he began to feel dizzy. Just when Xu Sheng thought he was about to die, he felt something soft touch his lips and teeth, followed by an incredibly sweet breath.
Xu Sheng subconsciously sucked hard to absorb more air. When Xu Sheng recovered and opened his eyes, he saw the conch shell hugging his neck, continuously feeding him air.
The two were no longer in the water, but standing on the seabed. Jellyfish surrounded them, and fish darted about, completely undisturbed by their presence. Xu Sheng, startled, slipped on something and fell to the side.
The conch shell was incredibly agile in the water. It wrapped its arms around Xu Sheng to give him air, and stretched its legs to create a current that pulled the two of them up and made them stand up.
When the two stood on the seabed again, the conch shell tilted its head back slightly, releasing a string of bubbles from its mouth, like a lively fish in the water. Then it lowered its head slightly and began to breathe into Xu Sheng again.
Xu Sheng was completely shocked: He could actually dive to the bottom of the sea? Sea snails can breathe underwater? How did he do that?
Could the conch shell not be a person, but a fish demon? No, shouldn't fish demons be very fishy? How can it be so sweet?
The conch sensed that Xu Sheng had recovered, and its legs kicked like a frog, quickly bringing Xu Sheng to the surface.
Conch released Xu Sheng: "We're safe now. You sit here for a while, I'll go gather some firewood."
Xu Sheng then realized that they were on a very small pine forest island, less than twenty feet wide, covered with pine trees.
Hailuo returned quickly. He lit the dry pine needles, which were coated with pine resin, with a flint, then piled branches on top, and the fire started. He called to Xu Sheng, "Take off your clothes and dry them."
Their first meeting was when Xu Sheng was drying his clothes by a fire in the temple. At the time, Hailuo thought he was a starving ghost and was too timid to come out. Now, Hailuo is generously inviting him to dry his clothes by the fire.
Nothing in life is more unpredictable than this.
The two chatted by the fire, and simultaneously began, "You..." "You..."
The two were silent for a moment, then spoke at the same time: "You go first..." "You go first..."
The two laughed at the same time, and Xu Sheng said, "You go first."
The conch shell asked, "Why did they want to kill you?"
Xu Sheng said, "I am from Nanyue. Do you know Nanyue?"
Conch nodded: "Nan Yue and Dong Yang are enemies. They think you came to Dong Yang as a spy, so they are going to hunt you down."
Xu Sheng tacitly agreed: "Don't worry, they can't kill me."
Conch asked again, "Is the person that Sister Yanghua saved the one you're looking for?"
Xu Sheng asked in surprise, "How did you know?"
Conch said, "Sister Yanghua said that person was exceptionally outstanding, like an immortal. The person you drew is also very beautiful, like an immortal too. This place is so small, how could there be so many coincidences?"
"Simplicity and stupidity are indeed different," Xu Sheng praised, "You're right."
"His younger brother went mad, and he fell into the sea while searching for a cure. Who is his younger brother?" The conch shell looked at Xu Sheng: "You said he was mentally challenged, but you took him in out of pity?"
Xu Sheng chuckled: "I just said it casually."
Conch laughed and said, "You two are really interesting, even your names are unique. His name is An Sheng, and yours is Xu Sheng. One of you takes your father's surname and the other your mother's? Are you really brothers?"
Xu Sheng said, "More or less."
Being too smart isn't a good thing either; what else does the conch need to ask?
Xu Sheng quickly interrupted him: "You're the same in the water as you are on land? Can you breathe underwater? Can you dive to the bottom of the sea?"
The conch shell nodded: "Yes."
Xu Sheng pointed to the sea surface: "You're very familiar with this sea? And also very familiar with the seabed?"
The conch shell said, "Yes, I spend almost all my days at sea and only return to the Goddess Temple after dark. I'm not afraid of the wind and waves."
Xu Sheng's voice was a little urgent: "Have you seen a woman, chained to the bottom of the sea, who looks about middle-aged?"
The conch shell shook its head: "No."
Xu Sheng asked, "Have you ever seen a fairy mountain? Are there many immortals living on it?"
The conch shell shook its head again: "No."
Xu Sheng was disappointed: "Didn't they say there's a fairy mountain in the Bohai Sea? Legend has it that the late Emperor Dongyang married a goddess from that fairy mountain. By the way, if there's no fairy mountain and goddess, why is there a temple dedicated to her? Didn't you say the goddess would protect you?"
Conch said earnestly, "The goddess really will protect me. Yang Hua's father wanted to adopt me as his son, but as soon as he picked me up, my whole body went numb and I couldn't move. He was fine as soon as he put me down."
Yang Hua's father tried several times but had to give up eventually, though they later had a son of their own. There were also scoundrels who tried to bully me, but no matter who it was, anyone who touched me would feel numb all over.
Xu Sheng thought to himself: So it wasn't a fish demon, but an electric eel demon.
The conch shell continued, "A fat rich man, unwilling to give up, lassoed me with a horse rope, intending to drag me away to sell me. That day the sun was blazing, and it was incredibly hot; he brought a large group of people with him."
Then, a bolt of lightning struck him dead. His body was charred and oozing oil. After that, no one dared touch me again. That day at the temple fair, many people sat next to me without incident. Looking back now, I think the goddess must have been swept away.
Xu Sheng said, "Perhaps those people didn't mean you any harm?"