Thinking they had found the Hidden Island, the Red Cloud Sect thought their name was destined to resound throughout the world, but they didn’t count on their ship being sunk. Now, even if they had survived, landed on the island and found its treasures, how could they get back?
Without a strong ship, even if they were Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, they would never be able to fly across this nearly ten thousand mile expanse.
A faint melancholy filled the hearts of the three Red Cloud Sect disciples. These three were young, and had not encountered any great hardships before, but just earlier this day when the aquatic Monster Beast had attacked, they witnessed the deaths of many of their elders, making human lives seem as fragile as ants. If they had been unlucky, they would now be with those people, corpses in the belly of beasts and fish. Fortunately they had escaped with their lives, but now they were trapped on this island, with no way of returning home, naturally they were depressed.
“Do not worry Senior Sister Qing, Junior Brother will definitely find a way to bring you home.” Miao Lin was well versed in wooing a girl; although he was panicking inside, he still managed to put on a great show, quickly saying some comforting words.
Yu Ao Qing was not in a good mood, and listening to him boast so flippantly, she couldn’t help but sneer: “Oh, you have the ability to build a ship, fight off that Monster Beast, and bring me away from here?”
“Well, no…” being questioned Miao Lin, suddenly looked awkward.
“Can you soar thousands of miles through the sky?” Yu Ao Qing asked even more forcefully.
“Uh… er… um…”
“Then just shut your mouth!” Yu Ao Qing vented out all the anger she had built up these days on the ship, and if they were not facing such difficult circumstances, she would probably have directly beaten him.
Zhang Yu hurriedly said: “Senior Sister Qing do not be angry, Miao Lin was just trying to comfort us.”
“Humph!” Yu Ao Qing swung her hair and turned towards the beach, after walking a few steps she coldly scowled: “trying to be a hero with no real ability, don’t be so presumptuous!”
Zhang Yu hurried to keep up.
Miao Lin had kindly tried to comfort her, but Yu Ao Qing responded by spearing him with criticism, his face had was somewhat ugly as he cursed under his breath. His eyes flashing a touch of bitterness, he then turned and looked at Yang Kai, murderous intent surging, he seemed to have found a target to vent his embarrassment on.
“Take him with us!” Yu Ao Qing’s cold words came in front.
Miao Lin grunted, bitterly staring at Yang Kai, he then pushed him to keep up.
The four walked along the beach in one direction, although Yu Ao Qing did not say anything, but Yang Kai knew she was looking for others from the Red Cloud Sect that were scattered during their escape.
This is undoubtedly the right approach. Right now they were alone, with no elders to protect them, of course the first thing to do was find more allies.
But after a whole day on the beach, they could only find four more people, and only two of them were Red Cloud Sect disciples; the other two were actually ordinary people, they had no clue where everyone else had gone.
The team had grown to eight, but the overall strength did not increase much as they were still only five Red Cloud Sect cultivators, of whom, all were younger generation disciples.
The two Red Cloud Sect disciples they had finally found were a male and a female. The male was called Qi Yuan, the female called Luo Qian Qian, and their strengths were not high, probably only between peak Qi Transformation and initial Separation and Reunion Boundary.
Unable to find any of the elders, Yu Ao Qing’s expression became bitter, her strength, amongst the five Red Cloud Sect disciples was the highest, having a cultivation level of the Separation and Reunion Boundary Sixth Stage, everyone else was not as strong as her. Furthermore, in the Sect she held a high status, people naturally looked up to her, placing their expectations on her to lead them. The burden on her shoulders made her feel at a loss.
At night, the three ordinary people were ordered by the Red Cloud Sect’s disciples to pick up some firewood and raise a bonfire on the beach. Crowding together, they began to discuss what to do next.
Some proposed they search for the elders, while others wanted to stay here and wait to be found, they were unable to come to an agreement.
Eventually, Yu Ao Qing spoke out, “Since we’ve come to Hidden Island, we can’t waste this opportunity, tomorrow we’ll head into the island to explore, hopefully we can find the elders, and even if we can’t, if we gain some opportunity here maybe we can find a way to leave this place and return to the Sect.”
Everyone felt that what Yu Ao Qing said was rational, and Hidden Island’s treasures and opportunities were also their whole reason for being here in the first place.
Yang Kai waited for them to finish discussing, and then submissively said, “Great Young Masters, if you head into the island, then, can you leave us here? We are just seaside fishermen, in case there is some danger we will be no help, and will only become a burden…”
The other two ordinary people had similar thoughts, but did not have the courage to speak up like Yang Kai, instead, silently glancing towards Yu Ao Qing.
They knew that the decision was ultimately in her hands.
Zhang Yu wrinkled her brow, and then nodded her head saying: “Alright, traveling with you really would be cumbersome.”
Originally she thought that Yu Ao Qing would agree to leave these three ordinary people here, but surprisingly, after a moment Yu Ao Qing shook her head, smiled and said: “You were brought here by my Red Cloud Sect, if we leave you here, you might still encounter some danger, it is better for you to follow us, that way your chance to live will be greater.”
[Damn slut!] Yang Kai cursed. How could he not know what Yu Ao Qing was planning? Her face was beautiful, but this vicious cunning snake was obviously not some simple, kind woman.
Although he thought so inside, he still had to offer a flattering act of gratitude towards her. He was afraid that he would have to spend the rest of his days sticking together with these Red Cloud Sect disciples.
While Yang Kai was annoyed in his heart, this arrangement was also not inconsistent with his plans. He did not have any understanding of this island; following these disciples around to explore might not be a bad idea.
If they really encountered any danger, couldn’t he just find the opportunity to escape?
Night fell and the five Red Cloud Sect disciples took turns at watch.
The next day, a line of eight people entered Hidden Island to explore.
Once they entered the island, Yu Ao Qing revealed her real purpose in bringing along the ordinary people, forcing one of them to walk in the front while everyone else followed behind.
Although this person was terrified, under threat from Yu Ao Qing’s, he really had no choice.
Everyone now finally understood why Yu Ao Qing insisted on bringing these ordinary people, using them as disposable pathfinders.
Traveling for a long time, deeper and deeper into the island, they were surrounded by towering old trees, swaying endlessly in the wind, crackling sounds stimulating their fears, the ordinary person walking in front was frightened stiff, his legs buckled, kneeling down on the ground, he kept begging for mercy.
The Red Cloud Sect disciples ignored his pleas, constantly threatening him to keep moving, eventually, he could only muster up his courage to walk forward again.
Around noon, a row of fruit trees suddenly appeared in front of them. Hanging from the branches were numerous alluring red fruits, no one knew exactly what these fruits were, but the smell was quite tempting.
Their group was all tired and hungry, so when they saw so many fruits, naturally their appetites were stimulated, involuntarily swallowing their saliva.
Luo Qian Qian reached out her hand and picked one. Just as she was about to taste it, Yu Ao Qing suddenly shouted: “Wait!”
Luo Qian Qian suddenly paused; puzzled, she looked towards her wondering: “What’s wrong?”
Yu Ao Qing didn’t explain, instead taking the fruit and then turned towards the three ordinary people.
Seeing that look, everyone knew what she was planning.
Unsure if this fruit was toxic, the fastest way to find out was to let someone try it. The two ordinary people suddenly became panicked, and not wanting to expose himself, Yang Kai also pretended to do so.
Yu Ao Qing’s eyes landed on Yang Kai, walking up to him and thrusting the fruit into his hand she ordered: “Eat it.”
Yang Kai desperately held down his raging urges to attack, and looked down at the fruit in his hand, sniffing it. Intuitively, he felt that there was no poison inside, but under the myriad of objects created by heaven, it was impossible to tell unless one another had a taste of it.
“Eat it, it’s not poisonous,” Old Demon ‘s suddenly said. “This little bitch is really not a good thing.”
“You know what this fruit is?” Yang Kai quickly asked.
“En.”
If Old Demon hadn’t spoken just now, Yang Kai might have exposed his identity and caused a scene, but since Old Demon said it wasn’t poisonous, instead he could just simply eat it, he was hungry anyways.
Calm on the inside, his face still appeared hesitant; looking at the fruit in his hand like it was a deadly poison. Yu Ao Qing repeated her order and Yang Kai ‘reluctantly’ ate a mouthful.
A delicate flavour, sweet like honey, like a ripe persimmon but a bit chewier.
“Eat more.” Yu Ao Qing coldly spoke.
“Old Demon, if I can kill this woman, you must give her spirit some severe torture.” Yang Kai ruthlessly ordered.
“Old Servant will obey!” Old Demon laughed maliciously.
After Yang Kai had eaten the whole fruit, the other seven people still didn’t move, all staring helplessly at his reaction.
After waiting half an hour, seeing that Yang Kai was still alright, Yu Ao Qing was involuntarily relieved, waving her hand she said: “Everyone eat. We’ll rest here for a moment and then set off again.”
Miao Lin and Qi Yuan quickly went and picked the fruit, the three Red Cloud female disciples resting by the side. After just a few breaths, Miao Lin and Qi Yuan brought a lot of fruit over, graciously handing them to the three women.
Miao Lin didn’t hesitate to praise: “Senior Sister Qing is so thoughtful, if weren’t for you, I’m afraid it wouldn’t be more than few days and we’d be poisoned dead.”
Zhang Yu also said: “Yes, I have long ago heard about Senior Sister Qing’s extraordinary intelligence. Today’s events prove your reputation is well deserved.”
Hearing so many people openly praise her, Yu Ao Qing cold face finally showed a slight smile.
While the five Red Cloud Sect disciples ate, Yang Kai and the other two ordinary people weren’t idle, stuffing their mouths with fruit.
This row of fruit trees had a lot of fruit, but with eight people picking and eating, it took no time before the trees became naked.
Satiated, the eight people once again set out. Perhaps because Yang Kai had taste tested the fruit and had borne a lot of risk, this time leading the way was still not him but the other ordinary person.
Shortly after, Qi Yuan suddenly pointed to the side: “Look, something’s flashing over there!”
Everyone looked towards the direction he pointed. Indeed there was something glittering in the grass.
“Let’s go take a look.” Yu Ao Qing said.
Soon, everyone had approached to about three hundred feet from the flashing light. Yu Ao Qing’s cautious nature was displayed again, forcing an ordinary person forward to test the waters while still remaining in place.