Stranger Danger

The Sunchasing Dragon Whale did not seem to be interested in the fishes or aquatic creatures in the shallow sea though. It continued to dive deeper into the sea.

As the depth level increased, the surrounding scenery became increasingly unusual and unfathomable.

The environment became darker, scarier, and more oppressive as well.

There were flood dragons as thick as houses and as long as mountains. Entrenched at certain points of the deep sea, they were flicking forked tongues that were shrouded in some sort of grayish mist. Any creature that made contact with the mist would instantly disintegrate into ash, leaving not a single speck of flesh or blood behind.

There were humongous, transparent jellyfishes the size of literal mountains floating idly in the sea. It glowed like a rainbow and carried a mass of tentacles that were hundreds, possibly thousands of meters long. Each tentacle was covered in preys such as fishes and prawns, and every one of these preys were being dissolved into some sort of sticky, transparent goo.

A Nine-headed Profound Turtle bearing dragons and serpents on its back was swimming elegantly across the seawater. The dragons and serpents were intertwined with each other and unleashing waves of mysterious light at a fixed interval.

There was a strange, half-lion and half-elephant creature that shone so brightly that it illuminated every corner of the deep sea. Wherever the strange beast traveled, everything—the seaweeds, the rocks, the fishes, the shrimps etc—became as bright as candles as if a fire was ignited inside them.

There was a massive creature that was shaped like a starfish but had octopus-like tentacles growing out of its body. Over dozens of kilometers long, it engaged a strange three-headed shark in a furious battle and stirred up waves and soots that could be felt and seen from thousands of kilometers away.

......

The living creatures weren't the only spectacles or threats in the sea. There were also inanimate objects that were equally gorgeous and deadly.

For example, there was a massive sunken ship lying on the ocean floor. Through its tattered hulls, one could catch flashes of gold and pearls. It seemed to be hiding entire piles of treasures in its belly. However, the lure of riches was greatly dulled by the eerie, terrible wails that erupted from the sunken ship from time to time.

There was a massive island covered in strange flowers and unusual grass. Each flower was emitting a divine glow, and each grass was shining with spiritual qi. All of them were one-of-a-kind treasures that one was hardpressed to find on the surface.

However, a closer look revealed that hidden underneath the garden of extraordinary flowers and grass were piles and piles of bones. In fact, the entire island was made of bones.

There were clumps of mountains hanging upside down at the bottom of the sea. Massive up top and tiny down below, the topside of the mountains were so smooth that it could almost reflect one's image. From above, one could see that countless fishes and shrimps were swimming within the mountains.

Something was off, however. Upon closer inspection, it would appear that the fishes and shrimps were all intangible. They were all souls. How did they come to be this way, or were they like this from the beginning? It was impossible to say. One thing for certain, it was strange and eerie.

There were bronze trees growing out of the rocks and seabed. It was odd enough that the trees were metallic, but what was really odd was the fact that a woman was bound to each tree.

Each woman possessed an appearance that could sink fishes and fall birds. However, they were utterly and completely dead.

Except, when the Sunchasing Dragon Whale was swimming over the forest of bronze trees, the women all looked up and stared at the group watching them from the Sunchasing Island.

Their gazes were so cold and eerie that even Ye Qing was feeling a not insignificant amount of distress.

Ironically, the normal people—Li Xian, Old Fang, Tian Wa, Hu Xiaoyan and Lil Yu—were completely unaffected by the gazes. In fact, when the women looked up at them, they met their gazes and returned looks of deep interest.

Li Xian and Old Fang's composure could be explained by a wealth of life experiences, but the same could not be said for Tian Wa or Hu Xiaoyan. This was especially true for Lil Yu, who was just a seven or eight years old young girl. It was strange that they weren't afraid of the anomalous and terrifying spectacle at all.

"Aren't you afraid, Lil Yu?" Ye Qing asked while rubbing her head a little.

"No?" Lil Yu replied while licking her tanghulu. It was the same tanghulu Feng Qingyou had gifted her earlier. She was just taking her sweet, sweet time to consume it. There were only two fruits left on the stick, so she was eating even slower than before. She basically only licked it every once in a while like a cat.

"In fact, it's pretty fun!"

Hearing their conversation, Old Fang explained, "You may not get this, Joyless, but the one thing the ocean doesn't lack is weird, inexplicable things."

"The Sunchasing Dragon Whale is always on the move to pursue the sun. There is nowhere in the four seas that it hasn't gone to. We have seen so much that we have long become desensitized to all of it."

"Of course, the biggest reason we are unperturbed is because nothing could harm us while we remain on the Sunchasing Island. At some point, all this is just entertainment to us."

Ye Qing nodded in agreement before asking curiously, "Have you encountered something stranger than this? Can you give us some examples?"

"Oh, there are so many."

Old Fang ran his fingers through his beard and took a moment to compose his response. "We've seen fish-bodied, human-headed merfolk whose tears could turn into pearls. We've seen ugly, savage yaksas that could manipulate wind and water. We've seen Kun Birds that are fishes in water, but birds when they take to the sky. We've seen serpent-headed, human-bodied sea nagas who reside in the deep sea. We've seen entire cities that are submerged at the bottom of the sea. We've seen gigantic corpses that drift in the middle of the sea..."

Old Fang kept his explanation brief, but Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou were still fully absorbed in his tale. The sights and sceneries of the sea definitely surpassed those on the land by leaps and bounds.

Although the villagers could never leave the island, they could enjoy a carefree life and witness all kinds of magnificent spectacles. It was a different kind of happiness, but it was a happiness nonetheless.

"Sigh, the scholar should be the one to tell you about this. His eloquence far exceeds mine."

A moment later, Old Fang licked his dry lips and added, "Speaking of which, the scholar actually wrote a book about everything he saw and heard in the sea. You can borrow it from him if you're interested."

Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou's eyes lit up upon hearing that.

"What book? It's just some notes I jotted down when I feel like it."

When Li Xian saw Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou staring enthusiastically at him, he smiled and said, "I can give it to you if you like."

Ye Qing hurriedly rejected the offer, "We cannot! It's the work of your life, isn't it? How can we possibly accept it!"

"What work of my life? Like I said, it's just some notes I jot down."

Li Xian chuckled. "Besides, the one thing I do not lack on the Sunchasing Island is time. I can just write another one down the line. So please, accept my gift."

Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou exchanged glances with each other. Then, they responded at the same time, "We thank you kindly for your gift, mister."

"Ah, please, there's really no need for such courtesies." Li Xian waved them off.

"Look! Look! The Dragon Whale is going to feed!"

It is at this moment Lil Yu's cute voice drew their attention.

As she said, tThe Sunchasing Dragon Whale that had been roaming the ocean floor this entire time was slowly opening its mouth. It was like a maw to the abyss had opened.

The next moment, the seawater directly in front of the Sunchasing Dragon Whale turned into a vortex.

The gigantic vortex spanned hundreds of kilometers. Everything caught in its range be it animate objects such as fishes, shrimps, plants etc; inanimate objects such as sunken ships, rocks etc; and even those anomalous and indescribable horrors were all pulled into the Sunchasing Draogn Whale's mouth.

Many of these creatures were powerful Strangers or terrifying Anomalies. In fact, literally everyone and everything living at this depth was a powerful, unstoppable monster. In the outside world, a single one of them could overturn the sea and massacre countless.

But here? They were just food.

The Sunchasing Dragon Whale's food.