Stranger Danger

"Manshan! Manshan! Where is Warrior Ye and Miss Feng? We need their help right now!"

It was at this moment Ming Yueying barged inside and surveyed the surroundings. "Where are they?"

Jin Manshan did not respond though. Seeing her husband's forlorn appearance, Ming Yueying walked up to him and grabbed his shoulders. "Manshan, I'm asking you a question! Where are they?" "Left! They left!" Jin Manshan mumbled, his eyes still lightless and out of focus.

"Left? To where?" Ming Yueying asked stupidly before realizing what he really meant. "You mean... they left Gold Island?!"

Jin Manshan did not say anything, and silence itself was a form of tacit acknowledgement.

"How can this be? How can they do this to us?" Ming Yueying staggered on her feet and turned as gray as death. "They actually lied to us... Liars... liars, both of them..."

"Haha... hahaha... liars, all liars..."

Ming Yueying started laughing like a madwoman. Her face was soon covered in snot and tears.

Jin Manshan himself kept muttering, "The heavens conspire to ruin me, the heavens conspire to ruin me," with a blank expression and dim eyes.

Yue Ling looked at them both with pity and disdain.

Her pity was exactly that, pity. Anyone would be angry, sorrowful, and in despair if they lost their straw of hope; if they were fooled by confidants they trusted enough to put their life in their hands.

In their shoes, she did not think she would have reacted much better.

But at the same time, she also disdained Jin Manshan and Ming Yueying's incompetence and weakness. They were Half-Sages, and yet they had easily placed their trust in others. What kind of self-respecting warrior would so easily fall for such a ruse? She also disdained the two so-called seniors. Before this, she did not know that they were such petty cowards. They did not deserve to be addressed by any respectful title at all.

"Island Lord Jin, Lady Jin, we should—"

Although she disdained Jin Manshan and Ming Yueying, now was clearly the best time to entice them and gain their trust. With the right words, she might be able to recruit them or obtain Gold Island's secret, making her arrival at this place worthwhile.

However, Yue Ling was just starting when exclamations of shock suddenly erupted from outside the Arts Tower.

The cries did not sound like fear or terror. It sounded like disbelief and excitement.

"What's going on?" Confused, Yue Ling subconsciously walked over to the window and looked outside. She froze immediately.

This time though, it wasn't because she saw something horrific and unimaginable. On the contrary, it was actually excellent news.

She saw the King Squid leaving the Golden Peak Sky Holding Great Array and sinking into the sea.

She did not understand why. Just a moment longer, and the King Squid would have broken Golden Peak Sky Holding Great Array and wreaked havoc upon Gold Island. And yet, it had left at a critical moment.

It had left without any hesitation either. It just didn't make sense.

What made even less sense was the rest of the demonic monsters taking their leave as well. They all sank to the bottom of the sea and vanished.

In just the blink of an eye, the massive swarm of demonic monsters sieging Gold Island had disappeared completely. If someone didn't know better, they would have thought that what happened earlier was just a dream. A terrifying but ultimately harmless dream.

It wasn't a dream though. The dim light and dense cracks covering the golden shield of the Golden Peak Sky Holding Great Array were all Yue Ling needed to see to know that it was reality.

"Where's the King Squid? Where are the demonic monsters? Why... why are they all gone?"

Before she knew it, Jin Manshan and Ming Yueying were standing next to her and looking out of the window as well. They were all staring at the conspicuously empty sea region with utter confusion.

Where's the King Squid? That giant ass King Squid? How can it disappear just like that? And where are the demonic monsters?

"They left!" Yue Ling murmured.

"Left? Left where?" Jin Manshan pressed.

"I... I don't know. They all sank into the sea." Yue Ling took a moment to organize her words before adding, "To be honest, I have no idea what happened. They just left."

The subtext of her reply was: Don't ask me, can't you see the blank look on my face? I've got no idea what just happened either.

"If the King Squid and the demonic monsters left, does that mean we're... safe?" Ming Yueying was speechless for a moment before she suddenly burst out laughing. "Hahaha... the deities protect us. We're safe, Manshan! We live!" "Yeah. We live. We actually live."

Jin Manshan was overflowing with joy and excitement as well. Then, he put two and two together and exclaimed, "I got it! It's Warrior Ye and Miss Feng! They saved us!"

Yue Ling asked, "You're saying that the two seniors drew the demonic monsters away to save us?"

Jin Manshan said happily, "It has to be. It can only be them. They haven't left us! They didn't abandon us!"

"Look... what's that?"

Suddenly, Ming Yueying pointed at the distant horizon.

When Jin Manshan and Yue Ling looked, they saw the sea region about several kilometers away from Gold Island turning dark yellow all of a sudden.

The dark yellow had begun from the bottom of the sea and spread all the way to the heavens.

The dark yellow light was brilliant and dazzling, grand and regal, dense and immense. Wherever it went, evils were repelled. Whatever it touched, corruption was destroyed.

In the deep sea, countless demonic monsters were annihilated.

On the sea surface, the corrosive demonic fire disintegrated.

All the filth and darkness that existed between heaven and earth were receding rapidly.

Even the King Squid had crumbled into dust under the dark yellow light.

When everything in the deep sea had disintegrated into dust, a bell suddenly rang.

Thang...

The grand bell chime quelled the wind and scattered the clouds. It returned everything to calm. Then, profound light washed in from every direction and condensed into a great sun underneath the sea.

Even though it was several kilometers away, even though it was partially insulated by the seawater, Jin Manshan, Ming Yueying and Yue Ling could still sense the terrifying power contained within the sun. Just looking at it was enough to hurt their eyes and quake their souls.

They didn't close their eyes though. They couldn't bear to miss even a second of this miraculous sight.

The next moment, the sun slowly rose from the bottom of the sea.

The world slowly became brighter and brighter.

As the sun rose, the land that had grown dark after the all-encompassing dark yellow light condensed into a sun gradually brightened once more.

At the same time, the distorted energies and chaotic yin and yang were restored to normal.

The instant the sun emerged from the water, the sky became as bright as daytime, and all things were restored to their natural order.

All demonic fire within dozens of kilometers of Gold Island was vanquished. The chaos and destruction had also vanished like they were never there, replaced by rich spiritual qi, pure energies, and strong, intact order. It was like a kingdom of gods or celestials.

Yue Ling, Jin Manshan, Ming Yueying, everyone on the island, everyone was staring at the sun on the sea like it was a miracle.