They submerged and breathed through their "gills." Opening
their eyes, they were greeted by a crystal palace-like underwater world.
The two were too preoccupied to appreciate the wondrous sight before them. A distant roar shook the entire seabed, and schools of fish darted past with incredible speed and ferocity.
Zhu Haowen tightly tied the box to his waist with a piece of a sea monk's robe and, together with Qin Ci, swam among the coral reefs, searching for a suitable hiding place.
A clam the size of a small car, its shell slightly open, awaited any prey that strayed in.
Qin Ci cautiously avoided the treacherous clam; being pulled inside would either result in being devoured or being polished into a shimmering, human-shaped pearl.
Finally, they found a narrow crevice between a seabed reef and a giant coral, just wide enough for two people. By blocking the entrance with stones, they would be virtually undetectable.
As soon as they were hidden, they felt the seabed churn, and the entire underwater world became murky.
Soon, the distant roar grew closer, and a massive, dark mass surged past, reminiscent of some prehistoric animal migration.
This must be the startled herd of submerged bulls that the sea monk had mentioned.
Zhu Haowen observed this chilling scene through the narrow gaps in the coral trees. These submerged bulls were incredibly fast and numerous, resembling a devastating black whirlwind, leaving nothing but devastation in their wake.
Indeed, nothing grew; the once beautiful seaweed on the seabed was now a chaotic mess under the trampling hooves of these submerged bulls.
Occasionally, a submerged bull would stagnate, perhaps exhausted or injured in the trampling, and be pushed out of the herd, allowing Zhu Haowen and Qin Ci to see its full form.
These creatures' faces were exactly like those of land-dwelling bison, especially their pair of sharp, massive horns, completely unlike any features of a sea creature. The forelegs of the diving bull were no different from those of ordinary bison, the only difference being below the waist, where a hard, rough fish tail grew, emitting a dark iron-like gleam, seemingly indestructible.
This lone diving bull, with a flick of its tail, caused some of the reef where the two were hiding to crumble. Fortunately, this diving bull did not intend to linger there, but quickly followed the main group.
It was unclear how much time had passed before the terrifying diving bull herd finally disappeared, and the murky water gradually returned to its previous clarity.
Some fish and shrimp hidden in the crevices quietly swam out, and the seabed returned to its former crystal palace-like world.
However, upon closer inspection, traces of the diving bull herd's presence still lingered in the water. Zhu Haowen saw broken shells, fish heads and shrimp tails seeping into the coral crevices, and even something resembling lobster claws—in short, a large pile of the remains and limbs of sea creatures.
If the surface of the sea was a vast expanse, then the seabed was an even larger, unpredictable space. Now, directions were everywhere, but no one knew which way to go.
Another major inconvenience on the seabed is the inability to communicate verbally.
Zhu Haowen opened his mouth to say something, but while he wouldn't choke on seawater, his words would be completely inaudible.
Fortunately, he was Qin Ci's old teammate, with whom he had worked many times before. Qin Ci was pointing in two directions: one was the direction the submerged bull herd had just left, and the other was the direction they had come from.
Zhu Haowen nodded. Clearly, neither direction was a good choice: firstly, the area the submerged bulls had passed through must have caused Zhou great disturbance, making it difficult to find the fragments or encounter the dragon girl mending clothes mentioned by the sea monk; secondly, the area the submerged bull herd had come from must harbor even greater danger. The fact that the submerged bulls were in such a panic indicated that there was something unpredictable and dangerous there, perhaps still tracking them.
The sun was invisible in this world; the sky above the sea was ablaze with fire, and on the seabed, it was impossible to distinguish east from west. If the herd of submerged bulls had come from the east and were heading west, then Zhu Haowen and Qin Ci would only have the south and north as their options.
Zhu Haowen first pointed to the wider, brighter "southern sea," then to the "northern sea," which resembled a coral forest behind him, unable to decide which direction was more suitable.
Qin Ci also gestured, seemingly favoring the "southern sea," as it was brighter there and easier to find the fragments.
Just as the two decided to swim out through the crevice and head south, a flash of silver light appeared. Before they could even see the other's figure clearly, they were shocked to see a hand reaching into the crevice of the reef!
Fortunately, both reacted quickly and nimbly dodged the hand, but it continued to reach out, its fingers incredibly flexible, with silver, pearl-like nails—clearly a large human hand.
If it weren't for being in the water, Qin Ci would probably have felt the cold sweat trickling down his face. The hand clearly belonged to a strong, muscular man, and was larger than the average male hand, though not enormous—its proportions were roughly the same as an average person compared to a professional basketball player.
But the hand's sudden appearance, even if it were as small as a back scratcher, would still cause panic.
A sound like panting or whistling came from outside, which, upon closer listening, sounded like a strange singing voice. Accompanying this sound, the hand's movements became somewhat—somewhat alluring.
The owner of the hand seemed to be losing patience. Fortunately, its strength wasn't great; it only moved the reef slightly, allowing the two to see part of the other's appearance.
It was a mermaid, a male mermaid. Judging by his face alone, he would be an unparalleled beauty in the human world, his silvery-white hair flowing in the water, his other hand patting his strong chest muscles, his large silver tail swaying alluringly.
Qin Ci: "..."
Zhu Haowen: "..."
The male mermaid made a lot of ridiculous and seductive gestures, trying to lure these two "prey" out to "offer themselves."
Zhu Haowen seemed to want to say something, but only spat out a small bubble, and his voice completely dissipated in the water.
Unfortunately, this small bubble floated in front of Qin Ci, blocking his view. Qin Ci couldn't help but swat it away, and then heard two words in utter surprise—"Holy crap."
It was Zhu Haowen's voice, which had actually been absorbed into the bubble, allowing the other to hear it.
Qin Ci glanced at Zhu Haowen's expression; the other seemed not to have heard the sound. Perhaps only the person who popped the bubble could hear it.
Qin Ci didn't have time to share this with Zhu Haowen, because the silly yet terrifying male mermaid was already burning with lust for its prey. This time, it extended its large silver tail, and the skin of both of them felt unbearably itchy from the tail's touch.
Qin Ci saw a bubble float out of Zhu Haowen's mouth and quickly swatted it away, then heard the other's voice: "Run! This damn scoundrel has something on its tail..."
There was indeed something on the tail, seemingly some slime. Fortunately, not much was stuck to either of them. Now they could only try to escape through very narrow gaps, because if they swam into open water, they would definitely be no match for the male mermaid.
For now, they could only rely on their smaller size to find ways to hide in small gaps from the pursuit of the large mermaid.
The two squeezed through every tiny gap in the sea. Although there were places the mermaid couldn't reach, its massive tail emitted an indescribable slime that drifted towards them, seemingly trying to attach itself to them.
It was terrifying.
Absolutely disgusting and horrifying.
They could only wipe themselves with seaweed and keep fleeing for their lives.
A roar that shook the entire ocean floor came from ahead, a sound like a lion's roar or a tiger's howl. They had heard this sound on the surface earlier, but then it was too far away to identify.
Now it was clear as day; it was unmistakably the cry of a large feline on land.
Qin Ci realized then that the male mermaid had chased them quite a distance, heading straight towards the herd of submerged cattle. If he wasn't mistaken, this beastly roar was the sound that had startled the herd.
The seawater was now crystal clear, the disgusting slime long gone. It seemed the two had unknowingly shaken off the mermaid's pursuit.
Or perhaps the beast's roar had frightened the mermaid away. The two had now reached a wider area of water, and the mermaid was nowhere to be seen.
It seemed this hidden beast was more terrifying than the male mermaid or even the herd of submerged bulls.
But at least the danger wasn't imminent, and both decided to catch their breath.
Qin Ci turned his back and tried to speak softly. Sure enough, a small bubble floated from his mouth. He popped it, and his voice reached his own ears: "To remove a needle, use toothed tweezers to pull it outwards along the curve of the needle's tip, while simultaneously pushing it forward from the back with the needle holder."
It was incredible, even ineffable.
Qin Ci looked at his companion with a slightly surprised expression, while Zhu Haowen instinctively took two steps back: "Old Qin, were you corroded by that slime? Why are you suddenly looking at me with such rare starry eyes?"
Old Qin made a gesture to calm down, then said something very seriously. He spat out a bubble, which floated towards Zhu Haowen, only to be pushed further away by the current.
A fish with a long snout popped the bubble with its snout, looked at the two of them with some surprise—Qin Ci even felt it glared at him—before raising its head and swimming away nonchalantly.
Helpless, Qin Ci could only say something else, creating a new bubble, and then grabbed Zhu Haowen's arm to pop it.
Zhu Haowen quickly showed an incredulous expression, because he heard Qin Ci's familiar voice, a voice that always conveyed warmth in its calmness—"Haowen, I always thought you were very smart." Zhu Haowen was
completely stunned. Soon, a bubble floated out of his mouth, which Qin Ci gently popped, saying, "Was this trick taught to you by that merman?"
"..." Qin Ci actually spat out a small bubble again. This time, Zhu Haowen heard a long silence that lasted a second.
Soon, the two steered their bubble-like conversation to the main topic—
Zhu Haowen's bubble: "Actually, I was initially inclined towards this direction because often the most dangerous places hide life."
Qin Ci's bubble: "We have no other choice; we're currently surrounded by the roars of these beasts."
Zhu Haowen's bubble: "Let's grit our teeth and swim forward. The fragments are too hard to find; this is truly a needle in a haystack."
Qin Ci's bubble: "It seems that only the two of us in this world have the function of bubbles. Other creatures, whether it's the diving bull or that singing mermaid just now, can all make sounds in the sea."
Zhu Haowen's bubble: "Mr. and Mrs. Si Nian have quite the imagination."
The two swam forward for a while and stopped in a large patch of seaweed. Qin Ci's bubble popped out, and Zhu Haowen quickly caught it and popped it. He heard the other say: "Don't you think our way of talking is a lot like WeChat voice messages?"
"..." Zhu Haowen spat out a bubble: "I thought you were going to talk about serious matters."
"..."
Zhu Haowen Bubble: "I think it's a bit like QQ Bubble. The bubble I used before was a green crocodile style. What about yours?"
Qin Ci Bubble: "What is QQ Bubble?"
Zhu Haowen Bubble: "..."
Suddenly, a deafening roar came from the seaweed where the two were hiding, almost deafening them.