CH 308

308: The Island

The tornado was still raging but the group couldn’t hold on. Their strength was fading and their grip was weakening. The wind was strong and they couldn’t withstand it for much longer.

Who knew how long it took, but eventually they lost their strength and their grip loosened until their hands eventually parted. The tornado did not relent and more maritime creatures and vegetation, not to mention ships, got pulled into its vortex.

...

Feng Wu staggered up off the sand. She was on an island she had never seen before. The carcasses of different sea beasts and creatures were piled all around the beach, but she didn’t see anyone else.

“Where is this place? Where is Senior Ming Xi? Where is Jier?” Feng Wu patted her still dizzy head.

She was on an island, but it wasn’t any old island. The sand was black and so was the soil and rocks.

Feng Wu decided to look for Ming Xi first. She stepped carefully around the animal carcasses, checking to make sure there wasn’t anyone underneath.

Luckily it didn’t take her long before she found another person. Feng Wu felt under the person’s nose. There was shallow breathing. What a relief.

“Uh. . . ” groaned the girl as she gradually regained consciousness.

The girl was beautiful, with porcelain skin and excellent clothes. From first glance, it looked like she was a pampered eldest young miss.

The girl slowly opened her eyes. “You! Who are you?!” she uttered as she sat up in panic. But because she had been unconscious for so long, her body was stiff and the sudden action made her wobble. She nearly collapsed back onto the sand.

“Feng Wu,” reported Feng Wu when she heard the question.

“What kind of ominous place is this? Why am I here?” The girl was on guard as she looked at Feng Wu. She lowered her guard once she saw that Feng Wu wasn’t a malicious person and she slowly began looking around at her surroundings.

“You were also involved in the black tornado?” asked the girl. She was unaccustomed to conversing with people while sitting as she was. She was a noble after all.

“Yes. Have you seen my friends Ming Xi, Jier, Ink and Leo?” Feng Wu counted out their names on her fingers. She was in a bad mood because she couldn’t find anyone else.

The girl rolled her eyes. “I just woke up; how could I have seen any of your friends?”

“Oh. . . ” A disappointed Feng Wu didn’t bother saying anything else. She patted the sand off her skirt and turned around, intending to continue her search.

The girl became anxious at the sight. Who knew when she would meet another living person in this inauspicious place? No way was she losing the only other living person around.

“Wait. Let’s go together.” The girl ran after Feng Wu, not caring one bit whether Feng Wu agreed or not. They would just work together until they found more people.

Along the way she shared her name and where she came from. Her name was Liana and she was from the maritime country of Water Cloud, where her father was the left prime minister. It could be said his position was rather important.

Liana had gone to sea because of the sea emperor’s tomb. She had wanted to join in the fun, but she never expected to encounter such misfortune before even reaching the tomb.

She had come with several people in her house, but now she wasn’t sure if they were dead or alive. She had lost contact with all her guards.

The two girls walked along the beach for awhile before they came across one of Liana’s bodyguards and two other guards from Hart’s ship. They didn’t find anyone else though.

“This isn’t working. We should go farther inland,” said one of Hart’s crew. “Maybe the others have walked into the island.”

The other guard shook his head. “You sure you want to venture farther inland? Don’t you think this island is strange? Like a monster with a wide-open mouth just waiting for us to throw ourselves into its trap?” He seemed very frightened of the unknown.

Could you blame him? The island was strange and gave off spooky vibes. The beach was black, the air smelled of blood, but none was in sight. Everything was black.

Just standing on the beach and looking inland, you could see how black everything was: the land, the plants, everything was washed in shades of black.

You could feel the bad aura just standing on the beach. Who knew how many had to have died for such an ominous atmosphere to be created?

The island was definitely dangerous.

Liana’s female bodyguard frowned. She slowly looked around. “We’ve been searching the beach for so many hours already, if there was anyone other than us here, we would have found them. If there is anyone else still alive, then they’re probably farther inland.”

The crew member shook his head desperately. “No way. You’ve seen it; this island is definitely bad. If we go in, we may not get back out.” He wasn’t willing to go in.

“Zha, don’t be like this. It’s more important to find other survivors.” The other Hart guard was for exploring farther. “Going in is the only way to find them.”

“I don’t want to go Oli. I really don’t want to go. I have a bad feeling about it. Let’s not go.” Zha shook his head. He didn’t change his mind at all.

“Don’t force him. Maybe he thinks it’s safer to stay on the beach. I don’t think so though. I pray everyone for everyone’s safety. Mia, let’s go.” Liana, this noble girl, was actually really calm. Once she got over her initial panic she’d been very calm through out the entire ordeal.

“Feng Wu, do you want to go and have a look?” Liana asked.

Feng Wu nodded. She had to find Ming Xi and the others.

“OK, let’s go together then. You guys,” Liana addressed the two Hart crew members, “can follow us farther inland, or you can stay here on the beach. No one will make you do anything you don’t want to do.” Liana turned around and stepped forward deeper into the island with Mia and Feng Wu.

Oli considered his options and ultimately decided to follow them and explore the island. Staying on the beach wasn’t an option. Besides, he had the feeling the beach wouldn’t be any safer.

He really wanted Zha to come with him, but Zha was certain there were monsters on the island and continued to refuse.

Oli had no choice to but catch up to Liana and her group on his own.