Chapter Forty-Seven: Island of Weeping in the Night

“You know Liuying?” Su Ye shot a suspicious glance at Mu Xia, his doubts deepening. Stranger still, why would Jiang Liuying have something to say to him but not deliver it herself, instead sending someone else as a messenger? That was hardly in keeping with Jiang Liuying’s character.

Seeing the skepticism in his eyes, Mu Xia grew even angrier. She had gone to such lengths, all to find an opportunity to secretly relay the message to Su Ye, and now she was being doubted.

Irritated, she retorted, “We were classmates in middle school and the best of friends! Just because we went to different high schools doesn’t change that! This time, she asked me to tell you: both the Yu and Ou families are going to break the rules and send people against you, so be careful. The Jiang family will also send someone to back you up.”

Su Ye frowned even more at this—was this really something Jiang Liuying would say? He distinctly remembered Jiang Ziyang mentioning that the Martial Alliance was presiding over this event; would the Yu and Ou families still dare to make a move?

“What were her exact words?”

Mu Xia paused, thinking back before replying, “She said: ‘If you need to hide, then hide. If you have to back down, just do it. Don’t you dare get yourself killed out there.’ She said the people Yu and Ou are sending this time won’t spare your life.”

“Oh! All right, thank you for passing along the message.” Su Ye nodded emphatically. Judging by that tone, it was indeed Jiang Liuying who’d sent the message.

But if that was the case, then Jiang Ziyang’s suspicions were off the mark.

A sudden realization washed over Su Ye—perhaps Jiang Ziyang had sent him out as bait. He couldn’t help but feel deceived.

“Hmph, so you believe me now? Good! Just be careful.” Mu Xia muttered a few more complaints under her breath.

On the other side, Li Haoxuan, who had been waiting impatiently, finally saw the two finish talking. He strode over, jealousy written all over his face, and shot Su Ye a warning glare as if to say, “Don’t push your luck.”

Su Ye, however, was in no mood to compete for affections—he was too busy worrying about his own survival.

“Let’s go—we should form a team. It’s safer to look out for each other.” In the end, Mu Xia was the first to speak up.

Su Ye offered no objection. They were all headed for that cavern anyway; they might as well travel together.

Li Haoxuan was here for Mu Xia, so wherever she went, he would follow. The other two had no objections, and so the five set out as a group.

Traveling through such a forest, it was easy to lose one’s way. Even for martial artists at their level, traversing rugged terrain for extended periods was exhausting.

Li Haoxuan pulled out his phone, spinning in circles and grumbling anxiously, “Why is there no signal? What a dump—no internet, not even a working compass; it just keeps spinning.”

Mu Xia checked her own phone—barely any battery left. She shook her head and said, “It’s no use. My family told me the caves here are like a giant furnace—very unusual. Every year at low tide, even compasses malfunction. We’ll have to rely on ourselves to find the way.”

“How are we supposed to do that? It’s past six—the sun will set soon, and this place is enormous! The Martial Alliance is unbelievable—if they want pearls, why not just send a helicopter? What is this, survival training?” Li Haoxuan was furious.

Su Ye was just as puzzled. “Mu Xia, do you know why?”

“The pearls inside the Han Shi clams have a special use for martial artists at the Qi Condensation stage, but not for those at our Acupoint-Charging level. If the Alliance sent Qi Condensation experts, what do you think would happen?”

Mu Xia set down her pack, took out a water bottle, drank, then wiped her mouth delicately—a gesture pleasing to the eye.

Su Ye grinned. “They’d take the pearls for themselves, never bringing them back to the Alliance.”

“Exactly! So the Alliance simply sends us Acupoint-Charging martial artists, since we can’t utilize the pearls anyway. Plus, when you capture the Han Shi clams, a special energy is released—what they call spiritual energy—which is very beneficial for us. Remember to take in as much as you can when the time comes.” She smiled sweetly.

Li Haoxuan was stung with jealousy—he’d never seen Mu Xia smile at him like that. He immediately blurted out, “Su Ye, why do you ask so many questions? All day, it’s just question after question! You picked this route—now what? We don’t even know which way to go. We should’ve followed Zhou Yuyang’s group.”

Mu Xia, too, was growing anxious. She wasn’t afraid of hardship, only of being beaten to the prize by Zhou Yuyang and his team, leaving nothing for them but scraps.

“Su Ye, do you have any ideas? We can’t spend the night out here!”

Su Ye scanned the trees surrounding them, listening to the whistling sea wind. “It’s simple. Pay attention to the bark—secondary growth forms earlier and climbs higher on the north side than the south. And those stones we just passed? They had moss on them—moss doesn’t like sun, prefers shade, and typically grows on the north side of rocks. Anyway, if you trust me, follow me.”

Seeing their confused faces, Su Ye couldn’t be bothered to explain further to these sheltered rich kids.

Mu Xia and the others, convinced by his confident explanation, dismissed their doubts and continued to follow his lead.

By seven or eight in the evening, they were all using flashlights to light their way. They had planned to find a place to spend the night, but Su Ye had no intention of stopping.

“We can’t stay here—have to keep moving. It’s too dangerous to linger in one spot overnight.”

Seeing Su Ye striding ahead, the others gritted their teeth and hurried after him.

Fortunately, they were all martial artists, far more resilient than ordinary people, and had provisions supplied by the Alliance, so food wasn’t a concern.

Still, five people trekking through an uninhabited island in the dead of night was enough to test anyone’s nerves.

At night, it took real courage to walk at the front or the rear of the group. As Su Ye led the way, none of the other four wanted to be last.

“Su Ye, slow down. Guys, do you feel it? It’s as if something’s been watching us…” Li Haoxuan’s voice trembled, and he swallowed hard.

Mu Xia, though trained, was still a girl at heart. “Stop talking nonsense and scaring yourself!”

“I mean it! I hear something…almost like crying.” The two quieter companions were pale with fear.

Crying?

Prompted by the suggestion, everyone strained their ears—and sure enough, there was a faint, intermittent sound of weeping.

Instantly, their scalps tingled with dread.

“Damn it, I told you we shouldn’t split up—we should’ve stayed with the larger group. Now look at us, just the five of us. Who knows if it’s some ghost we’re hearing…” Li Haoxuan clutched his pack, pulled out the cross hanging from his neck for courage.

“This island really is haunted…so this is their test after all!” Su Ye frowned. He’d encountered spirits before, but even he thought the malevolence here was unusually strong.

What kind of island was this, where you could hear crying in the dead of night?

“What? Su Ye, don’t scare us!” Mu Xia darted forward, clutching his arm.

Even Li Haoxuan forgot his jealousy and grabbed Su Ye’s other arm, both of them chilled to the bone.

At that moment, a piercing scream split the darkness, distant but unmistakable. More shouts followed—others must have been frightened.

Everyone listened, faces ghostly pale, guessing that those on the second route must have run into trouble. At the same time, they quietly rejoiced that they hadn’t followed, or they too would have been terrified.

“Su Ye, what do we do now?”

Su Ye flicked his flashlight onto the path ahead, replying in a low voice, “We keep moving.”

But he had only taken a few steps when he suddenly felt the thunder within his body stir, his blood and skin tingled with a strange, prickling sensation.

“This is bad—” Su Ye knew his blood and skin had been tempered by heavenly thunder. If his skin was reacting, something here must be harmful to the body.

“Poison gas! Quick—get down!”