Chapter 182: Lonely Island

Getting lost at sea is a matter of life and death. Fang Bai and Ye Wumei looked at each other, both somewhat dumbfounded."What should we do?"

Ye Wumei, with a worried face, said, "We have no idea how far we are from land. If we are close, after daybreak, there might be a chance to encounter a fishing boat, and we’ll be rescued; but if it’s too far, even if we don’t drown, we’ll die of thirst or hunger."

Fang Bai forced a smile and said, "The only thing to do now is to find the right direction and try to swim towards land. If we get the direction wrong... well, then we’ll just have to wait to become food for fish and shrimp!"

Ye Wumei asked, "But where is the direction to land?"

Fang Bai answered, "I don’t know. Little Mink, can you figure out the direction?"

In this world, sometimes animals understand nature better than humans, as well as being more familiar with it. The Lightning Mink, being a half-spirit beast with awakened intelligence, became Fang Bai’s hope.

With a "squeak," the Lightning Mink jumped onto Fang Bai’s head, stood upright, and looked around. A moment later, it excitedly pointed in a certain direction.

"The Lightning Mink says it senses the presence of land in that direction."

Fang Bai glanced in the direction the Lightning Mink pointed to, said nothing further, and had Ye Wumei hold onto his left arm. With his right arm, he swam powerfully, propelling them through the water like a fish, with Ye Wumei in tow.

The Lightning Mink jumped down from his head, leading the way in front of him.

About two hours later, the sky gradually brightened.

Fang Bai, seeing the fish-belly white of dawn, knew they were swimming towards land. He was overjoyed, and couldn’t help but praise the Lightning Mink a few times.

If they hadn’t brought this little creature along to rescue someone, Fang Bai and Ye Wumei would likely have been lost at sea by now.

Over the past half-night, Fang Bai had been swimming with Ye Wumei, barely stopping. His True Yuan had been greatly depleted, but fortunately, his Space Ring contained plenty of Elixirs and Essence Stones to quickly replenish his spent True Yuan.

Ye Wumei saw Fang Bai touch the black ring on his finger from time to time, then something would appear in his hand – some Elixirs and glittering, translucent stones – and she couldn’t help feeling surprised.

However, since they were still in a dangerous situation, Ye Wumei didn’t have the mood to ask about it.

By noon, Ye Wumei was both hungry and thirsty, and the blazing sun in the sky even made her feel dizzy and lightheaded.

Squeak—

Just then, the Lightning Mink leading the way returned, jumping onto Fang Bai’s shoulder, excitedly pointing to the left front.

Although Ye Wumei didn’t understand what the Lightning Mink was squeaking about, its excited demeanor told her there must be some delightful discovery.

"Little Mink says there’s a small island ahead,"

Fang Bai turned his head and said to Ye Wumei.

"Really? That’s wonderful!"

Ye Wumei was overjoyed.

After swimming several hundred meters in the direction the Lightning Mink pointed, they indeed saw a small island appearing on the sea ahead.

The two of them and the mink landed on the small island, and discovered that although it was not large, the island was lush with trees, with plenty of shaded places untouched by sunlight, perfect for resting.

After tossing and turning in the sea for most of the night, they were all exhausted, both human and mink alike. If they could hide in the cool shade on the island and sleep for a while, it would be incredibly comfortable.

"Change out of your clothes and find a place to sleep. Little Mink and I will keep watch. If anything happens, we’ll wake you up,"

Fang Bai took out another set of clean clothes from his Spatial Ring and handed them to Ye Wumei. The source of this content ɪs NovᴇlFirᴇ(.)nᴇt

This was the second set of clothes that Fang Bai had given to Ye Wumei. Fortunately, he had prepared several sets in his Spatial Ring, otherwise, Ye Wumei would have had to continue wearing wet clothes, which would have made it difficult to sleep well.

"Thank you. I’ll return them to you as two new sets of clothes once we get back," she said.

Ye Wumei took the clothes from Fang Bai and walked behind some rocks to change into the clean set. Then, she lay down to sleep beneath a few small trees with thick foliage.

Since the day of her concert, she had not slept for a full day and night, and after the fear and struggle for survival at sea, she was extremely exhausted and fell into a deep sleep soon after lying down.

There were plenty of sea turtles, sea snakes, and seabird eggs on the small island—a piece of good news for the Lightning Mink. Once it landed on the island, it began to fill its belly with these things.

Fang Bai took out some water and food from the Spatial Ring to eat, then sat cross-legged on a flat rock to rest and cultivate.

Throughout the better part of the night, Fang Bai, carrying Ye Wumei, had been swimming on the surface and diving underwater, exhausting and restoring his strength and True Yuan repeatedly in cycles.

Fang Bai treated this process as a form of extreme physical training from which he greatly benefited. Furthermore, the boost from the Essence Energy of the sea had increased his strength considerably.

After filling its stomach, the Lightning Mink also lay down next to Fang Bai to start absorbing the Essence Energy from the sea.

Half a day later, both Fang Bai and the Lightning Mink left their Cultivation State, appearing refreshed and lively, full of vigor.

"Staying on this island isn’t a solution. I’m going to make a raft. Once it’s ready, we’ll leave," Fang Bai announced.

After speaking, he started to gather wood from around the island, then brought the logs together and tied them side by side with strong vines to create a small raft capable of carrying two or three people.

He then made a large, simple "oar" to maneuver the raft.

Once all was prepared and the sun began to set, Ye Wumei also woke up at that time.

Hunger had woken Ye Wumei.

She hadn’t eaten or drunk anything for a day and a night, and upon waking, her stomach kept growling. Seeing Fang Bai and the Lightning Mink looking at her, her pretty face couldn’t help but turn bright red with embarrassment.

"Man is iron, food is steel, and one gets panicked without a meal. You’ve missed quite a few meals; you must be starving. Come on, eat and drink something... Don’t rush, chew slowly so you don’t hurt your stomach," Fang Bai advised with a smile.

Pulling out a pile of food and drink from his Spatial Ring, Fang Bai placed them all in front of Ye Wumei.

Looking at the food in front of her, much of which she liked, Ye Wumei’s eyes brightened up.

"Where did all this food and the clothes you gave me come from?" she asked.

After a good sleep and now well-fed and hydrated, Ye Wumei had finally returned to normal. With her circumstances slightly improved, her tense nerves temporarily relaxed, prompting her to ask the question she had been wanting to know.

"Take a guess," Fang Bai responded, not intending to keep Ye Wumei in the dark, smiling as he spoke.

Though their time together had been short, they had shared both joys and hardships. For Fang Bai, who had come to know the ’National Sweetheart’ Ye Wumei’s personality, it was easy to guess her character.

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