More than ten days had passed outside the illusion of Lament of Parting, yet within the illusion itself, not even a full day had gone by.
Ziqing had originally thought that, even without proper tools, they could still manage to build some kind of boat. Unfortunately, what they ended up with in the end was the most primitive vessel imaginable—a simple dugout canoe.
The method was straightforward enough: split the massive trunk in half, hollow out the middle, and flatten the bottom.
Even though Ziqing had wanted to refine the design further, unfortunately, even the most skilled craftsman can’t make a fine meal without proper ingredients.
What finally emerged before everyone was a dugout canoe even more primitive than the most basic version imaginable.
“Are you sure this thing can actually go in the water?” Baili Weisheng rubbed his chin, looking skeptical.
Beside him, Jun Beiyue and Xuanyuan Lige both struggled to hold back their laughter.
Ziqing pursed her lips. “Going into that whirlpool isn’t quite the same as ordinary sailing, is it? As long as it can hold people, that’s all that matters.”
Ziqing wasn’t wrong about that. They had no intention of sailing across the open ocean searching for the isolated island—naturally, the plan was to take this boat and head straight into the death whirlpool!
Given the legend that had come before, and now with the Fusang sacred tree felled and having stirred up such a massive whirlpool on the ocean’s surface, if they still couldn’t confirm the connection between the two, it would only mean they’d all been blind the whole time.
“Heh, as long as it can hold everyone, that’s fine. Let’s go!” Jun Beiyue said with a laugh, pulling the slightly irritable Ziqing into his arms.
Ziqing took a deep breath. The sheer amount of work involved really had been quite something, and between her impatience and exhaustion, she was worn out.
Jun Beiyue held Ziqing close as they headed toward the shore, leaving the task of carrying the boat naturally to Baili Weisheng and Xuanyuan Lige.
Though the boat was quite large, it wasn’t too difficult a task for the two of them—one carried the front, the other the back, and together they caught up with Jun Beiyue and Ziqing.
Xinyun silently followed along behind them, deliberately slowing her pace a few steps to say to Baili Weisheng, “Do you need any help?”
“No need,” Baili Weisheng said, still every bit the gentleman, offering a polite smile.
“About earlier…” Xinyun seemed about to explain herself, but Baili Weisheng’s smile froze at once. What had happened earlier was already awkward enough—did it really need explaining?
Wasn’t bringing it up again just asking for more awkwardness?
Just as Xinyun was about to walk over, Baili Weisheng immediately picked up his pace, forcing Xuanyuan Lige ahead of him to speed up as well. Before long, the two of them found themselves rather comically jogging along while carrying the massive boat.
Left standing alone, Xinyun looked both amused and exasperated, murmuring under her breath, “Baili Weisheng, don’t worry, I would never hurt you.”
Soon enough, everyone reached the shore. Strangely, even looking down from above, the massive whirlpool had continued drawing in the surrounding seawater and expanding outward this entire time, yet despite all the hours that had passed, the surrounding waters didn’t seem to have changed much at all!
Staring at the whirlpool’s high-speed spinning center, the group—who had been joking around the whole way there—suddenly grew serious.
“What if we toss the boat into the air, and everyone races to fly up and land in it?” Xuanyuan Lige suggested.
Within the whirlpool itself, there was simply no way to keep a boat steady on the water. This was the only option—otherwise, the moment the boat touched down, it would likely be swept away before anyone could even climb aboard!
Jun Beiyue and Ziqing both nodded, indicating they had no objection.
Baili Weisheng shrugged, looking entirely relaxed about it. But Xinyun spoke up timidly. “I… the speed is too fast. I… I might not be able to manage it.”
At these words, Ziqing, Jun Beiyue, and Xuanyuan Lige all turned to look at Baili Weisheng, who found everyone’s eyes on him at the same moment. Before anyone had even said anything, the situation had already resolved itself by simple majority rule.
Without question, everyone seemed to feel it only made sense for Baili Weisheng to bring Xinyun along with him.
Seeing this, Xinyun actually looked a little bashful, lowering her head. “Young Master Baili, earlier… I got a bit too worked up, so… I overstepped. Please forgive me.”
At these words, Ziqing nearly burst out laughing, while Baili Weisheng’s face turned an interesting shade.
Overstepped?
Was he supposed to admit that he’d just been forcibly grabbed by the hand by some woman, and that this had somehow “overstepped” against him?
After her apology, Xinyun paused, then continued, “Young Master Baili, I’m sorry to trouble you. I’m not very heavy.”
Trouble him?
Had he agreed to this?
What did her weight have to do with him? Had he said he’d carry her, hold her?
Baili Weisheng narrowed his eyes, glancing over at Ziqing, who was deliberately staying out of it, then quickly turned back around, flashing his signature dazzling roguish grin.
He said nothing, simply walking over to the boat and beckoning to Xinyun. Her small face flushed slightly as she walked over.
Once she reached the boat, Baili Weisheng finally said, “Get in.”
“Hm?” Xinyun looked confused.
To her surprise, Baili Weisheng suddenly yanked her into the boat, shoving her down hard—Xinyun practically landed flat on her bottom from the force of it.
But before she could even recover, Baili Weisheng’s captor-like eyes flashed with a hint of malice, and with a vicious kick, he sent the entire boat flying straight off the cliff!
“Ahh…!” Xinyun screamed at once—and this time, it wasn’t an act at all; she was genuinely terrified by what Baili Weisheng had just done!
This man, dressed like a refined scholar, so gentle and sunny on the surface, yet capable of such ruthless, vicious behavior underneath!
Xinyun’s heart skipped a beat, and only now did she realize—she’d truly misjudged this man. He and the one who held her heart were, in temperament, two entirely different people!
The moment the boat was kicked into the air, it began plunging straight down into the whirlpool. Ziqing and the others didn’t rush to follow right away—all three of them burst out laughing at the sight of what Baili Weisheng had just done.
This scoundrel really wasn’t someone to be trifled with! He was no gentleman, never had been!
This seemed to be the very first time the whole group had laughed together so openly, all at once.
Baili Weisheng wore a thoroughly smug expression. Exchanging a provocative glance with the others, he leaped into the air, and Ziqing and the others quickly followed suit. Just as the boat hit the water, all four of them landed on it together and sat down.
The moment they’d steadied themselves, Xuanyuan Lige extended a hand toward Jun Beiyue, his smile neither servile nor arrogant. Jun Beiyue raised an eyebrow and graciously clasped it with his own, his other hand wrapped tightly around Ziqing. Baili Weisheng, lacking Xuanyuan Lige’s gentlemanly courtesy entirely, simply grabbed Ziqing’s arm outright, putting on a pitiful expression as if to say, “Don’t leave me behind!”
As the boat entered the whirlpool, it soon began rocking violently, coming close to capsizing several times. Fortunately, they were all gripping each other tightly, and in the chaos, their combined strength ensured at least they wouldn’t be scattered and lost within the whirlpool.
Xinyun, meanwhile, found herself isolated once again, alone at the bow of the boat. Even if she’d wanted to move closer, she had no way of managing it—all she could do was cling tightly to the boat’s edge, forming a barrier to protect herself and keep from being thrown overboard.
Soon, the boat, carried along by ring after ring of the whirlpool, spun faster and faster, and before long drew close to the whirlpool’s very center. In an instant, a flash of white light appeared, and the massive boat suddenly vanished entirely into the whirlpool’s core, disappearing without a trace!
And as the boat vanished, the death whirlpool itself began slowly, gradually, to lose momentum, spinning slower and slower, until at last it dissolved into ring after ring of rippling waves, spreading outward, gradually calming into perfect stillness…
…