Turmoil

There was too much hair, far too dense, everywhere he looked. Like a hundred thousand threads, it coiled around Li Weiyi, dragging him inch by inch down into the grave earth with irresistible force. He couldn't breathe. At his nose and mouth was nothing but dirt and hair. Just as Li Weiyi was on the verge of suffocating, the internal current from the center of his right sole surged forth. Instantly, his nearly bursting lungs found relief, and he miraculously entered a profound state of continuous internal breathing. *This current can actually replace breathing. Doesn't that mean I can hold my breath for as long as I want from now on?* Li Weiyi's excitement lasted only a fraction of a second before the perilous, terrifying reality reasserted itself. He mobilized every ounce of strength in his body and struggled, but it only left him exhausted; he stood no chance against the hair. Gradually. He sank deeper and deeper, the dirt piling thicker across his back. At a certain point... Li Weiyi felt a bone-chilling cold rise from beneath him. Peering through the strands of hair, he saw an ice coffin beneath him, radiating a piercing white light. Lying flat within the coffin was a slender skeleton clad in red robes, hands clasped over its lower abdomen, peaceful and dignified. The bones resembled immortal jade, with threadlike veins of bright red blood coursing across them... Actual blood had been preserved? And it held an extraordinary vitality. All of the hair grew from the skeleton's head, spreading outward through the crevices of the ice coffin. *A corpse revival, just as I thought! But that makes no sense—she's already reduced to white bones, so how could she suddenly wake up?* *This ice... is melting...* As the ice coffin melted, Li Weiyi was soaked through. The coffin lid grew thinner and thinner. Li Weiyi's sense of crisis sharpened. She couldn't have dragged him down just because she felt lonely lying down here by herself, could she? If he didn't break free, once the ice coffin melted completely, he would probably be reduced to dry bones as well. Right—the Daozu Taiji Fish! He still held this supreme treasure of the Chan Sect in his grip. The origins of those two fish eyes were immense; they would surely subdue this red-clad celestial maiden in the coffin... Bah! What celestial maiden? She was nothing but a skeletal fiend! Back then, the Daozu Taiji Fish seemed to have been activated only after it was stained with his blood, radiating azure light and crimson glow. No time to second-guess; he had to treat a dead horse as a living one. The instant the coffin lid melted to the point of turning translucent, Li Weiyi gathered his strength, fighting the hair wrapped around his arm as he pulled his right hand—clutching the Daozu Taiji Fish—violently backward. His wrist immediately scraped hard against the uneven, melting edge of the lid. *Thud!* As Li Weiyi fell into the coffin, his wrist sliced against the sharp rim. Fresh blood surged out instantly, streaming down his arm toward his palm. This skeletal fiend was agonizingly hard, without an ounce of flesh on her. Landing on top of her bruised every inch of his body. Worse yet, the hair bound him so tightly that he couldn't move at all, forced into helpless contact with her. Li Weiyi's eyes were nearly pressed flush into her hollow eye sockets. His nose sank into her nasal cavity. His lips were jammed against her snow-white teeth. The hair bound him tighter and tighter... Li Weiyi felt as if his body were about to be crushed to pieces. The spots pressed hardest against her—his lips, cheeks, shoulders, and hips—had already split open, bleeding freely. Bizarrely, his blood was absorbed by her, burrowing deep into the white bones. *Is she trying to devour all my flesh and blood? Does she want to come back to life?* Crushed between the hair and the skeleton beneath him, Li Weiyi's consciousness blurred. Even the scalding current inside him receded. More terrifying still, an icy force emanated from her forehead and sank into the center of Li Weiyi's brow, sending a violent shiver through him. *Whoosh!* Just as Li Weiyi was on the verge of being finished off, the Daozu Taiji Fish finally reacted, erupting with azure light and crimson glow. The hair bound around Li Weiyi scattered in flight, like straw meeting fire. Finally freed, Li Weiyi sat up and smacked her hair-covered skull with his palm, knocking her head to the side. She had gone too far—he had to vent his anger! The Daozu Taiji Fish blazed for only a split second before dimming once more. Spooked, Li Weiyi scrambled to flee at once. How could he dare teach her any further lessons? While scrambling up the burial mound, he found the Yellow Dragon Sword. Sword in hand, he had just leaped off the burial mound when the bone chime on the bluestone stele rang out frantically once more. Black hair surged out from the crater atop the mound like a dark storm cloud of slithering snakes, rushing straight at Li Weiyi. In an instant, dancing strands of hair filled the air within a five-zhang radius. Li Weiyi wasn't certain whether his blood had truly activated the Daozu Taiji Fish. If he were dragged back into the ice coffin, he might not escape a second time. *Swish! Swish! Swish...* His legs shifted and dodged swiftly as he slashed repeatedly with the Yellow Dragon Sword. As the scalding current from the center of his right sole flowed into his right hand, a faint yellow glow materialized along the edge of the Yellow Dragon Sword. He swept the blade in a horizontal slash. An arc of light curved like a crescent moon, dazzling and radiant. Wherever the blade struck the black hair, the strands instantly dissolved into wisps of smoke and vanished into thin air. The sword had seemingly transformed into a demon-breaking blade, shunning evil and striking dread into the wicked. ... On the deck near the medical tent. Dozens of people—men, women, young and old—sat or slumped beneath the bulwark with their hands bound behind their backs. Having eaten the drugged breakfast, some remained unconscious. Those expedition members who were awake wore expressions of burning fury, shouting curses at Chen Hong, Kong Fan, and the others standing nearby. Kong Fan was the head chef. Short and stout, around forty years of age, his white chef uniform bore both grease stains and fresh streaks of blood. The three other members of the kitchen crew were dragging the injured and disabled out of the medical tent one by one. Both of Professor Xu's legs were broken. A young cook dragged him by one arm straight out of the medical tent. The agonizing pain made the professor's lips twitch, and he wailed in half-laughing, half-weeping despair: "Animals always return to their instincts... Sensing danger, they attack and kill. Lacking food, they turn to cannibalism! When human nature is unshackled, every evil is unleashed without restraint... Desires... Madness..." "Old bastard, you're the one who ate the most these past few days! Howling this loudly, looks like all your strength went straight to your mouth!" Kong Fan harbored a deep grudge against Professor Xu, because the professor's appetite had supposedly surged over the past few days, forcing his students to run back and forth to the kitchen tent several times a day—a tremendous nuisance. Of course, neither he nor those students knew that most of Professor Xu's food had actually gone into the belly of the man in the neighboring bed. Kong Fan kicked Professor Xu viciously in the head twice. Blood spilled from the old man's mouth, and he instantly fell silent. *Bang! Bang... Bang...* A succession of gunshots rang out. A moment later, Xie Tianshu emerged with a cold face from the nether mist, wearing the dragon-patterned thumb ring on his left thumb and carrying a pistol in his right hand. Four members of the security group followed behind, carrying two corpses and tossing them down in front of the crowd. At the sight of the bodies of Captain Gao Xin and another crewman, the angry shouts and reprimands turned into screams and wails. Others were so thoroughly terrified that they didn't dare breathe, their bodies trembling violently. "You actually murdered them! What did Captain Gao ever do to cross you? You're completely lawless!" Professor Xu snarled in outrage. Xie Tianshu was a man of mild and stable temperament. He patiently explained, "Professor, we are currently in the Ghost Wilderness with no land in sight. Where would laws come from? Where is your heaven? The captain was a good man, but good men are destined not to survive in harsh environments. They're the first wave to be eliminated. "You're a professor of biology; you should understand better than anyone that survival is the supreme law of the universe. "When the living environment deteriorates, living organisms grow irritable and restless, and then take the initiative to clear out competitors for food. Those who don't take the initiative are destined to be culled. "Survival of the fittest, elimination of the inferior—isn't that what you academics always preach? Only by clearing out the inferior people aboard who consume food and water can the superior people have a better chance of surviving. "Alas, one who lacks foresight will soon face immediate trouble. We can hardly wait until the food is truly exhausted and everyone is too starved and weak to move, and then turn to cannibalism, can we? How unsightly that would be. We are people of a civilized society. "Captain Gao couldn't harden his heart, so I had to be the villain." Xie Tianshu then walked over to Zhao Meng and crouched down. Looking at Zhao Meng's unnaturally twisted, broken legs, he chided with displeasure, "How did his legs get beaten like this? You boys were far too heavy-handed! Brother Meng, does it hurt? It must hurt terribly. How about this: hand over the Buddha relic, and I'll give you a quick death. I swear to heaven, my word is my bond." Zhao Meng's face was as white as paper. He lifted his eyelids and gave him an indifferent glance. Xie Tianshu's gaze chilled considerably. In a low voice, he asked, "Have you found Li Weiyi yet?" A security member replied, "Not yet." "The deck area is only so large; where could he possibly hide? Search it inch by inch for me! Even if you have to dig up every single grave mound, you find him. Where's Xie Jin?" Xie Tianshu asked. "He took men over to the planting area and hasn't returned yet," the security member replied. How could Xie Tianshu not know what Xie Jin was thinking? He had definitely gone after Cai Yutong. "Brother Meng, do you know why I'm certain the Buddha relic must be on you two apprentice brothers?" Xie Tianshu smiled, then continued, "Because when the Longji sank, I saw with my own eyes that Li Weiyi burst with azure light and crimson glow. The more you conceal and deny it, the more it proves the Buddha relic is on this ship. Speak up now, and you'll spare yourself a great deal of agony." Zhao Meng remained silent. With his hands tied behind his back, Gao Huan pressed his face against the cold deck and slowly came to. His shoulders and wrists throbbed with intense pain, his head spun dizzily, and his sight and hearing gradually cleared from their fog. Once he realized his situation, his gaze shifted to the two corpses, and his pupils contracted violently. Struggling to sit up in disbelief, he stared fixedly at the corpse of Captain Gao Xin, then suddenly let out a weeping roar: "Dad!" He scrambled to his feet and lunged forward. Losing his balance, he crashed headfirst right beside the corpse. "Dad... Who killed my dad... Which one of you did this? You... ah... wuuu..." Gao Huan's voice was hoarse, his heart convulsing in agony as his tears mingled with the blood on his father's corpse. Chen Hong said in surprise, "So Captain Gao's son was on board all along? Hidden quite well." "Another connected parasite," Kong Fan sneered. It was just a research ship, yet so many people had been slipped aboard through connections. A security member whispered into Xie Tianshu's ear, "This kid is on very good terms with Li Weiyi. They've been hanging around each other a lot lately; he definitely knows where Li Weiyi is hiding." Xie Tianshu walked over and offered consolation: "Little Huan, the dead cannot be brought back to life; you must restrain your grief. Tell me, where is Li Weiyi?" Gao Huan saw the pistol in Xie Tianshu's hand that had belonged to his father. How could he not know who the executioner was? "I'll kill you!" Gritting his teeth, he slammed his head forward in a vicious headbutt. Xie Tianshu swiftly stepped back. Gao Huan's headbutt struck empty air, and he crashed to the deck. Before he could scramble up, Chen Hong stomped down on his neck, the hard boot sole grinding into his ear until it bled. Chen Hong snarled, "Don't refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. Can't you see the way the wind is blowing?" "I see your... fucking mother..." Gao Huan roared. Chen Hong's eyes darkened, and he lashed out with a kick, knocking the breath clean out of Gao Huan so hard that he could no longer voice another curse. Disordered footsteps and muffled cursing came from within the nether mist. Xie Jin and three others returned, escorting five captured students from the planting area. Taking in the gruesome spectacle on the deck, the previously agitated students were all frightened into total silence, quiet as cicadas in winter. Two of the female students bowed their heads, their legs shaking violently.