Chapter 23: Surviving the Disaster, Triggering a New Personality
Gu Yunsheng’s heartbeat was almost drowned out by the urgent knocking. Before he could figure it out, his wrist was grabbed by Xue Chenxi, who practically dragged him out on the run.
“Very good! It seems some ‘creatures’ can’t wait!” The corner of Xue Chenxi’s mouth hooked into a crazy smile, his tone filled with unconcealable excitement.
Just as they rushed out of the wooden house, a giant wave came crashing toward them, instantly swallowing everything behind them. Before Gu Yunsheng could recover, he was dragged by Xue Chenxi to run toward higher ground.
“What is that…” Gu Yunsheng pointed at the terrifying scene on the distant sea surface, his voice trembling. In his fear, there was a trace of expectation and tremor he didn’t even notice himself.
On the originally calm sea surface, a huge black vortex had appeared, like a deep-sea beast opening its bloody mouth to swallow everything.
Fishing boats on the sea were sucked into that pitch-black vortex like toys, with no room to struggle.
Gu Yunsheng’s face was pale. Fear wrapped around his heart like a cold snake. But beneath this fear, an inexplicable excitement and expectation surged. “It’s him! It must be!”
He violently shook off Xue Chenxi’s hand and rushed toward that black vortex recklessly.
“Where are you going?” Xue Chenxi grabbed Gu Yunsheng. His tone held no prevention, but instead carried a trace of playfulness, like watching a toy that overestimated itself. “Do you want to go die?” He paused, the corner of his mouth hooking into a wicked arc. “Why don’t we play a game?”
Gu Yunsheng was yanked back, stumbling around. Meeting Xue Chenxi’s eyes full of crazy light, his heart sank. Before he could react, he felt a stinging pain in his arm. Looking down, Xue Chenxi had somehow cut an opening on his arm with a knife, and bright red blood instantly gushed out.
“What are you doing?!” Gu Yunsheng was shocked and angry, wanting to break free from Xue Chenxi’s grip, but the other grabbed his wrist with astonishing strength.
“Isn’t it more interesting to use your blood to attract him?” Xue Chenxi looked down at the wound on Gu Yunsheng’s arm, extended his tongue to lick the stained blood, his tone carrying a trace of morbid infatuation.
“You… you knew this would happen long ago, didn’t you?” Gu Yunsheng looked at this crazy man before him, his voice trembling with disbelief.
Xue Chenxi didn’t answer. He just licked his lips, his gaze fanatical, staring at the black vortex as if expecting a grand sacrifice.
The sea breeze blew up the corner of his clothes. That tall figure appeared particularly eerie in the strong wind and giant waves.
“He’s coming…” Xue Chenxi muttered to himself, his tone full of uncontrollable excitement and madness.
“Really interesting. It seems you are indeed special to him. Just smelling the scent of your blood, he couldn’t wait to show himself.”
Xue Chenxi raised Gu Yunsheng’s injured arm. Bright red blood slid down the wound, forming a glaring contrast on Gu Yunsheng’s fair skin.
What he wanted wasn’t Gu Yunsheng’s fear, but something deeper—Ling Xi’s reaction.
And now, he seemed to have found the key to opening Pandora’s box.
“Xue Chenxi, who exactly are you? You madman, let me go!” Gu Yunsheng’s eyes widened in terror. He could feel warm blood gushing from the wound, bringing a wave of stinging pain.
He didn’t know what exactly Xue Chenxi wanted to do, but he instinctively felt like an ant being played with in the palm of a hand, and this man before him was using him for a dangerous experiment.
“Shh,” Xue Chenxi gently pressed a finger against Gu Yunsheng’s lips, stopping his shouting. “Don’t rush, the good show is just beginning.”
“Merman King, I know you are here. Come out and look, smell this sweet taste. Don’t you like human blood?” His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried a strange penetrating power, as if it could pierce through layers of waves straight to the deep ocean floor. “Here is the freshest blood. Come out then, let me see if you will eat him in front of me.”
Before Xue Chenxi’s voice faded, the vortex churned crazily, as if to swallow everything.
Amidst the deafening roar, a massive black shadow broke through the water surface, blotting out the sky and sun.
A suffocating pressure, like the arrival of doomsday, carried the momentum of destroying heaven and earth, heading straight for Xue Chenxi…
Ling Xi!
He came!
This time, Ling Xi didn’t hesitate at all. He rushed out of the sea, holding a fish-bone sword glowing with ghostly light. The moment his blue eyes touched Gu Yunsheng’s figure, they turned blood red.
He saw it! He saw Gu Yunsheng being held hostage, saw that shocking wound, saw that dazzling blood!
The smell of blood swallowed Ling Xi’s reason. He emitted terrifying hostility, and the sea surface churned and roared under his rage.
Ling Xi aimed the fish-bone sword at Gu Yunsheng—accurately speaking, at Gu Yunsheng’s heart.
He wanted to kill this human! To become food in his belly.
“Ling Xi! Look at me! It’s me! It’s me!” The fish-bone sword piercing the heart would only take an instant, but Gu Yunsheng felt it was as long as a century. Despair and love welled up together, forcing him to roar.
Ling Xi’s hand holding the fish-bone sword trembled violently, stopping barely in front of Gu Yunsheng’s chest. Blood dripped from the sword tip, staining the front of Gu Yunsheng’s clothes red.
Xue Chenxi, hiding behind Gu Yunsheng, saw this scene. Jealousy wrapped around his heart like a poisonous snake, and crazy flames burned in his eyes.
“Impossible! How can a merman have such feelings for a human!” He screamed, his voice hoarse and twisted, like the wail of a dying beast.
Xue Chenxi stumbled back violently, hitting the table behind him. The antique vase on the table fell in response, shattering into countless pieces.
“Shoot! Kill them! Kill them!” He roared hoarsely, the blood vessels in his eyes almost bursting.
The well-trained subordinates pulled the triggers without hesitation. The muzzles of the fire dragon guns sprayed scorching energy bullets, and the air was filled with a nauseating burnt smell.
Blazing energy bullets whistled over with the breath of death. Ling Xi could even feel the stinging pain of his skin being burned.
In the nick of time, Gu Yunsheng’s body seemed controlled by an invisible force. He turned violently, shielding Ling Xi tightly underneath him.
“Boom!” An energy bullet grazed Gu Yunsheng’s arm and knocked back the henchmen beside him. The violent explosion was deafening.
Gu Yunsheng grunted, but he had no time to attend to his injury. Feeling dizzy, the scene before him began to twist.
The spatial ring, unable to withstand the huge energy impact, began to heat up violently, as if it would explode the next second.
“Go quickly!” Gu Yunsheng used his last bit of strength to push Ling Xi away and closed his eyes in despair.
Just then, a blinding white light instantly enveloped him and Ling Xi.
The next second, they vanished without a trace, leaving only a faint halo in place, as if they had never appeared.
Xue Chenxi looked at this scene in disbelief. The fire of anger almost burned him to ash. He roared hoarsely, but couldn’t change the established fact.
The power of the spatial ring once again helped Gu Yunsheng escape danger.
…
Gu Yunsheng’s eyelids fluttered, and consciousness gradually returned. He struggled to open his heavy eyelids and found himself in a familiar room—the Undersea Palace.
Soft light penetrated the seawater, casting dreamy spots on the shell walls. He propped himself up and looked around, finding a familiar figure sitting not far away.
It was actually Sailuo!
Sailuo was concentrating on wiping the trident in his hand, seemingly unaware of his awakening.
Exquisite food was placed on the shell table. Scallops emitted an attractive aroma, and beside them were several pieces of translucent lobster meat.
Where is Ling Xi? Gu Yunsheng’s heart sank. An inexplicable panic wrapped around his heart like vines.
Those chaotic memory fragments surged like a tide, impacting his mind.
He remembered Ling Xi’s cold blue eyes, remembered how he recklessly disregarded his own safety for that fish again, and remembered triggering that exploding spatial ring at the moment of life and death.
The ring’s power took effect again, taking him and Ling Xi away from danger.
But why was he alone in the Ocean Palace? Where did Ling Xi go? Was he okay?
“Cough, cough, cough…” Gu Yunsheng clutched his chest in pain, feeling like he was being torn apart.
He looked down at the white bandages wrapped around his chest and arms.
“You’re finally awake.” Sailuo flicked his fish tail and swam to the bed, a trace of worry on his exquisite face.
“Where is Ling Xi?” Ignoring the pain in his body, Gu Yunsheng asked anxiously, “Where is he?”
Sailuo was silent for a moment, his eyes flashing with complicated emotions. “He… it’s not very convenient for him to see you right now.”
Gu Yunsheng’s heart sank, an ominous premonition welling up.
“What exactly happened? Tell me! Is he injured?” Gu Yunsheng’s voice trembled slightly with anxiety. He tried to sit up from the shell, but his body was too weak. As soon as he moved, a tearing pain came from his arm, making him grunt involuntarily.
Seeing this, Sailuo hurriedly reached out to hold his shoulder, forcing him to lie back.
“No, don’t overthink it.” Sailuo comforted gently.
“The King is not injured, it’s just…” He seemed to be organizing his words. “It’s just that his current state is a bit strange.”
“Strange?” Gu Yunsheng frowned, the uneasy feeling in his heart growing stronger. “How strange? Speak clearly!” Sailuo sighed and explained: “The King… seems to have turned into a person with a different personality, like a child. That scallop meat and shrimp meat were peeled by him just now when you weren’t awake.”
Naturally, he didn’t understand the complexity of split personalities; he just felt Ling Xi had turned into a look he didn’t recognize.
“Ling Xi, does he not know me again?” Gu Yunsheng murmured to himself, closing his eyes in pain.
He slowly moved his gaze, finally stopping above his head.
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