IWOL Chapter 306: Cheriyu Nana

After everyone discussed it, they decided to let Victor go and explore for additional clues.

While Lin Hangzhi drove the fishing boat and Dong Zheng and Wang Que observed on deck, Victor turned back into a cat, grew wings out of his back, and flew toward the large deck of the ship.

The wooden structure of the ship was indicative of the 19th century. It’s engine seemed to be powered by steam, and its deck was covered with barnacles. The strips of seaweed on the railings were still wet. Victor raised his claws and touched the sturdy mast. Judging from the sails and the marine creatures hanging on the mast, the ship seemed to have been submerged underwater for a period of time before it rose up from the seabed and floated on the surface of the Endless Sea.

The wooden trunk on the deck was rusted. Victor cut the lock open with a wave of his claws. When the trunk opened, he saw the round artillery shells inside. Just as he had guessed, they were soaked in water and completely ruined.

The ship was completely dead, and not a sound could be heard. Victor explored the cabin again, but didn’t see anything of interest. The logbook in the captain’s room was completely covered with water. Victor tried to look through it but finally had to give up.

Before the ghost ship and the fishing boat completely separated, he returned to the fishing boat and said, “There’s nothing there.”

“Then let’s move on.” Dong Zheng was secretly relieved. He glanced at his watch. It was two o’clock in the morning, when people were most sleepy. “Everyone should go back to rest. I will keep watch.”

Everyone agreed and returned to their respective rooms. Dong Zheng hadn’t forgotten the water he’d boiled for Cui Zuojing in the kitchen, although by this point, Cui Zuojing had probably warmed up on his own. Even so, it was always good to take a bath.

When Dong Zheng brought the water back, Cui Zuojing’s eyes lit up. He took off his clothes and wiped his body down with hot water. The cold that had sunk into his bones and refused to disappear was finally expelled. He was much more comfortable and satisfied. Climbing back into the hammock again and seeing that Dong Zheng didn’t mean to stay in the room, he asked: “Aren’t you sleeping?”

“I’ll keep the night watch.”

Cui Zuojing sighed. He lay on the hammock, looked at Dong Zheng from the gap of the rope, and pointed to his face.

Dong Zheng laughed, leaned over to the cheek that was pressed into the rope of the hammock, and kissed him. Then he turned and left the cabin.

Tonight, they didn’t encounter any more incidents.

The fishing boat drove across the surface of the Endless Sea. The fog still wrapped thickly around them. By the third day of this depressive and empty environment, everyone more or less could no longer bear it.

Because it was so boring and they didn’t know when they would get to their destination, along with this white fog that never dispersed, they had the illusion that this was the only fishing boat left in the entire world.

But Cui Zuojing and Victor were both accustomed to loneliness to a certain extent and weren’t too bothered. Dong Zheng was also unaffected. He laid in the hammock with his eyes closed, immersed in his kernel. Since he’d accidentally opened the first floor of the temple that day, he’d been spending time everyday to explore it.

This newly unwrapped layer didn’t seem to bring him any additional abilities, but it strengthened his mental power, and may be exactly what Dong Zheng needed to improve himself exponentially. In any case, the time spent on the ship was extremely boring to others but quite useful to Dong Zheng.

Cui Zuojing wandered aimlessly in the wheelhouse and saw that Lin Hangzhi was dozing off. He stared at the light that had been in front of them for several days and asked, “Has it changed direction?”

“Yes, I had adjusted our course several times already,” Lin Hangzhi said. “As we’re moving, the light is also moving. I hope we can catch up to it as soon as possible. These days at sea are really boring.”

“Yes.” Cui Zuojing patted him on the shoulder. “I can vaguely feel that we’re not far from it.”

When night fell, Cui Zuojing stood by the side of the boat. Dong Zheng walked to him and they stood side by side. They looked out but could not see what was in front of them.

“To be honest, I look forward to seeing Nana, but I am also a little scared to see her,” Cui Zuojing said lightly. After the final battle, except for the dream that Luo Yan pulled him into, he hadn’t seen Cheriyu Nana in many years. Now that he thought of it, he’d forgotten what she looked like specifically.

He was afraid that after such a long time, the other person would no longer be familiar with him. He was afraid that Cheriyu Nana’s situation would be too difficult for him to accept.

“In any case, it’s best to find her.” Dong Zheng comforted, “She must be like Fu Zhe back then, waiting for you and uncle.”

Cui Zuojing didn’t say anything. He closed his eyes and rested his head lightly on Dong Zheng’s shoulder. Only in front of Dong Zheng could he temporarily remove the heavy burden from his body and no longer be the backbone of the entire team.

As the time entered deeper into midnight with each ticking minute, and as the ship continued to glide forward, Lin Hangzhi discovered a change. He stared at the light spot that had guided them for so many days and found that it had become more distinct.

He jumped up in alarm, and at the same time, Cui Zuojing and Victor felt a familiar yet unfamiliar power: the power of chaos.

Cui Zuojing rushed out of the cabin and into the deck with everyone close on his heels. As the boat approached the light, the lingering fog dissipated. They entered an open circular area where a leaf boat floated on the surface of the water. A lantern hung on the mast of the boat’s bow. It was the ever constant light that guided them.

A woman sat on the boat, her long black hair hung down to the boat’s surface. Her back was straight and a katana rested on her knees. She was quietly looking at the empty space in front of her, until she suddenly noticed the fishing boat that broke through the mist and turned her head to look in the boat’s direction.

The Queen’s curse was at work, causing her sealed power of chaos to permeate the area. Regardless of her wishes, everyone who saw her would turn into nothingness and be forgotten by the world. But this time, it was resisted by the same type of power.

“Nana,” Cui Zuojing murmured. The figure in front of him suddenly converged with the one in his memory. She was the one who patiently taught him his swordsmanship and her thousand sleight of hand tricks. She’d slaughtered an entire village of ghosts and had tried her best to hold back the Queen’s heir, J, to buy him more time to escape…She still looked the same as the last time Cui Zuojing saw her, the only difference was that now her hair was longer.

Cheriyu Nana stood and looked at the approaching fishing boat, thinking that she was having another hallucination. Right. In this Endless Sea, how could anyone be able to see her?

There had been countless times when ships of all kinds sailed to her from the fog. She shouted loudly for rescue, but no one saw her. Yet, the moment those ships met her, they came under the vicious curse and became empty, ghost ships.

But then, she recognized a few familiar faces in the crowd.

The 16-year-old boy had grown up to become a more upright and heroic young man, but the same stubbornness and tenacity still clung to his eyebrows. His eyes were firm and steady. And the man with platinum blonde hair was watching her with gentle and warm violet eyes.

Ah’Zuo, Victor.

These two names were on her lips, but no sounds escaped. Her throat hadn’t made a single sound in a long time and seemed to have forgotten how to speak. She opened her mouth and suddenly tasted something salty.

Countless memories flooded her like a tide. Fu Zhe, who always calmly analyzed everything; Victor, who always showed tolerance toward all of their bad tempers; Luo Yan, who was full of countless fantastic fantasies; and Cui Zuojing, who brimmed with youthful enthusiasm…They used to be the strongest team in the Pure White Realm. As they slowly went from the confused dead to the most powerful pilgrims, their every step was soaked in blood, tears and sweat.

The fishing boat finally stopped a few meters away.

Cheriyu Nana stood on a boat that could only hold one person and watched Cui Zuojing lower down two lifeboats. Then he, Victor, another man, and a girl entered the boats and slowly rowed toward her. Finally, they reached a distance where they could hear each other.

“Nana.” Cui Zuojing took a deep breath and asked, “Do you remember me?”

“How could I not remember?” Cheriyu Nana opened her mouth and said in the hoarse and unfamiliar voice of someone who had not spoken in a long time. She smiled and said, “I have been waiting for you.”

“Sorry it took us so long.” Victor and Wang Que were sitting in another lifeboat. Seeing what Cheriyu Nana looked like now, Victor didn’t know exactly what he felt in his heart. No one asked her how she had been over the years, because as long as they had eyes, they could see that she had not been well.

Cheriyu Nana smiled and shook her head. She suppressed the turbulence in her heart, sat down again, and said softly, “I have always believed that you would come back one day.”

Dong Zheng observed Cheriyu Nana and tried to match her to the woman Cui Zuojing had described. She was Japanese and was a famous lone wolf in the Pure White Realm before Fu Zhe recruited her into the Afternoon Tea Party. They became the most powerful fighting force, and she was the one who helped train Cui Zuojing into how he was now. For Cui Zuojing, Victor was like an elder, Fu Zhe was his teacher and his team leader, Luo Yan was his friend, but Cheriyu Nana was both his teacher and his friend.

“Have you been here all these years?” Cui Zuojing asked. He was actually afraid of hearing the answer. If Cheriyu Nana had been floating on the surface of the Endless Sea in this state for years, it would be an absolutely cruel, inhuman experience. Although Victor became a cat, at least he was with Cui Zuojing. And Cui Zuojing, himself, even though his time was frozen, he still had his family and Uncle by his side. Luo Yan may be trapped in dreamland, but she could also travel through the dreams of different people, even if the dreamer would eventually wake up and forget her. Meanwhile, although Fu Zhe was imprisoned in a castle for eight lonely years, at least he could move around within a certain range, and he also had his mechanical kingfisher to bring him information about the outside world. But what about Nana?

Her range of movement was only a small leaf boat, she was accompanied by only one lamp that would never go out and a katana that would never leave her, and she was surrounded by the Endless Sea and a thick fog that would never dissipate.

“This is just a clone of me. The real me is imprisoned in oblivion,” Cheriyu Nana said. How many days and nights of loneliness she had experienced up until today, she didn’t want to talk about them. So she could only smile a bitter smile.

Everyone became silent. Finally, Nana broke the silence and said, “Did you know that the Queen got a new heir?”

“What?” Cui Zuojing was taken aback. He had not heard of such news. “There is an additional heir?”

“Yes, I noticed this news in the void. Being selected by the power of chaos also meant that, to a certain extent, I can be anywhere.” The longer she spoke, the more fluent she became. “About two years ago, I sensed this news. In addition to the current five heirs, the Queen also had a new heir.”

Dong Zheng frowned and realized that something was wrong. Victor caught the unspoken hint from Cheriyu Nana’s expression and his heart sank.

He said, “You still know something else, right?”

“Mmn, after learning about this possibility, I have been trying my best to find out more information, and I have identified a few candidates.” Cheriyu Nana took a deep breath. She closed her eyes, as if thinking about how to say it. After a while, she finally raised her eyes and looked at the familiar teammate in front of her.

She slowly said, “After coming back, have you seen Luo Yan?”

<< Previous  |  Chapter List  |  Next >>