PSW - Chapter 91

Chapter 91

Seeing Yu Yinan come out, Zheng Yi handed two bags of compressed biscuits and a bottle of water to the child to hold, then stood up and looked at her. "Let's go see the Sea God."

"There are still a few children left in this village," Yu Yinan said in a low voice. "There should be four or five little boys."

The female infants were directly sacrificed to the Sea God, and the slightly older girls were also gradually offered up. Only the boys were kept.

"Just consider them sacrificed to the Sea God too." Zheng Yi glanced at her. "I'm not getting involved."

As for whether they could survive, or if those women would raise them, it had nothing to do with Zheng Yi. In her good mood, the most she could do was provide that little girl with some food and water, and feed her a few pieces of candy.

"Mm," Yu Yinan acknowledged. She was actually quite conflicted, but after hearing what Zheng Yi said, she stopped worrying about it and followed Zheng Yi completely toward the sea. They walked down the steps in front of a house by the coast and arrived directly at the shore. There was no sandy beach here, only various rocks, and even concrete blocks and pillars standing in the middle. The tide had receded, leaving behind an exposed mudflat. On some of the higher, hard rocks, small white oyster shells were densely clustered.

Yu Yinan took off her shoes and stepped barefoot onto the mud, but the ground was rugged and uneven, with many large and small sharp stones that hurt her feet. If she wasn't careful, she could even get small cuts. In some of the shallow rivulets, tiny crabs hid under the rocks.

Standing in the shallow waves at the edge, the gentle tide washed over the tops of her feet and receded, wave after wave. The sea stretched to the horizon, meeting the orange-pink clouds in the sky, which even dyed the sea's surface a light pinkish-orange. They could see the rolling green mountains on the opposite shore. A sliver of orange-red light peeked out from behind the mountains, soon to sink completely in the west.

The seawater was clear, but a slight kick stirred up murky, muddy water.

So this is the ocean? A gentle breeze blew in from across the waves, wrinkling the surface of the sea. Yu Yinan felt an indescribable emotion. It didn't seem particularly special, yet it managed to slightly lighten her previously heavy mood.

Zheng Yi walked along the edge of the waves into the distance. Yu Yinan walked beside her, then suddenly raised her hand, hooking Zheng Yi's pinky finger. Then, little by little, she took Zheng Yi's entire hand, interlocking their fingers. "The Sea God… where do we find it?"

"There's no Sea God," Zheng Yi said softly. "At most, it's just a few mutated monster fish."

But the story of sacrificing infants and children was a more high-sounding excuse than bluntly saying they couldn't afford to raise them, that there was no need to, and just killing them directly.

And as it turned out, it was indeed a school of strange fish that had been penned up. Sensing the approach of humans, the mutated fish leaped high out of the water. Their original species was no longer recognizable; they had now grown to be two feet long, which could be considered "huge." As they jumped, one could even see the cold glint of light reflecting off their scales.

Zheng Yi slightly raised her hand. A surging wave rose in an instant, viciously freezing the leaping mutated fish. The next moment, the wave solidified into a hand and delivered the entirely frozen fish onto the shore.

'Can we eat it?'

[It's edible, but it's unclear how it will taste after mutating. However, when ability users eat mutated creatures, it can enhance their own abilities to some extent.] Zero One replied.

Soon, more whole frozen fish were delivered to the shore by the seawater. Zheng Yi used the ice to put them out of their misery one by one, then collected them into her personal storage space.

"That's… it?" Yu Yinan hadn't quite processed it.

"The more powerful mutated sea creatures are in the deep sea." Zheng Yi closed her eyes slightly. Her perception spread out with the waves, sensing the creatures in the sea one by one through the water. Her mental energy was being consumed rapidly, but Zheng Yi didn't stop. She just ate a Stamina Recovery Pill and continued to probe deeper, her senses sinking further down.

About ten minutes later, Yu Yinan heard Zheng Yi sigh with a hint of annoyance:

"It's so clean."

"…So, should we go back?"

"Let's go. Out to sea." Zheng Yi chuckled lightly. With a slight shift of her will, the seawater solidified into hard ice. The ice took shape under her fingers, and soon, a small boat made of ice appeared out of thin air. "Let's clear out the nearby seafood a bit."

With those women's abilities, they probably wouldn't be able to go out to sea to fish for a long time.

---

A water ability user… well, for a water ability user as powerful as Zheng Yi, fishing in the sea was practically cheating. She could clearly perceive the every move of the creatures. If her mental energy continued to sink and spread, she could even sense the burrows of mantis shrimp on the seabed. As long as she wished, no sea creature, mutated or not, could escape her grasp.

But even though Zheng Yi had already caught a lot of small fish, Yu Yinan still felt a sense of unreality. She sat at the bow of the ice boat as a chill spread from it. The waves, under Zheng Yi's control, carried the boat forward.

Since everything was under Zheng Yi's control, she didn't even feel much of the boat rocking on the waves.

…It was too fantastical. Who would have thought that in her lifetime, she would be able to go out to sea on a boat made of ice?

Her personal space was nearly full of various frozen, fresh seafood, and the sky was gradually darkening. Zheng Yi ate another Stamina Recovery Pill. "Want to learn how to swim here?"

"…Here?" Yu Yinan was stunned. This… this… wasn't the shore! It wasn't even the shallow area… right? It was pitch-black beneath the waves; she couldn't see the bottom at all. She didn't know how to swim to begin with, so it would be a lie to say she wasn't scared, but…

"…But I, I don't really know how…"

Zheng Yi looked at her and suddenly smiled.

Yu Yinan almost instantly realized something was wrong, but she had no chance to resist. The ice boat beneath her vanished, and she plunged directly into the waves. In that instant, panic and unease flooded her heart. She nervously tried to float, but only ended up choking on several mouthfuls of seawater, an extremely unpleasant sensation in her mouth and nose.

A force from beneath lifted her up, allowing Yu Yinan to surface. She was a complete mess, coughing nonstop, when she caught sight of Zheng Yi sitting on the surface of the water, watching her.

…Yes, that woman, Zheng Yi, was actually sitting on the surface of the sea as if it were solid ground.

"Jiejie, relax~ Feel the pressure and buoyancy of the water, and keep your balance."

Even if you say that… Just as Yu Yinan had that thought, the supporting force weakened. She instinctively held her breath and felt the pressure and buoyancy. She tried hard to move her limbs, but she still couldn't maintain her balance or stay afloat. Just as she could barely hold her breath any longer and a stream of bubbles escaped her, the force reappeared and lifted her up again.

"Relax," Zheng Yi said softly, waiting for Yu Yinan to catch her breath after gasping for air before removing her control over the water again.

Seawater is very buoyant, and with Zheng Yi's control, the wind and waves didn't reach this area. Logically… it should be easier to learn how to swim. Besides, Yu Yinan was a fire ability user, so the temperature didn't affect her much either.

But only after repeating this five times could Yu Yinan barely manage to control her breathing and grasp the subtle sense of balance, allowing herself to float on the surface.

"…Am I too stupid?"

"Take your time." Zheng Yi entered the water, moved close to her, corrected her posture, and taught her how to move, hands-on. "Lean your body forward slightly."

"Yes, kick your legs like that. Your hands should push down on the water."

"Relax, get used to it slowly."

"Control your rhythm, feel the power of the water."

"Hold your breath. While holding it, exhale evenly through your nose, don't rush. Keep your breathing steady, relax your whole body, and you'll slowly float up."

The sky had almost completely darkened. A bright, round moon hung above the sea, looking so close and so large, casting a silver light upon the layers of waves.

And Yu Yinan could finally swim on her own. She could control her direction in the water, and even dive down to swim for a while before surfacing to breathe. It was a far cry from her initial clumsiness, sinking like a stone.

"See? You've got it now, haven't you? It's not hard."

"That's because I have you." The tips of Yu Yinan's ears turned slightly red. She looked at Zheng Yi, her eyes full of starlight. At this moment, she once again experienced Zheng Yi's tenderness as a "girlfriend." That meticulous sense of security enveloped her, allowing Yu Yinan to completely relax and focus on feeling the waves. She swam to Zheng Yi's side and raised her hands to rest on Zheng Yi's shoulders. "Zheng Yi…"

Zheng Yi let out a low chuckle. Before Yu Yinan could even voice her request, Zheng Yi leaned in and kissed her. Her soft, wet lips carried a hint of the sea's taste as they intertwined with hers.

Just as Yu Yinan wrapped her arms around Zheng Yi's neck, wanting to deepen the kiss, Zheng Yi suddenly pushed her down, sinking toward the seabed. A stream of bubbles floated up from below. Yu Yinan's eyes widened. In the water, Zheng Yi's dark eyes were as clear as ever, seeming to hold infinite affection as they gazed at her.

Their breaths mingled. Yu Yinan's breathing became chaotic, and seawater rushed into her nose, making her increasingly uncomfortable. But Zheng Yi held her, continuing to sink toward the seabed. The moonlight shone faintly on the surface, but she was moving farther and farther away from that light, her body gradually being swallowed by complete darkness. She hugged Zheng Yi tightly, and even though she was afraid, she didn't struggle at all.

Zheng Yi kissed her gently, again and again, passing her breath to her to relieve her feeling of suffocation.

They kept sinking, lower and lower…

On the verge of death, swallowed by darkness, the pressure of the deep sea grew stronger and stronger, and Yu Yinan felt worse and worse. Just when she was about to give up completely, Zheng Yi held her and shot upward, bringing her out of the sea.

The moment she came into contact with the outside air, Yu Yinan began to gasp for breath. Her throat had an indescribable raw pain, likely from swallowing too much seawater. Her entire body was draped over Zheng Yi. Her wet, thin T-shirt offered little concealment. She pressed tightly against Zheng Yi's body and could clearly feel that Zheng Yi's body temperature was slightly cooler than hers. Or perhaps her own temperature was just too high.

She hadn't even managed to catch her breath when Zheng Yi cupped her chin and kissed her again. Wet seawater dripped from the tips of their hair and their skin, flowing back into the ocean.

Zheng Yi intimately wrapped an arm around her lower back, her body temperature ice-cold. But at that moment, Yu Yinan's skin, her entire body, was rapidly heating up as if it were about to burst into flames. Though she wasn't consciously using her ability, it felt as if she could evaporate the entire ocean.

In this embrace of intertwining fire and ice, Yu Yinan's voice was hoarse and tinged with a sob. "Zheng Yi…"

She whimpered the name of the person before her, but obediently tilted her head up when Zheng Yi kissed her again.

【Only hugging and kissing, no boundary-crossing, intimate, or below-the-neck actions】

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