Chapter 157: Drifting Off Course

The bow of the Dayun Hao smashed through the waves; Feng Xue gazed at the mist-shrouded silhouette of the island ahead, as copper coins rose and fell repeatedly, revealing the hexagram—

"Kan above, Xun below, Wind and Water as Huan; the King enters the temple, advantageous to cross great rivers…"

"The host is weak, the guest strong—like a king entering a temple; though honored in status, he seeks something from the guest (the deity). He must leverage his own advantages to seize initiative, exploiting the guest's strength yet lack of initiative to develop himself… This hexagram is fitting (Note ①)."

Looking at the related texts provided by Xiao Lingdang, Feng Xue roughly interpreted them, silently marveling that Laozu's methods truly had substance; having swallowed this pill of reassurance, Feng Xue took a deep breath and said:

"Keep going—even if no one's chasing us, we must act as if they are!"

…

The moon gradually rose; after preparing tonight's snack, Liu Yunxi began her cultivation. Feng Xue stood at the bow, constantly switching between Qi-Viewing Art and Sky-Life Observation, trying to detect any anomaly.

Since breaking through the blockade an hour ago, they had encountered no further attacks from the Sea Folk; even the Seekers who had broken the formation alongside them had silently dispersed, and no opportunists had appeared.

Now, the sparse red dots on the radar were mostly low-tier Seekers still lingering, with none of the usual deep-sea behemoths in sight. Phina, no longer merged, leaned listlessly against the rail, stroking the dog in her arms.

The obedient dog stuck out its tongue, its fluffy tail—nearly half its body length—swishing back and forth, as if it had truly forgotten it was supposed to be a wolf.

But just then, that previously adorably clumsy dog-face suddenly donned the wolf's defiance; Sara also sprang from her collar—

"Southwest direction: blood scent. By odor, it's human."

Without Feng Xue's command, a small drone instantly launched, circling the Dayun Hao to gather visual data.

This pre-civilization drone was sponsored by Xiao Fengling; Feng Xue didn't have many, but when needed, he wouldn't spare them.

"Three hundred meters ahead: shipwreck. Matched via Seeker Forum as 【Albatross】. The vessel belonged to a Seeker team of the same name. According to records, this team updated their gear just two months ago on Yana Island…"

Before he finished speaking, Liu Yunxi, who had been focused on gathering moonlight, suddenly opened her eyes and said:

"The prayer environment around us is off. It feels like only moonlight and minor impurities—but for some reason, I feel uneasy!"

"..." Feng Xue's brow tightened. He activated Qi-Viewing Art again, scanning the metal fragments floating on the sea. The waterlogged flag hung half-submerged; the Albatross emblem was being gnawed by fish. The cannon fire from breaking the blockade an hour ago still rang in his ears; now, the silence felt like a blood-soaked bandage, tightening with every wrap.

Yet, in Feng Xue's eyes now, apart from a small amount of Sea God's divine power, there was nothing else…

"Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!"

Intense alertness made his hairs stand on end; his gaze swept over the wreck—but he saw no trace of prayer energy at all!

This was abnormal!

Such a thick scent of blood could not mean no casualties—let alone a destroyed ship. Even if this world's reincarnation system was more efficient than the Folklore World, there should still be enough negative emotions left behind.

But now, there was none at all!

Either the Sea God had taken on the duties of Death God and God of Slaughter, digesting even the negative emotions of the dead as prayer energy—or something else was absorbing these resentments.

Either way, the calm in this area was certainly unnatural!

He looked up at the "ferocious" moon in the sky, took a breath, and said:

"Xiao Lingdang, change course—avoid this stretch ahead! Choose a route with normal prayer environment!"

"Xiao Lingdang understands!" As a deity, Xiao Lingdang could naturally discern prayer environments; under her guidance, the Dayun Hao subtly altered course, veering away from this suspicious stretch of sea…

…

The sound of waves seeped through the hull, carrying a sticky rhythm.

To avoid that strange prayer environment, the Dayun Hao had been circling this sea for two hours—according to Xiao Lingdang's calculations, they should have already reached the target area by now.

The salty wind swept across the deck; Feng Xue's fingers unconsciously rubbed the edge of the tortoise shell. He had tried divination several times, but without the "sudden inspiration" boost, his weak divine soul lacked the power to extract further answers.

He could only rely on Xiao Lingdang's divine perception, guiding the Dayun Hao slowly through the night, comparing the ferocious moonlight above with this sea—eerily silent: no seabirds flapped, no fish leapt, even the waves seemed muffled, as if their throats had been squeezed. Hard to imagine that just moments ago, they had been in a battlefield of constant cannon fire.

"Master, weak energy fluctuations detected southwest, but cannot lock exact location." Xiao Lingdang's voice cut sharply through the stillness; Sara, controlling the dog, sat at the rail—unlike the usual exuberant dog, her mechanical voice now sounded unusually agitated: "The blood scent is stronger."

Feng Xue narrowed his eyes. In his Qi-Viewing Art vision, a thin mist floated over the sea, identical to what he'd seen during the hunter-ship encounter—but now, no eerie blue lights flickered.

After a brief silence, Feng Xue activated Qi-Viewing Art toward the southwest, but given the already diffuse Sea God prayer energy here, anything beyond ten kilometers would be drowned out by the blue.

He pondered a moment, then reviewed several public battlefield reports on the Seeker Forum, and finally gritted his teeth:

"Head toward the energy fluctuations!"

As soon as he gave the order, it was as if a switch had been flipped. As the Dayun Hao entered the mist, the once-exuberant dog suddenly stood up, every strand of its fur bristling, and Sara's voice echoed simultaneously: "Something underwater is following us… not alive."

Hearing this, Feng Xue hurled a jet-black yin thunder into the sea. With a high-pitched shriek inaudible to human ears, the thin Sea God prayer energy suddenly turned clear, as if a drop of bleach had been dropped into ink—and Feng Xue's Qi-Viewing Art finally saw the normal color of prayer energy again.

"No wonder I couldn't sense them—turns out they're a swarm of low-grade puppets even weaker than the sea's prayer concentration!" Feng Xue frowned at the pale blue fish schools swimming through the water. "These low-tier constructs can't stop Seekers—they're just sentries. I thought their prayer coverage over the shallows was for some big move, but it was just to hide the hidden posts?"

Still, Feng Xue now grinned. Though being stalked by hidden sentries sounded terrifying, think of it the other way: for prayer constructs with such low concentration to possess the intelligence to track and monitor targets—the answer was obvious.

"Xiao Lingdang, are these things Sea God incarnations—or just low-grade trash with no conscious projection? Can you control them? Let's keep a few as guides, and the rest become your snack!"

(End of Chapter)