Chapter 188: Volume 1 Chapter 188 Mermaid? Sirens? (5)

Chen Qi Bai adjusted his glasses, his gaze seriously observing the girl, then said:

"I suspect she's injured; could you help take a look?"

He Jing Rou responded slowly, nodding slightly, and lowered her voice: "Okay."

Do Zhizhi and Senior Chen already know each other? She had never seen Senior Chen look so nervous; these reactions all come from Zhizhi.

Does Senior Chen like Zhizhi?

He Jing Rou felt uneasy.

As she reached to lift the girl's clothing, her wrist was suddenly grabbed, restraining her movement.

"Sister?" Jiang Zhi woke up, consciousness fuzzy, took a few seconds to clear a bit, looking at the girl squatting before her, her expression surprised.

Before He Jing Rou could lift the clothing, Chen Qi Bai had turned his back to them; hearing Jiang Zhi's voice, he turned and said, "You have a fever."

He Jing Rou echoed, saying, "I just wanted to help you see where you're injured."

Jiang Zhi leaned against the cave wall and stood up, calmly saying, "I'm fine; I've taken fever medicine, no need to worry."

As soon as she opened her eyes, the male and female leads were before her, and she still hadn't figured out the situation.

He Jing Rou's gaze briefly swept over her right waist; when she had gotten closer earlier, she saw the bandage wrapped around the waist.

But why would Zhizhi hide her injury? Is she afraid they'd worry?

Chen Qi Bai saw she didn't want to mention her illness again, so he said, "Let's go to the outer cave; everyone has lit a fire and found some food."

The three of them arrived at the outer cave; the two severely injured classmates were still unconscious, but their wounds had been treated, and their condition was much better than before.

Besides the unconscious classmate, the cave held three men and two women, no longer as glamorous as on the cruise ship; their clothes were torn, they bore various minor external injuries, looking somewhat disheveled.

Jiang Zhi examined carefully; apparently only the male and female leads were unharmed, while everyone else was in poor condition.

Chen Qi Bai assigned the men to keep watch; he and one man took the second half of the night, while the other two men took the first half.

The food they found was some wild fruits; they sat around the fire, their faces pale.

"Why don't we build a boat to leave?" said Xu Chao, the rich second-gen who organized this cruise trip, in a wildly imaginative way.

Female student Zhao Anya said, "Even if we could build it, you wouldn't know which way to go! I've never seen this island before; I don't even know if it's on any map."

Another female student, Ning Ningyan, clung to her knees, voice trembling: "I always feel this island is off; have you seen any animals today? I haven't seen a single one."

Xiao Chang, the boldest among them, leaned back against the cave wall: "Just treat it as an outdoor trip; anyway, I quite like this place."

Zhao Anya pulled her coat over herself, closed her eyes, and said, "I can't stay up late; I'm going to sleep first—keep your voices down."

Chen Qi Bai said, "Let's sleep tonight; we'll discuss other things tomorrow."

After he said that, hardly anyone spoke again.

Outside the cave, the wilderness was silent; trees towered into the clouds, their canopies sloping outward to block the sky and sun; the surrounding light was dim, as if countless hands reached out from the depths of hell, sending chills down one's spine.

"……"

"Jiang Zhi Zhi……"

The ethereal voice was like poppy, making body and mind sink, yet like a deadly poison, bewitching the heart.

Jiang Zhi, just awakened from sleep, was almost lured to run toward the sea.

Had she not noticed the name was off, she would truly have been lured by that voice.

"Are mermaids that terrifying?" she exclaimed, suddenly stopping a few steps from the cave mouth, tightly clutching her chest, her breathing somewhat rapid and unsteady.

777: "Legend says mermaids possess such ability, enchanting people's hearts and clouding human judgment."

Jiang Zhi glanced at her watch; it was 4:30 a. m., so she simply didn't go back to sleep.

Otherwise, she might again be ensnared by the villain, walk into the sea, and likely become its fodder.

777 thought and said: "I looked up information; mermaids apparently don't eat humans."

Jiang Zhi recalled the memory of nearly being dragged into the deep sea by that dark-gold fish-tailed mermaid when she fell into the sea, and her body trembled involuntarily.

"Then why did it drag me down? Just lacking a toy?"

Moreover, its corruption value had already reached 100 points, comparable to the villain's hatred value hitting 100 and going mad, doing some insane things.

777 also puzzled: "Actually, I don't even know what species the villain is."

In this world, information is extremely scarce; most of the villain's data is garbled code.

"Zhizhi?" Chen Qi Bai saw her, surprised, and asked, "How did you come out?"

He had originally returned to the cave to add fuel to the fire, but he hadn't expected to see her standing there after just a few steps.

Jiang Zhi replied, "I came out to get some air."

Chen Qi Bai thought of something and asked, "Are you still running a fever?"

Jiang Zhi shook her head: "It's already gone down."

Chen Qi Bai handed her a wild fruit, saying, "Eat something; it'll be light soon."

Jiang Zhi wanted to say she wasn't hungry, but the wild fruit had already been placed in her hand.

"I'm going in." Chen Qi Bai said nothing more, lifted his foot, and entered the cave.

Jiang Zhi stared blankly at the wild fruit in her hand. Wait, what did he just call her?

As sunlight poured through the dense forest canopy, the temperature rose rapidly, the hot, humid air permeating the woods.

After walking a while, their clothes were soaked through and clung to their bodies, uncomfortably hot.

"It's so hot." First to speak was Zhao Anya, whose family background matched the rich second-gen Xu Chao; having been pampered since childhood, she had never endured such a situation; after saying that, she refused to walk further and sat on a nearby stone.

"What the heck kind of place is this? Freezing at night, scorching by day—I'm practically dying of heat."

The day-night temperature difference is large; the forest is sultry and humid; along the way, they've seen many plants they've never encountered before.

Yet they haven't seen a single animal or insect; this forest seems to have only trees and no other life.

Xu Chao glanced at her, his expression also not good: "Who's indulging you the same way? If you want to go or not, we're going—leave her here alone."

Ning Ning Yan had always been Zhao An Ya's follower; she didn't leave, standing behind her with her neck drawn in, looking left and right.

Chen Qi Bai said, "Let's split up, but don't get lost; return to the cave before it gets dark."

Jiang Zhi, standing at the back, intended to scout alone, while Chen Qi Bai suggested they split into teams using rock-paper-scissors.

Except for Zhao An Ya, who didn't want to go further, and her follower Ning Ning Yan, the remaining few people formed a circle and played rock-paper-scissors.

Those who made the same rock-paper-scissors gesture formed a team.

Among the six people, they happened to split into three pairs.

Jiang Zhi looked at Chen Qi Bai, who had made the same scissors gesture as her, froze in place, keeping her hand outstretched without moving.

Then she glanced at the female lead He Jing Rou beside her, whose expression was obviously a bit downcast, and Jiang Zhi quickly said, "Sister, want to switch teams?"

He Jing Rou looked at her in surprise, realizing she wasn't joking, and couldn't help but ask, "Why do you want to switch teams?"

Jiang Zhi rubbed her short hair, lowered her voice, and said, "I actually really want to be with Chi You."