Chapter 31

In the cabin, when Zhou Shuo opened his eyes again, he saw the girl opposite who had also opened her eyes, her face instantly flushed and her double pupils darting away. He felt somewhat overwhelmed. Damn, this dao arts stuff is really weird. This girl, after cultivating, her spirit state was cold and domineering, but after returning to the aperture she became extremely soft and cute—like seeing a ghost.

"How is it?" Yao Yue Ru looked at the man and woman who had both opened their eyes, somewhat annoyed as she asked.

"Not bad, I burned some of their ships, and Yue Ting used the Taiyin Divine Thunder to blast the island's Iron Demon Guards and many sword-and-shield soldiers to death, and she even exchanged two moves with the Yellow Eyed Buddha—it was incredibly strong." Zhou Shuo thought of the pirate lair blown up by the Taiyin Divine Thunder, and those chaotic pirates, and couldn't help feeling a bit embarrassed; this big man of his had performed terribly!

"Yo, they even brought Yue Ting along." Yao Yue Ru felt extremely displeased, wondering why she herself hadn't cultivated dao arts back then.

"Yue Ru, the Yellow Eyed Buddha is still on the island; he's a peak innate expert with spirit and flesh united, and can serve as your whetstone—if you go late, you'll miss him." Yao Yue Ting looked at the sarcastic sister, her ears red as she spoke.

"Hmph, a whetstone? I don't care for that now, but how did that matter turn out?" Yao Yue Ru looked at her sister, whose ears were red and who couldn't stop feeling shy, her gaze fixed directly on Zhou Shuo.

"That thing probably isn't here." Yao Yue Ting's double pupils showed unusual certainty.

"Why?" Yao Yue Ru wondered, and even Zhou Shuo felt a bit strange—how could this girl be so sure?

"Because of the aura, I heard my mother say that thing is a treasure like the Jiang Shan Hu from those strange tales, containing countless treasures. I just observed that the pirates' lair on the island is lacking many supplies; that place once had fame, and the treasures accumulated there shouldn't be unable to sustain a pirate den. With that treasure, Yun Meng would absolutely not compromise with these pirates, but would do everything to annihilate them and seize the treasure." Yao Yue Ting combined her own observation to analyze the situation.

"Then we've made this trip for nothing." Zhou Shuo looked at his sister, whose analysis was sound, and couldn't help but view her in a new light, while putting on a dejected look—actually he wasn't surprised, because the Cosmos Pouch wasn't on Giant Whale Island to begin with; what he wanted was one-third of the Present Buddha Sutra, hidden in the island's immortal secret manual.

"Who said it was for nothing? We just wiped out a nest of pirates; the bandit chiefs of Lost Soul Bay surely have bounties on their heads from the court, and besides, I still need to hone my martial arts—you, come with me." Yao Yue Ru looked at the dejected Zhou Shuo, instinctively shaking her head, then shouted about honing martial arts, pointed at Zhou Shuo with her hand, and spoke in an irresistible tone.

"Fine, no problem." Zhou Shuo drew the sword at his waist, damn, he'd lost too much in the dao arts department; he needed to win some back in martial arts.

No more idle talk, since the pirates on the island had already been scattered; if delayed a bit longer, they'd probably flee. Under Yao Yue Ting's guidance, the ironclad wheel ship swiftly moved to the other side of the island, blocking the pirates' only sea exit.

The pirates on Giant Whale Island inherently enjoyed great environmental advantage—the inner harbor's mouth was a chokepoint where one could hold back ten thousand—but under Yao Yue Ting's Taiyin Divine Thunder bombardment, the defenses were completely destroyed, and Zhou Shuo had burned more than half the island's ships with fire; the once advantageous harbor instantly became their predicament and burden.

When the ironclad wheel ship arrived, the few large ships in the harbor were scrambling to rush out and escape, but the unique exit trapped them all together. Yao Yue Ru looked at the situation, said nothing more, and had them drive the ironclad ship straight in—boom! —the iron-plated flying vessel instantly slammed into the several large ships, shaking them, and then plugged the exit again.

"Yellow Eyed Buddha, come out, you little miss—I'll take your head!" Yao Yue Ru stood on the bow, holding her chain spear with jade inlay wrapped around her fingers, looking at the large ships swaying in the harbor, she let out a sharp shout, truly a female pirate king bent on seizing the One Piece.

"Exactly, listen up—we, the Yao heroine, want the Yellow Eyed Buddha; that person Buddha, hurry out and get killed, and anyone unrelated, get out of my way." Zhou Shuo, being savvy, took on the role of lackey and shouted toward the big ship.

"You hear me, Yellow Eyed Buddha…" Yao Yue Ru looked at the imposing Zhou Shuo, her face flushed with excitement, she let out a loud shout, but before she could finish, a violent roar cut her off.

"You ignorant little slut, if you want to see my big brother, first get past my Green Eyed!" Accompanying the violent roar, a black figure leapt from a nearby ship, feet stomping the deck, rushing toward the dainty figure on the ironclad's bow; before he even got close, a long spear shot out, piercing the air.

"Clang!" The spear tip struck the sword blade; Zhou Shuo gripped the hilt, looking at the black-clad giant whose expression showed surprise—his eyebrows were green, another leader of Giant Whale Island, true to his name, Green Eyed. Giant Whale Island has three leaders: first is the Yellow Eyed Buddha, second is this Green Eyed, third is Gan Lin, nicknamed "Heavenly Sword Scholar," namely the expert whose spirit hid inside his sword, blown up together with his sword by Yao Yue Ting's Taiyin Divine Thunder.

"Swish!" The thumb-thick chain spear whipped through the air with a violent sound; the black-clad Green Eyed jerked back, his long spear sweeping out sideways, while Yao Yue Ru, clad in moon-white warrior garb, flickered into view, dodging the horizontal sweep, and shook her chain spear, thrusting it at Green Eyed's face.

One white, one black—two figures clashed on the ship's planks above the water. Yao Yue Ru's footwork crisscrossed, her body darting east and west like flowing water, smooth and unhindered by the undulating deck; with her chain spear she thrust and swept, beating Green Eyed mercilessly as he kept retreating back to his own ship.

"Unrelated people, all clear out." Zhou Shuo swung his long sword, stepped half a step with his left foot, planted the ball of his foot, gathered power in his right heel, bowed his body, and focused his gaze on the enemy ship where the pirates were beginning to surround Yao Yue Ru and Green Eyed. Meeting his eyes, those pirate lackeys were all shocked, like frogs stared down by a snake, unconsciously backing away.

"Big brother." Green Eyed endured Yao Yue Ru's unpredictable east-west, ghostly attacks; if not for his high-defense black clothing, he would already be gravely wounded, and finding it hard to bear, he cried out for help.

Only at the instant Green Eyed cried for help did the deck beneath Yao Yue Ru's feet explode upward, a thick steel rod as wide as a bowl thrusting up. Facing this sudden change, Yao Yue Ru's expression shifted, but before she could act, she felt a gust of wind beside her—clang! —a crisp ring as a long sword struck the tip of the steel rod shooting up at her, sending sparks flying. It was a long sword whose blade shone like a mirror; at first glance it wasn't folded-pattern steel, yet it glimmered with crystalline light, and the one gripping it was none other than Zhou Shuo.

The steel rod thrust up from beneath the planks separated Green Eyed and Yao Yue Ru; beside Yao Yue Ru, Zhou Shuo swung his sword to strike the tip of the rod rising from below, sparks flying outward at the sword‑rod junction. In that instant, Green Eyed lunged his spear at Zhou Shuo, while Yao Yue Ru thrust her chain spear at Green Eyed's face, but neither weapon reached its target, and they both halted.

"Crack!" With a huge crash, the entire deck collapsed; Yao Yue Ru, Green Eyed, and Zhou Shuo all fell together into the lower cabin, wood chips flying. Zhou Shuo wrapped his arms around Yao Yue Ru's slender waist as they landed, while Green Eyed stood shoulder‑to‑shoulder with a hulking man resembling a bear, with yellow‑protruding eyes and a bulging skull, wielding a gold‑capped steel rod—this man was none other than the Yellow Eyed Buddha.

"Attack!" The Yellow Eyed Buddha roared at the man and woman falling from above, his bowl‑thick steel rod stabbing toward Zhou Shuo like an embroidery needle, while Green Eyed likewise shouted, his steel spear lunging like a spirit snake; in the cramped space, both wielded their long weapons with extraordinary agility.

"In any peril, one must learn to stroll leisurely in the courtyard, to calm the mind, to steady the heart…" Zhou Shuo pushed Yao Yue Ru aside with his left hand, swung his short sword forward—it handled better in the cramped setting—he knocked aside the steel rod, blocked the incoming spear, and while fighting two opponents at once, he spoke.

"Then the environment can be turned to one's advantage." Zhou Shuo, with a single sword, pointed, parried, and lifted, bearing the spears of the two innate spirit‑flesh warriors; he flourished a blade flower, two ribbons of light sweeping over a wooden support post, then with a fierce left‑hand palm strike—bang! —the broken post swept toward the Yellow Eyed Buddha's face; taking advantage of his opponent's withdrawal, Zhou Shuo slid forward with his feet to dodge a thrust, drew his sword back to his wrist, and drove the hilt into Green Eyed's abdomen.

"Ugh!" As the second chief of Giant Whale Island, Green Eyed's body instantly bowed, his face flushing red as he hastily retreated, while Zhou Shuo withdrew, stood shoulder‑to‑shoulder with Yao Yue Ru, exhaled slowly, and gave an extraordinary performance—truly an extraordinary performance.

"Second brother?" The Yellow Eyed Buddha steadied himself, looking at Green Eyed, who had retreated to his side with a flushed face, his expression wavering.

"Let me try." Yao Yue Ru watched Zhou Shuo fend off the two innate experts as if it were a game, not becoming a lovesick maiden like ordinary girls; her double pupils shone bright, a feeling of joy at spotting prey.

"Go on!" Zhou Shuo remained unusually calm; although this was an extraordinary performance, he had already, at great speed, grown accustomed to that feeling, so saying this extraordinary display would henceforth be his ordinary performance.

With Zhou Shuo's assent, Yao Yue Ru shook her chain spear, stepped forward in an instant, her body swaying left and right as she battled the Yellow Eyed Buddha and Green Eyed together, tilting her head to dodge the incoming steel rod, twisting her waist to avoid the thrusting spear; when the two opponents couldn't react in time, her chain spear whooshed, striking a wooden post, the tip wrapping around the post and thudding heavily into the back of Green Eyed's head, instantly making the pirate bulge his eyes and clutch his head, unable to hold onto his spear.

A single whip of the chain spear knocked Green Eyed down; Yao Yue Ru then sprang backward to evade the Yellow Eyed Buddha's sweeping steel rod, and as he lunged forward she remained calm, her chain spear flying in a vertical arc, her body darting like a butterfly beneath the Buddha's yellow eyebrows, her chain spear appearing and disappearing unpredictably, leaving the Yellow Eyed Buddha unable to mount a counterattack, forced only to hastily respond.