Chapter 245: Thunderstorm Clouds

10:00 PM.

Zhang Suannai built her shelter in the dark.

Do not underestimate this shelter for its simplicity; it was meticulously designed by her, constructed from dry branches and covered with "soft" hay, built between several large trees, suspended about half a meter off the ground, with a triangular shape for stability and rain protection, though she failed twice while building it.

Zhang Suannai glanced at the few houses with lights on not far away and lay down inside this shelter with a Spirit Soul.

It really is comfortable.

Much more comfortable than the wooden planks on the sea.

Sniffing, it was full of the fragrance of soil, grass, and wood branches.

Zhang Suannai closed her eyes.

A few seconds later, she got up to adjust the hay, pulled out the thing that was poking her, and continued to close her eyes.

She hadn't slept this soundly in many days.

Zhang Suannai adjusted the hay again.

In the early hours of the morning.

It started to rain on the island, pattering loudly.

"Plop!"

A drop of rainwater passed through the shelter and hit her on the face.

Zhang Suannai opened her eyes groggily, glanced at the pitch-black ceiling of the shelter, blinked, shifted her head to a different spot to avoid the leak, and continued to sleep.

The sound of the rain grew louder, especially in this dense forest.

Zhang Suannai turned over and slept on her side.

Her right ear was pressed against her right arm, while her left hand covered her left ear; I can't hear it, I can't hear it.

She didn't know when the rain stopped.

The next morning.

Zhang Suannai's clothes and hair were soaked through, and she emerged from the shelter with disheveled hair, looking exactly like a vagrant, but she didn't care at all; she stood in front of the shelter to comb her hair and then walked toward the small courtyard by the sea.

Her roommate and Chen Shu were also awake and washing up.

Zhang Suannai looked at the sea before her and fell into deep thought.

Washing up with seawater was obviously not an option.

But in her current state, not washing up didn't seem possible either—her roommate was still on the island, and she still needed to maintain a basic image.

Just then, Chen Shu saw her and shouted at the top of his lungs for her to come over and wash up, saying there was hot water.

Zhang Suannai walked over and told herself in her heart:

Just this once!

After this, I must be self-reliant!

"Mmm..."

Hot water is still more comfortable.

After washing her face with hot water, Zhang Suannai drew a cup of warm water and walked outside the courtyard to brush her teeth with her roommate.

While brushing, she caught a glimpse of Chen Shu stretching next to them, paused, spat out the foam, and asked, "Why aren't you brushing your teeth?"

"We only brought one toothbrush."

"Then have you not brushed your teeth for this long?"

"I am brushing; I'll brush once she's finished."

"?"

Zhang Suannai looked at her roommate, who was brushing her teeth earnestly, then looked at Chen Shu, and couldn't help but fall into silence.

After washing up, she went to take a bath, took a set of clean clothes out of her Storage Artifact to change into, and a brand-new Zhang Suannai was born.

Her roommate and Chen Shu were making breakfast.

Looks like porridge?

In any case, the steam was rising, looking particularly conspicuous in this early morning.

Eating porridge on an island?

A breakfast without a Spirit Soul.

Zhang Suannai leaned over to take a look.

Just as the goddess Qingqing lifted the lid of the pot and stirred it with a wooden spoon to prevent it from burning at the bottom, the moment the steam dissipated, she smelled the fragrance.

It seems to be a pot of seafood porridge?

Zhang Suannai swallowed her saliva and asked, "Are you two eating this much? Is this enough for five people?"

"For three people."

"Three people? Where are there three people?"

"One, two, three."

"Me? I'm not eating!"

Zhang Suannai forced herself to turn around and walk toward the beach.

Survival on a desert island officially begins from this moment.

Half an hour later—

Zhang Suannai skewered a plump sea fish with a wooden stick, started a fire in the courtyard, and placed the fish over the fire to roast.

She hummed a tune while roasting, and couldn't help but start imagining the taste of breakfast in her mind.

That's how it's done in those wilderness survival shows; top-tier wild ingredients, using only the most primitive methods to bring out their deliciousness, even if they are roasting a rat or a skunk, those rough men will eat it and howl with excitement.

Can rats really be that delicious?

Then what about my grilled fish!?

Zhang Suannai couldn't help but smile, and she sniffed, having already caught a faint aroma.

Oh, smelled it wrong; the aroma belongs to someone else.

"..."

Zhang Suannai turned the grilled fish over a few times, and just then, her peripheral vision caught those two bringing their food out as well, placing it on the stone table right next to her—damn it, there was clearly another set of table and chairs in the pavilion over there, yet they insisted on sitting here in the open air.

"Do you want some salt?" Chen Shu turned his head to ask her.

"No."

"You don't even want salt?"

"No."

"Can it even taste good?"

"It's delicious! I'll share some with you guys later!"

"That won't be necessary..." Chen Shu said, then paused, "Though we accidentally cooked a bit too much seafood porridge; if you're not full from the fish, you can come help us finish some."

"Hmph!"

Zhang Suannai glanced at them sideways, then glanced back at the grilled fish.

Is it cooked?

It should be cooked, right?

Zhang Suannai picked up the grilled fish, brought it close to look left and right, and since she felt too embarrassed to ask Chen Shu, she simply took a bite.

Hmm, it was indeed cooked.

Zhang Suannai smacked her lips.

Thirty seconds later—

Zhang Suannai sat by the stone table, cradling a large bowl, slurping down seafood porridge; just a few meters away, a fish with only one bite taken out of it lay discarded in the fire.

Wilderness survival?

Screw that!

I'm never watching that kind of show again!

Chen Shu continued designing the Rune Group for the wooden boat.

Zhang Suannai, meanwhile, began exploring this island.

Because she was only at the Fifth Stage, the single-charge range of her Sword Flight using the Divine Sword was only about seventy or eighty kilometers, which wasn't very far and couldn't be used for travel, but it allowed her to return to the small courtyard on time for meals, finish eating, recover, and then head back out.

Chen Shu's several Rune Groups made progress one after another.

Zhang Suannai's journey of exploration, however, remained fruitless.

The closest she came to a discovery was when she found a very small irrigation channel in the dense forest; she was so excited at the time that she didn't even care about eating lunch, feeling that following this irrigation channel would surely lead to the ancient ruins existing in the dense forest, so she returned to the small courtyard, just in time for lunch.

The twenty-ninth day of the first lunar month, sunny.

Chen Shu completed the design, testing, and engraving work for all the boat's Rune Groups.

In actual tests, the boat's top speed could reach about forty kilometers per hour. Small winds and waves were basically no issue, and because the boat was small, it was even more composed than a large ship when encountering super storms; just stow the boat away, and everyone can dive into the water to hide.

That evening.

After finishing dinner, Chen Shu was still strolling by the seaside with Qingqing, while Zhang Suannai hopped along in front of them, constantly picking up seashells.

Tonight, the sky was full of stars.

The night on this island was truly pure.

Chen Shu said to Qingqing, "Looking at the weather, it should be calm on the sea tomorrow, right?"

"Mm."

"The weather has also improved recently, and there hasn't been any movement from the southeast direction for a long time." Chen Shu thought for a moment, "Then I'll go over early tomorrow morning to investigate; it's over a hundred kilometers, and at this boat's speed, if there are no problems, I should be able to return the same day."

"I'll go with you."

"You're going too?"

"Mm."

"What are you going for?"

"To be with you."

Zhang Suannai was squatting on the ground in front; hearing their conversation, she straightened up, clutching a small crab in her hand, and said, "Don't go, Chen Shu, teach me how to drive that boat of yours tomorrow, and I'll go take a look."

"You're going?"

"Yeah!"

Zhang Suannai suddenly thrust the crab toward his face, as if trying to startle him with the little crab, but she didn't get her wish; feeling somewhat regretful, she had no choice but to continue saying to him, "I have the Divine Sword, I have means to protect my life, I have the Sword God's protection, and I can use Sword Flight; if I encounter anything, I'm more composed than you two."

"Then let's go together."

"No need, I'll go alone," Zhang Suannai said, "You just stay here and take care of Qingqing."

"Why are you so chauvinistic?"

"? I'm a woman, damn it!"

"I'm not very reassured."

"Fine then, you come with me."

"Alright."

At this moment, Qingqing's voice sounded beside them, as soft as the night breeze by the sea:

"Look."

The two turned their heads to look.

Under the cover of night, the ocean waves continued one after another; each time a wave crashed, it bloomed with a pale blue phosphorescence. As the night grew deeper, this pale blue glow became brighter and more abundant.

"Whoa!!"

Zhang Suannai let out a cry, pointed her finger at the sea, turned to face them, and stammered, "Is this that thing? That, that..."

"A bioluminescent sea."

"Ah, yes, yes, yes! A bioluminescent sea! How does it form again?"

"Bioluminescence, caused by an increase in certain types of algae in the sea, mostly dinoflagellates, such as noctiluca scintillans."

"Ah, yes, yes, yes!"

Zhang Suannai nodded repeatedly, pretending that she had known all along and had just momentarily forgotten, while stealing a glance at them—

Very good, they hadn't noticed.

"Haha!"

Zhang Suannai excitedly picked up a stone from the ground and threw it into the sea.

"Plop..."

A pale blue glowing depression bloomed on the pitch-black sea surface, and as the water rippled, it gradually faded away.

Seeing this, Chen Shu also picked up a flat stone and threw it at an angle; the stone immediately skipped across the sea surface. Each time it made contact with the water, the disturbed single-celled organisms emitted light, outlining the shape of the ripples and forming a line that stretched into the distance.

Ning Qing watched them from the side.

This was an unforgettable night.

The thirtieth day of the first lunar month, the wind was calm and the waves were still.

The three of them boarded the wooden boat together.

Chen Shu activated the wooden boat's main propulsion Rune Group, and the boat slowly left the shore, sailing toward the southeast.

The sea was very calm, and the journey was calm all the way.

Zhang Suannai found it fun and took over control of the wooden boat from Chen Shu. Thus, Chen Shu went to the bow to carefully observe the situation ahead, while Qingqing sat in the middle of the boat with her eyes closed to rest, with only Chen Shu at the bow and Zhang Suannai at the stern occasionally exchanging a few words.

The "Thunderstorm Cloud" in the distance slowly approached.

The closer they got, the more they felt its vastness—a vastness that was suffocating.

This "Thunderstorm Cloud" reached down to the sea surface and extended up to the unreachable firmament, appearing to be composed of thick fog. There was no need to mention its width; when the group was on the deserted island, it already stretched to the limits of their left and right vision, and now that they were closer, it was even more boundless.

The group drew closer and closer to it.

"Slow down."

"Got it!"

The wooden boat slowly decelerated.

At this moment, the "Thunderstorm Cloud" seemed to be right in front of them; looking up, it had no edge, and to the left and right, there was no end. It had no distinct boundary, just like how white clouds overhead are actually just mist when they get close; the impenetrable fog before them was the same. There was only a faint water mist in front of them, yet this faint water mist formed such a barrier.

Chen Shu sensed it carefully and gradually held his breath.

The Spirit Power within this layer of fog was like the sea beneath them; beneath its gentleness lay endless power. It was close at hand yet vast and boundless, encompassing all things, yet it made one feel suffocated when looking directly at it, even giving him the feeling of staring at a deity within the Yuling Divine Temple.