Chapter 34: The Dragnet Beneath the Sea

Chapter 34: A Net Sweeping the Seabed

Helpless, Wu Yu shot a glance at Xiaoge, silently pleading with him to keep a close eye on Wu Tianzhen.

Once everything was ready, the group moved to the edge of the boat and dove in one by one.

The seawater here appeared unremarkable at first glance, but Wu Yu felt the Curse Eye on his back grow significantly more active. In such a situation, it was inevitable that their current location was filled with an intense, ominous presence. He gestured for everyone to stay alert and continued their descent.

As they dived deeper, the unique silence of the deep sea enveloped everyone’s hearts. In the encroaching darkness, it felt as though countless eyes were watching them.

"Master Yu!" Fatty tugged on Wu Yu, pointing toward their heads.

The group looked up instinctively, their hearts suddenly gripped by terror.

Floating about ten meters above them was a massive school of great white sharks! The sheer number of them was overwhelming—at least three hundred. Looking up from below, it felt as though a solid "roof" had formed overhead.

Seeing this, Wu Yu quickly scribbled on his waterproof writing pad: "The main entity is trying to trap us here!"

The others felt a chill run down their spines and gripped their weapons tighter. Sure enough, as they descended deeper, layer after layer of marine life gathered above them, blocking their path back. It was clear they were not being allowed to leave.

Finally, at a depth of about eighty meters, Wu Yu stopped.

Ahead, it looked like an endless field of reeds, but these were actually the hair of forbidden ghouls (Jinpo), swaying rhythmically with the currents, appearing deceptively harmless. Yet, the hidden murderous intent here made Wu Yu knit his brows.

"Shipwreck ahead!"

Just then, Tianzhen seemed to have spotted something and became visibly excited, instinctively swimming toward this domain of forbidden ghouls.

"!!!" Before Wu Yu could react, Xiaoge had already grabbed the reckless man.

"Shipwreck! It’s the wreck!" Tianzhen wrote on the pad, signaling everyone to follow.

"Don't you dare court death!" Wu Yu pinched him hard. "Circle around this area!"

Tianzhen didn't understand why Wu Yu would do this when the goal was clearly right in front of them. He sulked, stubborn and unwilling to follow Wu Yu’s lead. Besides, their oxygen consumption was already immense, and they still had to account for the return trip, making the direct path seem like the best choice.

Wu Yu sighed and wrote on the pad: "Even I can only see less than ten meters ahead. How could you possibly see further than me?"

Even with his internal energy, he could only perceive about ten meters. Aside from Xiaoge, who could see in the dark, the others were limited to the three or four-meter range of their flashlights.

"???" Wu Tianzhen froze. He looked at his flashlight, then at the shipwreck roughly forty or fifty meters away. Cold sweat broke out instantly. "An illusion!!!"

"No, that is indeed our destination," Xiaoge wrote, "but it is intentionally baiting us to pass through there."

The others didn't understand, but Wu Yu grasped Xiaoge’s meaning. That was indeed their target, but to reach it, they would have to pass through the forbidden ghouls. Wu Tianzhen was the bait. If they trusted his judgment and let him lead the way, they would walk straight into the ghouls' encirclement.

The group realized the danger and turned to find a way around. Going back up was impossible—the enemy had clearly woven a net from which there was no escape. Recalling the events on the ghost ship, Wu Yu knew these forbidden ghouls were far more intelligent than water monkeys. They seemed capable of controlling marine life, whereas the water monkeys were linked to those strange human-faced sickles.

However, they hadn't traveled far before they were forced to stop.

The path ahead was blocked!

An overwhelming number of creatures, resembling sea urchins, filled the water. They were covered in sharp spines, but possessed eyes and mouths. They swam slower than fish, but their numbers were staggering. As they approached, their bodies grew to the size of basketballs.

"What is this thing!" Fatty couldn't help but exclaim. "A cross between a pufferfish and a sea urchin?"

"Stay back!" Xiaoge, equally unsure, instinctively pushed Fatty away as he reached out to touch one.

In the next second, the strange fish exploded into pools of blood, but the black spikes on their bodies shot toward Fatty. The speed was incredible; though the spikes weren't long, their force was immense. At a depth of over ninety meters, even their crossbows were hampered by the water pressure, and they could hardly match the speed of these projectiles.

Wu Yu swam quickly to Fatty, drawing the delicate Fish-Gut Sword from his scabbard. He swung it with such precision that he created a wall of steel, deflecting all the black spikes before letting out a sigh of relief. He finally understood why Yang Guo practiced swordsmanship in the sea—the resistance was truly exhausting, and speed was difficult to maintain.

But before he could catch his breath, more of the strange fish began to explode in a chain reaction—at least a hundred at once. The resulting barrage of black spikes left them with no time to react.

"In that case, we’ll just have to charge through the forbidden ghoul territory!" Wu Yu looked at Xiaoge with resolute eyes.

"I’ll lead the way!" Xiaoge nodded and surged forward.

Since their hosts were so insistent on welcoming them, it would be rude not to accept. However, while Kirin blood could deter forbidden ghouls, it was ineffective underwater unless Xiaoge was willing to lose a dangerous amount of blood.

"Stay close!" Wu Yu grabbed Wu Tianzhen’s shoulder to keep him nearby.

The area was only thirty or forty meters across, but it hidden countless forbidden ghouls. It was safer to keep the restless Tianzhen by his side.

Sure enough, as they approached, the strange fish stopped pursuing them and began to circle around to cut off their retreat.

"Good grief, these things have become sentient!" Fatty gritted his teeth, swinging his machete, though he was smart enough not to stray more than two meters from Wu Yu.

A-Ning and her subordinates followed suit. For the first ten meters, nothing seemed amiss, and it looked safe. But when A-Ning looked back, she realized one of her men was missing!

"We lost someone!" A-Ning signaled to Wu Yu.

"Keep moving!" Wu Yu shook his head. In this situation, there was only one outcome for those who fell behind.

A-Ning understood and signaled her team to speed up.

The loss of that one person seemed to be a signal. In the next moment, the black hair that had resembled seaweed suddenly came to life, growing wildly and closing in on them from all sides. The sight was enough to make one break out in a cold sweat.