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Volume One: The Lotus Buds Just Begin to Emerge Chapter Nine: Never Lose Your Spirit, No Matter What
The meal was naturally unpleasant. For the next three days, Zhou Xuan didn't leave his villa in the Queens district. When he was hungry, he had Wang Jue order takeout for him, and he spent his days hiding in his room studying his knowledge of antiques and practicing his elixir-making techniques. ()
The Wolf brothers would go out every morning and not return until very late at night, and no one knew what they were doing. Of course, Zhou Xuan would never ask them anything.
Elena, however, was said to be staying at her aunt's house in New York and returning to the villa to rest in the evening. Of course, Zhou Xuan only heard this from Wang Jue; he himself did not understand what Elena was saying.
Around 8 a.m. on the fourth day, Li Junjie, who had disappeared for several days, suddenly arrived at the villa in the Queens district, accompanied by a man and a woman.
Elena unusually stayed home today, I don’t know if it was too early or what, but Wolf and Daniel also stayed in the villa and didn’t go out.
Zhou Xuan noticed that the man and woman who came with Li Junjie had similar East Asian faces with yellow skin and black eyes. The man looked to be about 27 or 28 years old, and the woman was about 23 or 24. The man was not tall, but he looked quite fierce, while the woman had beautiful features and a gentle and delicate appearance.
Li Junjie smiled and introduced, "Let me introduce the new members to you all. Let's get to know each other. This is Ito Kinji, and this lady's name is Ono Yuriko."
After Li Junjie finished speaking, he repeated it in English, then glanced at Zhou Xuan and smiled, saying, "Little Zhou, Mr. Ito and Ms. Yuriko are successors of the Hokushin Itto-ryu sword school. They are masters of swordsmanship, and of course, their diving skills are also superb. They are true masters, hehe. Why don't you two exchange ideas!"
Zhou Xuan originally wanted to shake hands with the newcomer, but when he heard Li Junjie introduce him as Japanese, he withdrew his outstretched hand. Damn it, although he didn't have any national or personal hatred, he had absolutely no goodwill towards the Japanese. Naturally, he wouldn't shake hands with the Japanese.
The gentle Ono Yuriko bowed politely, but Ito Kinji was clearly arrogant, glancing indifferently at Zhou Xuan, the Wolf brothers, and Elena.
Li Junjie didn't pay attention to these details and said with a smile, "There's no better day than another day, and no better day than today. Apart from Mr. Iteng and his sister who just arrived, Wolf, Mr. Daniel, Miss Elena, and Xiao Zhou, the four of you have been here for quite a while. Since the weather is nice today, let's go for a ride on the sea."
The Wolf brothers and Elena naturally had no objections; they were here to do this job, and practice was necessary.
The three henchmen Li Junjie brought last time were waiting outside the compound. This time, in addition to the two Maybachs, they also brought an S-Class Mercedes-Benz.
The Wolf brothers led the way and got into a Maybach first. To avoid riding in the same car as the Japanese soldiers, Zhou Xuan walked a little faster and got into the second car. Elena and Wang Jue followed him into the car.
Li Junjie and his fellow apprentices, Ito and Ito, rode in the last Mercedes-Benz.
The driver of the car for Zhou Xuan and the other two was Old Hei. Despite his tall, big and rugged appearance, he was a pretty good driver. He drove at a steady speed.
New York is a coastal city, and New York Harbor is one of the world's largest ports. About a mile east of New York Harbor, there is a private yacht club that is used to rent private yachts from New York's wealthy residents.
Li Junjie and his party of three cars drove into the yacht club's parking lot. Wang Jue quietly told Zhou Xuan, "The Fu family has two yachts, a five-story luxury yacht and a sixteen-meter small yacht. The maintenance and all expenses for the two yachts cost millions of US dollars every month."
Zhou Xuan was somewhat astonished. He knew that Fu Ying's family was wealthy, but he didn't expect them to be this rich!
Those who can afford large private yachts are definitely not ordinary wealthy people; they can be counted on one hand in the whole world.
Li Junjie led them onto the sixteen-meter-long yacht, where a professional yacht helmsman was waiting. After everyone boarded, the yacht was started and headed southeast into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
Besides the driver in the cockpit, there were eleven people on the yacht: Li Junjie, Wang Jue, Zhou Xuan, Wolf, the Daniel brothers, Elena, Ito Kinji, Ono Yuriko, and Li Junjie's three henchmen, one black and one white.
The yacht was traveling very fast, and only slowed down after about twenty nautical miles. At that point, looking towards New York, there was only a faint black line.
The black-and-white foreigners brought out some desserts and red wine from the yacht cabin and placed them on the unfolded folding table. Zhou Xuan didn't stand on ceremony and took the desserts and pastries to eat. He wouldn't go hungry. The Wolf brothers also took some and ate, and even opened a bottle of red wine and poured themselves a glass.
Elena, Li Junjie, and Ito and his fellow disciples did not eat or drink. Li Junjie gave a slight signal, and his black-and-white subordinates brought out six or seven more diving suits, along with some other equipment.
These diving suits are just ordinary diving suits, not the kind of super expensive, high-tech diving suits that Fu Ying once mentioned. They are made of similar material to the ordinary diving suits that Zhou Xuan saw in Chongkou.
Li Junjie picked up a small watch that looked like a clock and showed it to everyone, saying, "Everyone wear this on your wrist. This is a depth and pressure gauge, which can tell you how deep you've dived and the pressure level."
Apart from Zhou Xuan, who had little experience with these things, the others were all skilled divers and were naturally familiar with them. As soon as Li Junjie spoke, they all took off their clothes and put on their diving suits.
Elena and Yuriko Ono changed into their swimsuits in the yacht cabin and then came out to put on their diving suits. Although Zhou Xuan had a good foundation in holding his breath underwater, he had never actually put on a diving suit and gone into the water before. So he was a little clumsy when he changed into his diving suit with the others.
The Wolf brothers and Elena found it amusing, but they didn't look down on him, because it was a fact that Zhou Xuan's diving ability was superior to theirs, and Elena even went to help Zhou Xuan put on all the equipment.
Zhou Xuan blushed slightly, and when he caught a glimpse of the Japanese soldier Ito Kinji's disdainful expression, he was instantly enraged. Damn it, he had to prove himself! If it were the Wolf brothers or Elena, that would be one thing, but to lose face in front of the Japanese was unacceptable!
Seeing that Ito Kinki didn't even put the oxygen breathing apparatus on his mouth, Zhou Xuan made a bare-handed expression to the Wolf brothers and Zhou Xuan, and then flipped overboard into the sea from the side of the yacht.
The Wolf brothers were both stunned for a moment, then they also pulled out their breathing apparatus, took a deep breath, and stepped into the seawater.
Zhou Xuan snorted, silently cursing the Japanese devils' mothers in his heart. Naturally, he didn't put on a breathing apparatus and jumped into the sea. Although Elena and Ono Yuriko were women, they were no less timid than the men who went into the water, and they also entered the water without breathing apparatus.
Li Junjie had already ordered the yacht's driver to stop and let it float on the sea.
This ocean area is not like the seaside where Zhou Xuan was at Chongkou. Although it was also ocean, the deepest part was only a few dozen meters. This place is the Atlantic Ocean, dozens of nautical miles from New York Harbor. Zhou Xuan naturally did not know the depth of the water.
As soon as he entered the water, he felt as if he had arrived at a place without roots or bottom. Zhou Xuan saw that Ito, the Wolf brothers, Elena, Ono Yuriko and the other six were not far away from him. Ito continued to sink with that contemptuous and disdainful expression.
Zhou Xuan glanced at his watch, ignoring the pressure readings. The water depth was only eight meters. He then stared at Ito, the Japanese soldier, and sank down to see just how deep the little devil could dive with his bare hands.
The vast Atlantic Ocean was not like the swimming pool in Fu Ying's villa in Queens. When they descended to about twenty meters, Daniel could no longer hold on. After descending another ten meters, both brothers put on breathing apparatus.
Zhou Xuan felt nothing. In order to avoid any accidents, he had secretly circulated the ice energy of the pill several times. He felt very comfortable all over and did not feel any shortness of breath.
When they descended to nearly forty meters, Elena could no longer hold on and had to use her breathing apparatus. Zhou Xuan, however, kept his eyes on the Japanese soldier Ito, while glancing at his watch. The electronic display showed that the water depth had reached fifty-five meters.
Ito initially looked down on Zhou Xuan and his group, but when he saw Zhou Xuan still diving down barehanded, he was quite surprised. The diving depth was nearly 65 meters, and the diving time had exceeded two minutes. Under such depth and pressure, being able to dive for more than two minutes barehanded without the aid of diving equipment was indeed not to be underestimated. At this moment, he really put away his underestimation of Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan saw that Ono Yuriko finally put on a respirator and thought to himself, "I never would have guessed that this Japanese woman, who looks so gentle and delicate, could hold her breath so well!"
As Zhou Xuan thought this, Ono Yuriko and Ito were even more surprised. They were a brother and sister who had practiced ninjutsu and breath-holding skills. They had grown up in Hokkaido since childhood, practically living in the sea. Their diving skills combined with their breath-holding techniques made them think that there was no diving master in the world. But they never expected that this unassuming Chinese boy would be so amazing!
Elena and the Wolf brothers were even more astonished. After that test in the swimming pool, they knew that Zhou Xuan was a good diver, but they never imagined that he would reach such an unbelievable level!
By this time, the diving depth had reached nearly 75 meters, and even the Wolf brothers, who were wearing breathing apparatus, felt uneasy.
Zhou Xuan felt a slight swelling in his chest, but it wasn't unbearable yet. His eyes remained fixed on Ito, even though the brightness and water temperature had dropped significantly.
More than three minutes had passed, and under Zhou Xuan's intense gaze, Ito finally put the respirator over his mouth and began to inhale oxygen forcefully.