Li Junjie washed the half-eaten fish that was left over from yesterday and cut it into fillets with the bodyguard. After being left overnight, the fish was not as fresh as it was yesterday, and the taste was also worse.
After having sashimi for breakfast, the sun gradually grew stronger, and that's when everyone felt they couldn't stand it anymore. One of the fish even started to smell bad!
The bodyguard looked at it and reluctantly threw it into the sea. Because of the high temperature, the surface of the fish meat was rotten and could no longer be eaten. But it was very difficult to catch fish at sea with bare hands. Ren Zhoufu was probably lucky yesterday and managed to catch two fish. He might not be so lucky again!
Zhou Xuan himself wasn't worried—of course, he couldn't say that. With the icy aura around him, catching a fish to eat wouldn't be difficult. The key was to encounter a passing boat or vessel; that was crucial for his escape.
Because he can catch food, he can definitely survive. However, they only have this speedboat without gasoline, so they can't leave and can only wait for a passing ship to rescue them. Staying at sea for too long is very dangerous, because if the wind blows and the waves come, it will be a disaster!
The intense sunlight was unbearable, so the six men split into groups of two, taking turns using the butts of their semi-automatic rifles as paddleboards to propel the speedboat. Although it was difficult, it was better than nothing, and they rowed the speedboat toward the direction where the sun was setting.
As the sun was setting, around four or five o'clock in the morning, Zhou Xuan jumped into the sea again, dived down, and caught a fish weighing over ten kilograms. The eight of them continued to eat sashimi.
Instead of sleeping all night, we split up and continued rowing. After a day of being baked by the sun, rowing at night actually felt more relaxing.
The next day at dawn, Zhou Xuan caught another fish in the water. It was a small fish, weighing only seven or eight pounds, but it was enough to eat.
Although Gao Yuzhen found the fishy smell disgusting, she was exhausted from being exposed to the sun all day, and thirsty and tired, so she couldn't not eat. After getting used to it all day, she started eating with relish. They ate more slowly during the day because the intense sun had taken a toll on their energy, and all eight of them had dry, chapped lips.
Fu Tianlai was filled with remorse. Why didn't he think of taking the satellite phone from Elady when they were in the cave?
Regret is regret, but reality is reality.
Zhou Xuan looked up at the sky. There wasn't a single cloud. Although the sun was strong, it was still better than a storm. If a storm came, no one could guarantee safety. But the weather at sea was unpredictable!
Of the eight, in terms of physique, Fu Tianlai's bodyguards Li Junjie and Fu Ying are the strongest. But in reality, Zhou Xuan, with his special abilities, is the strongest, though it's obvious to everyone that he's not as strong as the others.
Even Li Junjie and Fu Tianlai's bodyguards are exhausted and on the verge of collapse, not to mention Fu Ying's parents and Gao Yuzhen.
Zhou Xuan was very anxious. If no rescue came soon, they would not be able to hold out for more than two days!
Look around, it's still the vast ocean, and the sun is still blazing overhead. When will this end?
The sun was setting slightly westward, probably around 1 to 2 p.m., and even Fu Tianlai's bodyguard and Li Junjie were too exhausted to move the speedboat any further!
Despite being protected by ice energy, Zhou Xuan still felt strong, but in the vast ocean, his strength was insignificant!
The boat was completely still; apart from Zhou Xuan, the other seven people lay motionless on the surface.
Zhou Xuan was extremely anxious, glancing at the boat, especially at Fu Ying's mother, Yang Jie, and Gao Yuzhen. They were practically unconscious.
Zhou Xuan woke up Li Junjie, who was weak but still conscious, and Fu Tianlai's bodyguard, and said, "Junjie, you two watch the boat and the people. I'm going to dive down into the sea again to see if I can catch a fish!"
Li Junjie nodded. Zhou Xuan was about to jump into the water when he suddenly tilted his ear and listened for a while.
Li Junjie heard nothing and asked curiously, "Zhou Xuan, what are you listening to?"
Zhou Xuan raised his index finger to his lips in a shushing gesture, then listened intently for a while before his expression brightened. He said in a deep voice, "Everyone, pay attention! A boat is passing by!"
Upon hearing Zhou Xuan mention a boat, Fu Tianlai, Fu Si, and Fu Ying all stood up and gathered around, staring at Zhou Xuan with tense expressions.
Zhou Xuan tilted his head and listened for another ten seconds or so. Then he pointed in one direction and said, "That way, the ship!"
Without saying a word, Li Junjie and Fu Tianlai's bodyguards dived to a depth of about twenty meters. They felt that the water flow was not very strong, and the detection range was not very far, only about twelve or thirteen meters in total, which was half of what it was at the peak.
There weren't many fish, only a few small ones swimming by occasionally. Zhou Xuan's ice-based detection revealed a squid with tentacles over a meter long about five or six meters below. Thinking that there must be other fish in the area where this creature was, he dived down another five or six meters.
The squid seemed to sense the danger, and with a flick of its tentacles, it fled in panic.
Zhou Xuan didn't intend to chase it. In terms of speed, he couldn't match it, but catching it would be effortless. He just needed to use his icy energy to transform its brain, and the squid would die. However, squid are definitely not tasty when eaten raw, so Zhou Xuan let it go.
However, where there are killers like squid, there must be other fish nearby. Zhou Xuan exerted his ice energy to the maximum and indeed faintly sensed the movement of fish to his right front. However, the ice energy could not reach that distance, so he quickly swung his foot and gently swam over.
After swimming less than ten meters, Bingqi spotted two fish over three feet long six meters away, and was overjoyed. He quickly swam a little further, trying not to make a big fuss.
However, when Zhou Xuan swam forward another two or three meters, the two fish sensed the movement and tried to swim away with a flick of their tails, but Zhou Xuan would not give them the chance!
The icy air instantly transformed and then devoured the brains of the two fish, leaving them as empty shells, brainless, and motionless as they sank to the bottom. Zhou Xuan swam over, grabbing one in each hand and swimming upwards. The two fish were indeed not afraid of Zhou Xuan's hands; he simply put his fist into their mouths and caught them, his fist not feeling tight at all.
On the speedboat, Fu Tianlai's bodyguard and Gao Banzhen were quite nervous, but Fu Ying's parents were even more so. Almost five minutes had passed since Zhou Xuan jumped into the sea, and he still hadn't surfaced. In their memory, who could stay underwater for so long?
Fu Ying's mother looked at her daughter, holding her hand, and asked worriedly in a low voice, "Yingying, why hasn't your period come up yet?"
Fu Ying was also nervous, but it was just concern. She felt more at ease with Zhou Xuan in the water. At least the seawater was far less dangerous than the caves at the bottom of the mountains. There were no monsters there, and it was unlikely that she would encounter killer creatures like sharks in this place.
Furthermore, Fu Ying knew that Zhou Xuan was an exceptionally skilled diver. Back in New York, and even in the underground river at the bottom of the sinkhole, Zhou Xuan could dive for over ten minutes, and he had to take care of her then too. The water temperature was extremely cold; in the seawater now, there were virtually no difficulties, except for the worry of not being able to get back!
But time ticked by. Zhou Xuan still hadn't surfaced. Although Fu Ying knew of Zhou Xuan's diving abilities, the fact that he hadn't emerged after so long was unbearable. She rolled up her sleeves and prepared to jump into the sea.
Yang Jie quickly and desperately held onto her daughter, refusing to let her jump into the sea.
Fu Ying felt an inexplicable sense of unease, but thankfully, just then, she heard a sound on the water to her left. Then she heard Li Junjie shout, "They're out! They're out!"
Fu Ying turned her head quickly and saw Zhou Xuan about seven or eight meters to the left of the boat, treading water and dragging a fish in one hand. She couldn't help but exclaim happily, "Zhou Xuan, come here quickly!"
The boat couldn't move, and there were only two semi-automatic rifles on board, as well as no tools to paddle.
After Zhou Xuan surfaced, he struggled to drag the fish and swam to the boat. Li Junjie and Fu Tianlai's bodyguards quickly helped, each carrying a fish onto the boat and tossing them onto the deck. They then quickly reached out and pulled Zhou Xuan onto the boat.
Everyone then noticed the two fish on the deck and was quite surprised!
These two fish are at least a meter long, covered in gray spots, and have particularly large mouths. They look somewhat like the grouper from the coastal areas of China, but they are not exactly the same.
Li Junjie reached out and examined the fish's mouth again. He said, "This fish weighs at least thirty pounds, but I can't tell what kind it is. It looks a bit like a spotted fish, but there shouldn't be any fish like this in this area!"
Fu Tianlai's bodyguard picked up a dagger and gutted a fish on the side of the boat, scraping off the scales and cleaning out the intestines. He then cut the fish meat into small pieces and distributed them to the people on the boat.
Fu Ying took some sashimi and handed it to Fu Tianlai first, then to Fu Se and Yang Jie, and finally to Zhou Xuan. Li Junjie took some and handed it to Gao Yuzhen, and then took one for himself and ate a piece.