Lu Pianpian's face was pale, but her expression revealed a completely different kind of determination: "Whoever tries to kill my junior brother, I will kill them."
No one is an exception.
Huan Changming was instantly enraged, his eyes flashing with murderous intent. "As long as I live, I will personally kill Huan Juntian!"
Lu Pianpian's gaze was almost calm as she looked at him. She whispered something, but he didn't hear it.
Lu Pianpian picked up the knife pressed against his neck. Just as he was about to stand up, Lu Pianpian pushed him even faster.
Huan Changming felt a lightness in his body, and his whole body was lifted into the air and flew out.
His body began to fall, the howling sea wind whistling and tearing in his ears, his eyes fixed on the figure standing above the edge of the ship.
Behind him, a curtain of fire filled the sky, making the white clothes of the people in his eyes appear bright red, like the blazing sun.
Lu Pianpian looked down at him with a colder expression than ever before.
Lu Pianpian seemed to have transformed back into that aloof immortal lord whom he could not even reach out to touch.
With a splash, he fell into the sea, the salty seawater filling his mouth and nose, and a feeling of suffocation surged over him.
Huan Changming suddenly remembered the words Lu Pianpian whispered when she pushed him into the sea.
Lu Pianpian said, "Then I have no choice but to kill you first."
A note from the author:
Did you guys enjoy it? It definitely didn't feel as good as Huan Changming jumping into the water.
Chapter 36
"His Majesty!"
As Jing Yi watched as Huan Changming was pushed off the boat by Lu Pianpian and disappeared into the whirlpool of the sea, he desperately tried to jump down after him, but was stopped by the guards behind him.
The demonic dragon let out a long roar and plunged into the sea, the waves it created capsizing Lu Pianpian and their boat.
Qu Surou kicked Mu Lingzi away, grabbed Lu Pianpian and Huan Juntian, and flew to Jingyi's boat.
Their boatman, clinging to a piece of driftwood, shouted, "Young lady, there's still this old man here!"
Qu Surou threw her sword at the boatman, and the sword spontaneously lifted the boatman back onto the boat.
Huan Changming fell into the sea, the demonic dragon disappeared, and Mu Lingzi, seeing that the situation was hopeless, stopped fighting Qu Surou and quickly fled and disappeared.
Having just lost Huan Changming, Jing Yi hated Lu Pianpian to the core and ordered, "Lu Pianpian is audacious and reckless, plotting to harm the King of Li Kingdom. Kill her without mercy!"
Huan Juntian, his face pale, supported Lu Pianpian's shoulder and said, "Who dares?"
The guards began to waver when facing Huan Juntian.
Seeing this, Jing Yi angrily snatched a knife from one of the guards and slashed at Lu Pianpian, shouting, "Lu Pianpian, I will make you pay for His Majesty's life!"
Qu Surou easily tripped Jing Yi with her right foot, and Jing Yi fell in front of her. Qu Surou squatted down, reached out and lifted his chin, "I advise you not to make any rash moves."
"Miss Qu! I considered you a confidante, how could you be so unable to distinguish right from wrong and so biased towards your own people?!"
"What a sharp tongue you have! You only know how to accuse my junior brother of pushing Huan Changming into the sea, but why don't you mention at all that Huan Changming tried to kill my third junior brother first?"
Jing Yi argued vehemently: "When the ruler commands the death of his subjects, the subjects should willingly accept it. To resist is to disobey the ruler and defy the imperial decree, which is punishable by death!"
Huan Juntian walked up to Jing Yi and said, "Prime Minister Jing is a veteran official of two dynasties, loyal to the country. I wonder what he would think if he knew that you were colluding with treacherous officials."
Upon hearing the mention of Prime Minister Jing Yuan, Jing Yi's expression immediately turned quite unpleasant. "Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together!"
Qu Surou went to the boat, found a rope, and tied Jingyi up. "You're right. Since we're on different paths, I can only tie you up to prevent you from going astray!"
With Huan Juntian's status and position keeping them in check, the guards dared not act recklessly and were sent by Qu Surou to retrieve the water and food they had dropped at sea. However, after the storm, much of the water and food had sunk into the sea, and the guards only managed to retrieve a very small amount. A rough calculation showed that it wouldn't be enough to sustain them for three days.
Lu Pianpian stood on the edge of the boat, looking down at the deep blue sea. The image of Huan Changming's incredulous look when he was pushed into the sea flashed through her mind.
Do you regret it?
He has no regrets.
If Huan Changming hadn't died, it would have been his junior brother who had.
He was merely being kind-hearted and still held a sliver of hope for Huan Changming.
Unfortunately, Huan Changming's actions caused this glimmer of hope to be swallowed up along with the whirlpool at the bottom of the sea.
Since Huan Changming had already perished at sea, there was no point in them lingering on the shores of the South China Sea.
Huan Juntian ordered the boatman to turn the boat around and return, but suddenly a storm arose at sea, causing the boat to rock violently and sway from side to side as it was battered by the waves.
The experienced boatman struggled to control the rudder, shouting, "Everyone back inside the cabin! Don't come out until the storm stops!"
After saying this, he lowered the sails to reduce the impact of the wind and waves, and quickly ran back to the cabin to hide.
Qu Surou was about to close the cabin door when she caught a glimpse of Jing Yi still on the deck, his body being tossed about.
Men are such useless people!
Qu Surou cursed and summoned her sword to fly towards Jing Yi. With one stroke, she lifted Jing Yi's belt and brought him back to the cabin. As soon as she released the sword, his belt was cut off, and his robes became loose.
His face flushed as he looked at Qu Surou, "You...you..."
"What do you mean, shut up!" Qu Surou threatened him, "If you say another word, I'll pull your pants off too!"
Jing Yi immediately shut his mouth and shrank into the corner, not daring to say another word.
Seeing her senior sister's hostility towards Jing Yi, Lu Pianpian felt somewhat relieved.
The cabin was dark, and with the thick fog covering the sea, it was impossible to tell how much time had passed, and it was unclear how long the storm had lasted.
The boatman, with his keen senses, sensed that the sea was calm.
He opened the window first, and a ray of sunlight streamed in. "The waves have stopped!"
Huan Juntian was so seasick that he was almost unrecognizable. It was only thanks to Qu Surou and Lu Pianpian supporting him on either side that he wasn't thrown off the ship these past few days.
The two of them helped Huan Juntian up, and Lu Pianpian said, "Junior brother, let's take you out to bask in the sun."
Qu Surou kicked open the cabin door, and all three of them were blinded by the sunlight.
Huan Juntian squinted at the front, vaguely seeing what appeared to be an island. He asked weakly, "Senior sister, senior brother, am I hallucinating? Why do I see a small island in front of me?"
Lu Pianpian patted him on the back, "There really is an island."
The island is serene and peaceful, with gentle breezes, blooming flowers, and the sounds of birds and insects mingling with the lapping of waves against the shore, creating a tranquil and idyllic scene.
The demonic dragon emerged from the sea, opened its mouth wide, and spat Huan Changming, which it was holding, onto the shore.
Huan Changming was drowning and unconscious. The demonic dragon nudged his belly with its horn, but when it saw that he still didn't respond, it was about to wake him up when suddenly a flapping sound came from above. It immediately dived into the sea.
"Sure enough, someone broke in!"
A group of children, no more than three or four years old, carrying double tridents, flew swiftly through the air.
Although they looked exactly like human children, they had a pair of antennae on their foreheads and a pair of silver-white wings like butterflies on their backs. They landed aggressively in front of Huan Changming and surrounded him.
The boy in the lead was taller than the others. He mustered his courage to check if Huan Changming was still alive. As soon as he bent down, Huan Changming, who was still awake, coughed water all over his face.
"Ouch, he spat on me!"
"Big brother, are you alright?" the other children asked anxiously.
He was most afraid of getting dirty. When a strange human spat on him, he sat down on the ground and wailed, "Waaah, I'm not clean anymore. I'm no longer worthy to worship the chieftain..."
Huan Changming's consciousness slowly returned, and the last memory he had of being pushed into the sea was Lu Pianpian standing on the boat looking down at him, seemingly oblivious to his presence.
He sat up abruptly and roared, "Lu Pianpian! I will kill you!"
Huan Changming's fierce tone frightened the children surrounding him. The one called "Big Brother," to protect his younger siblings, held back his tears and pointed his double trident at Huan Changming, shouting, "You filthy human, don't you dare be so insolent!"
"Big brother, big brother is right!"
"Flower Sleep Island is not a place where you...you can act recklessly!"
"Yeah! Stinking humans..."
Upon hearing the words "Huamian Island," Huan Changming suppressed his outward anger.
He observed that the children's appearances clearly resembled butterflies. "Are you Rhinoceros Butterflies?"
The younger sister, Psylocke, huddled behind her older brother, whispered, "No, we're still Psylocke, you stinky human."
The elder brother quickly covered his younger sister Lingdie's mouth, "Don't talk so much with these stinky humans! They're so cunning, what if they find out that our clan leader is Lingxi Die!"
"Big brother is right! We absolutely must not tell him that our clan leader is a Spirit Rhinoceros Butterfly!"
Huan Changming: "..."
He coughed a few times and stood up from the ground. The little butterflies immediately gripped their weapons and pointed them at him. "You stinking human, don't move!"
Huan Changming looked down at the weapons that barely reached his waist, his thoughts racing. He then gave them a gentle smile. "Look at me, unarmed. How do I look like a bad person?"
The Spirit Rhinoceros Butterfly clan is naturally simple-minded, and seeing that Huan Changming's words and actions were indeed consistent, they all began to waver.
Huan Changming continued, "It is said that the Lingxi Butterfly clan is incomparably beautiful and kind-hearted. I have come here to visit them, risking being swallowed by the waves and losing my life, just to befriend the Lingxi Butterflies and catch a glimpse of their beauty."
Lingdie, the younger sister, blushed instantly behind her older brother. "He complimented me on my looks!"
Huan Changming smiled at her, "Little sister, when you grow up, you will surely be an unparalleled beauty."
The younger sister, Spirit Butterfly, immediately felt a sense of kinship with the beauty, saying, "Human, you're not bad looking either... You should be a good human."
Huan Changming nodded and said, "I am indeed a good person. I always check under my feet when I walk, for fear of stepping on them and killing them."
Butterflies and ants are somewhat related by ancestry, and Huan Changming's lie resonated deeply with them.
The eldest brother took the lead in putting away his weapons, then breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It seems you really are a good person."
"Then we can rest assured..."
Huan Changming, determined to maintain his gentlemanly demeanor, bowed to them and asked, "May I now take you to see the Spirit Rhinoceros Butterfly?"
The eldest brother scrutinized him from head to toe, saying, "You must first tidy yourself up before I can take you to see the clan chief!"
Huan Changming casually cast a spell, and his whole demeanor was refreshed. "Thank you for your trouble."
The older brother was finally satisfied. "Let's go."
Huan Changming followed behind them with gratitude on his face, but in his heart he was mocking how easily these spirit butterflies were fooled. They were easily coaxed into following him by just a few words.