"No phones? No computers?" Gu Qingyu looked at him, puzzled. "What?"
"The line before that!"
"What can we do on the sea?"
"That"s it!" Qi Wan clapped. "Fis.h.i.+ng! It will be fun! Then we can have a barbecue tonight after fis.h.i.+ng up enough fis.h.!.+"
"How did I not think of that!" Gu Qingyu sat up too. "Good idea!"
Two hours later…
"Qi Wan, this is what you mean by "fun"?" Gu Qingyu held her fis.h.i.+ng rod, her head bobbed as she tried hard not to doze off.
Qi Wan bobbed along as well. "How would I know? We did things exactly like those fis.h.i.+ng shows. Once the bait goes down, the fish would come up."
Gu Qingyu held up her rod and lifted the hook out of the water with a flat look. "Are you sure fishes eat foxtails?"
"Um… didn"t I tell you we don"t have proper bait?" Qi Wan scratched his head.
"Then who said that the fish needs a change of taste?" Gu Qingyu raised her eyebrows.
"Um…"
"Also, who said that fish are actually herbivores?" Gu Qingyu"s eyebrows went higher.
"Boss, hear me out…" Qi Wan licked his lips weakly.
Laughter bellowed from behind them, Gu Qingyu turned back and watched that person laugh his head off.
"Just die from laughing already." Gu Qingyu rolled her eyes with a huff.
Jia Qizhe walked up and rubbed her head affectionately. "Stupid girl, so gullible, you even believe things like fish eating foxtails?"
"Humph, that is because I am innocent and cute!" Gu Qingyu rolled her eyes.
"Yes, yes, innocent and cute." Jia Qizhe smiled. He lifted Gu Qingyu off the deck and tossed her overboard.
Gu Qingyu"s mind went blank, the water surface was rus.h.i.+ng up towards her. She had forgotten how to spread her wings. "Are you trying to kill me!"
Suddenly, she landed steadily in someone"s arms. Jia Qizhe looked at her, his lips curled in a beautiful arc. "How was it? Is this fun?"
"Fun?! You nearly killed me!" Gu Qingyu complained.
Wait, his wings are not out. Why are they still dry?
She looked down and saw the schools of fish swimming in the sea below her and Jia Qizhe"s boots are right above the surface.
"Amazing!" Gu Qingyu gawked. "How do you do that?"
"Don"t worry, I"ll teach you." Jia Qizhe held onto her gently as he slowly let her down. "Come, step on the surface first." "I won"t sink?" Fear was evident in Gu Qingyu"s eyes.
"Trust me." Jia Qizhe nodded rea.s.suringly.
Gu Qingyu bit her lips and took a step. Once her boots made contact with the water, it was protected by a light blue aura. Gu Qingyu felt something had supported her weight as if there was a pair of hands holding her up.
"Yes, that"s right." Jia Qizhe encouraged her.
Qi Wan watched from the deck, flabbergasted. With his powers, he can stand on the sea surface too, but he did not have the power to support another person. And to think Jia Qizhe could accomplish all this without artifacts... Mo Bai stood at the other side of the deck and watched the pair with furrowed brows. In his hands were freshly made bait, made from a herb that does attract fish.
"I was late…" Mo Bai grimaced, the herb in his hands turned into ash and disappeared into the wind.
Qi Yichen appeared behind Mo Bai, his voice slightly cold. "Mo Bai, if my guess is right, with your real strength and background, you don"t have to stay here, you"re not without your responsibilities too… So, why stay?"
"Mind your own business." Mo Bai sent Qi Yichen a withering look. "I don"t want to kill in front of Yu"er. You said it yourself, with my real power and background, I can take her away any day I want."
Qi Yichen ground his teeth and went silent.
Meanwhile, Gu Qingyu was having the time of her life. Soon enough, she was running on the water surface and grabbed fish without hesitation. On the deck, Qi Wan was already standing next to a wide variety of fish.
Qi Wan counted the fish silently while Jia Qizhe started a cookfire.
"Enough, Boss. We can"t eat all of this. It"s too..." Qi Wan trailed off at the sight of Jia Qizhe"s warning gaze.
"You"re right!" Gu Qingyu wiped the sweat on her brow. "Qi Wan, call the rest to get ready for the meal! Call the sailors too!"
"Why me?" Qi Wan complained. But he stood up with vigor after a threatening look from Jia Qizhe. "You got it, boss! I"m going now!"
Gu Qingyu was completely unaware of Qi Wan"s sudden change in att.i.tude. She walked to the s.h.i.+p"s side and grabbed onto the rails. Just as she was about to leap over the rails and return to the s.h.i.+p"s deck, the light blue aura held her up and gently lifted back onto the s.h.i.+p, then it slowly melted into her shoes. Her feet instantly felt a lot lighter.
"It will help you immensely in the future." Jia Qizhe had started to grill the fish. He yawned and they took stock. "What an idiot, you only caught this little after so long."
"This little?" Gu Qingyu waved as she gestured at the fish all over the deck. "This little?"
"Shh." Jia Qizhe stood up and gently flew above the sea, his robes brushed against Gu Qingyu"s cheek, she caught a whiff of his cologne.
Jia Qizhe landed above the sea, the tips of his feet gently touched the surface. At that moment, his blue silk robes flapped and fished landed onto the deck one after another, each of them encased in a light blue bubble.
"Wow." Gu Qingyu bent down for a closer look, the bubbles had been bubbles of water. Each fish kept swimming in the bubble, unaware that they had been removed from their home.
He is powerful indeed! Till the point that he can do whatever he likes!
"I can"t eat this much…" Gu Qingyu pouted. As she finished, the bubbles flew back up and the fishes were returned to the sea. Jia Qizhe hopped back to the s.h.i.+p. The sailors dropped their jaws in collective surprise. This was nothing like what they have seen.
Jia Qizhe paid no attention to them. He grabbed one of Gu Qingyu"s grilled fish and took a bite, "Hmm, not bad."
"Hey! That"s mine!" Gu Qingyu protested.
Qi Wan jogged to Gu Qingyu"s side and sat down. "Praise me! See how fast I got things done!"
"Yes, you"re the best." Gu Qingyu rolled her eyes as she held another fish over the flame.
Qi Wan then took out a small bottle from his sleeve, like performing a magic trick. He pa.s.sed it to Gu Qingyu. "Here!"
"This is?" Gu Qingyu opened the bottle and sniffed. "This smell… Spices?"
"Yeah, I made it myself! It may not be as good as what you had before, but it is better than nothing!" Qi Wan shrugged.
"Thank you!" Gu Qingyu finished grilling the fish and sprinkled a dash of Qi Wan"s secret spice mix, then she took a bite. "Yes! Not bad! They always say that you must find a husband that cooks well..."
Husband? The sailors stared at Gu Qingyu. To think this sir is into men? He does look quite beautiful.
Mo Bai walked over, sat across Gu Qingyu and held a fish over the cookfire. Before long, two freshly grilled fish was shoved in front of Gu Qingyu"s face.
"Qi Yichen? Xie Zang? Just enjoy your own meal, why are you fooling around?" Gu Qingyu chastised them both.
Qi Yichen spoke first. "Try this, Brother Zhu. I am actually a good cook, others may not even have the chance to enjoy it."
What do I think only the last line is true?
"Kitten, my cooking is much better than the rest." Xie Zang held up a fish too. "If you don"t believe me, just take a bite."
"Yours still smell fishy." Jia Qizhe took an indifferent look at Qi Yichen"s fish, then he turned up his nose at Xie Zang"s fish. "And yours is still raw." He took his own fish off the flame and held it against Gu Qingyu"s mouth. "Open up."
"Um…" Gu Qingyu glanced between the three fishes of her. "Jia Qizhe, you… Ooh!"
Before she could finish her sentence, Jia Qizhe forced his fish into Gu Qingyu"s mouth. She instinctively took a bite and wanted to scold him, but discovered…
"It"s so delicious!" Gu Qingyu s.n.a.t.c.hed the fish out of Jia Qizhe"s hand. "How mean! With cooking skills like this, you should have displayed them sooner!"
"Yeap." Jia Qizhe smiled.
"But don"t force it on me like that…" Gu Qingyu complained between bites. The Jia Qizhe now could never imagine how Gu Qingyu would get her "revenge".
Murong Zuoyu joined them, stoic as always. Gu Qingyu turned to Murong Zuoyu. "Brother Murong, are you feeling better?"
Murong Zuoyu was surprised but he nodded as he replied. "Much better, thank you for your concern."
Suddenly, a sailor ran over. "Captain!"
A man just over his forties responded. "What"s wrong?"
"A large vessel is heading towards us, about fifty metres away!"
He had caught everyone"s attention with that announcement. They all stood up, the party was on high alert.
Gu Qingyu squinted and activated her cat eyes. With her heightened senses, she could see a man in yellow robes on the incoming s.h.i.+p. That man had a few black-clothed men behind him. These days are filled with so much trouble… Gu Qingyu sighed.
"What"s wrong?" Jia Qizhe noticed Gu Qingyu"s reaction. "Don"t worry, I"m here, don"t think so much."
"Yes." Gu Qingyu nodded. "Thank you."
The s.h.i.+ps were about to collide, one of the black-clothed men shouted, "The s.h.i.+p opposite! Get out of the way! ...Aaahh!"
Before he finished, he was shoved aside by the yellow man. The man slammed into the deck, the wood cracked from the impact. It was a hard fall indeed. With that, the yellow man leaped into the air and floated above the sea. He waved his arms, a wave swelled from the ocean and swept towards the party.