Ch62 - The Order Has Expired

Ji Xiunian was not a hero. Of course, he also knew the dangers of going into the ocean, but when he saw Lu Xu disappear, his first reaction was to save him.

The earlier he went down there to look for him, the more hope there was.

The ocean waves surged. The power of one person was minuscule. Underneath it was dark all around, and there was only water as far as the eye could see, with no trace of Lu Xu’s figure.

Ji Xiunian tried to dive under, but without any light, it was all in vain. He tried again and again and failed each time.

“Lu Xu will definitely be okay…”

Holding onto that thought, Ji Xiunian soaked in the ocean, fighting against the cold and maintaining a stalemate with the sea.

If it weren’t for his excellent physical fitness, there was no way he could have withstood such heavy physical exertion.

“Nian ge, you’d better come up first.” Lu Xu had disappeared without a trace from the start, and although no one was willing, they all thought that it was just an unfortunate incident.

Seeing Ji Xiunian being tossed in the sea again and again, Jiang Aida’s tears fell.

If possible, she of course wished that Lu Xu was safe, but now that Lu Xu had disappeared, they definitely couldn’t let anything happen to Ji Xiunian.

No matter how much they tried to persuade him, Ji Xiunian was unwilling to stop searching.

If this went on, who could guarantee that nothing would happen to Ji Xiunian?

Jiang Aida wiped away her tears, and grabbed the rope, ready to pull. She said to the staff, “Let’s all take it slow, and get Xiunian up first.”

No matter how unwilling Ji Xiunian was, at least it would be safe up on the boat.

Although it was a tragedy that something had happened to a friend, in the end it could still be accepted after calming down.

Holding on to the thought of guaranteeing Ji Xiunian’s safety, Jiang Aida and the others pulled on the rope together. However, something terrifying happened. The sum of all their strengths was quite a lot but no matter how much they pulled, they couldn’t move Ji Xiunian.

Originally, the rope had had some slack to it. Now some strange force was pulling the rope tight.

“Damn it!”

No one knew who had said that, but they felt that everything happening tonight was all very strange.

When they regained their senses and looked at the ocean surface again, they saw that Ji Xiunian had disappeared. From the time when they had pulled on the rope to Ji Xiunian disappearing, only a short moment had passed.

“What now, hurry and save him!”

“It won’t budge, it’s like there’s something underneath dragging Nian ge down.”

“It’s over it’s over, it’s all over now that something’s happened to the both of them…”

The taut rope corresponded to that strange force on the other end. Everyone was nervous and scared, unconsciously remembering the name of this place––

Devil’s Bay.

Ji Xiunian hadn’t listened to their advice and continued to float in the ocean looking for Lu Xu. The more anxious he became, the more he tried to tell himself to calm down; maybe if he held on longer he could see a sign of Lu Xu.

Staying in the water and fighting the wind and waves was already risking his life. In such a situation, Ji Xiunian couldn’t even pay attention to danger drawing close.

Rolling underneath the water, a group of dark shadows approached.

It first hovered for a long time under Ji Xiunian’s legs, then violently wrapped around his calf and pulled him downwards.

It happened suddenly. Ji Xiunian couldn’t even prepare himself and nearly choked.

Seawater rushed at him from all directions. His lungs were instantly put under enormous pressure. Ji Xiunian tried to struggle, then he realised that there was something in the water pulling on his leg. However hard he tried, he couldn’t get away from it.

He opened his eyes with much difficulty and looked down. For some unknown reason, he could see things inside the black water. Ji Xiunian could clearly see that it was a monster that was both like and also unlike a human, the shape of its body was weird. At this moment, it was holding onto his leg and dragging him down, a strange smile appearing on its deformed face. “Go and die, it’s better to go and die…”

The powerful malicious intent was almost tangible, chilling Ji Xiunian to the bone.

There was no way for him to open his mouth and shout, and there was no way for him to get away from the creature. His body could only continue sinking downwards. His lungs also felt like they were about to explode.

Extreme deprivation of oxygen brought about dizziness and confusion. When his heart was filled with fear, he still regretted that he was unable to save Lu Xu this time around.

Just when he felt like his spirit was about to float out of his body, a feeling of warmth appeared on his chest.

Ji Xiunian slowly opened his eyes, and saw his mother’s jade pendant letting out a soft glow, bringing him a small bit of warmth.

The evil spirit pulling on his calf was obviously afraid of that jade pendant and even loosened its hold a bit. However, despite the hesitation, it still wasn’t willing to give up the Ji Xiunian who was about to be a fat piece of meat. He could even smell the scent of Ji Xiunian’s soul, clear and clean, full of power.

That kind of power was coveted. Even if it was painful to be burned, the evil spirit still didn’t want to give it up.

When Lu Xu floated up, this was the scene that he saw.

The evil spirit grabbed Ji Xiunian and continued downwards, obviously wanting to make him die to take its place. Even though Ji Xiunian’s protective talisman had temporarily resisted, it couldn’t resist the corrosion from this yin energy.

Just ten more seconds, and Ji Xiunian’s order would be collected.

Just as Lu Xu was counting the time, Ji Xiunian seemed to sense something and looked his way. Seeing Lu Xu there, he at first widened his eyes in surprise, then after making sure that he was okay, a relieved smile appeared on his face.

There was happiness and care in his eyes. Although no words were said, just from that gaze, Lu Xu could be sure that that person had been looking for him.

So bold and ridiculous.

He was but a mortal. He dared to go underwater with just a rope around his waist. Did he not understand that he had a constitution coveted by ghosts?

Just what was inside Ji Xiunian’s head that in order to look for him, he was willing to risk his own life?

He was probably insane.

“Five seconds left before the order takes effect. Please confirm if you are accepting this order.”

“Five…”

“Four…”

“Three…”

“Get out!”

Before Lu Xu even had time to think, he had already gone over to Ji Xiunian’s side.

“He’s mine.”

The evil ghost didn’t have time to escape before it was coldly dissipated by Lu Xu.

At this time, Ji Xiunian’s state was already in a hazy trance, but he vaguely noticed Lu Xu’s face getting closer. His body was in a great deal of pain, but his immense desire to survive allowed him to keep the last traces of his consciousness.

How could normal people have this kind of lung capacity? Seeing Lu Xu float in the ocean, Ji Xiunian couldn’t help but think of a possibility—

Maybe Lu Xu had actually already died. He didn’t have much left of his own life, so he had come to receive him.

Staying alive was good, but having someone familiar walk together with him on the path of death didn’t seem like a horrible thing.

Ji Xiunian subconsciously reached his hand out towards Lu Xu. He wanted to touch him, wanted to go onto the path to a new life with him.

But in the moment his hand had reached out, it was grasped by the other person. He then saw Lu Xu touch his face, transferring air to him through his mouth.

They were stuck closely together, their clothes tangled together by the seawater, looking intimate at a glance.

Lu Xu first let the bodies out of their confinement. The flowing sea of corpses carried a buoyancy, creating a powerful vortex. The two of them happened to remain within the eye of the whirlpool,  surrounded by the rising bodies. Only they sank with the currents of the ocean. For some reason, Ji Xiunian thought of ‘The Ballad of Death’.

“You’re the ray of light in the darkness, guiding me gladly towards my death…”

Death was still flowing like the shadows, but Ji Xiunian had ceased to be afraid.

If he could sink into the vast oceans with Lu Xu, then there was nothing to be afraid of in living or dying.

It was at this moment that the grim reaper app suddenly sent out a notification—

[User Status Error, Order Revoked]

Lu Xu brought Ji Xiunian with him as he swam up, thinking to himself, something that would happen sooner or later was not something he was in a hurry to have happen this time.

That night, Ji Xiunian had a very long dream—

First, his long-deceased mother took a pendant and hung it around his neck. She told him that he could never take it off.

Then came all the strange occurrences that happened afterwards, before fading into endless darkness.

Just as his mood was down to the point of giving up and sinking to the bottom of the valley, a light appeared in front of him. When Ji Xiunian went towards it, he saw Lu Xu standing there, smiling at him.

Ji Xiunian opened his eyes forcefully. It was quite some time before he realised he was on the cruise ship.

“He’s woken up he’s woken up, Nian ge woke up!” The little assistant who had come over to check on the situation saw Ji Xiunian open his eyes and called out emotionally, about to start crying.

“Xiunian, are you uncomfortable anywhere?”

“If you don’t feel well anywhere then tell us, we’ll go ashore immediately and send you to the hospital…”

When Fan Zeng and Jiang Aida, who were both waiting outside the entire time, heard the little assistant’s words, they immediately rushed inside and ceaselessly asked him how he felt.

Ji Xiunian shook his head gently, telling them that he was fine.

Compared to his attitude towards his own body, Ji Xiunian was much more concerned about Lu Xu. “Where’s Lu Xu, how is he?”

The last scene in his memory was Lu Xu’s complex gaze and the feel of his soft lips. That feeling had been too wonderful, and Ji Xiunian couldn’t even confirm if it had only been a dream.

Fan Zeng hurriedly put him at ease when he heard this. “Xiao Xu is fine, he’s doing well.”

Jiang Aida also rejoiced at the side. “When you fell into the water, we were really worried. Good thing Lu Xu was familiar with the waters and swam with you for two kilometres. This took us back on the right boat track.”

It was strange now that they spoke of this. The originally malfunctioning speedboat had restarted after Lu Xu came back onboard, and the radar began returning the signal again.

It was also at that time that they had discovered that the cruise ship wasn’t actually very far away. It wasn’t even five kilometres away…

Jiang Aida felt a little fear as she said this, realising it had really been very dangerous this time.

“Right, didn’t the photographer capture the large mass of spectres? But when we came back and looked at it again, there was nothing but ocean water in the photo. It was really strange.” The photo had only been seen by the photographer, Jiang Aida, Ji Xiunian, and Lu Xu. Jiang Aida frowned as she said, “The photographer and I remember seeing the spectres, but Lu Xu insists there weren’t any. Xiunian, do you have any recollection?”

nao: kiss kiss fall in love

not saying that i’m thinking of fanart of lx and jxn kissing in a vortex of dead bodies in the ocean but i mean…if any of u artists are interested…

Update: this super lovely fanart by @Skylarts2 on twitter!!!!! my dreams have been realized

cael: *lu xu voice* he’s mine