Before long, the thing finally broke the surface.
A gigantic blue head slowly emerged from the waves. Its sleek, glistening skin shimmered beneath the sunlight, while a tiny blowhole atop its head spouted a column of water. Droplets scattered through the air and transformed into a dazzling rainbow under the sun.
It was Kun.
A Kun so enormous that it left everyone practically speechless.
[Shen Jue’s shock points +100]
[Zhang San’s shock points +100]
[Li Si’s shock points +100]
[…]
[Current shock points: 57,890,000]
Everyone aboard the boat held their breath.
Many of them made their living by the sea, but few had ever encountered a fish this absurdly huge.
The great fish floated quietly beside the boat, its enormous, bell-like eyes half-closed, as though it had merely happened to be passing by.
Yet every breath it took stirred currents that sent Shen Jue and the others’ fishing boat rocking violently across the water.
“I saw it last night!”
“It… It’s the Divine Lady’s mount…” The old fisherman’s legs gave way, and he dropped straight to his knees on the deck.
The soldiers of the Northern Suppression Army had also seen the great fish before. They quickly recognized it as the one that had escorted the tower ship.
“Yes, that’s it!”
“This really is the Divine Lady’s mount!”
“Could it be that the Divine Lady sent it here?”
The blue whale listened to everyone’s discussion. When it realized they had recognized it, it happily swam circles around the boat.
“Hiya, hiya! Pearl-Pearl told me to come and bring fishies for you to eat. Come with me, quick!”
In its eyes, this was simply a friendly greeting.
Unfortunately, Shen Jue and the others could neither understand the blue whale’s words nor make sense of its actions.
As they watched the enormous fish draw closer to the boat, the fishermen—who had never seen much of the world—were naturally terrified. Even the soldiers of the Northern Suppression Army felt deeply uneasy.
Although they saw this great fish every day aboard the Xuan Yuan tower ship, they had never encountered it at such close range.
No matter how many times they silently reminded themselves that it was the Divine Lady’s mount and would not hurt them, they still could not completely suppress the unease in their hearts.
It was the instinctive fear humans felt toward colossal creatures.
“Don’t panic.”
Shen Jue turned his head slightly and swept his gaze over the people behind him before looking back at the great fish.
He was unsure whether it could understand human speech, but he still respectfully cupped his hands and bowed.
“May I ask, Lord Spirit Fish, what brings you here?”
The blue whale tilted its head at him in confusion.
Why was this two-legged beast so silly? It had already said that it had come to bring them fishies. Why was he still asking and asking and asking?
Pearl-Pearl and Little Lucky-Mud were much smarter. They could understand everything it said. As expected of its good friends!
Since the two-legged beasts could not understand whale-speak, it thought for a moment, then slapped a fish toward Shen Jue with its tail. Through its actions, it tried to tell him that it had come to give them fish.
Shen Jue stared blankly at the fish in his arms, then looked at the blue whale in the sea, completely unable to understand what it meant.
Seeing that Shen Jue still had not reacted, the blue whale lightly slapped his boat with its tail.
Shen Jue assumed it wanted the fish. He placed the lively, flopping fish back into the sea and cautiously asked, “Lord Spirit Fish, do you mean that we should stop fishing?”
A trace of worry flashed through his eyes.
If they could no longer fish, how would the people of Wuling, who had relied on fishing for generations, make a living?
The blue whale fell silent.
“Why’d you give it back to me?”
It grew somewhat agitated and began thrashing its enormous tail, striking the surface again and again and sending layers of white waves surging into the air.
To Shen Jue and the others, however, it looked as if the great fish had become enraged because they were fishing in the sea.
Yun Shu, who had flown over invisibly, landed on the blue whale’s back and watched the human and fish whose communication had completely broken down.
She could not help rubbing her forehead.
As expected, assigning a temporary mission like this to a blue whale with the intelligence of a three-year-old was simply too much for it.
“Lil’ Sys, it looks like we’ll have to rely on you after all.”
She leaned close to the little fox’s ear and whispered a few words.
After memorizing the lines Yun Shu had taught it, the little fox deactivated its invisibility and revealed its true form before Shen Jue and the others.
“Kun, the Divine Lady ordered you to guide these mortals toward a chance of survival at sea. Why are you frightening them?”
The young, ethereal voice drifted into everyone’s ears.
Once they recovered from their shock, they instinctively looked up.
A snow-white nine-tailed spirit fox hovered in midair. Nine enormous, fluffy tails swayed gently behind it, and every strand of fur was coated in a moonlike radiance.
Its amber, vertical pupils held none of the eeriness associated with demons. Instead, they radiated a pure holiness untouched by worldly dust.
“Little Lucky-Mud, what are you saying? I wasn’t frightening them. They just can’t understand whale-speak.”
The blue whale looked at Lucky-Mud with an aggrieved expression.
The little fox did not look at the blue whale, afraid that it might lose control and ruin the act, causing trouble for Yun Shu.
Since both the spirit fox and the spirit fish cultivated under the Divine Lady, Shen Jue did not wish to offend either of them.
Thus, he took the blame upon himself.
“Thank you, Lord Spirit Fox. If you had not come forward to explain, we would never have understood Lord Spirit Fish’s intentions.”
He bowed to both the little fox and the blue whale.
“Changfeng is slow-witted. I beg both Lords to forgive me.”
“If the Divine Lady had not instructed me to do this, I wouldn’t bother with the petty affairs of mortals like you.”
The little fox let out a cold snort.
“Kun, why are you not leading them yet? Do you really want me to report you to the Divine Lady?”
The blue whale swam away gloomily.
The little fox also vanished from sight before everyone’s eyes.
“Follow Lord Spirit Fish!” Shen Jue cried urgently.
Everyone hurriedly began rowing, cautiously following the enormous fish whose head alone seemed impossible to see from end to end.
After roughly the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the blue whale suddenly slowed down.
Its massive body swayed gently beneath the surface.
Then—
Everyone witnessed an unbelievable sight.
Beneath the glittering sea, countless silver-white shapes were converging from every direction. An endless stream of fish poured into the fishing nets trailing behind their boat!
“This… This…”
The old fisherman’s mouth hung open.
Shen Jue was the first to regain his senses.
“Haul in the nets!”
His shout jolted everyone awake.
The people aboard the boat scrambled to pull the ropes. The winch creaked and groaned, so heavily burdened that it could barely turn.
Every fishing net was packed to the brim with fish. Their silver scales flashed beneath the sunlight, so dazzling that it was nearly impossible to keep one’s eyes open.
“It’s full… It’s completely full!” one fisherman cried, his voice breaking with excitement. He threw himself onto the pile of fish and shouted, “I’ve never seen so many fish in my entire life!”
As though it had completed its mission, the blue whale flicked its tail toward the Divine Lady’s temple before sinking beneath the sea.
Only circles of ripples remained on the surface.
Seeing that the objective had been accomplished, Yun Shu went to the seabed to find the somewhat dejected blue whale and comfort it properly.
“Host, aren’t you going back to the temple to rest?”
“I still have something else to do.”
Yun Shu said, “The fish Shen Jue brings back won’t be enough to save everyone in the city. I need to enter the city and distribute porridge so they can hold on until Shen Yu and the others deliver food to Wuling City.”
