Chapter 434 - 432: Another Continent

Chapter 434: Chapter 432: Another Continent

He paused, each word tinged with a subtle emotion. "You... take good care of yourself. Give birth to the cub safely."

After he finished speaking, he turned without hesitation to Hua Han, who stood to the side, pale-faced and struggling to regulate his breathing.

Though Hua Han was usually devil-may-care, he could now feel the gravity of the situation and the death wish emanating from Jiao Yin.

"Hua Han," Jiao Yin’s gaze was sharp as a blade, piercing straight into Hua Han’s eyes. "You risked your life on the shore to save her. I trust you can also see her safely back to her Beast Husbands, correct?"

His tone wasn’t a request, but a charge that permitted no refusal.

Hua Han wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His fox-like eyes, usually full of jest, were now unprecedentedly solemn and serious.

He saw the heavy charge and grim resolve in Jiao Yin’s eyes, then glanced at the pale Bai Wanwan beside him, her belly swollen with child. He nodded heavily, his voice resolute. "Yeah! I, Hua Han, swear to the Beast God in the name of the Fox Clan’s ancestors! As long as I draw breath, I will see her home safely!"

"Good."

Jiao Yin seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. The taut, resolute lines of his face softened for a fleeting moment.

He took one last, deep look at Bai Wanwan, as if to sear her image into his mind. Then he spun around, ready to charge toward the Crystal Palace, which had been turned into a hellscape.

"Jiao Yin! Wait!"

A slender, gentle hand shot out and grabbed his arm.

Jiao Yin froze and slowly turned back.

Bai Wanwan had somehow broken free from Hua Han’s support and swum to his side.

Her face was pale, but her eyes gleamed with wisdom and tenacity.

"If you go back now, you’ll be playing right into their hands!"

Bai Wanwan’s voice was clear and firm, filled with undeniable reason. "Jiao Ming colluded with the Crocodylus porosus Clan and laid a trap for you. If you go back alone, they’ll surround and kill you. If you die, what happens to your friends, your family, your sister Jiao Yue, and all your clansmen who have been imprisoned? They’ll only die faster and more horribly!"

Jiao Yin tried to argue, but Bai Wanwan gripped his arm tightly, speaking faster, her eyes blazing.

"’Where there’s life, there’s hope!’ You’re the king of the Merfolk Clan; your life isn’t yours alone! Come with me. Let’s leave this place first! We’ll find my Beast Husbands. Chou Rong is the Clan Leader of the Tiger Clan. Zhu Xiu, Xin Feng, Jin Yi, Yan Lie, Yin Ze—they’re all powerful Beastmen. We can gather our forces, heal our wounds, and then fight our way back. When the time comes, we’ll coordinate an attack from the inside and out. We’ll be able to rescue Jiao Yue, take back your palace, and avenge your fallen clansmen."

"But going back now... is just throwing your life away. It’s not the best choice!"

Bai Wanwan’s words struck like a thunderclap, blasting through the anger and grief that clouded Jiao Yin’s mind.

He looked into her clear, resolute eyes.

’Where there’s life, there’s hope... Gather our forces... Rescue Jiao Yue... Take back the palace... Get revenge!’

The words were a lighthouse in the darkness, instantly illuminating a mind that had been clouded by a death wish.

His tightly clenched fists slowly, bit by bit, began to relax.

The determination to die was slowly replaced by a deep, suppressed, vengeful fury.

"You’re right," he said, his voice low and hoarse, carrying the chill of the sea. "Only by staying alive is there any hope for revenge."

The three of them dared not linger. They quickly retreated through a hidden waterway that Mo Lin had shown them.

However, the situation was worse than they had imagined.

Jiao Ming had clearly made thorough preparations. Not only had he sealed off the palace area, but he had also dispatched loyal Merfolk warriors and Fierce Beasts from the Crocodylus porosus Clan to lay an inescapable net along the coastline where they might flee.

They tried several hidden landing spots, but were discovered by tight patrols each time.

Enemies lurked behind reefs, in seaweed thickets, and even on the shallow seabed.

Jiao Yin’s powerful Water Perception Ability allowed him to avoid most of the traps, but on one occasion, they nearly stumbled into an encirclement of three Orange Rank Merfolk warriors and two enormous, iron-armored Crocodylus porosus.

Jiao Yin acted decisively, conjuring a violent whirlpool to temporarily trap their pursuers. Enduring a splitting headache, Hua Han forced himself to create several realistic illusions to serve as a distraction.

The trio barely managed to slip through a gap in the encirclement. A Crocodylus porosus’s sharp teeth grazed Jiao Yin’s back, leaving a gash so deep the bone was visible. Blue blood bloomed in the water.

"The coastline is locked down!" Jiao Yin’s face was pale. The continuous high-intensity fighting and manipulation of the sea had drained his Talent Power, leaving his aura unstable. "They’ve stationed heavy forces all along the coast."

Hua Han clutched his throbbing temples, his complexion no better than Jiao Yin’s. The heavy toll on his Illusion Technique Talent had left him listless. "What do we do now? We can’t just float around at sea until we die! Wanwan’s about to give birth!"

Bai Wanwan looked down and stroked her swollen abdomen, wondering what to do next. ’I’ll probably give birth in a little over ten days.’

’With both males injured this badly, our chances of survival in this vast ocean are plummeting.’

After only a moment’s hesitation, she quickly communicated with the system in her mind. "Hua Sheng, redeem two Recovery Pills."

Her precious Points were instantly deducted, and two white pills radiating a soft glow appeared in her hand.

She handed a pill to Jiao Yin and Hua Han, who were both struggling to stay upright. "Eat this."

The two males stared at the round objects in her palm. Hua Han pinched one and examined it. "What is this?"

"A pill to heal your injuries."

"It can really heal me?" Hua Han watched her with his fox-like eyes.

The instant she nodded, he tossed the pill into his mouth.

Jiao Yin said nothing, simply taking the pill and putting it in his mouth as well.

In moments, the color returned to the two males’ pale, listless faces, and their spirits revived.

They turned to Bai Wanwan at the same time. "My injuries are healed."

They found it unbelievable. Not even a Witch Doctor could work such a miracle.

Bai Wanwan had hesitated to reveal something so extraordinary.

But the two males had been grievously injured saving her, and they were still protecting her on this journey.

If something were to happen to them, she wouldn’t be able to survive alone in the vast ocean.

So, after a brief hesitation, knowing it would expose some of her secrets, she had still redeemed the pills to heal them.

"They’re pills my Beast Husband gave me. I’m just glad your injuries are healed." Not wanting them to grow suspicious, Bai Wanwan quickly changed the subject. "Where are we going now?"

After a moment’s thought, Jiao Yin pointed toward the deep ocean. "I know of an ancient warm current that leads directly to a continent in the southwest called the ’Emerald Shore.’ If I use my Talent Power to travel at full speed, we should be able to reach it in a little over ten days. It’s far from the Merfolk and Crocodylus porosus Clan’s sphere of influence. We can go ashore there to rest and then find a way to contact your Beast Husbands."

Bai Wanwan touched the child in her womb and nodded. "Alright! To the Emerald Shore it is."

’First, we have to survive,’ she thought. ’This might be our only way out.’