Above the vast expanse of the ocean, there was an isolated island, and on its solitary shore, as the tide receded, two figures emerged. It was Ye Luo and Mingyue who had fallen from the ship into the sea. At this moment, their hands were still tightly clasped together.
Ye Luo slowly opened his eyes after who knows how long. He coughed violently, spitting out a good deal of seawater, and gradually came to.
"Where am I??"
Gazing at the azure sky, Ye Luoâs senses had not fully recovered just yet. After a moment, he finally came around and slowly sat up. The vast ocean met his eyes.
"Mingyue!"
Ye Luo then saw Mingyue lying beside him, their hands still joined. He quickly checked her body and felt a heartbeat, but her belly was full of seawater, making it hard for her to breathe.
Ye Luo hastily pressed on her chest with both hands, causing the seawater to keep spewing out, but after a thorough pressing, Mingyue still did not wake up.
Eventually, Ye Luo had no choice but to give her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, hoping it would wake her up. In order to save her, Ye Luo refrained from thinking about anything else and began to breathe into her mouth.
After a bout of artificial respiration, Mingyue coughed violently, spitting out several mouthfuls of saliva, and woke up.
"Youâre awake?" Ye Luo said, looking at Mingyue with a sense of relief.
"Where am I? Am I not dead?" Mingyue woke up, looking around in confusion.
"The Netherworld King thought I was too handsome to take, so he let you go too," said Ye Luo bluntly.
"Iâm not dead, thatâs great." Mingyue, realizing she wasnât dead, was extremely excited. Suddenly she touched her lips and looked at Ye Luo.
"You didnât do anything to me just now, did you?"
A playful smile appeared on Ye Luoâs lips: "Am I that kind of person? I simply pressed your chest and gave you a few breaths of mouth-to-mouth, thatâs all."
"Bastard!"
Upon hearing this, Mingyueâs face clouded over with anger. Clenching her fists, she swung at Ye Luo, who swiftly caught her entire body and pressed down, pinning her to the ground while gazing into her eyes.
Mingyue froze, her expression stunned.
"Girl, I was saving you. Otherwise, you would have been reporting to the Netherworld Kingâs palace by now. You should be thanking me," Ye Luo said, with a hint of a smile.
Ye Luo quirked his lips and continued, "Moreover, if it hadnât been for saving you last night, how could I have fallen into the sea with you and ended up on this uninhabited, secluded island?"
Mingyueâs eyes flickered and, after a silent moment, she said, "Iâm sorry, and thank you!"
"Hmm, thatâs more like it," Ye Luo said with a wicked smile, lifting her chin with one hand and adding lightly, "On this deserted island, youâre not allowed to throw any tantrums. If you want to leave, you must follow my leadâotherwise, youâre just a burden that will only slow me down. I wouldnât mind leaving you here by yourself."
Mingyue was inwardly annoyed, but this time she refrained from scolding Ye Luo and simply glared at him.
"All right, now we need to figure out how to get off this island," Ye Luo said as he got up and scanned the surroundings.
Besides the forest and caves, there was nobody on the island, which Ye Luo had already inspected with his Clairvoyant Eyeâthere was not a single person.
And all their communication devices were broken, which meant even if they werenât, there would be no signal on this remote island surrounded by the boundless ocean.
"What are we going to do now? It canât be that we didnât die at sea only to die on this deserted island," Mingyue said, standing up.
"Now, our only option is to wait for rescue. Maybe someday a ship will pass by, and then weâll be saved. If not, we might as well prepare to live here as a stranded couple and experience the primal life," Ye Luo said as he walked onto the deserted island.
"I donât want to be any deserted island couple with you. Someone will definitely come to rescue us."
"Achoo!"
Suddenly, Mingyue sneezed and hugged herself tightly, clearly feeling the chill, having been soaked in the seawater all night.
Even as an Innate Expert, Mingyue could hardly endure it, since she wasnât as physically robust as Ye Luo, with his abundant Yang energy inside, entirely unafraid of the cold.
"Come here, give me your hands," Ye Luo said, looking at Mingyue.
"What are you going to do?" Mingyue asked warily, watching Ye Luo.
"Iâm going to expel the cold from your body and use my True Qi to dry your clothes," Ye Luo explained, a bit helplessly.
"No need, I can just find some firewood and dry them out," Mingyue flatly refused.
"Alright, suit yourself then."
Ye Luo said indifferently, as he led Mingyue into a cave on the deserted island, where he gathered a pile of firewood, stoked the Nine Yang True Qi into flames, and set the firewood ablaze.
"You go out, and donât peek unless I say you can come in."
As soon as Ye Luo finished doing all this, Mingyue spoke.
"Seriously? Ditch me after using me? Fine, I wonât look if you donât want me to."
Ye Luo was about to protest but seeing Mingyueâs glaring eyes, he could only walk out, grumbling to himself.
He had barely stepped out of the cave when he heard rustling sounds inside, clearly Mingyue was drying her clothes.
"This wretched island, who knows if there are poisonous snakes or wild beasts around. Iâm not worried, I could even catch them to eat, but Mingyue truly is a burden, probably the most cowardly Innate Expert ever," Ye Luo sighed.
Luckily, he was certain that someone would come to the rescue; after all, navigation routes were clear, and a search of the nearby islands would surely turn up this deserted one. It was only a matter of time. All he had to do was wait patiently, a day at the shortest, a few at the most, and rescue would arrive.
He stood outside the cave, taking in the scenery while thinking to himself.
After more than half an hour, Mingyue called out that he could come in.
But when he didnât come in after a while, Mingyue walked out in her dried clothes only to find no sign of Ye Luo.
"Where did that guy go?" Mingyue wondered, looking perplexed.
"Missed me, huh?"
Suddenly, Ye Luoâs voice rang out sharply, and he sprang forth.
"You startled me! Where were you?" Mingyue said, patting her heart in fright.
"For such a high-level Innate expert, you sure are jumpy. Oh, here, eat this," Ye Luo said.
Ye Luo handed her a bunch of berries.
"What are these? Are they edible?" Mingyue asked, eyeing the unfamiliar berries.
"Donât worry, with me, a skilled medical expert, here, you wonât be poisoned. If you donât want to starve on this island, this is all youâve got," Ye Luo reassured her, taking a berry and biting into it with relish.
(Recommending a book to friends, "The Female CEOâs Close-Combat Soldier." Those interested can take a look, thank you all~)