141: Chapter 141 The People Trapped on Flower Island

Qi Yun woke up in a peaceful and reassuring atmosphere.

He was resting his head on her soft, flat abdomen and could clearly feel her even, gentle breathing.

Xia Ning opened her clear eyes.

She didn't speak, just smiled slightly, as if to say, "Morning."

After simply replenishing their energy.

On the deck, Qi Yun announced to everyone:

"This time, I will only take Li with me."

"The rest of you stay on the ship and maintain the highest level of alert."

Li just nodded faintly, indicating she understood.

Soon, the two of them stepped onto the land of Flower Island.

A familiar sense of eeriness struck again.

Behind them, it was no longer the deep blue sea.

As far as the eye could see, there was only an endless sea of flowers.

It was as if they hadn't come from the sea, but had descended out of thin air into the center of this sea of flowers.

"Let's go, let's go check the center," Qi Yun said in a deep voice.

Li nodded slightly and followed half a step behind his side, her pace calm.

Deep within Flower Island, "Xia Ran" Xia Ning suddenly opened her eyes: "Li, you are still alive."

The two walked for a long time, and at some point, the surroundings had all turned into hundred-meter-tall giant trees.

Just then—

"Rustle... rustle..."

From ahead came the sound of branches and leaves being pushed aside, along with faint conversation and footsteps.

Someone?

Qi Yun and Li exchanged a glance, slowed their pace, and walked toward the source of the sound while remaining vigilant.

A small, relatively open clearing in the forest appeared.

Standing in the clearing were five people.

Three men and two women.

They were dressed differently, but without exception, their clothes looked extremely old, dirty, and even somewhat tattered.

When Qi Yun and Li suddenly walked out, the five of them looked up almost simultaneously.

Their eyes were first filled with surprise, but within that surprise, there was a trace of numbness and a hint of sympathy.

When the gazes of the three men landed on Li, they were almost stunned at the same time.

Their eyes widened instantly, and their hearts skipped a beat!

This girl was a hundred times more beautiful than the most beautiful girl they had ever seen in their lives.

Li's appearance and temperament were in a league of their own, even among the beauties of the 01 Tribe.

"Ahem." The leading man, who was stout, was the first to react.

A warm smile quickly piled up on his face, and he rubbed his hands together as he walked up to them quickly.

"Oh! Nice to meet you! Didn't expect to run into newcomers again!"

"Who is this? I am Pang Long, these two young ladies are Li Wen and Shi Qian, and those two brothers are Wang He and Zhou Wei. We are all unlucky people trapped here."

He extended his hand, waiting for Li to shake it.

Li didn't even lift her eyelids, just swept her gaze faintly over the other four.

Qi Yun stepped forward, a genial smile also hanging on his face, and reached out to shake Pang Long's hand, which was suspended in mid-air, giving it a firm shake:

"I'm Qi Yun. This is my wife, Li. She has a rather cold personality and doesn't like to talk much."

Upon hearing the word "wife," Li's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

Li's deep purple eyes widened slightly all of a sudden.

She quickly regained her composure, and even gave a very slight nod to Pang Long, tacitly acknowledging it.

The smile on Pang Long's face froze for a moment, and a trace of undisguisable disappointment and jealousy flashed in his eyes:

"I see, so it's Brother Qi and Miss Li! A talented man and a beautiful woman, a match made in heaven!"

The two women behind him, Li Wen and Shi Qian, looked at Li with a hint of dejection mixed with inferiority.

The other two men, Wang He and Zhou Wei, were still staring at Li, somewhat distracted.

"What are you looking at! Keep looking and I'll gouge your eyeballs out!"

Shi Qian suddenly kicked Zhou Wei hard in the calf and cursed viciously in a low voice.

Zhou Wei let out an "Ouch" and then sheepishly withdrew his gaze.

Seeing this, Pang Long laughed again, trying to ease the awkwardness:

"Excuse us, after staying in this ghost place for too long, people tend to get a bit abnormal."

"Brother Pang, how long have you been trapped here?"

He wanted to get more information about this "Flower Island" from these "long-term residents."

He had confirmed that there were no traces of any ships around Flower Island.

These people must have been trapped on this island for a very long time.

Pang Long pointed to himself:

"I've been here the longest, I reckon it's been about three years."

He pointed to Wang He and Zhou Wei again, "These two brothers came in a year after me, so it's been about two years."

"These two young ladies came in one after another about a year ago."

"Of course, there were people trapped here even longer before. Five years, seven years, but later they couldn't take it anymore and committed suicide."

Pang Long had a grinning expression, as if he were telling an interesting story.

In this seemingly vibrant place, mental collapse perhaps arrived sooner than physical demise.

"Brother Qi, why don't you join us? Some food appears here from time to time, so surviving is not a problem."

"There is strength in numbers, and we can look out for each other."

Qi Yun pondered for a moment and nodded.

He needed to get more information from these people, so traveling together temporarily was fine.

Pang Long was overjoyed.

Wang He was standing to the side, head bowed, repeating over and over:

"Can't get out... can't get out... it's all fake... it's useless..."

His eyes were hollow, filled with extreme despair.

Pang Long noticed Qi Yun's gaze and gave a chuckle:

"Brother Qi, don't mind him. After staying here for a long time without seeing any hope, everyone ends up like this. Usually, someone in his state isn't far from suicide."

Wang He seemed to hear this, suddenly lifted his head, and glared fiercely at Pang Long with bloodshot eyes:

"Heh, idiot, only a heartless idiot like you can manage to laugh every day..."

The fat on Pang Long's face trembled, and his smile became even more hearty:

"If I don't laugh, should I become like you? You have to find some fun in life."

Watching Pang Long's seemingly open-minded smile, Qi Yun realized something.

This fat man's mental state had likely already developed serious problems long ago.

After chatting for a while longer, Qi Yun basically determined that these people didn't know much, and their mental states were slowly collapsing in day-after-day despair.

Seeing that he couldn't get any more valuable intelligence, Qi Yun lost his patience.

He stood up and spoke calmly:

"Alright, now, I will take you out."

"..."

Wang He suddenly lifted his head, his hollow eyes staring fixedly at Qi Yun, as if he had heard the most ridiculous joke in the world, and burst into manic laughter:

"Hahaha, get out? He said he would take us out? Hahaha, what did I just hear? Take us out?! I think your brain is broken too! Hahaha..."

He laughed until he was bending back and forth.

Pang Long was also stunned for a moment, then immediately followed suit, laughing "hahaha" while slapping his thigh:

"Brother Qi! What a joke! That's high-level! I just love your kind of optimistic spirit! I hope you can keep me company for a good while to relieve my boredom."

Qi Yun ignored their mockery.

He just raised his right hand and made a light stroke in the air.

The next moment—

"Crack... crack-crack... rumble—!!!"

An extremely dense sound of wood breaking rang out!

Under the gaze of Pang Long, Wang He, Zhou Wei, Li Wen, and Shi Qian, whose smiles suddenly froze and whose eyes were filled with disbelief—

Hundreds of towering giant trees snapped and toppled in unison!