The moment he heard this voice,
Zhou Yi felt as if he was being stared at by a giant beast from the deep sea, and his soul was numb.
Just one voice made him feel like he was falling into hell, and Zhou Yi knew that this was an existence he could not afford to offend.
In fear, Zhou Yi's consciousness quickly retreated in the direction of the stone ball sacrificial spirit in the village.
Unexpectedly, the existence that made that voice did not seem to want to let Zhou Yi go, and actually followed Zhou Yi's consciousness.
Even though Zhou Yi had no body, but only a consciousness, he could sense an extremely strong fishy smell coming from the direction of the gray fog behind him.
Zhou Yi suddenly felt his soul solidify, his thoughts began to become sluggish, and the speed of withdrawing his consciousness became slower and slower.
The fishy smell that went straight to his soul became stronger and stronger.
The existence that emitted the fishy smell seemed to be close to Zhou Yi, as if it would catch up with him in the next second and swallow his consciousness in one gulp.
Zhou Yi's reaction and speed in withdrawing his consciousness were not slow, but the fishy presence was also extremely strange.
Like a maggot attached to his bones, Zhou Yi could not get rid of it at all.
Even though he had died once, the shadow of death still loomed over Zhou Yi.
Although Zhou Yi did not know whether the village's stone ball could block the existence behind him, the stone ball that allowed him to stay was the only thing that could give him some sense of security.
Zhou Yi's consciousness had already reached the sky above Chenjia Village, and the sacrificial stone he possessed was already in front of him.
But Zhou Yi was also surrounded by a strong fishy smell.
Zhou Yi felt as if an invisible big mouth had appeared behind him, ready to swallow him in one gulp.
Just when Zhou Yi thought he was about to die,
a dazzling golden light flashed.
It was the golden halo on the front of the stone ball sacrificial spirit, which had lit up at some point and was emitting a dazzling golden light.
From a distance, it looked like a golden eye suddenly opened.
Under the shining golden light, an inaudible angry roar sounded in the air, and the fishy smell quickly faded.
Zhou Yi also took this opportunity to quickly withdraw his consciousness into the stone ball.
Zhou Yi, hiding in the stone ball, was still in shock.
If he had been a moment later, or if the sacrificial stone ball had not emitted that golden light, Zhou Yi had no doubt that he had been eaten by that thing.
Zhou Yi now suspected that the original consciousness of this stone sacrificial spirit was eaten by the existence in the gray fog.
What surprised Zhou Yi was that the remaining memories of the previous sacrificial spirit did not contain any memories of those beings in the gray fog.
Thinking of this, Zhou Yi could not help but shudder. Now he felt that this small Sanyin Island and the gray fog that seemed to be as high as the sky were like a cage.
And he and the residents on the island were like food kept in a cage.
What made Zhou Yi even more terrified was that, at a quick glance, he saw that there were far more than one fishy-smelling beings in the gray fog.
Those beings were densely packed in the gray fog, and Zhou Yi could even feel the greedy eyes of those beings looking at him.
Perhaps due to some restrictions, those beings did not make a move.
The only one who made a move was the one who shouted "Fish God".
At this moment, Zhou Yi deeply felt that this world was not as safe as he had imagined, and it could even be said to be full of dangers.
The only thing that could make him feel a little at ease was the stone sacrificial spirit he was currently inhabiting.
The golden light emitted by the stone ball sacrificial spirit just now consumed all of Zhou Yi's mental strength, making him sleepy again.
After a while, Zhou Yi, hiding in the stone ball space, fell asleep in fear.
Sanyin Island was still peaceful.
Unbeknownst to the Chen clan members toiling in the mountains, their recently awakened sacrificial spirit had nearly fallen silent again.
Chen Xuanlin and the others, still working in the mountains, hadn't seen anything in the gray fog, nor had they smelled any fishy odor. Naturally, they had no idea what danger their sacrificial spirit had encountered.
They only felt a slight dullness in the air, which they attributed to the intense summer heat.
At sunset, everyone returned to the village. As Chen Xuanlin arrived, Chen Gan'er approached, his face heavy.
A deep voice said, "Brother Xuanlin, the elder of the Qiufang clan is dying."
Even though Chen Xuanlin had anticipated this, his heart sank.
When Chen Xuanlin put down his hoe and followed Chen Gan'er to Chen Qiufang's home, Chen Qiuluo was already by his bedside.
After his wife died of illness, Chen Qiufang never remarried and has been living alone. Chen Ganer has been taking care of him for the past two days.
Sanyin Island is barren. Even Chen Qiufang, an elder of the clan, does not even have a stone bench in his house.
Chen Ganer and Chen Xuanlin can only stand by the bed, silently watching Chen Qiufang, whose breath is getting weaker and weaker.
Chen Qiuluo held Chen Qiufang's hand and whispered in Chen Qiufang's ear:
"Brother Fang, the clan leader is here."
Chen Qiufang tilted his head and looked at Chen Xuanlin with difficulty. His voice was intermittent:
"I heard that... our clan's sacrificial spirit has awakened. I am... very comforted. I hope that the clan leader... will revive the Chen family."
Chen Xuanlin stepped forward and patted Chen Qiufang's hand, and said in a serious tone:
"Xuanlin will remember this and will live up to the expectations of the Chen family for generations."
Chen Qiufang slowly turned his head to look at Chen Ganer. After a long while, he raised the corners of his mouth and said:
"Elder Gan, was I brave this time...was I brave this time?"
Chen Gan, who had argued with Chen Qiufang for years, felt a pang of pain in his throat. Suppressing his emotion, he shouted back,
"Elder Qiufang is brave. Gan, I admire you greatly."
As his words fell, Chen Qiufang's breathing paused.
Alas!
Two sighs echoed from the room, one from Chen Qiuluo and one from Chen Xuanlin.
Chen Xuanlin whispered,
"Prepare for a burial at sea. Let Elder Qiufang's spirit return to the Sea of Death."
Chen Qiufang's death did not cause much of a stir on Sanyin Island.
Here, death was common, even for Chen Qiufang, an elder.
Fights with the Connecting Island, plundering of resources by the Connecting Island, disease, starvation, being bewitched by the beings in the gray fog, and encountering all sorts of strange things in the Sea of Death all resulted in death.
Over the years, the population of Sanyin Island has been dwindling, and the people have become accustomed to death.
The following evening
, a simple raft, made of a few planks, lay on the beach.
Two bodies lay atop it.
One was Chen Qiufang, the other a member of the tribe who had died in the previous battle with the two-headed monster.
The residents of Sanyin Island gathered at the beach to bid them farewell.
Four elders—Chen Xuanlin, Chen Qiuluo, Chen Ganer, and Chen Huaigu—joined in pushing the raft slowly into the sea.
This was a long-standing custom on Sanyin Island. When a resident died, their bodies were placed in the sea, where they would sink with the raft.
In past times of scarcity, when there was no wood for a raft, bodies were simply placed in the sea, where they would naturally sink to the bottom.
Fortunately, they had found plenty of wood on the island connecting to the shore, which gave them the opportunity to build this soul-carrying raft.
Everyone watched in silence as the raft drifted further and further away, sinking slowly into the sea.
Chen Xuanlin shouted,
"The soul has returned to the sea of death. I will not be a sea dweller in my next life."
In the pale black waters, the raft sank slowly with the setting sun, without causing a single ripple.
The residents of Sanyin Island watched silently, their expressions not completely numb as before, but a touch of regret in their eyes.