Chapter 796
Chapter 796
“Guards, chase that ship immediately and keep an eye on Shen Lang!”
Princess Xixuan shouted the order, then coughed up another mouthful of blood. Soon after, Ying Han brought a special rope and bound Shen Lang tightly. Even if he was dead, it was better to keep him tied up. Then, Xixuan and Ying Han leaped into the sea. Without bothering with a boat, they ran across the waves, desperately chasing the ship with the smiling face flag. They both knew that only one of them needed to go, but they understood the unspoken reason for going together.
The grand ships of the Transcendent Forces were thousands of meters away from Shen Lang's vessel. It couldn't be helped. The Black Death that had afflicted Shen Lang and the other two was a terrifying disease; the greater the distance, the better. Ying Han and Princess Xixuan's martial arts were truly formidable. Despite being gravely ill, they could still run across the sea with the speed of an arrow. But the ship with the smiling face flag was drawing ever closer to the Devil's Triangle, and the two women, their hearts burning with anxiety, unleashed their internal energy with even more frenzy as they sprinted.
*Pfft!*
*Pfft!*
The more internal energy they used, the more blood they coughed up. Nevertheless, they didn't stop, running for over ten thousand meters until they finally caught up to the ship with the smiling face flag. Positioning themselves at the bow and stern, the two women exerted their strength to stop the ship's forward momentum.
The martial prowess of these two was immense. Although it was called a small boat, that was only in comparison to the other large ships. An ocean-faring vessel, no matter how small, would still have a displacement of several hundred tons. Drifting with the wind, imagine the immense inertial energy driving it forward. Yet, when the two women blocked it, the ship could no longer advance. Their strength was comparable to Big Dummy's—and weren't these two supposed to be delicate women?
Next, Xixuan leaped onto the deck and swiftly adjusted the sails, changing the ship's course so it would no longer drift south, moving it away from the Devil's Triangle. Then, the two women began to desperately search the ship for the antidote.
Meanwhile, following Princess Xixuan's command, the warriors of the Transcendent Forces were supposed to board Shen Lang's ship immediately. But Shen Lang was infected with the Black Death, making his vessel a terrifying sight. Anyone who boarded, or even got close, could be risking their life. So, the warriors of the Transcendent Forces only adjusted their sails slightly, attempting to approach and surround Shen Lang's ship from a distance. But at that moment...
*Boom, boom, boom.*
Suddenly, explosions erupted from Shen Lang's ship, and clouds of green, black, and other strange-colored smoke began to spread instantly.
*'What is Shen Lang trying to do? Is he really planning a sea burial as he said?'*
In an instant, the fleet of the Transcendent Forces, thousands of meters away, retreated even further from Shen Lang's ship. Shen Lang was too terrifying. Even in death, he might try to drag countless people down with him. Who knew how much deadly poison or plague was contained within the smoke erupting from the ship? Ying Han and Xixuan also noticed the scene unfolding on Shen Lang's ship.
*'What is Shen Lang planning? Is he really going through with a sea burial?'*
“Found it...”
Just then, Ying Han found a box with two large characters written on it: 'Antidote.' Opening the box, she found a syringe containing a white liquid. A piece of paper was placed beside it.
*'That vulgar man. There's no one in the world more despicable than Shen Lang. What now? Should we fight each other for the single antidote? And what if this syringe contains poison, not an antidote? Should we test it on someone else? No, that won't work. No one else is sick. Then... should we each inject half?'*
The next moment, Princess Xixuan lifted Ying Han's arm and immediately injected about half of the medicine. Then she quietly waited for Ying Han's reaction. Of course, she wasn't waiting for Ying Han to make a full recovery. She wasn't that naive. This was a plague; a full recovery in an instant was impossible. She had injected Ying Han first to see if it contained a deadly poison or would cause an even more terrifying reaction. A quarter of an hour passed, then half an hour, but Ying Han showed no adverse reactions. In fact, her coughing even seemed to have subsided a little. Of course, this was just an illusion. The medicine usually wouldn't take effect so quickly. The main reason her coughing had lessened was that she was so tense she was holding her breath.
“Do you feel anything?”
“No! But... I think it might be working.”
“Is it a deadly poison?”
“I don't think so. Because he needs to protect my father, Ning Yuanxian, and Ning Zheng.”
Ying Han's words hit the mark. If Ying Han and Xixuan died, Ning Yuanxian and Ning Zheng would surely lose their lives. Of course, even if Ying Han didn't die, Ning Zheng might still be killed.
“Sister, I have a feeling... the sooner we inject this antidote, the better. If we wait too long, it might be useless.”
She was right about that, too. Treating the Black Death had to be done in a timely manner; not even a quarter of an hour should be wasted. Once a certain threshold was crossed, death was inevitable, even with treatment. Xixuan still didn't move. She would only inject herself after confirming the medicine was effective.
After a long while, the medicine's effects finally began to show. Ying Han's fever had dropped considerably. Xixuan gritted her teeth and injected the remaining half of the medicine into her own body. Then, she too waited quietly for a reaction.
But after she had injected all the medicine, a line of text appeared on the syringe. The text was white, so it hadn't been visible when the syringe was filled with the white liquid. Moreover, it was night, and with poor lighting, only a single candle illuminated the ship's interior. Thus, the words only became visible after all the white medicine had been injected.
In that instant, Xixuan and Ying Han leaped back. When they touched the spot with their swords, a section of the deck flipped open and flew away. Inside, another box appeared. Opening it, they found a dozen or so syringes packed tightly inside, all filled with the same white liquid. And beside them, there was another piece of paper.
At that moment, Ying Han blurted out.
“This medicine is real. I can feel it working.”
Penicillin worked remarkably fast; it was an antibiotic that was best administered quickly. Its effects could be felt almost immediately after injection. Only an hour had passed since Ying Han had taken the penicillin, but she could feel the high fever throughout her body subsiding. Xixuan burned the letter Shen Lang had left. Ning Yuanxian might be allowed to live, but Ning Zheng had to die. Shen Lang's methods would not save Ning Zheng.
Suddenly, Princess Xixuan gasped in shock and shot to her feet.
“We have to go back. Shen Lang's death is a trick.”
Now that their lives were saved, the two immediately regained their composure. A moment ago, when their lives hung in the balance, their minds were filled only with thoughts of their own survival. But now, they finally realized that if this was the antidote for the Black Death, there was no way Shen Lang would die. So why did he pretend to be dead? Could he still be planning to escape? How was that possible? They were in the middle of the vast ocean, his ship's sails were completely destroyed, and there wasn't a single crew member. How could he possibly escape? Moreover, he was currently surrounded. He couldn't escape unless he sprouted wings. Could he possibly escape into the sky? Though it was a dark night, searchlights revealed Shen Lang's ship, still shrouded in black smoke. But as the wind blew, the smoke began to dissipate.
“Quickly, quickly! We have to capture Shen Lang. But don't get too close to his ship. There's bound to be poison! People of Mount Fudao, put on protective gear and board Shen Lang's ship! Dead or alive, he must be captured.”
Xixuan and Ying Han once again ran across the waves, heading back. At her forceful command, the disciples of Mount Fudao cautiously donned thick protective gear and rowed a small boat toward Shen Lang's ship. They were risking their lives. Having narrowly escaped death, Ying Han and Xixuan were no longer willing to take any risks. From a thousand meters away, they watched Shen Lang's large ship, supposedly undergoing a sea burial.
*'Shen Lang, I don't care what scheme you've cooked up. But you won't escape even if you have wings. There's nowhere to go out here. Even if you were an immortal, you couldn't get away.'*
Just then, a streak of fire shot through the smoke that filled the sky, climbing higher and higher.
*Rumble...*
Then, after an earth-shattering explosion, an astonishing fireball erupted from Shen Lang's ship. The fireball, like a giant torch, illuminated the entire sea. In its light, they witnessed an utterly astounding scene. Shen Lang was truly flying into the sky. He was rising higher and higher. Humans couldn't fly, so how was he ascending? Amidst the furiously exploding flames, everyone could finally see clearly. A basket was suspended beneath a large balloon, and under the balloon, a mass of flames burned brightly. Shen Lang was riding in a hot-air balloon, ascending higher and higher. Seeing this, Princess Xixuan's mind went numb. It was beyond belief. Shen Lang was actually flying away.
“Fire! Shoot him down with arrows!”
Even before she gave the command, the surrounding ships quickly closed in, firing all sorts of large crossbows into the sky. They fired not only ordinary large crossbows but also bows created using knowledge from ancient civilizations.
*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.*
The Transcendent Forces were truly impressive. They even had flaming arrows—arrows tinged with a blue light that could fly remarkably far. But it still wasn't within range. Shen Lang's hot-air balloon had already flown too high and too far. And it was still climbing higher. From the air, Shen Lang shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Xixuan, Ying Han! Remember this forever! You forced me to send my family into the Devil's Triangle. I will never forget that moment. It's because of you that my wife and my children entered that terrifying, unknown world. I will never forget the look in my wife's eyes or the sight of my child crying. My heart was torn to shreds. One day, when I return, I will come back to repay all of this tenfold, a hundredfold!
I could have killed you both, but that would have been too good for you. Did you think I would let you die so peacefully? I will make it so you can neither live nor die, and then I will make you perish miserably. I will make you regret ever being born into this world. Do you want to kill Ning Yuanxian and Ning Zheng? Dream on! Ying Han, Xixuan, what you just injected into your bodies was indeed the antidote. But do you think it was *only* the antidote? Hahaha!”
Shen Lang screamed with all his might from the hot-air balloon, but in truth, Ying Han and Xixuan couldn't hear his voice. But it didn't matter. For him, it was enough just to shout it out. Whether they heard him or not, shouting those words brought him a sense of catharsis.