The woman flushed, a hint of embarrassment coloring her tanned face, before she finally squeezed out that sentence.
She stuttered slightly, her accent stiff and her voice sounding somewhat out of control.
It was obvious she hadn’t spoken to anyone in a long time.
“The…
the fish were clearly from me!
Who are you calling a thief!”
“So you admit you were the one who gave me the fish?” Ling Shuying smiled faintly.
The savage looked even more embarrassed.
She stared at Ling Shuying, who was blocking her way, and then down at the grilled fish in her hands.
Her brows knitted together tightly as she clicked her tongue several times.
Finally, she let out a heavy sigh.
Deflated, she plopped down by the fireplace and began to eat the fish.
She sat without any regard for her image, and her way of eating could only be described as ferocious.
As she chewed, she mumbled indistinctly, MUMBLE MUMBLE, “I was the one who gave them to you.
I gave them to you.
You saved my life that day, so a few fish is my way of paying back the favor.
“If you have questions, ask them quickly.
As soon as I finish eating, I’m leaving.”
Ling Shuying kept her expression neutral, but her mind was racing.
She wanted to know so much—about this woman’s identity, about the Wave Ruins, and about the people on the other islands.
In a flash, three soul-searching questions popped into her mind.
Without hesitation, she fired them at the savage:
“Who are you?
“Where did you come from?
“What are you doing here?”
The savage continued to eat.
She pulled two fish bones from her mouth and answered without looking up, “My name is Hai Yao.
I’m from Bihai Island.
“…I wasn’t paying attention when I went into the sea to catch fish, and a wave washed me over here.”
When she said this, the composure she had just regained slipped into embarrassment for a fleeting moment.
“You’re asking me where I came from, but aren’t you the outsider here?” Her speech was gradually becoming more fluent as she chewed on the fish.
Ling Shuying hadn’t expected to be rebutted by someone who had just been stuttering moments ago.
She immediately changed the subject.
“Where is Bihai Island?
How many people are on the island?
And how many people still live in the Wave Ruins?”
Faced with Ling Shuying’s rapid-fire questions, Hai Yao munched on the grilled fish, NOM NOM.
Taking her time, she teased in return, “My, my, what’s the rush, little girl?
Afraid of bad guys?
If you’re afraid of bad guys, just go back to your City State.
Or could it be that you can’t go back?”
Ling Shuying glared at her and didn’t waste words.
“You’re still eating my fish.
Speak.”
“What do you mean your fish?
Then she answered, “Bihai Island is just Bihai Island.
I was swept here by a wave, so I don’t know the exact location of this place.
But if I had a boat, I could row back.
“You City State people love calling this place the Wave Ruins.
The Wave Ruins…
does that even sound good?
We call it the Pingbo Islands.
“The Pingbo Islands are made up of many small islands, but only a few are habitable.
Bihai Island is one of them.
The others are either overrun by beasts, lacking in food and water, or surrounded by Abyssal Vortexes that make it impossible to land.”
At this point, she grinned and pointed at the ground.
“The area around this island is the type where Abyssal Vortexes occur frequently.
We’re on the very edge, so no one can get in.”
Mentioning the Abyssal Vortex seemed to remind her of the incident at the beach.
She flashed a goofy grin at Ling Shuying, displaying a mouth full of large white teeth.
Ling Shuying thought, “Not bad, she still has a conscience.” With the tension easing slightly, she continued her questioning.
“Have you seen anyone else from the City States?”
“I saw two a few years ago.
They came to the island begging for food, but no one let them into the village.
I don’t know what happened to them after that.
They probably starved to death.
“Most of you from the City States were exiled, right?
There are quite a few around here.
The islanders refuse to let them ashore, so they hide on the deserted islands.
They usually don’t live very long.”
Hai Yao tore off another bite of the grilled fish and paused.
“However, I did hear about one guy.
On a small island in the southwest of the archipelago, he drove away all the wild beasts and built a village by himself.”
Ling Shuying was startled.
She wondered what kind of person could be so formidable as to build a village single-handedly.
She hurriedly pressed, “Is he still there?”
At that moment, Hai Yao picked a fishbone from her mouth.
Still looking unsatisfied, she wiped her hands, shook the fish skeleton, and said, “I’m done eating.
I’m leaving.”
Ling Shuying frowned and stepped in front of the door to block her.
“I asked that question before you finished eating.”
“And I said I’d only answer before I finished.
Now I’m done.
You want to stop me?” Hai Yao’s face immediately darkened.
She stood up, the flames blazing behind her casting an inverted shadow that looked just like a wild beast.
Ling Shuying felt a headache coming on.
This woman was stubborn, hot-tempered, and a bit haughty.
Plus, her fists were huge.
If Ling Shuying actually tried to force her to stay, it would inevitably end in a fierce battle.
“You can go,” Ling Shuying replied faintly, stepping aside to leave the doorway half open.
“That’s more like it.” Hai Yao stepped halfway out the door.
Pausing in the threshold, she turned back and added mysteriously, “If you want to know about that man, bring me more fish to eat.”
With that, she left without looking back.
This woman looked simple-minded, but she was actually quite scheming.
She had deliberately held back the information just to pull this stunt?
Watching Hai Yao’s departing figure, Ling Shuying was left speechless.
She felt as though she had just been outsmarted by a random stray cat on the side of the road.
Fortunately, grilling fish wasn’t too difficult.
At worst, she would just grill some more for her.
The sun was about to set.
Having eaten some of the grilled fish earlier, Ling Shuying didn’t feel hungry at all.
She went to the Sea Erosion Cave for her routine maintenance of the algae seedlings, built a shrimp trap on the beach, and picked two coconuts to take home.
The danger on the island was resolved, and life had returned to normal!
She skillfully pried open a coconut.
The sweet, refreshing fragrance filled her nose, and the coconut water sloshed inside with a soft SWISH SWISH.
A cool sip went down her throat, quenching her thirst in a deeply satisfying way.
Clutching the coconut, Ling Shuying retreated into the study.
A leisurely, quiet, and comfortable life was meant to be spent with coconut water and books.
Holding a candle, Ling Shuying scanned the bookshelf, searching for something that caught her interest.
She searched and searched.
A small, faded white book caught her eye.
She wiped the dust off its spine.
The title was already blurred, and she could only faintly make out the words: ‘Delin Poem’.
Delin Poem?
She wondered which forgotten poet in the vast ocean of history had penned it.
Ling Shuying flipped it open casually.
After a few pages, her eyes settled on one of the poems, which read:
No need to look at the road ahead or the path behind.
Allow yourself to drown in the Cradle.
Like a small boat swaying on the sea.
Like a small boat swaying on the sea…
Ling Shuying was somewhat moved by this short poem.
She carefully savored its lingering charm and curled up in her chair, feeling as if she were truly sinking into the Cradle.
She suddenly thought of the algae seeds she had developed.
How had they been handled?
And what was the true stance of the director who had let her leave?
In the vast ocean, on this solitary island, she really did feel like a small boat, swaying and drifting along.
Leaning back in her chair, Ling Shuying’s thoughts raced through her mind.
She felt as though she could sense the gentle caress of rippling waves.
Like a fallen leaf, neither swimming nor sinking, she just floated quietly on the surface of the sea.
Sinking into the Cradle, she fell asleep.