The people still moving barrels in the warehouse suddenly froze. After a few seconds of confusion, they quickly realized and started shouting excitedly, “Yes!”

“That’s right! This method works, and since this ship isn’t ours, why be polite! You’re the best, handsome!”

Si Xuanyang impatiently said, “Hurry up and make the holes. There are axes and other tools in the room above; you can use them.”

The crowd responded and swarmed out.

At this moment, the ship was shaking violently. The waves had crashed onto the deck, causing everyone to stumble and fall in all directions, looking very disheveled.

Si Nan and Luo Yu also went to look for some useful weapons. Yu Sen asked Si Xuanyang to put him down and to find some torches.

Given the current level of the ship’s shaking, it was impossible for Si Xuanyang to find things while carrying someone, but it was absolutely not possible to leave the dizzy and disoriented Yu Sen alone here.

“Put me down first,” Yu Sen tugged at his collar, “If the sea monsters come, are you going to hold me and fight them?”

Though somewhat reluctant, Si Xuanyang had to admit the logic in Yu Sen’s words. He frowned and carefully set him down.

As soon as Yu Sen stood up, the dizziness from his head combined with the ship’s swaying gave him a hard knock. He held onto Si Xuanyang with one hand and the wall with the other, slowly sliding down to sit in a corner, his vision swirling and blurry.

“Well, this time we’re really done for,” Yu Sen said with a wry smile at Si Xuanyang, who had now appeared as a blur in front of him.

“Done for? Without you, they’d still be dumbly moving oil barrels out,” Si Xaunyang pushed aside Yu Sen’s damp hair and kissed his smooth forehead, whispering in his ear, “Just sit here and rest for a while. When you open your eyes again, we’ll be home.”

“Okay.” Yu Sen weakly smiled.

…

In fact, it wasn’t just Yu Sen who thought about needing torches. After gradually calming down, many people realized this and brought back several torches when they went to fetch axes and swords.

In medieval European ships, the wooden hulls were much more fragile than modern ones. A few people working together could open a hole with dozens of axe blows, allowing wind and sea waves to flow in through the gap.

A burly man pushed away two people beside him, swung his axe in the air, and then struck forcefully at the small hole.

With a few “crack” sounds, several connected wooden planks around the crack broke off and fell into the sea.

The ship’s hull was opened up, and the fierce sea wind rushed in.

At this moment, with the ship’s swaying, a barrel of oil that had come loose from its rope slid straight towards the hull’s opening.

The burly man, quick to react, hacked a few cracks into the barrel as it reached the edge. Yellow and black transparent liquid gushed out and immediately fell into the tumultuous sea.

The waves quickly carried the barrel away, moving it ten meters away.

“Stop standing around and get moving!” The burly man, out of breath, yelled angrily at the others, “One or two barrels won’t do much!”

In the shaking cabin, after a chaotic and noisy scramble, everyone began to take action.

As everyone worked together to cut a third hole in the hull, a sound different from the waves or collisions suddenly came from the deck above, followed by a series of hoarse breathing sounds.

The temperature in the cabin dropped sharply again.

Yu Sen lifted his eyelids uncomfortably, clenched his fist against his lips, and coughed a few times, “Cough, cough… The sea monsters are coming.”

Everyone’s faces turned a bit grim, but their actions didn’t slow down at all.

Yu Sen furrowed his brows, worried. According to the rules, each group should have received three of those antique items, all the same.

But their group had four people. Even though Luo Yu was sent by the pocket watch, he might have been recognized as already bound with their group, so there was no extra item.

So they only had one short sword.

And other weapons scavenged from the ship probably wouldn’t cause any substantial harm to the sea monsters.

“Yang Yang, watch my back later,” Si Nan, leaning against the wall, tugged at Si Xuanyang’s pants.

Si Xuanyang stroked his head, “Don’t worry.”

In fact, at such a life-threatening moment, everyone’s actions were swift.

Soon, thirty or so large barrels had been thrown into the sea from the two holes. After the oil flowed out, the color of the sea seemed to change when viewed from above.

At this point, the sea monsters had found the storage door, their bony wings flapping to support their bodies, and their large fish tails leaving long water trails on the ground.

Si Mayue gritted her teeth, “No time to wait. Light the torches and throw them down now!”

“Be careful not to ignite the other barrels inside! Don’t burn ourselves to ashes before burning the sea monsters!” Si Nan shouted.

The torches were pre-soaked in oil, bundled together, and the flames instantly illuminated the dim ship’s cabin.

It revealed the sea monsters’ vicious faces at the door.

It seemed the fire made them hesitant to rush in immediately, but when the person holding the torches shivered and threw the burning bundles into the sea, the snarling and hissing sounds were no longer restrained.

At the same time, the sea on the side where the fire had fallen was already ignited. Thick black smoke slowly rose, and even the wind couldn’t disperse it.

The screams of the sea monsters on the water and the shrieks of those in the ship’s hold resounded simultaneously as fierce battle erupted in the storage room.

Perhaps the witch’s divination showed that that day was suitable for capturing sea monsters because their strength would be weakened.

Although one swing of their tails could still knock down many people, their strength was almost on par with an average adult’s, not much stronger, avoiding a one-sided crisis.

Moreover, they had swords capable of injuring the sea monsters.

But the sea monsters were numerous, and they kept squeezing into the ship’s hold.

Yu Sen was still safe, with Si Xuanyang holding a short sword standing in front of him. With his skill, no matter how many sea monsters came, he could slice through them like cutting fish.

But Si Nan and Luo Yu were in a more chaotic situation. They had been helping to tip oil barrels earlier, standing by the holes, and as the ship rocked, they teetered, struggling to resist the sea monsters’ attacks.

Yu Sen held his breath and shouted at them, “Si Si! Light the torch! It’s more useful than your broken machete!”

“But what if we set the oil in the room on fire?”

“Don’t think too much! Just worry about saving your life first!” Yu Sen rolled his eyes. The fishy smell of the sea monsters’ blood, mixed with the thick smoke now rising, almost suffocated him.

Meanwhile, with the continuous fall of oil barrels onto the sea, it had turned into a burning inferno, the stench of the sea monsters’ scorched bodies aside; their shrill, piercing screams alone were enough to make one dizzy.

The number of sea monsters without flying abilities that were burned to death was increasing, but in the sky, only thick smoke, dark clouds, and steam could be seen, with the wind seemingly growing stronger.

As Si Nan lit a torch, the other survivors also lit flames one after another. The sea monsters feared fire, and the battle in the ship’s hold was still in a deadlock.

At this moment, a ferocious sea monster suddenly darted in through one of the ship’s holes, quickly wrapping its tail around the unsuspecting Si Mayue and dragging her out through the hole.

After a brief scream, there was nothing left outside but the sound of the waves and shrieks.

Si Nan’s face slightly changed. He was just three steps away from Si Mayue; if he had been unlucky and chosen, he would have been the one dead just now.

With the holes becoming a sudden danger and too many casualties, some were entangled with the sea monsters, and for a moment, no one was left to help Si Nan and Luo Yu throw oil barrels.

Yu Sen, coughing more violently from the smoke, lit a torch with the matches in his pocket and pushed Si Xuanyang’s leg hard: “Go help Si Nan and Luo Yu.”

Si Xuanyang had just slit a sea monster’s throat, turned around with a frown, a murderous look in his eyes, but before he could speak, Yu Sen cut him off: “Baby, I can’t hold on much longer. If no one throws oil barrels, I probably won’t last another half hour.”

Si Xuanyang trembled all over, took a deep look at Yu Sen’s pale, nearly transparent face, stuffed the short sword into Yu Sen’s other hand, kissed him quickly, and said, “Protect yourself, I promise we’ll be home soon.”

Then he turned and grabbed the nearest sea monster by the neck, dragging it to the hole and throwing it out like garbage.

With Si Xuanyang’s help, the pressure on Si Nan and Luo Yu lessened, and oil barrels were thrown into the sea one after another, the flames burning ever fiercer.

Yu Sen, holding the sword in his hand, initially breathed a sigh of relief because of the current situation, but suddenly felt an inexplicable chill envelop him.

His heart sank, sensing danger.

However, before he could call out to Si Xuanyang, another pair of cold lips silenced all his cries.

His eyes stung with pain, but when the sea monster in front of him revealed its form, Yu Sen recognized it as the one he had encountered in the illusion that night.

“Recognize me?” The sea monster’s eyes gleamed with amusement as it bit Yu Sen’s lips, speaking in a teasing tone.

The torch in his hand was extinguished by the cold, but perhaps the flames had been too bright to notice the short sword in his other hand.

A cold gleam flashed in Yu Sen’s eyes. Instead of pushing the monster away, he leaned in closer, hugging the sea monster and forcefully stabbing the short sword into its back.

Cold blood belonging to the sea monster spurted out.

“Ah!”

The pressure on his lips suddenly increased, with a sticky liquid oozing out, likely blood from being bitten.

“Yu Sen—!”

In his blurred vision, Si Xuanyang turned around to look at him, Si Xuanyang’s eyes changing drastically, the blood draining from his face as he rushed toward him.

But the sea monster, in its dying resentment and unwillingness, seemed to ignite the last of its strength, holding Yu Sen tightly, crashing through the ship’s hull behind him, and plunging with him from several meters high directly into the sea.

After a brief moment of weightlessness, as the seawater crashed into his body, almost tearing his organs apart, Yu Sen seemed to faintly see Si Xuanyang jumping down after him.

Before he could lament how foolish this person was, his consciousness was swallowed by complete darkness.

^[1]Author’s Note:

For me, loving him means letting him suffer in battle or become weak and sickly. Although Yu Sen is miserable, in pain, and hurt, please don’t doubt my love for him!!