Chapter 43: The Whale’s Song Is No More

Splash…

The moment the Inner World was pried open, Qiu Qiqian felt as if she had plunged into the deep sea again.

All sensations on her body surface were instantly filled by something else—by that icy seawater.

The clothes on her body, even the skin underneath, were now soaked through with the cold seawater.

Her gray long hair drifted in the water like silk, giving off a fairy-tale beauty in this eerie space.

The cold… even caused some parts of Li Meng’s body to physiologically stiffen slightly, though the one feeling that now wasn’t Li Meng herself.

Besides that, weightlessness, darkness, stickiness—all of it rushed in at once, accompanied by the pressure unique to the deep sea.

As a Guiyi, she originally couldn’t feel that so-called pressure, but now, possessing Li Meng’s body, she could experience it through Li Meng’s body.

Fortunately, Li Meng’s physique was terrifyingly strong.

This level of pressure only gave her a slight sensation—but did it really have any effect?

The answer was no.

Qiu Qiqian, controlling Li Meng’s body, looked up.

There was not a single speck of light above—none at all—as if she had wandered into a dark, lightless world.

Not only that, but this Inner World itself seemed to intentionally block their perception.

Even with the unique Guiyi vision that was unafraid of darkness, it was hard to see anything in this space.

But at least… it wasn’t completely blind.

‘Xiao Qian, leave the rest to me.’ In the inner world, Li Meng’s voice rang out, still as soft as water.

‘After this, just stay in my body’s state.

That way I can perform better.’

‘But it’s all water here.

After I return the body to you, won’t you suffocate…’

‘Don’t worry~ Even if it looks like water, it’s essentially just water simulated using Nether Breath in the Inner World.

I just need to use my own Nether Breath to build a membrane around myself.’

‘Is that so?

Alright.’

“Li Meng” closed her eyes, silently exchanging the dominant consciousness within.

When she opened them again, her pupils had returned to their normal gray, now with a faint blue ring—this was because she had used the remaining Guiyi Nether Breath as a catalyst to activate Mingxi Tracking.

In this nearly pitch-black Inner World, Mingxi Tracking provided a fairly clear field of vision.

The Nether Breath that the Guiyi had left here, as well as the Guiyi itself… were both exceptionally conspicuous.

However, before formally tracking it, Li Meng had to deal with something else.

She released her own Nether Breath, directly evaporating the seawater that had soaked her clothes.

The pure white Nether Breath continued to expand outward, pushing the seawater that had been surrounding Li Meng away, eventually forming a thin film around her that could block seawater—just like the Water Repelling Spell mentioned in certain myths and fantasy novels.

After solving the breathing problem, Li Meng began to move, following the flow of Nether Breath in her field of vision.

The target didn’t seem to be hiding.

The space remained stable, without using a “Ghost Wall” or summoning other Guiyi to slow Li Meng down, as ordinary Guiyi would.

Even… that Guiyi was continuously approaching Li Meng, not far above her.

Was it going to initiate an attack?

Li Meng instinctively became alert, and Qiu Qiqian inside her body also tensed up.

Unlike when Qiu Qiqian was in control of Li Meng’s body, when she wasn’t dominant, she could only observe and listen to the outside through Li Meng’s perspective like a bystander, unable to speak.

Otherwise, why would she always have to manifest to chat with Li Meng?

As the Guiyi swam down from above toward Li Meng, Li Meng also moved closer to it.

The source of the Nether Breath kept approaching.

Li Meng had even prepared herself for battle.

Until… she saw “that thing” drifting toward her.

Li Meng found it hard to describe what she was seeing…

It was a giant object, an immensely huge object, with no visible end.

She could barely make out some… tissue that seemed like flesh but not quite flesh, and bumps that looked like patterns.

It had no extra movements, but just its presence was enough to shake a normal person’s soul.

Especially in this pitch-black deep sea, such a thing was suffocating, despairing.

Even if you merged several office buildings together, you couldn’t replicate its oppressive presence.

If this thing was a Guiyi, Li Meng would have gotten serious immediately—at least she wouldn’t have been just watching it drift toward her like this.

With such a massive size, the Nether Breath contained within it would definitely not be underestimated.

It could even be the most powerful Guiyi Li Meng had ever encountered.

But… Li Meng could feel that it was a dead object.

Yes, a dead object deader than a “Guiyi.”

If she had to use an analogy, it was like a balloon, filled with some Nether Breath inside but with no combat capability at all.

The source of that Nether Breath wasn’t this giant thing, but a relatively much smaller whale attached beneath it.

Its body was swollen compared to a normal whale, its abdomen looked as if it had been sliced open with a blade, various organs half-exposed, swaying back and forth as it swam.

Ugh— Aaang—

The whale attached beneath the giant object let out a Whale Call.

The ethereal sound echoed through the deep sea, but no other whale could answer it.

So it called out again, and again…

Gradually, Li Meng, and Qiu Qiqian inside her, could vaguely understand some meaning.

It was calling for companions.

But in this deep sea, still no whale could answer it.

After all, the giant whale it had created was nothing more than a dead object, drifting with the currents as if swimming…

A feeling called loneliness arose in both Qiu Qiqian’s and Li Meng’s hearts…

They could roughly sense what this whale-shaped Guiyi was feeling at that moment.

However, as a Youxun who had eliminated countless Guiyi, Li Meng knew it was foolish to humanize them.

Except for the special case of Qiu Qiqian, all the “humanity” and “emotions” displayed by Guiyi were nothing but the last obsessions of souls.

Like a hollowed-out shell, leaving only fragments that could hardly be called a self.

Although it was indeed somewhat pitiful, and hadn’t even attacked her yet, it had already harmed people—and thus, there was no need to keep it around.

The only respect she could give was to use her ability to make it disappear without pain.

If it could still feel pain.

“…………”

She extended her slender, pale index finger toward the Whale Aberration clinging under the giant object.

Her eyes shifted, carrying both a killing intent and a trace of pity.

“[Void Dimension Gap]”

***

The next day…

Blue Abyss Aquarium opened as usual.

The Youxun who had been guarding the periphery of the aquarium last night had already left.

Everything looked the same as before, still bustling with activity.

“Oh my, as expected of the youngest Youxun and her partner, taking care of that Guiyi in one go.”

Inside the office, Yu Sheng was enjoying a glass of red wine, watching the crowd outside the window, in a great mood.

“That beast… even dead, it couldn’t save me trouble.

But now, nothing’s left… Hmph, that’s fine.

This way, they won’t discover what I’ve done.”

In a wonderful mood, Yu Sheng even specially turned on the old gramophone he had placed in his office.

The beautiful sound of classical music came from it, infusing the entire office with an artistic atmosphere.

“Yu Sheng! We are the police! We are arresting you on charges of endangering rare animals! Please come out of the room with your hands behind your head! Do not resist!”

Outside, the police’s firm voice directly shattered Yu Sheng’s good time.

The wine in his hand nearly slipped and fell to the ground.

‘Police? Why are they here?

Who called the cops?!

Yuan Fu?

Impossible, that guy has gone crazy.

How could anyone believe his words?’

Yu Sheng’s heart skipped a beat, but he wasn’t stupid enough to admit it directly.

Instead, he cautiously probed:

“Uh… Officer, is there some misunderstanding here?

All the fish in my aquarium are legal.

Where does ‘endangering rare animals’ come from?”

“The evidence is conclusive.

Don’t try to deny it.

Please cooperate with us, or we will take forceful measures.”

‘Tch… Who ratted me out…

And how could they find evidence?’

Yu Sheng was still hesitant inside, but the police outside wouldn’t give him time to hesitate.

Helpless, Yu Sheng had no choice but to walk out of the office.

The moment he opened the door, a police officer lying in ambush instantly apprehended him, pressing his hands behind his back and putting handcuffs on him.

“Officer, this… there must be some misunderstanding…

Where is the evidence?

Someone must be framing me!”

“Last night, someone reported that there were remnants of whale tissue in the city’s sewer system.

After analysis by the health and environmental department, it was confirmed.

Then another report came in that in your aquarium, there is a locked warehouse storing a complete set of whale bones, no older than 40 days.

In addition, we also found whale DNA in the empty tank that originally held pelagic fish.”

“We investigated your aquarium’s financial system and found no expenditure related to whales, indicating that it was not obtained legally.

Do you still want to deny it at this point?”

‘This… how is this possible…

Only Yuan Fu knew about these things!

Wasn’t he crazy?

How could he… how could he have leaked these secrets?!’

“Yeah, wasn’t Yuan Fu crazy?

How did you find out, Xiao Qian?”

The perspective shifted to Li Meng’s home.

Li Meng was sitting at the dining table, curiously asking Qiu Qiqian.

“Heh, it was simple.

I just pretended to be that Whale Guiyi, didn’t I?” Qiu Qiqian replied with a light laugh, shaking the chopsticks in her hand in a showy manner.

It turned out that after dealing with the Whale Aberration last night, Qiu Qiqian and Li Meng both felt something was off.

They sensed the matter wasn’t truly resolved.

That Yu Sheng… must have hidden something from them.

But asking directly wouldn’t yield anything, and the staff seemed to not know the truth either.

At that moment, Qiu Qiqian suddenly remembered Yuan Fu, that crazy man.

A plan came to her mind.

She specifically went with Li Meng to the Psychiatric Hospital again.

This time, after switching to her Spirit Body and entering, she deliberately pretended to be that Whale Guiyi, whispering in Yuan Fu’s ear: ‘If you tell me everything you’ve done, I’ll stop haunting you.’

Yuan Fu, who valued his life, actually blurted out everything he and Yu Sheng had done.

From illegally purchasing a whale calf, to dismembering and dissolving it after its death, and finally to Yu Sheng keeping the calf’s bones separately as a collection to satisfy his vanity.

He didn’t even suspect why a Whale Guiyi would speak in a human female’s voice.

Well… that was understandable, since he was already crazy.

As for that whale calf… all we can say is, if there is a next life, may it swim freely with its companions in the ocean and never encounter such a thing again.

Ugh— Aaang—