Heart of the Ocean (25): Heart of God

The young master looked at the bodyguard who had been pinned to the ground by Tan Xiao. That bodyguard wasn’t the most skilled, but even unarmed, he could easily handle ten ordinary grown men.  

Instinctively, the young master shot a glance at the most capable member of his own team, who responded with a slight shake of his head—meaning there was no need to confront Tan Xiao.  

Their group now consisted of ten people in total. Two of them were researchers who, though dragging the team down in terms of combat, were highly skilled in their field. The young master himself, despite suffering from a terminal illness, was actually quite formidable in a fight. In other words, eight of them were strong combatants.  

On paper, it was eight against one, but Tan Xiao had already demonstrated extraordinary ability. Moreover, based on what they’d heard earlier—the voice that had carried so unnaturally far—it was likely that this stunningly handsome young man, who resembled a celestial being, had allies hidden in the shadows.  

Eight against two—no, now it was more like seven against two. Their chances of winning were decent, but who knew how much stamina they’d need to conserve for the challenges inside the temple? For the sake of a little pride, engaging in a fight here would be a poor trade-off.  

This heir was clearly adaptable. He immediately flashed a friendly smile at Tan Xiao. “A misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding. We actually owe you thanks for helping us up earlier. We’ll be on our way now.”  

He signaled to his people: “Let’s go.”  

Since they weren’t planning to fight, they needed to seize the initiative. As for the group still below—if they made it up, so be it. If they encountered any danger, sacrificing his own men would be a waste, but pushing the town’s locals into harm’s way? That didn’t bother him in the slightest.  

Weakening their opponents while preserving their own strength—that was a win-win.  

Seeing them leave, Tan Xiao lifted his foot and kicked the bodyguard—whose ribs he’d broken—aside.  

He had no intention of killing anyone, so the spot where he kicked the man was still within the safe zone. Whether the bodyguard would survive afterward or end up dead at the hands of the townsfolk was none of Tan Xiao’s concern. He couldn’t be bothered to care.  

He instructed Xiao Bai to keep an eye on the group’s movements and report back to him, while he secured the rope and waited for the townspeople to climb up.  

The first one to ascend was the man carrying the loudspeaker. After assessing the situation, he shouted down below: “What that guy said earlier was true! There’s nothing up here except a temple—oh, and a bunch of ghosts! Those ghosts are chasing a few people!”  

The ones being chased by the ghosts were none other than the members of the Changsheng Group.  

Unlike before, when the group had entered the ghosts’ attack range without drawing all of their attention, these spirits were far more interested in Wen Yi—the unique deep-sea creature.  

Had they not been guarding the temple for hours without detecting Wen Yi’s presence, the ghosts wouldn’t have even bothered with the Changsheng Group.  

Watching this scene unfold, Tan Xiao cautiously took a few steps forward. But the moment he crossed the safety line Wen Yi had drawn, the ghosts immediately turned their gaze toward him in unison.  

Being stared down by thousands of emotionless, frenzied figures was utterly chilling. Tan Xiao promptly withdrew his foot and stepped back.

Fortunately, although these ghosts were incredibly persistent and seemingly indestructible, they weren’t particularly powerful—at least, they weren’t fast enough to instantly swarm over the moment Tan Xiao’s presence was detected while still guarding the temple.  

It was precisely because of their sluggish speed that the Changsheng Group members had managed to lure some of them away.  

No matter how much those people stirred up trouble, none of it was as attention-grabbing as Tan Xiao—carrying the jellyfish—taking a single step forward and leaking even a trace of his aura.  

However, at this moment, the young master of the Changsheng Group, now being frantically chased by the ghosts, was too busy scrambling for his life to notice the minor disturbance Tan Xiao had caused.  

His face, which could barely be described as refined and handsome, twisted in fury. “Are these ghosts idiots?! They’re all crammed around the temple!”  

This temple wasn’t the kind with open pillars on all sides—it had only one entrance. But the doorway was completely packed with ghosts, leaving no gaps. The tiny jellyfish had shrunk to a minuscule size and slipped through the cracks between the spirits to escape.  

Humans, however, were a different story. The ghosts’ spectral forms completely blocked the temple. The idea of slipping past them to enter sounded like pure fantasy.  

After the townspeople confirmed it was safe, the frail old mayor was finally hoisted up with the help of the younger, stronger men.  

When the old mayor saw the temple, he was so overcome with emotion that tears streamed down his face. “Yes! This is where our ancestors were laid to rest! This must be the Sea God’s Temple!”  

Ignoring the others’ attempts to stop him, he strode toward the temple in excitement.  

Perhaps because the elderly man’s life force wasn’t as vibrant as a younger person’s, the ghosts barely paid him any attention—until he got close to the temple.  

Just as Tan Xiao was holding his breath in worry for the old mayor, the swarm of ghosts blocking the entrance… actually parted to make way for him. The old mayor simply walked right in.  

Tan Xiao’s eyes widened in shock. Why could he enter? What does he have on him? He thought he’d glimpsed a faint glow around the old man’s neck, but once he stepped inside, the ghosts immediately sealed the entrance again.  

Though the ghosts’ translucent bodies overlapped, Tan Xiao had only caught a fleeting glimpse of the mayor’s back—not enough to be sure of what he’d seen.  

“Mayor!” Other villagers who had climbed up followed after him, but they weren’t granted the same courtesy. The ghosts seized them, biting and tearing at their flesh, making them howl in agony as they fled in panic.  

A burly man, his arm bleeding from a ghost’s bite, frantically shook the spirit off and bolted toward the rope they’d used to climb up. “Holy shit! These ghosts eat people! Run!”  

Some panicked villagers even slid straight down the stone pillar in their haste—while climbing up had been difficult, going down was far easier.  

One of the mayor’s relatives shouted in alarm, “But the mayor! He’s still inside!”

Fortunately, the few who hadn’t managed to escape in time huddled near Tan Xiao, shaking their heads. “The mayor went in, but who knows how he did it? I’m not going in—no way I’m getting chewed to death by those ghosts while he’s fine in there.”  

There was no food or water up here anyway. The fact that he hadn’t already fled showed how much he respected the mayor.  

Tan Xiao had a theory forming in his mind. He considered approaching the temple again—but this time, he knew he couldn’t bring the jellyfish with him.  

He placed Wen Yi on Xiao Bai’s head, speaking solemnly: “Xiao Bai, I’m counting on you! If any ghosts chase you, run straight back to the safety line!”  

Tan Xiao was fast, but Xiao Bai was faster—a little lightning bolt of a dog.  

Xiao Bai barked firmly in response: “Woof! (Got it!)”  

He might not have been fond of the jellyfish, but he knew how important Wen Yi was to Tan Xiao. Besides, Wen Yi was Tan Xiao’s partner—which made him Xiao Bai’s other master. He could bicker with the silly jellyfish, but he’d never let anyone else hurt him.  

Xiao Bai dashed just beyond the safety line, and sure enough, with Wen Yi on his head, he immediately drew the attention of a swarm of ghosts.  

Seizing the opportunity, Tan Xiao sprinted toward the temple at full speed. At the same time, the jellyfish fragments inside the temple—following Tan Xiao’s earlier instructions—began merging together.  

He rushed in, scooped up the remaining pieces of Wen Yi, and in that instant, the scent-sensitive jellyfish ghosts immediately locked onto him.  

Brave little Xiao Bai charged into the danger zone, drawing their aggression. After a brief but frantic chase, the scattered jellyfish fragments finally reunited into one whole jellyfish.  

Tan Xiao stumbled back across the safety line, panting heavily—but his face broke into a relieved grin. According to Wen Yi’s earlier estimate, they would’ve needed at least ten days here for full recovery. Who knew what could’ve happened in that time? Now, Wen Yi had merged back together, unharmed. It was the best outcome.  

Unlike Tan Xiao, who only cared about getting Wen Yi out safely, the Changsheng Group took advantage of the chaos to slip into the temple, just like the mayor. Their arrogant young master kicked the murmuring old man aside and snatched a black stone pendant from his neck.  

He pressed the stone into a recess on the shrine’s altar, his face twisting with manic glee as the shrine opened, revealing a pulsating, azure-blue heart.  

When the box unlocked, the heart—still alive, still beating—lay inside. This was the heart of a god, a divine remnant sealed within the lost city.  

Even without its heart, the god remained immortal. The energy sustaining the ghosts had been siphoned from this very heart, trapped and drained by an intricate web of nearly invisible threads that fed its divine vitality to the spectral guardians.  

If they could study this heart, they could create a true elixir of immortality. The terminally ill young master stared at the heart with naked greed, intoxicated by the sheer power radiating from it.  

His family’s rise to wealth had come from obtaining just a fragment of the god’s broken body. Yet here, in one of the twelve temples, lay the god’s actual heart!  

His original plan had been to search temple by temple, braving traps left by the lost city’s inhabitants—but fate had smiled upon him. The first temple he’d chosen held the prize he sought.  

It was destiny. That stunningly handsome young man and this backwater island’s mayor had practically delivered the heart to him!  

Without hesitation, he reached for the heart—and the moment his fingers closed around it, the entire temple crumbled into sand.  

The ghosts, who had been chasing and biting, were instantly obliterated, vanishing without even ash to mark their passing. Tan Xiao could’ve sworn he saw expressions of relief on their faces as they faded.  

But the young master never got the chance to harness the heart’s power. Blue divine energy erupted from it, reducing him to cinders in an instant.  

“No—!” His final moments mirrored the twisted horror of Edvard Munch’s The Scream, a silent tableau of terror.  

The heart, now unrestrained, unleashed a surge of energy. The transparent barrier protecting the lost city shattered, and the sea—along with the monstrous failed experiments lurking beyond—crashed into the crumbling stone ruins.  

Is this where I die? Faced with imminent death, Tan Xiao felt an unexpected calm. Maybe because he’d already cheated death once, he wasn’t as afraid as he’d thought he’d be.  

Amid the chaos, one group rejoiced—the surviving players. With the barrier gone, their revival items were active again. Even if they failed the main mission, they wouldn’t truly die. Some even had teleportation items—they might still make it out alive!  

And then, as if drawn by fate, the heart—a relic capable of reshaping the world—drifted through the flooding ruins toward Tan Xiao, who now huddled inside the expanded bell of a much-enlarged jellyfish, Xiao Bai clutched in his arms.  

The heart touched the jellyfish’s translucent membrane—and Wen Yi’s tentacles instinctively seized it. Before Tan Xiao’s eyes, the heart fused seamlessly into the jellyfish’s body, embedding itself like a glowing jewel just below its face.