Yang Ze didn't remember what happened after he used his newly gained talent, Tempest Call. He could remember using both his mental and internal energy, hoping to create a cyclone strong enough to kill that large boar and the serpent. But when he wanted to stop... he couldn't.

Both his mind and dantian turned into broken dams, unable to hold back the mental and internal energy in his body. And the cyclone that he wanted to form began to drain it all, and when his internal and mental energy wasn't enough, it even began to drain his life force.

By the time Yang Ze realised what was happening, it was already too late. He could only watch helplessly as his life began to fade.

And after that... endless darkness.

"Hmm..."

"Hmm Hmm..."

"Hmm Hmmm Hmmm..."

It was the soft humming of a tune that woke him up, and the first thing that greeted his sight wasn't the shattered grassland or the corpses of the demonic beasts but the back of a mature woman.

"Where..." Yang Ze wanted to ask where he was, but the moment he opened his mouth, he felt an intense pain in his throat as well as his body. It took all his strength to close his barely opened mouth once again, and it was only then that he noticed his parched lips as if he had been thirsty for weeks.

Unable to move his body, Yang Ze could only look around in confusion before he finally realised where he was.

'A boat?' Muttering in his mind, he darted his eyes around. At the moment, he seemed to be lying on top of a small rowboat. It was a small boat, barely large enough for one person, but because of his small stature, other than feeling a bit cramped, he wasn't facing any difficulties.

He looked in the sky, but there were no stars or moon. It was just pitch black. He barely lifted his head to look around, only to see a small lamp hanging in front of the rowboat that was currently illuminating the boat and its surroundings, letting him see things.

Around him, other than the seemingly endless ocean, there was nothing else.

'What the hell... Where am I?' The first thing that came to Yang Ze's mind was that he somehow teleported into the ocean and was heading towards the fog. Otherwise, there was no way to explain his current situation.

In the entire Azure Dragon Continent, though there were massive rivers and lakes, there weren't any water bodies as large as this. This was definitely an ocean.

Thinking about all the horrors that lay at the sea and in the fog surrounding it, Yang Ze's back was covered in cold sweat.

He wanted to scream and tell the woman to turn around.

He even wanted to jump out of the boat and find a way back. But alas! With his current condition, it was next to impossible.

"Hmm"

"Hmm... Hmm..."

"Hmmm... Hmmm... Hmmm..."

The familiar tune was played in his ears once again, and this time, Yang Ze finally managed to lift his right hand and patted on the boat's hull. He didn't even realise that his right hand, which was a mangled mess of flesh and bone, was completely fine now.

*Tuck... tuck...

This action of his immediately made the woman stop.

"Hmm!?" After noticing Yang Ze waking up, the woman spoke in a soft voice.

"You are awake?"

Yang Ze, who was still having difficulty trying to speak, suddenly found that his dry throat was completely fine. Other than not being able to move, he had no problem speaking.

"Where am I?" This was what he wanted to know the most. He was afraid that he was in the ocean and was now heading towards the fog.

"....." The woman didn't give him an answer but quietly sat there, gently rowing the boat.

"Who are you?" Yang Ze asked again, but this time he changed the question. If he truly was in the ocean, then this woman who brought him here would be someone beyond his understanding. He was on the other end of the continent, far away from the ocean, just beside the Endless Mountains.

For someone to take him from there into the ocean... he didn't need anyone to tell him what that meant.

"Sigh!"

This time, the woman finally stopped rowing the boat before letting out a soft sigh.

"Where do you think we are?"

Yang Ze didn't even need to think to give an answer.

"In the ocean." He replied without any hesitation.

"...."

"...."

"I see." The woman gave a simple reply with a nod.

"Why?" Listening to her, Yang Ze had a bad feeling in his heart. Could it be that he was not in the ocean? But if he wasn't in the ocean, then where was he?

"Where am I?" Now he was beginning to panic a little.

"Relax." The woman's voice echoed in his ears once again, bringing him a strange sense of calm.

"How about I tell you a story?"

"....." Though Yang Ze was confused about where he was or what was going on, he still nodded in response, wanting to hear what she had to say.

"Hehe." The woman let out a soft, gentle chuckle, but Yang Ze felt like he could hear the sadness and helplessness in her voice.

He simply kept quiet and listened as the woman started her story.

"Once, there was a captain who often used to travel the sea."

"He wasn't strong, or burly or outstanding in any way, but he had a gentleness about him that one couldn't find even if they searched all over the world."

"The captain, of course, wasn't alone."

"On his small ship, his wife always stood at the front, telling him about the path ahead and around them, whereas his two children lived below deck. The girl was thin like seaweed, with braids in her hair, and the boy looked just like his father... That same face, that same jawline, that same gentleness about him... Hell, he even had the same spots on his skin like water drops and that same gentle laughter."

Speaking till here, the woman paused for a moment before letting out a mouthful of air.

"But the sea is a jealous bitch. Isn't she?"

"One particular night, it took the captain in a big storm that was as black as this darkness around us."

"And with that storm, the ship broke a little. The mast fell like a sad heart. There was no call, no splash, just absolute emptiness."

"With the torn sails, the ship went on slowly. This time, it was the wife who held the wheel. But the salt in her throat was burning her. She looked at the empty spaces around her where her strength used to be, but to no avail."

"Every night grew colder, dark and longer. The space below the deck, which was usually filled with joy and laughter, was now cold, seemingly devoid of any life."

By now, the woman's voice had grown increasingly soft as she continued further.

"Many times, the boy would come close to her and ask, 'Mom, when will the sun come back?', but how could she give him an answer?"

"She just held him tightly and sang an old song about a mermaid who gave her tail for a man's warm bed."

"But those words tasted bitter in her mouth."

"Below the deck, the girl would cry herself to sleep, dreaming of her father's pipe smoke."

"For days, the wife fought the dark. She fought the loneliness, the crying of her children and a crushing realisation that her life was never going to be the same ever again."

"And then..."

Speaking till here, the woman's voice turned a bit hoarse.

"Then, she saw lights in the distance."

"Those lights were fire from people like her who carried torches and searched the wrecks for things.

'Come to us', they said in sweet voices, and the wife followed. She traded her pretty things for strong drinks. Drinks that were yellow like fire and burned her sadness away."

"It warmed the boy with food in his stomach... it warmed the girl with stories..."

"And the more she drank, the more she heard whispers in her ears. Telling her to forget everything... Her fear, her anger, her helplessness... everything."

"One drink and the wife's hands stopped shaking. Two drinks, and she saw the father's ghost moving in with a smile. Three drinks and the once empty space on her ship was full of laughter and joy again."

"Day after day, she would indulge herself in the drinks, talking to ghosts in her mind. Her eyes have now turned into glass that looks like the sea. Every day, she would talk to the empty bed beside her, constantly muttering, 'He is here, my love, in the salt and the water'. "

"Seeing such a state of his mother, the boy knew he had to do something. So, he took on the task of sailing the boat. He would fix nets in the morning, harvest in the evening and stay away from his mother in the night."

"Days passed like this, drifting aimlessly. The people with fire now demanded more... They no longer wanted her precious trinkets for the strong drink, but a gift. Their voices, constantly guiding the woman, telling her what she needed to do."

"And then one night, under a bright moon, the woman took him to the father's old box."

"And when she opened the box... instead of old maps, or the father's possession, the box had a mirror."

"The woman laughed and laughed and laughed... 'See', she said, with fingers pointing towards the reflection in the mirror. 'Your father came back to guide us."

"In the fog of the drink, the boy was the father. Same face, same hard hands from pulling ropes, same gentleness... And the people with the fire began to sing louder and louder... Join the blood, fix the broken part, share the light, or all sink."

"And so she did what a wife of a captain must do. Afterall, it was her job..."

"She pulled him into the shadow of the box with her hands heavy as chains, pushed him down. She laughed again and again and again. Her maniac laughter, coupled with the despairing shouts of the boy and her pleasurable moans, made the ship home once again."

"Hours passed, but her laughter only grew louder. Her burning drink covered the boy's noise."

"The people carrying the fire came close, like hungry wolves who have smelled blood. They demanded their gifts."

"They then took turns holding the wheel. They 'helped watch' to keep the ship from sinking. And just beneath the deck, the girl slept peacefully, completely unaware of the fight on the deck."

"Her dreams stayed safe. And the boy?"

'"He learned the sea's way of life."

"No longer covered in gloom, no longer asking anything, no longer needing anything.'

"He was the sailor now, whether he liked it or not."

"He learned the sea's hard mercy; bodies break, but souls splice."

"And in his desperation, he glimpsed it... a long thread, binding mother to son to ghost, turning grief's poison to power."

"They were no longer aimless... no longer drifting alone. Though scarred, they floated... And the darkness finally parted, just enough for the dawn."

Speaking till here, the woman went silent for a long time, letting Yang Ze digest everything that she had just said.

It wasn't until almost ten minutes passed that her voice once again sounded in Yang Ze's ears, bringing him out of his daze.

"So tell me..."

"Was it a sin, that union? Or was it salvation?"

"After all, the wife kept her children from the deep water. Your deep water, maybe, by putting them into her broken self."

"It wasn't an easy task. It wasn't an easy job... Doing what you must is like a cold, hard river; if you fight it, you will sink by yourself. You should accept the flow... or you will tip over the boat for everyone again."

"Isn't that right?"

"..." Yang Ze quietly gazed at the woman's back. He wanted to stand up, but there was just no strength in his body.

"...."

"...."

"You didn't answer my question." The woman spoke once again.

"Tell me..."

"Was it a sin, that union? Ot was it salvation?"

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