With a swift motion, Li Yifei suddenly embraced Sophia, who hadn’t expected him to hold her in such a situation and instinctively wanted to fight back.
But because Li Yifei’s move could be considered a sneak attack, he had already tightly clamped her arm, preventing her from moving. Just as she was about to speak, she let out a low growl, her eyes almost bulging out, for at his lower body was a cold sensation—clearly, Sophia’s Flying Dagger. With a mere twitch of her fingers, he’d be turned into a real eunuch.
However, Li Yifei still didn’t let go, staring into Sophia’s eyes and shouting, "I’ve been through life and death with them. If any of them gets hurt, I’ll die with them!"
It was then that Sophia realized why Li Yifei was holding her. She looked at him coldly, her lips moved, seemingly saying something, but with the storm so fierce, Li Yifei couldn’t hear a thing. Sophia, however, had already put away her dagger, and Li Yifei immediately released her, a cold sweat breaking out all over his body. This woman was truly too dangerous.
Diving into the water once more, Li Yifei was much more cautious, but Sophia didn’t make any further moves, which somewhat comforted him. It seemed that the words he had said earlier had an effect.
Since the moment Li Yifei and Sophia had exchanged those words, Su Mengxin, Xu Shanshan, and Michelle felt even more stirred when it was Li Yifei’s turn to give them the Breathing Transition. Adversity revealed true feelings; Li Yifei’s words were more touching than any sweet nothings.
After holding on for more than half an hour, Li Yifei seemed to be at the end of his strength. Although Su Mengxin and the others hadn’t exerted much effort, the seawater was very cold under the storm, and the constant diving and surfacing also drained a lot of their energy. They too lacked the strength to go on. If this continued, they all knew that death was the only thing awaiting them.
But it seemed as if their lives were not destined to end just yet—the storm suddenly weakened, and the waves were no longer so violent, which brought great joy to Li Yifei. He quickly urged everyone to rally, and at that moment, everyone felt a surge of energy, sustaining them for a significant amount of additional time.
The wind stopped, the rain ceased, and they floated on the surface of the sea, none wanting to move even a finger.
The afternoon sun became somewhat warmer, bringing a sense of warmth to their bodies, and finally, they slowly regained some vitality.
"Brother-in-law, we’ve finally made it through," Xu Shanshan took a deep breath and held Li Yifei’s hand tightly underwater.
Li Yifei grinned and replied, "Yeah, we made it." But his heart was far from relaxed. Now that everyone was so exhausted, and they were lost in the vast ocean, only finding land would mean real safety. What was most troubling was that his watch, which had a positioning system, had gone missing at some point. Zheng Mingrui could have used it to locate him, but now they had lost this most critical lifeline.
"Brother-in-law, I’m hungry!" Xu Shanshan muttered at that moment.
Li Yifei nodded and said, "That’s easy to fix. Let’s have some sashimi." Then he turned to Sophia, "Can you help us catch a few fish now?"
Sophia snorted, and though she didn’t answer, she promptly dived into the water. Soon after, she surfaced with two fish, each weighing over two pounds, in hand.
Li Yifei said with a smile, "Thank you. Oh, could you lend me a knife?"
This time Sophia was surprisingly cooperative, handing over a small knife to Li Yifei. Li Yifei then skillfully sliced open the fish skin and cut the flesh into thin slices, saying, "This is real sashimi, as fresh as it gets. It’s not often we get to enjoy this." As he spoke, he took a piece and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing and praising, "Good, so fresh, so delicious. Come on, everyone, have some."
Sophia didn’t stand on ceremony and immediately started eating. For her and Li Yifei, as long as it was about survival, not to mention eating sashimi, they would even eat poisonous snakes and scorpions without hesitation.
Su Mengxin, Xu Shanshan, and Michelle had also eaten sashimi before, but it was always in restaurants with seasonings, so they didn’t feel repulsed by it. Now, seeing the sashimi that had just been cut, they couldn’t help feeling averse.
However, seeing Li Yifei and Sophia eat it with relish, and also being extremely hungry themselves, they finally pushed through and ate a few pieces. The sashimi wasn’t all that delicious and was quite fishy, but they all understood that if they didn’t eat, they would have no strength and would just become a great burden. At this moment, they all showed exceptional fortitude.
"Eh, Yifei, it seems like we are drifting with the current?" Mengxin suddenly spoke up after eating the sashimi.
Li Yifei had already realized this and said, "This should be an ocean current. If we are lucky, the current will bring us closer to the shore. If we are unlucky, then we can only be carried further and further away."
"What should we do?" Xu Shanshan asked worriedly.
Li Yifei chuckled and said, "We don’t have a choice. We’re already in this current, and it’s impossible to swim out, so we can only go with the flow."
"Mm, then let’s just go with the flow and take it as if we’re sightseeing. We’ve got sashimi to eat as well, which is pretty good." Mengxin had a positive attitude, still speaking in an easygoing tone at this moment.
When it came to experience at sea, Sophia couldn’t compare to Li Yifei. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have recklessly thought about bringing Li Yifei and the others to the island in a small boat. Now she could do nothing but follow Li Yifei and the others.
The current was getting faster and faster, and now everyone felt that even swimming was futile, so they simply had to let themselves be carried along.
This current was truly unpredictable, and after more than three hours had passed, everyone was uncertain about where they had been taken, with no signs of the current slowing down.
And now the sun was getting closer and closer to the horizon. Li Yifei’s heart was getting increasingly anxious. Once night fell, the temperature on the sea would drop a lot, and to maintain body temperature, one would consume a lot of energy. It was hard to say whether they could endure through the night.
"Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, is that land over there?" Xu Shanshan suddenly shouted.
Li Yifei turned his head and saw a dark expanse, then immediately rejoiced, "That’s an island, we must swim to that island."
"Great!" Xu Shanshan and the others responded in unison at once.
Li Yifei looked toward Sophia and said, "Now, both of us must work hard together; otherwise, neither of us will be able to make it across."
Sophia once again had the thought of abandoning the three women, but Li Yifei’s words caused her to abandon this idea, and she nodded.