As Bai Sha and the others observed the Demon cultivators outside Lost Island, those cultivators also noticed them. However, most simply glanced over before losing interest.
This allowed Bai Sha’s group to breathe a sigh of relief.
In this kind of atmosphere, it was best not to attract attention.
Bai Sha and her companions stayed near the reef not far from Lost Island, watching the situation develop.
After observing for a while, Bai Sha couldn’t help but ask, “Are we just going to wait like this from now on?”
She noticed that none of the Demon cultivators were moving. Some circled in the air, others floated on the sea surface, and some stayed on the reefs. Not a single one showed any intention of entering Lost Island.
Yin Sha lay on the reef, propping her chin on her pectoral fins. “None of the cultivators are entering Lost Island. Could it be that some kind of danger has appeared on the island, making everyone afraid to approach?”
Bai Sha thought the same. It was the only explanation right now.
Xiaokui waved her tentacles and suggested, “We can’t just wait around doing nothing. Let’s find a cultivator and ask.”
Bingning agreed upon hearing this. “I’ll go ask. You all wait for me here.”
“No, I’ll go.” Xiaokui grabbed Bingning without hesitation.
“Right, right, Bingning, don’t go asking. Let us go instead.” Yin Sha also held Bingning back.
This behavior made Bingning feel somewhat confused. She tilted her head, her large eyes revealing a look of puzzlement. “Isn’t it the same no matter who goes? Why do you seem unwilling for me to ask?”
“Well…”
Yin Sha and Xiaokui exchanged a glance, momentarily at a loss for how to explain.
Stopping Bingning from asking was naturally out of concern that she might turn a simple matter into something complicated.
Bai Sha interjected from the side, “It’s not the same no matter who asks. Xiaokui is cheerful and lively, which makes it easier for other Demon cultivators to lower their guard. She’s the best to go ask, right?”
Hearing Bai Sha say this, Bingning pondered for a moment before replying, “A matter of personality? I understand. Then I’ll leave it to you, Xiaokui.”
Xiaokui said confidently, “Leave it to me. I’m very good at chatting.”
She leaped from the reef into the seawater, swiftly swimming away with strokes of her tentacles.
The three other cultivators, Bai Sha, Yin Sha, and Bingning, remained by the reef, watching Xiaokui and waiting for the result.
Just then, Bingning suddenly asked, “Bai Sha, in your view, Xiaokui’s personality is cheerful and lively? What kind of personality do you think I have?”
“…Why are you asking this?” Bai Sha glanced at Bingning helplessly.
“Why can’t I ask this?” Bingning countered.
Yin Sha looked sideways at them, an expression on her face as if she wanted to laugh but forced herself not to.
Bai Sha rubbed her face with her pectoral fins in exasperation, then said, “Your personality, Bingning, is… hmm… you’re a serious person.”
Bingning waited for a moment, then asked, puzzled, “That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“…”
Bingning couldn’t help but fall silent.
Bai Sha didn’t know how Bingning would interpret this answer, but she couldn’t think of a better way to put it for the moment. She hoped the other wouldn’t overthink it.
“Look, Xiaokui is making contact with other cultivators,” Yin Sha reminded them.
Hearing Yin Sha’s words, Bai Sha and Bingning refocused their attention on where Xiaokui was.
Naturally, Xiaokui wouldn’t approach the two groups that included Foundation Establishment cultivators. Instead, she chose a group composed entirely of Qi Condensation stage cultivators.
The inquiry didn’t take too long.
Xiaokui was indeed very good at chatting. After exchanging a few words with the cultivators there, she made the atmosphere seem very relaxed.
Soon, Xiaokui returned.
“How’s the situation?” Yin Sha couldn’t help but ask.
Bai Sha and Bingning also looked at Xiaokui.
Xiaokui spread her tentacles in a helpless gesture. “This Lost Island seems a bit strange at the moment.”
Yin Sha was puzzled. “Strange?”
Xiaokui explained, “The other cultivators said that after they sent some companions onto Lost Island to scout the situation first, all the companions who entered disappeared without a trace. Not a single one came back.”
Upon hearing Xiaokui’s explanation, the expressions of Bai Sha and the others immediately turned serious.
Cultivators who entered Lost Island never came out again?
This was undoubtedly a rather chilling situation to hear about, implying unknown dangers within Lost Island.
Xiaokui added, “Cultivators entering Lost Island vanish immediately. What we see of Lost Island from the outside right now might be a false image. No one knows what the real Lost Island looks like.”
A somewhat somber silence fell.
Bai Sha, however, was thinking about the situations from the first and second lifetimes.
In those two lifetimes, Yin Sha had undoubtedly come to Lost Island and obtained opportunities here, successfully breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage. So, even if dangers existed on Lost Island, they should be within a controllable range.
The fact that so many cultivators were currently waiting outside, afraid to enter, was likely due to an exaggerated perception of the potential danger.
After all, the unknown is what people fear most.
Thinking this, Bai Sha said, “I intend to go in and take a look.”
“Are you crazy?” Xiaokui asked, surprised. “Didn’t I just explain? Many cultivators went in and never came out, which means it’s very dangerous inside.”
“They just didn’t come out. That doesn’t necessarily mean they ran into danger, does it?” Bai Sha countered.
“Even so, Lost Island still seems very dangerous, doesn’t it?” Xiaokui felt Bai Sha was truly far too bold.
“Don’t forget, we came here specifically for Lost Island,” Bai Sha stated resolutely.
Mainly, she wasn’t afraid of death.
Now possessing six simulation counts, she viewed so-called danger very lightly.
Of course, she wouldn’t waste her hard-earned simulation counts. Her confidence was still based on her earlier judgment—inferring from the fact that Yin Sha could obtain opportunities there that the dangers on Lost Island were limited.
“Coming with me?” Bai Sha even asked the others nearby.
Bingning and Xiaokui both showed hesitation.
In this uncertain situation, neither of them could make a firm decision.
Even the Foundation Establishment cultivators were hesitating outside, not daring to advance. Their courage wasn’t as great as those Foundation Establishment cultivators’.
Yin Sha looked deeply at Bai Sha.
She felt Bai Sha wasn’t a reckless cultivator, yet Bai Sha had made this choice.
After thinking for a moment, Yin Sha asked, “Regardless of whether we go in or not, Bai Sha, will you still go in?”
Bai Sha answered affirmatively, “Yes, I will definitely go in.”
Hearing this, Yin Sha also made up her mind. “I understand. Then let’s go in together. It’ll be good to have company.”
Bingning and Xiaokui both cast surprised looks at Yin Sha.
They had thought having one bold cultivator like Bai Sha was already extraordinary. They hadn’t expected Yin Sha to be just as brave.
