147: Chapter 147 The Demon Trench

The Blue Crab swam at the very front, its eight legs paddling through the seawater, its shell bobbing up and down in the undercurrent.

From time to time, it would stop to wait for the companions behind it, continuing forward only after they caught up.

It used to run amok in the coastal waters, but now that it had left them, it was clearly much more vigilant.

Since it had barely ever left the coastal waters, the seas further east were also uncharted territory to it.

The Sea Turtle paddled its four legs leisurely, neither rushing nor slowing down.

It had lived for a very long time, over a century in the coastal waters. It had actually wandered away from the coastal waters once for a period of time, but had quickly returned.

It simply paddled along, following the Blue Crab in front of it.

As for the Starfish, it clung to the Sea Turtle's back, its five arms tightly gripping the Sea Turtle's shell as its body curled into a ball.

The Mantis Shrimp swam in the middle of the procession, carrying Bengbu on its back. Its antennae drifted in the seawater, and its compound eyes darted around, taking in every movement in the surroundings.

The Eastward Expedition Team wandered through the deep sea for two days.

Over those two days, they encountered quite a few demons.

Those demons poked their heads out of reef crevices, swam out of seagrass beds, and burrowed out of the sandy seabed, watching the procession.

The demons were wary at first, then sized them up, and finally politely stepped aside to make way.

It was not because they were easygoing, but because the strength of this procession was plain to see.

Of the five demons, except for the Clam Spirit riding on the Mantis Shrimp's back, who was at the peak of the Second-Turn, the other four were all of the Third-Turn.

The Blue Crab's shell gleamed with a cold light in the undercurrent, its claws tucked in front of its body.

The Sea Turtle leisurely paddled its limbs, the shell on its back resembling a moving reef.

The Starfish's five arms clung tightly to the Mantis Shrimp's back. The Mantis Shrimp swam in the middle of the procession, brandishing its raptorial claws.

Seeing such a powerful team, what blind demon would dare block their path?

In this deep sea, strength was the law!

Bengbu, on the other hand, asked the demons who made way for them for directions, inquiring where the nearby demon gathering spots were.

After all, their Eastward Expedition Team was acting on the oracle of Lord Qinling, traveling to proclaim the benevolence of Lord Qinling, the sole deity of the East China Sea.

To do that, they had to go to places where demons gathered. Otherwise, were they supposed to persuade the demons one by one?

That would be far too inefficient!

Although the demons who were asked for directions did not understand why a Second-Turn demon was the boss of four Third-Turn demons,

they still pointed the way for Bengbu.

A Third-Turn octopus poked its tentacle out of a reef crevice, pointed toward the southeast, and then retracted it, ignoring them.

Another Third-Turn moray eel swam out of the seagrass, its vertical pupils staring at Bengbu. It flicked its tongue and also pointed toward the southeast.

Yet another Third-Turn crab burrowed out of the sand, waving its claw toward the southeast.

They all pointed in the exact same direction.

Following the direction indicated by these demons, Bengbu rode the Mantis Shrimp toward the southeast.

With a flick of its antennae, the Mantis Shrimp propelled its body forward, gliding toward the southeast.

The Blue Crab followed behind, the Sea Turtle followed behind, and the Starfish clung to the Mantis Shrimp's back.

The five demons formed a crooked line and swam toward that uncharted sea.

The Eastward Expedition Team swam toward the southeast for an unknown amount of time.

The seawater turned from ink-blue to deep black, and through the deep black shone a faint, eerie green, as if something was glowing on the seabed.

The undercurrent grew increasingly turbulent, surging from ahead to push them along, yet also seemingly trying to block their approach.

The Mantis Shrimp's antennae waved frantically in the water, and its compound eyes spun incessantly. It sensed something.

Bengbu poked its tongue out from the crack of its shell, waved it around in the seawater, and then retracted it.

It felt it too—there was something ahead!

The Sea Turtle leisurely paddled its limbs. Its head poked out of its shell, its vertical pupils staring ahead as a low rumble vibrated in its throat.

The Blue Crab at the very front of the procession came to a halt.

Its eight legs scraped at the sandy seabed, as if it wanted to move forward but did not dare to.

Bengbu rolled off the Mantis Shrimp's back and landed on the sandy seabed. Its shell cracked open, revealing its eyeball inside.

It saw the sight ahead.

A massive trench, like a gaping wound torn into the earth, stretched from south to north, with no end in sight.

The trench walls were sheer and steep as if sliced by a blade. Dark green sea moss hung down from the edges, swaying gently in the undercurrent.

Both sides of the trench walls were covered in coral—not the pink and white coral of the coastal waters, but dark brown and deep green.

It was as though they had been soaked in seawater for too long, their colors deepening into dark hues.

The corals grew in layers out of the trench walls, filling every crevice, covering every reef, and extending into the unseen depths.

The coral reefs were riddled with holes, dense and of all sizes.

Things lived inside those holes. They poked their heads out, swam from the gaps in the coral, and floated up from the depths of the trench.

Seeing this, Bengbu grew excited.

For living inside the holes of the trench walls were demons, one after another!

There were so many of them; almost every single one of these dense holes was inhabited by a demon!

Bengbu's tongue froze in mid-air. This was the first time it had ever seen so many demons.

Back in the coastal waters, the largest group of demons it had ever seen was the hundred or so minor demons lining up to offer incense on Zhuguang Reef.

It had thought that was the largest group of demons on the East China Sea Seabed, but it was wrong.

The demon population in this trench looked ten times larger than that of Zhuguang Reef!

Bengbu's eyeball rolled around, taking in all those demons, corals, and caves.

Such a massive gathering of demons—was this not the perfect place to proclaim Lord Qinling's name?

Bengbu's tongue extended from the crack of its shell and gestured toward the trench, its voice carrying an air of unquestionable authority.

"Mantis Shrimp, let's go."

But this time, the Mantis Shrimp did not budge.

Its body remained arched, its antennae hanging in the seawater, and its compound eyes staring into the bottomless trench.

Its eight legs were firmly anchored to the sandy seabed, completely motionless.

Bengbu waved its tongue again, raising its voice slightly.

"Mantis Shrimp! We've arrived, so why aren't we going down? What's the matter with you?"

The Mantis Shrimp still did not move.

Its compound eyes rolled, turning away from the trench to rest on Bengbu before it spoke.

"Something's not right."

The Mantis Shrimp's compound eyes turned back toward the trench, staring at the glowing eyes peeking out from the holes.

"We are all demons. What are demons?"

"Demons are solitary creatures. One demon claims a territory and tolerates no other."

"Because resources are limited, food is limited, and cultivation spots are limited."

"One more demon means one more mouth to feed, one more rival to fight. This is a rule understood from the very day one gains sentience."

"Its antennae flicked in the seawater, pointing toward the dense network of holes on both sides of the trench."

"How many demons are here? Hundreds, thousands? They are crowded together, living side by side, yet they don't fight over food, don't squabble, and don't compete for territory. Why?"

"Zhuguang Reef could gather so many demons only because of the Little Li Dragon's corpse."

"What is here? What is inside this trench that can make thousands of demons abandon their solitary nature and live crowded together?"

The Mantis Shrimp's voice was filled with wariness.

After listening to the Mantis Shrimp, Bengbu's tongue froze in mid-air.

The gaze it directed at the Mantis Shrimp was filled with sheer amazement.

It truly had not expected its mount, the Mantis Shrimp, to actually be a strategist!