The surface of the water in front of him was divided into a checkerboard pattern of fine gauze that looked like paddy fields, flat and expansive as an endless lake or even ocean.
It was empty, without a single soul in sight, and the water was undisturbed except for Li Changzhou; there were no objects higher than the water's surface—The gauze merely floated on it.
Li Changzhou stood on the water, feeling as if he were in a mirror world, or as though he had arrived at the land of souls.
The sky, too, was devoid of any clutter, not a cloud in sight, creating a surreal feeling as if viewing an unfinished painting.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
It was a sound similar to that of an old hand tractor, caught by Li Changzhou from a great distance, breaking the dead silence before him.
Li Changzhou didn't move but squatted to check the water where the glow from his kidneys slightly surpassed that from his heart, liver, spleen, and lungs.
The water was indeed water, but different from the common water on Earth, containing different elements, though what exactly they were, Li Changzhou, a humanities scholar, couldn't understand.
Not to mention ancient people like Guanyin.
Li Changzhou stood up and looked to his right; the thudding sound grew closer, first showing as a dot on the horizon that gradually enlarged.
It was an ancient floating ship that would certainly fail any modern inspection.
About thirty centimeters above the water's surface, the ship consisted only of a raft-like platform, every thud making it feel as though it was falling apart.
There were two girls on the floating ship, one significantly older, though only about twelve or thirteen years old.
Dressed in tattered clothes, seeing Li Changzhou made the younger girl tightly grab the older one.
The floating ship began to slow, and the girl bit her lower lip, staring at Li Changzhou for a while, before continuing to steer the ship towards him.
The ship gently moved into the checkerboard water beneath Li Changzhou's feet, resting before him.
"Hurry up!" the girl whispered urgently.
The younger girl released the clenched fabric in her hand and, together with the older girl, picked up the fishing net from the ship, skillfully yet strenuously beginning to cast it.
In this bizarre world, high-tech floating ships, and simple fishing nets, for some reason, Li Changzhou felt a melancholic sense, as though civilization itself was weeping over its past prosperity.
This wasn't just an illusion.
At his current level, especially with an S-grade "Emotion Control," some feelings perceived in the depth of his mind, could very likely be true.
After casting the net, the two frightened and wary girls continued to watch him without saying a word.
After a while, as if on cue, they began to haul in the net together.
The net contained some garbage, some utterly decrepit parts which could also be trash, and a few pitiful fish and shrimp.
The girl grabbed a shrimp from the net and handed it to the younger girl, who, starving, clutched the shrimp and nibbled, swallowing it in large bites while continuing to help with the net.
After collecting the net, the floating ship immediately activated.
The thudding resumed, but before it could traverse the checkerboard square of water, the floating ship made a hissing noise and stalled.
Without waiting for the girl to react, the younger girl grabbed a pipe-like rod and, with all her might, hit the ship's engine at the rear as if it were a horse's behind.
Bang! Bang!
The engine, grudgingly, sounded twice before resuming the "thud, thud, thud."
Their faces slightly relaxed, but soon filled with fear as Li Changzhou slowly walked towards them, and to their greater horror, the floating ship stalled once again, breaking down.
"Don't come any closer!" the girl suddenly pulled out a cluster gun.
The younger girl also held onto the rod she had used to strike the engine, standing next to the older girl like a wary rabbit, staring at Li Changzhou.
Something was off about the younger girl's perspective; her left eye was human, while the right rolled about uselessly, a prosthetic eye.
Li Changzhou didn't stop walking.
Bang!
The bullet left the barrel, split at the mouth of the gun, and like torpedoes, many small bombs surged towards Li Changzhou.
Li Changzhou brought his middle and ring fingers together, swiping to the right, and the cluster bombs vanished as if swiped off a smartphone screen.
Boom!
Two bolts of blue lightning struck directly at the sisters as they prepared to jump into the river.
"Ahh!!"
The younger girl, terrified, clung desperately to the older girl, who hugged her tightly, gritting her teeth and closing her eyes, their frail bodies trembling in the blue light.
As the blue light slowly faded, the older girl opened her eyes, unharmed, and momentarily confused.
"It hurts so much! Big sis!" the younger girl suddenly cried out in pain.
"Xin!" the older sister picked up the younger girl, her tense face suddenly froze.
On Xin's face, the useless prosthetic eye was forcefully ejected from the socket, replaced by a newly formed living eye!
「Saint Master-Heavenly God Path」
"The Tri-eye Supreme Fish, do you know about it?"
Hugging Xin, the older girl turned to Li Changzhou, swallowing hard, "No, we don't know."
Li Changzhou looked at Xin, "Her expression... doesn't seem like she doesn't know."
Before the girl could react, Xin was already lifted by Li Changzhou.
"Let go of my sister!" The older girl picked up the fallen cluster gun, firing two blank shots in frustration before throwing the gun aside and grabbing the pipe.
Boom!
Li Changzhou took off into the air, his ascent faintly accompanied by the older girl's tearful roar and the sound of the pipe thrown and falling back to the ground.
Xin wasn't very frightened; her field of vision widened, the world looked clearer, breathing never felt so smooth, her body filled with strength, feeling as if even the weather had improved. Even though she was captured, she still felt exhilarated.
Li Changzhou dropped her onto a cloud.
For a child of seven or eight, the soul-searching technique could not be used.