Chapter 56: Pollution of the Sea

"What kind of meaning does this represent?"

Chen Ye observed the form of the destiny aura hovering above his head, falling into a brief contemplation.

Judging by the color, mysterious yellow represented wealth, black symbolized calamity, and sky blue stood for creation.

Three different auras forming an omen simultaneously...

Could this mean that blessings and misfortunes are intertwined, and that great fortune must be sought within perilous risks?

For a moment, Chen Ye could not tell whether this was ultimately good or bad.

If only the mysterious yellow and black were intertwined, it could be interpreted as "a business venture that carries risks."

Yet, precisely a blue aura had squeezed its way in.

Anyone unaware might think some sort of "three-body problem" was about to unfold...

This made the already elusive omen of destiny even more complex.

However, Chen Ye knew that besides creation, the color blue held other symbolic meanings—

The ocean!

Whether it was the descendants of the Sea God or the Squirrel Fish lady, their auras were dotted with blue light.

Chen Ye attempted to analyze it from another perspective:

"This blue color does not necessarily represent creation."

"It might be related to a person associated with the blue destiny aura, or perhaps a location..."

"There is, in fact, a place that has a strong connection to the azure aura!"

Xijiang River!

Chen Ye suddenly realized that this location was closely tied to the "azure" aura.

Perhaps going there would lead to some kind of fortune.

He left a few sugar-roasted chestnuts in place, placing them beside the elderly erhu player's bed, then exited through the west gate of Xining Lane and briskly headed toward Xijiang Park.

It was currently noon, but heavy clouds blocked the sunlight. Although lacking yesterday's thick fog, the entire city remained shrouded in gloomy weather.

Passing through the pedestrian street, it seemed there were even fewer open shops along the way.

Hardly any establishments remained open.

To Chen Ye's surprise, however...

On the mandatory path to Xijiang Park, a row of barbecue stalls was currently in business, billowing thick black smoke from their grills.

Yet.

Compared to yesterday, these barbecue stalls had somehow attracted quite a few numb-faced customers, lining up to buy roasted meat.

Contrasting with the desolation of the journey so far.

The bustling activity here appeared all the more eerie.

Activating his Eyes of Destiny, Chen Ye noticed that all these customers were wreathed in black mist, and he furrowed his brows slightly.

This instinctively caused him to step a few paces away from the barbecue stalls.

Passing through the area, he quickened his pace and jogged across.

Soon, the barbecue stalls were left a hundred meters behind.

"It really seems like nothing happened..."

Seeing that the destiny aura above his head remained completely unchanged, Chen Ye muttered to himself in doubt. Why would anyone be willing to wait in line for such unpalatable barbecue?

Such an abnormal occurrence made Chen Ye more cautious to avoid accidentally triggering any bizarre rules.

Even though the destiny aura flashed no warnings of danger...

Upon reaching Xijiang River, the environment became much safer.

Following the cobblestone-paved garden path, he walked all the way down toward the lower reaches.

As he passed the dam, the desolate and empty lower reaches unfolded before his eyes.

However, just as Chen Ye's gaze landed on the river surface, his pupils constricted slightly!

The blood-red giant eyes had now increased to four!

As the dead-white eyelids blinked open and shut, turbid ripples stirred across the stagnant, ink-like water surface.

It was as if a massive wooden log was stirring the entire paste-like river surface, pushing the ripples toward the shores.

The rate of water pollution was accelerating...

The black mist swirling above the river had become much thicker than before.

Chen Ye stopped at a distance, not daring to rashly approach the lower reaches, and instead retreated to the embankment.

When passing by a few descendants of the Sea God along the way...

He immediately activated his Eyes of Destiny to observe the aura colors on their bodies.

Just as expected, the intertwined black and red malevolent Qi had become much thicker than before!

That blackness was like an endless abyss; once swallowed into it, there would be no hope of redemption.

One could easily imagine...

This kind of aura was undoubtedly tied to calamity!

At a glance, most of the Sea God descendants possessed similar auras.

Even compared to last time, many descendants whose auras hadn't been so severe now exhibited much graver auras.

On the contrary, the situation among the players who had come to do odd jobs wasn't quite as pronounced, though still far from optimistic.

"I need to ask about the specific situation..."

Chen Ye instinctively felt that the state of the lower reaches was far worse than imagined.

He removed his human-skin mask and painted a new, amiable face to prevent other players from recognizing him as the 'Taboo Abomination' of the lower Xijiang River.

Shortly after, he found a relatively young and approachable-looking descendant of the Sea God, stepping forward to block and question him:

"This respected child of the storm..."

Chen Ye addressed him using common plot dialogue from the game...

Sure enough.

Upon hearing the phrase "child of the storm," the young descendant of the Sea God turned around and struck his right fist against his chest.

"The storm be with you, traveler. You may call me Aloy."

Chen Ye smiled, knowing that using the proper conversational method had already earned him the other's initial approval.

Pointing toward the lower reaches, he asked with a slightly anxious tone in his voice: "I'd like to know what happened over there. Why does the water... look so bizarre?"

Aloy wore a disdainful expression and said, "Hmph, it's just a spreading contamination."

"Contamination?"

"Yes..." Aloy recalled the accounts of the elders within his clan, turning to explain to Chen Ye: "That is an uncharted sea area connected to this City of Destiny."

"You should know that the oceans of this world are all interconnected. When one place is contaminated, it crosses the oceans and drifts across the entire waters."

"Given the purification capacity of the sea, routine contamination cannot cause any impact, not even a fraction of a percent."

"But this contamination is continuously spreading, a bit more severe than anticipated."

Just a bit more severe?

Chen Ye furrowed his brow slightly inward. According to the other party's explanation, this contamination actually came from another ocean.

And it was connected to the City of Destiny... what did that even mean?

Before Chen Ye could ask, Aloy said with pride:

"Hmph, but these trifles are nothing serious to our Sea God clan."

"We have the protection of the Dragon God! We possess the great power bestowed by the heavens! We have magnificent dams!"

"Such contamination can never breach our defenses; it is utterly insignificant!"

Seeing Aloy exhibit such a confident expression, Chen Ye swallowed back the words on the tip of his tongue, reluctant to dash the other's confidence and spark unnecessary conflict.

"May the storm be with you."

"May the storm be with you."

Chen Ye struck his right chest with his fist, bowed slightly, and bade farewell to Aloy using the customary greeting of the Sea God descendants.

He returned once more to the lower reaches of the Xijiang River, gazing distantly in the direction of the river mouth.

Thick black clouds were accumulating in the sky over there, as if they never saw sunlight year-round.

Viewing it with the Eyes of Destiny, he found that the malevolent Qi there was even denser, as though it enveloped the entire world, making it seem as if the sky itself were about to collapse!

"Is it really that simple..."

Recalling the confident smile of that Sea God descendant, Chen Ye uttered a silent, mocking remark.

The next second.

He withdrew the suona tied around his waist, spun in place against the gale-force wind, and began to play.