"I hope it won't teleport us to some strange place," Shen Qing said, sounding worried. The events in the Mermaid Palace still haunted her, and now, seeing the mermaid - set formation, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss.
Chen Xi thought for a moment and replied, "I can't guarantee that we'll end up in a completely safe place, but at least it should be close to land. The mermaids aren't stupid. They surely wouldn't place the other three barrier gates in extremely dangerous locations."
"You're right..." Shen Qing felt a bit more at ease after Chen Xi's explanation. As long as they weren't teleported to some strange place, it would be fine.
She could now breathe freely underwater, so there was no need to worry about staying underwater for too long. With Li Xian carrying her on his back, she didn't even have to swim. As long as the destination was relatively safe, Shen Qing would be able to relax.
"Okay, let's go." Just as Shen Qing was about to ask Li Xian to carry her through the barrier gate, she saw Chen Xi pat his head as if he had just remembered something.
"Wait a minute. I just remembered something," Chen Xi said, his expression looking a bit odd. "Back then, to protect these three barrier gates, the mermaids placed a sea beast at each gate as a gatekeeper. We don't know if they're still alive, but we should be careful. They only recognize mermaids. If they see strangers, they might get a bit aggressive. So, Shen Qing, you mustn't leave Li Xian's side."
A look of fear flashed in Chen Xi's eyes as if he had recalled some painful memories.
"What happened? Did you and Li Yuan encounter the gatekeeper beast when you passed through here back then?" Shen Qing asked curiously, which made Chen Xi look a bit embarrassed.
"Back then..."
"Forget it. I shouldn't be so unlucky as to run into it again..."
Chen Xi remembered that back then, Li Yuan had taken him through this barrier gate to a place near the breeding ground of the South Sea Red - Silk Pearl Fish. There was a giant octopus near there that was on good terms with the red - silk pearl fish.
Li Yuan, seeing the red - silk pearl fish for the first time, thought it was beautiful and caught one to eat. This angered the octopus. Since the octopus didn't dare to attack Li Yuan, a mermaid, it took Chen Xi as a plaything... doing many things that he didn't want to remember.
At that time, Li Yuan was still childish. Seeing Chen Xi being tortured by the octopus, he just laughed on the side and didn't come to rescue him. This incident left quite a shadow in Chen Xi's heart.
Seeing that Chen Xi didn't want to talk anymore, Shen Qing didn't press the matter. She could tell from his pale face that he must have gone through something unpleasant.
"Li Xian, let's go."
"Okay."
Li Xian carried Shen Qing on his back steadily, controlling his speed very smoothly, afraid that Shen Qing might accidentally fall off.
This was Shen Qing's first time seeing a real barrier gate. The method of constructing barrier gates had been lost since ancient times. If it weren't for the fact that the mermaids, like the dragon race, were ancient spirits, she wouldn't have had the chance to see the legendary barrier gate here.
"Shen Qing, you must hold on to me tightly. Don't let go for anything," Li Xian turned his head and told Shen Qing, afraid that her attention might be distracted and she would let go of him. If she got lost in the barrier passage, it would be a big problem.
Shen Qing knew this well, so she leaned over and whispered in Li Xian's ear, "Don't worry. No matter what happens, I won't let go. I'll follow you."
Li Xian's ears twitched, but he didn't say a word.
Shen Qing just meant that since she was unfamiliar with this place underwater, she had no choice but to follow Li Xian. She didn't notice that Li Xian had misunderstood her meaning.
"Okay! Let's go!!"
"Shen Qing, remember to hold on to me too!"
Seeing Chen Xi start to ramble again, Shen Qing quickly interrupted him and quickly agreed.
Li Xian carried Shen Qing on his back. Shen Qing held Chen Xi in her arms and wore Wu Wang on her wrist. The two people and two swords entered the barrier gate.
The barrier gate was like a mirror. After entering, Shen Qing saw a distorted stream of light. The scene inside was so strange that it made her eyes uncomfortable. Some of the white light was very blinding, so Shen Qing simply closed her eyes.
After a while, Chen Xi's voice came, "The light spot in front is the exit. Let's hope we're lucky and won't be teleported to some strange place."
But obviously, Chen Xi's prayer didn't bring them good luck. As soon as they got out, a strong current almost scattered them. If Shen Qing hadn't held Chen Xi tightly and Li Xian hadn't reacted quickly enough to turn around and grab Shen Qing, they might have been swept away a long distance.
Before they could catch their breath, a severed octopus tentacle quickly whipped towards them. Li Xian flicked his tail and quickly carried Shen Qing away.
Chen Xi showed up, his face turning pale.
"Who is attacking our gatekeeper beast? This giant octopus is one of the sea beasts guarding the barrier gate!"
"Li Xian, go and save it!"
Although Chen Xi had some unpleasant memories with the giant octopus, that was a long, long time ago.
Moreover, after Li Yuan ate its friend, the octopus just played tricks on him a bit and didn't hold a grudge.
This octopus was very intelligent and had been tamed by the saintess herself. Given this relationship, Chen Xi especially didn't want to see this octopus get hurt.
To avoid being recognized, Li Xian transformed back into a human form. His pupils and hair color returned to their normal colors. But he seemed to have forgotten that he wasn't wearing any clothes. When he transformed into a mermaid, his clothes had fallen off. So, Shen Qing unexpectedly saw Li Xian naked.
Li Xian panicked. He quickly took out a spare set of clothes from his storage bag and put them on. His face was burning red.
"Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to look!!" Shen Qing covered her eyes and turned around. Her face was also as red as a tomato. "I... Well... I'll go and see what's going on first. Wait until you're dressed... and then come over."
With that, Shen Qing swam towards the murkier part of the water. But her movements were a bit panicked, and her swimming posture looked rather comical.
Chen Xi didn't notice anything strange between the two. Seeing that Shen Qing had already swum over there, he urged Li Xian, "Hurry up. This person is too ruthless. Such a thick octopus tentacle has been cut off. I'm afraid this sea beast won't last much longer."
Li Xian quickly put on his clothes and pretended that nothing had happened. "Okay, let's go."
Shen Qing tried her best to forget what she had just seen and focused on what was in front of her.
She hadn't swum far when she saw a huge octopus in front of her. Half of its tentacles had been cut off, and a thick layer of frost had formed over the wounds.
There was a cultivator with an ice spiritual root here! Shen Qing was secretly shocked. She had thought that cultivators with ice spiritual roots were rare, but here was one right in front of her.
Cultivators with such special spiritual roots were not easy to deal with. Shen Qing immediately became serious.