Lu Zhi did not press further. The way Shen Qi looked at him made him feel that the topic was rather dangerous.
Jiang Yue and the others were waiting for him at Pier 13, which was one of the routes to St. Island.
The bustling pier was lined with various stalls, selling not only food, drink, and clothing, but also many herbs and fruits harvested from St. Island. They were strangely shaped and peculiar, making Lu Zhi's eyes water.
"Can that thing... really be eaten?" Lu Zhi tugged at Shen Qi's sleeve, pointing to a fruit shaped like a human head.
Shen Qi saw his curiosity and surprise, his dark eyes sparkling. His normally expressionless face showed a faint smile. "Oh, that just looks strange. It tastes like a pear and has the texture of an apple. Its nutritional content is higher than ordinary fruits, and it's one of the more common fruits on Chichihai Island."
Lu Zhi watched as a customer picked up the human-head-shaped fruit, which looked terrifyingly like a screaming head, and took a bite. Red juice stained his mouth, making Lu Zhi's skin crawl. "Let's go quickly."
"Scared already?" Shen Qi asked with a chuckle. "There are many stranger things than these on the island."
"I'm not scared, I'm just not used to it, okay?" Lu Zhi rolled his eyes and quickened his pace. Soon, he spotted Jiang Yue and the others standing by Pier 13, as well as a medium-sized ship docked behind them.
Jiang Yue, as always, had her hair in a high ponytail and was sitting on a suitcase, chewing gum and talking unhappily to a fat man.
"Lu Zhi, you're here," Lan Yushan was the first to spot Lu Zhi and Shen Qi. He waved, "This way, get on the ship from here."
"What's going on? Who is that?" Lu Zhi was asking about the man talking to Jiang Yue.
Lan Yushan chuckled, "Sister Jiang's suitor."
Lu Zhi's eyes lit up. Gossip.
"What are you saying?" Jiang Yue, pushing her suitcase, had intended to speak to Lu Zhi, but upon seeing Shen Qi, her impending complaint turned into teasing. "Tsk tsk tsk, is it because you went on a date with the great Shen Qi and couldn't bear to leave, so you only remembered our mission now?"
"!!!" Lan Yushan was shocked. "What? Lu Zhi and Captain Shen are boyfriends?!?!"
Lu Zhi's face flushed. Although it hadn't been explicitly stated, everyone other than the simple-minded Lan Yushan understood it clearly. "Sorry, I was delayed by something. Let's get on the ship first."
The school would reimburse the cost of renting the ship. As soon as Lu Zhi stepped onto the deck, he saw several people lounging comfortably on lounge chairs, sunbathing. He laughed, "You guys know how to enjoy yourselves."
The medium-sized ship Jiang Yue rented even had a small swimming pool. Wang Cao Tian and Luo Shi Yu were competing, Xia Zhi was lying on a chair reading, and Lan Yushan dropped his luggage bag and ran to cheer them on.
Jiang Yue told the captain beside her that they could set sail. She placed her suitcase aside, fanning herself and complaining, "It's so hot, what kind of weird weather is this."
Lu Zhi walked under the sun umbrella, tilting his head and squinting at the shimmering sea. He said, "Yeah, who would have thought it snowed heavily yesterday?"
In the morning, it was snowing heavily, and by noon, the scorching sun almost roasted people. Lu Zhi had taken off his down jacket halfway and stored it in Shen Qi's space.
Now he was only wearing shorts and a t-shirt, with white sneakers on his feet, looking spirited and sunny.
"Rest for now. It looks close, but it will take at least half a day to reach St. Island," Jiang Yue took out sunglasses from her sun-protection jacket pocket and put them on, planning to take a nap.
Lu Zhi was full of energy. Seeing fishing gear nearby, he picked up a fishing rod, eager to try. Finding it boring to do it alone, he asked Shen Qi to join him.
"Master, can you catch anything while steering the boat and fishing?" Lu Zhi asked Captain Ma, who was responsible for the ship, curiously.
"Hahaha... you definitely won't catch anything, it's just to pass the time." Captain Ma, with a cigarette in his mouth, pointed towards St. Island and said, "However, in the shallow reefs and coral areas within St. Island's sea territory, there are many shellfish and seafood that you can catch and take back. The taste is incredibly fresh."
Lu Zhi's face lit up with interest. "Really? This is my first time at sea. Reefs and coral, doesn't that mean diving to the seabed?"
"You don't have to. The St. Island sea area is all shallow water," Captain Ma chuckled. "Young man, if you enter rashly without understanding the situation of St. Island, you'll suffer greatly."
Lu Zhi smiled and didn't ask any more questions.
Suddenly, Shen Qi, who had been quietly fishing, took his hand and placed the woven horse halter rope into it.
The small circle was only the size of a palm. Lu Zhi rubbed the material. "Will this really be used?"
Thinking that the deity in the Seventh God Tower was one of the twelve zodiac animals, the horse halter rope Shen Qi made for him clearly meant he was to rope a horse. But... that was a deity.
"Maybe." Shen Qi pulled up the fishing rod. A palm-sized fish broke the surface, cutting through the water in a silver arc in the air, landing precisely in the bucket.
Lu Zhi looked at his completely motionless fishing rod, extremely suspicious that Shen Qi was cheating using his abilities.
"Judging by your tone, are you well acquainted with those deities?" Lu Zhi pulled up his fishing rod and found that the bait was gone. He quickly re-baited it.
"Not acquainted," Shen Qi replied crisply and decisively. "You are."
Lu Zhi was stunned, pointing to himself in surprise. "Me?"
Shen Qi glanced sideways. "I don't like them."
This "them" naturally referred to the twelve zodiac animals.
Lu Zhi cupped his face with his hands, looking at the undulating sea, and suddenly asked, "Shen Qi, you said we knew each other before, that I lost my memory, and that I'm very familiar with Them. Then, is my identity also... one of the deities?"
It was obvious that this was Lu Zhi's identity before he lost his memory.
"You can guess bolder," Shen Qi's silvery-grey eyes reflected brilliant light under the sun. "For example, you created them."
Splash—
Jiang Yue accidentally fell off her chair, and Xia Zhi's book flew out of his hand and hit him in the face.
Luo Shi Yu, who was drying his hair, froze and looked at them.
Only Wang Cao Tian and Lan Yushan were childishly splashing water in the pool, not hearing the conversation between Shen Qi and Lu Zhi.
The main reason was that Lu Zhi and Shen Qi were talking in a loud voice and showed no intention of hiding anything. They were talking openly, so much so that Jiang Yue, Xia Zhi, and Luo Shi Yu could hear them clearly.
The classic three questions appeared in their minds: Who am I? Where am I? What have I heard?
Shen Qi reached out to lift Lu Zhi's chin, his fingertips stroking it. He said, "It's just going to see your son, what's so surprising about that."
The three who were eavesdropping openly gasped.
Lu Zhi, shocked, grabbed Shen Qi's hand, stopping his various suggestive actions. "You're... kidding, right?"
Shen Qi smiled. "Ah~ if you say so, then it is."
Lu Zhi: ... Damn it, so I have twelve sons!