Watching the silhouettes on the water disappear into the distance, Ling Xia really couldn’t keep a lid on his temper.
Even if he knew Cui Yu was only somewhat unruly and willful, and Song Xiaohu was unlikely to encounter any life-threatening situations, but getting dragged into the water earlier was still very dangerous. If he had been a normal person, he could have very likely lost his life right then and there! What they needed to do at once was to quickly find a way into the city and rescue him from that reckless and bossy, stuck-up little missy.
The other boatmen had already helped the unfortunate, overturned boat’s captain back to shore. They had grown accustomed to seeing these tyrannical and lawless disciples of prestigious sects, and once that young girl was out of sight, inevitably started to curse lividly.
This event seemed to have created an atmosphere of the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend, so another captain suddenly called out to Ling Xia, “Oi, you lads still looking for a ride?”
Ling Xia was overjoyed, and after thanking him, promptly grabbed Yu ZhiJue and jumped aboard.
The scenery around this part of the lake was quite beautiful, the water reflecting the sky in a wash of rippling blues. Sitting on the stern as bursts of refreshing and wet winds stimulated his senses was an additional pleasure, thus the fretful knot in Ling Xia’s heart gradually loosened as well.
Besides the two of them, four or five other youngsters were also on the boat, probably all headed for ShaoYang Sect to register. Presently, they were chatting up a storm about the registration process, ShaoYang Sect’s famous disciples, and other such topics.
Ling Xia diligently listened, and because he had forgotten many of the details written in the novel, committed everything he deemed important to his memory.
This boat moved via manpower, but the pair of oarsmen were strong, robust, and almost two meters tall, so their speed wasn’t that slow. After rowing for about an hour, they had reached the center of the lake.
At this precise moment, a large ship came up from behind, traveling at a speed significantly faster than theirs.
Out of curiosity, Ling Xia observed them for quite a while. Standing at the bow of the ship were a few youngsters in embroidered clothing, the oldest looking around twenty years old and the youngest around twelve or thirteen. All of them wore identical, long white robes trimmed with gold, most likely members of the same sect. Ling Xia was partially blinded by the light reflecting off their clothes, and as a result, couldn’t clearly see their faces.
However, he never expected that the large ship would actually come rushing straight at them!
The passengers on their boat couldn’t hold in their panicked cries as that ship approached in violent waves. It was bigger than their small boat by at least five or six times, so if it crashed into them, wouldn’t they end up drowning in the middle of this lake?
Ling Xia couldn’t hide his anxiety either, frantically looked left and right, then swiftly gathered Yu ZhiJue to his chest with one arm while the other wrapped around a wooden cask. He felt the small body in his embrace sharply tense up, so he lowered his head and reassuringly murmured, “Don’t be afraid, I know how to swim… …”
Watching that large ship come closer and closer, Ling Xia involuntarily closed his eyes in response, waiting for the moment of impact. However, the anticipated calamity never came to pass.
Unable to endure further, he opened his eyes and saw a pair of flashing, black orbs glaring furiously at him from within his arms.
Yu ZhiJue’s voice was part rigid and part monotone as he gritted out, “Still not letting go?!”
Although he sounded fierce and hostile, his face was slowly turning red.
Ling Xia quickly released him, and turning his head, saw that the large ship had unexpectedly stopped barely a few feet away!
Wearing an expression of having escaped from death by the skin of their teeth, everyone on their boat slowly stood back up. The boatmen looked ready to let loose a barrage of insults, but seeing the clothing and ornaments of the people on the ship, they no longer dared and could only privately curse this rotten luck.
“You punks on the stern!” hollered a young boy about twelve or thirteen, sweeping his gaze across the others on the small boat before swiftly locking onto Ling Xia and Yu ZhiJue.
Ling Xia couldn’t help but find it strange; they’re actually looking for himself? He carefully scrutinized the people on the large ship and confirmed that he had definitely never seen any of them before.
Faced with a complete lack of reaction, that young boy seemed to get angry and roared, “Oi, I’m talking to you two!”
Ling Xia inwardly grimaced, pulling along Yu ZhiJue to walk closer as he politely inquired, “Fellow traveler, may I ask for what reason you called out to us?”
That young boy deliberately looked at them from head to toe, then turned up his nose and loudly sniffed in their direction, making Ling Xia even more perplexed.
When did he offend this arrogant young master?
On the contrary, the twenty-year-old young man who seemed to be the group’s leader asked more courteously, “Have the two of you seen our youngest junior sister? We heard those on the shore say that she left with one your friends. Could you tell us what exactly transpired?”
Even though his tone was genteel, it was as clear as day that he did not have the slightest inclination of introducing himself, nor did he hold the two of them in any regard. Moreover, it was obviously Cui Yu who kidnapped Song XiaoHu away by force, but coming from his mouth, how did it become the two of them leaving together?
Ling Xia felt resentful in his heart, but at least he finally identified that these people ought to be Cui Yu’s fellow seniors. Recruiting disciples was a complex affair for any sect, and every time it happened, they would invite people from neighboring sects as additional support. These people from YunXiao City were probably the ones invited this time.
And Cui Yu’s father was precisely the governor of YunXiao City. YunXiao City was one of the most famous cities on this continent, rising to fame from its refinement of magical tools, their prestige far above that of ShaoYang Sect’s. In other words, Cui Yu’s position was at least equivalent to that of a provincial-level Party Committee Secretary‘s daughter.
In the novel, the plot revolving around YunXiao City was essentially cannon-fodder central headquarters, and there was even a senior mob character that liked Miss-High-and-Mighty Cui Yu. Who knows if he’s one of the people here or not… …
In any case, fighting with the protagonist over girls is an exercise in futility!
The young man who spoke more politely was YunXiao City’s second disciple, Mo Dai. This youngest junior sister of his was dainty and willful, but due to her youth, her cultivation was still in the earliest stages. The entire way here, she kept running ahead on her sinistral-steed while constantly stirring up trouble, making this senior brother who was leading the group to ShaoYang Sect wind up enduring a lot of hardships.
If the darling apple of his master’s eyes so much as bruised herself while walking, it’d result in him suffering the punishment when they returned! He had already made discreet inquiries about what happened at the lakeside and knows that it was his youngest junior sister who provoked others first; honestly, he doesn’t understand what that pampered and spoiled miss was even thinking. Although these two youngsters had very good looks, their clothes were extremely ordinary, especially the older one who was basically wearing the same thing as a beggar! Presumably, they both hailed from the common masses, possessing nothing special or worthy of notice.
As Ling Xia was about to respond, Yu ZhiJue beat him to the punch and coldly replied, “I didn’t see anyone leave with my friend. However, I did see a vicious woman snatch my friend away by force.”
“… …” Ling Xia experienced a momentarily lapse in strength. Pretending he didn’t hear Yu ZhiJue’s words, he smiled and answered differently, “Yes, we have. She said she was going to ChongMing City’s largest restaurant. I assumed she’s already reached there by now, so if the rest of you could—”
However, that twelve or thirteen-year-old boy’s complexion had already turned ugly, interrupting Ling Xia’s words as he snarled at Yu ZhiJue, “What did you just say?”
Yu ZhiJue gave him a glance but didn’t speak again, simply turning around before calmly and languidly walking away.
“Hold it!” that youngster furiously demanded at once. He twisted his neck and declared to Mo Dai, “Senior brother, that brat’s words were clearly slandering Youngest junior sister. I’m going to teach him a lesson!”
Mo Dai knew that this junior brother habitually and immensely spoiled their youngest junior sister. He did not want to bear the accusation of leading the strong to bully the weak, not to mention, it was truly youngest junior sister who was at fault. Therefore, he appeased, “Shang Yan, forget it. What we should do right now is find Youngest junior sister as soon as possible.”
The large ship began bypassing the smaller boat, but that young boy never stopped glowering at Yu ZhiJue with indignation and resentment.
Hearing Mo Dai say this somewhat familiar sounding name, the stress lines on Ling Xia’s forehead was not limited to just three or four anymore. That’s why he was asking, just how early did the troublesome fledglings of this world start maturing?! Wasn’t this literally one of the small-fry mob characters who would fight against the protagonist as a love rival in the future?
After the two vessels completely passed by each other, Shang Yan suddenly took out a magical tool, and in a flash, a streak of lightning struck down on the small boat’s hull.
This magical tool was a lightning attribute device personally made by the master of YunXiao City and had immeasurable power. Shang Yan’s cultivation was still shallow, capable of bringing out less than one tenth of its might, but that was more than sufficient enough to pierce a washbasin-sized hole through the bottom of the boat.
Mo Dai’s brows instantly scrunched up, but seeing that no one was struck, proceeded to slap the top of Shang Yan’s head as he warned, “You rapscallion, be careful of Master finding out and punishing you!”
Shang Yan hastily lowered his head and put away the magical tool, beaming, “Then I’ll have to trouble Senior brother to take responsibility on my behalf!”
Mo Dai helplessly chuckled, and did not look back again.
Watching the large ship gradually sail away, Ling Xia really, really wanted to let loose and curse him till his ears bled. No wonder you’re just cannon-fodder trash! Better watch yourself and not get annihilated by my li’l bro, the protagonist!
The oarsmen promptly tried to plug up the hole, but there wasn’t anything suitable to use on the boat, and after a short while, the water level had risen to cover one’s feet.
This incident more or less originated because of himself, so Ling Xia nimbly lied down to use his own body as a plug as he somewhat sheepishly apologized, “We’re truly very sorry, please quickly set sail. Ah‘Jue, go help with bailing out water.”
The captain started screaming and yelling at Ling Xia, cursing that large ship one moment then Ling Xia the next. The other passengers all stared at the two of them with varying shades of resentment, but currently, they were still far from the shore, so it was obvious that the most important matter was how to safely dock on land.
Without a hint of fearing for his own life, Ling Xia pressed his body downwards while saying to the boatmen, “My apologies. Although we don’t have money at the moment, but after we enter ShaoYang Sect in the future, we’ll definitely repay the full amount of this boat, so please don’t worry.”
One of the other passengers immediately sneered, “You sure talk big! How do you know for certain that ShaoYang Sect will accept you? What’s more, when the boat sinks later, it’s not even guaranteed if we’ll live or die!”
However, cursing was just cursing and complaints were only complaints, and in the end, no one on board ever stopped moving their hands to scoop out water.
Unfortunately, this hole was really too big. By the time they could faintly see the coastline, the water in the ship’s hold had reached one’s knees, and finally, Ling Xia could continue his efforts no more. One after another, everyone else had already jumped into the water, swimming with all their might towards the shore. Left with no other choice, he also got up, grabbed Yu ZhiJue, and jumped off as well.
Even though Ling Xia currently possessed colossal strength, he only knew an elementary-level dog paddle. After a short while, he ended up dizzy and disoriented from choking on too much water, and his four limbs subsequently began to lose their strength. He looked at how Yu ZhiJue was swimming ahead, the other’s movements as smooth and lively as if performing an effortless exercise.
He opened his mouth intending to sigh, but with a glug glug, ended up swallowing a few mouthfuls of water instead. His nose and mouth fell below the surface, immediately cutting off his air supply. After enduring for another interval, he felt his body grow heavy beyond recognition, as if he was constrained with metal weights that dragged him deeper and deeper… …
A hand abruptly braced itself under his armpit and tugged upwards. Ling Xia opened his eyes and struggled, wanting to use that force of momentum to float back to the surface. Unfortunately, the other’s strength was really too weak, and the two of them conversely got tangled up, sinking even lower.
Looking at the Yu ZhiJue that was within arm’s reach, the warmth and shock of being blessed by a higher authority practically overwhelmed Ling Xia; to think that the great sir villain actually came to save him? Be that as it may, he had completely run out of oxygen, and his brain was suffocating on the verge of exploding with pain!
Could it be that he transmigrated over just to die at the bottom of a lake, entirely before the plot even started to pick up?
Urged by an intense desire to live, inspiration struck Ling Xia like a crash of lightning as he suddenly remembered a certain fact: Yu ZhiJue’s body contained water elemental energy!
In other words, Yu ZhiJue was capable of breathing freely under water!
Without the slightest bit of hesitation, he used the last of his strength to pull Yu ZhiJue towards himself, and pressed his lips forth…
Big bro isn’t doing it on purpose, big bro just doesn’t want to die! Please forgive this big bro ahhhhhh!
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