“Why are you here?” Zhi Shen greeted with a cheerful smile.
Ling Ye glanced at Nanshan, pausing slightly when his gaze passed over her pale lips, but quickly looked away: “Do you want to drown her?”
“Of course not, just giving Miss Nanshan a little lesson, so she knows that the mistress of the Nightless Pavilion is not someone anyone can be,” Zhi Shen said, smiling as he looked at Nanshan, “Isn’t that right, Miss Nanshan?”
Hearing this, Ling Ye frowned and looked over.
Nanshan was submerged in the cold lake water, droplets rolling down her hair and cheeks.
The clothes her mother had painstakingly made for her were soaked, clinging to her body in wrinkled disarray, but the Shenyue Pearl on her wrist remained bright.
Meanwhile, the two men on the shore, dressed in fine robes and adorned with jewels, looked down at her from their lofty position, as if she were a foolish clown.
A fire burned in Nanshan’s heart, so intense that her eyes nearly turned red, yet she still suppressed her emotions.
“Have you thought it over?” Zhi Shen urged impatiently.
Boom-
The fire ignited completely.
“I’ve thought it over, but I will only tell Ling Ye,” she gritted her teeth and said.
Zhi Shen immediately looked at Ling Ye.
Ling Ye frowned but still took a few steps forward.
As he passed Zhi Shen, he was handed a scroll.
“Make her sign it. If she dares to back out, she will suffer the pain of being boiled in hot oil,” Zhi Shen deliberately raised his voice, clearly for Nanshan to hear.
Nanshan let out a cold laugh, and as Ling Ye reached the edge of the lake, she swam up to his feet like a fish.
“Crouch down, I can’t talk to you like this,” Nanshan looked up, only able to see the hem of his robe.
Ling Ye crouched down, looking at her with a calm expression.
“My conclusion is…” Nanshan locked eyes with him for a moment, then suddenly grabbed his collar and lunged toward his lips.
Her movement was too bold and swift; the two men didn’t react in time.
By the time they came to their senses, she had already swum back into the lake, looking at Ling Ye with satisfaction: “My conclusion is, I won’t break off the engagement.”
The scroll fell into the water, quickly submerged.
“I know it was wrong of me to agree to break off the engagement and then backtrack. I also know that this marriage contract has benefited me at your expense.
I feel guilty, I owe you, I’ve clung to you like a leech, so you almost caused my death.
I don’t blame you; who told me I couldn’t protect my family and had to rely on this marriage?
But that should be enough, right? Even if I backed out first, your revenge has gone on long enough. The marriage was arranged by your father, and it was your father who forced you to marry.
If you’re unhappy, go talk to your father! What does bullying me count for? If it weren’t for my parents, do you think I would want to marry you?”
The words she had been holding back finally spilled out, and as Nanshan spoke, her breathing grew more rapid.
By the time she finished her last sentence, her eyes were slightly red.
Ling Ye’s lip wound split open, a wave of pain making him feel irritable, his voice cold as ice: “If you don’t want to, then break off the engagement.”
After saying so much, he only absorbed that one sentence. Nanshan took a deep breath, stared at him for a long time, then suddenly smiled: “I, refuse!”
Looking into her stubborn eyes, Ling Ye suddenly felt restless.
Zhi Shen beside him was also dumbfounded, clearly not expecting a mere mortal to have such courage.
“Still the same thing, my marriage with you was not arranged by me, but by our parents and elders.
Whether you’re dissatisfied with this marriage or with me, it should be you who calls off the engagement. Why should I be the one to play the villain when you don’t want to marry, yet I have to fulfill the contract and act like a fool in front of you?”
Nanshan provocatively looked at his blood-stained lips: “A country girl like me is used to being unruly and likes to be close to her fiancé. If you find it disgusting, then break off the engagement quickly.
Otherwise, next time it won’t just be a kiss.”
As soon as she said this, the surroundings fell into silence.
Nanshan felt relieved after venting, but then began to worry for her life—
She realized that with the Shenyue Pearl, these two wouldn’t dare to harm her, but as Zhi Shen said, they wouldn’t kill her, yet if she were eaten by a seven-legged snake, that would be another matter.
Just as she thought of the so-called seven-legged snake, a chilling roar echoed beneath her feet, and Nanshan’s face turned pale as she immediately swam toward the shore.
Zhi Shen finally snapped back to reality, snapping his fingers to trap her in place.
Seeing her panicked expression, he suddenly felt like laughing: “I thought you had some backbone; turns out you’re just a tough-talking coward?”
“Stop talking nonsense, let me go,” Nanshan urged, “If I’m eaten by the seven-legged snake, I won’t let you off even as a ghost!”
“Coincidentally, I’m most afraid of ghosts. Hurry up and agree to break off the engagement, and I’ll let you come ashore,” Zhi Shen crossed his arms, still fixated on the engagement.
“Did you not hear a word I just said?” Nanshan was furious, but as the sounds grew closer, she finally softened, “Let me up first, and we’ll talk about the engagement later.”
“No way. If we can’t settle this, don’t think about coming up,” Zhi Shen insisted.
Nanshan was both anxious and angry: “Stop talking! It’s coming up!”
“Who? The seven-legged snake?” Zhi Shen initially wanted to mock her, but seeing her serious expression, he hesitated, “Really?”
“Really, I heard its voice!” Nanshan hurriedly said.
She shouldn’t have said anything; Zhi Shen showed a speechless expression: “What voice? You really dare to say.”
“I really heard it!” As the sound grew clearer, meaning that thing was getting closer, Nanshan was nearly going crazy, “The seven-legged snake is still a snake, right? You don’t know, I’ve been able to hear snakes since I was little…”
Before Nanshan could finish, the roar from the lake bottom suddenly turned into whispers, her eyes went blank, and she suddenly swam down into the lake.
“Hey, are you putting on a show? Who are you trying to scare?” Zhi Shen blocked Ling Ye, who wanted to save her, and sat down on the shore, planning to laugh at her when she couldn’t help but surface.
But after waiting for a long time, there was still no sign of her. He felt a jolt in his heart, suddenly realizing something was wrong.
“Come… come…”
The whispers continued, and while Nanshan’s rational mind wanted to swim away, her body uncontrollably swam deeper into the lake.
Strangely, she usually could dive two or three meters when fishing with friends, but this time she felt no buoyancy, as if she were carrying the weight of the entire lake, still able to sink infinitely.
As oxygen gradually ran out, her chest felt like it was about to explode, yet her body continued to swim deeper.
After a certain depth, no light penetrated, and it should have become darker, but the closer she got to the lake bottom, the brighter it became, bright enough to see a three-foot- long fish ten meters away.
The moment Nanshan’s fingers touched the gravel at the lake bottom, a sudden cut opened on her fingertip, and the bright red blood was not diluted by the lake water but instead seeped into the gravel, causing a black hole to suddenly open at the lake bottom, something crashing wildly beneath.
The enormous roar was no longer distant but clearly drilled into her ears.
Nanshan suddenly opened her eyes, her limbs seemingly regaining freedom, and she immediately tried to swim to the surface, but before she could turn, a force pulled her into the opened black hole.
…This time, she was really going to die.
Nanshan despairingly closed her eyes when a long hand suddenly grabbed her wrist.
A drowning person will cling to a lifeline, and Nanshan was no exception.
When she felt her hand being grabbed, she instinctively wrapped around it. The other party did not push her away but instead fell with her into the black hole.
The roar grew sharper, ringing in Nanshan’s ears. Just when she thought she would go deaf, a cool finger brushed against her ear, and the overwhelming noise was reduced by ninety percent.
…What was happening?
Nanshan’s eyelashes fluttered, her face buried in the person’s embrace, still unwilling to lift her head.
“Breathe.”
A familiar voice came, and Nanshan suddenly looked up, meeting a pair of cold eyes.
“Ling…” Nanshan struggled to make a sound, then realized something and began to cough violently.
Seeing her regain her breath, Ling Ye set her down, forming a sword glowing with a ghostly blue light with his hands, and charged straight ahead.
Nanshan bent over, coughing for a long time.
When she finally caught her breath, she suddenly realized that she was not on land but in mid-air.
She gasped, and in the next moment, she saw Ling Ye entangled with a giant snake.
Having grown up in the countryside, Nanshan had seen many snakes, but this was the first time she had seen one so large, towering three times higher than the big restaurants in the county, with fist-sized lumps all over its body, its mouth open revealing terrifying fangs dripping with thick venom, making one feel alarmed just by looking.
She was still in a daze when Ling Ye had already stabbed the giant snake in the eye with his sword.
The snake let out a long howl, the sound waves shaking the very air.
“You little yellow-haired brat, daring to injure my true dragon form, you shall die!”
Ling Ye raised his gaze, a hint of coldness in his eyes: “A shameless snake, and you dare to call yourself a true dragon.”
Strangely, the snake’s voice should have been loud, but to Nanshan, it sounded weak, while Ling Ye’s every word was crystal clear.
The giant snake was thoroughly enraged, its body rolling and the world changing color.
Nanshan watched in fear, worried about being accidentally harmed. Yet every time the snake’s tail swept toward her, Ling Ye would appear just in time to deflect all attacks.
After a while, the snake seemed to realize something and began to attack her specifically.
Ling Ye’s expression turned displeased, his movements graceful as he wielded his sword, making it seem like light and shadow.
Not knowing how long they fought, the snake seemed to sense something was wrong and suddenly charged toward Nanshan’s upper right.
Nanshan was so frightened that she crouched down, the snake’s rough body flew over her head.
Cautiously, she looked up and discovered a large hole above, with clear lake water inside, and a huge fish swimming by.
That was… the bottom of the lake?
So she was now beneath the lake bottom? Nanshan looked at the vast expanse of white beneath her feet, once again awed by this world that was entirely different from the mortal realm.
As she was lost for words, the giant snake crashed into the hole for the third time. Ling Ye charged forward with his sword, forcing it to retreat repeatedly.
…Was this the son of the immortal uncle, who was weak and low in spiritual power, and could be trampled by anyone after taking the throne?
The immortal uncle truly did not understand his son! In such a short time, the giant snake had completely fallen into a disadvantage.
Nanshan watched Ling Ye, who seemed to have the power to swallow mountains and rivers, unable to speak for a long time.
As the hole gradually shrank, the snake saw no hope of escape, and all its rage and resentment erupted.
While Nanshan was still in a daze, she unexpectedly locked eyes with a giant eye filled with fury.
Nanshan: “?”
“You little yellow-haired brat, you obstruct my freedom and destroy my left eye. I will kill your beloved in revenge!”
“…Who? Me?” Nanshan still looked confused as the giant snake opened its mouth and charged at her.
“Ah, ah, ah, you really got it wrong!”
Looking at the nearly five-meter-wide mouth opening, Nanshan’s mind went blank, the lake water and giant fish in the black hole, the wind and clouds in the high sky, and the white expanse of land below all felt so distant, while the snake’s mouth, reeking of blood, was so close, close enough to swallow her whole.
At the brink of death, Nanshan forgot to close her eyes, staring blankly at the giant snake’s crimson mouth.
Just as she was in a daze, she suddenly saw the snake’s mouth freeze for a moment, its originally fierce gaze turning panicked, as if it had seen something terrifying.
Nanshan paused, just beginning to feel a hint of doubt when the sword tip glowing blue suddenly pierced through the snake’s throat.
Then the snake’s head exploded, turning into a sky full of red flames.
The sword tip shot straight toward her face but retracted just a foot away, transforming into a large umbrella held by a blood-stained man, shielding her from all the sparks.
Nanshan stared blankly at Ling Ye, their eyes meeting.
As her gaze inadvertently slid over the wound on his lip, just as she was about to speak, Ling Ye suddenly lunged forward, burying his face in her neck.