Ripples on the Water

Ripples on the Water

The three forces came one after another. Hanyu struggled desperately to break free, but the hands formed from soil held him fast, tight as iron shackles.

A fire lotus bloomed, scorching everything around it red, yet it could not move those earthen hands in the slightest.

Hanyu hurriedly withdrew it, then waved his hand again. The enormous Hungry Ghost Diagram appeared, and countless hungry ghosts scrambled out, surrounding him until not even a crack remained.

Third Elder Qin's divine lightning struck first, hitting the bone hungry ghost in front of Hanyu. The powerful impact swept everything around them clear in an instant, flinging countless bones into the air. Then came a tremendous explosion.

Hanyu felt numbness and pain all over. The fine cracks that already covered his body felt as though they were being boiled, and he could smell the aroma of roasted meat.

If that horde of hungry ghosts hadn't taken the brunt of the blow, that single bolt of divine lightning would have cost him half his life.

But wind and fire followed close behind. The bone hungry ghosts couldn't replenish themselves in time, leaving Hanyu no choice but to endure the attacks head-on.

"Idiot, use your Fire Element Supernatural Power to make the other guy's fire explode and blow apart the cage around your feet!"

Little Glazed said frantically in his mind.

Hanyu's eyes lit up. He hurriedly communicated with the fire lotus in his Sea of Consciousness, but it wasn't as easy as the little Artifact Spirit had claimed. No matter how the lotus tried to summon the other party's fire element, it couldn't move it even a hair.

In the end, Hanyu simply withdrew the Hungry Ghost Diagram. Only after he poured all his strength into the fire lotus did he barely manage to draw the fire-element attack to his feet.

A huge blast rang out. Hanyu was flung into the sea of fire, then shot through the air before plunging straight into the Bailu River...

The Aristocratic Clans watching from Tianning City were bitterly disappointed. Was that really it?

But the Qin Family hadn't managed to reclaim its lost face. If anything, they'd lost even more. Three of their thirteen elders had died, and in the end it had taken three Soul-Peering elders and the family head to deal with one young man.

The Qin Family didn't seem so frightening after all.

Many family heads' minds immediately began turning...

By the Bailu River, Qin Tiannan and the three elders had been standing on the bank for a long time, their expressions growing darker by the minute.

The evening glow turned the entire river surface crimson. Apart from faint ripples, there was no movement at all.

He hadn't died!

Who hadn't died? Hanyu, naturally. The four of them had waited for a long time, but no body had floated to the surface.

The only explanation was that he was still alive.

The Bailu River was enormous, over a hundred zhang wide and long enough to reach the prefectures of the southern provinces. Landing stages lined its banks all along the river.

This gave the Qin Family a headache. If Hanyu was still alive, he could come ashore anywhere without anyone noticing. At the thought, Qin Tiannan immediately sent someone back to summon every cultivator in the Qin Family.

As for him, he flew along the river with the elders, searching constantly for any trace of Hanyu.

Soon, the cultivators from Qin Family Fortress arrived. More than two hundred of them rode their swords low over the river, flying back and forth. Their sudden appearance immediately drew the attention of everyone in Tianning City.

He wasn't dead. He'd escaped into the water, badly wounded?

Ha ha ha! Now that was a laugh. They'd still let him get away!

So the riverbank filled not only with Qin Family cultivators, but also with cultivators from Tianning Prefecture who had come to watch the spectacle. A dense crowd stood outside, the two sides keeping their distance.

Qin Tiannan ground his teeth with hatred, but there was nothing he could do.

And Hanyu?

At that moment, he lay sprawled on the riverbed, aching so badly that his teeth were clenched. He couldn't be bothered to move. A thin film of water covered his entire body; unless a cultivator dove all the way down, no one could possibly find him lying there.

When he looked upward, he could even make out blurred figures occasionally flashing past above the water.

"Am I really that hated? Do they need to see me alive or see my corpse?"

Hanyu sighed. Those blurry figures were almost certainly Qin Family cultivators. They really weren't going to give up.

Little Glazed chattered away in his mind. "You killed three of their elders. What do you think? Do they hate you or not?"

"Just wait until I get my hands on a poison pill!"

Hanyu gritted his teeth and muttered the threat to himself.

This was the first time he'd actively hoped the bottle would produce a pill as soon as possible.

Time passed in utter boredom. The Qin Family cultivators had flown around for several hours without finding anything. The family head and elders kept scanning the river, their faces dark.

Some cultivators had already gone along the river to search the various landing points. Fewer and fewer remained nearby.

No one could have imagined that he was simply staying motionless on the riverbed, able to remain underwater without needing to breathe.

Gradually, not only did the Tianning Prefecture cultivators who'd come to watch leave, but the Qin Family cultivators also gave up hope and departed. They still had to continue searching at various places along the river.

Qin Tiannan had clearly made up his mind to find Hanyu at any cost. "This man has a deep grudge against the Qin Family. If we don't find him, none of our cultivators below the Soul-Peering Realm will ever be able to leave home in peace."

The night was deep and still, and the Bright Moon hung high overhead.

A pleasure boat drifted across the river. Bai Jingliang, Bai Junya, and Linglan leaned against the railing, gazing at the water.

"Could he really be dead?" Linglan asked softly.

Bai Jingliang frowned the whole time. Then he shook his head and said, "Impossible. Even the Qin Family couldn't find a body. He must still be alive."

Bai Junya's expression was complicated. Every so often, she found herself remembering the day she'd collapsed into Hanyu's arms.

The more she thought about it, the tighter her chest felt. So she went and leaned against the railing by herself.

On the riverbed, Hanyu slowly opened his eyes. After a day of fighting, fleeing, and being pursued, he was not only covered in wounds but mentally exhausted as well. He watched the river surface until he gradually fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes again, he could vaguely see the Bright Moon swaying in the water. It took him a moment to come to his senses before he realized he was still underwater. It wasn't the moon that was swaying; the river was rippling.

Now no figures passed over the river anymore. Hanyu guessed they'd left, but just to be safe, he stayed still a little longer.

"Are you still alive?"

Bai Junya gazed at the Bright Moon on the water and murmured to herself. Suddenly, the moon's reflection trembled violently, as if it were about to burst out of the water.

With a splash,

a ragged figure broke through the moon's reflection and leaped out, startling Bai Junya. In her panic, she tilted sideways and toppled headfirst overboard.

"Her?"

Hanyu froze in midair, his expression turning indescribably strange.

I swam all the way to a different spot before coming ashore, and I still ran into someone surnamed Bai?

Watching Bai Junya fall from high above, Hanyu helplessly twisted around and plunged after her. He had just reached out and wrapped his arms around her when, in her panic, Bai Junya mistook him for a thief and summoned a water dragon without a second thought, sending it crashing toward him.

Already covered in old wounds, how could he withstand another blow like that? His whole body went limp in midair, and he crashed heavily back into the water.

Splash! Splash!

Two splashes rang out...

Why did running into someone surnamed Bai always end in disaster for him?

Hanyu was near tears. After Bai Junya fell into the water, she thrashed about in a panic, forgetting all about her water-element supernatural power. In just a few moments, she lost consciousness.

So Hanyu had no choice but to struggle over to her again. Once he'd pulled Bai Junya into his arms, he activated his water-element supernatural power, covering them both.

Holding her soft, delicate body in his arms, he only then realized that Bai Junya's clothes were soaked through, revealing every curve. Her full, almost-spilling bosom stood out clearly. He'd known she was well-endowed, but had never really understood just how much. Now he finally did.

Bai Junya's eyes were closed. Beneath her stunning face, her red lips were parted slightly, and Hanyu swallowed, unable to keep himself from staring.

Just then, a splash suddenly broke beside him. Somehow, Bai Jingliang had jumped in too. He'd thought his older sister was in danger, but the moment he came down, he saw Hanyu holding her—and Hanyu's eyes looked as if they could devour someone!

Hanyu looked at Bai Jingliang's complicated expression and called through the thin film, "I can explain..."