"..."
(ˇˇ)
Not far from where she'd encountered that great stag, by the edge of a lake in Jueyun Karst, Annie sat barefoot on a large rock, dipping her feet into the lake's clear, icy water. In her hands, she held two Glaze Lilies—flowers that could be used as ingredients or spices, but tasted bitter when eaten raw—and kept slapping them against the water's surface. Who knew what she was thinking about?
"Strange!"
(**;)
"It's a perfectly good secret realm. Why does it have to be hidden underwater?"
(~)
"Do all the adepti have something wrong with their heads?"
(′~`●)
That was right!
The reason Annie was sitting by the lake instead of leaving was, of course, that she was studying the ruins beneath its clear waters, as well as the secret realm next to them. The secret realm was also at the bottom of the lake, but its entrance lay in a rocky mountain beneath the water.
"Could it be..."
(ー`ー)
"That there's..."
(ˇˇ)
"Something fun in there?"
|ω)
Annie began wildly speculating, and her interest grew a little stronger.
Of course, only a little. It really wasn't that much.
"Hmm..."
"Looks like some boring mechanism?"
(ω)
Soon, Annie spotted a mechanism on the ruins beneath the water, protected by inscriptions. She also spotted a huge sluice gate on the far side of the lake, almost at the edge of her vision. After thinking it over, she had a general idea of what was going on.
"But it looks like so much trouble!"
⊙﹏⊙‖∣°
"And the seal's way too simple. There's definitely nothing fun inside. I'll pass."
╮(╯▽╰)╭
Knowing what was going on was one thing. After thinking about it and deciding it sounded like too much trouble, her curiosity gradually faded. Of course she didn't want to go