The Guardian's Warning

The brutal, arrogant bombing harassment continued from dawn until dusk, churning the clear, peaceful waters of Urquhart Bay into a muddy mess.

Countless innocent fish floated up and down on the lake's surface, while the air filled with the acrid smell of nitroglycerin and the stench of death.

The advanced survey ship was like an indefatigable steel beast, brazenly flaunting the crudest desire of industrial civilization to conquer this ancient lake.

Lin Jie, William, and Alistair quietly watched from their disguised fishing boat for the entire day.

Lin Jie's mental strength had slowly recovered during that time, but the splitting headache still wouldn't go away. He didn't try to use [Touch of Afterimage] again, and instead devoted all his attention to observing and recording the actions of the "uninvited guests."

He realized their movements were highly organized and purposeful. They showed no interest in the ordinary fish blasted to the surface, and merely used a device hanging over the side of the ship—something like a primitive sonar—to listen for activity underwater again and again.

"They're mapping the spiritual force field," Lin Jie quickly wrote in his notebook. "Each blast isn't just harassment; it's also a kind of 'probe.' They're using the spiritual echoes triggered by the explosions to work out the approximate shape and location of the enormous energy source at the bottom of the lake. It's a crude method, but it works."

William's expression was grave. A trace of bloodlust crept into the veteran's voice. "I smell war. These people aren't ordinary explorers or hunters. Every move they make shows the discipline of an army and an absolute disregard for their target."

"They don't care how many innocent creatures they kill, or whether they completely destroy this lake's ecosystem. They have eyes only for their ultimate objective."

Night finally fell.

But Loch Ness was especially eerie that night. There wasn't a breath of wind in the sky, and the lake was so still that not even a ripple disturbed its surface. The absolute silence brought no peace; instead, it carried the oppressive weight of a massive storm about to break.

Just then, a thin layer of white mist began to rise slowly from the center of the lake.

At first, wisps of mist drifted silently over the water like strands of gauze. But within minutes, they thickened at astonishing speed, eventually forming a vast wall of fog so dense that no one could see through it. The entire Urquhart Bay disappeared beneath a blinding white veil, cut off from the world.

"It's 'it'..." The scholar's voice was filled with awe and excitement. "The Guardian Deity! It's written in ancient Celtic legends! Whenever evil outsiders invade the sacred lake, the 'Spirit of the Lake' summons the 'Mist of Lost Paths,' making the invaders lose their way until they're swallowed by the water!"

Lin Jie's heart pounded. With the fog's arrival, the enormous spiritual pulse deep beneath the lake, which had been merely "restless" before, awakened with unprecedented intensity!

It was no longer the gentle heartbeat of a sleeping being, but the majestic gaze of an ancient behemoth, roused to fury!

A vast and sacred force field spread outward from the center of the lake!

"En—!"

It wasn't a sound, but a spiritual pressure that bore down on the soul!

Lin Jie felt as if an invisible hand had clenched around his brain. The cool, meditative calm emanating from the hilt of Heart of Serenity seemed to do little against the force field's overwhelming, heavenlike power. It was on the verge of being crushed along with him.

William and the scholar were faring no better. They clutched their heads, their bodies trembling.

Lin Jie fought through the pressure and watched the survey ship, shrouded in fog, through his binoculars.

As soon as the fog rose, panicked shouts and curses rang out from the ship. Its searchlights could illuminate no more than three meters ahead, their beams forming useless halos in the mist.

The advanced internal combustion engine seemed to be affected by the mysterious force field as well. It sputtered and stuttered, then died with a final puff.

"Their compass is broken! All their directional alchemical instruments have been blocked by this powerful spiritual force field!" Lin Jie immediately deduced their predicament from the crew's frantic movements as they uselessly pounded on their instruments.

In the dense fog, steeped in ancient magic, the survey ship—an embodiment of cutting-edge industrial technology—had become a helpless iron coffin, blind and deaf.

Then something even stranger happened.

The lake, smooth as a mirror, began to churn unpredictably in the fog!

Currents formed out of nowhere beneath the ship. As if driven by a will of their own, they shoved and tugged at the powerless vessel.

The burly men aboard panicked. They ran around aimlessly, shouting, and some fired blindly at the fog-covered lake.

By contrast, the small fishing boat Lin Jie and the others were on received entirely different treatment.

When the vast spiritual force field swept over them, it seemed to recognize the pure, harmless curiosity in their hearts, and the mental pressure that had nearly crushed the three of them softened.

Then, from some unknown source, an equally powerful but wholly benevolent current appeared and lifted the bottom of their little boat.

The current held no hint of violence. Like the gentle hand of a giant, it slowly and steadily pushed their boat toward the safe shore, away from the chaos.

Faced with an experience that could only be called a miracle, Lin Jie, William, and Alistair were struck speechless. They could only stare blankly as an incomprehensibly merciful force carried them to safety.

This was the Guardian Deity's warning.

It had shown both boats that had trespassed into its domain its absolute will in the most direct way possible.

For those who came with malice and greed to profane the lake, it sent the "Mist of Lost Paths" and "Currents of Chaos," powers capable of rendering even advanced technology useless.

But for those who had disturbed its peace despite being filled with reverence and a desire to learn, it offered a "safe escort," like a mother shooing away a mischievous child.

"Boom!"

Just as their little boat was about to be pushed into the shallows by the shore, a deafening crash of metal against rock rang out from deep within the fog!

Then came a series of screams, quickly swallowed by the lake.

"They... they hit the rocks..." William said hoarsely. He knew that in this blinding fog, amid the unpredictable currents, every boat faced the same fate: to be smashed against the ancient reefs hidden beneath the waters of Urquhart Bay.

The "divine punishment," personally delivered by the mysterious guardian, had come to an end in a display of nature's might and mysticism.

When their little boat was finally carried to a sheltered stretch of shore by the gentle force, the vast fog that had covered the entire lake vanished as abruptly as it had appeared.

Moonlight once again spilled across the lake. The waters were still, and the breathtaking divine punishment seemed like nothing more than a dream.

Only the faint smell of blood lingering in the air proved that everything that had just happened was real.