Li Xiaoya pricked up his ears and listened carefully for a while, but still heard nothing. He poked his head out and saw that the pool remained as still as a mirror, without the slightest disturbance. He inwardly sighed in relief, thinking he had worried too much. Getting to his feet, he hurried excitedly toward the Yellowblood Fruit. At the edge of the pool, he was just about to step into the water and wade across when a flicker of hesitation crossed his mind. He hastily backed away and muttered to himself, "There's still something strange about this place. This is the lowest point in the valley. Whenever it rains, all the water collects here. How could the pool possibly be this small?" He peered into the pool, but its depths were pitch-black, with no bottom in sight.
At the sight, Li Xiaoya kicked a fist-sized stone into the pool. Splash! The stone struck the water and sank, vanishing without another sound. He waited a long while, but heard nothing more-not even a bubble rose to the surface.
"Huh? What's this?" Li Xiaoya exclaimed in bewilderment. "There really is something wrong here. This isn't an ordinary pool!" He looked around again and spotted several pieces of wood nearby, probably washed in from outside by the rain.
Li Xiaoya picked up a piece of wood and hefted it in his hand. It felt quite light, so he tossed it into the pool. Smack! The wood struck the surface, spun around, and bobbed a few times before abruptly sinking.
"Could this be the legendary sinkwood water?" Li Xiaoya cried in surprise. He remembered a liquid with a peculiar suction described in an ancient text he had once read in Senior Brother Liu Hang's study. It looked no different from water, but its