Page 11

Xie Ning finished the cooled boiled water in the waterskin, but still felt parched and hot. "So hot..."

Before Zhou Jinian's eyes, Xie Ning tugged open his collar, revealing his pale, slender chest. His skin immediately began to flush, turning bright red beneath the white flakes.

Zhou Jinian looked around. Schisandra liked to grow in gullies, so there had to be water nearby.

Zhou Jinian picked Xie Ning up to search for water. Pressed against Zhou Jinian's burning body heat, Xie Ning could not help twisting and arching.

"Bear with it. I'll take you to find water." Zhou Jinian tightened his hold on Xie Ning, the veins bulging along his arms beneath his sleeves.

"Hot, so hot!"

In theory, water flowed downhill, so Zhou Jinian carried him down the slope.

Xie Ning felt something stirring in the dantian inside his body. It wanted to burst out of him, and the part of him pressed against Zhou Jinian's chest felt as though it would be burned...

Tormented by both the heat rising within his own body and the heat coming from Zhou Jinian, Xie Ning suddenly felt his skin breathe in moist air.

Xie Ning closed his eyes and briefly calmed down, quietly concentrating on that moisture.

"Over there... go there..."

Zhou Jinian slowed and looked down at Xie Ning in his arms. Xie Ning's eyes were still closed, but his finger was not pointing downhill.

"There... it's damp... there's water!" Xie Ning said, his eyes half-open.

That hazy look in his eyes left Zhou Jinian dazed for a moment. Following Xie Ning's wishes, he headed left.

No one had traveled in the direction Xie Ning pointed, so weeds grew thickly and shrubs crowded together, leaving barely any path. Relying on his height and long legs, Zhou Jinian trampled the weeds down step by step and finally reached the spot.

It turned out to be a cave. Even in daylight, its interior looked pitch-black.

Zhou Jinian's forehead was already drenched in sweat. Strangely, though Xie Ning kept complaining of the heat, he had not sweated at all. His whole body was red, as though roasted through, and beneath the white flakes of skin, he looked like a mottled peony.

Xie Ning had completely lost his senses. He leaned sideways in Zhou Jinian's arms, stretching toward the cave. Zhou Jinian hesitated no longer and carried him inside.

The dampness that swept out of the cave chilled even a normal person like Zhou Jinian to the bone. He felt his way over loose stones one step at a time, unable to see anything in the darkness and relying entirely on Xie Ning for directions.

"Drip... drip... drip..."

Counting silently, Zhou Jinian had walked nearly a hundred paces when he heard dripping water. There was a glimmer of light ahead. With no further need for Xie Ning's directions, he walked toward it.

As he drew closer, Zhou Jinian saw a pool inside the mountain. Light spilled through an opening overhead. The pool was clear, its water green, with many fallen rocks around its edges.

The entire pool glowed softly. Something like mist seemed to hover over its surface, making it look like an immortal realm.

Beauty meant danger. Zhou Jinian looked down at his feet. They stood halfway up Pool Cave, with steep rocks below them. A fall would not kill them, but it would certainly cause injuries.

"Ninglang, we can't get down here. We need a rope."

Xie Ning was already swallowing. He was like a fish stranded in a dried-up rut, just short of turning belly-up.

Like someone in a desert finding an oasis, who would crawl to it if that was what it took to quench his thirst, Xie Ning broke free of Zhou Jinian with a sudden burst of strength and plunged headfirst into the pool, sending up a splash.

"Xie Ning!" Zhou Jinian cried out in alarm, his voice echoing through the cave.

The instant Xie Ning's skin touched the water, it was as though he had been healed. He surfaced and wiped the water from his face. "Much better. I'm fine!"

"It's too dangerous. We don't know whether there are water monsters in there." Zhou Jinian's brows knitted tightly with worry.

Xie Ning looked to either side and began swimming toward the edge of the pool.

Zhou Jinian's gaze followed him constantly. Xie Ning was like a little fish, happy again in the water, his every movement graceful, as though he were dancing in it.

Remembering how Ninglang had submerged his entire body in the bathtub last night and breathed underwater, Zhou Jinian breathed a sigh of relief.

Once Xie Ning swam over to a boulder, Zhou Jinian felt reassured. If there really was a sea monster in the water, at least Xie Ning could reach out and climb ashore.

"I'm going down the mountain to get a rope. Whatever you do, don't close your eyes. If you're tired, climb out and wait on shore. Do you hear me?" Zhou Jinian instructed sternly.

"Mm!" Xie Ning nodded obediently.

Zhou Jinian surveyed the pool once more. There was water all around, and there would certainly be no danger on shore, but the danger underwater was unknown. He had to find a way to get Xie Ning up as quickly as possible.

He turned and left the cave, hurrying down the mountain to fetch a rope from home.

Only once Zhou Jinian disappeared from view did Xie Ning feel a trace of belated fear. He was now alone in this cave pool, and he could not help regretting his jump a little.

"There won't be any sea monsters, will there..." Xie Ning murmured to himself.

Then Xie Ning felt something in his consciousness directing him to dive underwater. His heart raced, and he abruptly plunged his head beneath the surface, opening his eyes underwater...

Seaweed swayed in the water, its roots hidden from sight, the seawater at the bottom so green it was almost black. Little fish swam about, nibbling on the seaweed; shrimp with transparent shells darted through the water; and something long and black was swimming...

Xie Ning's eyes widened as he burst out of the water. With trembling hands, he scrambled onto the boulder, hauling his entire body ashore. He gasped for breath. He had seen a snake...

Now that there was something to fear, Xie Ning regretted his decision even more. He looked around. Pool Cave was narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. Without a rope, he really could not get back up.

Now Xie Ning truly regretted it. If Zhou Jinian abandoned him, he really would die here.

Once that thought took hold, Xie Ning seemed to find himself in a dead end. He thought about how they had only just married, and how he looked like this ghastly mess. Zhou Jinian could very well abandon him-a husband who, until yesterday, had still been a stranger.

He had only been out of the water for a moment before the craving for it surged up inside him again. On shore, he had to endure the torment of parching heat, but in the water, there was a snake...

Zhou Jinian ran down the mountain empty-handed. Lin Jin was hanging laundry in the inner courtyard and frowned as he scolded his son. "Tsk... you're a grown man. How could you let your husband carry that heavy basket?"

"Ninglang is still up on the mountain. I came down to fetch something." After that hurried reply, Zhou Jinian went straight to the workroom, where miscellaneous things were stored.