Chapter 4.1

Why Didn’t She Call For Help? (1)

Ji Qingzhou flailed in the water. She couldn’t swim and felt weak in her limbs. She clearly felt that she exerted all efforts to paddle in the water to make herself float, but to no avail.

Due to tension, she exhaled all the air in her chest and sank deeper and deeper. The lake water was already over her head.

No one paid attention to the change that happened here, because no one would have thought that there were people in Mount Jian Lake who could not swim.

The lake was extensive, and the cultivators who went down in the distance had long since dived into the water to look for clues. The immortality seekers in the lake were competitors, and no one would deign to swim over to help Ji Qingzhou.

Even the Xuanyun Sect disciples, who onced rushed over to pull her, led Maomao to the side to tease it and simply did not pay attention to her circumstances after saving her donkey.

Only Shen Rongyu found that Ji Qingzhou was drowning. The daylight sprinkled down like gold. He stood rooted not far from Ji Qingzhou and didn’t move.

Ji Qingzhou was a very quiet person. Even though she was drowning, she sank and tried her best to get up, but she didn’t shout or call for help at all.

The lake water was icy cold. Ji Qingzhou felt that her limbs were frozen in the water, and she was extremely stiff when she paddled. Because of lack of oxygen, the breath she originally held gave way, and she choked on a mouthful of water.

Something seemed to have blocked her nasal cavity, and it hurt. Ji Qingzhou could not even hear the system’s fragmented rambles.

She was just an ordinary person, but what about Shen Rongyu? He was the most evil being in this world. She was bound to a system and had to get close to him. The seemingly easy task actually leveled up. Dangers lurked in all directions, and any small accident could kill her.

Ji Qingzhou was still trying her best to wave her arms, but being untrained in water, such movements only made her sink further and further down.

She choked again, and the cold water of the lake poured into her chest. She sank straight down — but she still didn’t ask others for help.

Ji Qingzhou struggled for a long time, and Shen Rongyu also observed her throughout it.

When Ji Qingzhou slowly sank, he slightly raised his jaw. No emotion surfaced in his eyes, except for a trace of curiosity.

Even if Ji Qingzhou drowned right in front of him, it was none of his business. She obviously overestimated herself. A mortal wishfully thought she could climb the ladders of Immortality Seeking.

However, Ji Qingzhou surprisingly remained silent. Shen Rongyu has seen people floating in a sea of blood. In the bloody water, people with severed limbs attempted to climb out of it. Even if blood was still gurgling in their necks, and they were constantly losing vitality, they still did their best to grab all the things around them to cling to. If it was another person, they pulled them to their bodies, as footrests.

The struggle before death was the most interesting, and Shen Rongyu was fond of watching it.

Ji Qingzhou, however, was the most boring of all, like a piece of dead rotten wood. Even with a sword cutting through every fragile flesh and bone meridian of her body, she probably wouldn’t lose control and go mad and reveal her hideous form.

It was not that Ji Qingzhou didn’t want to live. It was just that no matter how much she tried, she only shrank in her own world. In her world, there were no ‘others’, only herself.

Ji Qingzhou closed her eyes and thought, ‘I’m really sorry, System. If only it could find something to do. It would be nice if you found a more competent host.’

Her hands and feet were as heavy as lead, and she was wrapped in icy lake water like a flowing cocoon.

A large palm wrapped around the back of her head. The temperature of Shen Rongyu’s fingers was colder than that of the lake. His rob sleeve swung open in the clear lake water, like a dried flower spreading out.

He dragged Ji Qingzhou up to the surface of the lake. In the Mount Jian Lake, in order to detect the immortal bones of an immortality seeker, spells could not be used, so the air current separating the ends of Shen Rongyu’s fingers against her disappeared.

Their skin almost touched each other, without any gap. Under Shen Rongyu’s fingers, her pulsating blood vessels were throbbed.

“Shwa!” A splash rang out. Ji Qingzhou sagged down. It was soaked in water, and it dropped heavily on her back.  Her cheeks, which had been soiled by the wind and dust, were washed by the Mount Jian Lake water.

Her long eyelashes were woefully stained with water; but her wet, squinting eyes, shone crystal clear.

The system was right. She was indeed stunning, but Ji Qingzhou had the miraculous ‘I-don’t-know-I’m-good-looking’ ability. As long as she wanted to hide, no one would notice her, nor would they pay attention to her looks.

Appearances did not limit to the external looks of a person. Their temperament was also a factor. For example, Meng Yaolan, the Young Miss of the Meng family, whom Ji Qingzhou had noticed on the lake shore, supposedly had an ordinary appearance, but she stood out in front of the crowd. She was magnificent and imposing, and could attract everyone’s attention.

Ji Qingzhou was more like a little flower that occasionally absorbed a ray of sunlight that leaked into the basement and grew, entirely delicate, but very inconspicuous.

Shen Rongyu patted her on the back, and she spewed out the lake water in her chest. It made her feel a lot better, and she also regained consciousness.

She stared blankly at Shen Rongyu in front of her. She didn’t expect him to save her.

On her very first day in the Xuanyun Sect, this legendary villain actually saved her twice?

Ji Qingzhou suspected that she was dreaming, but the constantly recharging system told her that everything that had happened was true.

Because of their close proximity without barriers, the system was constantly sucking up energy, and it excitedly told Ji Qingzhou, “Host, think of a way to make contact with him more next time, so that I can unlock my first function soon.”

Ji Qingzhou didn’t reply to the system’s words, because Shen Rongyu was still holding her arm. It was only with his support that she didn’t sink any further.

At this time, the white bird that was constantly flying over Mount Jian Lake to provide vision also flew to them. It spread its wings, lowered its gliding height, and swept across the water, giving Ji Qingzhou and Shen Rongyu a close-up.

On the golden shimmering lake, Shen Rongyu quietly stared at Ji Qingzhou, but Ji Qingzhou didn’t even dare to look at him. Her eyes avoided him and drifted away.

Inside the main hall of the Xuanyun Sect, the elders who saw this scene were all taken aback.