CH 8.2

There was nothing in his hand.

There was nothing in the barrel either, except crystal clear water.

Bai Lixin frowned slightly.

He had felt this feeling before. He felt his hand being hooked by something when he was in the cave. He had also fallen asleep in the hot spring, but had somehow ended up waking up in the fur.

His body was clean, and the fur beneath him was dry.

If he had drifted off to sleep on the fur itself, it was impossible that the moisture would have evaporated overnight in a highly absorbent fur like that.

Unless his body was already dry when he lay on the fur.

Or… some kind of force drained the moisture from his body.

And his buttons, going to bed fine and getting up and buttoning them wrong, had never happened before.

Then there was only one explanation: the buttons had been moved.

A murderous intent appeared in Bai Lixin’s eyes.

His languid gaze sharpened as he immediately left the bucket. His fingers hooked the white ritual garment from the screen with lightning speed, and he draped it over his body as he looked warily into the bucket.

“Come out!”

The silent room echoed with his voice.

Bai Lixin took two steps back, his eyes not leaving the bucket but searching the room out of the corner of his eye for a tool he could use.

If it could be done seamlessly and easily with water, then the other party’s form should be water.

What could catch or attack water?

He could use electricity if he was given enough time to prepare, or he could cool it to make the other side solidify quickly.

But there was nothing else around him except a screen and a few furnishings.

Although the thing had no malice towards him so far, he would not allow the presence of something he could not master to be around him.

As Bai Lixin stared warily at the bucket, a laugh suddenly echoed in his ears.

The laugh was low and husky, with a slight sneer.

This voice..?

Hearing this voice, Bai Lixin’s face suddenly changed.

The next second, a stream of water slid down his arm to his waistline, and his shoulders suddenly tensed. The current split in two and caressed his long, slender neck.

Bai Lixin was like a fragile doll under the pull of that force. His body was forced to stretch, his waist tightly bound, and both arms controlled behind him. His neck was like a dying swan, struggling to lift upwards.

Bai Lixin raised his head and saw the other party.

It was a mass of water.

It could easily cling to anything that contained water, even air and breath.

It could invade silently, without the other party noticing, and it could even take the other party’s life easily.

It was an exceptionally powerful presence, far above those monster red spiders.

Bai Lixin finally understood!

They were not afraid of the cave itself, but of the water that existed in the cave!

When he entered the cave again to fetch herbs and left, the group of red spiders cowered in front of him. It was because this mass of water had long followed him.

The reason why he still felt comfortable after his sleep yesterday was probably because of this water.

The other party had been haunting him for so long, and he had only just noticed!

And his voice was surprisingly exactly like Dijia’s.

“I can easily break your neck.” There was a threat in the low magnetic voice, “You’re too fragile, as fragile as a rosebud. But I don’t want to do that. I’m interested in you.”

A stream of water gently caressed Bai Lixin’s cheek, like a caress, like a kiss.

Bai Lixin’s whole body was restrained and he could not move, but he instead calmed down.

Not only was this voice exactly the same as Dijia’s, but even this bastard’s tone was no different from Dijia’s.

But he did not sense Dijia’s aura from the other party.

Bai Lixin opened his mouth and took a big breath of air. “Then do I have to thank you for not killing me?”

The other party gave an “en” and slightly loosened the stream of water around Bai Lixin’s neck, “You’re not afraid of me?”

Bai Lixin, “You said it yourself that you could easily kill me. But you haven’t made a move after being by my side for so long, which means that you don’t want to kill me. If you don’t kill me, why should I be afraid of you.”

The other party chuckled, “Interesting. You really are interesting. You are the only being in this world who is not afraid of me.”

“This world? Which world? How long have you existed in this world?” Bai Lixin caught the key word in the sentence, “Is this what you look like? Is there a human form? Are you the River God that the villagers speak of?”

“You have too many questions.” The other party’s voice paused for a couple of seconds, then seemed to be smiling, “It seems you’re really not afraid of me, but I can only answer one question for you. I’ve been trapped in this world for a long time.”

Bai Lixin, “Trapped?”

After making sure that Bai Lixin would not run away, the other party slowly let go of him.

“Yes, I have been here for as long as I can remember. I have tried to leave this village, only to find that a huge barrier appears as soon as I reach the edge of the village. I cannot cross this barrier, or… there is no world beyond the barrier at all, only this small space exists.”

“Thirty years is a cycle, and in my long years, I have seen too many otherworldly visitors like you. They suddenly appear and are either killed or suddenly disappear again.”

The water wrapped around Bai Lixin’s waist again, but there was no force this time; it just gently wound around it. “So you will do the same, either be killed or suddenly disappear, right?”

The water split into two streams, and they wrapped around Bai Lixin’s hand. Bai Lixin looked down at the two streams of water. The touch on his hand was soft and soothing, yet vaguely threatening.

It seemed that if he said “yes”, the other party would tighten the streams of water and strangle him with ease.

He was no match for his opponent now.

Bai Lixin pondered for two seconds, “At least I won’t die. Can I ask you one more question?”

Water body, “Okay.”

Bai Lixin, “What is your name?”

The water body was silent for a long time, so long that Bai Lixin thought the other party would not answer him, but then he slowly replied, “Dijia, my name is Dijia.”

Bai Lixin’s pupils suddenly contracted, “And you don’t know me?”

The water body was playing with Bai Lixin’s fingers. Bai Lixin’s ten fingers were slender and long, and they looked even softer and whiter wrapped in the clear water.

“I know you. You’re one of the otherworldly travellers who fell from the sky. You are obviously so fragile, yet fearless in the face of the red spiders. That’s why I’m interested in you.” The water body tightened its force impatiently when Bai Lixin added another question. A stream of water slid around his waist, and there were signs of it swimming in all directions, “Stop wearing out my patience. I am not a charitable person. Ask me more questions and I will charge you interest, little one.”

Bai Lixin blushed slightly.

He was now basically certain that the other party was Dijia.

He and Dijia had been together for millions of years, and his familiarity with the other party was already engraved into his soul.

His body would not allow a third party who was not Dijia to touch him.

But the other party was not exactly Dijia; he was incomplete, or rather he was just a fragment. Not only had he lost his memory, but even his aura was hidden.

Although he and Dijia had entered the energy vortex, that force had rammed directly into Dijia, causing more damage to him.

As Bai Lixin pondered, his body suddenly froze.

The ubiquitous mass of water had actually wrapped around his entire body at some point, and he could even feel the direction of each small stream of current.

“What are you doing?”

The voice was unscrupulous in its indifference, “I’m collecting interest.”

Bai Lixin slapped the stream of water that was wrapped around his waist, and water splashed in all directions: “Didn’t I not ask any more questions after that? Let go!”

The low voice sighed and slowly withdrew the stream of water, “Alright then, is there anything else you want to ask?”

He forgets him and dares to charge interest?!

Bai Lixin: “…No!”

Dijia, “I like you a lot, little one. So I’ll give you another clue.”

“I am not the River God from the “River God curse”, as you call it. The gods are above humans and never bother to meddle in the affairs of mere mortals, so you can think in another direction. You are very clever and you will surely find the real answer.”

There was a sudden knock at the door, and the NPC’s exclusive mechanical and indifferent voice came, “Lady Saint, it’s time to go to the ancestral home and clean up.”

The mass of water wavered in the air for a moment before turning into a mist of water with a poof.

It thoughtfully absorbed the water off Bai Lixin’s body and clothes as it changed.

Bai Lixin called out to the door, “I’ll come out when I’m changed.”

Bai Lixin walked to the door after putting on his sacrificial clothes. He saw Li Cancan’s eyes suddenly go wide for a few seconds, followed by her face turning red.

……….

In the live broadcast room, the barrage flew up. The novice section, which had never received much attention, was now crowded with viewers.

[Is this a divine face?! From now on, the white-clothed fairy in novels finally has a face.]

[I’m really annoyed with the privacy settings on this broadcast. It goes black when it comes to the bathing session! I want to see the beauty taking a bath!

[I’m showing my hand, I’m falling at the feet of Bai Lixin’s sacrificial clothes.]

[He mustn’t die. I was already obsessed with his bloody violence when he punched the Red Spider.]

[……You have special preferences.]

………

As the two walked one after the other, Bai Lixin secretly thought back on what Dijia had said.

The gods were above humans and didn’t care to interfere with the affairs of mere mortals.

Since the gods would not interfere, it was a matter between men.

The Curse of the River God: If you exclude the mythical “God”, only the “curse” is left.

And it is a “human curse”.

All three: Bao’er, who had died as a result of sacrifice; Grandma Sang, who lost her daughter; or the mysterious lover who had lost Bao’er, could all be cursed.

As Bai Lixin pondered, he glanced at Li Cancan from the corner of his eyes and saw that she was a little absentminded.

She was walking carelessly and was about to trip over a stone in front of her.

Bai Lixin was quick to see, and he kicked the stone away.

It was only then that Li Cancan reacted and turned her head to look at Bai Lixin guiltily, “I’m sorry, I got lost in thought.”

Bai Lixin swept his gaze over Li Cancan’s somewhat pale face, “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out. We’ll go out together. Don’t you still have to treat your grandmother?”

Li Cancan’s eyes became red, “Mmm! Yes! Let’s go out together!”