Ripples still drifted across the lake's surface.
Jiang Xun's mind raced, but he forced a simple and awkward smile onto his face, his voice drifting over dryly:
"Fai... Fairy, are you here to... catch fish too?"
"Turn around! Don't look!"
Sang Linger's back was to him, her voice both urgent and angry, trembling with the dampness. Her soaked inner garment clung tightly to her body, inviting imagination.
Jiang Xun immediately looked away, a thousand thoughts tumbling through his mind.
How could he have run into her here?
Yan Qingning's Disciple, coming all the way to this deep mountain lake to bathe?
This luck was truly unparalleled.
[Ding!]
The System's notification sound always arrived so "timely."
[Scenario Triggered: An Unexpected Encounter (Viewing Edition).]
[Option 1: You say don't look and I won't? I insist on looking! Execution Requirement: Lock your gaze on the target and continue viewing until the other party proactively flees or takes violent measures.]
[Option 2: Just looking isn't enough; you must see clearly. Execution Requirement: Proactively approach and conduct a close-range, 360-degree observation within a one-meter radius.]
[Option 3: For the sake of fairness, let's look at each other. Execution Requirement: Remove your own coverings and conduct a three-minute public self-display.]
[Time: 5... 4... 3...]
The System's time limit was very pressing, as if intentionally giving Jiang Xun no time to think.
The veins at his temples throbbed slightly.
Was this System tired of him living, or was it specifically here to test his survival limits?
And there were always patches.
The options provided were becoming increasingly precise, just to prevent any possibility of him exploiting loopholes.
The first option was seeking death, the second was sending himself to death, and the third... would probably leave him without a whole corpse.
There was no choice.
He could only brace himself and go for it.
His mind instantly locked onto Option 1.
Almost simultaneously, he took a deep breath, exerted force from his abdomen, and suddenly dove down!
The System only told him to stare, it didn't say how to stare.
"Splash—"
With a soft splash, the lake's surface swallowed his figure.
The moment he dove underwater, the world became blurry and slow.
The lake water was clear, and light filtered through the surface, forming swaying spots of light.
Through the layers of shimmering light and the distortion of the water, he could see a pure white figure on the shore crouching on a rock in the water.
An occasional glimpse revealed skin as white as frost or snow and flushed cheeks under wet hair.
He maintained his diving posture, relying on his "Underwater Swimming" skill to hang quietly beneath the water.
The waves rippled, the light and shadows were hazy, and his vision was faint.
[Ding!]
[Option completed. Rewards obtained: proficiency x150, Blood Recovery Pill x1.]
On the shore, seeing no one on the lake, Sang Linger hurriedly went ashore, put on her clothes, tied her belt tight, and looked back at the lake in shock and suspicion.
The water sparkled, and aside from the spreading ripples, where was there even a hint of a person?
"Jiang Xun?" she called out tentatively, her voice still carrying a lingering trace of bashful annoyance.
There was no response.
Only the sound of the wind blowing across the lake.
"Jiang Xun?" she called again, raising her voice, her eyes scanning the lake surface alertly.
It remained silent.
She furrowed her brows, a faint doubt rising in her heart.
Just then—
"Splash!"
The water surface over a dozen meters from the shore suddenly broke open, and Jiang Xun's soaking wet head popped out.
Gasping for air, with water droplets still hanging on his face, he looked around blankly as if he had just surfaced.
Sang Linger was startled by the commotion, then glared at him:
"You... have you been hiding in the water this whole time?"
Jiang Xun wiped his face, trying to make his expression look honest and innocent:
"Fairy, you told me not to look just now... so I thought, if I dove into the water, I wouldn't be able to see."
He paused and added, "I didn't see anything."
But in his heart, he silently added: Very flat.
Looking at his straightforward "I'm being very obedient" face, the bashful annoyance in Sang Linger's heart was somehow diluted by a strange emotion.
There was even a hint of... not knowing whether to laugh or cry?
"Idiot."
She turned her face away, her voice no longer so aggressive, but still stiff:
"Come up. What's the point of soaking in the water?"
"Oh, okay."
Jiang Xun responded, using both hands and feet to swim toward the shore.
But he tactfully chose a rocky beach about twenty or thirty meters away from Sang Linger to go ashore.
With the sound of splashing water, he climbed ashore and stood in the knee-deep shallow water, the water on his body cascading down.
The morning light shone unobstructed on his body. To facilitate underwater movement, he was still wearing only those soaked underpants.
His muscle lines had become clear and smooth due to the Second Level of Qi Refining and the Body Tempering Liquid, with water droplets rolling down his chest and abs.
"You!"
As if scalded, Sang Linger suddenly raised her hand to cover her eyes, her earlobes turning bright red, her voice both bashful and angry, "You... why aren't you wearing clothes!"
Jiang Xun realized and quickly explained:
"Catching fish in the water, wearing clothes is really inconvenient, it restricts movement..."
As he spoke, he quickly walked behind a huge lakeside rock. Using the rock as cover, he swiftly took out dry clothes from his Storage Ring and nimbly put them on.
Sang Linger covered her face, but the glimpse she had just caught was stubbornly burned into her mind.
This was the first time she had... seen a man's body so clearly.
Although they were far apart, a Cultivator's eyesight was too good. With just one glance, those firm muscles glistening with water, the smooth lines, and even the trajectory of the water droplets rolling down... were all clearly visible.
Her heartbeat was strangely erratic, and her face felt burning hot.
By the time Jiang Xun was fully dressed and walked out from behind the rock, she had barely managed to adjust her expression, though her cheeks still held some lingering blush.
Jiang Xun walked a few steps in front of her, stood still, and respectfully cupped his fists and bowed:
"Greetings, Fairy. May I ask why you are here?"
He kept his posture very low.
His current identity was still that of a Mortal.
Facing a Cultivator, he had to maintain sufficient reverence.
Any words or actions inconsistent with his status might invite unnecessary suspicion.
Crucially, her Master was Yan Qingning.
Sang Linger glanced at him, very satisfied with his attitude, and slightly tilted her chin:
"My Master... used to occasionally come here to sit in meditation.
I had nothing to do this morning, so I thought I'd come nearby to take a look."
She didn't finish her sentence, as it seemed to involve some sect matters that were inconvenient to state clearly.
She changed the subject, her gaze falling on Jiang Xun with scrutiny:
"As for you, how come you're here?
This place isn't close to Yunshan Town.
Ordinary herb gatherers wouldn't venture this deep."
Jiang Xun's heart tightened slightly, but he showed just the right amount of confusion and lingering fear on his face:
"In reply to Fairy, I... got lost in the mountains yesterday and wandered aimlessly for a long time. I don't know how I ended up circling back here."
He spoke vaguely, blaming everything on getting lost.
But what he cared about more was the first half of Sang Linger's sentence.
Yan Qingning used to come here often?
This information sent a chill down Jiang Xun's spine.
The Blood Prison Nether Spider's nest was right at the bottom of this lake!
Yan Qingning killed the Nether Spider back then, and she still frequently came here to "sit in meditation" afterward?
Was it to reminisce?
Or had she sensed something?
Sang Linger seemed to accept his explanation of getting lost and didn't ask further.
To think he could run so far.
Just how scared was he?
Sang Linger thought it was because of the spirit devouring flower from the day before yesterday.
But thinking about how Jiang Xun was so scared yet could still rush into the cave to take risks, she really felt this person was too strange.
She said in a cold yet sweet tone:
"You shall follow me today. I need to search for Spirit Medicine nearby.
After sunset, I will take you out of the mountains."
Jiang Xun was stunned and instinctively wanted to refuse:
"How could I dare to trouble Fairy! I will just find my own way back..."
He didn't want to get too involved with Yan Qingning's Disciple.
"Hmm?"
Sang Linger raised an eyebrow, the remaining blush on her face fading, replaced by the pride and slight displeasure of a sect Disciple.
"Are you refusing me?"
She took half a step forward. Although she was shorter than Jiang Xun, her Aura was faintly overbearing:
"The reason I agreed to take you is for your younger sister's sake.
She was wandering at the town entrance yesterday when I met her. She pleaded so hard that I agreed to keep an eye out for you."
"Otherwise, did you think I was just being kind?"
Jiang Xun was stunned.
Jiang Wanxing begged her to look out for him?
It seemed his long absence in the mountains had worried that girl... Looking at Sang Linger again, although her face was expressionless, her eyes clearly said "don't be ungrateful."
With her status and temperament, if he refused again now, he might truly annoy her.
After a moment's thought, Jiang Xun lowered his head and cupped his hands:
"It was I who was ungrateful.Thank you for your concern, Fairy. I shall trouble you today."
Only then did Sang Linger give a satisfied "Mhm" and turned toward a nearby forest path: "Keep up."
Jiang Xun looked at her back and silently followed.
The two walked one after the other, each with their own thoughts.