Chapter 39
The thick, impenetrable moisture of Yunmeng Lake weighed heavily on Mo Ya's head and shoulders, seeping into his bones. Every breath of air carried the sweet, fishy aroma of rotting weeds and silt, sticking to his lungs. The wound beneath his ribs, briefly suppressed by the golden needles, felt numb, like a reawakened poison ivy, slowly but surely creeping upwards through his blood vessels. Every heartbeat was accompanied by a heavy stagnation and a subtle, tingling sensation, like the prick of an icy needle. The wound on his right shoulder, where his broken arm had been scraped and scraped, reawakened in the cold, damp air, continuing to release a dull ache like a blunt knife cutting flesh.
He didn't know how he'd dragged his shattered body across thirty miles of muddy marshland in the dark, rainy night to find this desolate spot called Huilong Bay. Perhaps it was Su Wanwan's final whisper, a curse yet a redemption, that ignited the last vestiges of his will. Or perhaps it was simply the instinct for survival, a final struggle before death itself.
The scene before my eyes was a suffocating one.
Huilong Bay lives up to its reputation. The massive rock formations, as if ripped apart by the claws of an ancient dragon, form a narrow and deep gorge. Here, the turbid marsh waters are forcibly confined and squeezed, roaring like thunder as they surge into the gorge in a vast vortex. Within the gorge, the light is swallowed by towering cliffs covered in slippery moss and hideous vines, leaving a bottomless, dark green gloom. Steam rises, forming a thick, impenetrable white fog that billows over the canyon like the miasma of a giant beast.
From the depths of this gloomy gorge, a deadly chill permeated. It wasn't the ordinary winter chill, but a chill that penetrated deep into the bones, freezing the soul. Just a few dozen feet from the gorge, Mo Ya's exposed skin instantly broke out in goose bumps, and his teeth chattered uncontrollably. The numbness beneath his ribs, stimulated by this extreme cold, strangely intensified, like countless icy insects crawling beneath his flesh.
The cold pond! It's at the deepest part of this Death Gorge!
Mo Ya leaned against a boulder, slippery and cold from the moisture, panting violently. Each breath carried a burning white vapor and the rusty, bloody scent. His vision distorted and swirled with the fever, the gorge and swirling mist before him like a swirling vortex. "Twelve hours..." Su Wanwan's cold voice echoed in his mind. Time...is running out!
He mustered his remaining strength, his gaze like a dying charcoal fire, fixed on the all-consuming gorge. There was no path. Only a raging, roaring whirlpool and a bottomless, dark green pool. The cliffs were sheer and slippery, making climbing impossible. The only entrance was this swirling, deathly vortex of water!
Cold pond grass...must grow deep in the pond, near the eye of the cold pond.
Mo Ya licked his cracked, bleeding lips, tasting a strong, salty taste. He tore off a relatively dry strip of cloth from his tattered shirt and tied it tightly around the wound under his ribs, trying to slow the spread of the poison. Then, he took a deep breath of the icy, biting air, thick with the smell of water and decay. His lungs felt like being scraped by an ice knife.
There is no right to hesitate.
He dragged his heavy feet, step by step, toward the edge of the gorge, which resembled the throat of a giant beast. The murky water crashed against the rocks on the shore with tremendous force, sending up icy spray that hit his burning face. He took one last look at the boundless, fog-shrouded marshland behind him. His eyes held no trace of nostalgia, only a cold determination tempered by excruciating pain and poison.
Leap forward and leap into the roaring, dark green vortex!
“Plop!”
Icy cold! A bone-chilling cold instantly enveloped his entire body, like countless steel needles piercing every pore simultaneously! The immense force of the current engulfed him, as if caught in an invisible millstone, spinning and tearing madly! His consciousness nearly collapsed under the instantaneous impact of the cold!
Mo Ya clenched his teeth fiercely, the sharp sting bringing a glimmer of clarity. He held his breath, his body instinctively curling up, relieving himself of the force, like a piece of rotten wood in the water, allowing the raging current to drag him deeper into the gorge. Before his eyes was a roiling mass of turbid bubbles and a dark green gloom, and in his ears was the dull, thunderous roar of the water. The numbness beneath his ribs, stimulated by the cold water, sizzled like burning coals dropped into an ice cellar, but the searing pain seemed to be temporarily suppressed.
I don't know how long it took, perhaps just a moment, or perhaps an infinitely long time. The force of the water seemed to weaken slightly, the light around me grew dimmer, but the chill that pierced my bones suddenly intensified!
Mo Ya struggled to open his eyes, which were stung by the water. With the extremely faint light that filtered through the water, like a will-o'-the-wisp, he could see his surroundings clearly.
This was deep within Huilong Bay. The space was incredibly vast, like a vast, flooded underground cavern. Above, jagged stalactites hung inverted, dripping icy water like the fangs of a giant beast. The surrounding rock walls were covered in a slippery, dark green moss, exuding a decaying scent. The water was an eerie, dark green, bottomless. A chill permeated from the depths, nearly freezing the blood.
Cold Pond! We're here!
Mo Ya's heart beat heavily in his icy chest. He fought the biting cold and the renewed numbness in his ribs, trying to steady himself and begin his dive. The deeper he went, the dimmer the light, the more intense the chill. The water was icy cold, and every stroke consumed immense energy. All he could see was endless dark green and the hazy outlines of jagged rocks beneath the surface.
Where is the cold pond grass...?
He was like the most desperate treasure hunter, groping in vain in the cold, dark abyss. Time slipped by in the biting cold, the air in his lungs was squeezed, and his consciousness, corroded by the dual effects of the icy water and the toxins, began to waver and blur like a candle in the wind. The numbness beneath his ribs had spread to his entire left chest, and each heartbeat became labored and stagnant.
Just when he was about to give up, his body being dragged towards the abyss by the cold and suffocation—
An extremely faint, strange blue light, like a firefly in the dark, lit up faintly in the cracks of the underwater rocks not far below him!
The light was extremely weak, but it carried an indescribable vitality, penetrating the cold dark green water and reflected into Mo Ya's eyes that were about to close!
Cold pond grass!
Mo Ya's dying consciousness was instantly ignited! He used up his last bit of strength and dived down like a moth to a flame!
Closer! In the crevices of several massive, mossy, black rocks, a strange plant stubbornly grew. It stood only half a foot tall, its entire body a translucent icy blue, as if carved from the purest ice. Its leaves were slender and orchid-like, their edges finely serrated, and a faint, eerie blue light flowed through its veins. The entire plant exuded a refreshing, icy fragrance, a fragrance that temporarily dispelled the decay of the water and the numbness within the black crow.
That's it!
Mo Ya was ecstatic! He stretched out his trembling, almost frozen hand, carefully avoiding the jagged leaves, and grasped the root of the ice-blue grass. It was cold and smooth to the touch, like holding a piece of ancient jade.
Just as his fingertips touched the grass roots and he was about to pull them out—
Something strange happened suddenly!
“Gurgle—!”
Without warning, a dense, massive bubble surged up from the bottom of the darker waters beside the cold pond grass, stirring up the icy water!
Then, a long, dark-green, scaled, and terrifying black shadow, like a giant python, flashed out from the murky waters with a nauseating, fishy smell. It opened its massive mouth, brimming with sharp white teeth and capable of swallowing a human head, and with a whirlpool of icy water, it fiercely bit down on the arm holding the grass!
It was so fast! It was so fast it was beyond visual perception! Mo Ya didn't even have time to see the monster's entire appearance. All he saw was a huge mouth covered in barbed teeth, like the entrance to hell. The breath of death instantly filled his entire field of vision! The cold water was pulled wildly by the suction created by the huge mouth!
Death! It's so close!
Mo Ya's pupils suddenly constricted! He couldn't even retract his hand from pulling the weeds! In this critical moment, the instinct for survival overwhelmed everything! His hand holding the cold pond grass didn't loosen, but instead suddenly sank downward! His body, driven by the reaction force of pulling the weeds, shot backward and upward like a drawn bowstring! At the same time, he poured all his remaining strength into his left arm and punched the jaws of the ferocious, biting mouth!
"Bang!"
A dull crashing sound exploded under the water!
Mo Ya's fist felt like it was hitting cold steel, his knuckles clenching with pain! The immense recoil numbed his arms, and his body tumbled backward like a kite with its string cut off, swept by the current! But the monster's jaw was struck hard, and its bite paused for a moment. Its massive mouth slammed shut with a teeth-grinding "crack," and it bit nothing!
Mo Ya took advantage of this desperately gained moment, less than half a breath, to madly leap backward and upward! At the same time, his right hand tightly grasped the freshly plucked cold pond grass, which was emitting a faint blue light! The cold grass stem was like a lifeline, and he held it tightly to his chest!
“Crash!”
Mo Ya's head finally broke through the surface, and he greedily and violently inhaled a breath of icy, piercing air, yet breathed of freedom! His lungs burned like fire. He didn't even bother to catch his breath, swimming desperately towards shore. Behind him, the murky water churned violently, a massive whirlpool swirling. A massive, ferocious dark green back flashed beneath the surface, slowly sinking into deeper darkness, filled with resentful anger.
Mo Ya, scrambling like a stray dog, scrambled up the cold rocks on the shore. He collapsed onto the slippery moss, coughing violently, each cough bringing up blood-tinged icy water. The icy air filled his lungs, bringing a biting chill, but also slightly clearing his drowsy consciousness.
He opened his clenched right hand.
The ice-blue cold pond grass lay quietly in his palm. The moment the leaves emerged from the pond, the faint blue light quickly faded, becoming just like any other blue water grass. However, the icy, refreshing fragrance that seeped into his bones remained strong, wisping strands into his nostrils and miraculously temporarily suppressing the numbness and tingling in his ribs.
He succeeded! Risking his life, he snatched the life-saving herb from the mouth of the poisonous creature in the cold pond!
However, before he could feel the relief of surviving the disaster, a deeper chill instantly gripped Mo Ya's heart!
wrong!
It’s so quiet!
Just now, after the terrifying attack of the underwater monster and the surging waves... at this moment, the entire Huilong Bay Gorge was completely silent! Only the dull whimpering of the pool water and the "tick-tick" of water dripping from the rock wall could be heard.
That monster...where did it go?
Mo Ya suddenly pulled himself upright, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the deep, dark green surface of the pool. The water continued to swirl slowly, but without the previous fury. A deep, ominous premonition, like a cold, venomous snake, coiled around his neck.
Just as his eyes swept across a huge reef not far from the edge of the pool—
A moon-white figure, like a ghost, stood quietly on the reef!
Su Wanwan!
No one knew when or how she had appeared in this desolate place! Her moon-white dress, spotless in the dim light, stood out from the filthy, damp, and cold marshland. The icy lake breeze ruffled her flowing black hair. Her beautiful face was expressionless, except for her icy-gray eyes, like two frozen wells, which clearly reflected Mo Ya's miserable, dying appearance.
Her gaze calmly fell on Mo Ya's right hand, which was tightly gripping the cold pond grass. There was no surprise or approval in her eyes, only a kind of all-seeing, cold understanding.
Mo Ya's heart sank to the bottom. This woman... had indeed been there! She'd watched him plunge into the cold pond, watched him fight the monster for his life, watched him narrowly escape... It was like watching a play with a pre-written ending! That so-called "Huilong Bay" was simply a stage meticulously prepared for him, a test and a hunt!
He struggled to stand up, but his body was shaking from the poison, cold and exhaustion. He could only half-kneel on the cold rock, supporting his body with his only remaining left arm, his right hand still tightly grasping the cold Hantan grass.
Su Wanwan's gaze shifted from the cold pond grass, slowly rising to rest on the wound beneath Mo Ya's ribs, wrapped in a soaked cloth and still faintly piercing through with the faint blue traces of poison. Her gaze was incredibly complex, and within its icy depths, a subtle, indescribable wave seemed to flit across it, like a pebble dropped into stagnant water, creating barely perceptible ripples.
She didn't speak, but just stood there quietly, her moon-white figure deep in the dark gorge, like an isolated ice sculpture.
Time seemed to stand still, with only the cold lake wind howling through the jagged rocks.
Mo Ya stared at Su Wanwan. The numbness in his ribs was temporarily suppressed by the fragrance of the cold pond grass, but the dizziness from the high fever and blood loss still assaulted his consciousness. He knew that in his current state, he had no chance of resistance against this woman. Life or death, only a thought from her.
In this suffocating silence and confrontation——
The subtle ripple in Su Wanwan's icy-gray eyes seemed to widen slightly. She tilted her head ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly. Her gaze seemed to penetrate Mo Ya's body, resting on the dark depths of the pool behind him.
Mo Ya suddenly became alert! Almost relying on the instinct honed from countless life-or-death experiences, he thrust his only remaining left arm to the side, and his body rolled to the side along the slippery rocks like a frightened gecko!
Just at the moment his body left the spot!
"boom--!!!"
An incredibly thick, dark green shadow, wrapped in icy water, burst forth from the waters beneath the rock he had been leaning on, like a long-dormant poisonous dragon. With the force of thunder and the nauseatingly strong, fishy wind, it slammed into the spot where he had been!
It was the monster that had been underwater just now! It had been lurking near the shore, waiting for the right moment to launch this fatal attack!
The huge reef groaned under the terrifying impact, and gravel splashed everywhere! The turbid pool water splashed out like a rainstorm!
Mo Ya tumbled several feet in a panic, his back slamming heavily into another rock. Stars flashed before his eyes, and a sweet sensation ran through his throat. A mouthful of blood, mixed with fragments of his internal organs, suddenly spurted out! The cold pond grass in his hand almost flew out of his hand!
The monster's attack missed, and it let out an angry roar, like the scraping of a broken gong, shaking the entire gorge! Most of its massive body was above the water, its dark green scales gleaming with a cold sheen in the dim light. Its massive, tooth-filled mouth opened and closed, its blood-red tongue flickering in and out. Its vertical pupils, like two burning will-o'-the-wisp fires, locked their gaze on the tumbling Black Crow!
Its thick tail slapped the water fiercely, and its massive body swiftly turned, swooping down once again towards the severely injured Black Crow with overwhelming force! Its speed was so fast that it caused a sharp whistle in the water!
There is no way to avoid it!
Mo Ya looked at the terrifying black shadow pressing down like a small mountain. The shadow of death instantly enveloped him completely! A flash of desperate madness flashed in his eyes. With his left hand, he suddenly pulled out the dagger stuck in his boot, preparing to make a final, meaningless fight for his life!
At this critical moment——
"call out--!"
A subtle whistle, almost drowned out by the monster's roar, broke through the air, like the sigh of death, and shot out from the direction of the reef behind it!
Fast! Faster than vision could capture! The target wasn't the monster pouncing on the Crow, but rather—a massive stalactite hanging upside down on the rock face above the monster's head. It was as thick as an adult's waist and was eroded by water vapor, crumbling to the point of collapse!
"bite!"
An extremely slight but unusually crisp sound of metal colliding was heard!
Then——
“Crack! Boom—!”
The massive stalactite snapped at its base! With immense force and countless shattered pieces, it crashed down on the monster lunging down below like a giant spear hurled by a god!
Timing! Angle! Ruthless!
The monster's complete attention was focused on the black crow, completely unaware of the fatal attack from above! It only had time to let out a short, frightened roar before the massive stalactite, with the force of a thunderbolt, slammed down hard on its thick neck and back!
“Puff!”
The teeth-grinding sound of bones breaking and dull impacts exploded!
The monster's massive body sank like mud struck by a giant hammer! Smelly, dark green blood gushed out from its shattered back like a fountain, instantly staining the water crimson! It let out a shrill, agonizing howl, its massive body tumbling and struggling frantically in the water, stirring up massive waves before finally sinking slowly into the dark green abyss, leaving behind only a churning mess of blood and devastation.
Mo Ya leaned against the cold rock, breathing heavily, looking at the place where the monster disappeared, then suddenly turned his head to look at the reef where the moon-white figure stood.
Su Wanwan remained standing there quietly, as if she had never moved. Only her right hand, which fell to her side, concealed by her wide sleeves, moved ever so slightly, as if brushing away a speck of dust.
An icy breeze from the pond blew by, tucking a strand of her black hair. Her icy-gray eyes, piercing through the lingering vapor and blood, once again fixed on Mo Ya. This time, her gaze seemed to linger even longer on his hand tightly gripping the cold pond grass. Deep within her gaze, beneath the ice, something seemed to have cracked ever so slightly...
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