Chapter 207: Chapter 207 – Moonlight at the Bottom of the Lake
‘It’s all because of that sc.u.m that I landed in such a state. He’s certainly going to mock me later…’ Gu Yueyan thought.
The first thought that emerged in her mind when she fell into the water was accompanied by a sense of dejection born out of her self-esteem. To her, it was still bearable if she was embarra.s.sed, but it was worse given that it was in Ren Suo’s face.
Gu Yueyan knew just how many times she had mocked Ren Suo in the past. Thinking about how he would mock her when she emerged from the water, she instantly felt that she would rather sink to the bottom of the lake instead.
He might already have taken out his mobile phone—ready to capture how she looked when she was drenched. She would have done so if she were him.
“Fortunately, I managed to save my mobile phone and did not make a wasted trip…”
When Gu Yueyan saw tourists on boats on the lake when they were riding the Ferris wheel, she immediately knew that that was her best opportunity. Ren Suo could choose to sit opposite her when they were in the Ferris wheel cabin, but there were only two designated seats on the small boat. Nonetheless, the small boat was considered an ‘open yet private s.p.a.ce’. For two people to be together in such a s.p.a.ce, their relations.h.i.+p would have to be considered intimate!
With some unwillingness and resentment, Gu Yueyan slowly sank into the lake, feeling somewhat relaxed yet nervous.
She immediately began struggling to stay afloat, but when she turned her head, she saw a s.h.i.+mmer of light s.h.i.+ning through at the bottom of the lake.
Then, the breathing current in Gu Yueyan also began to flow gradually.
The light from above seemed to be completely engulfed by the water in the lake, and all sounds were also m.u.f.fled by it. In the darkness, Gu Yueyan could only see the outline of the Holy Grail at the bottom of the lake.
The breathing current in her flowed slowly but gracefully. Her eyes were fixated on the Holy Grail, and she could not look away—every pore, every cell, and every organ in her body were cheering in happiness.
Touch it, and you will be happy;
Touch it, and the people who should remain in your life will always be by your side, while those who should not exist will disappear forever;
Touch it, and life would be as you wish.
As a female high school student who was about to be promoted to her third year, Gu Yueyan possessed strong feelings of love and hate, as well as that of attachment and obsession. Those feelings made her fall prey to the whirlpool of desires and temptation more easily, just like how an overly compressed spring would restore to its original length with immense force.
Similar to how scary it would be when well-tempered people finally exploded, the moment Gu Yueyan, who had a strong execution ability, was successfully enticed, she would lose her sense of self almost immediately. Very quickly, she sank down, towards the abyss.
It was not until a pair of hands grabbed her waist amidst the flow of breathing currents that Gu Yueyan snapped out of the delusion.
Even though Gu Yueyan immediately began holding her breath in, she had already consumed too much water and her respiratory tract was full of liquid.
In her daze, she only knew that someone seemed to be pulling her upwards. Her hands and legs wrapped around the person in a natural biological response, but such a response was not going to last for long. She felt her strength diminis.h.i.+ng by the second, and began to lose her consciousness from not breathing.
She thought, ‘Is this how my life is going to end…’
No ceremonial lanterns, no particular feelings, only suffering—the lack of air, accompanied by the stinging sensation of the lake water in her airway, made her nose and throat feel like she was stabbed by a burning, flaming stick. The intense physiological response excited the neurons in her brain through her nerves.
It was completely beyond Gu Yueyan’s expectations that she would die such a painful death. Ever since she was a child, she had a strong personality and always wanted to win. Whether it was in the face of her extremely talented brother or any boy or girl of the same age as her, she would never admit defeat.
From being the first in her cla.s.s to the first in the level, all of her achievements were a mark of the countless hours of effort she had put in. Gu Yueyan actually did not wors.h.i.+p those who were powerful, but those who fought hard to achieve their goals, especially women. She was proud of her strong ability to act and execute.
Gu Yueyan believed that she had to put in her utmost effort to achieve whatever she wanted to change and to possess whatever she wanted to have. Nothing in the world would come by just wis.h.i.+ng for it to happen.
She also believed that she had to put in the effort to fight for what she liked. In that way, even if she did not succeed in the future, she could attribute her failure to the world, and not hate herself for not trying her best.
She thought that she would most certainly lead a wonderful and fulfilling life. However, she had now realized that she was about to meet her end there and then, turning into an icy cold, lonely, and ugly corpse.
Resentment? Regret? Regardless of how strong Gu Yueyan was as a person, when faced with the fear of death, such feelings still stirred in her heart.
In her state of semi-consciousness, Gu Yueyan seemed to see Ren Suo’s face. His face looked just like how he usually looked: an ordinary silhouette with frowning eyebrows that revealed his laziness of a pig. At best, his looks could be considered bearable as a whole; but it was still unworthy of the determined and beautiful Teacher Dong.
If… perhaps…
Gu Yueyan closed her eyes. However, at that very moment, she felt her tightly sealed lips being forced open, and a breath of air which dispersed all of her torment gushed into her throat—
Staying alive after a near-death experience made Gu Yueyan tense her entire body. The breathing current in her body began to accelerate. Her inner Reiki energy began spreading out through previously non-existent Reiki meridian channels and extended to her entire body!
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Ren Suo retracted his left hand that was hugging Gu Yueyan from under her arm. He used it to cover her mouth to prevent the air in her mouth from leaking out. Then, Ren Suo quickly took the chance to continue swimming upwards.
He knew he had not dived much deeper than 10 meters down the surface of the water, but the lake surface now seemed to be at least a hundred meters away from the lake surface.
Furthermore, Ren Suo faintly felt that there was something in the lake that was watching him. That was not a feeling backed solely by intuition, but also because the Jade Pendant of the G.o.ddess of River Luo on his right hand also suddenly began to radiate warmth. Although Ren Suo had not confirmed it himself, such a reaction of the Jade Pendant was likely due to its sensation of monsters nearby.
Ren Suo glanced to the side and happened to see a flash of light in the darkness.
In the shadow of the light, he saw an abandoned pond.
It was the arrival of the first checkpoint!
Although Ren Suo did not know how long it would take for the first checkpoint to enter Earth completely, it was definitely linked to Earth now, albeit weakly. He was certain that if he did not successfully swim back to the surface, he would definitely land in the first checkpoint instead, along with Gu Yueyan!
Ren Suo certainly did not think that he had the ability to defeat the monsters in the checkpoint. If he really landed there, he could only wait for Mage, whom he controlled in the game, to enter the arena and clear the checkpoint, before he could return to reality.
However, even before thinking about whether Ren Suo and Gu Yueyan would starve to death before then, the problem was that Ren Suo had not cleared the game yet. He did not believe that the mage would take care of him and Gu Yueyan, who both intruded their world. In that scenario, when it was time for the boss battle, it would not be a surprise at all if they were killed in the aftermath.
Using [Unlimited Energy], Ren Suo had to get to the surface of the lake, even if the water above him felt as heavy as viscous mud!
Never in his life had he swum in such torturous waters!
After struggling his way upwards for over ten seconds, he realized that they were about to leave the darkness within. However, at that juncture, bubbles began coming out of Gu Yueyan’s mouth again. She seemed to be hugging Ren Suo subconsciously, and her strength was close to none.
All things were hard to do the very first time, but they would soon become easier. Ren Suo lifted Gu Yueyan’s chin and blew another breath of air into her mouth!
However, at that very moment, from the corner of his eyes, he saw another flash of light appear in the darkness.
It was the walls of the monastery!
A chill ran down Ren Suo’s spine. He knew that, although the water in the lake felt heavy, he had definitely swum much further upwards than the distance he dived downwards. If it was not that he was trapped in an illusion cast by an ability, it meant that… the distance between him and the surface of the lake had become longer.
In addition, observing the flashes of light, Ren Suo naturally thought of a situation: the Holy Grail was trapping both of them within the s.p.a.ce of the first checkpoint.
Would it really be of any use even if he continued swimming upwards?
When Ren Suo started to doubt himself, the voice of the Holy Grail sounded again from the depths of his heart. It said, “You don’t need to try so hard anymore…”
“Your efforts might not be pleasant, but giving up would certainly be liberating…”
“It’s already so hard to live, why would you want to make yourself suffer even more?”
Just as Ren Suo’s heart started to waver, he felt a sudden sensation of pain on his lower lip.
It turned out that Gu Yueyan had become conscious, and she bit his lower lip ruthlessly!
As they stared at each other, Ren Suo saw anger, shyness, and confidence flash in Gu Yueyan’s eyes, but there was not a single sense of fear.
The next moment, a light suddenly emerged again at the bottom of the lake—
It was bright, dazzling, and mesmerizing. Despite its silver-white glow, it brought upon a sense of coolness and peace.
In an instant, the Holy Grail, the darkness, and the apparitions of the monastery were dispelled.
The obstacles that prevented them from rising upwards also seemed to be completely destroyed by the silver light!
“Ahh–”
“Ahh–”
The two of them emerged from the surface of the lake and took in deep breaths of the sweet, fresh air. That was true even for Ren Suo—he did not breathe through his nose and mouth in the water. While the Jade Pendant of the G.o.ddess of River Luo did not give him the gills of fish, the water was directly converted into air for Ren Suo to breathe underwater.
Ren Suo looked up and saw the dim blue sky above. Night had not yet fallen completely, and the silver moon in the sky was so dazzling and mesmerizing that he could not bear to look away.