Chapter 985: Perplexed and Smitten (45)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
An Xiaoning felt relieved to see that her text messages were delivered.
The best solution for them now was to stay put and wait patiently for the s.h.i.+p to arrive, though they were unsure if it would come by.
Jin Qingyan could finally stop worrying after hearing that An Xiaoning and Fan s.h.i.+xin were safe and sound. He then asked her for the details of the exact situation, for the news in S Nation only reported about the incident briefly. An Xiaoning explained the events of last night to him in her reply.
“Young Madam, look, there’s another s.h.i.+p approaching!” Fan s.h.i.+xin exclaimed.
An Xiaoning looked up to see that it was indeed so. She immediately sent Jin Qingyan her reply, which took multiple attempts to be delivered.
“That’s great. I was just worried that there wouldn’t be another s.h.i.+p. If there really wasn’t any, we would have had to go to a place nearby and stay there for the time being. I didn’t expect another s.h.i.+p to arrive so soon.” She stood up and squinted before saying, “However, that s.h.i.+p is not a pa.s.senger s.h.i.+p.”
“It seems to be a cargo s.h.i.+p. I doubt it’ll stop over. Young Madam, let’s just dive into the water and get up onto that s.h.i.+p to travel some distance. We can’t miss this chance since we don’t know when another s.h.i.+p will appear.”
“Okay.”
They dived into the sea and swam toward the s.h.i.+p that was traveling at a slow and steady pace. Once it pa.s.sed by them, they quickly climbed up onto the s.h.i.+p using their ropes.
They sat on an empty spot at the rear of the boat.
An Xiaoning did not sleep at all throughout the night. The moment they were on the s.h.i.+p, she was overwhelmed with a sudden sense of fatigue.
Fan s.h.i.+xin said gently, “Young Madam, take a nap if you’re tired. I’m here. I’ll wake you up if there are any sudden changes.”
“Alright.” An Xiaoning rested her head on her knees and soon dozed off.
The gray clouds began to dissipate, and the weather started turning fair while the sun started to show. Their clothes had also dried up. An Xiaoning could not sleep in peace and woke up several times in between. After all, one can never sleep peacefully when they had their guard up.
After staying on the boat for the entire morning, Fan s.h.i.+xin scanned his surroundings and deduced, “We seem to have already entered the territory of V Nation.”
An Xiaoning said softly, “It seems like it, from what I remember about the place. We must get off the s.h.i.+p immediately once we’ve verified it. We’ve already been on it for so long. Things are going to get tricky if they discover us.”
“Yes.” Fan s.h.i.+xin was overwhelmed with discomfort due to the sweltering heat. However, he had no choice but to bear with it.
When they pa.s.sed by a harbor, Fan s.h.i.+xin took a look at the words written on the signboard and said immediately, “Young Madam, shall we go down?”
“Okay.”
They plunged into the water and were completely submerged, leaving only their heads above the water. They then began swimming as quickly as they could toward the harbor.
The sun was blazing, and there were barely any people at the harbor at this time. The people who saw them could not help but take a few more glances.
They boarded a bus at the harbor and headed to their destination, Wales Town.
Wales Town was only a stone’s throw away from the town of Ekerum, which they’d visited previously.
It could be said that the habits and practices of the citizens were similar in both towns.
They checked into a motel in the town, after which Fan s.h.i.+xin headed out to buy some clothes, food, and water.
They took turns to shower and changed into a fresh set of clothes before having some food. They did not plan to rest in the motel. Instead, they immediately checked out of the room and proceeded to buy some tools to replace what they had lost on the s.h.i.+p.
It was difficult to find tools for sale in the town, and they only managed to gather some after scouring the stores for two hours. However, they decided that they could make do with them.
In order to get around easier with lesser effort, they decided to purchase a bicycle as well.
Fan s.h.i.+xin rode the bicycle while An Xiaoning sat on the backseat.
They finally arrived at the address given by Mr. Xiao at about five o’clock in the afternoon.
An Xiaoning stared at a big tree amongst the woods in front of her. She looked around and said, “That’s right, it should be here.”
Fan s.h.i.+xin handed her a bottle of mineral water and said, “Have some water first. I’ll hide the bicycle somewhere, just in case. It’ll be easier for us to hide if someone else comes here too.”
“Sure.” An Xiaoning opened the bottle of water and took several gulps.
Once Fan s.h.i.+xin returned, the two of them stood in front of the tree with a shovel in hand and began digging a spot on the ground where there were obvious marks.
The soil was loose and it was obvious that someone had once dug it up before.
Thus, it did not take much effort to dig it up.
Soon, they dug up a square hole that had a uniform width of about one meter.
An Xiaoning instructed Fan s.h.i.+xin to wait above ground while she stepped inside the hole. She also told him to fill the hole up and hide at once if someone else was to arrive.
Fan s.h.i.+xin bore her words in mind and kept watch by the hole.
An Xiaoning discovered that the s.p.a.ce underground became more s.p.a.cious the deeper she delved in.
She walked down the stairs and stopped when she was about a few floors underground.
The night luminescent pearl was hung in an obscure spot and had not been stolen away.
The walls and stairs were all paved with stone tiles, which made them rigid and more resistant to damage.
An Xiaoning stood at the exit and gazed at the sight before her. She felt as if she were in an underground maze instead of an ancient grave.
She proceeded to walk inside in a straight line.
She did not make any markings and quickly searched for the stone wall that the mysterious Mr. Xiao had told her about.
To her dismay, the geographical bearing was different from that of S Nation and there was no way to tell between North, South, East, and West.
Hence, she decided to use the method of elimination.
Although it was rather time-consuming, she had no other option.
Fan s.h.i.+xin, who was waiting upstairs, was filled with worry and anxiety. He was extremely concerned about An Xiaoning’s safety, especially since graves were full of evil presences and there were also b.o.o.by traps everywhere.
After all, if anything happened to her, he would have to be the one to save her. Otherwise, Jin Qingyan was not going to let him off!
Ten minutes pa.s.sed, then twenty, and soon, thirty…
Forty, fifty… now one hour had pa.s.sed…
He was getting a little impatient.
At this very moment, he heard some miscellaneous sounds coming from afar.
Without hesitation, Fan s.h.i.+xin immediately filled the hole with soil, as instructed by An Xiaoning.
The hole was not too deep and he could fill it up rather quickly.
Fan s.h.i.+xin then climbed up onto a tree and hid behind the branches. Coincidentally, he was dressed in a green outfit, which allowed him to blend in with the leaves and gave him a perfect camouflage.
One or two minutes later, three people appeared in Fan s.h.i.+xin’s field of vision, and they were chatting with each other.
It was none other than He Yi, Wen Lele, and another man whom Fan s.h.i.+xin had never met before.
“Bad news. Someone has already gone inside,” He Yi said after taking a look.
“What are we waiting for, then? Let’s hurry and go in to take a look,” said Wen Lele, who sounded eager and impatient.
Hence, the three of them began digging up the soil effortlessly. He Yi lamented, “The soil is very loose and seems to have just been filled, but we didn’t see anyone else while on our way here.”