He raised his pistol and pulled the trigger at the sharks. Several sharks were shot, and I squatted on the ground in extreme regret, tears about to slide down my cheeks. However, a hand rested forcefully on my foot!
"Dad, your shooting is very accurate, but be careful next time, or you might accidentally injure someone!"
"He Xin!" Seeing that she had returned as safely as ever, the stone in my heart finally loosened. I grabbed her arm and pulled her up.
Just as we were rejoicing that everyone was safe, Zheng Ni's voice rang out again, "Did I let you escape? This game is for you to find the emerald, have you forgotten? There are less than 15 minutes left, don't celebrate too early, hurry and find it. Otherwise, if you fail, there will be poisoned needles on the cameras on these walls! If you are pierced by thousands of needles, don't blame me."
He Xin and I dared not delay any longer. Those silver needles were as thick as our fingers, and if they were all inserted into our bodies, it would surely be millions of times more painful than being ripped apart.
I fired a few more shots at the swimming pool next to me and, after dealing with the sharks there, asked He Xin, "Did you not find it on your side?"
"No, then there are only two swimming pools left!" As we spoke, we ran over and jumped in with a splash, then began searching in the two swimming pools separately.
There were no sharks this time, but I discovered that for some reason, the water, after falling in, made my skin extremely itchy. Seeing us scratching, Zheng Ni's voice rang out again, "Ahhhh, this water has been specially treated by me. It's infused with some saline. If the amount is excessive, your skin will definitely feel very uncomfortable!"
I had suspected as much, but I hadn't expected it to be true. But now there was no other way, we had to endure. I forcefully suppressed the itching on my body and continued to grope in the water. This time, there were no miscellaneous objects in the water, but rather all white bones. Judging by the quantity here, many people had died here, that was certain.
As I fumbled among the white bones, waves of cold air swept over me, chilling me from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. But I gritted my teeth and endured, knowing that He Xin's situation was likely no better than mine. If she could persevere, then I, as her father, had even less reason to complain.
Finally, I had searched almost all the swimming pools here and found no emeralds. I was about to get out of the water to find He Xin and search with her, when I surfaced, something suddenly appeared beneath my feet, tugging at my legs, and pulling me back into the water.
Looking back, my eyes were so stinging from the saltwater that I couldn't open them at first. But I felt that the other party was like a person!
This situation reminded me of water ghosts, which are malevolent spirits in Chinese folklore that drown in water. They are the ghosts of those who died accidentally in water or committed suicide in rivers, lakes, and seas, and are unable to reincarnate.
They lurk in the depths of the water, luring or directly dragging living people into the water to drown them, and then they can reincarnate. They are also known as water monkeys. In Japanese folklore, there is a famous water ghost called "Kappa."
Nowadays, most people believe that water ghosts are just certain animals in the water, such as otters, crocodiles, or strange fish. These are superstitious legends used to remind people to be careful when swimming or to scare and warn children to avoid dying in the water.
As this thought surfaced, I felt a fear I couldn't explain. When I managed to open my eyes, I vaguely saw a swollen, pale face, grinning at me with a hoarse voice. Countless roundworms seemed to be crawling on its face!
Its eyeballs were as red as tomatoes, its lips were split open below its earlobes, and its body was covered in uneven rotten flesh. Long, black hair, as dark as the night sky, hung on its forehead, leaving only the gaps of its eyes and lips!
At this moment, it turned away from me, but its back was still that mass of hair, as if its front and back were the same!
I struggled a few times, but the thing pulled me even harder. A person can only hold their breath for a few minutes in the water before going to see Jesus. Just as I was about to suffocate, a sharp long sword pierced directly through the bastard's body!
"He family's noble sword, vanquish evil!"
He Xiaoyu moved extremely fast. As her sword light rippled, the entire surface of the water seemed to be traversed by countless sword energies, unleashing an incredibly firm force. It was like a famous feng shui master in novels, but this effect was only due to her profound inner strength. The ripples on the water's surface caused by the sword's edge had nothing to do with any Xuan Yang energy.
It is said that the true qi cultivation methods of feng shui masters have been lost for many years. Nowadays, any feng shui master with some skill primarily masters knowledge of geography, divination, physiognomy, and so on. As for expelling evil, it mostly relies on magical artifacts.
"Young master, hold on tight!" He Xiaoyu suddenly appeared and pulled me out of the water. Dressed in a deep purple gauze, she killed several more of these terrifying creatures that appeared in the water with her sword. As they floated on the surface, I realized they were just a few surgically altered strange fish.
He Xiaoyu gently brought me to the edge of the swimming pool like an ancient female knight. I hadn't seen her for a while. Didn't she say she would be my bodyguard and protect me 24 hours a day? But she had disappeared without a word again.
She always wore a veil every time she appeared, why? Seriously, after working together for so long, I still hadn't truly controlled her heart. And I had clearly seen her before, yet she wore a veil every time. She was doing it on purpose, wasn't she?!
"I'm sorry, it's my fault for not keeping my promise, but my brother He Jinghui had something going on last time. But it should be fine after this. Oh, right, he is looking for Zheng Ni, and that Jing Zijin, alright, mission complete..."
Before she could finish, I directly covered her mouth. Perhaps this action was too sudden, even He Xiaoyu didn't react.
"You..." She could only utter this single word forcefully.
"I thought you said the mission was complete and I had to leave!" I then released my hand, and He Xin walked out of the water, "I got it! I got it! The emerald!"