7.
Even in the blazing heat of summer, the water beneath their feet felt icy cold…
As soon as most of his body was submerged, a bone-deep chill swept through him, as if it could pierce straight into his heart…
The current was much stronger than he’d expected. Su Lin had barely stepped into the river when its force nearly knocked him off balance and sent him plunging under. His face had gone a little pale, but he still decided to press on. The rest of his team had already entered the water behind him. If they weren’t saying anything, then he certainly wasn’t going to complain…
For the first time, a distance of just over ten meters felt impossibly long… Su Lin was at the front of the group. Seeing that they still had more than half the way to go, he gritted his teeth and kept going. He was now near the middle of the river, where the stronger current made it hard to keep his balance. At that moment, he found himself worrying about the teammates behind him. He didn’t know how they were holding up, or if they could make it… especially Wang Tong, who was carrying Yueye, and Zhu Chao, who was quite short. He really didn’t think they could swim here…
By his estimate, the water in the middle of the river was about three or four centimeters below his chest. Zhu Chao might be short, but he was still a head taller than Yueye. All in all, they could probably make it across on foot. Su Lin furrowed his brow slightly and tried to judge whether it was feasible to keep going…
“The current’s pretty strong here… Hold on tight,” Wang Tong said to Yueye on his back. The moment he stepped into the water, he’d felt its bone-chilling cold… and the current had hit harder than he’d expected.
“Mm…” Yueye’s face had gone a little pale. She could feel the force Wang Tong was struggling against… The water was crashing into both of them, and even Wang Tong, who worked out regularly, was having a hard time bearing it.
“…If… you can’t do it, leave me behind!” Yueye hated it when people sacrificed themselves for her. She was the kind of person who’d rather hurt herself than hurt someone else…
“What are you talking about? If I’m helping, I’m seeing it through. There’s no such thing as quitting halfway.” The force of the current made it hard for Wang Tong to speak.
“I mean it. I’m just deadweight to the team, anyway,” Yueye muttered. She wasn’t expecting Wang Tong to answer. She’d said it because getting it off her chest made her feel a little better. She felt she owed the team too much. Given their situation, she wouldn’t have made it through this without them—without Wang Tong…
Suddenly, a chill crept up Yueye’s back, cutting off her train of thought. It was the feeling of being watched… She could clearly sense a bloodthirsty killing intent…
Her blue, amber-like eyes warily scanned the water. Perhaps by chance, Yueye caught a clear glimpse of a pitch-black shadow lurking quietly beneath the surface, not far from them… Its hard, powerful jaw and gleaming silver fangs gave away its identity as a predator. Greed and hunger filled its ochre eyes…
The moment Yueye spotted the unknown creature in the water, her mind began racing… Seeing that every teammate had already entered the river, she knew she absolutely couldn’t afford to cause a panic now…
“…There’s something in the water,” Yueye whispered to Wang Tong, trying not to let the others hear.
“…Don’t tell the others yet. I’ll keep an eye on it,” Yueye added. She could feel Wang Tong stiffen when he heard her, but he quickly recovered.
“Wang Tong, did you exchange your points for a gun or…?” Yueye asked, clinging to a sliver of hope.
“A knife…” Wang Tong replied, deeply frustrated. He knew something was wrong, of course… but there was really nothing he could do right now.
Yueye wanted to strike first, but she couldn’t bring herself to make the call. She and Su Lin were second in the line… and the creature in the water was clearly cunning and patient. There were thirteen people in all. If it attacked from the middle, at least three of them would die in the ensuing panic…
She knew that dragging this out would only give the creature an opening… In the end, she made her decision.
“Stop…” Yueye said to Wang Tong.
Wang Tong understood at once. He gestured for those behind him to stop, and the whole line came to a halt in the middle of the river…
Seeing them stop, the shadow hesitated. It hadn’t thought anyone could detect it. Having won every fight so far, it was clearly confident in its ability to stay hidden… As a skilled predator, it chose to watch and wait. This wasn’t the best moment to strike…
“Liu Huiying, give me your gun… Hurry!” Yueye called to the nearest girl. She hesitated, but quickly tossed the gun to Yueye.
The pistol traced a perfect arc through the air and landed in Yueye’s hands. The throw and catch were flawless—but just then, everything suddenly went wrong…
“Help… Help…!” Zhang Yan slipped. The powerful current knocked him off balance and pulled his whole body under. Liu Menglong, right behind him, immediately rushed to help… But the predator in the water seized its chance and lunged at the panicking group…
“Bang…!” The gunshot rang out deafeningly. Everything happened so suddenly that no one had time to react…
“Bang…!” Another shot rang out right after it… This one hit the water near Zhang Yan, and the surface turned red…
“Run! It’s still alive… Bang!” With the final gunshot, a black-green maw dragged Zhang Yan, who had only just managed to pull himself free of the water, back under… Then everything went still… Liu Menglong, who’d tried to help, stood frozen in shock.
“Kill confirmed: Level 2 beast Xihe. Reward: 170 points…” The system’s emotionless voice rang in Yueye’s ears.
