"Don't trust them..."
But before Shen Qing could finish speaking, sisters A Wu and An Ge shook off Shen Qing and rushed towards Scarface and Liu You.
Li Xian also noticed that Liu You was using her charm technique on those around her, but remained silent without stopping her.
"Haha, girl, it seems your kindness didn't pay off," sneered the Plum Blossom Lady, with a mocking smile on her lips and undisguised ridicule in her eyes.
Shen Qing gave a cold laugh. "I've only followed my conscience."
"Enough! The water's already up to our waists. Stop wasting time and get back on the boat quickly. As for these two, just leave them here. If they're lucky, they can become fish. If not, they're on their own," Scarface said as he put his arm around Liu You and walked back. After a moment's thought, the Plum Blossom Lady summoned a huge bug and released it into the water to keep an eye on Li Xian and Shen Qing.
Shen Qing watched them slowly disappear into the distance. Her hand gripping Wu Wang tightened and then relaxed, tightened and then relaxed again. She gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to attack.
It wasn't until the figures of those people completely vanished from their sight that Shen Qing turned to Li Xian and asked, "You told me not to act just now and stay here. What exactly do you have in mind? Once the tide rises, we'll be submerged by the sea. My breath - holding skill isn't that good."
Li Xian smiled and said, "I wouldn't have you stay if I wasn't sure. Look around. This place seems like a cave. I have a feeling that if we go a bit further, we'll find what we're looking for."
Shen Qing nodded, realizing that Li Xian must have sensed the location of the Merman Palace and deliberately sent the others away, leaving only the two of them.
"What about this bug?" Shen Qing tilted her chin, indicating the bug that was as tall as half a person. It had six eyes on its forehead and six legs on its body, looking like an enormous spider. Its legs were propped up in the water as it stared menacingly at Shen Qing and Li Xian.
Li Xian hadn't taken the bug seriously at first. With a casual wave of his hand, the bug was instantly split in two.
"Done. It's taken care of," Li Xian said nonchalantly, as if what he had just casually disposed of wasn't a bug that had reached the Golden Core stage.
"Let's not stay here. Let's go a bit further," Li Xian said as he took Shen Qing's hand and walked in the opposite direction of the boat. The deeper they went, the more crystals there were. Shen Qing also saw some white bones floating on the water.
The sight of those bones made Shen Qing feel creepy. The crunching sound of those babies devouring Nian Duanyan still echoed in her ears. She couldn't help but shiver and tried her best to avoid looking in that direction.
"It seems Nian Duanyan and Liu You have been up to this for quite some time. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many bones here," Shen Qing said.
Shen Qing nodded and tried to focus her attention on the crystals growing on the stone walls. Even though there was no light source in the cave, these crystals could reflect light. Their beautiful colors illuminated the entire cave, allowing Shen Qing and Li Xian to see clearly.
By now, the water had risen to their chests, and Shen Qing was finding it hard to breathe.
As they went further, their path was blocked by a huge boulder.
Shen Qing was a bit puzzled. "Where on earth do the dragon - horned fish come from? They put the bait in this cave. I thought if we went further, we'd see a whole school of dragon - horned fish. But if the dragon - horned fish come from outside the cave, why do they put the bait inside? Wouldn't the boats just run into the dragon - horned fish on their way out?"
What was the point of all this trouble?
Ling Zhou said in Shen Qing's mind, "It's precisely because the whereabouts of the dragon - horned fish are so hard to figure out that they're worth a fortune. Do you think just any common fish is that valuable?"
"And little apprentice, do you even know the size of the dragon - horned fish..."
"Ah!"
Before Ling Zhou could finish speaking, the shoal under Shen Qing and Li Xian's feet began to shake violently. A huge whirlpool started to form in the water in the middle.
Shen Qing and Li Xian quickly retreated towards the stone wall and each grabbed a stalactite.
As the whirlpool formed, Shen Qing felt the water level rising continuously. She had no choice but to climb up towards the ceiling of the cave using the stalactite, and Li Xian did the same.
Shen Qing was a bit depressed. She hoped she wouldn't end up drowning instead of becoming bait. But when she looked back and saw Li Xian's calm face, she felt reassured. Since Li Xian was so confident, there must be a foolproof plan. She had to trust him now.
Moreover, she had breath - holding pills in her storage bag, which should be enough for her to swim out of the cave.
Thinking of this, Shen Qing wasn't so impatient anymore.
The whirlpool grew bigger and bigger. The stalactites were slippery, and Shen Qing and Li Xian almost slipped several times and were sucked into the whirlpool.
The cold sea water kept pounding against them, causing their body temperatures to drop rapidly.
Not to mention that the whirlpool picked up the gravel on the shoal. Some of the gravel had sharp edges, and as the water flowed, they began to get small and large wounds on their bodies.
Li Xian swam to Shen Qing's side with the current. He then told Shen Qing to take a deep breath and dived underwater.
To be on the safe side, Shen Qing took out two breath - holding pills from her storage bag. She would take them if things went wrong.
The whirlpool was extremely powerful on the surface of the water, but underwater, they didn't feel much of its impact.
To Shen Qing's surprise, she found that Li Xian swam in the water as if he wasn't affected by the water's resistance at all. He looked calm, his mouth opening and closing, not holding his breath.
Shen Qing angrily put one of the breath - holding pills back and glared at Li Xian resentfully.
She almost forgot that Li Xian had received the inheritance of the merman. The merman race lived on the seabed, so it wasn't strange that they could breathe underwater.
Li Xian said something to Shen Qing. Seeing Shen Qing's aggrieved expression, he immediately realized that Shen Qing couldn't hear him underwater.
So he moved closer, held Shen Qing's hand, and told her what he wanted to say in his mind.
Although he didn't open his mouth, Shen Qing could clearly hear what Li Xian said.
"Silly girl, don't hold your breath. Breathe normally."
Shen Qing was confused. After hesitating for a moment, she still took the risk of choking and tried to breathe.
After the attempt, she opened her eyes wide in surprise, took a deep breath, and blew out two bubbles.
She could actually breathe underwater!
Shen Qing suddenly remembered that Li Yuan said he would give her a gift. Could this be it?
Seeing Li Xian's playful smile, Shen Qing realized that Li Xian had always known she could breathe underwater but hadn't told her directly, making her worry for so long.
Shen Qing punched Li Xian, trying to vent her anger, but her punch felt weak underwater.
"Father gave you the merman's ability to communicate and breathe underwater. You can silently recite what you want to say in your mind and transmit it with your spiritual power. I can hear you."