Chapter 0313: White Robed Ghost Lake
Ning Cheng simply did not have any time to think, when he immediately rushed out and dived into the lake. He did not even ask Yin Kongchan as to what had happened. What he mainly feared was that Xu Yingdei might not know how to swim, and the lake might be very deep.
From the moment Xu Yingdei disappeared into the lake, to the moment Ning Cheng dived into it, only a breath or two had passed.
Yin Kongchan watched Ning Cheng dive into the lake, and it was only after a long while did she react, especially when she realized that Ning Cheng actually did not ask her about the specific reasons. Realizing this, she could only give a sigh, if she had been the one to replace him then even if she were to dive down to save people, she would have first asked about what the matter was.
She was aware that Ning Cheng was not someone who strived to keep good terms with everybody, but at the same time, she also understood why Ning Cheng was eager to save Xu Yingdei. It should be because Xu Yingdei’s actions were finally starting to affect him; however, he himself wasn’t aware of it yet.
Using the Burning Life Pill to burn her vitality in order to save Ning Cheng, attempting to extract her blood from her body in order to feed Ning Cheng, not even a shred of leeway in speaking the three words ‘I’ll help you’……..
Some of these things might seem absurd to others, but it was just perfect for people like Ning Cheng. It seems that what she said earlier to Ning Cheng was completely wrong. Previously, when Xu Yingdei had tried to cut her wrist to extract her blood in order to feed Ning Cheng, she had said the words that she was doing thing because she did not understand Ning Cheng. However, now it seems that Xu Yingdei did not only understand Ning Cheng, rather she understood Ning Cheng just too well. However, because her views were different from Xu Yingdei’s, so their outlook towards the problems at hand were also different.
It might look like a completely stupid thing to do, but the traces it was leaving behind on Ning Cheng’s heart were getting heavier and heavier, what was even worse was that even Ning Cheng himself was not aware of it. Yin Kongchan suddenly had a thought, if it was she who was caught in the lake. Would Ning Cheng ask anything about it first, or would he immediately dive into the lake just like a few moments ago? Or would he first ask about the matter in detail, and then try to think of a way to save her? Or would he simply not save her at all?
Ning Cheng had just dived into the water when immediately realized what had happened. A thick ribbon like something had stretched out to wrap around his legs. Not waiting for him to react, a few more ribbons emerged that immediately started wrapping themseves around him.
Ning Cheng without any hesitation, pulled out the tri edged thorn strapped to his calf, and directly cut off the ribbon that was wrapping around his leg. The thing that tangled with Ning Cheng seemed to know about the fear of pain, so after Ning Cheng cut apart one of the ribbons, the rest quickly retreated from around him.
Knowing that these things were similar to aquatic grasses like kelp, Ning Cheng felt a bit of relief in his heart. He quickened his speed and soon reached the bottom of the lake before he caught sight of Xu Yingdei, who had been dragged to the bottom of the lake by the aquatic grasses.
Xu Yingdei was cloying in all directions. At this time, she suddenly caught sight of Ning Cheng’s hand and immediately caught onto it.
Ning Cheng was surprised in his heart. Once he was caught by Xu Yingdei, he would have no way to help Xu Yingdei cut off the aquatic grasses wrapping around her body, it would even turn dangerous for himself.
Just as Ning Cheng wanted to avoid Xu Yingdei, Xu Yingdei also seemed to feel Ning Cheng’s intent. She immediately let go of her grip. Ning Cheng also loosened up in his heart, before immediately slashing out with a few strokes of his tri edged thorn in his hand.
The aquatic grasses wrapping around Xu Yingdei’s body also immediately receded, soon Xu Yingdei’s body was devoid of these algae like ribbons. Ning Cheng immediately caught hold of Xu Yingdei and quickly brought both of them out of the lake.
At the edge of the lake, Yin Kongchan watched Ning Cheng bring Xu Yingdei out of the lake before she breathed a sigh of relief and quickly came forward to help.
After Xu Yingdei came ashore, she quickly rolled to one side while she vomited out several mouthfuls of water, before she gave Ning Cheng a soft look and said, “Thank you.”
“We are just helping each other out. Besides you also helped me before……” Ning Cheng’s words came to an abrupt halt.
Previously, he had not cared much about it, as he was busy saving the two of them. But at this time, Xu Yingdei’s wet clothes were sticking to her body, clearly displaying her curves against the backdrop. Moreover, since he was also cultivating the Embracing Yang God Tactic, Ning Cheng could feel his mouth going dry while his tongue starting to rough up because of the sight in front of him. He subconsciously stole a glance at Yin Kongchan, and found her to be in the same state as Xu Yingdei.
However, Yin Kongchan on seeing Ning Cheng’s wandering eyes, did not shy away at all, rather she looked at Xu Yingdei and spoke “You said you were going to help him. You guys can go ahead and do it; I will not come and disturb you.”
Xu Yingdei’s eyes were still like clear waters as she looked at Ning Cheng. Her eyes were so gentle at the moment that it would even melt the most stone-hearted of people, it was obvious that she did not mind what Yin Kongchan said to her a moment ago.
Ning Cheng gave a slight cough, before picking up the piece of aquatic grass that he had cut off, before he diverted the topic and spoke, “I do not know what this thing is, but it automatically takes the initiative to tangle people coming its way.”
Yin Kongchan and Xu Yingdei also shook their heads, as neither of them knew what this aquatic grass was.
“I want to go back down and see. I feel that this aquatic grass might be of some use to us.” Ning Cheng put the piece of aquatic grass in hand to one side and spoke.
Hearing that Ning Cheng still wanted to go back down, Xu Yingdei hurriedly spoke up, “You don’t want to go down. I feel that this lake itself is somewhat strange.”
Yin Kongchan also spoke up, “If you really have to go down then wait till tomorrow, we’ve already experienced enough weird things for tonight.”
Ning Cheng also was thinking of the same, even if he had to go down and check, he did not have to go now.
After experiencing this kind of thing, Yin Kongchan and Xu Yingdei, both no longer dared to rush into the lake, rather they just stayed close to the shore of the lake and washed themselves.
After the three of them cleaned themselves, Ning Cheng used his tri edged thorn to cut some branches from the Poplar trees and build a temporary tent. The tent was not small, even if the three of them rested inside together; there was still a lot of empty space.
……
The next morning, Ning Cheng was awakened by a cacophony of noises. He opened his eyes, only to find that both Xu Yingdei and Yin Kongchan had also woken up at the same time.
The tent that Ning Cheng built was not small, as such the three of them did not have to squeeze together to sleep. Moreover, Ning Cheng also knew that both Xu Yingdei and Yin Kongchan would take turns in guarding the three of them. So how did they fell asleep? Moreover, why did they decide to squeeze together with him to sleep?
“There are ghosts in the lake, so we did not dare to stay outside.” Yin Kongchan on seeing Ning Cheng’s puzzled look, quickly spoke up.
“This thing can wait for now, there are a lot of noises coming from outside. Looks like a lot of people, we’ll have to go out and look.” Ning Cheng spoke, while he simultaneously stepped out of the tent.
There were indeed many people out there, counting the men and women, there were a total of seven, in addition to them, there were also two beast carriages.
There people were completely different from the two men that they had encountered previously in the desert, except being covered in a layer of sand and dirt, each of them was full of spirit and seemed no different from ordinary people.
At this moment, the seven people were working outside Ning Cheng’s tent; rather it seemed that they were waiting for Ning Cheng to come out.
The group of them were led by a dark complexioned and small-eyed man, with a look on his face that showed him to be one of the more astute people.
He seemed to be surprised to see Ning Cheng coming out of the tent with Xu Yingdei and Yin Kongchan, although he was initially surprised to see them, but when his eyes shifted to Xu Yingdei and Yingdei, he ended up showing an unconcealable shock.
Since Yin Kongchan and Xu Yingdei both had bathed and cleaned their clothes, they had once again regained their original beautiful appearances.
Ning Cheng seeing all these people, immediately stopped and was ready to pull out his tri edged thorn at any time to fight it out, but the other party did not turn out as Ning Cheng had thought.
The young man with the small eyes instead came forward and asked in a very polite manner, “Are you people also here to look for the Aquatic Essence Tendons?”
Aquatic Essence Tendons? Ning Cheng simply did not know what these Aquatic Essence Tendons were, so he had to speak up, “We are not looking for the Aquatic Essence Tendons, however we mistakenly wandered into the desert, before accidentally losing our direction, can you tell me how long it would take to get out of this place?”
Hearing that the Ning Cheng trio were not looking for the Aquatic Essence Tendons, the small eyed man was slightly disappointed, but still spoke with an enthusiastic voice, “To get out of this place will take about half a month’s time, when the time comes you can follow our beast carriage to the Ya Lun City.”
“Then many thanks for your help. I am called Ning Cheng, and these two are my companions, Yin Kongchan and Xu Yingdei. Is it possible to ask this friend for his name?” Ning Cheng on hearing that they could follow these people out of the desert felt immediately delighted as he cupped his fists and thanked them.
“My name is Ma Ang, this time all of us here have gathered together to collect the Aquatic Essence Tendons.” Ma Ang politely gave an answer to Ning Cheng’s words and introduced Ning Cheng to everyone one by one.
Ning Cheng on seeing a young man among them holding a piece of aquatic grass that he had brought up yesterday, asked Ma Ang in doubt, “Elder Brother Ma, can I ask you if the Aquatic Essence Tendon that you spoke off are the long aquatic grasses in the lake?”
Ma Ang also quickly replied, “That’s right, it is indeed those aquatic grasses. However because this kind of thing is found far away from the Ya Lun City, meaning deep inside the desert, it is something difficult to obtain, so it’s value is also extremely high.”
“What is its value?” Ning Cheng also felt that this aquatic grass was not ordinary.
Ma Ang solemnly spoke, “The Aquatic Essence Tendon contains a kind of heaven and earth essence qi, considering the kind of place we live in, the things that contain the heaven and earth essence qi are extremely rare, moreover the Aquatic Essence Tendon is one of the most valuable treasures among them. Because the Aquatic Essence Tendon contains this kind of heaven and earth essence qi, so it is possible to extract this essence qi from the Aquatic Essence Tendons and turn it into an Aquatic Essence Pill, allowing a bit of martial arts cultivation. It is also because of this that the value of the Aquatic Essence Tendon is extremely high. Just a small piece of it could be sold for a silver coin.”
Ning Cheng couldn’t help but think that it was no wonder the Aquatic Essence Tendon felt unusual when he had cut it off. Originally, this thing contained Essence Qi, looks like it was something similar to the Qi Gathering Stone but for martial arts.
“There are a lot of these Aquatic Essence Tendons below, so why is it that hard to obtain it?” Ning Cheng thought back to last night when he had jumped into the lake. He was entangled by the Aquatic Essence Tendons in just a short while; moreover, there was indeed a lot of them inside the lake.
Ma Ang sighed and spoke, “Elder Brother Ning, you do not know about this, but the Aquatic Essence Tendons are abnormally tough to deal with, if you end up getting entangled by it, you will only end up dead. Every time we come here, we have to waste a lot of hard work only to obtain just a tiny bit.”
Abnormally tough to deal with? Ning Cheng thought back to the time when his tri edged thorn was able to cut off the Aquatic Essence Tendon with ease, so how could it be tough to deal with? But then he quickly realized that the tools that these people carried were made out of ordinary iron. Simply put they were the worst kind of weapons and tools that one could use.
His tri edged thorn, although was junk, but it was at least crafted from relatively good materials, and obviously was incomparable to the weapons carried by these people.
“Moreover, it is dangerous to stay at the lake at night. This lake is called the White Robed Ghost Lake, and it’s easy for one to lose their souls here and turn into a walking corpse. So none of us dares to stay in this place at night. It is already a miracle that the three of you were able to stay overnight in this place without anything happening.” Ma Ang continued to explain.
Ning Cheng suddenly remembered Yin Kongchan’s words from a while ago, as he thought to himself, was this really a ghost lake? But he had even dived down yesterday. So far, there was nothing wrong with him.
Thinking until here, Ning Cheng spoke once again, “Elder Brother Ma, do you think it would be okay for us to work together? I can help you obtain more Aquatic Essence Tendons, so we can split the money earned in half among us.”