Underwater!
The moment Baili Weisheng dove down, his first instinct was to summon his golden armor. But as a dull, aching pain spread through every inch of his skin, he suddenly realized—he could never summon his golden scale armor again! He would never be able to reveal his true Jiao form again, ever.
That armor was the mark of his identity, the symbol of the most noble royal bloodline—but it was also the price he’d paid to keep himself alive!
Without scales, unable to manifest his true Jiao form, in the water, he was now no different from an ordinary man!
The only thing left that could still prove he was a Jiao Ren was his voice—that distinctive underwater cry unique to their kind.
He couldn’t even swim as fast as Jun Beiyue!
He had to push himself hard just to catch up with Jun Beiyue and the others!
Jun Beiyue’s expression had remained locked in that same cold, furious mask from the instant he’d hit the water. Yet, at the same time, like Ziqing, he too maintained a frighteningly calm, rational composure.
He kept his senses attuned to the subtle currents shifting through the water, tracing them as he swam, with little Xiong Bao and the others following close behind.
Seeing Baili Weisheng catch up, Jun Beiyue immediately gestured to him, wanting to ask about the exit.
A wave of bitterness rose in his chest, but Baili Weisheng held his breath and forced a smile anyway, shrugging his shoulders to tell Jun Beiyue: he didn’t know either!
In the past, underwater had been his home domain!
But now, he truly couldn’t even tell direction, couldn’t sense where an exit might lie!
Seeing this, Jun Beiyue finally realized Baili Weisheng’s golden scale armor was gone. He didn’t press him any further and instead relied entirely on his own judgment!
The pool water wasn’t stagnant—there was a faint current moving through it. But he couldn’t be certain whether it flowed outward to join the poisoned water, or led somewhere else entirely, to another exit.
No one knew his own wife better than he did. He knew Ziqing was holding the rear to buy them time! And she would undoubtedly be using her wind blades to do it!
He had no time to waste!
“Woman, how dare you push me! I’ll keep my life just long enough to settle the score with you!”
Jun Beiyue glanced toward the direction of the pool’s mouth, coldly cursing to himself, then turned and swam to the right, his speed rivaling an arrow loosed from a bowstring!
Seeing this, everyone immediately followed. Baili Weisheng brought up the rear, the bitterness in his chest still refusing to fade. He didn’t know why, but his heart ached so terribly, so painfully—it had never felt like this before.
He couldn’t shake the sense that something deep within him seemed to be stirring awake.
The group swam swiftly through the water in single file, Xiong Bao gripping Jun Beiyue’s hand the entire time, while Jun Beiyue never once looked back!
The deeper they went, the darker it became. Soon, they could no longer even see each other!
But just as the darkness became absolute, moments later, suddenly, a light appeared before them!
Had they not been underwater, everyone would surely have cried out in astonishment!
Light, this deep underwater—there had to be another exit somewhere!
Jun Beiyue’s speed increased even further, so fast that those behind him couldn’t keep pace, with Xiong Bao being pulled along entirely by his grip.
The light grew stronger and stronger, and soon, he could see clearly!
Heavens!
It was an underwater world—a passage leading straight into what looked like a palace!
Jun Beiyue surged forward and burst into the passage. The sensation felt exactly like entering a barrier, and the moment he crossed through, he was startled!
Was this truly a barrier?
There was no water inside the passage at all!
Xiong Bao collapsed to the ground, gasping. Soon after, Meng Wanyue, Baili Weisheng, and Baili Xiaosheng all made it through as well. The moment she entered, Meng Wanyue clearly sensed something—a flicker of coldness crossed her eyes before quickly settling back into calm.
“Who are you, daring to trespass into the Boundless Deep!” A sharp voice suddenly rang out. Everyone froze and looked up, only to see a group of guards materialize seemingly out of nowhere, all clad uniformly in silver!
Just as the guards moved to surround them, Jun Beiyue suddenly swung his sword—a single, ruthlessly cold strike, sword and wind blade launched together—and drove it straight into the ground at the feet of the guard captain!
The instant the sword struck the ground, a crack burst forth from beneath the blade, splitting the earth right between the captain’s feet and extending all the way into the depths of the passage!
At this, not only the silver-clad guards but even Baili Weisheng and Meng Wanyue found themselves utterly stunned by Jun Beiyue.
This man… simply not to be trifled with!
“Whoever you are, if you so much as touch a single hair on their heads before this prince returns, this prince will raze this entire palace to the ground!”
Jun Beiyue delivered this cold warning, then, without giving anyone a chance to respond, turned and walked away.
At that very moment, Baili Weisheng finally snapped back to his senses and shouted, “Jun Beiyue, there’s poison up there, I’ll go!”
But in that brief instant, Jun Beiyue had already vanished from sight!
Not even an arrow loosed from a bowstring could describe his speed!
He knew about the poison, but he also knew—that foolish woman wouldn’t collapse until she received word! She would never allow the poisoned water to spread into the pool!
That foolish, stubborn woman, hard-headed as a rock!
Indeed, this foolish woman was, even now, using her own meager strength to hold back wave after relentless wave. Her fingers had likely already gone numb!
Whether numb from the impact or numb from the pain, no one could tell—her bloodied, mangled fingertips gave no indication of just how badly they were injured.
Every ounce of her strength was poured into that hand, into those zither strings!
She could barely hold on any longer!
In that moment, she desperately, desperately wanted to turn around, to look back and see if someone might suddenly emerge from the water, to tell her they’d found the exit, that they were all saved!
More than anything, she wished with all her heart that it would be Jun Beiyue who told her.
But she didn’t turn around, not even for an instant. Every bit of her attention remained fixed on the wave before her, utterly focused, draining the very last reserves of her strength.
But then, suddenly, “splash!”—the sound of water bursting forth!
Ziqing froze, and unable to stop herself, instinctively turned to look.
There he was… there was that man, still wearing that same cold expression from just before he’d hit the water, his eyes bloodshot, glaring at her with fury!
“Bei…”
Ziqing was about to speak, but suddenly heard, behind her, the wave…
“Jun Beiyue, go!”
She spun back around at once, but the wave was already upon her, far too close to react. Her face filled with terror, she flailed wildly, trying to wave him off—but in that very instant, an overwhelming, domineering force swept around her waist, hauling her bodily into a warm embrace!
Yet even then, Ziqing remained frantic, crying out, “Jun Beiyue, go, get out of here! The water’s poisoned!”
A flicker of helplessness crossed Jun Beiyue’s eyes, mixed with self-mockery and aching tenderness.
At once, his body surged backward, and in the instant the poisoned water crashed down, he vanished from the mouth of the pool!
The poisoned water crashed into the pool, spreading through it instantly!
Yet even that surging water couldn’t match Jun Beiyue’s speed!
He held Ziqing tight against him, retreating at breakneck speed away from the poisoned water, and within moments had reached the passage, plunging straight through.