Diligence System: From Servant to Martial King-Chapter 349 - 275: Jade Girl of Dao Xuan Attacks the Flower Cage, Lovers United at Last, An Unexpected Person!
Bian Qiaoqiao leaped into the lake to escape. The moment she fell into the water, countless lake fish came to bite. She cried out, "My life is over," bound and unable to move, seeing herself surrounded by fish with no means left.
Amidst the chaos, she suddenly felt the ropes slightly loosen. The floral ropes were woven from the roots and stems of flowering plants. The red fish residing in Dongran Lake had an omnivorous diet, eating plants, insects, and carrion alike.
Gnawing on the floral ropes also fit their diet.
She wriggled her wrists, sending out Inner Qi, and the floral ropes on her wrists gradually loosened.
Silently, she performed the "Nine Heavens Stepping Cloud Skill" from Daoxuan Mountain. Her toes pointed and stepped, swimming swiftly in the water. The red fish chased her but did not harm her skin, only biting at the floral ropes entangling her.
She was unaware of the trick involved.
Her hands gradually freed, her shoulders and elbows moved freely. She rubbed her shoulders, extremely delighted. Having her hands bound for months, regaining freedom and breaking the shackles, her arms felt clumsy to command.
"These Flower Thieves bound me for months, making me slowly get used to it. Now that the hand restraints are gone, I feel quite unaccustomed."
She moved her energy and circulated her blood throughout her arms, making them work like before, with no resistance. This was something even a baby could do, yet she had longed for it. She swayed left and right, using her arms to the fullest.
During her time in the ship’s hold, her hands were bound, unable to even scratch an itchy back, wipe a sweaty forehead, or stop drool from dripping. At this moment, splashing water and playing with fish, she felt at ease, with a natural flow in her heart, extremely refreshed.
Because she had drunk the "Third Realm Blood Soup," offering some relief from the rising clarity and sinking turbidity, but her water phobia wasn’t entirely gone. Soaking in the water, she still slowly sank. Dongran Lake’s surface was vast, like an ocean or abyss. If she sank to the bottom,
even if she could breathe underwater, she would be trapped forever, imprisoned in endless darkness, until she went mad, died of hunger or entrapment... or was swallowed by secrets hidden in the lake’s depths.
Having swum several miles, the red fish biting were quite troublesome. She lightly patted her chest, secretly playing a tune of "The Sounds of Heaven and Earth," a "tune" from Daoxuan Mountain.
The Master of Daoxuan Mountain had once listened to the sounds of all things, composing the celestial melody. Improved over decades, it was now complete.
In the Martial Arts Second Realm, one might inevitably become restless. By playing the celestial music, one could perceive heaven and earth, suddenly understanding nature, integrating with all things. It also involved blending emotions with the scene, immersing oneself in the mystery of all things.
Its wonders are endless.
She seemed to merge with heaven and earth, like a fish, like lake water, like aquatic plants. The red fish were confused, unable to find their prey.
Taking this chance, she hurriedly moved her arms, swimming several miles without being bitten by the fish. After shaking off their pursuit, Bian Qiaoqiao faced another problem: though the Third Realm Blood Soup alleviated the weakness of "rising clarity and sinking turbidity," Second Realm Martial Artists, when submerged, would eventually sink. She had untied herself and escaped... swum several miles, and her body was gradually sinking.
At this moment, she was about ten feet from the surface. She employed "Swimming Skills," exploiting her martial arts, yet continued to sink deeper.
She was at her wits’ end.
Suddenly, she saw a fishing boat drift overhead. She was ecstatic and saw the boat casting nets, fishing for lake fish. She swam toward it, grabbing the fishing net.
The fishermen in the boat felt a weight on the net, suspecting they’d caught something big, and hurriedly pulled it up. To their surprise, they pulled up a beauty amidst the splashing water.
Bian Qiaoqiao grabbed the edge of the boat, clambering aboard. She felt light all over, lying in the fishing boat, looking up at the bright moon, filled with joy.
The fishermen were bewildered. Bian Qiaoqiao smiled sweetly, clasped her hands in thanks, and explained the situation. After listening, the fishermen cursed the Flower Thieves as shameless and advised her to hide and escape quickly.
The fishing boat needed space for the catch, so it wasn’t cramped. Bian Qiaoqiao hid in the cabin, her hands intricately marked with rope, crisscrossed. Her legs were still bound, with ropes tangled around her knees and ankles, persistent in coiling.
She probed the rope knots, beginning to untie them. The Flower Cage Sect’s binding techniques were extremely refined. It took hours to fully free her feet.
Bian Qiaoqiao massaged her legs, loosening her muscles. Supporting herself against the boat’s wall, she slowly stood up. Her feet were numb, staggering a few steps before gradually easing.
The fishing boat drifted slowly, the lake waves gently lapping. Returning to freedom, a vast world of beauty wrapped around her.
Bian Qiaoqiao rotated her ankles, lightly bouncing. Recalling the ship’s dark ordeals, surviving amidst death, a light in the dark, she couldn’t help feeling joyful.
"I once thought my life would be bleak and hopeless, humiliated by others. Reduced to that... I didn’t expect I could still... Ah! Though I’ve escaped, Sister Liuli..."
Bian Qiaoqiao’s eyes reddened, her joy dissipating. It wasn’t hard to foresee Nangong Liuli’s fate. The two sisters had both been captured; one escaped to heaven, the other sunk in a quagmire.
The disparity of fate.
Bian Qiaoqiao gazed at the vast lake, the clear waves vast and immense. She wanted to take the oars, dive back into the Flower Boat, and find a way to rescue her. The fishermen hurriedly said, "Heroine! This Dongran Lake must not be ventured carelessly!"
Bian Qiaoqiao asked, "Why?"
The fishermen said, "The Dongran Lake is vast, if you venture into the depths, directions become confusing. Wouldn’t you get lost? Moreover, it hides countless Water Bandits. If you wander aimlessly, even an Immortal can’t save you."
"If you insist on doing so, then please disembark. I can’t help you with this."
Bian Qiaoqiao, though from a prestigious sect, was new to the Jianghu. Captured and troubled, she already felt deeply anxious. Though she wished to save Nangong Liuli, escaping this time wasn’t easy, and the thought of being imprisoned again terrified her.
She calmed herself, whispering, "I shall remember this place and later call Sister Zhao to assist, to rescue Sister Liuli. My esteemed Daoxuan Mountain, can it not destroy this little Water Altar?"
"If I insist on going back now and get captured again... then... then we both are truly without hope!"
Suppressing her excitement, she helped row, striving to leave the lake as quickly as possible. The fishing boat passed through a patch of aloe and aquatic plants, gradually revealing the shore.
Bian Qiaoqiao was all smiles, her joy uncontainable. With a leap, her body floated gracefully, and from nearly ten yards away, she first jumped ashore. The warm sunlight shone, warming her body, vastly different from the dark prison.
