The little fox woke up alone.
He found himself at the bottom of the lake, yet he could breathe and speak without any hindrance, which was clearly unusual.
The little fox quickly searched for Ye Tiancheng's whereabouts, too worried to ponder the strangeness. The events before he lost consciousness had left him with no other concern than Ye Tiancheng's condition.
Unfortunately, after searching everywhere, he found no trace of Ye Tiancheng.
As he worried, he realized he hadn't seen Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping either.
They had fallen in together; how could he be the only one left?
The little fox followed his intuition, choosing a direction at random. Staying in one place was useless; finding the others was more urgent.
Fortunately, he didn't need to worry about Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping's safety. Since they could breathe at the lake bottom and there seemed to be no immediate threats, he figured Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping, even if not with him, were likely in a similar situation and would be fine for now.
As the little fox searched, he noticed a part of the lake bottom that felt like a path, much like a trail worn by frequent footsteps on land.
The little fox sensed a clue and hurried along this path. After an unknown amount of time, he saw two familiar figures approaching him. He quickly called out to them, "Captain Nie? Assistant Liang?"
After deciding to search for the others, Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping had also quickly found what seemed to be a path. They reasoned that the path must have been made by someone, and anyone seeing such a path would undoubtedly treat it as a clue and follow it to investigate, as well as to search for everyone.
Therefore, they had also come onto this path, hoping to encounter Ye Tiancheng or the little fox.
Fortunately, their efforts paid off, and they met the little fox without much delay.
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping hurried towards the little fox. As they approached him, Nie Chongyang immediately asked, "Little fox, are you alone? Where is Ye Tiancheng?"
Upon hearing this, the little fox's face filled with worry.
He told Nie Chongyang, "I don't know. I haven't found my elder brother either. When I opened my eyes, I was alone at the bottom of the lake. None of you were around. I searched everywhere, but I couldn't find any of you. Then I found this path, and following it led me to you two."
Mentioning Ye Tiancheng cast a somber mood over the three of them.
Nie Chongyang hesitated, but eventually asked, "At that time, Ye Tiancheng... after what happened, is he really alright?"
He didn't dare to ask directly if Ye Tiancheng was dead, but he still held onto a sliver of hope. Nie Chongyang clearly wished for Ye Tiancheng to be well and unharmed, even though the scene at the time made the possibility of Ye Tiancheng surviving seem incredibly slim.
The little fox lowered his head dejectedly and said softly, "I can't be sure, but my elder brother... he has a magical artifact that is very effective for healing. It can heal him by itself, so it's possible he's okay."
"And I know that Fatty Brother doesn't know about Elder Brother's artifact. Brother will definitely be fine!"
The artifact the little fox referred to was, of course, the Nuwa Stone.
Although the Nuwa Stone wasn't exactly a magical artifact, its existence was too coveted. The little fox found it difficult to speak of directly, so he paused and vaguely referred to it as a powerful healing artifact.
Ye Tiancheng had never hidden the existence of the Nuwa Stone from the little fox. Even after the little fox lost his memory, Ye Tiancheng had told him again. However, due to some previous concealment from Fatty, Ye Tiancheng had not revealed this to Fatty to avoid any misunderstandings.
Therefore, even though the little fox knew, they were very discreet and never mentioned the Nuwa Stone.
They were always like this, in front of anyone.
Thinking of the Nuwa Stone's existence, the little fox felt a bit more uplifted. After all, it was a legendary and incredibly powerful divine artifact. Moreover, the Nuwa Stone had a spirit; it wouldn't ignore Ye Tiancheng if something happened to him, so Ye Tiancheng must be alright!
Hearing the little fox mention that Ye Tiancheng possessed a protective artifact, Nie Chongyang and the others felt a sense of relief.
They truly did not wish for Ye Tiancheng to be harmed.
After meeting, the three of them did not mention Fatty. Fatty's situation was currently unclear, and given their past relationship with Fatty, everyone's emotions were very complex. They might think about it privately, but when they were together, they couldn't bring it up.
Since Ye Tiancheng was still missing, and Fatty had directly turned into a puff of smoke and disappeared before them, he was likely not at the bottom of the lake. They decided not to consider Fatty's whereabouts for now and prioritized finding Ye Tiancheng.
Without any better clues, they could only follow the strange paths at the bottom of the lake, paths presumably trampled out by some creatures, hoping to find Ye Tiancheng by chance.
As for Ye Tiancheng's location, it was actually at the end of one of the paths the little fox and the others were taking. There stood a colossal structure, a crystal palace radiating seven-colored divine light, incredibly opulent and luxurious. Even without thinking, it was evident that it must be the residence of the lake's master.
Ye Tiancheng was in this crystal palace, but his consciousness was not clear.
This was partly due to the palace's owner's intentions, and partly because Ye Tiancheng was severely injured and was in the process of recovering, thus not yet fully conscious.
He lay on a very large bed carved entirely from cold jade. His eyes were tightly closed, and by the bedside sat a young maiden who appeared very young.
The maiden wore a pomegranate-red long dress, styled like ancient women's attire, its hem swaying like a fish's tail. Beneath the outer corners of her eyes were a few golden-red scales, and a red floral mark adorned her forehead. With a delicate nose, cherry lips, and skin like ice and jade, she possessed a beauty that was not of this world.
She gazed at the man on the bed with curiosity.
It had been several hundred years since she had seen a human man. After all, she had been sleeping at the bottom of this lake for a very long time. The man's attire looked somewhat strange, but the maiden accepted it well.
This was because every time she slept for a long period and woke up again, human fashion had changed. Each time it was different. Perhaps human clothing had changed its style again.
Not long ago, she had vaguely sensed that a spiritual consciousness from the villagers she had left to guard her had been triggered, causing her to awaken from her slumber.
As she had been trying to break through realms, she had been in a state of deep sleep for most of the past thousand years. Unless something happened to the humans she protected, she would either wake up naturally or awaken to find that something had indeed happened to the humans she guarded.
However, this time, before she could ascertain the situation outside, she only vaguely perceived through her spiritual consciousness that the villagers outside were likely safe. Then she sensed that humans had intruded into her aquatic territory.
Seeing that these humans intended to leave, and unless it was a special circumstance, she herself did not want too many humans lingering in her territory. Thus, she had lent them a hand by guiding them. She had not expected a sudden accident, and the man now lying on the bed had suddenly been stabbed by his companion.
At the same time, the maiden also sensed some unusual and formidable powers that gave her a sense of crisis.
The maiden was inherently kind. Otherwise, she would not have protected the villagers in this village for over a thousand years. Naturally, she would not stand by and watch Ye Tiancheng and the others suffer. To protect them, she had suddenly intervened, bringing Ye Tiancheng and the others to the bottom of the lake, and then sending away the person who had harmed them.
Speaking of which, the maiden also sensed some unpleasant things.
It seemed some dirty little things, along with several little rats, had moved into her territory and made it messy, stuffing all sorts of dirty and smelly things inside, even leaving dead bodies.
The maiden was somewhat annoyed. If it weren't for the urgency of saving lives, she would have prioritized clearing out all that garbage.
She looked at the man on the bed, wondering when he would wake up.
Every time she woke up, the maiden found it difficult to fall asleep again. However, her life was extremely long, and besides cultivation, she had little else to do, making her prone to boredom.
She used her spiritual pearl and the cold jade bed to heal the man's injuries, then sat by the bed, focusing her attention on the man.
The maiden looked at him and murmured softly, "Wake up soon, human. If it weren't for me, you fragile humans definitely wouldn't survive. When you wake up, I'll want you to play with me and repay my kindness. That's not too much to ask, is it?"