Lin Yuan closed the system panel with satisfaction.
Then he looked down at himself.
After a day of combat in the wilderness, having killed countless monsters, his black clothes were covered in bloodstains, dirt, monster fluids, and broken scales.
There was Shadow Leopard blood, Rock-armored Great Lizard stomach acid, Wind-winged Python mucus, and his own sweat.
These things, mixed together and fermenting for two days, emitted an indescribable odor—something like “having rolled around in a pile of demonic beasts for two days.”
He turned his head to look at Qingshui Lake; the water was crystal clear to the bottom.
A bath. The moment this thought appeared, he couldn't suppress it.
Lin Yuan quickly stripped off his black clothes, folded them, and placed them on a rock.
Purple Lightning leaned against the rock, its spearhead pointing up, ready to be grabbed at any moment.
Wearing only a pair of shorts, he stepped into the lake. The water temperature was more comfortable than he expected, neither cold nor hot, with the surface water warmed by the daytime sun still retaining a bit of residual heat.
He walked a few steps toward the center of the lake until the water reached his chest, then took a deep breath and submerged himself completely.
The moment the lake water enveloped his entire body, two days of fatigue and the smell of blood seemed to be stripped away piece by piece.
He closed his eyes and sank into the water, feeling the currents glide over his skin and through his hair.
The light jade-green lake water was semi-transparent under the moonlight. Looking up from underwater, the moon resembled a piece of washed white jade, its edges slightly blurred.
He held his breath for about two minutes, then emerged from the surface, shaking the water from his hair, droplets streaming down his cheeks and shoulders.
Then he turned around.
To the right of the lake's center, about fifteen meters from him, there was a patch of mist denser than other areas.
He hadn't noticed it while submerged, but now that he had surfaced, the mist was strikingly obvious.
A corner of the mist slowly dispersed.
Lin Yuan saw a person.
A woman.
She stood in the lake, the water reaching just below her collarbone.
Her hair was wet, clinging to her cheeks and shoulders, its color a deep inky black.
Her face was small with a pointed chin, long eyelashes, and pale pink lips, slightly parted.
And further down......
Lin Yuan's gaze involuntarily dropped an inch; the water was just below her collarbone.
Fair shoulders, delicate collarbones, and below that, the water's surface began to play tricks.
A ripple of light obscured everything, but the less he could see, the more he wanted to.
Her figure was petite, with a slender frame.
Lin Yuan's brain completely crashed at this moment.
Eighteen years of being single since birth. Add to that eighteen years before transmigration, a total of thirty-six years.
In those thirty-six years, the number of girls he knew could be counted on one hand.
And now, a completely unfamiliar girl, naked in the moonlight-bathed lake, was less than fifteen meters away from him.
Lin Yuan's Adam's apple bobbed once, and he muttered with a hint of heat, “Six-six-six, my bros in front of the screen, am I even allowed to see this?”
It wasn't on purpose. He told himself in his heart. It really wasn't on purpose.
He just wanted to take a bath; who knew there was someone else in the lake?
And the mist was so thick; he couldn't see anything when he got in the water, so he couldn't be blamed.
But his eyes were glued to the spot, unable to look away.
Just then, the girl saw him too.
Her eyes widened slightly, and the water droplets on her eyelashes trembled.
The two of them stared at each other across fifteen meters of lake surface for about three seconds.
Three seconds. To Lin Yuan, it felt like three centuries.
The girl's face flushed visibly, from her cheeks to her earlobes, and from her earlobes to her neck.
Suddenly, Lin Yuan felt a chill down his spine!
It wasn't the cold water, but a sense of danger.
A sword.
It cut through the air from the reeds by the lake shore, accompanied by a sharp whooshing sound, aimed straight for his back.
Its speed was incredibly fast.
Lin Yuan had no time to turn around.
【Sands of Time】 activated instantly, making the air within a four-meter radius viscous.
The moment the sword entered the range of 【Sands of Time】, its speed dropped by at least thirty percent.
He turned sideways.
The sword's edge grazed his right shoulder, so close he could feel the chill emanating from its blade.
A few strands of severed hair floated on the water.
Immediately after, a clear, angry shout came from the direction of the lake shore.
“Lecher! Pervert! Prepare to die!”
A figure darted out from the reeds.
Under the moonlight, it was a tall woman whose pupils burned with undisguised killing intent.
Lin Yuan glanced at her, then back at the petite girl in the lake.
He was done for.
Even jumping into Qingshui Lake wouldn't wash him clean of this.
...
The moment the green sword came down, Lin Yuan had only one thought.
What a sin.
It really was a sin; he just wanted to take a bath.
He had finally found a Qingshui Lake without monsters, the moonlight was perfect, the water temperature was perfect, everything was perfect.
Who knew there was someone else hidden in the lake?
Hidden or not, it was a girl.
A girl or not, she was naked.
Naked or not, her companion just had to see him.
Now he was in trouble.
He stood shirtless in the lake, the water reaching his waist, caught between a rock and a hard place.
If he went ashore, the sword-wielding girl opposite him was staring. If he ran ashore naked, tomorrow's Hangzhou headlines would read “College Entrance Exam Candidate Streaking at Midnight.”
If he didn't go ashore, the girl's second sword strike was already coming down.
【Sands of Time】 was still on cooldown. Twenty-five seconds, and only a little over ten seconds had passed.
The green sword, wreathed in cold energy, descended. Lin Yuan had no time to think; he reached his right hand toward the shore, and Purple Lightning landed firmly in his grasp.
He held the spear horizontally to block.
Clang!
The green sword struck Purple Lightning's shaft, sending water splashing instantly.
The woman had considerable strength; her A-rank weapon system foundation, combined with the enhancement of her ability, made the sword strike numb Lin Yuan's arm slightly.
Lin Yuan shouted, “Wait! It's a misunderstanding! Truly a misunderstanding!”
“Misunderstanding? You peeked at Xiao Li bathing and you call it a misunderstanding?” The sword-wielding woman gnashed her teeth, and the cold energy on her green sword intensified by a third.
“I wasn't peeking! I was here first!”
Lin Yuan parried the second sword while shouting, “There was no one in the lake when I got in! The mist blocked everything, I didn't see anything at all...”
He regretted his words halfway through.
Didn't see anything at all? But that still implies he saw something, doesn't it?
Sure enough, the sword-wielding woman's face darkened further, and the aura of the green sword in her hand surged.
“You did see her, then.”
Lin Yuan fell silent.
The more he explained, the worse it got, so he stopped. He gripped Purple Lightning tightly, preparing to take the sword strike head-on.
Just then, a voice came from the center of the lake.
“Xiaxia, stop.”
The voice was soft and gentle, not loud, but every word clearly reached his ears.
The sword-wielding woman, Xiaxia, paused her sword.
She turned her head toward the center of the lake; the anger on her face hadn't subsided, but the ice sword in her hand had stopped.
“Xiao Li?”
The dense mist in the center of the lake had completely dispersed.
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