Chapter 22: Repaying Enmity with Virtue

Owen Bertram decided to communicate with Little Loach, "Look, you already have the Sword Pill, and I am still using this small Bone Dagger. Isn't it time for me to upgrade?"

Little Loach ignored him and swam away on his own.

In the River Water, Owen Bertram did not dare leave Little Loach too far behind, he quickly followed along.

In the wide and surging river, various sinister creatures lived.

Such as a half fish, half eel creature, each one was only two feet long, but in large quantities and coordinated in unison like a school of piranhas from Owen's previous life. No matter the prey that fell into their mouths would be immediately reduced to the bare bones.

Even the powerful Demon Beasts had to detour to avoid them.

However, such a group of unchallenged creatures, immediately synchronized to turn their direction and retreat as soon as they saw Little Loach in the water!

Owen had been somewhat worried, but seeing this scene, he let out a string of bubbles.

But then, Little Loach, like a torpedo... can't be called an arrow now, after all, he did gain quite a bit of weight.

A large torpedo - Little Loach charged up, heading straight for the eel-fish school!

"Hey - come back!" Owen didn't have time to shout, he just bubbled ...!

Little Loach rushed in and the entire eel-fish school scurried around in chaos. After swallowing several dozen, Little Loach lost interest in the chase.

They weren't tasty.

After all, they relied on sheer numbers to bully and dominate. Each one gave Little Loach minimal nourishment.

There was a sense of food getting stuck between the teeth.

So Little Loach wagged its tail and returned, rubbing against Owen Bertram: look, I'm so obedient, you asked me to come back and so I did.

Owen couldn't bother with him and began to seriously search for the corpse, not sure if it was truly in this area of water.

The search range was continually expanding. Little Loach had already swum from one side of the river to the other, making a sweeping search. He encountered several beasts, but no corpse.

Any corpse in the river could quickly be eaten clean.

Owen was silently frowning, People from the Horizon Bureau were certain, but... it may have been eaten by now.

He expanded the search area again, using the intersection of the Hunshui River as the center line while extending upstream and downstream.

...

On the shore, Cliff Maxwell indifferently remarks to Uncle Four, "It has been half a Shichen now."

Uncle Four, who had been staring intently at the river, didn't react right away, "What happened?"

Cliff Maxwell turned towards Vanessa Thoughts of Shadow and others behind the Jade Talisman and said, "Owen Bertram is dead. We have to do this task."

A thunderclap sounded next to Vanessa Thoughts of Shadow's ear: He's dead?!

The Chief also sighed, "It's a pity, the boy was good."

He then explained for Cliff Maxwell, "The evil energy transformed into Cold Poison in the vicinity of the Extinct Village. The river water is even colder. No Pearl Diver could remain underwater for half a Shichen."

Cersei Bertram remained silent for a while, then said, "Think of a way to get his sister out and settle her in Waves Prefecture's... never mind, I will take her home myself."

Uncle Four's eyes were red-rimmed, his Adam's apple bobbed a few times, but he didn't say anything. He wanted to refute Cliff Maxwell, but he also knew very well, nobody could survive in the river for so long.

Even in the Hunshui River, let alone the River Water.

Cersei Bertram said to Cliff Maxwell, "We'll go by what you said, the following matters will be in your hands. Be very careful, don't show off."

Cliff Maxwell grinned, "Thanks Chief, I'll get going then."

He limbered up for a while, and then he pulled out some cherished liquor that he'd been keeping for a long time. After downing it all, he leaped into the water.

This was Cliff Maxwell's second time going into the River Water, and precisely because of his first experience, he knew how terrifying the River Water could be.

He swam along the river bank, not daring to stray too far.

He could persevere for half an hour in the Hunshui River, but in the River Water, he had to get onshore before even a quarter of that time passed.

A bonfire had already been lit on the shore, and his companions immediately helped him dry his body, wrapped him in a ragged quilt, and sat him down by the fire.

Half a Shichen (an hour) later, the refreshed Cliff Maxwell entered the water for the second time.

By the time the sun was about to set, the empty-handed Cliff Maxwell, still not satisfied, took the plunge for the third time.

This time, he had no choice but to leave the vicinity of the river bank and swim tens of feet towards the heart of the river. Suddenly, he felt a pang of pain at the bottom of his foot and a strong sense of numbness spread instantly throughout his body.

He strained to look down, and there was a thin, long barb stuck in the sole of his foot.

The riverbed mud moved a bit, and a strange Demon Beast emerged. Its head was crowned with a giant snail shell full of sharp spikes, and jellyfish-like, slender tentacles extended from underneath, at the ends of which were these venomous barbs.

The beast had three pairs of deep black eyes on its soft, octopus-like body, staring intensely at the incoming Cliff Maxwell. It opened its massive mouth towards him, which seemed like a gigantic black hole, with rows and rows of sharp, inverted teeth nested inside!

Despair rushed over Cliff Maxwell; he knew exactly the kind of horrific fate that awaited him. The demon beast would start devouring him from the lower half of his body. Those densely packed sharp, inverted teeth would gnash his legs into pieces and slowly make their way up.

Unable to move, he could only vividly experience this frightening process of death.

Indeed, was this the ultimate fate of all pearl divers...?

Cliff Maxwell watched as that massive mouth, resembling a black hole, gradually approached him, his legs already partway inside, and the big mouth was closing.

Suddenly, the demon beast shuddered through its entire body and rapidly retreated. The riverbed sand was stirred, and the surrounding area became murky.

Cliff Maxwell saw that it seemed like another massive demon beast had attacked this creature from behind, and both gigantic beasts were fighting in the water.

But Cliff Maxwell did not feel hopeful about being saved; paralyzed by poison, he couldn't move at all. Regardless of which demon beast won, he would end up just a final morsel in their meal.

A nimble figure suddenly swam over, swung the dagger in its hand, severed that barb, and then swiftly swam towards the shore, dragging Cliff.

Cliff could not hold his breath any longer and had been blowing bubbles since the poisoning. Fortunately, he wasn't far from shore. The moment the other person hauled him onto the shore and turned him over, they gave him a strong jab in the stomach. Cliff involuntarily spat out a large amount of water.

"Owen!" rang the surprised voice of Uncle Yao. With surprise in his heart, Cliff Maxwell wondered: was it Owen Bertram who saved him?

Underwater, his body had grown stiff, and he couldn't turn his head to clearly see the person.

But how long had he been in the water to still be alive? This... was too miraculous.

Inside the small building at the entrance of the village, Vanessa Thoughts of Shadow had been hanging her head all along. Upon hearing someone calling Owen Bertram's name, she looked up instinctively and rubbed her eyes to make sure she was not mistaken. Yes, it was him!

Stupid!

What were you doing all this while? Couldn't you just show your face? I thought I had gotten you killed.

Despite the grumbling, Vanessa felt a weight lift from her heart; a certain burden had been relieved.

Cersei Bertram exclaimed in surprise, "Is that little fellow still alive?"