Entangled with a Gloomy Creep in an Explicit Novel - Chapter 24.2

The boatman’s words instantly triggered Jin Yongyi’s strong sense of scarcity. After tonight, their group might leave Dingyuan City, and furthermore, she would be leaving this mysterious world to go home soon after her system missions were done. She absolutely had to ride this boat tonight, utilizing the final moments to properly experience the local customs.

Since the money for the lanterns was paid by Zhao Fuzhou, the other lantern was currently clutched tightly in his hand.

Jin Yongyi stared at the lantern emitting a faint glow in his hand, thinking seriously for a brief half-second. Then, she made her decision, stepping forward firmly and taking Mu Qingfeng’s hand right before everyone’s eyes.

The boatman glanced at their tightly linked hands and unfastened the mooring rope with a chuckle, “Alright! Young master, remember to hold the young lady’s hand carefully when boarding so she does not fall into the water!”

Mu Qingfeng, who was still immersed in absolute shock and joy, finally reacted. Flustered and deeply flattered, he carefully guided her arm as she stepped onto the rocking boat.

At this exact moment on the shore, no one noticed that the white-clothed master holding the other lantern was enveloped in an ice-cold aura of absolute stillness.

As the small boat slowly drifted away from the bustling shore, the laughter and noise from the land grew increasingly faint. However, Mu Qingfeng and Jin Yongyi could still feel an immense sense of happiness within this peacefulness.

Hearing their faint laughter in the distance, Xie Fuyao was naturally happy for her brother. She turned around slowly to face the dark-faced Zhao Fuzhou, pointed to another empty boat waiting nearby, and said calmly, “Brother Zhao, since that is the case, please.”

A sharp, tiny crack resounded as the delicate handle made of bamboo splints was snapped cleanly by his grip. Zhao Fuzhou’s dark eyes twitched subtly, and he suddenly relaxed his force. Lifting his head, a playful smile returned to his face as he said, “Very well, then I shall gladly accept.”

Both of them were top-tier martial artists, so even standing on a rocking, drifting wooden boat, they remained as steady as if they were walking on solid ground.

However, the situation on the other boat was entirely different.

A sudden gust of strong wind rose over the river surface, causing the boat to rock violently. The boatman sat at the bow with an anxious expression, holding the oar tightly to control their direction as he tried to use the wind’s power to slowly bring the boat toward the safe shore. The boatman shouted at the two passengers behind him to stay seated and not move, explaining that standing in this weather made it extremely easy to be blown straight into the river, and if panic caused the boat’s center of gravity to tilt severely, a tragic capsize could occur on the spot.

Jin Yongyi was always afraid of dying, so she sat exceptionally obediently in the center of the boat. However, looking at the scenery, she still felt it was a great pity. They had only reached the middle of the river when this strange gust of wind disrupted their plans, forcing them to return early. Reluctant to give up, she leaned her body low, reaching out a pale hand to touch the beautiful lanterns that had been accidentally overturned by the strong wind.

Mu Qingfeng held the sides of the boat tightly, completely focused on her every move and personal safety. Seeing her playing with the water so happily, the anxiety he had felt along the way finally relaxed a bit. As the wind gradually died down, he awkwardly but quickly peeled a large orange from his pouch and offered it to her.

Jin Yongyi was busy flipping the fallen lanterns upright, her hands completely wet and dirty. She did not bother to wipe them, simply leaning down to take the orange slices directly from his hand with her teeth.

The remaining half of the juicy orange remained clutched tightly in his hand.

Mu Qingfeng froze completely, his mind going entirely blank.

“Wow, so sweet!” Jin Yongyi exclaimed, smacking her lips, “Though the wind makes my teeth feel a bit cold. I am not eating the rest, you have it.”

“Uh, alright, sure.” Mu Qingfeng responded blankly, then swallowed the remaining half of the orange in one go like a mindless puppet, unable to even register its taste due to his extreme nervousness.

With such a tall and capable martial artist safeguarding her, Jin Yongyi felt very reassured, leaving nearly a third of her body leaning over the edge of the wooden boat.

A broken lantern suddenly drifted over from a distance, gently bumping against her hand. Jin Yongyi looked closely and saw that the style and pattern of this lantern were identical to the one Zhao Fuzhou had bought for her tonight. Curious, she reached out to fish it out, only to find that the handle was completely broken and the interior was flooded with river water, its flame naturally extinguished.

Looking at its damaged state, it seemed as though someone had thrown it into the water in a fit of rage and left it to soak for quite a while.

Jin Yongyi thought that throwing it back into the river would harm the ancient ecosystem, so she reached out again to scoop up some wooden debris from the water, placing it all together in the corner of the boat cabin.

“Sister!” Mu Qingfeng suddenly shouted with excitement, waving his arm forcefully toward a certain direction.

Jin Yongyi turned her head to look and saw Xie Fuyao’s boat cutting through the river of floating lanterns, approaching them steadily. The starlight and lantern glow reflected beautifully on Xie Fuyao’s face, which bore a gentle smile. Behind her stood the elegant, white-clothed young master, a warm and pleasant smile playing on his face as well.

As expected, whenever there was an opportunity for the male and female leads to spend time alone, the romance levels were absolutely top-tier.

As an observer, she was naturally glad to see their affection develop smoothly. After all, Zhao Fuzhou would eventually become the ruler of this world, and a resilient, outstanding woman like Xie Fuyao suited him perfectly. The only thing she absolutely could not tolerate was the system blindly forcing their relationship forward by manufacturing unprincipled, vulgar drugging missions like it did this afternoon.

Right now, it was truly wonderful.

Taking it slow, understanding each other, and then sharing a pure romance along the journey.

Jin Yongyi withdrew her gaze and shouted to the boatman at the bow, “Master, the wind has died down now. Please row a bit faster so we can head ashore.”

“But, Yongyi, my sister seems to want to meet up with us,” Mu Qingfeng said with some confusion, his arm still raised in the air.

Jin Yongyi rolled her eyes at him. Wiping her wet hands dry on her clothes, she hastily reached out to push his raised hand down, lowering her voice, “You do not understand! For the sake of your sister’s lifelong happiness, just listen to me and do not be a third wheel!”

The boatman carefully gauged the current wind speed and deemed accelerating to be safe, shouting back loudly, “Alright, hold on tight, you two!”

However, the wooden boat had only moved forward a few strokes when a terrifying anomaly suddenly occurred. A massive, horrifying gale emerged from the center of the calm river as if drilling out of the water. This solitary wooden boat rocking on the surface became the perfect target for this gale.

The boat was actually lifted into the air by the immense force of the wind! As Jin Yongyi was thrown into the sky without any warning, she watched in horror as Mu Qingfeng and the boatman were also swept into the air by the gust.

The boatman screamed in terror. In the moment of crisis, Mu Qingfeng used one hand to grip the rocking boat tightly while his other hand swiftly caught the boatman’s collar, preventing the internal-energy-lacking boatman from suffering a fatal fall. However, by the time the young girl’s panicked scream reached his ears, it was already too late. The distance between him and Jin Yongyi was simply too far, and a spinning wooden boat separated them entirely. Even if he disregarded his own safety to rescue her, it would likely be completely in vain.

“Yongyi!” Mu Qingfeng’s eyes nearly split open as he witnessed her slender frame being swept higher and into the dangerous night sky. Flustered and helpless, he instinctively let go of the wooden boat, stretching his arm out with all his might to reach her body.

Screams of pure terror escaped Jin Yongyi’s mouth, but they were rapidly swallowed by the immense wind. The gale disrupted everything around her, leaving her feeling like a vulnerable kite with a severed string, entirely unable to struggle as her body flew wildly through the cold sky. The roaring wind consumed nearly all of her senses; she could not see someone being struck heavily by the wooden boat in an attempt to save her, nor could she hear someone calling her name with a heart-wrenching, tearing voice.

Terrified, she could only close her eyes tightly, calling out the system’s name frantically in her mind.

However, in less than three seconds, the raging gale stopped abruptly. The very first thing Jin Yongyi felt was a very familiar, faint scent. It was a clear and refreshing aroma unique to a certain individual, a scent she smelled every single morning upon waking up. Therefore, at this exact moment when her safety was heavily threatened and her mind was collapsing, smelling this familiar scent unexpectedly soothed all her anxiety and fear in the shortest time possible.

This feeling was actually a thousand times more effective than the cold system.

Jin Yongyi slowly opened her eyes, lifting her long eyelashes, and immediately saw Zhao Fuzhou’s tight, smooth jawline. In her deep fear, her slender arms instinctively wrapped tightly around his neck, curling into his embrace in the posture that felt safest and most reassuring to her.

Zhao Fuzhou held her securely with both arms, his feet lightly tapping across the countless lanterns floating on the river as he utilized his peerless lightness skills to fly all the way to the safe shore, placing her down gently.

Jin Yongyi’s legs felt entirely weak, making it impossible to stand upright, so she had to lean a large portion of her weight against his chest.

“Were you frightened?” Zhao Fuzhou asked gently, helping her smooth out her wind-disheveled hair. Then, like a magic trick, he placed her completely undamaged lantern back into her hands, offering soft comfort, “I told you before that when facing danger, you can call my name loudly. Yiyi, as long as I am here, I will never let you suffer even the slightest bit of harm.”

She stared blankly at the lantern in her hands. It was completely intact, and the faint candle flame at its center was still flickering gently, as if telling her silently: At all times, you can trust Zhao Fuzhou completely.

Jin Yongyi let out a long breath, pursing her pale lips as she forced a slightly unnatural smile, nodding to him in gratitude.

In reality, she had merely caught a cold chill from the wind and suffered a brief scare, but the tragic experiences of the other two individuals were far more severe.

During the peak of the raging gale, Mu Qingfeng had to use all his strength to hold onto the falling boatman while simultaneously worrying about Jin Yongyi’s safety. His heart was completely suspended in the air, his attention severely split, leaving him entirely exposed to danger. By the time he realized the peril, the heavy bow of the boat had already struck his stomach with immense force. The name “Jin Yongyi” lingering at his lips lines transformed into a painful, muffled groan. The excruciating, heart-wrenching pain forced him to release his grip instinctively, and as the strange wind stopped, his body plummeted downward like a broken kite.

On the other side, after witnessing Zhao Fuzhou rescue Jin Yongyi with incredible speed, Xie Fuyao immediately deployed her body movements to catch the falling Mu Qingfeng at maximum speed. Following his downward momentum, she smoothly reached out to grab the innocent boatman who was about to drown.

The boatman had already fallen into absolute panic, kicking his legs uncontrollably in midair. Xie Fuyao had to support two adult men whose height and weight far exceeded her own, which was already taxing, and the boatman’s frantic struggles made it completely chaotic. Her brow furrowed, and she barked at him several times to stop struggling, but the boatman was incoherent and refused to listen. Feeling deeply irritated by the noise, Xie Fuyao simply drew her flying sword and struck the boatman’s thick neck with the cold hilt.

Under the heavy blow, the boatman’s eyes rolled back, and he knocked out instantly. Only when the surroundings quieted down completely did she finally bring the two men safely to the flat shore.

After landing safely, the major portion of all three of their bodies was thoroughly soaked by the freezing river water, leaving them looking incredibly bedraggled.

In contrast, Jin Yongyi and Zhao Fuzhou stood nearby, completely dry from head to toe, with at most only the soles of Zhao Fuzhou’s shoes being slightly damp.

Xie Fuyao’s beautiful eyes locked onto Zhao Fuzhou with an intense look of scrutiny and investigation. Exactly at this moment, the pale-faced Mu Qingfeng beside her could no longer support himself, kneeling heavily onto the ground and vomiting a large mouthful of fresh blood. Xie Fuyao’s expression changed drastically, and she hastily knelt down to check his injuries.

“Brother Feng, Brother Feng! How are you? Did you injure an internal organ?”

Mu Qingfeng clutched his painful stomach. Besides the overwhelming taste of blood in his mouth, he clearly felt a surge of cold water rushing up from his stomach, mixing with the fresh blood as it poured uncontrollably onto the freezing ground.

Amidst that shocking pool of blood on the shore lay a few vibrant orange slices, still retaining their segmented structure.

Mu Qingfeng shook his head weakly, taking a deep breath but unable to straighten his body due to the excruciating pain, his voice faint and broken, “I am… I am fine. Where is Yongyi… is she hurt…”

Seeing her friend vomiting blood, Jin Yongyi could no longer care about her trembling legs. Anxiety flushing her eyes red, she started to rush over to check his condition.

However, before she could even take a single step, her body was forcefully stopped by the tall man beside her.

Zhao Fuzhou’s warm hands suddenly reached over, firmly cupping her face. A gentle, pleasant smile still hung at the corner of his lips, but his dark, deep eyes lacked even the slightest hint of warmth or laughter. Jin Yongyi was forced to lift her head to meet his gaze. The warm yellow light from the surrounding lanterns reflected deep into his eyes, clearly mirroring her own anxious, red-rimmed face.

His long fingers moved with absolute gentleness, wiping away a trace of moisture that had seeped from her eyes due to her panic.

Then, he lifted his head to cast a brief glance at the distant Mu Qingfeng, his deep, magnetic voice speaking softly, “It seems you were truly terrified just now. Be good, I will take you back to the inn to see a doctor right away.”