My Arch-Nemesis is My Wife! - Chapter 4

Before the old woman could even finish her sentence, Qi Zhen suddenly pitched forward. By some stroke of sheer unluck, he toppled straight onto her, his face plunging into the spring with a loud splash.

The trio was momentarily stunned by this sudden turn of events. The old woman quickly hooked an arm around Qi Zhen’s neck and flipped him over. His eyes were tightly shut; he had completely passed out.

Ye Lan Jialuo and Shenzhang Lingxi scrambled to lift Qi Zhen off the woman’s lap. Seeing Qi Zhen’s pale face and shallow breathing, Shenzhang Lingxi burst into tears. “Big Brother! What’s wrong? Big Brother, wake up! Big Brother!”

His crying was so heartfelt that even Ye Lan Jialuo’s eyes reddened. However, keeping his wits about him, he turned to the old woman and asked calmly, “What happens if someone drinks this water?”

The old woman blinked, her eyes darting to the side. Just as she was about to speak, a massive crowd swarmed into the cave. Spotting the spring, they erupted in cheers. “Water! There’s water!”

Desperation lent them speed. In an instant, they shoved Ye Lan Jialuo aside. As they lunged for the pool, the old woman issued the same warning: “This water is not for drinking.”

The crowd split instantly. One group chose to believe her and stood back, but the other group, half-dead from thirst, ignored her. They dove headfirst into the pool, gulping down the water.

Chaos ensued. One by one, those who drank began to vanish. As fellow candidates, everyone knew what that meant they had been disqualified and teleported out.

“They’re dead!” “The water is poisoned! Drink it and you’re finished!”

Panic set in. No one else dared touch the spring. They retreated to the cave entrance, watching the old woman with fearful eyes. For a moment, the only sound in the cave was Shenzhang Lingxi’s wailing.

“Big Brother! Don’t die! If you go, what are we supposed to do? Big Brother!”

His howling drew the attention of the others. “Wait, if he fell in the water, why hasn’t he vanished?” “Yeah, why is he still here?”

As the voices of suspicion grew louder, the old woman explained, “He only fell into the pool. He didn’t actually drink any of it.”

Hearing this, Shenzhang Lingxi and Ye Lan Jialuo sighed in unison. “Thank goodness. He didn’t swallow any.”

With that cleared up, the crowd’s attention turned back to the spring. “Old lady, why is this water undrinkable?”

“Because it is toxic,” she replied simply.

The crowd was stunned. Shenzhang Lingxi had the biggest reaction since Qi Zhen’s entire face had been submerged, he figured his boss must have lost at least half a life. He started wailing again. “Oh, Big Brother! Wake up! You can’t leave us behind!”

The old woman glanced at him sideways, but he was too busy mourning to notice.

“We finally find water and it’s poisonous?” the crowd grumbled. “How are we supposed to pass this trial?” “This is way too hard!”

The old woman continued, “Only the water that I draw personally is safe to drink.”

The crowd perked up immediately. “Then hurry up and give us some!” “Yeah, we’re dying of heat out here. You can’t just watch us perish!”

As they clamored for water, the old woman sighed and began her tale. “I have guarded this spring for hundreds of years with only my little grandson for company. We were all each other had. But yesterday, he went missing. My heart is broken; I simply don’t have the strength to draw water anymore.”

Understanding the “quest” prompt, the crowd chimed in, “Draw the water for us first, and we’ll find your grandson!” “There are so many of us, we’ll find him in no time!”

The old woman shook her head. “I cannot leave this cave. If you lie to me, I have no way to hold you to it. I cannot trust mere words. Bring my grandson back first; then I shall provide the water.”

Thirsty and desperate, the candidates were not happy. “Old lady, we’ve been parched for a day and a night. We’ll be dead before we find him!” “Just give us the water first! We promise we’ll bring him back!” “We aren’t liars! Please, have a heart!”

Under the relentless begging, the old woman finally relented, looking troubled. “I can give you water first, but you must find my grandson.”

“We promise!” the crowd shouted in unison.

With their word given, the old woman used a bucket to draw safe water and distributed it. Soon, the cave emptied as everyone set off on the search. Only Ye Lan Jialuo and Shenzhang Lingxi remained by Qi Zhen’s side.

The old woman looked at them. “Don’t you want water?”

Shenzhang Lingxi nodded honestly. “I do.”

“I’ll give you water if you go find my grandson too.”

Shenzhang Lingxi shook his head. “No. I can’t leave my Big Brother here. If I die, I’ll die by his side.”

The old woman tried a different tactic. “He won’t die. I have to stay here anyway; I’ll look after him for you.”

“But what if he wakes up and wants to find us? You can’t leave the cave, so what then?”

The old woman paused, seemingly caught off guard by the logic. She blinked. “If he wakes, I’ll give him water. He won’t need to look for my grandson; I won’t let him leave.”

Ye Lan Jialuo squinted suspiciously. “You seem very eager for us to leave.”

The old woman sighed again. “I just miss my grandson dearly. The more people looking, the better.”

Shenzhang Lingxi was still unconvinced. “No, I’m not leaving him. Who knows what you’re up to? I don’t trust”

Ye Lan Jialuo covered his mouth. “We agree. But we have one condition.”

“What is it?”

“It’s scorching out there. We need to take a supply of water with us. We can’t keep running back here every time we get thirsty; it’s a waste of time.”

Now it was the old woman’s turn to hesitate. “That.”

Shenzhang Lingxi pointed a finger at her. “Aha! There is a problem! You don’t actually want to find your grandson, do you? You just want us out of the way. Are you planning something indecent against our Big Brother?”

The old woman’s eyes widened. She looked at him as if he were mentally unstable, but she quickly composed herself. “I am simply worried you’ll take the water and run.”

“Our Big Brother is right here!” Shenzhang Lingxi argued. “Where would we run to?”

Under their combined badgering, the old woman finally allowed them to leave with water.

Ye Lan Jialuo and Shenzhang Lingxi each filled a large canteen and headed back into the dead forest. Once the cave was out of sight, Shenzhang Lingxi whispered, “Why did you agree to help her?”

“Think about it,” Ye Lan Jialuo said. “Big Brother stays there with plenty of water, and now we have water too. There are only three and a half days left. If we just kill time, we win.”

“So… are we actually looking for the kid?”

“We don’t have to find him,” Ye Lan Jialuo replied. “Walking around and shouting a name every now and then counts as ‘looking,’ doesn’t it?”

Shenzhang Lingxi nodded, impressed by the strategy. But then he realized something. “We didn’t ask what the kid’s name is. What are we supposed to shout?”

“Whatever,” Ye Lan Jialuo said dismissively.

Shenzhang Lingxi opened his mouth and yelled at the top of his lungs: “WHATEVER! HEY, WHATEVER!”

Ye Lan Jialuo closed his eyes in exasperation. “I meant shout anything, not literally the word ‘Whatever’.”

Shenzhang Lingxi blinked. “I can’t shout ‘Whatever’?”

Ye Lan Jialuo stared at him for a long beat. “Whatever.”

The dead forest was crawling with people. The two blended in easily, their slow pace unremarkable. Suddenly, someone shouted, “There’s an invisible wall here!”

As they went to investigate, another shout rang out from a different direction. “There’s one over here too!”

More voices followed. “And here!” “Here too!”

The two shared a look. “Why are there invisible walls everywhere?” Shenzhang Lingxi asked.

Ye Lan Jialuo thought for a moment. “This is likely the actual test.”

“Then what do we do?”

Ye Lan Jialuo patted his water canteen. “Just stay alive. It’s not like we’re actually trying to become Top Disciples.”

That made sense. Their goals were different from the rest. “Should we look for Xue Yunbi then?”

“Big Brother isn’t with us,” Ye Lan Jialuo mused. “Even if we find him, we can’t do much on our own.”

“The old lady said Big Brother is fine. We can find Xue Yunbi first and then tell Big Brother where he is.”

“True. Let’s do that.”

While they began their search behind the shattered walls, back in the cave, Qi Zhen finally woke up, coughing up a few mouthfuls of water.

He saw the smooth, moss-covered stone walls and immediately went on high alert. He sat up abruptly, but the movement yanked at his shoulder wound.

“Sss!” he hissed in pain.

The old woman turned to him, a dry look in her eyes. “Another sudden flare-up?”

Support My Arch-Nemesis is My Wife!