Vol 8 Chapter 100 (1/2)

VOLUME 8 CHAPTER 100: DON’T TELL ME THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER OF VOLUME 8 (1)

Zi Long POV

The darkness of night now blanketed the skies. The liquor from a few hours earlier had long worn off and all that remained was a faint taste in my throat. When I reached up to wipe my mouth, I found that the taste of liquor had mixed in with the taste of the river water and was a little disgusted by the result.

It was rather deserted outside the city at night and when the cold wind blew the leaves of trees nearby rustled. If you listened closely, you could hear the distant bustle of Xiangyang city. It’s probably a very busy and prosperous scene.

But I don’t have the leisure to care about such things. There is something far more pressing for me to deal with.

“Chen Dao! s.h.i.+ne over here!”

Ha–

I yelled out and took a deep breath without waiting for Chen Dao’s reply before plunging into the waters. In the next instant, I could feel water filling my ears and bubbles filled my surroundings. I did my best to keep my eyes open as I swam toward the bottom of the river.

This stream to the west pf the city was surprisingly deep, at about 20-30 meters. Even when I’m swimming at full strength, it takes me about a minute to reach the depths.

Just the, I could feel seagra.s.s, which let me know that I’ve reached the riverbed. It was now dark, and even with the light from Chen Dao, I can barely even make out a stalk of gra.s.s, let alone a person.

I felt about with my hands, hoping to grasp a limb. But after searching like this for a while, up to the limits of my breath, all I grasped were seagra.s.s.

“Puah!” I took a deep breath as I resurfaced, “d.a.m.n it!!”

*Pa*!

I couldn’t contain my fury any longer and slammed my fists against the surface of the water. This was my 23rd time going into the water to look for Xuan De. Like the previous 22 times, it was to no avail.

“Kuh… Ah!!”

*Pa*! *Pa*!

I tried my best to suppress my raging emotions but I failed and yelled as I vented my regret and frustrations on the water.

“Pu! Ah–” On the other side, someone else resurfaced as well.

When I saw this, I hurriedly stopped and swam towards that person. Chen Dao too followed suit. When we got close, we saw an expressionless Wen Ping whose hair was sticking to her face all over.

“How was it?” I hurriedly asked and looked about to see if she was pulling anyone along.

“There’s no need to look. There’s nothing.” Wen Ping’s voice was soft but the contents of what she said pierced my heart.

“… Thank you, Lord Wen Ping.” But no matter what, we owe Wen Ping for coming to help us like this.

A few hours ago, if it weren’t for Lord Liu Qi who came to find me, I might even have forgotten that Xuan De was a sore spot for Cai Mao. I didn’t think that they would be so desperate and crazy enough to execute a city-wide surround.

I didn’t think that… Xuan De would fall off his horse and drown.

By now, it’s been almost 3 hours since Xuan De fell into the water. If Xuan De really did sink to the depths, then it’s unlikely it ended well. But on the other hand, I still have a glimmer of hope from not finding any trace of Xuan De in the depths.

“… I’ll still continue searching nonetheless.” I was beginning to feel faint but this was something that had to be done, “Chen Dao, have the rest gone to Xinye already?”

“Yes… We, the ones at the encampment, learnt that our lord went to the banquet and decided to move off first according to schedule. I was designated to st

ay behind and be responsible for receiving you both.”

No wonder Chen Dao was entering the city when I was about to leave the city to look for our troops. After I explained to her what the situation was, she came here with Wen Ping and I.

Kuh! Lord Guan Yu and the rest didn’t expect that they would act at the very end too huh… I can’t believe we all let our guard down at the very end.

“Alright, I’ll be going down again…”

“Lord Zhao Yun,” Just as I was about to dive down, Chen Dao grabbed my arm as she called me. When I looked up, I saw Chen Dao, who was similarly drenched, with a grave expression, “Go and rest for a bit. I’ll do it in place of you.”

“No, no need for that. You aren’t a good swimmer and won’t be able to make it down.” I shook my head and shrugged off Chen Dao’s arm, “This was my mistake as well so I have the responsibility of finding Xuan De and bringing him to Xinye.”

When I finished, I began searching aimlessly in the water. Perhaps he washed towards the sh.o.r.e and he might be somewhere near the shallow waters.

“*s.h.i.+ku*… *s.h.i.+ku*…” Just then, the sound of sniffling came from behind me.

“Chen Dao, that’s too unsightly.” I knew it was Chen Dao and didn’t bother turning back to confirm it as I chided her, “You’re always so strong and bright. Why are you crying at this time?”

“Our lord… Our lord has drowned–”

“Don’t spout nonsense, Chen Dao!” I yelled out loud when Chen Dao spoke and was able to drown out her voice. I then turned back and looked at Chen Dao, who was frowning and doing her best to control her emotions as she trembled.

I know I shouldn’t be looking at her. When I see how she is, I’m beginning to get infected as well.