Chapter Sixteen: The Giant Crocodile

  At dawn, the birds had just awakened and were greeting the morning sun with their cheerful chirping. Suddenly, a gust of wind disrupted their tranquility, and they flapped their wings reluctantly, flying away from their perches.

  Several people rushed forward, while the deadly bee pursued relentlessly. The speed of this deadly bee was at least ten times faster than that of fireflies and flying moths. Fireflies and flying moths were like a slow-moving dragon, while the deadly bee was like a rapid black storm.

  They figured out that this place was full of poisonous substances and strange insects and beasts. The worst part was that these unheard-of and unseen bugs were all extremely vicious, and once they discovered you, it was either being bitten to death or running to exhaustion.

  Last time, the fireflies were also lucky to get the nitre with Nalan Xinnuo, but now, who has the leisure to go find nitre again? A slight delay and they will be dead!

  "Princess! What shall we do!" Huo Zhe was already starting to get a bit winded, he caught up with Nalan Xianuo and asked.

  "There's a lake five hundred meters ahead!" Narlan Xizheno was also slightly panting.

  Several people couldn't help but wonder how she knew there was such a thing 500 meters ahead, and each used their last strength to rush forward. Nan Gong Jin flew forward, passing the man in black, to Nalan Xian's side, gently grasping Nalan Xian's hand.

  The two walked side by side, the man in black furrowed his brow, his eyes slightly cold, still not saying a word as he ran ahead.

  As expected! The group ran another 500 meters and arrived at the lake, but this was not a quiet lake, it was deep and turbulent. However, the speed of the killer bees didn't allow anyone to think twice, led by Nalan Xinnuo, everyone jumped into the lake.

  The turbulent water washed over their bodies, and although they were all top-notch experts, they still couldn't withstand the force of the water in a state where they had nothing to rely on.

  They were pushed downstream by the rushing water, and they couldn't even open their eyes. Narlan Xizuo subconsciously stretched out her hand and grabbed Nan Gongjin beside her. Nan Gongjin's hand hesitated for a moment before tightly grasping hers back.

  They couldn't see anything, and were being washed away by the lake water. Suddenly, He Xian let out a loud cry, his body was pushed hard against the rocks in the water by the current, and he was pinned to the side of the rock.

  He gritted his teeth and endured the pain of his fractured ribs, leaping onto the rock! He wiped the water from his face and shouted to Ho Zhi and Quan Long who were being swept away: "This way!"

  Huò Zhī and Quán Lóng couldn't open their eyes, they protected Nángōng Jǐn, and swam hard in the direction of Hé Xiān's voice. Suddenly, Quán Lóng and Huò Zhī groaned, and the two of them bumped into a rock. Just then, Hé Xiān reached out his hand first and pulled Nángōng Jǐn over.

  Nangong Jin borrowed He Xian's strength and jumped up. His eyebrows were tightly furrowed as he stood on the rock, turning his head to gaze coldly at the turbulent lake water. However, he still couldn't find that figure.

  Nalan Xixi didn't know how many mouthfuls of lake water she had drunk, although she had also participated in many water battles. However, her swimming skills were not very good, and she was afraid of the cold. When she encountered the chill, her sharp energy would immediately decrease by half.

  The sound of water around her changed from a rapid whoosh to a deafening crash, as the lake water poured over the rocks and flowed straight down. In the waterfall, Nalan Xinnuo's body was being pounded by the forceful impact of the water pouring down on her head nonstop.

  She tightly grasped the large hand, no matter what happened, as long as he was by her side. In an instant, Nalan Xianyu's body plunged into a deep pool from the waterfall, and the originally clasped hands were forcibly separated.

  She swam to the shallow pool, wiped the water from her face, and anxiously searched for Nan Gong Yu's figure. Suddenly, a floating figure on the surface of the pool made her eyes light up, she happily ran over, pulled him towards the shore and they swam together.

  As she walked to the shore, Nalan Xianyu arranged his body properly. A strange yet handsome face appeared before her eyes. She slightly widened her eyes and took a deep breath... He wasn't Nan Gongyin!

  At this moment, his black clothes were already soaked through, and the pale face had water droplets sparkling with crystal clear light in the sunlight. The knife-cut and axe-hewn face, even in a coma, still carried that lonely and quiet elegance.

  His delicate facial features outlined a surprisingly handsome face, his handsomeness was different from Nangong Jin's devilish charm and evil fascination, nor did he have that coldness. His handsomeness was like a snow lotus on Mount Tian, pure and unblemished, without a speck of dust.

  Suddenly, he started coughing heavily and opened his eyes with some effort. He saw Nalan Xianyu's cold and ruthless expression, as if she wanted to kill him. Her calm and serene eyes were expressionless, and she shifted her gaze away as if she hadn't seen anything.

  But this blatant disregard made Nalan Xinnuo suddenly choke, and her anger ignited. However, what could she say to him? His skills were not bad, but unexpectedly, his swimming ability was even worse than hers, which didn't matter much.

  Most importantly, he clearly knew she wanted to hold onto Nangong Jin, yet he didn't refute her at all, instead tightly grasping her hand, causing her and Nangong Jin to get separated.

  "What brings you here?" Nalan Xianyu asked displeasedly.

  "Looking for something." The man didn't beat around the bush and answered directly.

  "What are you looking for?"

  "Monster."

  Nalan Xixi stared at him, wanting to see something in his eyes, but his eyes, apart from the innate coldness and arrogance, were a bottomless plainness that would not be moved even if the world were to perish.

  "Those things are what you brought, so it's only natural that you take them away." Nalan Xianyu said and immediately regretted it. He was definitely eager for those things to be taken away by them, how could he possibly take them himself?

  He turned his head and looked at Nalan Xianyu, intending to speak, but suddenly his gaze involuntarily glanced at her chest.

  Nalan Xinxiao lowered his head, and saw that the clothes on his chest were already soaked by the lake water, tightly clinging to his body. The snow-white skin under the clothes was faintly visible, and the cold water stimulated him, making it slightly bulge like a cherry, subtly pushing up the fabric, extremely enticing.

  Nalan Xixi's heart skipped a beat! Damn it! He actually saw her go! She subconsciously covered her chest, suddenly lifted her head, but the person opposite had already turned away, yet his slightly flushed cheeks still betrayed his racing thoughts.

  "What's this strange beast you're talking about?" Nalan Xianuo said, though she was angry, but not to the point of doing anything to him because of his unintentional mistake. She was cold and detached, but not unreasonable.

  "It's rumored that an ancient spiritual beast is living in the primeval forest, so I thought I'd come take a look."

  "Huh, you believe this kind of rumor too?" Nalan Xianyu really found it amusing. For the first mercenary of the 24th century, spirit beasts were just not reliable.

  "Some people have seen it, right here, they are covered in phosphorescence, their bodies as big as mountains..." He, however, ignored her disdain and carefully described the appearance of the spiritual beast to her, thinking that perhaps they had encountered one along the way.

  However, these words were like a bunch of keys that unlocked Nalan Xinnuo's own memories! In his mind, scenes began to flash by quickly like a movie.

  She always felt like she had been here before, not only was she familiar with the terrain, but also those strange insects and beasts, most importantly! The giant beast that man mentioned, in her impression, she had seen it before!

  She searched hard for the memories in her mind, when she was a child, her mother always brought her here, there was always a blue glow in front of her eyes, she rode on a giant beast, wandering in the jungle...

  Such memories made Nalan Xiong take a deep breath, and suddenly she couldn't tell whether it was real memory, dream or... illusion.

  "He..." The man looked at Nalan Xixi's slightly stunned expression, wanting to speak but hesitating.

  Whoosh——

  Suddenly! Splashing water everywhere! A huge object with a bloody big mouth, emerged from the water, and came straight towards them.

  It was a crocodile, a gigantic crocodile, its body as big as five cows, it angrily opened its mouth and quickly twisted its body to attack them.

  It came suddenly, and the two of them didn't even have time to dodge! At this moment, Nalan Xinnuo made a quick jump, her body landing on the tip of the giant alligator's mouth, and she stepped down heavily! The alligator's mouth was closed by her.

  She borrowed the strength of her feet and jumped again, crossing over the giant alligator and jumping into a nearby pool of water.

  She thought the giant alligator was going to rush ashore, but she didn't expect that her escape would attract the attention of the giant alligator. The huge creature suddenly turned its head, glaring at Nalan Xianuo and rushing towards her.

  This giant alligator was a creature of the water, and in the water, there was no prey that it couldn't catch. Narlan Xizuo's heart tightened, and just as she thought the alligator was about to charge up, suddenly! A figure flashed by quickly, blocking her way!

  "Ahhh——" A shrill and mournful howl! The hard long sword stabbed straight into the giant alligator's mouth, piercing its upper jaw.

  But the man was too close to the giant alligator, and its teeth were deeply embedded in his left arm, bleeding profusely!

  At this time! The giant alligator suddenly shook its body, and the man's hand was shaken off from the hilt of the sword. He lost his weapon, but his face turned slightly pale, yet he still stubbornly blocked Nalan Xianuo's way, in a protective stance.

  The giant alligator was thoroughly enraged, it let out a long howl towards the sky, swinging its massive body towards them, the water in the pond splashing everywhere due to its movements, causing chaos.

  They retreated non-stop, with no room for retreat. The giant alligator slowly approached, and the man clenched his fists tightly, turned around, and whispered to Nalan Xinnuo: "You first..."

  However, before she could finish speaking, Nalan Xianyu sprang up without hesitation! Her toes lightly tapped his shoulder, borrowing force to fly to the side of a rock, and then jumped onto the shore, leaving him alone on the spot facing off against the giant alligator.

  He turned back in astonishment and looked at her expressionless face on the shore. For a moment, they stared coldly at each other, his heart feeling a dull ache.

  He had just wanted to say that she should use her lightness skill to leave first, but before he could finish speaking, she was already gone. Although it was the same result, it wasn't the same...

  One of them saved her.

  One was her leaving him.

  It's her, I almost forgot, she is Nangong Jin's woman.

  In his eyes, the momentary confusion instantly dissipated. In front of him, a huge alligator angrily opened its mouth and bit down on his right arm...